Ruby POV
"Hot damn!" Yang whistled appreciatively. "That's a lot of food." To my right, Cali tried to whistle too, but she failed and it ended up as a sound not unlike blowing a raspberry. When I stifled a giggle she crossed her arms and pouted.
"S'not funny." She mumbled. Skye pinched her cheek and grinned.
"Yes, yes it is." Anna made a disgusted noise.
"Geez! Eat faster why don't you, fatass? Choke on something while you're at it." Weiss elbowed her in the ribs.
"Shut up." She hissed. Dante didn't seem to notice any of this, she just continued shoveling fries into her mouth as fast as possible. She paused for a second, swallowed, and shoved half a burger into her mouth.
I sat next to her and touched her shoulder lightly. She glanced over at me and raised her eyebrows, still inhaling copious amounts of food at a dangerous speed.
"Hm?" I shook my head.
"Are you okay?" She nodded, but said nothing. "Are you sure? You're eating an awful lot of food." I said worriedly. She shrugged.
"Ahf neffer bin zish hungry b'ffor." She commented with her mouth full. Yang snorted.
"Ya don't say!" She said, mock surprised. "Just fry to slow down okay?" Dante choked on a laugh and mouthful of fries. After several minutes of coughing and writhing, she succeeded at swallowing the wad of food in her mouth. She wiped her watering eyes and snorted.
"Geez, don't do that while I'm eating." Date smirked.
"That wasn't eating, that was the genocide of innocent potatoes and cows." Dante gasped dramatically.
"Not the potatoes!" She cried theatrically. Then her stomach rumbled loudly and she continued eating, though at a slower pace this time. Cali sat down opposite her and stealthily stole a fry.
"Where's Spencer?" I looked around and furrowed my brow.
"Good question, where is Spencer?" Dante shrugged.
"Dunno. Haven't seen him since I landed." Then a voice came from behind me.
"Didn't friggin' look for me either." I didn't need to look to know that it was Spencer. Dante scoffed but didn't turn.
"Well excuuuuuuuseme, princess! I was a little too busy being super fucking hungry and rejoicing that I even survived a fall from that height to look for my almost murderer." Spencer chuckled nervously.
"Oops?" Date raised his eyebrows.
"He dropped you?" Dante rolled her eyes.
"Yeah. Fingers like limp spaghetti, this one." She jerked her head in Spencer's direction. He scoffed.
"Maybe if you hadn't been doing all that wiggling and screaming, I could've concentrated on landing correctly." Dante grinned over her shoulder at him.
"It's possible. No hard feelings though, I know you didn't almost kill me on purpose." She winced as her stomach gurgled again. "Dammit!" She growled. "No matter how much I eat, I can fucking feel any and all fat I have melting into nothing!" She forced a smile in my direction. "Pretty soon I won't even have boobs."
"Did you ever?" Anna muttered. Dante gritted her teeth.
"Hey, bitch-muffin, why don't you fuck off and find some naïve, innocent soul to corrupt?" She snickered nastily. "Oh wait, isn't that what you're doing now?" Anna growled low in her throat.
"What the hell are you saying?" Dante raised a shoulder nonchalantly.
"Oh, you know. Old habits die hard." Anna ground her teeth together for a moment, then stormed away. Dante smirked victoriously and went back to eating. After only a moment, she gave a guttural cry of frustration and swept the tray off the table, scattering food all over the floor. She clutched her stomach and doubled over the table. "Gah! Fuck! Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!" I flinched and patted her back awkwardly while she proceeded to slam her forehead on the table repeatedly, all the while screaming the same word over and over. Yang winced.
"Geez, she's turned into Michael." Skye's eyebrows shot up.
"You listen to the Achieve Men?" I groaned and Weiss muttered,
"Here we go again." Cali whimpered quietly as Dante continued to assault the table with her face. As she reared back again, Spencer karate chopped her in the back of the neck, causing her to lose consciousness and slump over the table.
Everyone nearby sank into awkward silence and stared at him. He spread his hands.
"What? You'd rather she brained herself on the table?" Skye shrugged.
"Could've been interesting." Spencer tossed Dante over his shoulder and snickered.
"Y'know, she's a helluva lot lighter when she's unconscious. Maybe I should have knocked her out before we took off." We all glared at him and he chuckled nervously. "Too soon?"
"So you're the school nurse too?" I asked Ms. Goodwitch as she shined a light into Dante's right eye. She glanced at me briefly.
"No, I'm not. Unfortunately our nurse isn't with us at the moment." I frowned.
"Why not?" She studied me for a moment, then shook her head.
"Doesn't matter." I furrowed my brow, but let it go.
"Is she okay?" Glynda frowned at me.
"She's fine, just not here." I stared at her blankly for a moment, then giggled.
"Oh! No, I meant Dante." She gave an almost smile.
"I see. And to answer your question, I'm not sure. From what you've told me, it seems her metabolism is running dangerously fast. That explains the massive amount of food she consumed." I nodded, not really understanding, but getting the general gist of it.
"She was acting strangely earlier, and she mentioned feeling weird." Glynda's eyes narrowed as she tilted Dante's lolling head back and opened her mouth.
"Weird how?" I shrugged and thought back.
"Um, she said she felt stronger." Her eyes flew to my face briefly, then back to Dante.
"Really? Why is that? What happened?" A sour feeling like a mixture of guilt and dread bloomed in the pit of my stomach and I shrugged again.
"Uh, not really sure, I didn't see much." Now she turned fully toward me. She regarded me suspiciously for a moment, then nodded and patted Dante's knee.
"I can't find anything wrong with her, but I suggest consulting the nurse when she returns." I thanked her and she left us alone in the infirmary. Dante's head lolled to the side and she stared vacantly at me. I shuddered a bit and patted her hand before tilting her head away from me.
"Is she okay?" I nodded and responded over my shoulder.
"As far as we know, yeah." A chill danced up my spine and I stiffened. Wait. Who said that? I whirled about and stood in front of Dante, shielding her with my body. Spectra folded her arms across her chest.
"Calm down, I mean you no harm, I just want to make sure she's okay." I shook my head.
"You did this, didn't you? Whatever you did to her, it's causing this." She stepped forward.
"I saved her life." Her tone was tense and I noted vaguely that she'd said 'I' without being prompted three times now. She moved forward some more and I planted myself more firmly between them, trying to ignore my trembling knees.
"You also made her hurt herself." Spectra stopped.
"I. . .made her hurt herself?" She echoed slowly. I glowered at her and pushed her back
"Yes. Whatever you did made her start bashing her head on a table." Spectra moved closer and I shook my head. "Stay back." Her fingers twitched by her side.
"I only want to help."
"I don't think that's all you want." I glared up at her, still refusing to move. "In fact, I know that's not all you want." Spectra paused.
"It's all I want right now." Dante whimpered quietly and I turned to look down at her. I watched as her face contorted with agony from whatever it was that hurting her, sighed, and gave in.
"Fine. Just fix this." Spectra nodded at me and I stepped aside reluctantly. She moved to Dante's side and placed her hands on her face.
Dante's back arched off the bed suddenly and she let out a piercing wail. I leapt forward, but Spectra shook her head.
"Don't, you'll only make things worse." A wisp of black smoke curled languidly from Dante's lips and she dropped heavily back to the bed. Spectra cupped one hand beneath the smoke and lifted her mask with the other just long enough to inhale it. She shuddered and exhaled slowly.
Then she stiffened and turned slowly toward Dante.
Could it be?" She breathed. I narrowed my eyes at her.
"What?" Spectra said nothing for a while.
". . .I need to take her with me." She said slowly. I arched a skeptical eyebrow.
"Excuse me?" Spectra took Dante's lifeless hand and pressed it to her chest.
"I just need to make sure of something." I pulled it out of the woman's grip and placed it back on the bed.
"No, I understood what you said, I just don't understand why you think I'd be okay with it." Spectra stood still and silent for a long moment, then laughed shortly.
"You're right, I must seem really weird. I mean, we've only just met. I'm scaring you." I nodded.
"Yeah, kind of." Spectra stepped back and bowed a bit.
"My apologies. I'd like it if we could start over." She tilted her head and her tone became amused. "But not now. Right now, you're about to receive some interesting news." She chuckled darkly and slipped into the shadows seconds before the door creaked open. Spencer poked his head in.
"How is she?" I shook my head solemnly.
"She hasn't woken up yet." He grimaced.
"Now I feel bad." I shook my head.
"It's not your fault. It's Spectra's." His eyebrows shot up.
"Who?" I sighed.
"It's a really weird story that I can't tell you right now." He shrugged.
"Well okay then, where is everyone?" I shrugged.
"Haven't seen them since we brought Dante here." I pulled out my scroll and held it up. "But I could find out." He grinned.
"Tell everyone to get over here, especially Skye and Date, they're gonna want to hear this."
"Can someone please close her eyes?" Weiss stared uneasily at Dante's unconscious form. "That's a bit creepy." Yang closed her eyes gently and put a generous amount of distance between them. Everyone followed.
"So," Blake said quietly. "What's this I hear about important news?" Spencer smirked to himself and cleared his throat.
"Well you see. . ."
Super Duper Double Mega Spencer Flashback GOOOOO!
I was walking down the hallway, minding my own business and hunting a wild Dante when I passed a doorway and heard something interesting.
"-rd that it might be too late to help her. She could already be dead." At first, I didn't pay it much mind, but then the girl's words sank in. I stopped in my tracks and pressed my back against the wall near the doorway, listening hard. I heard a sharp intake of breath, and then,
"Really? That must be so scary!" I heard a rustle of fabric and a sigh, then the first girl spoke again.
"Yeah, if it was real. I just don't believe it. I mean, come on, who could possibly evade that many Ursa by themselves for so long?" It took all of my considerable mental strength and body control not to interrupt.
"It does seem a bit unlikely." The second girl said. Before I could think too much more about it, I stepped into the doorway. They didn't see me until I spoke.
"Where did you hear this?" The girls stared at me for a moment, then one (a brunette) said,
"Uh. . .M-my friend? Why?" I shrugged.
"I'm a bit curious." She blushed, obviously thinking about how sexy I am. I could practically hear her heart beating faster as she was clearly working up the courage to ask me for-
"Spencer." I blinked and looked around. Everyone was staring at me.
"Oh," I chuckled uncomfortably. "I was saying that out loud, wasn't I?" Weiss rolled her eyes.
"We want to know what actually happened, not what you saw through your ego glasses." I sniffed.
"I'll have you know that this is exactly what happened." Date snorted.
"Sure it is, Spencer." I groaned.
"Look, you nit-picky assholes, I'm telling you what happened. Kindly shut the fuck up and listen."
Anyway, they introduced themselves as Rachel (the brunette) and Kaitlin (a redhead), and I listened intently as Rachel told me what she'd heard.
"So, like, my friend told me that her friend told her that a friend of their mutual friend, who's a friend of mine, told her that she'd seen a newspaper article a while ago about a girl who lived in the woods, and just recently, she saw another one talking about how she'd been attacked by a frickin' enormous pack of Ursa." I nodded and she continued. "Then yesterday, my friend overheard Glynda Goodwitch talking to someone about it on the phone. She said: 'I think it could be her again, and if she's who I think she is, she might just be the fourth.'" I felt like my eyebrows might shoot straight up and off my face.
"The fourth?" Rachel shrugged.
"Dunno what he meant, but I heard just today that Opzin himself went to go help. They say he took the nurse and team KING with him."
"Hold up," Yang interrupted, making a T shape with her hands. "Time out for a second. Did you just say team KING?" I nodded, unsure why that was a big deal. Ruby and Weiss shared a surprised look.
"They involved team KING?" Weiss's eyebrows knit, and I figured that whoever this team KING was, no one on team RWBY liked them all that much. Ruby sighed sadly.
"If it's that serious, then that means that she might already be dead." I shook my head slowly.
"Something tells me she's not."
3rd Person POV
Professor Ozpin stepped out to the airship and onto the forest floor, searching intently for any sign of danger.
"Sir?" He turned back and looked at the man in the doorway.
"Yes?" The man shook his head.
"We got a call from team KING." He waited, eyebrows raised. "They say that it's urgent that you come immediately, sir." He nodded and headed off in the direction that team KING had gone. They didn't even wait for the ship to land. He thought wryly. Just jumped out and took off. He smiled proudly to himself. That's why they're the best.
He stepped into a clearing and paused, shocked by the sight of all the Grimm. The dead Grimm to be precise. Everywhere Ozpin turned, there were dead grim. As he approached, team KING all faced him and stood silently. He smiled at them.
"Excellent work, that was faster than I expected." They shuffled nervously for a while, then the team leader, Karissa Mauve, spoke up.
"Um, sir? We didn't do this. Any of it. This is how it was when we arrived."
Spencer POV
"So, who the hell is team KING?" The members of team RWBY exchanged glances.
"Um," Ruby shifted her weight from foot to foot. "Well-"
"They're the elite." Dante spoke from behind me. I turned and saw that she was still laying down, but she was now fiddling with her scroll instead of looking like a coma patient.
She turned her head toward us and her expression was one of profound distaste. "They're basically the best team in the school, with pompous, asshole attitudes to match." Anna gave an amused snort.
"As much as I dislike saying it, she's right. They're grade A jerks." Cali nodded sagely.
"Worse than Blaine." I scratched my head.
"Okay, now I feel even further behind. Who's Blaine?"
"That would be me." I hated her from the second syllable she spoke. She stood in the doorway, looking at us with distaste like we were dog shit on the bottom of her shoe.
"Oh." I said, keeping my voice neutral. "I understand the reference now." Yang stifled a laugh and Dante snickered somewhere behind me.
"Hey Blaine," Dante called. "What's up? Run out of birth control pills again?" Blaine sniffed haughtily and shot back.
"What happened to you Dante? One of your criminal friends turn on you?" Dante clenched her jaw, then sneered.
"Actually, no. I attempted suicide because I couldn't stand to see your creepy ass anymore." Blaine shrugged.
"Pity you failed." She said dryly. Dante narrowed her eyes.
"You're lucky I can't get up right now, or I'd have already thrown your slutty ass out the window." Blaine bristled.
"I would ruin you if you tried." Dante snickered.
"Don't you mean Daddy would ruin me? We all know you're not here because of you fighting prowess." She grinned viciously. "If that was the case, we'd have to enroll monkeys too, seeing as even they're stronger and smarter than you." Blaine flushed angrily.
"You take that back!" She screeched, which was hell on my ears. "Take it back right n-"
"Or what?" Dante smirked. "You'll cry? Be a good girl and run along now. Go ask Daddy to buy you a pony or something." Blaine stuttered indignantly, but gave up and stomped out.
No one spoke for a long moment.
"Well," Yang said, breaking the silence. "That was a thing."
3rd Person POV
"What do you mean you didn't do this?" Karissa shuffled nervously, but didn't answer. A tall, broad shouldered boy answered instead.
"She means that someone did the job first, sir." Ozpin looked at him.
"And why is that, Ienzo?" Ienzo shook his head, staring straight ahead.
"I-I don't know, sir."
Opzin scoffed. "Oh, you must have some idea. Go ahead, take a guess." Ienzo hesitated.
"Because. . .Because we weren't fast enough, sir?" Ozpin opened his mouth but a nearby rustling stopped him from speaking. He turned swiftly and all of team KING drew their weapons.
After another few minutes, the rustling came again, emanating from a nearby group of bushes.
Ozpin held up his hand. "Wait." He moved toward the bush slowly, watching carefully for any more Grimm.
"Hello?" He called, stopping a few yards away. "Is anyone in there?" He heard a soft whimpering sound and slowly, a girl emerged from the bushes.
Her short, spiky black hair was mussed and wild, her pale skin and white tank top smudged with dirt and blood. Teary, dark orange eyes darted warily back and forth from person to person. She moved slowly forward on bare feet, holding a bloody sword out in front of her with shaking arms, its tip pointed at Ozpin's chest.
"Sir!" Karissa moved forward, but Ozpin shook his head.
"Put your weapons away and go get the nurse." They did as they were told and Ozpin held out his hands toward the girl in a placating gesture.
"Are you okay, sweetie? What's your name?" Her lower lip trembled a bit, but she answer quietly.
"Amber." His eyes widened slightly, but he recovered quickly.
"Are you okay, Amber? Are you hurt?" She shook her head and her arms drooped, the sword falling from her hands.
"N-no, I-I'm just cold." He removed his jacket and approached slowly.
"Here." He placed it gently around her and smiled kindly.
"It's okay, you're safe now. Do you remember what happened?" She nodded slightly. "Can you tell me?" She squeezed her eyes shut and nodded.
"They. . .They were following me, and I just. . .I couldn't lose them." She began hyperventilating and Ozpin bent down a bit and placed his hands on her shoulders.
"It's okay, you don't have to tell me now, first we have to-" He grunted in surprise when she threw herself into his arms and wrapped her own around his neck. He smiled softly and hugged her back. She sobbed into his shoulder and he held her gently.
"There, there," He murmured. "You've had a rough day, let's get you somewhere safe." She pulled back.
"W-wait! I-I have to do something first." She scampered off and Ozpin blinked, following her as quickly as he could. He found her at the base of a tree, digging nimbly with her fingers. He crouched next to her and helped move the dirt from the hole.
Soon, metal gleamed at the bottom of the two foot deep hole and Ozpin lifted out a ring, dangling at the end of a silver chain and brushed it off. The ring itself was a dull gold, with three small rubies set in it. He stared at the ring in shock, eventually looking at Amber.
"Where. . .Where did you get this?" She looked up from where she was shoving dirt back into the hole. She swiped at her eye with her wrist, leaving a dirt smudge on her cheek and sniffled.
"It was my mom's, she gave it to me before. . ." Ozpin nodded and rubbed her back.
"I understand." She stood and handed him his jacket.
"I'll be back." She began to climb the tree swiftly, fingers and toes digging into the bark. She reached a branch a ways up and Ozpin craned his neck to see what she was doing. She straddled the branch and stuck her fingers in a knot hole.
She pulled and a slab of the wood came free, revealing a hollow section in the tree. She reached inside and pulled out a few things before clambering back down. In her arms she cradled a worn blanket, a dirty pillow, a leather bag, and a video camera.
"It was my dad's. I use it to make sure that nobody comes near the tree while I'm gone." She whispered. Then she blinked. "Oh that's right, I left it running when I went to go bathe." She opened it and clicked stop, then handed it to Ozpin. "I also kept a video diary of everything that's happened so far."
Ozpin smiled and placed a hand on her head.
"That was smart." She flushed happily and pointed at it.
"It probably saw what happened too." Ozpin's eyebrows raised and he started to rewind the tape. He shook his head and chuckled.
"You're a unique kid, Amber." She smiled.
"Thanks!" Then she wrinkled her nose. "I think."
Welp, that wraps up introductions for now. Say hello to the final member of team (censored), the girl that started it all, Amber Drake!
I hope you guys are satisfied, that was three times longer than the usual chapters, consider it my little apology for being away so long.
AAAAAH! I'm so hyped up right now that I can barely sit still! When we got back from our trip, my parents announced that they'd decided to adopt a little girl! Her name is Grace and I've only met her once, but I swear she's the cutest thing ever. . .of all time. Right now it's paperwork this, paperwork that, but I can hardly contain my joy! I always wanted a younger sister, but I got stuck with Chase (lol jk, he's a cool kid).
Anyway, it's mentor appreciation month! It is for me anyway. So I'm going to give a big ol' shout out to my bestest friend in the whole wide cul-de-sac, DEATH JR! YAAAAAYYY! All of this is thanks to that guy, he checks my spelling, tells me when my ideas a shitty, and teaches me fancy words! I'd blow him if he wasn't so ugly. . .that was a joke, I'd never blow him. My affections are reserved for one man and one man only. . .plus tons of girls, you know how it is. ;3 I didn't think I could finish this chapter, but he told me that I just had to take it one day at a time until I felt the chapter was ready, and that you guys would probably understand. :) So send him PM telling him how much you appreciate him for giving the world the literary genius that is me (Total sarcasm, except for the PM thing XD)!
I can't promise faster or more updates, but I will try to make the story better. Thank you all for your continuous support. This story is already a hell of a lot longer than I thought it'd be, and it's all because of you guys.
Love ya,
Dante 'The Kitsune' Stryker