Intermission number two! Released on Wednesday yet again, as it happens. This one turns the focus to the baking lessons that are going on parallel to Weiss and Jaune's little adventure, if you were wondering. I hope you enjoy, and look forward to the second part soon!
P.S - Yes, the next official chapter is still slated for Sunday the 6th of April, no worries.
Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum, not me. This is merely a fanwork meant for entertainment purposes only. Cover image courtesy of Simon Howden. All rights reserved.
Elizabeth Jones was the epitome of a Vale citizen. She was prim, proper, middle-aged, economically comfortable...and yet, for some otherworldly reason, she had been struck with the idea of starting up her own bakery. She'd never baked a thing in her life, for dust's sake, and suddenly she wanted to switch from accounting to rising cakes!
Some might have called her mad and, for the most part, she would have agreed with them...after all, only a madwoman would offer free baking lessons to a bunch of Beacon students only a month after opening.
"Do you think this is it?"
She'd got quite a good deal on the building, all things considered. Sure, it had housed enough cobwebs in it to weave into a suit of armour at first, but that was nothing that a little TLC couldn't fix. Well, she supposed there was also the tiny circular holes in the roof which, as far as Elizabeth could tell, were probably made from large quantities of bullets. Yet, after Elizabeth was done with it, even the fussiest interior designer would admit that it looked all the part a bakery.
Rich mahogany flooring had replaced the creaky oak boards of times past, giving the place an air of sophistication and artistic flair. The pristine white walls assured you that the establishment was clean and orderly; after all, dirt showed up on white like nothing else. After the casual visitor had taken in the fantastic architecture, they would no doubt walk up to the fastidiously kept counter, browsing the multitude of pastries on display with child-like glee. Of course, if one wanted to have their cake and eat it, as it were, the second floor of the bakery, available via an elevator and a fancy spiral staircase, housed a small, quaint little café area.
"I mean, it says it's a bakery…"
Elizabeth had spent an enormous amount of money on the place and, while she hadn't been open long, the bakery had enjoyed a lucrative amount of attention from the elite of Vale's population...perhaps a little too much. She needed an assistant and, as it happened, Beacon students needed pocket money.
How bad could it be?
"Ooh, ooh, we should just burst through the door! It'll be dramatic and stuff!" came a bubbly voice from outside.
"I don't think the owner would appreciate that, Nora. You going to knock, Ruby?" someone's dry tones responded.
"Wuh?! Why me?!"
"It was your idea, wasn't it?"
"Hmph, fine…"
Knock knock knock.
"Come in?" Elizabeth responded dubiously.
"Choo choo, all aboard the Nora train!"
"No, Nora, don't-"
Elizabeth cringed as several gangly forms catapulted through her front door, one of them almost smashing right into her precious glass counter. There looked to be six of them in total, and not a single one of them seemed practically dressed for baking. What was that girl wearing, anyway? Some kind of dress?
"Um...are you the Beacon students, by any chance?"
Perhaps realising that they were making a bad first impression, the motley crew of NPR and RBY peeled themselves off of the bakery floor, with the girl in the black and red dress deciding to take charge, apparently.
"Eheh...yep, that's us! We're really sorry about how we came in, by the way! Nora's kind of on the enthusiastic side when it comes to baked stuff and, well...she just kind of-"
"Barrelled through the door at the speed of cake!" supplied the bubbly one.
"Something like that, yeah. Anyway, I'm Ruby!" the dress girl explained cheerily, "And these are-"
"Ruby?" the solitary male cut in.
"Yes?"
"We can introduce ourselves, you know."
"Oh, uh, right...sorry! I'll just let you get on with that, then."
The little group of misfits went round with their names and Elizabeth, dutiful as ever, began taking them down in her omnipresent notebook. Her memory wasn't the best, sadly, but her incredible organisational skills managed to make up for it...most of the time.
"Okay, I think I've got this. Ruby, Blake, Yang, Nora, Ren and Pyrrha, is that right?"
"Well technically Ren's first name is Lie, but he prefers being called Ren 'cause Lie kinda sounds like lie, you know?" Nora supplied happily, bouncing on the spot all the while.
"Uh...right." Elizabeth said, blinking, "As for myself, if you don't remember from the flyer I sent out, my name is Elizabeth Jones, or Lizz for short. It's a pleasure to meet you all!"
In terms of appearance, Lizz was about as plain as her white loafs. She looked exceptionally middle-aged, with dyed honey-blonde hair and bright blue-eyes being somewhat marred by a few wrinkles and rogue gray hairs that had irritatingly escaped the dyeing process. Not that it was easy to see this, however; being a full-time baker these days, Elizabeth's semi-luscious locks were often covered by a classic and extremely puffy white chef's hat. Thick, black-rimmed spectacles framed her lovely eyes in a slightly dorky look, an observation only further enforced by their classic rectangular shape.
Blake in particular seemed to pay attention to what Lizz was wearing, looking her clothing up and down with keen interest.
"Will we be needing aprons as well, Lizz?"
Lizz frowned, looking down at her handy notepad. BUY APRONS was, thank dust, already crossed out.
Good job, past Lizz!
"Yes, yes, don't worry about it, Bleak-"
"Blake."
"Blake, sorry. I always keep two or three spare aprons around for myself, but I also picked some extras up yesterday for when you all came calling. Now, let me think…"
Hidden behind the fancy counter was the unassuming door to the bakery 'backroom' as it were...or, to put it another way, where all the real magic happened. Three dust-powered ovens hummed along in case an explosion of customers came in, so with six students…
"I'm afraid that I haven't quite got enough ovens for one each, so you'll have to split into pairs, if that's alright. Why don't you decide who you're pairing with while I prepare things in the back? Don't worry, I'll only be a minute or two."
And with that, the two incomplete teams were left alone in the room. Some of the pairs were obvious, of course; Ren and Nora was instantly suggested by the latter, and no one was in any position to argue. Meanwhile, Blake had volunteered for Yang to be her partner and, after an informative look with Pyrrha to confirm something, Yang agreed wholeheartedly. Which left…
"Welp, guess I'm paired up with you, Pyrrha!" Ruby exclaimed with a little false-excitement, secretly wishing Weiss was there, "Are you any good at baking?"
"I'm afraid that I've never done much before, to be honest, but perhaps my semblance will help somewhat?"
"Your sembl- oh, right! And I've got my speed, so…"
Ruby glanced around the mini-groups suspiciously.
"We're not competing here, are we?"
"I wouldn't worry about us, Ruby." Ren replied dismissively, "Nora'll probably eat half of the cake mixture before we get to bake anything."
"Only half?" Nora asked sweetly.
"Not exactly helping your case, Nora. But yeah, if you wish to 'win', you should probably keep more of an eye on Blake and Yang."
Yang's eyes flashed competitively.
"Did someone say 'win'?"
"Oh dust…" Blake muttered quietly.
"Come on Blake, it'll be fun! Don't you like winning things?"
"Not as much as you do, apparently, but that's not the point. If we're competing to make the best cake, all we'll end up doing is either rushing them or spending far too much time on them. Either way, we all lose."
"Aw, spoil sport! What about you, Ruby?"
"I don't know...maybe Blake's got the right idea…"
"Ah, Ruby Rose, getting out of losing once again..." Yang said, grinning mischievously all the while.
"W-what? What are you talking about?!"
"Egg race, ten years ago. Sack race, nine years ago. Race race, eight-"
"Hey, shut up! Those were all different and you know it! I can make a better cake than you as easy as one two four...er, three!"
"Ha ha, that's the spirit, sis! May the best gal win, etcetera etcetera…"
Thankfully, before the two sisters had any opportunity to launch any choice words at each other, Lizz decided to return with several aprons in tow.
"Alright, then…" Lizz said finally, straightening her clothes out a little.
"Who's ready to do some baking?"