Chapter Five
No One
Vale Commercial District - 38 Charlie
"So how do you plan on getting in with that?" Weiss asked Bianca as they neared the entrance of Vale-Mart.
"Easily." Bianca passed through the automatic doors, nodding to the security guard at his post as she passed him. He simply nodded back, returning the nonverbal hello, nonplussed to seeing a woman carrying a rapier and another wielding shotgun gauntlets walking into the store.
"He just let you walk in?" Ruby questioned them as they caught up, dumbfounded to the casual disregard to policy.
"Of course. We are Hunters after all." Nova pushed forward a cart and beelined towards the nearest item on their list.
Team RWBY looked at her blankly.
"Which means you're allowed to carry your weapons." Bianca grabbed a large box of granola bars and hot chocolate, placing them into the cart. "I assume you didn't know that."
"No. Everyone at Beacon keeps their weapons in their lockers." Yang replied as they moved into another aisle, the appliances.
"Well now you know." Nova bound up a few glyphs Bianca spawned and grabbed a mini-fridge from the upper racks of the shelves, bypassing the need to go and find an attendant to do it for them. Lifting it over her shoulder and holding it still with one arm, she dropped onto a glyph spawned on the floor, preventing the fall from cracking the floor.
"You should keep your weapons stored in your rooms and never leave without them." Bianca strolled a bit further from cart and grabbed a higher end coffee model, complete with a set of four mugs.
"I just noticed something." Weiss said as Bianca shifted around the boxes in the cart to make sure the mini-fridge and coffeemaker would fit. "You're short."
"You're shorter." Bianca retorted as she placed the coffeemaker into the cart. She stepped in front of Weiss, eyes perfectly leveled with her.
"No I'm not."
"You're wearing heels." Bianca pointed out. "I'm not."
Weiss looked down at their feet. She was, as usual, wearing her white wedges. Bianca, however, was wearing her plain white sneakers. Bianca was indeed taller, the wedges adding a good four centimeters to her height.
"Just barely." Weiss conceded, dismayed she'd never be any taller than Bianca. "At least Ruby's still short."
"Nah. You're still the smallest." Nova pulled the cart forward into the next aisle. "Summer and Kara are about even in height so Ruby here will eventually hit her growth spurt."
It was easy to forget that Ruby was two years younger than the rest of them, her being the leader and all. Ruby beamed up at Nova, happy she'd eventually grow to be taller.
"Keep in mind that Kara doesn't grow past a centimetre or two past Blake's current height, and that's without her heels." Yang placed a large tub of powdered detergent in and then placed a bottle of hydrogen peroxide next to it.
"What can you tell us about them?" Blake asked, interested in her future.
"Kara is very… quiet." That really was Kara's most defining trait. Even before her incident she preferred the solitude of her books or the presence of Summer at her side.
"Tell us something we don't know." Yang prodded her. Even knowing Kara wasn't the future version of Blake, she still wanted information on her.
"She likes ear rubs, reading her smut, and carries enough knives to outfit a platoon." Nova winked at Yang.
Ruby, Weiss and Yang simultaneously turned towards Blake as she desperately fought to keep a blush from her face.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Blake protested, but everyone around her could see pink creeping up on her face.
"She keeps a copy of Ninjas of Love in her back pocket." Yang added, privy to Blake's tendency to never leave their room without a book from her current favourite series.
"How did you-?" Blake placed a protective hand on her backside, right over her book.
"I got curious one day about the books you read. You never leave them out in the open and you're quick to cover the title if someone gets too close. I simply checked out the book while you were out on one of your 'recon' missions."
"The books are okay. The characters could use a bit more development, but the plot is so terrible and obvious." Bianca dragged three massive bottles of shampoo, conditioner and body wash into the cart. "It has nothing compared to my favourite books."
"What are you talking about. It's an amazing love story between two ninjas during a time of war." Blake retorted, defending her series.
"I know. Kara and Summer both like it but it's nothing compared to my favourites." Bianca slipped out the copy of Icha Icha and held it in front of her. Blake looked at the book in disgust.
"My book may have elements of smut in it, but that book is all smut." Blake pointed out. "How can you even stomach that?"
"So you admit you read porn?" Weiss accused, before quickly rounding onto Bianca. "And you! You're suppose to be me. How dare you read porn!"
"How dare you criticise me?" Bianca retorted straight back. Nova walked behind the team and handed her own copy to Ruby. The ever curious girl was happy to find out what the fuss was about as she turned to the first page, Yang looking over her shoulder. "This is my hobby, so fuck you."
"Hobby?" Weiss really had no answer to Bianca flipping her off, except to question her. "What's so good about reading porn?"
"It gives her ideas to use in bed." Nova said from Ruby's shoulder as Yang looked over the other. Ruby turned towards the next page, enraptured by the words strung together on the page. At her words however, everyone turned towards her, connecting the dots. Nova impishly smiled in return.
"Yes Nova, please tell the impressionable young Hunters about our relationship." They could see the sarcasm dripping from Bianca's mouth. Nova stopped her reading and pressed a kiss to Bianca's temple. Bianca sighed irritably but Nova knew she loved it.
"They would have found out eventually." Bianca pondered on the probability of them keeping it a secret but conceded it would be near improbable.
"A little tact next time." Weiss replied as Nova hugged her from behind and rested her chin on her head. Sans Yang, who was grinning like a madman, Weiss and Blake looked at them in shock and Ruby had her starry eyes up in full effect.
"You...and you?" Weiss looked at the couple before looking at Yang, who winked at her cheekily.
"We'd make a great couple, don't you think?" Yang slung her good arm around Weiss, trapping the girl.
"Get off me." Weiss slugged her, throwing off the offending appendage.
"But princess..." Yang did her best to not break out into laughter as she pouted at Weiss. Ruby ignored the performance and continued reading, delving deeper into the world of Icha Icha. "Look how good we look together."
Bianca and Nova had terrifyingly wide grins on as Weiss looked over them again.
"Why are you grinning at me like that?" Weiss couldn't shake the feeling something was off.
That was all it took as the three broke facade and burst into fits of giggles.
"You two were right. My face must have been something to watch." Yang leant on the shopping cart for support. "Don't worry Weiss. I'm not attracted to you. There's someone else."
Yang quickly looked over at Blake, hoping she wouldn't spot the gaze. Unfortunately for her, she had made herself the center of attention and Blake returned the gaze. Yang flushed at her blunder and Blake flushed at having her feelings confirmed but both were incredibly happy they were correct about the other.
Ruby was thankfully engrossed in her new book and Weiss was too shocked to notice, but Bianca and Nova noticed and silently moved their plans for them ahead.
"How are you laughing at this?" Weiss demanded of Yang. "We somehow end up together in the future."
"Because they're not from our future." Yang placated. Neither of them noticed as they continued to move through the store, dropping things into the cart. Ruby and Blake trailed behind them, completely engrossed in their respective books. They got a few weird looks. "Different dimension entirely."
"Oh. At least I was right in my multiverse theory." Weiss let up off of her ire for Yang. "So how'd you do it?"
"The liberal use of Nova's, Summer's and my own Semblance." Bianca answered. Of course there was their sheer determination and hope to never see the war happen, but that was more of a footnote. And the dimensional fracture of Salem tearing the Primordials in. Another smaller footnote.
"Not my own Semblance?" Blake looked up from her book, feeling a little hurt she didn't help with the dimensional jump.
"Your Semblance wasn't needed for it." Nova explained. "Though your ability to avoid death by allowing your clones to take hits is very useful in battle, it had no practical effects when applied to time and spacial travel."
"Summer's Semblance was used to achieve the near speed of light needed to break through the dimensional barriers, Nova was used to power Summer's Semblance and my own. My glyph was used to anchor our bodies to our universe and keep us safe during the jump." Bianca continued. "I'm not so sure we could attempt to do it again without scattering ourselves across the multiverses."
"That's SO COOL!" Ruby interrupted her reading to exclaim her delight at figuring something out about Summer. "Can I really run that fast?"
"No. Your body can't handle that level of acceleration and velocity, but you can still easily outpace anyone." Ruby slightly deflated, but was happy nonetheless. She'd eventually figure out how powerful her Semblance really was with nothing more than a push in the right direction. A large push if she was correct in Summer's plans. "Enjoying the book?"
"It's surprisingly not bad." Ruby commented causing Blake to look scandalised. "I'm only a few pages in though."
"Just wait until you get to the good parts." Nova snickered, completely fine with giving a sixteen year old what amounted to porn. She was technically not a minor, but pissing off the prudish was always fun, especially Jaune.
"Ruby!" Blake nabbed the girl's attention. "Stop reading that filth."
Blake snatched the orange book from her hands and tossed it back to Nova, who looked disappointed Ruby hadn't gotten to the corrupting parts of the book. She'd have to corrupt her later, but knowing Kara, she'd have a nice competition for it.
"I'll get you a copy later Rubes." Nova moved their cart toward the checkout, completed with their regular purchases. "We can stop by the bookstore next."
"Books weren't on the list of items to buy." Bianca rebutted as she placed their items onto the conveyor belt. The nice old lady smiled at them as she began her job, scanning each item for the machine to tally.
"We'll get her something from the locker." Nova brushed aside the threat of Summer. "She could use a whole dozen or more rounds for Crescent Rose. You know she's pretty stingy with them as it is."
"True." Bianca conceded.
"Is Crescent Rose different from my own?" Ruby asked, ever curious about her weapon. '
"You could say that." Bianca responded cryptically. "You'll figure out at the locker."
Ruby held her tongue. The locker was close by, only a few dozen meters away, hidden behind grated steel and defended by automated stun guns. Fortunately, the law barred the installation of automated lethal systems, citing the inability of such systems to distinguish between friendly and hostile.
At one point, the Hunters would have championed the need for decisive defenses, but the destructive infection of the droids had taught them otherwise. Kara was still pissed and had a few grey strands from the months of working to rip apart the code keeping the droids operational.
The two stun guns followed their path as they approached the locker, ready to fire without a moment's hesitation at the slightest indication of a threat. The system wasn't perfect, evidenced by the rare occasion where it deemed a threat when there wasn't, but it reacted many times quicker than any Hunter could react.
An older Hunter greeted them warmly but the stun guns never stopped following them.
"Two dozen 30 millimeter rounds, unlinked please." Nova requested of him.
"Clearance?" Those were shells reserved for specially modified bullheads called Avengers. Less than a dozen were ever created and they were restricted to specially trained pilots. Coincidentally, 38C was where these bullheads were manufactured.
"No." Bianca took out her scroll, pulled up her profile and presented it to the man. He blinked confusedly at her until his eyes ran across the profile and spotted a small piece of information. "You will keep quiet about my business here I trust?"
"Of course ma'am." He politely bowed his head and disappeared into the back room in search of their request. He returned after a short delay and placed a heavy ammunition box on the counter.
"This, little Ruby, is what Crescent Rose was modified to fire." Nova unlatched the box to inspect the rounds and removed one to give to Ruby.
She stared wide-eyed at the immense round, her hands barely able to fit around the circumference.
"This thing is massive. It could take a Nevermore's head off." Ruby examined the cartridge, measuring it up to her forearm.
Nova thought more along the lines it could obliterate a man's chest cavity or punch of hole through Atlesian steel. It had downed more aircraft and warships than Grimm since its modification.
"Yeah." Nova ruffled Ruby's hair. "It's not really a rifle anymore if it fire those things is it?"
"More like artillery." She agreed, fixing her hair back into place. "But why?"
"Those tiny things your Crescent Rose fires are ineffectual against larger and more armoured Grimm." Nova explained as Bianca paid for her purchase. "Neither Myrtenaster nor Gambol Shroud nor Ember Celica can engage these Grimm at long ranges and Summer took it upon herself to modify Crescent Rose to fulfill the role."
Ruby nodded along, following the logic. Myrtenaster couldn't be modified to fire bullets as it only held dust cartridges for Weiss' glyphs. Gambol Shroud couldn't be modified to do it either without sacrificing its narrow profile and ability to screw on a suppressor and Ember Celica only fired shotguns, limiting it to short range.
Crescent Rose was the best option for long range engagements. Its barrel could be hidden within the handle and could further be hidden by the mechashift.
"Do you girls needs to restock?" Bianca asked Team RWBY as she completed her transaction.
"A box of 9 mm please."
"A box of 7.62 mm please."
"A box of bird shot and slug, both 12 gauge please."
Blake, Ruby and Weiss requested their respective ammunition. Weiss felt a little left out but her weapon didn't use ammunition. It used refillable dust cartridges and she had enough Dust back in their room to do so.
The clerk removed the four boxes and placed them on the counter. Ruby paid for all of them, placing them on the team's budget.
Grabbing their ammunition, they retreated back to their filled cart and moved towards the elevators, ready to return home with their spoils. A convenient elevator car sat ready and willing to take them to the roof.
A short ride later and they stepped onto the roof, dragging their spoils to their ship.
"To the bookstore now?" Ruby asked as they finished packing their cargo into the fuselage. Though the bullheads usually carried people, if had several cargo nets in storage to lash down loose items.
"Really want to continue reading that book don't you?" Nova teased as she boarded the ship. Ruby nodded eagerly. She didn't really see what Blake found wrong with them. "Hop in. We're going for a ride."
Team RWBY jumped in and spread along the cargo netting. Nova took her place among them as Bianca hopped into the cockpit to start off their journey.
"You can continue asking me all the questions you want. We have thirty minutes until we get to the bookstore." Nova settled into the netting, moving aside a few items to make room.
"Thirty minutes is all the way back to Beacon." Blake noticed, her dutifully trained body keeping the time for her.
"Observant." Nova remarked. "That particular district contains your, and coincidentally, our favourite bookstore."
"Tukson's?" Blake's ears cutely flicked within the confines of her bow, rubbing against the delicate material. They all felt as Bianca lifted the craft into the air and angled back towards Beacon.
"I'd wish you'd stop wearing your bow Blake." Nova took notice of her ear's struggle. "You look much better without it."
"I have worked long to keep my nature hidden." Blake retorted, frowning at the mention of revealing her identity.
"Kara doesn't care." Nova replied flippantly. "She says it hurt her ears immensely and chaffs twice as much."
"They hurt?" Ruby, Weiss and Yang turned towards the Faunus.
"I got used to it." Blake replied, ears twitching again.
"Blake." Weiss got her attention. "Take it off. Please."
"Once people make the connection between you and Kara, your secret is blown anyways." Nova sagely added.
"Blake." A hand on her cheek startled her out of her thoughts. Yang had crept up while she was in her stupor and sat down next to her. "Please."
The hand migrated north, fearing it would be stopped, but no resistance came. It briefly played with her luscious black strands before tugging at the fabric obscuring her heritage. The loose end of the bow gave way at the hand's insistence, revealing a pair of midnight feline ears. They sprung loose from their confines, happy to be free.
"That's much better, isn't it?" Nova smiled genially. Blake massaged her ears, rubbing feeling back into them. She couldn't help but feel vastly exposed, even in the confines of the bullhead, even among those who already knew her secret. She wryly smiled back at Nova.
"Feels like a cool breeze." Blake said. Ruby was visibly trembling as Nova held the girl back from jumping the Faunus and molesting her ears. "Is she...shaking?"
"Your ears are pretty cute." Nova conceded. Weiss and Yang nodded in agreement as Nova tightened her grip on their leader.
"These ears are the reason my kind are discriminated against." Blake frowned. "All people see when they look at me is 'exotic'. I'm not human to them."
"Yet when Ozpin and his Hunters look at you, they see nothing but a Hunter, regardless of those pretty ears or slitted pupils you have." Nova settled into the cargo netting, searching for a more comfortable position. "Besides, you have no kind."
"What do you mean I have no 'kind'?" Blake's face furrowed in confusion. "I am a Faunus, through and through. We fought for our freedom."
"And therein lies the entire problem." Nova leant forward and stared at her golden eyes. "Faunus are treated as they are because they inherently believe they are different, when you are nothing more than humans with a few extra features."
"Tell that to Cardin and his band of bullies."
"Summer will beat the ever living shit out of Cardin if he continues his petty discrimination against the Faunus." Nova retorted. "He'll learn to respect his comrades or she'll boot him off the cliffs and into the lake below."
"No." Her response startled the team, but Nova didn't look too rattled. "I don't want anyone fighting my battles."
"It wouldn't be much of a battle." Bianca said from the corridor to the cockpit. "Summer would look at him wrong and she'd win."
"You haven't told us much about Summer." Ruby noticed, wiggling against the arm pinning her down from feeling up Blake's ears. "Tell us about her."
"We haven't told you much about Kara either." Bianca said. "Summer is a hard person to describe."
"More like impossible." Nova concurred. "Summer is many things. She's a walking contradiction."
"But she's still Ruby, right?" Weiss prodded.
"Describe Ruby for me." Bianca responded.
"Idealistic, awkward, impulsive, eager, lazy, quick, reckless, brave, kind." Blake, Weiss and Yang took turns listing about Ruby's most prominent characteristics as the girl turned redder with each word. Once out of steam, they looked back towards Bianca.
"Summer is all and none of these." Nova responded to them. "Summer isn't the Ruby you know. She's changed. She's grown up."
"But she's still Ruby, right?" Weiss asked.
"You'll meet her later on today or tomorrow." Nova repeated. "Describing someone you've known without using petty words is difficult."
"Nothing at all?" Ruby continued asking.
"It's an honour to fight by her side during battle." Bianca added. "That's the only statement I can truly make about Summer."
"That's it?" Yang pressed. "That's she's a great Hunter?"
"It's not our place to speak about our leader." Nova replied. "She's an amazing Hunter, but personality speaking, you'll have to see for yourself."
There was no further questioning. They understood they'd get no further with their line of questioning.
"How good of a Hunter is she?" Ruby decided to question again.
"Curious little Rose?" Ruby snuggled into Nova's side. It was hard not to feel comfortable in her presence when she called her with the same nickname as her mother did. It also didn't hurt that she was snuggling into her right side. "Summer is the strongest Hunter I've ever seen."
"Really?" Ruby looked up at Nova while reaching towards the arm wrapped around her. "How strong?"
"Strong enough to fight Headmaster Ozpin to a standstill." That was if he fought fair. Not even Nova would survive the Headmaster's full power. She was relatively sure that if they fought the Headmaster as a team, they might be able to force him down, but even those were slim chances.
"But Headmaster Ozpin is the strongest Hunter alive." Ruby said. Bianca and Nova nodded in reply. "Can I get that strong?"
"We're taking over your training, so we'll do our damn best." Bianca said. "Ozpin has stationed us as instructors at Beacon, but until the term begins, you're all our apprentices."
"Yay!" Ruby hugged the metal arm in glee. "Thank you!"
"You won't be thanking us tomorrow." Nova chuckled dryly. Blake flinched at her implications. Adam said the same when he'd first taken her as an apprentice. She loathed her teacher for months after he started training her.
"Now I'd like my arm back please." Covert may have been Summer and Kara's schtick, but watching Ruby manipulate Nova to inspect her arm was too cute. Ruby released her death grip on the arm embarrassedly. "Yang asked for an exact copy of my arm so you'll be able to play with it all you wish."
"Oh yeah sure. Pawn her off to me." Yang crawled away from her sister, avoiding her pleading looks. "Fine. You can paint it gold."
"Really? Gold?" Nova looked at Yang weirdly.
"There's something severely wrong with your dimension if you don't like gold." Yang quipped in return.
"It's much too opulent of a colour." Bianca added. "White is much more neutral and pleasing."
Everyone bar Weiss snorted at the notion. They each had their preferred colours. Not even war could mute Nova's like of the colours gold and yellow, but it sure did teach her it wasn't a colour to wear outside of leisure.
"Alright, alright." Nova broke them out of their narcissism. "We still have a few minutes before we land. I believe Nova had asked Bianca about her hair before you interrupted us."
"Why?" Weiss tugged at her hair protectively, draping its considerable length over her shoulder. "Why'd you cut it?"
"Maintenance was too much of hassle." Bianca played with the shortened strands, presenting them to Weiss. "Much easier to fight with too. Hair doesn't fly into my face when I turn rapidly and doesn't become an absolute pain to deal with when it rains."
"I've never actually thought about it that way. Does it really get in the way that much?"
"I would recommend shortening it drastically." Nova replied, grabbing at her own hair. "Even I shortened my hair. Not as much as Kara or Bianca, but short enough to not get in the way. I just keep mine in a ponytail for combat."
"I cut my hair too?" Blake asked. "How short?"
"Summer, Kara and I cut our hairs to similar lengths." Bianca responded. "Not even a direct order from Summer could convince Nova to shorten it any further."
"Did you willingly cut your hair or did you suddenly wake up with Summer standing above you with scissors?" Yang jokingly asked.
"I'd have killed her before she could blink. You know how we get with our hair." Nova said. "There was copious amounts of bribery involved."
Yang nodded in self satisfaction, happy Nova didn't give up too easily without a fight.
"How did you and Bianca end up together?" Yang turned the conversation on its head.
"There's this thing I do with my tongue." Nova replied lewdly, staring at Weiss. She flinched away from her piercing gaze, blushing intensely.
"Can you teach me this technique?" Yang replied, keeping up with the pace of the conversation.
"Yang!" Weiss sputtered out, fighting to keep some measure of composure. Nova shuffled to sit on Yang's other side, depriving Ruby of being sandwiched between the two.
"It's not something that can be taught." Nova whispered to Yang, barely audible in the fuselage. Bianca could see the hairs on Blake's neck and ears rise in envy. "It's something I have to show you."
"And how are you planning on showing me?" Yang would not back down from this challenge, her pride ruthlessly crushing her instinct to flee. She turned her head to face her, violet meeting violet in a clash of colour, perfectly blending in the middle. She could feel Nova's breath on her lips, centimeters away from pushing her over the edge of decency.
Bianca fought to keep from laughing and ruining the tension around them. She placed a soothing hand on Blake's shoulder, dispelling any actions she had planned. Weiss and Ruby were watching the two in rapt confusion, faces unable to decide between disgust, wanting to interfere, and wonder of what would happen next.
"Come by our room tonight and we'll show you." Nova whispered into Yang's ear, nibbling it lightly as she stood and returned back to cockpit, leaving a turned on teenager and her three teammates in the fuselage.
"If you want Yang to be yours, then I suggest you move before tonight." Bianca whispered into Blake's ear, inaudible to anyone except her, before joining her wife in the cockpit, leaving the team of four to stew in their thoughts. She closed the partition with a resounding clang.
"Did that really just happen?" Blake asked.
"Did I really just get an invitation to a threesome?" Yang replied, her smile infuriating Blake. "I guess I did."
"You're not going to accept, will you?" Blake hesitantly pried.
"Maybe you should join me?" Yang crawled over to her, her sexiness greatly diminished by her use of only one arm. "We could make it a four-"
The end of her sentence was lost as the ship hit a patch of turbulence as it landed, sending its occupants sprawling across the floor. Yang, only propped on one hand, lost her stance and was sent onto her back.
"Okay. So maybe it's not a good idea for me to move around." Yang groaned out. "Gimme a hand?"
"Asking for my help? With puns?" Blake grabbed her hand and hoisted her to her feet. She noticed Yang lightly holding something black in her hand. "Holding onto my bow for me?"
Yang didn't even realized she was still holding it, clutching at the black fabric.
"Keep it." Blake took the ribbon and tied it around Yang's wrist, looping it several times and securing it in place. "It's yours now."
Yang smiled back at Blake. Throughout it all, either neither realized Blake was still holding Yang's hand or they just both didn't want to let go.
The sound of a shutter startled them from their moment, the sound egregiously loud, almost mocking in volume.
"Thanks for the blackmail." Bianca pocketed her scroll before swinging herself out the breach, landing on the docks. "You guys coming?"
Ruby and Weiss jumped after Bianca, but not before sending their other teammates curious looks.
"Summer wears Kara's ribbon on her neck." Nova told them as they hopped out of the craft. Bianca and her entourage were already several meters ahead and didn't look too concerned with leaving them behind. "But hey, to each her own."
"Why does she wear it?" Blake asked as Nova locked up the ship. "I gave mine to Yang because she's my partner."
"She gave it to her." Nova replied. "Probably for the same reason you gave it to Yang."
"Because she's my partner?" Blake responded without hesitation.
"Yeah. Sure. That's the reason." Nova scoffed as they passed the dock's gates. "It has nothing to do with your crush on her at all."
Blake stumbled on the flat sidewalk, but was able to grab onto Nova on her way down, preventing a faceplant onto the sidewalk.
"Did I say something untrue?" Nova helped the girl to her feet. Both Nova and Yang had massive grins on their faces.
"I'm starting to think hanging out with two Yangs isn't good for my health." Blake lamely replied. "And no, you didn't"
Blake slipped her hand into Yang's and pulled her forward, leaving Nova behind to chase after their teammates. Nova briefly watched them before jogging after them, catching up to them as they disappeared into the bookstore.
She snagged the door as it closed and entered the cool bookstore. Blake had led Yang over to a small unmarked section she knew contained their favourite genres. Bianca, Ruby and Weiss were at the counter, chatting up Tukson's son, Marcus.
"Good afternoon." Marcus greeted her. "I'll be right with you."
"Don't bother." Nova waved him off. "I'm with them."
"Very well." Marcus turned back to Bianca, but before he could, his scroll beeped several times in rapid succession. The colour of his face drained incredibly quickly as he checked his scroll for the message.
"There's someone who wishes to meet you two in the back." He managed to stammer out. Bianca clicked Myrtenaster's cylinder into its blue position as Nova disengaged the safety on her gauntlets. "She asked me to show you this coin."
Marcus took out an iron coin from the cashier's drawer and presented it to them. Unremarkable in its current dirty state, the face on the coin was nonetheless clear. They may have recognized the inscription on the sides, but neither released their holds on their weapons.
"Through here." He gestured towards the back door after they nodded to his request.
"Blake, show Ruby her new book and get yourself something too." Bianca handed over two hundreds before pushing on the storeroom door. "Try not to spend it all."
The storeroom was impeccably clean, with nary a book or box out of place. The only caveat was a woman sitting in a chair out of direct sight of the door. A light pink and brown parasol rested against her thigh as she observed them.
A pair of heterochromatic pink and brown eyes watched them with wariness but her hand made no move to grip the handle of her weapon. Her other hand held open a page on a thin closed book whose title they couldn't make out.
"Greetings Neo On." Bianca signed out, causing the Neo to pause from pulling out her scroll to communicate.
"Oh good. You know sign language. You're already much better than the people I work with." Neo replied, thrilled she wouldn't have to be limited to typing for a conversation. "I assume you've recognized the coin Marcus showed you or you wouldn't be here. Not many would."
"It pays to know about the arcane. Especially with so many still around us."
"You and your team are interesting." Neo continued. "I had a marvelous view of your striking entrance and the short performance you put on with the Dragon."
"Not my work I'm afraid." Nova responded. "My leader's work. Why'd you arrange this meeting?"
"To satisfy my curiosity. I can feel the power you're both suppressing." Nova and Bianca didn't react to her statement. From different dimensions they may be, but certain pieces stayed the same. "You aren't surprised."
It was a statement, not a question.
"Have you figured out who we are?" Bianca asked.
"Your names I haven't managed to figure out, but I'm certain you're not from this dimension. The light show you put on was you tearing into this reality." Neo analysed. "As to how you recognize the coin, know my name, and know I'm a sensor; you must know your dimension's Neo."
"Correct. You may call me Bianca and this is my wife, Nova. Is your curiosity sated for now?"
"For now." Neo repeated. "I do however wish to meet your leader. There's something… off about her."
"I'm sure she'd like to meet as well." Nova pulled out her scroll and gave it to Neo. "After all, like minds should stick together."
Neo froze as she grabbed the offered scroll, contemplating the statement thrown her way. Her bright eyes receded into empty crystals devoid of life, much like a certain team leader's.
"And what do you know about my mindset?" Neo asked as she inputted her contact information into the scroll and snapped a picture of her face for reference.
"Only that my leader and you share much more than differently coloured eyes." Nova took her scroll back and returned it to her leg pouch. "Anything more you want to know warrants a personal meeting."
"Any particular time and place?" Neo asked, throwing the ball into their side of the court. They couldn't tell if it was a small measure of trust or a show of power.
"My leader and her partner are patrolling Beacon tonight. I'll tell them to expect you." Bianca responded, closing out their meeting.
"I'll enjoy the challenge." Neo concluded. "When you leave, ask Marcus for the coin. It's yours to keep."
"You're aware we'll have to notify Headmaster Ozpin about this meeting?" Bianca queried, hesitant about Neo's potential reaction.
"Is that what he calls himself these days?" Neo said in mock surprise, silently laughing. "Ozpin? Doesn't roll off the tongue like his original. Be sure to give him my regards."
Neo dismissed them, returning back to her leisure reading, no doubt a book nicked from the countless filled boxes around her. Nova and Bianca filed out of the room and back into the bookstore where their new students awaited them in boredom.
"You're alive?" Marcus greeted them in shock.
"Of course. She wanted a meeting and nothing more." Bianca replied. "She also wanted us to have the coin."
He handed over the coin without another word, thoroughly terrified about the three powerful Aura users surrounding him, but beyond thankful they hadn't decided to brawl in his store.
"Who were you meeting?" Ruby asked.
"No one." Bianca replied. They ushered them out the door and began their short journey back to the docks.
"C'mon. Just tell us who you were meeting with." Ruby continued to pry.
"We told you the truth." Nova responded. "No one."
"Fine." Ruby huffed. "Don't tell me."
Bianca and Nova shared a knowing look. It really was the truth. Neo On was nothing more than a simple anagram for who she really was. Though, calling her Neopolitan may have thrown off her name was an anagram in the first place.
"Are we going home now." Ruby asked as they pathed the same way they went to the bookstore.
"Yes." Bianca pacified her. "You can meet Summer and Kara when we get back. Happy?"
The girl squealed in excitement at the prospect, eager to see how she'd changed considering Bianca and Nova were being incredibly tight lipped about her. Blake, however, had more reservations about meeting Kara as they had told her nothing about herself she didn't already know.
A couple minutes of walking in silence and they arrived back at the docks, their bullhead gleaming silver in the late evening sun. The crystal clear waters of Beacon's lake glistened in yellows and oranges, harkening twilight.
Getting by security was a breeze. Most aircraft in the area had been grounded due to the invasion in the cliffs above and only those with clearance or rank priority were allowed to pilot aircraft in the airspace.
A quick scan on the gates with their scrolls allowed them access to their ship and another scan unlocked it. Their previous haul sat securely tied by the cargo netting.
Blake helped Weiss slam the side door shut as Nova and Bianca disappeared into the cockpit. They would be no questions for this ride. It took less than five minutes to get from the docks to Beacon, a trip all of them could count off from the number of times a ferry had done the same.
In a matter of seconds, the craft lifted from its pad and roared forward, waves rippling from the jet exhaust as they angled to flight mode. Around them flew half a dozen or more aircraft, either flying towards the school or away from it, carrying construction material, food, weaponry; anything the school needed to replenish itself to become fully operational.
Instead of waiting in line for one of the three pads to open up, Nova brought the craft around to the side, back to the hangar. It was not only closer to the dorms to make unpacking easier but it saved them the time of playing chicken with the other pilots.
Just as when they left, the hangar's roof remained open, ready to accept them. Nova set the aircraft down gently next to its twin, guiding it through the opening.
Ruby flung the door open before the engines completed spinning down.
"Ruby!" Bianca called after her. "You don't know where our room is."
"How are you planning on getting all of that into your room?" Weiss asked. "Multiple trips?"
"Multiple trips are for the weak." Nova removed the net from their cargo and placed it on the floor. She then placed all of their bought items into the netting and wrapped it all tightly into a misshapen ball of boxes and hard angles. "You're going to carry it all."
"I'm sorry. What?" Weiss blinked blankly back at her. "I'm the smallest person here. You can't expect me to carry all of it. Make Yang do it."
"Hey." Came the predicted response from Yang. She waved her stump around to emphasize her next point. "One arm."
"Watch." Bianca spawned a glyph underneath the cargo and another smaller pair at the sides to keep it in place. She then repeated the same three glyphs multiple times, layering them in front of the cargo, leading them out the door and into the hanger. Nova gave the cargo a push and it gliding along until the glyphs ended and impacted the ground, yet another glyph softening the impact. "See? Easy."
"I've never tried to sustain more than one glyph at a time." Weiss replied.
"Never know until you try." Bianca pushed the girl out of the craft. "If you can't do three, try to at least get it to the dorms with one and we'll guide it in a straight line."
Weiss looked back in uncertainty but a returned stare of confidence from her team bolstered her resolve. She spawned a glyph under the cargo and tested the weight. Even if the cargo altogether weighed around fifty kilo, every second it rested on her glyph slowly drained her pool of Aura.
She spawned another glyph in front of it, again testing the difficulty of keeping two glyphs sustained. Then came the challenging part of lowering the glyphs' coefficient of friction to zero and maintaining it as she pushed the cargo along. She gave a sharp grunt of surprise as the second glyph took on the weight of the cargo, dropping her core to slightly above three quarters.
Bianca had made it look easy. She felt pathetic compared to her. She had easily generated twelve glyphs just in the short span it took to move the cargo from the fuselage and she couldn't even spawn two without straining her core.
"Getting tired?" Bianca remarked, noticing the bead of sweat on Weiss' temple.
"It took a fourth of my Aura to move the cargo approximately three meters." Weiss slipped behind her analytical defences. "I don't even stand the chance of moving the cargo to the hangar doors."
"Was I this bad during my first year?" Bianca asked Nova as the latter moved the place her hand on Weiss' shoulder. "Keep going until you run out of Aura."
"Yeah. Just about." Nova brushed aside Weiss' protests of continuing and prodded her forward. "You put yourself through hell for four years to get to where you are now."
"On the off chance I don't die from Aura exhaustion, how many can you control at once?" Weiss ground out as she continued to push the weight forward.
"Two hundred, three hundred. I honestly never bothered the count." Bianca closed the hangar roof with her scroll and pressed another button to open the side door for their cargo. "But that's years away. Focus on getting up to three for now."
"Three hundred!" This revelation broke Weiss' concentration and caused the cargo to stop. Nova, however, didn't release her shoulder, urging her to continue. "I'm never going to get there."
"As I said, that's years away." Bianca said. "Also, remind me to hit Ozpin and Glynda over their heads if they don't upgrade the curriculum. This is just sad."
"Not everyone has had four years of grueling training like you have had." Weiss made the final push to the door's threshold. "We just finished our first year."
"Excuses, excuses." Bianca waved her words aside. "Now, why'd you stop?"
"Because I'm drained…" Weiss wiped the sweat off her forehead and checked her reserves again. To her surprise, she noticed they hadn't dipped at all during her short jaunt and might have even filled up a bit. "I'm confused."
"You're tired from the mental strain of the exercise, but as long as I'm connected to you, you'll have all the Aura you need to get to the dorms." Nova explained. "Keep going. It's only another hundred metres."
"Only another hundred metres she says." The little tidbit of information of Nova sharing her Aura with Weiss completely flew over the young team's head. "Why don't you try carrying all of this?"
Nova took up the challenge and released her shoulder. She grabbed the netting and cleanly lifted it with one hand, arm not even shaking from the strain required.
"You were saying?" Nova chided as she latched back onto Weiss' shoulder and began feeding her Aura into her. Weiss grumbled something about overpowered blondes under her breath but resumed her task nonetheless.
Weiss pushed out into the twilight with Ruby dutifully following and providing words of encouragement. The other three were however stopped by one of them freezing at the threshold to the outside.
"What is it?" Yang stopped by Blake's side.
"I've never had my ears exposed for any time at Beacon." One of Blake's ears twitched.
"You were fine having them exposed down in the district."
"That's different. Marcus already knew and I didn't know anyone else down there. This is my home, the only home I've got right now. I don't want to screw it up."
"What's there to screw up?" Bianca stepped to Blake's other side. "This is your home. Everyone who knows already doesn't care and those who do care aren't worth worrying about."
Yang slipped her hand in Blake's as a comforting gesture, squeezing it lightly.
"Let's go lovebirds. They won't wait up for us." Bianca stalked towards the other group, leaving them to follow. They shared blushes before jogging to catch up.
"Are you not tired from sharing your Aura with me?" Weiss asked after they passed the halfway point to the dorms. Her team dutifully followed behind her and would have helped her long ago if Nova hadn't told them not to.
"No. I could refill you and your team around a hundred times before I would feel a dent in my pool." If it was anyone else, Team RWBY would have called bullshit and called her out for bragging.
"Either our pools are ridiculously small compared to yours or you're just an Aura monster." Blake analysed. It was impossible to gauge a Hunter's reserve unless they had the proper equipment. All Hunter issued scrolls had the ability to measure the percentage a Hunter had, but measuring the amount stored was something the scroll couldn't do.
"It's kind of both." Nova passed enough Aura to Weiss to complete the push to the dorm doors. "It's nothing more than a handy byproduct of using my Semblance and four years of training."
"How?" Yang asked as Weiss collapsed onto the ground, finished with her task.
"Haven't you experimented with your Semblance?" Nova looked at her in wonder.
"Yeah. I get punched and I punch back harder."
"That's the most basic definition you could ever make about our Semblance."
"Then enlighten me, oh wise one."
"What happens when you get punched and you have your Semblance activated?"
"I don't know." The question stumped Yang. "I've never thought about it, I just use it."
"Our Semblance is very useful. It does exactly as you say but it can do so much more. Whenever we take a hit with our Semblance active, the kinetic energy from the hit is converted into Aura at the cost of Aura, which allows us to withstand enormous amounts of damage as long as we have the Aura to fuel it."
"I'm following." Neither of them noticed as Weiss climbed up onto the cargo and forced Bianca to carry her. Ruby looked entirely put out at not being able to ride with her and was forced to march beside it. Blake continued to be led by her hand as she read her book with the other, keeping a small part of her mind on the conversation next to her.
"Aura usage is much like exercise. The more it's used, the more you'll have available. Now, burning Aura is easy and all, but the method of burning Aura is important and this is where our Semblance shines. It's not just a punch or a kick that can be absorbed by the Semblance, but the simple action of stepping forward onto the ground registers as an impact."
"That's...I've never seen it in that way before. So I can be training even as I'm walking to class?"
"Yes. Now this isn't why my Aura pools are so massive. Our Semblance has a secondary ability I call Aura synthesis." Nova bent down a picked up a stray pebble off of the path. "Does this pebble contain energy?"
"This is a trick question isn't it?" Yang looked at the pebble in confusion, trying to get another angle on it. "I'm guessing yes."
"You're right. Me holding this pebble above the ground gives it potential energy and if I threw it, it would have kinetic energy. But it also contains what is called mass-energy, energy which any object with mass has intrinsically. You'll learn about it when you take physics next semester."
Nova checked to see if she still had her attention and if she understood the concept so far.
"By the Law of Conservation of Energy, neither Aura nor energy can be created, only converted from one form or another. Your Semblance allows you to easily convert kinetic energy to Aura and vice versa, such as taking a punch and giving a punch in return which you see as being hit and being able to give an even harder punch in return, which is nothing more than your Aura absorbing the impact and you subconsciously strengthening your limbs with the Aura gained."
"Hold up. I can gain Aura from absorbing impacts?"
"That's how our Semblance works after all. While it can absorb impacts at the cost of Aura, it can synthesise Aura as well. This process only works when enough energy is funneled into your Semblance to offset the cost of converting it to Aura. Thus, we have a theoretically infinite amount of Aura. You can probably guess I expanded my reserves by abusing this very simple mechanic."
"That's not fair." Ruby voiced off, apparently engrossed in this conversation.
"That's so broken. So what is this thing about the pebble?"
"I'll tell you in a few months if you haven't figured it out. Ask your physics professor for some hints about mass-energy if you're stuck. Think about it." Nova abruptly ended their conversation and jumped up to the second story of the dorms using Bianca's glyphs as platforms.
"That's our room." Bianca pointed out as Nova crept through the window and disappeared from her sight. "And judging by the lack of gunshots, Summer and Kara have already left for their night patrol."
"Is that the usual way they greet each other?" Ruby asked, disappointed she wouldn't get to meet Summer and Kara today.
"It's their usual response if someone enters the room while sleeping." Bianca replied while unlashing the cargo. "Yang, you're kinda useless for this part so just practice using your Semblance while pacing in a circle. You three are helping me move this."
Bianca spawned three glyphs, zigzagging them up the wall. She indicated for each of them to occupy one of the glyphs as Yang began stamping her foot, trying to get a feel for how her Semblance functioned.
Blake sighed in irritation at having her reading time interrupted but complied nonetheless, taking the topmost glyph. Ruby took the middle one and Weiss stayed at the lowest one. Bianca started handing each item upwards, watching for any wobbles or failures in the link. She noted each of them knew how to apply their Aura to strengthen themselves.
When the last item made its way through the door, she snagged the cargo net from the ground and tapped Yang to break her from her meditative trance.
"We're done. Come on." Bianca jumped up the glyphs with Yang at her heels. She had to spawn a few more glyphs as Yang overbalanced or underbalanced her jumps as she got used to one side of her body weighing a bit less.
"Do we get to meet Summer and Kara tomorrow?" Ruby asked the very second Bianca came in through the window.
"I already told you little Rose, you'll meet her in the morning." Nova ruffled her hair. "Now scram and go to sleep."
"But it's only 2100." She whined.
"You have a new book. Go read it." Ruby disappeared faster than she could blink. Unfortunately she ran the wrong way once in the hallway, but Nova was sure she'd realize that sooner than later. Hopefully. "Go with her. You have a long day tomorrow. Get a good night's sleep."
Blake pulled Yang through the door, all the while reading from a book that had a suspiciously fake cover on it.
"By the way." Blake popped her head back into the room. "Yang will not be joining you tonight. She's mine."
She disappeared back into the open hallway, leaving three Hunters in the room.
"Well Weiss. There goes my plan for my threesome." Nova turned to towards the girl, striding towards the door and closing it. "You wanna play cards?"
"I was expecting an invitation in lieu of Yang rejecting hers." Weiss dryly replied.
"If you really want to then I'm all up for it."
"I don't think you could handle two of us." Bianca whispered seductively into her ear.
"I've dreamt of it." Nova whispered back. "We'll never know if we don't try."
"If you two are going to get frisky, I'll just go." Weiss made to stand up but Bianca pulled her down by her skirt.
"Stay. We can use this time to deal with some of your questions before Ruby and Blake meet Summer and Kara tomorrow. Playing cards just gives us something to do."
"Besides, it'll screw with your teammates in the morning when they realize you decided to sleep over." Nova added. "And you come back with tousled hair, rearranged clothes and a limp."
"I never agreed to a threesome."
"You can act well enough if the years we've spent with the Schnees is anything to go by." Weiss froze at Bianca's remark, looking horrified at Nova. "She knows. My entire team knows."
"Oh…" Weiss wasn't sure how to react.
"You can let it out." Bianca moved to sit beside her and pulled her head onto her shoulder. "I know how terrible our parents were, but you'll always have Winter and you'll always have your team."
Weiss didn't say anything, resting her head as she struggled to muster tears through dried up tear ducts. Years of carefully cultivating her perfect heiress mask were brushed aside in one as Ruby's incessant optimism and bubbly personality chipped away at it. Blake and Yang too, on a lesser degree as she spent the most time with her partner, but they became sisters for the times Winter couldn't be there for her.
The Schnees had done their best to create the very monster Summer had become. Their methods may not have been as deprived as the systematic torture Summer had gone through, but years of neglect and harsh lessons of love could create something damn similar.
Summer had nearly ordered the destruction of Schnee Castle and the execution of every single Schnee when she found out. She settled on a much more effective form of destruction after giving it some thought.
"You don't want to go back to Atlas I take it?" Bianca felt Weiss nod. "Then don't."
The absolutely simple answer garnered no immediate response from Weiss as she mulled it over.
"How? My father's going to issue summons any day now and I'll be forced to fly back or he'll send his security force to haul me back in to be disciplined." They both knew exactly what type of discipline their sperm donor prefered.
"You can do what I did and get married to someone from Vale to secure your citizenship and then renounce your Atlesian one. Then he legally wouldn't be able to do anything to you." Bianca joked and gave a light chuckle. "But there's another, much more simple way."
"What is it?"
"Do people really not read the inside covers of their passports? It's on the seventh page." Bianca quipped. "It states a civilian forfeits his or her citizenship by either renouncing it before a consular officer or, the one you and Pyrrha have already violated, by serving in the armed forces of a foreign government. You're a Hunter under Ozpin's commands, not under James'."
"Well that sucks. That really sucks. There's absolutely no law protecting me from him simply kidnapping me."
"But that's where you're wrong. Under the Great War Treaty of Cassus, citizens are allowed to serve under foreign governments as long as they serve within the Hunter faction. You still retain Atlesian citizenship, but because of the careful screening each applicant goes through, upon acceptance, you're guaranteed citizenship of the city-state you serve in. You can see where I'm going with this."
"So I could just leave Atlas behind completely?"
"I suggest draining your joint bank account with the Schnees and opening up a completely separate one. One last little kick in the teeth. The moment you became a Vale Hunter was the moment you became free."
"Are you two done plotting her independence or can we get a game started?" Nova interrupted them.
"No. What about Winter. Could they hurt her?"
"Winter is a protected by James as the next General of Atlas. They can't touch her personally, but they can severely impact Atlas' economy. They provide Dust and weaponry for their military and Hunters at reduced costs, provided the council gives them a legal monopoly over these. You should warn her if this is what you want to do."
"I'll warn her tomorrow." Nova dealt out three piles, letting them continue their schemes as she patiently sat and waiting for them to finish.
"We'll also have to warn James. With Atlas having to answer for their droids being used to mount an attack on Vale, the SDC's resources could come a long ways for repairing relations between the two states. He'll have to factor some aggression on their part for your independence."
"Sounds like a plan." Weiss grabbed one of the piles on the floor. "What game?"
"Big Two." Nova said. "You get first turn."
"I just don't want to make James' life harder than it has to be." Weiss placed down a pair of twos.
"We could wait until the very last second. Whenever you get your summons to come home, you can quickly transfer money, renounce your citizenship in front of James and simply replace it with one from Vale. Remind me to warn Ozpin too."
"And if my father sends over his security forces to ensure I come home?"
"You're an adult now meaning he has no claims to you. You can disown the name, which your father will no doubt strip from you anyways. If he continues to press, then he'll be charged with the attempted kidnapping of a foreign military personnel."
"Which he wouldn't ever attempt." Weiss concluded.
Bianca and Nova both agreed outwardly, but inside, they were worried this would be exactly what he would try. He'd try along the legal route first, but if he couldn't get his way, he would send his security force to convince Weiss to come home.
He was smart enough to realise the attempt would be immediately linked to him. With Weiss no longer being a part of the Schnees, he would be the only party with the motive to bring her back to the family. Atlas would protect him with all the Dust and weaponry his company provides at reduced cost for power in the council and Vale would have to protect its Hunter. It would hurt the strained relationship between the two even more than the failed invasion, which Vale could write off as a poorly executed terrorist attack.
However, if Weiss fell under the same protection Winter fell under, becoming his surrogate daughter, Schnee couldn't touch her. James had enough pressure to force his council to revoke the monopoly the SDC had on weaponry and Dust.
They hadn't even been in this dimension for two whole days and they already had plans within plans, but they already had the added benefit of planning during a time of peace and knowing the possible actions certain people could take. James was gaining daughters by the days.
Weiss looked at Bianca weirdly as she chuckled out of nowhere at this thought. Several rounds of cards had gone by in silence before her chuckling.
"What?"
"Nothing important." Bianca swept the round with a bomb. "You have a few questions I assume?"
"Not many. What you've showed me about your Semblance is nothing new; you've just had years of practice over me and your personal life is none of my concern. You are who I want to become in the future, but you haven't mentioned Summoning. You could have summoned the Arma Gigas and carried the cargo, but you used glyphs to move it."
"Truth is that I suck at Summoning and I don't like using it. I decided to focus on generating and manipulating glyphs, just as Winter decided to focus on summoning over direct manipulation. Either one of us could work on the other, but we're both set in our ways. I can't help you if you want to learn it, but that doesn't mean I can't help you with the former."
"Damn. Winter was only here for a few days during the tournament. She coached me a little bit but then she had to leave for Atlas again. Self study it is then." She pouted at the notion. "What made you decide to jump to a different dimension?"
"Boredom and curiosity." Nova answered. There was no way they were telling anyone the true extent of their planet's fall. Yang may have known one small tidbit, but giving her the small piece of information was nothing more than a test. If Yang kept her silence, then they would scold her for hiding secrets from her team and if she decided to tell them, then nothing would come of it.
"Really?" Weiss arched a perfectly manicured eyebrow. "You decided to jump into another dimension because you were bored and curious?"
Flimsy excuse but their secret was going to go to hell anyways if Yang came through. Hunters were naturally intelligent and would demand answers or investigate if certain conclusions didn't add up. Not even Ozpin could keep them a secret with their grandiose entrance as Neo put it. They could see Weiss looking at them suspiciously, looking for signs of deceit.
"Ask Yang if you want. We already told her."
"I would, but she seems to be busy with Blake at the moment." Weiss had noticed the possessive words Blake threw to Nova as she left the room.
"They're talking. They can't do anything with Ruby in the room and they wouldn't anyways. They don't want to screw this up by jumping too far too fast."
"That wasn't what I was implying but it'd still be rude to interrupt. Pervert."
"Ruby's probably interrupting them as it is anyways. Either Ruby doesn't care and is happy for them or they kicked her out to Team JNPR."
"Ruby loves her team and loves her sister even more." Weiss agreed. "She won't blink an eye at their relationship. The only thing they need to watch out for tomorrow is people's reactions to Blake's ears and Team JNPR's reaction to them dating."
"At least Nora and Ren will have a couple to talk with now."
"Nora and Ren aren't dating." Weiss contradicted them.
Bianca and Nova blinked at Weiss, then turned to each other and blinked again.
"They're dating." They responded in unison.
"No, they're not." Weiss insisted.
"Do they act like they're dating?" Bianca parried.
"Not really. Sometimes they act like it but Ren or Nora quickly deny it."
"They're dating." Nova sing songed. "Secretly dating mind you but still dating."
"You haven't even met the Nora and Ren of this universe."
"We knew the Nora and Ren of our universe extremely well so we're assuming this Nora and Ren would be similar to ours. We could be completely wrong and they are so completely in love with each other they fear a relationship would ruin their friendship."
"That actually sounds something Nora and Ren would do." Weiss couldn't help but remember all the awkward moments between the two whenever someone insinuated something between the two, how they would blush, look at each other and stammer a negative. "I'm an idiot. It's the same dance Yang and Blake do all the time."
"And there goes the fabled genius of Beacon, figuring it out. Now we're left with the task of getting those two to admit their feelings and start dating. Ideas?"
"Nope. I'm as clueless as any teenager. Try inviting one of them to a threesome and watch how the other reacts."
"Please note, my dear wife, that his idea came from the very same person who called not only Blake a pervert, but also both of us." Nova gave an evil chuckle. "The corruption is going along very well."
"It worked for Yang and Blake, so it should work on them." Weiss defended her point. "Both repressed or scared of the other's reaction because they care for each other. How did you two end up together?"
"I punched her after she suggested I should date Neptune." There may have been a few less walls standing after her punch. "Then the obligatory yelling she was dense and she punched me back for not being more clear on giving signals."
"Violent. Maybe Nora could punch Ren and they could work it out. Then again, a Nora punch would probably flatten Ren like a pancake."
"Good one. We could lock them in a room together until they confess but Nora would probably break down the walls before long."
"Maybe just seeing Blake and Yang together will cause them to act." Bianca added. "Crowd psychology states seeing others dating makes you more comfortable to date. While not a totally accurate definition, it may make them more likely to begin doing so."
"That's the plan? Hope?" Weiss looked incredulous. "You practically forced Blake and Yang together."
"Screwing with ourselves is allowed. We're similar enough to the point where we can act as older sisters. Screwing with others is a bit less allowed." Bianca explained their weird morality on the case. "Blake and Yang are so head over heels it was painful watching them. If we see Nora and Ren acting in the same fashion, then we can give them a push."
"Real sisterly affection there when you've propositioned two of us to sleep with you." Weiss' sarcasm bit back. "You gonna ask Blake and Ruby too?"
"I could. I've already slept with Summer and Kara before." That was more for curiosities sake than any real attraction.
"And you let her?" Weiss rounded on Bianca. "Your wife cheated on you and you're still with her?"
"I was right there with her." Bianca laughed. "It was fun and novel but that was really all to it."
"Perverts. I'm surrounded by perverts." Weiss abruptly threw her cards to the floor and stomped out of the room. "Good night!"
Bianca and Nova descended in giggles as Weiss slammed the door shut, shaking the walls with the strength she put into it.
"I'm going to enjoy corrupting her. Maybe we should show her the sex tape?" Bianca paled at Nova's idea. "Do you not have it?"
"It's on the drive." Nova paled with her. Ozpin was going to have a good time once he found that file.
"Shit."
AN: I'm alive. Time to clear some things up with names and appearances. Creating names and making them fit a word took the better part of two days.
Summer - Ruby took the name to honour her mother. Looks like Summer, bar the scars and eye.
Kara - Means Black in Azerbaijani. Looks like her mother Kali Belladonna.
Bianca - Means White in Italian. Looks like A2 from Nier:Automata with short hair.
Nova - From the word Supernovae. Another hint is in the hint she gave Yang in this chapter. Looks like Yang but slightly taller and with shorter hair.
Cassus - The name of the dragon shaped island of Remnant, meaning barren in Latin.
I want to explain my thinking as to why Nova and Bianca believe there is no such thing as a Faunus and this will offend many people. They don't believe there is a separation between Faunus and humans. Now calling them Faunus versus humans will sound racist, no doubt, but bear with me. In America today, August 2017, there are racial tensions between whites and blacks and I believe the only reason this exists is because people label themselves as either white or black, or they label others as white or black. This creates a massive divide between the two ethnicities. If people could just simply label themselves as humans, this would all stop and in the same manner, if Faunus saw themselves as humans with a few animal traits, and humans simply saw them in the same manner, there wouldn't be a need for the White Fang. Do what Ozpin does and accept people, regardless of a pair of ears or eyes.
This also extends to how I view the LGBT community. Not once have I used the terminology gay or lesbian to describe a relationship and I never will. Labeling brings unnecessary divides among people. I simply see it as two humans in love or in mutual attraction. Nothing more. Nova is attracted to Bianca and vice versa and that's it, nothing more. Don't sully it with labels, its just two humans in a relationship. In Remnant, I believe they have stamped out hate for people with different melanin count, and with lesbian and gay relationships.
If only the world worked in such a manner.