(A/N) So! I know I said this chapter would be up at the first, but since my finals are over and I had a few days off from work, I got a little excited. Prepare for lore and shameless fluff!
On another note, this is the second to final chapter of Act 2. Admittedly, it didn't work out how I planned, but I promise you this ended up so much better than I had originally planned out, with essentially the same plot still taking place. I'd like to think it worked out pretty well. Actually, I'm pretty proud of it. To be perfectly honest, though, this chapter does somewhat feel like more of a finale for me than the next one will be. In terms of the action-y, Silver Eyes plot line, this one will definitely round things out a bit more than the next one will be, but the whole thing with Weiss, Grey, and Ruby will be have more attention in Chapter 2.8.
Either way, I want to point out one more time that I see no point in taking a few months off after this Act finishes up. Once Chapter 2.8 is up some time in January, Chapter 3.1 will follow the same schedule as always since taking a break will admittedly feel like screwing you guys over, and I don't want to do that.
That said, welcome back to the jungle, Beautiful Hunters!
Act 2
Chapter 7
I don't trust them, the disembodied voice said to Grey. Glancing up from his note taking in Glynda's arena tutorial for the Vytal Festival Tournament, jotting down who might be an issue, he looked over to where the voice was urging him.
I think it's a pretty decent assumption not to trust anyone from Mistral, Grey telepathically shot back to him, You can read my memories. I don't even need to tell you the kind of stuff Rouge, Bloom and I had to go through back in the day. Biting the end of his pen, he glanced sidelong over to where Cinder Fall and her two teammates were sitting, mentally appreciating the naturally seductive appeal she possessed. That cold gaze, dominating smile, the casually sultry way she swayed her hips, all of which caught the eye of every guy and half of the girls in each Academy, making Grey believe that all she had to do to have someone was point to them and say "you."
Oh, don't even pretend you don't see it! The voice spat harshly. Grey smirked darkly, turning his attention back to the arena. After Pyrrha had demolished all of Team CRDL, she decided to accept the challenge Mercury threw at her, and watched nervously as the man went toe to toe with his cousin. He was good. Silently, Grey prayed to every god he could think of that he wouldn't have to fight either of them in the tournament. Or ever, for that matter.
Don't worry, I see what you're getting at, Grey reminded the voice. Even if they weren't from Mistral, being around that team set Grey on edge. The fourth member of Team Cinnamon- CMEN, but the actual acronym was spelled weird -was still a mystery, but the others? They weren't only dangerous, but unnervingly cunning. Unsettlingly, their auras said something even worse, and despite Emerald's and Mercury's reliance on Cinder, not to mention the former's hidden feelings for her leader that anyone paying attention was able to pick up on, it made Grey think that all three of them were worse than just elite criminals. They seemed evil. Granted, Mercury was more or less just blind muscle, but he wouldn't have put it past Emerald to literally steal candy from babies, and Cinder? The only reason Grey had never once approached her is because she scared him.
Grey easily suspected them as the people Ozpin and his crew were looking for, the ones trying to undo the peace of the world to reestablish their own, but they hadn't left any discernible trail for him to pick up on. Even if they were traitors to the kingdoms, Grey would never be able to prove it.
Grey tensed, being forcefully yanked out of his schizophrenic dialogue when he felt a hand fall on his own.
"You're not paying attention, Grey," Weiss scolded him lightly when he turned to her worried face, "Is something on your mind?"
"No, something's on my hand," he joked, smiling coyly, making Weiss roll her eyes. The heiress turned back to the last few minutes of the fight, but didn't take her fingers away from their throne until Grey shook them off. It wasn't that he minded, but with Ruby at his other side looking at them with a slightly homicidal twitch, it seemed dangerous to allow that to continue.
As the fight concluded, Grey thought to himself how easily Weiss was able to pick up on his inner monologue. It was sweet, really. A bit unsettling, sure, but she clearly cared about him if she could notice the subtle way his features changed with his thoughts, and judging by the silent hip bump Ruby gave him after he returned to his existential dialogue, the younger girl shared exactly the same quality. Was it weird that it made Grey uncomfortable? Feeling like he was cared for? The thought was so intriguing to him that he didn't even notice the fight in front of him end until Glynda was scolding Mercury for forfeiting. Grey furrowed his brow. Mercury was nearly equal to Pyrrha in ability and could probably beat her with a copious amount of luck. Why did he so easily give up?
Grey put the thought aside. Even though he was undeniably suspicious of Team CMEN, particularly of their missing fourth member, he had bigger issues he had to worry about at the moment. He had a trick up his sleeve he wanted to try. Rather, he wanted to reveal the skill the hunter helped him perfect. Rolling his shoulders, Grey got up and jumped into the arena.
"Guess I'm next," Grey proclaimed.
"Glad to see you're participating again," Glynda said proudly, but as she looked at him over her glasses, Grey could see the suspicious glint in her eyes. Grey tried to ignore it, sweat piling on his forehead.
"I want to fight you," Grey said, pointing into the crowd.
"Wait… me?" Ruby asked nervously, pointing to her chest. Grey grinned mischievously, then continued.
"And you, and you, and you." Grey pointed to Weiss, Blake, and then Yang in turn, creating a cacophony of sniggering and anxious murmuring in the crowd. There was no way Grey could be serious. He had a record of 4 and 9 with Yang alone. It made the half of the crowd that thought this was a joke believe he had a death wish, and the other, smarter half could tell that something wasn't quite right about this situation. Team RWBY had some of the best huntsmen in the Academy. The online betting pools for the tournament had even placed some of the best odds in their favor to take home the gold. If the four of them were fighting together, most of their classmates and professors agreed that they were unstoppable, yet Grey held no small amount of confidence as he called them out. The situation was too peculiar to be taken at face value. What was he planning?
Strangely enough, Glynda allowed it and a few minutes later, Grey was surrounded on all sides by the four members of his team. His hands hung at his sides, his fists balled tightly.
"I need you guys to trust me, alright?" Grey asked, his jaw set determinedly, "Promise?" Each of them exchanged a curious glance but nodded to him, then Grey turned to Pyrrha. "As for you, I don't want you to interfere. Just keep your lipstick on, K?"
Pyrrha never wore lipstick. Judging by how the rest of Team JNPR rose their eyebrows at her, this wasn't lost on them, but instead of calling them out on it, Grey's cousin just nodded grimly at him with a steely resolve. No one else knew what he meant by that. It was a secret code between them, Bloom, and Grandpa Arsen that meant, "Do it for Rouge," and was the ultimate, unquestionable way they told each other "I know what I'm doing, and under no circumstances should you do anything other than what I ask you to do." It was only ever used for emergencies, so Pyrrha obviously didn't like it. Regardless, she would remain in her seat unless Grey was either dead or dying.
Cracking his neck, Grey put up his hands. He was ready. With a wave of her riding crop, Glynda sounded the bell to announce the beginning of combat, and each of the members of Team RWBY charged him simultaneously. Grey didn't put up a fight. He didn't do anything other than immediately drop his hands and scream a blood curdling howl so loud that it shook the foundations of the building, and send all four members of the team flying into the walls. A hot wind blew into the stands. A bright flame surrounded Grey, and his aura, now a visible crimson color, burned into the floor surrounding him.
"It's good to see you guys again," Black Steele announced, "I'm glad it's under better circumstances this time."
The majority of people in the stands had cleared out at the point Black arrived, only Teams JNPR, RWBY, and CMEN remaining. Even CFVY had run away. Glynda looked at Pyrrha for confirmation, judging the girl's reaction to see what she, as a professor, should do since she knew the young champion had more experience with this beast than anyone. All Pyrrha was doing was leaning forward on her knees, anxiously curling her hands together.
Black stalked around the arena, cracking his knuckles and back. There was a bloodthirsty smirk on his lips as he glanced into the fearful eyes of the four girls. Each of them backed away from him, practically hiding behind their weapons. Only Yang looked confident enough to throw herself back into the fight, and tightening her fists, she charged. However, the deadly aura died away like a flick of a switch, and suddenly Grey was smiling up at her and her team with his trademark wolfish grin, appearing more like a golden retriever compared to his previous alter ego, making Yang stumble to a halt.
"Relax guys," he said bouncily, "It's still me. Black and I… came to an understanding. I wanted to show you to see what you would do."
"You can't be serious, Grey!" Pyrrha called from the stands, jumping to her feet, "Do you not remember what that man has done?!" Grey glared at her.
"Of course, I do!" he snarled, lashing out at her, "I remember that better than anyone! But after losing Ruby and Weiss once, I made a promise to myself to never let it happen again, and this was the only way to do it! I promise you that it's fine. Sit back down." Pyrrha was so angry that Jaune thought he saw a vein about to pop out of her forehead, but she did as she was told and returned to her seat.
The members of Team RWBY each had different reactions to Grey's reasoning for accepting his inner demon. Weiss faltered and let down her guard, Yang growled, Blake tensed, but Ruby? Ruby had the hardest reaction.
Just before Pyrrha returned to her seat, Grey saw Crescent Rose appear around his torso, Ruby standing behind him. A gunshot sounded, and Grey was pulled across the arena. He had put up a barrier around his abdomen just quickly enough to not get sliced by the blade, but before he could really recover, Weiss and Blake were already charging towards him airborne, coming down hard on him.
Grey fired a barrage of missiles, which Weiss bounded away from with a sigil, and Blake diverted with a shadow clone. Now at floor level, they doubled against him. Blake was the first, slashing her katana upwards which he parried away, then blocked the next few strikes. Weiss tagged in and stabbed at him rapidly, but what he wasn't able to block, he was able to dodge. Then, they came at him two on one, hitting him hard, making him cover his face and body with his arms, and surround himself with shields, and yet he was still blown away by Yang flanking him with a shotgun blast. Rolling away, Ruby scooped him up and slammed him into the floor, but his shield helped him recover right away after lessening the blow.
On his feet, he saw the lash of Gambol Shroud too late. Blake yanked hard on the chord and sent him flying into Yang who shot him into the ground. Weiss impaled Myrtenaster into the floorboards, forming a sigil underneath her opponent. Without any pause, she charged the mark with dust, and as Grey hit the ground, the semblance exploded into an eruption of hellfire that enveloped his entire body.
The four relaxed their shoulders, convinced that they had won the fight. When they started, they all had a terrible knot in their stomach that if they didn't take Grey down before he could summon Black Steele, they wouldn't be walking away from the fight unscathed, or even conscious. Looking up at the scoreboard, however, they knew they had failed. Even after taking one of the worst beatings the team had ever given out to a single opponent, Grey's aura was still nearly full, and rising from the flames of Weiss's bomb was his increasingly imposing form, the ashes floating in the air surrounding him. Black Steele was smirking at them, his lips oozing sass.
"Is that all? I'm disappointed," he jabbed, rolling his shoulders, "Let's get this over with, shall we?"
To say that Team RWBY didn't want to continue the fight would be an understatement. They wanted to run. Weiss dropped to her knees. Ruby was too afraid to even raise her weapon, and Blake was nowhere to be seen, having disappeared in the empty training arena. Yang, on the other hand, was already back in the fray.
Screaming an ululating battle cry, she was fast enough to get behind Black and raise her fist to throw a strong cross to the back of his head, but his sidestep was so casual that no one had even seen it until Yang's shells had broken the floor. Black had grabbed her wrist, redirecting her strike. When did he do that? With a tight torque of his arm, he pivoted and threw Yang across the room so hard that she hit the opposite wall parallel to the ground. She ricocheted to the floor in an unmoving lump.
Ruby glanced over at Yang's unconscious body with wide eyes, then turned to Black in a tsunami of uncontrollable fury, shooting towards him by firing a series of rounds behind her, using her semblance to gain momentum. Crescent Rose was raised above her head, reaching him at breakneck speed. She missed him. By the time Ruby had slashed her blade down to him, his arm was wrapped around her waist and his lips next to her ear, paying no attention to the shockwave that destroyed the half of the building behind them.
"Mmm, I like it rough," he told her. Fighting the blush burning her face, she backed up and rolled her scythe around her neck, holding the shaft behind her and turning her waist. This made the long range weapon able to be used at short range, close enough to get Black at the neck. She missed him again. His movements were so natural that it didn't even seem like he was in control of his own body, his muscles moving on their own as if they knew what was right.
Spinning, rolling the scythe around her petite body, she formed a barrier that Black should not have been able to get passed. However, he still reached her after breaking her guard with his shields. He wrapped his arms around her neck in a headlock and pulled her body to one side as a human shield against Blake who was coming at him from behind. He whispered to Ruby again.
"I'd love to hold you like this later. You belong in my arms," his voice was low and animalistic in its tone. Ruby didn't like this side to him, but she had to admit that she didn't mind being held so closely to him. Before she could get used to it, he kicked her over to Blake, knocking them both aside.
The concussive trauma had knocked her out for a few seconds, but even teetering on the edge of consciousness, she could still feel her body being pulled over to him, and somewhere between remembering she was in the middle of a fight and flirting, she realized just how badly she wanted to kiss him again, and slap him right after. Groaning shamefully, she tried to pull herself together.
No one saw it when he appeared in front of Weiss. He was so fast over short distances like that that it seemed like even Ruby's semblance wouldn't be able to keep up with him.
Weiss slashed wildly at his back, jumping to her feet in a panic. There was no rhyme or reason to her attacks, but he managed to dodge everyone with a sly smirk, pushing her blade aside and breaking his way through the many elemental dusts that she exploded in his face. Gambol Shroud's lash wrapped around his neck, but he swung his arm around and looped it to him. A twist of his hips and a pivot in the opposite direction, and he gave one strong pull to send Blake spiraling towards him. Black was too strong. When she was within distance, he spun and kicked her back the way she came, dropping all of her aura with one shot into Ruby one more time who had just gotten onto her feet.
He spun around to Weiss again who thrust her sword to his throat. She got close to him, even seeing his smile drop in fright for a split second, but his reflexes were faster than ever. He backhanded the blade away, then grabbed her wrist. He spun her around. She yelped, expecting him to rip her arm out of his socket, but something else, something possibly much worse and definitely much scarier hit her instead.
"You should get used to this position," he growled in her ear as he pushed her against the wall, pinning her other hand above her head, grinding up against the backside of her skirt, "You'll be in it much more once this is over."
Weiss's knees were weak at how dominant he was being, making her bite her lip to avoid doing or saying anything stupid. What was wrong with her? She was far too composed for something like that to throw her off so much. She didn't even realize that she was pressing back against Black's groin until he separated from her, making her whimper slightly. With a twinge of disappointment in her chest, she regretted that she missed having his strong arms around her.
Sharply, she turned around and watched as he jumped into the air meeting Ruby head on. She tried to shoot him, but before she could, he pulled her to him with one of his shields. Grappling her, he had the advantage since he was larger, stronger, and since Ruby had little hand to hand experience. As they fell, he threw her into the hardwood floor. Ruby gasped, but the crash wasn't that painful, only having knocked the wind out of her, and she was up in no time.
Before she could react, though, Black pulled her towards him, his arm around her neck, but there was something weird about the hold. It had no leverage or grip, more like he was hugging her. She could have easily dropped to her knees and threw him away from her or break away from his hold, but she didn't fight back. She barely even pushed against him. Ruby wasn't his only target, either. Black turned to Weiss without letting go of the younger girl, his red irises burying themselves into her icy blue ones, and he reached out to her. Weiss felt herself getting kinetically pulled towards him until she was being hugged by his other arm.
"I want to be clear with you guys," he said to them quietly with Grey's voice, shaking angrily, "I have very strong feelings for both of you. You drive me crazy. I don't want either of you to doubt that." Grey turned away from them on his heel and sauntered out of the room towards Ozpin's office. He knew that man would have a lot to say to him after this.
Hey Black? Grey telepathically said to his inner voice, panicking from the bold way his impulses took over for him.
Yep? He said back.
Why did I say that to them?
Because you have very strong feelings for them.
Yeah, but-
And they drive you crazy.
Of course, but-
I'm just curious why you didn't mention the part about-
And we're done here!
(…)
Pyrrha was pacing back and forth in Team RWBY's dorm, Jaune watching her worriedly, Nora sleeping in Ren's lap as he played with her hair, and Yang keeping up with the champion by following the trench she was digging with her track. Blake, as usual, was stuck in bed, her nose buried into a book. Ruby and Weiss were seated on the heiress's bed, the former with her head buried into a pillow she was hugging to her chest and the other scrawling sharply in a small handbook, both of them silently supporting the other. Not a single member of the clique could shake the uneasy feeling they had.
They weren't worried about Grey's ability to summon Black. The biggest question they had about it was how he was able to do it? The most worrisome one was why?
Pyrrha couldn't understand any of this, especially given his history with the demon. Having seen first hand what Black was capable of, and what his presence alone could do to the world surrounding him, she was terrified of what this might mean for her cousin. While waiting for him to return from the office, she texted Bloom who had an even worse reaction than she did. Bloom was the only person alive who had been there to witness Black's most evil sin, so it wasn't any secret that she was heartbroken by his newfound reliance on the beast. Bloom hoped Pyrrha was joking.
"How much longer do you think this is going to last?" Ruby said with a calm tone, her nails digging deeply into her pillow.
"No idea," Weiss admitted, biting back her pride, "Headmaster Ozpin is a veteran huntsman just like all of the professors at Beacon, but he also earned his right to be the head of the Academy. With his experience and expertise, and with Professor Goodwitch and General Ironwood in that office with him, it could take another few hours."
"We've been waiting here for hours already!" Yang shouted angrily, genuinely worried about him. All potential romances aside, she didn't want Grey to be kicked out school. She liked the idiot. This ungodly power and alternate persona of his, however, not so much, and she knew he could possibly be expelled from Beacon because of it. Being Ozpin's "Black Pawn" or whatever most likely wouldn't save him from that. Blake looked up from her book. A small meeting of eye contact between Yang and the faunus was all it took to calm herself down.
"I wouldn't worry, Yang," Weiss said, the clamminess of her forehead and the agitated way she scribbled in her book betraying her confident demeanor, "Grey isn't an idiot. I trust him and I don't place my trust in anyone lightly. If he thinks… doing that… was OK, or whatever, then I think he'll be fine." She sighed as her pen snapped in half and she reached into her bag to pull out another.
"That's the third one, Weiss," Blake mentioned.
"You shut your mouth!" Weiss hissed.
"We should all just relax," Jaune proclaimed soothingly, patting his hands in the air for emphasis, "Weiss is right. Grey is one of the smartest people I know. He can get out of this just fine." Pyrrha turned on her heel. When she focused her gaze on him, sharper than her iconic sword, Jaune backed up in fear, thinking he just did or said something wrong. His throat tightened up when she stormed over to him. Surprisingly, all she did was lightly place his hands on his cheeks.
"Jaune, I love you," she said importantly, "But shut up. Do you think you can do that for me?"
"Wait, wha?" he blinked, "What was that first part?" Pyrrha's turned as red as her garnet hair and she broke away from him, fanning her face.
"I don't have any idea what you mean!" she said quickly. Nora and Ren smiled at them from the desk chair they were sitting in, Yang and the rest of Team RWBY taking time away from their brooding to focus on them.
"Those two need to bang and get it over with," Yang whispered to Blake.
"Hey!" Ruby called obnoxiously to the pair, "You two should kiss!" Yang and Weiss didn't hesitate to throw their own pillows across the room, knocking her backwards off of the other side of the bed. Pyrrha and Jaune broke apart from each other, their faces even redder than before, coughing awkwardly. Ruby smiled victoriously. She would make that ship set sail no matter what the cost. The laughter did ease the tension, though.
Both of Jaune and Pyrrha jumped when they felt someone grab their hands, thinking it was the other one and about to yelp in surprise, but they tensed when saw that it was someone else. Grey had appeared in the room without anyone seeing him, and the first thing he did was link Pyrrha's and Jaune's fingers together.
"There, that's better," Grey said with a grin, completely satisfied with the maneuver, "Now, you two go out and have fun, OK? I need to talk to my team." Pyrrha didn't like being dismissed. She had her own bone to pick with him and grabbed Grey by his collar, slamming him against the door behind him.
"Don't even try to kick us out of here!" she demanded, "You have so much explaining you need to do, and you're going to do it now."
"Jeez, I cannot win with you lately," Grey grumbled.
"Not if you do this kind of bull you can't!" Pyrrha snapped at him, "Do you think Rouge would be OK with this?! I can't even begin to tell you how mad I am at you!"
Grey slapped her hand away from him. Scowling, the champion stepped back, her arms crossed, ready for an explanation.
"Controlling Black was actually Rouge's idea," Grey explained, making Pyrrha raise her eyebrow, "You and I are both aware of how that ended, but do you think earning the Black Pawn piece was a coincidence? Everything that has happened up until this point after my parents died has been a product of political manipulation behind the scenes thanks to Ozpin and the other headmasters. I don't think I'd be able to explain it the same way he did, but long story short, Ozpin doesn't only justify my decision to control Black Steele, he also encourages it. What do you think I've been doing with him all semester? This is what he's been training me to do!" Leaning against the wall, rubbing his tired eyes, his voice was quiet when he said his final piece. "Trying to ignore Black's existence was going to get everyone I loved killed. I knew it, Rouge knew it, and Ozpin knew it. The only thing I could really do to stop that was come to terms with him."
It wasn't a total lie. Ozpin admitted to Grey only a few minutes ago that ever since that horrific incident in Mistral years ago, he had his eye on the boy and had made sure that he ended up at Beacon Academy. Telling everyone that Ozpin had been training Grey to control Black Steele was true as well. The only part that wasn't entirely honest was Grey leaving out that Weiss and Ruby's murderer had been the one to help Grey perfect the technique, and all of the secrets that came along with it. Grey and the hunter were, more or less, one in the same. The only difference between them being that Grey really was human whereas the hunter was a humanoid construct created by a god. Grey wasn't sure if he believed that last part, though.
"So…" Pyrrha said calmly, relaxing her muscles, "Ozpin thinks it's OK?"
"Yep," Grey said tritely, meeting her eyes and seeing the anger drain from them, replaced by her normal matronly personality.
"And you're not going to lose control again?" she followed up.
"Never," Grey shook his head strongly. Finally, after thinking about it for a bit, Pyrrha smiled warmly at him and pulled him into a hug.
"Good," she declared, "I'm glad you finally found your peace. If you're going to do this, though, I'm going to have to lay down some ground rules!"
"You know you're my friend, right Pyrrha?" Ruby asked her dominantly, putting herself between the two, which gave Grey the opportunity to sit down on Weiss's bed, "Don't you think you should give it a rest? We've all had a pretty rough day, and I think Grey had the worst of it. Let him rest for now."
"Ruby…" Pyrrha muttered, biting her lip and seeing Grey nearly collapsing against Weiss over Ruby's shoulder. Did Black Steele's possession really take that much of a toll on him? Reminding herself of her loyalty to her family, Grey being a member of that family, Pyrrha nodded to the youngest team leader at Beacon, stepped aside her, and gave Grey a protective pat on the head and an apology before heading back to the Team JNPR dorm. Ruby skipped back over to Grey and checked his eyes, turning his head in every direction so she could see how they responded to the motion.
"Are you OK? Do you need anything?" she asked him. He smirked at her curiously, his brow furrowed humorously.
"Yes? I'm fine. Why do you ask?" he said nonchalantly, as if he didn't look like his body was about to cave in on itself at any moment.
"Grey," Ruby said sternly, standing above him with her hands on her hips, "You look like Zwei after spending a whole day at the dog park, your eyes are red and puffy, and you keep breathing like you just came up for air after snorkeling. You like you're about to die." Zwei looked up when he heard his name, tilting his head which made Weiss squeal lightly and pet him lovingly, telling him how cute he was.
"Really?" Grey responded confusedly, "I feel fine. Channeling Black doesn't really do that much to me than what my semblance does."
To this, and possibly from the pained groan from Yang when she rolled her right arm for the fiftieth time in the past hour, Blake jumped out of bed and pounced over to the trio on the other side of the room, grabbing Grey rather forcefully. One way and the next, she tilted Grey's head. She placed her hand against his forehead, and held it there for a few seconds, then held his wrist and timed his pulse with two fingers against her neck. Next, she popped in and out of existence around him as she checked his limbs, making sure they were still attached, then once she was done, returned to her bed.
"He's fine," she decided, "He just looks like crap."
"See!" Grey showed his two friends, holding his arm out to Blake for emphasis, then blinking and putting his hand at his side, "Wait a minute…" Another groan from Yang, this time as more of a yelp.
"Oh, my god, Yang! What is it?!" Weiss demanded, crossing her arms, expecting Yang to respond with her normal abominable banter that they shared together, but was disappointed.
"My shoulder really hurts," she said, gritting her teeth, but the pain made the anger sound more like a whine. Grey scowled and stepped over to her.
"Let me see it," he said, a sad expression on his face since he felt responsible for it.
"Uh, I'm good Liberace's ghost!" Yang burst defiantly.
"Yang. Chair. Now." he scolded. Yang looked at him disdainfully for a second, then took off her jacket to reveal a black tank top and straddled the back of one of the desk chairs. Grey stood behind her and began pushing his hands into her back. Yang cursed so vulgarly that even sailors would turn their noses up at her.
"Anyway, all members of Team RWBY, may I have your attention please!" Ruby called across the room as she pulled something out of her school bag, thinking now would be as good a time as any to reveal a secret she'd been hiding, "I have an announcement to make!"
"One of your famous announcements?" Blake said, turning her book down.
"The very same!" Ruby beamed with pride, "And I think even Weiss will appreciate this one." Weiss crossed her legs and arms stubbornly.
"Last time you had an announcement, I ended up wearing a hot dog suit and spinning a sign."
"This is different!" Ruby pleaded.
"I doubt it," Weiss replied flatly, "But let's hear it anyway." Ruby grinned happily at her allowance and proceeded to show everyone the pamphlet she had been holding, struggling to speak at a volume higher than Yang's violent swearing.
"Did Black seriously dislocate your shoulder?!" Grey demanded.
"No, you did!" Yang spat venomously, "You said you can control him now, remember- OWOWOW!" Yang's tirade was cut short when he popped her arm back into its socket.
"How did you not even know?!"
"I don't know!"
"Anyway…" Ruby stated dryly, trying to return to her previous topic, "As you all know, the Vytal Festival is about peace between the nations of Remnant, and as such, the Festival holds a dance a few weeks before the tournament for the different academies to associate and get to know one another." Weiss rolled her eyes and Blake palmed her face, seeing where this was going. "And since this is such an important event, and I feel we all need a good team building exercise to get Team RWBY back into fighting shape after the event that will be never mentioned again, I signed all five of us up for the dance committee alongside Team CFVY."
"That is a horrible decision," Weiss admitted immediately, Ruby slumping at the reaction.
"Hold on, five of us?" Grey noted, looking up from a loudly moaning Yang whose back he was now massaging with his elbow.
"Ruby, I don't think this is going to work," Blake admitted, "With all of us working on the dance at once, everything would be too cluttered for anyone to enjoy themselves. All of us have very different ideas on what would make a good party, like my goth style, Yang as a metalhead, and Weiss thinking the only good party is the boring upper crust nonsense from high society."
"I resent that remark!" Weiss returned, flustered.
"Weiss, you know she's right," Grey said slyly. Weiss stammered, trying to formulate a coherent remark to shoot back at him, but the problem was that they were right. Not only did Weiss enjoyed fancy dinner parties. The last time she tried to organize one for the team, though, they all fell asleep and then went to Sandwich Queen since it was more "exciting."
"That's why we should do it!" Ruby explained fretfully, "Not only do Weiss and I need an activity that will help reorient us into the real world after being asleep for so long, but it would be good for all of us to do something together after all of the trouble we put you through."
"True," Weiss admitted, an anxious lump growing in her throat at the way Ruby kept referencing something she desperately wanted to ignore, "But this isn't just woodshop or something else like that. This is the Vytal Festival! If we mess up, it could hurt the global peace that our parents worked so hard to create and that the governments of each country are trying so hard to keep."
"Oh, yes! Right there~!" Yang moaned, receiving dirty looks from the other three in the room.
"I already knew that Weiss," Ruby explained, "I thought it would be good for us to build something together with all of our different ideas and personalities because if we can make something like this look good together, then it will help us become the best huntsman team in any academy, and will help us win the tournament later in the semester. The pressure of politics will just make it so much better! I don't know if you can hear me, though, since some people are being so loud!" Ruby shouted pointedly to her sister and her crush.
"Ruby, you don't understand!" Yang shouted back, digging her nails into the chair, "He has the hands of a demigod! You guys are so lucky he's into you because I would so steal him from you if he wasn't!"
"Alright, you've had enough," Grey said scowling, flicking her in the back of the head then sitting heavily on his cot. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw what Weiss was drawing in her diary, seeing the same word scratched all over in every inch, in every font and size. Who or what was Aber?
"Why?!" Yang whined at length.
"Because you're a pervert," Grey said, "And, like you said yourself, I'm not into you. I'm into Weiss and Ruby."
You should probably stop talking, Black pointed out to him, referencing the careless giggles in the corner as the pair revelled in the attention. Black was right. This wasn't the time nor the place to have that conversation, and Grey didn't want to have it anyway.
"Oh, and about the dance committee thing? I'm in," Grey said.
"You are?!" Ruby squeaked happily, her arms swinging up to her face.
"If I don't keep an eye on you, Ru, then you're going to get in trouble," he shot with playful grin, "You know that."
"Butthead," she muttered under her breath, pouting.
"I guess it would be fun," Weiss admitted frustratedly, "I'll join you." A smiled played at the corner of Blake's mouth since it was so obvious that she was only doing this to make sure Ruby didn't get an advantage in their game. How could she resist? Blake had no choice at this point either.
"Looks I'll be there, as well," Blake said, "I don't have anything better to do, and organizing a party does sound like it could be fun."
"I'm in!" Yang announced, holding her hand up, "There is no way I can let you guys organize this. No offense, but none of you know what you're doing."
"Is that so, Yang?" Blake glared at her. The pair began bickering at each other, less of an argument and more like a banter tense of a certain desire. Weiss, Ruby, and Grey stood side by side watching them with narrowed eyes. They looked bored with them.
"They just need to bang and get it over with," Grey decided.
"Yep," Ruby agreed.
"No kidding, Sherlock," Weiss decided. Grey turned to both of them.
"That said," he told them tritely, then began digging through his bag next to his cot and pulled out a blue zip up hoodie with white laces, and a black pull over hoodie with the red symbol of the soulless from Empire Hearts over the center, "These are yours now."
He threw both of the hoodies to the girls according to their color patterns, Ruby getting the black one and Weiss getting the blue one. Before they could respond, Grey was already in bed, trying to sleep. Clearly, he didn't want to talk about it, so naturally they ignored him. As much as the girls wanted to say something, they pulled his hoodies up to their noses, breathing in the scent of campfires and ginger heavily, their eyes fluttering dreamily. When they each realized that the other had copied the motion, they scowled and turned away from each other.
"What exactly is going on with them now?" Yang whispered bemusedly, having no idea how to react to that trio.
"I… I have no idea," Blake declared at the same volume. Yang looked at her intently.
"Truce, for now?"
"Truce. Until we figure this out, that is."
With that, the two contestants shook hands and got into their respective beds. From across the room, they smiled happily. Even though the lights were turned off, and both of them underneath the duvets of their bunks, Blake and Yang could both see that the other girls had only curled up under their blankets after they had pulled their new hoodies around themselves.
The next few weeks were either going to be very fun, or very dangerous. Not one member of the team could wait to see which one it would be.
(A/N) And there you have it, Beautiful Hunters! I hope you can see why I was so excited to get this chapter out.
As always, no spoilers. I can't tell you anything about anything mentioned in this chapter, so naturally, you're going to have to wait until that information reveals itself later in the story. Don't forget to favorite, follow, and review, and I look forward to seeing you guys in the Act 2 finale next month!