(A/N): I guess I should take this opportunity to say I don't own RWBY.
Sorry it is taking a little longer than most would like to update this story. A lot is happening right now but I have a good idea where I want this story to go and it should be a decently long one.
Chapter 8: A Sister Gained and a White Knight Saved
The horde was overpowering her. Beowulves were slashing at her but she was holding them off. All he could do is stand there helpless as a Boarbatusk charged him. He held up his hands and somehow grabbed onto the tusks. She turned and threw her axe killing the black pig-like Grimm. She then killed a King Taijitu by punching through its skull. That's when he heard the noise. The 'shrnk' that echoed as he watched the Deathstalker impale her.
'Mom! No!' Was all he could think as he heard his younger self scream
"NOOOOO!"
Fenix jolted up gasping for air. As he tried to control his breathing he noticed he was drenched in sweat. He just prayed he hadn't woken anybody up and drawn attention to himself. Taking in his surroundings it didn't look like he had woken anybody up. Noticing it was barely dawn with the sun just coming up he decided to get some fresh air and enjoy the sunrise. He exited his sleeping bag and walked out the doors that separated the ballroom from the balcony that overlooked the main square of Beacon Academy.
He was used to this. Fall asleep, have nightmare, wake up covered in sweat and shaking, and then repeat the next night. At least it wasn't happening every night like it used to. You would think years of this would make you grow some sort of resistance to it, but you don't exactly get used to seeing your mother die. Much less have it keep replaying vividly in your dreams. He stood looking over the railing trying to collect his thoughts when he heard the door behind him open.
"Fenix?" a soft voice called out to him. He turned to see Ruby peeking her head out from the doors. Fenix smiled to her but then turned away. He knew she wanted to help but he didn't exactly enjoy the idea discussing this topic. Of course he didn't have much of a choice in the matter because the sharp smacking sounds of bare feet walking across the concrete echoed throughout the balcony as they approached him. She came and leaned up against the railing next to him.
"Wana talk about it?"
"Nope."
"You sure?"
"I'm fine Ruby. This is actually a pretty common thing with me." He turned to see her looking at him with a very worried expression on her face. All he could do in response was give a defeated sigh and turn to look back over the courtyard. 'Might as well give her a few details to help her understand' he thought to himself.
"Ruby, what's your mother like?" He was surprised to hear her gasp. He turned back to her and it was his turn to look worried. A distraught look was on her face and she had tears starting to form in her eyes.
'Oh shit.'
"She… she is d-dead Fenix." She could only stumble it out at this point as she was trying very hard to keep from an all-out break down.
"Oh God Ruby I am so sorry." He grabbed her and brought her into a full embrace. She was surprised but that was pushed aside for her need to hug someone. She started sobbing into his chest. This was something he absolutely hated. He was not good with girls crying because it always got to him. This time was no exception as he noticed his eyes well up with tears.
"So is mine." He let that sink in as he felt her jerk with surprise. "My mother, father, and older sister, my entire family…gone. Grimm attacked my village when I was six." He looked down to meet a teary pair of silver eyes gazing back up at him. He didn't know how long she had been looking up at him because he was caught up in the emotion of his confession.
"I saw it happen. That's why I'm out here looking like hell. I had a nightmare about it and decided to come out here to spend a little quiet time." He looked down to see Ruby had stopped crying. He wiped her eyes to get rid of the excess tears and released her from the hug. They both turned to lean over the rail again. This time Fenix draped his arm around Ruby's shoulders in an attempt to help comfort her. After a bit of uncomfortable silence Ruby spoke up.
"Ya know I never knew anyone at home who felt the same kind of pain that Yang and I felt. Losing our mothers wasn't easy and Yang is still fixed on finding hers. But in a weird way it's kinda nice to find somebody else who understands that pain. Does that sound weird?"
"No Ruby it makes perfect sense. But you've never come across somebody who had lost a parent before? Where did you grow up?" Fenix had to admit that he found it strange that she seemed to have no friends who had lost family before. Especially with how hard life outside of the major cities of the kingdoms could be.
"Oh well no not really." She seemed to get really shy when she said that but her shyness reverted back to her bubbly self when she continued. "And I grew up on Patch!"
"That tiny island outside of Vale?"
"Yup!"
"Huh, well that makes sense now. Hey!" He didn't see her hand with how fast it moved to punch him. He just felt the sting on his left shoulder. She had somehow thrown his arm off of her shoulders and gave it a good jab before he could defend himself. The mischievous grin she was giving him also helped alert him to what she had done.
"Don't talk bad about my home."
"Sorry, I was just stating how it makes sense that you haven't run across anybody else who had lost parents. Living on a remote island like that had to limit the people you ran into."
"Oh. Well that's true I guess." She shamefully started poking her index fingers together looking like she was apologizing for upsetting him. He couldn't handle the level of cuteness.
"Oh dear God Ruby please stop."
"Huh?" She quirked her head to the side with a confused look on her face.
"That right there. Please stop. First you were giving me that kicked puppy look and now you are giving me the cute confused look. Seriously the levels of cuteness you possess know no bounds." She blushed at his observations of her adorableness.
"Sorry."
"And that! Right there! Stop apologizing for things when you didn't do anything wrong!" He pointed his finger at her trying to act all serious, but he couldn't contain his laughter. Even when he was trying to half-heartedly scold her he couldn't be mad at her. This girl had a dangerous power at her disposal, even if she didn't fully understand it. As if to prove his point he saw her clasp her hands in front her face in a begging pose and give a pout. This he could handle. He had been raised in an orphanage after all. The younger kids had tried to use their pouty face to get their way but Fenix had grown immune. Then he made eye contact.
The dreaded puppy dog eyes.
"Ah dang it please stop! I'm sorry just please stooooop!" He closed his eyes and looked away to break the hold she had on him.
"Mwahahahaha!" Her maniacal laughter stunned him. He slowly turned to look at her as she was beaming with a victorious smile.
"I use that on Yang, and my dad when I want to make them do something for me. Seventy percent of the time it works all the time!" With her smile still plastered on her face she brought her hands behind her back and rocked on her feet from heel to toe.
"With those numbers who can argue." Fenix chuckled to himself.
"Yup! But seriously was it that good of a pouty face?"
"Ruby you don't understand. I was raised in an orphanage. I've seen actual puppy faunus give me those puppy dog eyes and they weren't anywhere near as strong as the one you just gave me." She beamed a toothy smile at his praise of her abilities. He couldn't help but share her smile. Her happy attitude was contagious.
"Ruby in all seriousness I want you to know if you ever have a time when you need someone to talk to you can always count on me."
"That sounds just like what Yang tells me all the time." A lightbulb seemed to go off in her mind. Her mouth slowly formed a wide open mouthed smile and her eyes lit up. "Does that mean you are like my new big brother?" Her voice was just oozing with excitement as she said it. After pretending to think about it for a split second Fenix smiled.
"Sure, I can consider you my honorary little sister."
"You mean it?"
"Welcome to the Fall family." Fenix stuck his hand out for an actual handshake this time as if to seal the deal. Ruby closed her mouth but her grin remained.
"Welcome to the Rose/Xiao Long family!" She grabbed his hand and shook it eagerly. Fenix chuckled once again and then realized they had best start getting ready for the day.
"Well Ruby we probably need to start getting back in before Yang starts wondering what you are doing out here with a shirtless guy." He couldn't help but tease the girl. She blushed a little but quickly waved it away.
"Nah. You are my big brother so she has nothing to worry about."
"I can already tell this is the start of a beautiful friendship." As they turned to walk back into the ballroom Fenix playfully shoved her with his elbow. It threw her petite stature off balance which she retaliated with shoving him full force with both hands. He was thrown off balance as well and they shared a laugh again before he opened the door for her.
As they walked into the ballroom he noticed pockets of people had begun to wake up. Jaune was still unconscious and he could hear Yang lightly snoring once they got close. Ruby waved goodbye as he continued off to his spot to get his shower supplies from his bag. He always preferred morning showers to help him wake up. They also were a bit of a necessity when he woke up in a pool of his own sweat from nightmares. As he got his stuff together he noticed Weiss storming across the ballroom towards him with Pyrrha right behind her. He had no idea why she was coming after him but from the look on her face it wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation. Once they got to him Weiss pointed to his inhibitors that were still strapped to his forearms.
"Where did you get those?" She asked almost accusingly.
"Umm." Fenix pointed to the Schnee crest on the side of the gauntlets. He wasn't trying to be rude but he thought for a supposedly smart girl it was kind of a dumb question. For some reason this only seemed to infuriate her.
"Where did you steal them from?"
"Whoa whoa. I did not steal these." Before he could go on she interrupted him.
"Those are state of the art training equipment in which the Schnee Company helped create! They just got out of the testing process and they haven't started production on these yet! The only way you could have a functional pair is that you stole them!" She was almost yelling at the end of her rant. This only succeeded in gathering unwanted attention from the already awake people in the room as well as waking some of the nearby students who were still trying to sleep.
"ssshhh! Keep your voice down princess. Some people are still trying to sleep." He motioned to Jaune who was remarkably still out cold. Weiss went to argue against Fenix's nickname for her but he held up his hand to silence her.
"There is another reason why I would have a pair of these. You see I was the tester. I worked for Atlas Military before coming here. As you more than anyone else should know, Atlas Military and the Schnee Dust Company are in good relations. As a gift for the work I did, the Schnee Dust Company allowed me to be the main one to test these. These are the original prototype with some minor modifications." The look on Weiss's face was that she wasn't convinced that was the entire truth. For the first time though, Pyrrha decided to make her presence known.
"That's rather impressive Fenix. Someone of our age working for the Atlesian Military is truly a remarkable feat. What work did you do for them?"
"Sorry Pyrrha but that is classified. I can maybe tell you later in the semester if everything goes to plan. Right now though, I would be divulging military secrets and Atlas doesn't take too kindly to that." Pyrrha nodded in understanding and Weiss just stuck up her nose and turned to walk away. Before she could get too far away Fenix called out to her in a hushed yell.
"You forgot something!" This piqued the two girls' interest and both turned towards Fenix. With a wicked smirk he continued.
"You forgot to say you were sorry princess." If looks could kill Fenix would have been the poster child for a victim. To say that her glare was anything less than murderous would be putting it lightly. She quickly turned on her heels and began stomping away again. Pyrrha mouthed an 'I'm sorry' from behind Weiss's back and then turned to follow. Fenix nodded to Pyrrha in acknowledgement.
He didn't plan to let Weiss off that easily though. She had been rude to him. If there was one thing Fenix couldn't stand it was poor manners. Digging into his past memories of dealing with Schnees he remembered something that was a sure fire method to set her off.
"Your father would be so disappointed." He whispered it loudly to make sure his voice made it to Weiss's ears. Much to his pleasure he watched as she froze mid-step. He quickly glanced around to see if anyone else had heard. Looking around he noticed Blake and the bear faunus that she was sleeping near both were staring wide eyed at him with a mixed look of shock and horror. Internally he winced realizing he may have said that a tad louder than he intended to.
Turning back he saw a white glyph with the Schnee family symbol propel Weiss directly at him. He stood his ground. He knew if he gave her the power to intimidate him she would never cease to abuse that power. She suddenly stopped right in front of him. Fists clenched ready to take a swing at him.
"What did you just say to me?" She attempted to shoot him her most menacing death glare she could. Pyrrha just raised her hands and started backing up as she silently excused herself from the tense situation. Fenix normally would have been more wary of further antagonizing her but he had a plan. He set it into motion, not giving her the pleasure of seeing his internal worry about his next words.
"I said, your father would be so disappointed. He was always one for acting properly no matter the circumstances. Although I must admit you clearly inherited his temper." He paused to let that information sink in. He watched as her face distorted into a new level of anger and her knuckles turned white from the pressure she was putting into clenching her fists.
"So you've met him before?"
"I have indeed. I did work for Atlas after all. Now I want you to hear me out here before you make a snap judgment about how to dispose of my mangled body once you are through with me." Weiss's look of anger diminished only slightly. Apparently his words had piqued her interest.
"Now I need to know something, and please take no offense to this. But is he as big of an insufferable asshole at home as he is in his business dealings?"
Followed by a female gasp from over Fenix's shoulder (he could only assume it was Blake) a shocked silence reigned between all parties of the conversation. Weiss's face of course had changed to a wide eyed stare at Fenix. As if she was trying to discern if it was her imagination of if he had really said that. After a few moments she straightened up and collected herself as she smoothed out her nightgown.
"No. He is actually nice to some people when he isn't at home." Fenix nodded and gave her a sad smile.
"I'm sorry. Doesn't sound like you lived the typical posh life after all."
"Not at all. I got material possessions anytime I wanted them. But that isn't exactly a good substitute for not having a father." He watched as her eyes glazed over from her attempts to not cry in public while talking about an obviously sensitive subject.
"So in a way I almost had the typical rich girl life you could say." Now Fenix knew he needed to cheer her up to seal the deal on earning her friendship. This tactic was not one he enjoyed using but it was effective in these types of people. 'Can't argue with results' he sarcastically thought to himself.
"Ah but do you remember two years ago at the Atlas Winter Ball?" She perked up at his mention of the dance.
"You were there?"
"I was. It was humorous to watch as your father would send suitor after suitor at you and you continually shot them down. He even tried to get me to come over to try my hand after his first choices didn't succeed." He chuckled and noticed he got the same reaction from Weiss.
"What stopped you?" She asked almost playfully.
"Well after you dumped punch on one's head and then literally froze another one in a giant block of ice, I didn't like my odds of coming out alive." This turned Weiss's chuckle into a full-fledged giggle. She tried to suppress it by putting her hand over her mouth. He allowed her to somber up a little before hitting her with the heavy stuff though.
"To be fair Weiss, I like to think your father did try at that dance to make you happy."
"And pray tell how you think that?" She returned to her serious looking scowl that seemed to be her normal look. On any other girl this face would be dubbed 'resting bitch face' but on Weiss for some reason it just looked normal. Fenix moved the conversation into the part where he his inner hopeless romantic attempted to see the good in every situation.
"It was obvious at the ball you were unhappy (the image of a slightly younger Weiss sitting in the corner in her formal dress filing her nails looking completely disinterested in the entire event flashed in his mind). I like to think your father sending those boys at you was his weak attempt to try and make your evening more enjoyable." She seemed to ponder his view for a second before dismissing it with a wave of her hand.
"That isn't like him. It was probably more along the lines of him setting up the ones whose parents made the most profitable partnerships with the wedding of their children." Fenix had to admit that one made more sense to him from what he knew of the Schnee businessman. It didn't hurt to be on the hopeful side of things though. After a slight pause Weiss continued.
"But I must say it is refreshing to hear somebody speak so openly about my father. Few people actually voice their opinions about how unpleasant he truly is to be around."
"I just call it like I see it princess." She frowned and furrowed her eyebrows at her now appointed nickname.
"Don't call me that." She spoke with a dead serious tone in her voice.
"Don't feel too special princess, I give nicknames to everybody. If you can suggest a better one for yourself I will consider it." Fenix crossed his arms and gave her a challenging look. She nodded in agreement and turned to walk away. This time Fenix actually let her leave so she could prepare for the day. He took it that they were on friendlier terms now than they had been the previous day.
He kneeled down and unstrapped his inhibitors from his forearms. After placing them in the briefcase and locking it he gathered his shower supplies. After a surprisingly uneventful shower he emerged from the bathroom wearing his normal battle attire minus his weapons. The same orange and blue sport shorts and athletic shirt he had been interviewed by Port and Ozpin in. He got back to his spot and noticed Jaune was sluggishly trying to get himself up.
"If you want to beat the breakfast rush you need to get moving." With that, Fenix tossed his damp towel and hit Jaune square in the face. It seemed to wake Jaune up as he took it from its stuck position on his face and tossed it back at Fenix. He then realized what the damp towel meant.
"You shower?"
"Yup."
"Nightmares again?"
"Yup."
"Sorry man."
"Eh, it's all good. I kinda got a good thing out of it this morning though." Jaune gave Fenix a confused look.
"I'll explain at breakfast. So get moving!" With a groan Jaune finally got up and started gathering his battle attire. After Jaune went to the bathroom to change and returned, the two made their way to the cafeteria. Once they finally got out of the line it left them only an hour to eat and gather their weapons before the initiation was supposed to begin. On their way to sit down though, they were ambushed.
"Big bro!"
"Urgh!" was all Fenix could get out as a pair of arms wrapped around his neck from behind effectively choking him. He was about to shoulder throw them to the ground but he stopped his screaming instincts when he realized who it was.
"Ruby… choking…" He gasped out while he miraculously balanced his tray and supported the petite girl on his back simultaneously.
"Oops, sorry!" She jumped off him and they both looked to see a seething red eyed Yang.
"What did she call you?" She directed her hate at the one who she thought was trying to steal her Ruby from her. Deciding he'd rather live today he decided to play peacekeeper rather than tease the girl in this situation.
"Let's sit down so we can explain." The four of them sat down at a table in the middle of the cafeteria. Ruby and Fenix recounted that morning's events to Jaune and Yang. As they did Jaune's demeanor turned into one of understanding while Yang just gradually relaxed.
"So what you're saying is you are basically fake adopting my little sister so she can become your little sister?" Yang asked Fenix after they were done telling their story.
"Basically yeah."
"You realize this means war right?" Yang raised an eyebrow to Fenix who in turn raised one back.
"How so?"
"War to see whO CAN BE THE BEST OLDER SIBLING EVER!" Yang started yelling mid-sentence. When she was done yelling she stood up to strike a dramatic pose on the table with her hands at her hips and her left leg planted triumphantly on the table top. Fenix mimicking her pose shouted back.
"I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE! PREPARE FOR BATTLE!" Fenix shouted back at her effectively directing all attention in the crowded cafeteria to their group.
"BRING IT ON!" Yang clenched her fist and gave a determined look towards Fenix. After a few seconds of the two of them staring each other down they noticed how close their faces were. Yang broke first and immediately started laughing. Fenix then followed suite and the two of them sat down trying to control their laughter.
"I have no desire to dethrone the true older sibling Yang." Fenix said still trying to get his laughter under control. Once he did he continued. "Think of me as a second string player. You get the most attention and work but I'll be here to help out and spell you if need be."
"Thanks Fenix." Yang smiled at him.
"Yeah thanks big bro!" Ruby gave her signature beaming smile at him.
"So you've got another sister now huh? Think you will ever max out?" Jaune asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"It's not my fault your mom loves me like her second son and your sisters love me to death."
"Yeah some more than others." Jaune replied with an even larger hint of aggravation.
"Ok you are going to have to get over that someday Jaune." Fenix said as he gave Jaune a slightly evil smirk.
"Get over what?" Yang inquired as she could sense there was a juicy story here.
"Joan, Jaune's twin sister, had a bit of a thing for me a few years ago." Fenix's impish grin didn't diminish at all as he explained to Yang and Ruby.
"Had? Still does ever since you first defiled her." Jaune glared at Fenix.
"W-what does he mean by defiled?" Ruby asked now slightly scared of Fenix.
"We kissed." He stated flatly and shot an annoyed sideways glance at Jaune.
"That's it?" Yang asked now giggling at how opposite the two boys' reactions were right now. Jaune looked downright hostile while the other boy acted like he didn't give a care about the current conversation.
"She is my sister and you are my best friend! How do you think I would take that?" Jaune all but screamed at the fiery boy sitting next to him.
"I don't know. Maybe talked to us about it first before blowing it out of proportion? Seriously did you have to go tell your parents and exaggerate the situation to them?" Fenix tried to keep his voice calm but couldn't mask how he sounded a little frustrated with Jaune.
"Pffft. You really went and tattled on them?" Ruby was for some reason finding this whole situation hilarious.
"She's my sister!" Jaune defended.
"Jaune, you need to let it go. That was the day I left four years ago. She told me she wanted to give me something to remember her by. Before I could ask what she meant she dragged me to her room and planted a kiss on me. Now I will not lie and tell you I didn't kiss back but you have to believe me when I say it was a onetime thing. I am not after Joan. You are my friend and I was never your friend just to get closer to one of your sisters. I don't want you thinking that I would use our friendship like that." After Fenix finished Jaune just looked down at his plate in defeat. The four of them sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few moments before Yang tried to ease the tension.
"So do I need to worry about you going after Ruby?"
"Yaaaaaaaaang!" Ruby whined.
""Actually if anything you have to worry about Ruby going after me. That seems to be how the pattern goes if we are including how Jaune's sisters came onto me." Fenix grinned as he watched Yang shoot a 'don't you dare' look at Ruby. Ruby replied by simply giving a slightly disgusted look that read 'no way.' Fenix wasn't sure if he should be offended or thankful at their exchange.
"Wait sisters? As in plural?" Jaune halfway cried out.
"Oh for God's… do you think we can just have a normal breakfast?" Fenix tried to change the topic since he didn't want to explain this to Jaune. Thankfully fate was on his side that day. The table suddenly jarred as Nora plopped down right next to Jaune.
"Hiya pancake buddy!" Indeed Fenix forgot that Jaune had a short stack on his tray.
"Guess that a no." Fenix mumbled to himself. Jaune shot him a 'this isn't over' look. As Jaune turned to talk to Nora Fenix felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see a girl standing there with her tray.
She had pink hair that fell over the left side of her face so you could really only see half of it. From what you could see of her face she had cute features with turquoise eyes. She wore a ghost white skirt that had a lose fit and stopped just above the knees. Her skirt had a tail that consisted of a turquoise interior and pink trim while the exterior remained the same white color as her skirt. The tail fell down to her ankles and gave the look as if to give her lower half a cape of sorts. She had brown leather boots with a turquoise trim that stopped just short of the knees. Her top was a stylish sleeveless v-neck shirt with turquoise trim. The hem of the shirt was lined with a pattern of tiny pink hearts with a turquoise medic looking cross in the middle of the hearts. The 'V' stopped just above the point where she would be exposing any cleavage. The most noticeable part of her outfit was the white gloves that went all the way up her forearms and stopped just short of her elbows. The gloves had three pink lines on the exterior side that started at the wrist and ended where the gloves did below the elbows.
"I'm sorry to bother you but may I join you?" She asked Fenix with a slightly shy tone in her voice.
"Of course." Fenix stood up to greet her properly. She sat her tray down to sit next to Fenix and held her hand out. Fenix (of course) grabbed her hand and kissed the back of her hand.
"Fenix Fall." She adorned a slight blush but didn't stumble as she smiled and continued with her introduction.
"Alexis Hygieia." With that he released her hand and they both sat down to observe how Nora was eagerly questioning Jaune on the other side of Fenix.
"So what do you all know about this initiation today?" Alexis wasted no time in letting everybody know the main reason she had come to sit with them. With the mention of teams Nora quickly abandoned her conversation with Jaune to let everybody know that she intended on her friend Ren and her to be on a team together. Of course she invited everybody else at the table to join in if they could imitate a sloth call.
As she was demonstrating the designated call of the wild sloth, Nora's boyfriend Ren came over to calm her down. Jaune, now free, exchanged greetings with Alexis along with Yang and Ruby. The now group of seven turned to small talk about the upcoming initiation. They finished exchanging what little information they each knew about it and went to the locker room. They only had fifteen minutes before they needed to report for initiation. Jaune had apparently lost where his locker was so he was wondering the room looking for it as the rest of them got to theirs.
Fenix grabbed his swords and gave them a quick check. Everything appeared to be combat ready so he sheathed them and strapped them to his back in their normal 'X' pattern with the hilts pointing down. He then turned to his utility belt. Ammo clips were fully stocked and secured safely in the pouch on the backside of the belt. Dust vials were safely secured in their containers and magnetically attached to the belt on both hip sides. Lastly he got his shades out and put them in their resting spot in his hair atop his forehead. After he had finished his pre-game ceremony he checked to see what everybody else was doing.
Yang was talking to Ruby about how she needed to break out of her shell. Jaune was still looking for his locker. Blake was done and already leaving the locker room. Nora and Ren must have already left. Alexis was talking to the big bear faunus with a huge wicked looking sword. A couple other people were making small talk or lazing around. His eyes fell on Weiss and Pyrrha. Weiss was asking Pyrrha what she thought about the two of them teaming up.
"That sounds grand." Fenix could hear the false enthusiasm in the Spartan's voice. Weiss had been hanging onto Pyrrha since he first met them but it seemed the later was too nice to get out of the situation. He was trying to figure out how to rescue the warrior girl as Weiss was making weird faces and acting like she had just completed a big scheme. He noticed Jaune, now approaching the girls.
'Well this could work out so I don't have to intervene.' Fenix thought to himself. Although he was sure Jaune was going to find a way to force his hand.
"You know what else is great? Me. Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you." Of course Jaune had to start off the worst possible way. Hitting on a girl who seemed to be annoyed by his mere presence.
"Ugh you again?" Yep annoyed is exactly how Weiss's voice sounded.
"Nice to meet you, Jaune!" Pyrrha stepped into Jaune's line of sight so he couldn't miss her.
'Oh no way.' A gorgeous warrior girl taking an interest in Jaune of all people? Fenix couldn't believe his friend's luck.
"Yeah, yeah." And there went Fenix's awe at his Jaune's good fortunes. His denseness still shining brightly as he pretty much just brushed Pyrrha off and stepped closer to Weiss.
"So Weiss, couldn't help but overhear your fondness of me the other day." Fenix wasn't sure whether to go over and smack his friend upside the head or just laugh and enjoy the train wreck that was currently unfolding in front of him. Luckily his decision was made for him as Alexis and the bear faunus appeared suddenly by his side.
"He does realize who he is talking to right?" Alexis asked Fenix.
"I don't think he has a clue." Fenix chuckled to Alexis as he kept his eyes fixed on Jaune, Weiss, and Pyrrha. As if to prove his point, Jaune moved towards Pyrrha.
"Well, hot stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join up with the winning team." Pyrrha seemed to blush a little at Jaune's boldness but Weiss was having none of it. She quickly stepped in between the two of them. She put a hand on each one of them and gently pushed the two apart.
"Jaune, is it? Do you have any idea who you are talking to?" Fenix looked to Alexis and her big friend and motioned towards the group they were observing. His gesture suggested what he had told the two about Jaune not having the foggiest of notions who he was talking to was about to be proven.
"Not in the slightest, snow angel." Fenix noticed how the bear faunus scoffed at Jaune's nickname of Weiss.
"This is Pyrrha." Weiss motioned with her hand over her shoulder towards Pyrrha.
"Hello again!" Pyrrha waved to Jaune.
"Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum." Weiss stated matter-of-factly.
"Never heard of it." Fenix nearly face palmed at how dense his friend was. Weiss just scoffed at him and continued.
"She's won the Mistral Regional Tournaments four years in a row! A new record!"
"The what?" At Jaune's reaction to that Weiss looked completely dumbfounded for a moment. She scanned the locker room looking for somebody to help her out and her gaze fell on Fenix. He was trying his hardest to not show his bewilderment with the situation. He sighed as he noticed Weiss's look of plea for help settled on him. He cupped his left hand to resemble a bowl and used his right hand to act out as if he was eating a bowl of cereal. Weiss got the message but also seemed to be enraged that this would be the only way that somebody would recognize the famous Pyrrha Nikos. She started flailing her arms up and down and yelled.
"She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!" At Weiss's outburst Jaune just gasped.
"That's YOU?!" Fenix couldn't take anymore and turned to speak with Alexis and her big friend.
"So as you can see my friend is a bit of a moron at times. But his heart is in the right place and he is a really good guy. So who's your friend Alexis?" Both turned to the massive bear faunus. He stood well above everyone else in the room at around seven foot. The only reason everybody could tell he was a bear faunus was because of the brown bear ears poking out of his equally brown hair. He wore a full set of teal colored plate armor lined with golden trim and decorative patterns on it. The huge zweihander sword strapped across his back is what really caught Fenix's attention though. The sword had an absurdly thick blade. It also had outward notches about one fourth of the way up the blade if your traveled from the hilt to the tip. Fenix noted the notches served as a sort of parrying hook to tangle someone's weapon up in so he could twist his blade and disarm his opponent. As Fenix was checking out the faunus's weapon he didn't notice the big bear giving him a rather nasty scowl.
"I did not actually catch you name either." Alexis said and turned her head to direct her comment to the big bear. He turned to address her and his scowl noticeably softened but did not disappear.
"That is because I did not give it. I would give it to you but I would rather not where there are those who would listen in." He said with a condescending tone and a thick Scandinavian accent. He gave Fenix a quick glare, then turned on his heels, and walked out of the locker room without another word.
"Oh so he heard that last night huh? That's my fault." He explained to Alexis as she looked rather confused on what just happened.
"I was about to say he was not like that before I started talking to you." Alexis now gave Fenix a questioning look.
"It's just a misunderstanding and I will explain myself later to him." Alexis nodded in response as the two turned their attention back to Jaune and the girls.
"Sounds like Pyrrha's on board for Team Jaune. Spots are filling up quick! Now, I'm not supposed to do this, but maybe I could pull some strings, find a place for you. What do you say?" Fenix decided he had allowed Jaune enough time to pester the heiress. He took a step towards the group and noticed Pyrrha had a frown on her face. He also noticed her hand had traveled to her back and was gripping her tri-functional weapon. Fenix turned his walk into a sprint towards the group. He knew Pyrrha seemed to have an eye for his dorky friend but it looked like she was about to spear him. He didn't want to see what a jealous warrior would do to Jaune especially with his back turned to her.
"All right, that's a bit too close! Pyrrha, a little help, please?" Weiss was begging for somebody to bail her out at this point. Fenix had noticed Pyrrha already had her weapon drawn and aiming it, in javelin form, at Jaune.
Fenix changed his direction. Instead of moving to stop Pyrrha from initially throwing the spear, he moved to catch the spear before it would hit Jaune. Said boy was starting to turn around to look at what Weiss meant by Pyrrha helping her. Fenix heard the click of something triggering within the javelin. He was now two steps away from Jaune. Weiss had noticed Fenix coming and had already moved back away from Jaune. This allowed Fenix the needed room to stop the javelin.
The clicking noise he had heard must have been a propulsion mechanism at the back of the spear lit up. Fenix sprung into his sideways flip. As the spear left the Spartan's hand he flipped his legs over his body keeping his legs straight and together. His body was inverted and directly in front of Jaune as the spear made its way for what Fenix assumed was Jaune's shoulder. Fenix's momentum carried his body as the tip of the spear barely missed driving into his chest. As his body and the spear both continued their respective paths, Fenix brought his right arm closer to him as the shaft of the spear was now up against his side. His arm snapped to his side and trapped the javelin up against himself. The new momentum caught Fenix out of his barrel roll flip and drove him backwards while still rotating. With his right arm being used to trap the spear, he stuck his left arm out to help steady his landing. He landed with his left hand, left foot, and right knee on the ground in an almost super hero landing. He looked up to meet Pyrrha's shocked eyes.
"A bit much to get someone's attention don't you think?" Fenix quirked an eyebrow and shot a teasing grin to her. A pink hue graced her cheeks as she nervously grasped her hands behind her back. Fenix then stood up and flipped the javelin into his hand. He then lightly tossed it back to the Spartan and she easily caught it. She returned it to its resting spot on her back with her shield.
"Hmph." Weiss glanced to Fenix before she stuck up her nose and walked by Jaune without looking at him. Pyrrha followed her to help get her out of this awkward situation.
"I'm sorry. It was nice meeting you though!" She patted Jaune's shoulder as she walked by and out of the locker room.
"What just happened?" Jaune asked Fenix as he turned to face his friend.
"Ah Jaune if you only knew what that was about." Fenix shook his head at his oblivious friend. How could he not see how the Spartan warrior seemed to take a liking to him?
"Having some trouble there lady killer?" Ruby and Yang had apparently made their way over and were standing behind Jaune. Yang was enjoying poking fun at Jaune. The boy just rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"I don't understand. My dad said all women look for is confidence. Where did I go wrong?" Ruby grabbed Jaune's hand and helped him to his feet. 'Well the first part you went wrong was taking any of your dad's advice' Fenix thought to himself.
"Snow angel probably wasn't the best start." Yang said as she flipped her hair and walked past the other two so she could stand by Fenix. A bit too close for his comfort but he didn't notice immediately since he was inwardly agreeing with Yang's statement.
"Yeah but thanks to Fenix it didn't go as bad as it could've." This snapped Fenix back to the conversation as he just nodded at Jaune's appreciation.
"That was quite an impressive move Fenix." Alexis commented as she joined the group.
"Yeah! That was awesome big bro!" Ruby's face was full of awe towards the fire wielder. Fenix was flattered by Ruby and Alexis's praises but he just waved them off.
"Just helping my friend not get speared. By the way, think you learned to not mess with Weiss?" Fenix asked Jaune afraid of what he thought Jaune's response would be.
"Ah she's just playing hard to get. If I keep after her she will admit she has feelings for me." Fenix and the three girls all face palmed at the knight's obliviousness. Before Fenix could chastise Jaune anymore the speakers blared an announcement.
"Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."
"Come on Jaune." Ruby grabbed Jaune's hand and started leading him out of the locker room. Fenix stood in front of Yang to stop her killing intent on somebody holding hands with her little sister. Surprisingly enough she didn't seem to mind.
"So hot stuff you ready?" Yang winked at Fenix as they started following Ruby and Jaune towards the exit.
"Compared to some of my training, this will be a breeze." Fenix stated confidently as the group got out of the door and was walking towards the cliffs.
"Oh really? Do tell." Yang then latched onto Fenix's left arm pressing her womanly features up against him. Fenix just glanced at Yang. His look showing she was getting on his nerves but that only egged her on. Before she could start in Fenix turned to Alexis.
"Would you like the other arm?" By the look of shock on her face she was apparently not expecting that offer.
"W-what?"
"Well since Yang has this arm and Ruby has Jaune, it would be a shame to make you walk unescorted." He offered her his right arm and smiled to her. His smile offered no bad intentions and Alexis concluded it was him just trying to be nice. She accepted the arm but didn't lean on him as Yang was doing.
"Ooooh already got two gorgeous girls on your arms and we haven't even made it past initiation yet." Yang cooed but Fenix saw it for the teasing it was. He just rolled his eyes and smiled back at her. That was the reaction she wanted apparently as they just made more small talk about the upcoming initiation.
As they approached the cliffs he caught a few of the guys giving him hateful glares but he just brushed them off. As they arrived the blonde professor who had greeted them via hologram on the ship as they first arrived gave them the instructions to each take a spot on one of the metal squares. Yang took the one next to Ruby and motioned for Fenix to take the one on the other side of her. Fenix was going to but a large ginger haired boy basically ran to it and gave Fenix a challenging glare as he stepped on it. Yang's eyes flickered red for a brief moment but a smile from Fenix was enough to calm her down. He walked to the far end of the line and took an empty spot next to Blake. Alexis took the empty one next to Fenix. As the rest of the platforms were then filled with the rest of the students the Headmaster began his speech.
"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Fenix could only assume the massive tree infested looking wilds behind the headmaster was the spoken of Emerald Forest. As the Headmaster finished the blonde professor spoke up.
"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'teams.' Well allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates… today." Fenix noticed Ruby looking uncomfortable down on the other side of the line of students. As if the two were perfectly in synch, the Headmaster picked back up on the explanation.
"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Fenix sensed a 'but' coming on though.
"That being said, the first person you make eye contact after landing will be your partner for the next four years." Yup there's the but he was expecting. Seems a little odd to say you need to work well with somebody and then leave it to chance on who the partners will be. Something told him there was more to it than what they were being told. After noticing many of the group having a wide variety of reactions (mainly Ruby screaming and Nora telling Ren she told him so) the students calmed down and allowed the instructors to continue.
"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path… or you will die." 'Good to know he has such a high opinion of our abilities' Fenix thought to himself.
"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must chose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?" Fenix then heard the platform beneath him click and it dawned on him. 'They are going to throw us into the frickin' forest?' Fenix thought to himself.
"Good! Now, take your positions." 'Yup they are gonna launch us into a Grimm infested forest just to see how good we can fight.' Fenix rolled his eyes and shook his head as he prepared himself.
He wasn't worried about himself but he was extremely worried about Jaune. How the hell was Jaune going to be able to fight Grimm off if they jumped him in the forest? HOW THE HELL IS HE GOING TO SURVIVE THE LANDING?! As Fenix was internally screaming he barely caught that Alexis was the first one thrown into the forest via the launch platforms. He watched her go and then realized something as he covered his eyes and turned to look at Blake.
"I really hope she is wearing something underneath that skirt." Blake just smirked and crouched down to prepare for her own launching.
"Good luck Fenix."
"Good luck Black Panther." He smirked and heard his platform click. Expecting to be launched he crouched and put his hands behind his back gripping his swords.
Only for nothing to happen.
"Huh, guess mine is broken." He was mildly disappointed. He expected to be thrown in to the air like a badass and go find a partner in dazzling style. Before Blake could react, her platform clicked, and she was launched into the air. As the rest of the students were launched one by one into the forest Fenix stayed on his platform. Jaune was the last one launched. Everyone else launched seemed to have some control to their flight plan. Jaune just flipped end over end to show he had no idea what to do in this situation. Fenix knew he needed to act fast if he wanted to help Jaune out so he got the professors' attention.
"Professors! My launch pad must have malfunctioned!" The Blonde professor turned with a slight shock to see him still standing there.
"Ah well I can throw you myself if that is what you prefer Mr. Fall." She put her oversized scroll away and grabbed a riding crop. Fenix was slightly surprised that that was her weapon of choice.
He didn't have time to think as Jaune was nearing the apex of his journey through the air. He needed to move to save his friend and he needed to move now. A new tactic he had been perfecting popped into his mind and he grew a mischievous looking grin.
"Actually, professor, I have my own way to get there."
(A/N): Well you have met the original crew and some new ones as well. I changed the Pyrrha pinning Jaune to the lockers and will change a few things here and there. As always please favorite and review this! Let me know what you guys think so far and thanks for the support! I would like some ideas for some cover art if ya'll have any suggestions.