Chapter 7: Making New Friends Every Day
Alex woke to the sounds of two voices yelling in his room. He groaned as he sat up, looking towards the direction of where the sound was coming from, not at all surprised to see Tris and Uriah arguing. He had to admit that the timing was rather a surprising element of it, but the arguing never ended with those two. I'm surprised they haven't even run out of stuff to argue about at this pointΒΈ he thought to himself. "I will not be convinced," Tris said adamantly, "that Dust Informer is wrong! It's an official magazine! They can't be the ones who are wrong. Just admit you are!" Uriah laughed at her, "You can't believe everything they tell you. They are people just like us!" He said confidently, "Surely even they can have their moments where they mess up as well. Therefore, I am right." He crossed his arms confidently with a smug look on his face. Alex interrupted there conversation, shouting over to them. "Hey, do you all mind? You guys stole something from me; I believe it is something called sleep." They both muttered to themselves silently, probably both complaining that they were right still. "Anyways", Alex said in a more serious tone, "it's time we made sure preparations are complete for the training room face-off tomorrow." He moved over and shook Midnight awake from her nap. "How you even managed to sleep through that, I'll never know", he said in an exhausted manner. "What?" Midnight looked around groggily, still not quite awake. "Quick head count for tomorrow everyone", Alex said firmly, "Uriah, you are first up. Do you have your dual blades set for tomorrow?" Uriah nodded happily. "Tris, do you have your staff prepared and trained to deal out some pain?" Tris shrugged. "I might head out one more time to practice with it before we meet again in the training room", she said casually. "Ok," Alex said, happy that his teammates were prepared so well, "that leaves you, Midnight. How is your dagger coming along?" Midnight looked at him more focused now that she was fully awake. "As usual, my skills as an assassin are all it comes to when I'm on the battlefield. I will be running a few more approaches against myself later in the courtyard to prepare. I'll be ready when the time comes tomorrow." Alex nodded towards his team, happy with his progress. He thought back to the time he had become a leader, and just how scared he had been when he first accepted the position. Looking at them, now, he knew there was no place he would rather be than with them.
Ruby walked up to the line that was in front of the counter, finding it sad that she would have to wait to meet her new friend. As the time passed, however, she finally made her way to the front. Looking at the name tag the girl was wearing, Ruby's spirits were instantly crushed. Her name tag read, Winter Rose. That's okay! Ruby thought quickly. Maybe she doesn't like going by Weiss. It isn't really that common anyways. "Hello!" Winter said happily with a wide smile, "How may I help you today?" Ruby was flustered by the attention, for some reason always nervous to speak with others. "Um, hi. I'd like to talk to you about someone I'm looking for. Are you by chance Weiss? I mean," she added quickly, "I know your tag says Winter and all." Winter laughed at Ruby. Man, Ruby thought, this girl is full of positive energy. "No", Winter said, quickly saddening Ruby, "I am Winter, and that is my only name I go by. Perhaps you are referring to a certain sister of mine." She smiled wide at Ruby. "Weiss Schnee would never be caught tending to flowers in a store like this. No, she is probably off at the local library, studying in her silly books on how to become a better huntress. I don't understand it all, but she acts like she knows what she is doing, so I don't bother her." Ruby quickly found interest again at the possible mention of Weiss being nearby. "I need to talk to her, would you mind giving me directions to the library?" Winter looked at Ruby suspiciously. "Why are you so eager to see her," Winter said. Ruby quickly recounted all of her adventures lately to catch Winter up. With all of this out in the open, Winter happily gave Ruby the address to the specific library that Weiss could be found at and Ruby headed out to find her teammate once again.
She looked up at the castle, curious as to how she was going to manage her way into the building. There is no way I'm leaving without that intel, she thought. Moving to the left, she quickly scanned the outer walls for any open areas that she could climb. It took her a few minutes, but she finally spotted a position higher up, one that was just close enough that she could reach it with her weapon Gambol Shroud. She pulled it out and shot upward near the opening. It latched on instantly, allowing her to climb her way up the castle firmly. She reached the top, feeling a sense of momentary dread realizing she was alone. No one would rescue her if she was caught. I won't be getting caught anyways, a simple in and out recon mission. She leaped over to a balcony near her. Making it onto the balcony, she turned and leaned her head near the windows to see what was inside. Seeing that no one was in the room, she silently forced the door open using the blade of Gambol Shroud to her advantage. Smirking with her success of breaking in, she continued forward, not looking back.
"Pancakes!" Nora exclaimed when Phyrra asked what she should make for breakfast. She loved this time of morning, when she was fully awake and ready to make another day count. She looked across the room to Ren, where he sat silently, reading a book and meditating. Where would she be without him? As long as she could remember, he had always been there with her, following every step of the way into whatever crazy adventure life threw at them next. A door flew open and Jaune Arc walked in, completing their team. She jumped up and was hugging him before he knew what hit him. "Jaune! Good moooooorning!" She hadn't gotten to see him before he had already headed into the shower. "Man", he answered, "I sure am glad I dress in the room before I come out." Nora giggled.
Phyrra looked around at her teammates, figuring they were all awake enough now to where she could actually get a point across. "Ok, team", she said, "gather around. We need to talk." They all sat on the beds near where Ren had already set up. "Ok, we need to make sure we are ready for the face-off tomorrow. We are beginning to make a name for ourselves, and it will end here if we lose tomorrow." They all stared at her, still silent. It is too hard trying to actually lead as opposed to just being an equal to them, she thought suddenly. "That being said", she continued, "I'm only going to tell you all this once. I need you all to be ready on your own terms and meet at the training room tomorrow. I know that we all respect each other in this team and we treat each other like family. Therefore, we won't let one another down. Make sure you are well rested and trained. We will crush any opposition tomorrow if we meet those goals. That is all." She walked away towards the door, not leaving room for any other comments. She was testing her team. This was the first time she had ever left them on her own. Since she had arrived at Beacon, however, she was known as the star student. As such, many students claimed that her team only succeeded because she was a leader, which to some degree may have been true. That, however, she thought nervously, will soon be decided whether or not it is true. She shut the door behind her and headed to find some food on the campus, leaving her teammates to their own plans.
In loving memory of Monty Oum. This story is only one of many examples of what his work has inspired, of what will continue to move forward even after he is gone.
#KeepMovingForward