Revision: 07/26/2015
As promised, I went back and extended this chapter. I added more detail to the combat in the latter half, and expanded on it, with a different, and hopefully unexpected point of view!
I also put some details on the reason behind Ruby and Neo's strength over the others, aside from the mastery of their personal weapons and styles. (Because let us be honest, Pyrrha has just as much mastery, and more flexibility with hers than either Ruby or Neo. All of this will be explained later in other chapters, in great depth. Ruby is a Huntress in all but official title. Whereas Pyrrha is merely a gladiator who can use aura to shield herself. [Neo is just a monster...nuff said.])
I APOLOGIZE FOR THOSE WHO EXPECTED A NEW CHAPTER.
That said, considering I added over 1600 words to this chapter... it is respectable enough for me to feel it warrant an update message to all of you. To make sure you don't miss it if I had simply posted a reminder in chapter 14.
Also, I want everyone to thank 'Gashadokuro Amanojaku' for the new snazzy chapter titles. Most were from his suggestions, and the couple that weren't, came to existence THANKS to his suggestions, and collaboration. Many of course have double meanings, which makes them even more fun. Hope you like them all!
And the rest of the revision as well!
A/N: WELCOME BACK Y'ALL!
I had fun business trip last weekend, just came back yesterday, and pulled an all-nighter to finish editing this chapter.
To answer a question that finally hit the ten tally mark. When I mention that I edited a chapter before posting, I do in fact mean that. I tend to have two to three chapters written out in advance, to avoid missing my self-imposed Thursday deadline. Or when you guys are awesome enough to fulfill certain goals of mine (such as the 50 favorites and followers, the 50 reviews, or even the first day when I got over 50 viewers when I expected to have that after a week, not a day) and I post an extra chapter that Sunday. So I spend a few hours reviewing and editing anything I deem needed to be altered. Most cases, it only takes me an hour or two. In a few cases I couldn't stop rewriting it, over and Over and OVER again. So it takes me longer to 'edit' it than it did to write it initially.
Heck! There isn't even any author notes after the initial writing.
Glad I answered you ten, and any future readers.
NOW, for the unveiling, I am sad to say that despite getting quite a few names for Neo's personalities, and Mato's Flames… none but the Berserker tag for Mato's Red flame really won me over. Since it isn't imperative, I will keep asking you all for suggestions.
In regards to the traits held in common from all three of Neo's Semblances… I am sad to say that NO ONE actually came up with any, a few of you ASKED me for them, but no one actually tried to figure out ANY patterns. Quite sad for me really.
Anyway, to list a few:
The have no direct physical damage capabilities. (Causing one of them to hurt or kill themselves in madness does not count as direct.)
They have NO effect on Grimm. Making them all purely anti-human/faunus semblances. Which speaks a LOT about her mentality, personality, and hopes at the time of their creation. (Serious, the illusion blocks light and sound, it does nothing for smell, or that Grimm Emo detector.)
Technically, I pointed out part of another above. All of them are based on attempts to escape 'reality' in some way or another. Illusions, Teleportations, or the Tsukuyomi-like one (If I hear anyone complain about two of her semblances technically falling under the category of Illusions, I will waste the equivalent, in cash, of a nice romantic night out with my partner, on cooking at home on my non-gas grill. (Which means no writing new chapters! RAWR! [Shame on you smarties who realize it won't affect the next update since I already wrote it… you should be ashamed of making an old man like myself fall on my knees generating rain clouds over my head.])
Bah! Those things aside, time for the chapter! This time I am using another new point of view. We have already had Ruby, Winter, and Dove show their stuff with decent parts. A couple short ones from Ren, Jaune, and Glynda. Today we get to watch the world behind the eyes of everyone's favorite Faunus! (Second favorite compared to Velvet for some of you. Or even Adam for those of you with weird, by my standard, taste. [Those who vote for Sun… yeah, I like the guy somewhat… but I don't like his presence in the story. It is even more forced the Neptune's… and I truly despise Neptune.])
Anyway, ENJOY!
? - ?
? - ?
'Where did it all go so wrong?'
'Was it when I first picked up a sign to fight for my rights?'
'Was it when I was forced to use that sign to fight off those who denied me my rights?'
'When our leaders changed? When they decided fear was the better option? When I agreed with them, and let them train me? When I finally did to the 'enemy' what they have done to us? Strip them of all they have, leave them nothing more than a husk? When I took even that away from them in anger? When it became a necessity?'
'Where did it all go so wrong?'
Beacon - Reserved Practice Rooms
April 4th, 2014 - Late Afternoon
'Where did it all go so wrong?'
That was the prevailing thought going through the resident cat Faunus' head over and over again since the start of this joint tort- training session between MDNS, RWBY, and JNPR. Invitations had been sent out to CRML and TAPE since Mato and Neo knew the team leader of the first, and Mato was trying to apologize to a member of the second for Neo's actions earlier in the day during history class.
Neither came though, which meant that all the 'love' that would have been shared among seventeen people… was instead only spread among nine.
After Mato had a quick spar with those that hadn't come forth during yesterday's combat class, to get a 'feel' for everyone's place. 'What she meant to say was finish beating everyone into the ground for her sadistic satisfaction. Although I do wonder why she didn't challenge Little Red?'
It quickly became apparent why, when Mato, Neo, and Ruby all lined up on one side, and everyone else on the other. Both sides had ten minutes to work out a formula to fight the other side.
Now, while Blake would never claim anything about her skills, she was still slightly put-off by this. She knew they weren't disparaging her personally, considering that even Pyrrha freaking Nikos was on her side, but when you have spent your entire life being put down, insulted for things beyond your control, your real efforts and successes shunned and waved away as flukes or 'luck', it is hard not to see those connotations in people's actions.
Especially when three people felt confident in fighting nine others. At the same time.
Everyone knew by now that Mato was strong. She hadn't spent four hours beating up more than three-fifths of the class without that message being FIRMLY engraved in everyone's minds. However, her two teammates were unknowns. One of them she felt a familiar tug of recognition from, like she was supposed to know something about the multi-colored girl, but clearly not important enough to remember it.
The other one she was a bit more wary of. Not all team leaders were automatically strong, her own leader and partner, Jaune, was a perfect example of that. Don't misunderstand, he is strong in mind and purpose. 'And his physical strength isn't bad for someone with no official training in combat.' He also had an incredibly tactical mind, and was very quick with decisions once he had a bit of information to work with. Jaune though, had no combat training. During their near five hour trek together during initiation. Jaune barely held himself together. Granted, he did MUCH better once Blake unlocked his Aura, which means the boy has a LOT of potential to be a great man, right now though, Jaune barely knows how to stand properly to take a hit or swing a sword.
That said, Ruby was probably the same kind of leader as Mato had shown. Ruby was one of the few accepted early into Beacon. Unlike most of the fools who look down on her because of that, who believe she is weaker, or worth less since she is almost two years younger they are, Blake fears her. Beacon only accepts people for early enrollment if Ozpin feels certain that they will pass Initiation. Which means that those who join Beacon before their seventeenth year of age… tend to be VERY capable in combat.
That said, even if all three of them were equals in strength. They had three times the numbers, so one could forgive Blake for feeling a bit miffed. It pretty much was an insult that they needed at least three times their numbers to be equal to them.
'I was such a fool. Between all of us being unable to decide on a leader, or plan of actions, we merely split into our own partnerships to rush them, or we did it alone. We were torn apart. And the ease with which they did it, suggests that they probably could have taken all nine of them solo if they continued to attack them separately.'
Sadly. They did. With the likes of Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiaolong together, no decision was ever reached. In a couple of the 'spars', they fought between each other instead of helping the other seven attack the enemy.
It got to the point, that Neo suggested- 'Or so Mato says. I still think she is using her mute friend as a ruse to cover her own sadism.' , suggested that since we liked to think that we were better off as individuals, than as a team, that we should be beat down as we rise, instead of waiting for all of us to recover together before another attempt at freedom.
YES. FREEDOM.
This 'practice' was to last two hours. You know, with time in between matches for some cooldown, reviews, and suggestions for each match? Like normal, sane people?
It had that quality for all of the first three matches.
Afterwards, as stated, as soon as one of us rose, they would play Janken, and then come and beat us into the floor again.
Two hours in, they decided to amend the rules once more for 'our' benefit.
Instead of succeeding over the other party, at least one of us had to 'escape' from the 'battlefield' and make it to the dorms.
I am ashamed to say that I was the first one to run away. 'But in what way is that new? All I have done is run away. If my entire life was put to pen and paper. It would just depict the actions of a coward, continuously.'
Even Yang was running now. She refused to accept such an alternative at first.
Four hours into this 'training' session though seems to have been enough to beat it even into the fiery woman that retreating was the better part of valor this time around.
It still wasn't enough. Even if one managed to make it outside of the room, which was hard with those three, Neo or Ruby would bring one back before the runner realized what was happening.
It baffled the mind. After four hours of nonstop combat, between two parties of unequal numbers, the one with the lesser numbers, was not tired. 'Actually… did any of us even hurt one of them yet? We can't see their aura levels, so I am not sure… but I know I didn't hit Mato or Neo when I attacked them. I haven't had the chance to fight Little Red yet, but she seems no worse for wear than the other two...'
Well it matters not. The message was finally drilled into everyone's heads. Weiss and Yang were on board this time as well. Jaune had managed to concoct a decent plan, and spread it among everyone between his many beatings. Each time falling down next to someone else to give them the plan. Everything was in place, we had all stayed down, played dead.
Those three arrogant monsters let us lick our wounds too long. They should have kicked us when we were down, instead of trying to uphold their 'righteous' belief that one shouldn't harm those 'below' them. They would learn soon.
The constant beat downs, courtesy of our resident trolls and reaper, seemed to have finally broken the fragile concept of sanity in a few of their 'opponents'.
Seeing as how Blake was superimposing the image of the disgusting, corpulent humans over those three, and that the her fallen allies were her Faunus brethren. Even Weiss Schnee had cute fox ears and tails… 'THERE IS A NINE-TAILED FOX FAUNUS! THESE DASTARDS! How, HOW DARE THEY TRY TO HURT ALL THESE RARE FAUNUS BLOODLINES!'
Blake looked over to her Wolf eared leader. Waiting for Jaune to give the signal. Then she, along with Lion Pyrrha, Dragon Yang, Snow Fox Winter, Bear Nora, and Stag Dove would assault them for all their worth. While Jaune, Hawk Ren, and Weiss ran away for all their worth. They needed to buy enough time and distract the enemy long enough for those three to get the information back to HQ, where it could be put to use, and make their sacrifices worth something. And if Little Rose, or the multi-colored one went after them, the two targeted needed to hold them off while the third runner escaped.
She hoped they did try to target two of the runners. Because then the six of them could focus on the Dark one, if they could put it down, it would be a great success for her brethren. IT WOULD SAVE MILLIONS!
THEY HAD TO SUCCEED NO MATTER WHAT!
Beacon - Reserved Practice Rooms
April 4th, 2014 - Late Evening
"Soooo… Anyone else feeling the waves of humiliation, desperation, insanity, and all-out fury?"
"Ruby dear, I can literally see the madness glinting behind some of their eyes. Poor Blake is so far gone that she hasn't even noticed that her eyes have remained slitted like a cats for the last hour. Or that she has had a tail for the same amount of time. Also, Neo, I think it was a bit cruel to put such exaggerated Faunus features on everyone." Neo responded with a shit-eating grin that made both of the other girls chuckle, "Ok, entertainment value aside, especially from how hot and bothered Ruby is-"
"Oh come on! It's not fair, look how cute she is with those fluffy ears and those soft and fuzzy tails! I can't be the only one thinking about petting her and wrapping myself in blanket with her!"
"..."
"Indeed Neo. Anyway, having everyone look like a Faunus keeps the others from noticing her eyes… if they have even noticed anything beyond the demonic image of ourselves by this point. It is probably also helping Weiss in the long run, even if she broke earlier-"
"Don't worry about it, I will pick up the pieces if she broke. This is a good way to get her to more invested in the horrors her company perpetrates. I know that Winter states she isn't racist, but inaction to protect one, is as bad as action against one. Plus, it also helps the others. I am pretty sure if we were to run into a racists bullying scene before today. Only you would act on the spot. Maybe Neo if she was feeling bored. Everyone else would probably act only after the fact, to try to salvage the situation. Now though…"
"We have probably created some kind of weird subconscious thought to defend their Faunus brethren or cousins… I guess that isn't a bad thing… even if right now I can feel nothing but the extreme urge to murder us and escape."
"Oh, I think they are going to get started with that plan Jaune came up with. Yup, signal is being sent around." Ruby warned them with quite the deadpan expression.
Despite the fact that they were about to be set upon by nine people, as a team finally rather than as nine individuals. The three girls didn't ready their weapons. Having already beaten every person in the room at least four times since this started, using their weapons for their final attempt would be overkill. So they would stick to aura, hand-to-hand and semblances only for the final bout.
"..." Stated Neo with a pout.
Oh yeah, and Neo was hungry and wanted this to finally finish.
"Neo, there are many places that are open even past midnight in town, and I promised you both that midnight would be the ABSOLUTE latest I would hold everyone here if they didn't impress me today. So chin up, it is likely this will be the last one."
"You know they are all going to hate us tomorrow… if they even remember anything past the second 'total' attempt they made… I think we had beat Yang down seven times by then…"
"..."
"Neo, we can't knock the stick out of her ass, since it isn't there in the first place. You have your sayings wrong."
"..."
"Doesn't work either."
"..."
"What do you mean by… oh, THAT'S what you mea-"
Having gotten carried away with their conversation, Yang was already upon Mato, Pyrrha on Neo, and Winter on Ruby. Nora, Dove and Blake pitching in with some ranged support and occasional close range support.
Jaune, Ren and Winter's sister were nowhere to be seen.
"RUBY! We have three runners, go after them!"
With a quick feint and use of her semblance, Ruby had Winter on the floor, before quickly running after the escapees.
Meanwhile Mato and Neo found themselves back-to-back in an epic showdown against their foes. Both working in near perfect tandem, as they dodged and redirected blows from Yang and Pyrrha, and the occasional sneak attacks from Blake. While stopping Nora's smashes cold with their combined might and tossing her away to interrupt the others, although not without repercussions to the floor, as it cracked from the displaced force of her impacts.
Sadly, between the restrictions they set on themselves for this match. The fury and blind rage of their opponents. The sudden perfect teamwork they seemed to have developed instinctively. And the fact that it was taking all Neo had just to keep Pyrrha busy while dodging and intercepting the others, and that Mato wasn't faring much better holding off the suddenly perfect synchronization between the psychotic bumblebee pair in trying to murder her. While of course Dove and Nora supported on the sidelines with shots from the former, and insane hollering and bone crushing smashes from the latter.
The battle finally took a turn for the better when Mato missed Blake sneaking behind her as Dove, Nora, and Yang all attacked her simultaneously, making her lose sight of Blake briefly. It didn't help that Neo used her as a launching board to avoid Pyrrha's thrown spear. Devious predator that she was, Blake took painful advantage of that lapse with a painful combo of slashes at her back. It was enough to let Yang get a few blows in, followed by a powerful smash from Nora.
Suddenly Neo had no one at her back as Mato had just been introduced to the wall.
Not wanting their suddenly and finally, superior position to flip again. Yang and Blake both ran at Mato while the dust still hid part of her on the wall.
Already a respectable distance away, even Ruby felt the sudden oppressive aura that bloomed from the direction of the practice arena as she finished lying Jaune next to Ren. Sadly, their combined efforts had bought enough time for Weiss to get to the dorm, so Ruby had been on her way back to end the match between the others.
Now she was on racing back to enjoy the show.
And a show it was, as Neo took the moment of shock to break off from her combat with Pyrrha, so that she could see how a pair of hands shot out of the dust cloud and gripped both the dragon and the panther by their respective faces.
Mato's voice came out from the cloud before her face. A chilling cackle. "Good job children. I am proud to say you have accomplished the goal set for tonight, and can go to bed happily."
Somehow none of them were reassured by those words.
"As a special prize, I am going to introduce you four to an old rival of mine."
The dust parted to show Mato standing with an expression reserved only for the mentally deranged. And a purple flame blooming over her left eye, before she suddenly slammed both of her victims into the floor, headfirst.
"Meet the floor. I plan to make sure you are all in an intimate relationship before I leave."
Neo grabbed her first friend from Beacon, and teleported the redhead into the stands, far away from the carnage.
The screams weren't even that long. They were loud, but they ended even before Ruby made it back, to find four bodies firmly planted into the ground. Somehow Winter had manged to avoid the same fate as her peers.
Surprisingly, it wasn't even the most disturbing thing Ruby saw at that moment.
Nor was the look of complete and utter bliss on Mato's face after she had played matchmaker for her old rival.
No, it was the sight of Pyrrha shivering like a little girl in Neo arms as she slowly caressed her hair and drew circles into her back. Cooing into her ear, what probably would have been calming suggestions if she was capable of speech.
She just shook her head. "I got Jaune and Ren, but Weiss made it into the dorms as they kept me occupied. I also see here that they apparently impressed you enough to end it anyway as well."
"Yup!" Cheered an already recovered Mato, "Want to join us for a quick meal before we all head to bed?"
Ruby just palmed her face, wondering not for the first time, why she decided to come to Beacon, instead of just registering as a Hunter through the examinations they held once a year.
Beacon - ?
April 4th, 2014 - Late Evening
In a dark room, high up in a tower, illuminated only by the half-moon that streamed through the reinforced floor-to-ceiling glass walls. A huge array of gears reminiscent of the internal intricacies of clockwork was displayed through the transparent ceiling and floor.
One man sat on a towering chair, naught but his eyes visible to those who enter the room.
Glynda flipped the light switch. "Ozpin, what have I told you about sitting in the dark like this?" She states with an exasperated sigh.
Ozpin merely brought his steaming mug of coffee to his lips, taking a good drink before responding. "That I am indulging in my megalomaniac tendencies too often. I personally respond that it saves on the electrical bill."
Glynda pinches the bridge of her nose. "...I am not getting into this argument with you again. How they assigned a man such as yourself to be the headmaster of this school is beyond me, and personally, scares me."
Ozpin chuckles, "Come now, I have been itching to watch how our new First Year Representative goes about training her peers." That said, a holographic projection screen pops up while Glynda heads towards her own seat.
While they both watched the methodical destruction of the victims of the most insane members of the three combined teams. Glynda had a few choice words to input, "I didn't know Miss Rose was that vicious. She is apparently taking a lot of pleasure from constantly tripping and stomping her sister. I do believe that no one else, even those facing Neo, are getting as bad a treatment as Miss Xiaolong is at the hands of her baby sister." She scoffed when she used Yang's method of address to Ruby.
Ozpin just took another sip of his hot coffee. "Glynda, she carries a giant scythe, that is also a gun. Which she designed and crafted." Another sip, "Is it really any surprise that she has a tendency to be excessive in her actions against those she perceives as enemies or people that require a lesson?" A larger sip, this one while they watched Ruby systematically destroy Yang, who had horns and a dragon's tail all of a sudden. Crescent Rose being used to pin Weiss in place, forcing her to watch as Ruby played the role of the worst medical practitioner in existence, slowly and methodically striking with her semblance and Aura enhanced fists, palms, and fingers. For every attempt at an attack from Yang, Ruby delivered ten to weak spots. The back of the knees, her underarms, elbows on fully extended straights, her sternum, between her ribs, her chin. All of them with surgical precision. All of them just strong enough to hurt, to anger, but not to incapacitate. All of them aimed to keep Yang going as long as possible, to prolong her participation in their 'fight'. "That she has a tendency towards overkill?"
Glynda sighed, having read up on all the passing students bios, she understood that Ruby could have SOME resentment towards her older sister treating her like a child. She didn't quite yet understand why Ozpin brought her to Beacon. The girl had enough years of experience out in the field, with enough merits, that she was qualified to TEACH at Beacon. That semblance of her made her a monster in combat as well, only enemies with the worst type-advantage against her, combined with enough skill could pose a threat to her. The ability to pretty much see and move around the world while it is for all intents and purposes stuck in time?
Glynda shook her head to clear out the thoughts. "I can understand why Miss Rose would go out of her way to try to teach Miss Xiaolong a lesson. Although with the amount of physical and mental damage she, Miss Kuroi, and Miss Neopolitan have pushed unto them, I am not sure any memories, much less a lesson, will stick with them."
As she said this, she watched as what appeared to be the final ploy from the weaker team 'And isn't that a shocking thought? For the "weaker" team to consist of strong and well known hunters and huntresses in training like Miss Nikos, The Schnee siblings, Sir Lie Ren, and even an ex-White Fang combat lieutenant. Along with other strong students… Except Sir Arc. I still don't understand why he was admitted to test here, much less how he actually passed!', her eyes drifted to MDNS's leader and her partner, as they faced three on one odds.
It was an impressive display. Although the six 'attackers' were tired, hurt, and probably a bit broken mentally. Their opponents were restricting themselves to just hand-to-hand, and VERY heavily broken mentally. Neo had even left her parasol lying with Crescent Rose a good distance away, and the absolute GLEE that shone from her eyes as she exchanged blows with Pyrrha while simultaneously dodging the covering fire from those not currently involved in the close combat with her or Mato, was … it was WRONG.
Pyrrha was well known as a master of her weapons. She had come to Beacon to master the use of her Aura, as well as Dust. To expand on her technical skill with her weapons and semblance. To learn to hunt Grimm.
She was the four time winner of her homelands championship. Facing a human opponent, restricted to to just weapons and supportive Aura should have been easy for such a warrior. Much less one who was using just her body as a weapon, and whose aura granted no enhancements to strength or speed. Regardless of said champion being tired and hurt.
Instead, Glynda and Ozpin watched every attack from Pyrrha was dodged, parried, and countered. With no metal on her body, Pyrrha's semblance could only be used to enhance the speed of her blows, or change the angles of attacks already in progress.
Despite that, and even more tricks, Neo seemed to constantly be dancing at the edge of her attacks. Seemingly nothing but an atom's size to separate blade or blow from flesh. As one of Pyrrha's swings translated into a full body leg sweep, Neo found herself forced to jump, unable to back flip due to having her partner behind her. The Mistralite took full advantage of Neo's temporary air time, to nigh instantaneously transform her weapon to a spear which jabbed out towards Neo chest, so lost in her state, that she didn't realise she was putting enough force behind the blow to possibly kill Neo.
A quick kick off from Mato's back allowed Neo to bend right over Miló, which thankfully also happened to push Mato's head out of the way of a spear to the back of the head. Pyrrha was letting this chance go though, she doggedly followed the thrust, by letting go of her spear, using the same hand that had been wielding it to support her body in a handstand, as she used the force behind her thrust to continue rolling forward, bringing her legs over to kick the airborne Neo.
The headmaster and his closest and most trusted assistant watched with amusement and respect, respectively, as Neo proceeded to grab unto Pyrrha's extended legs, and push herself and them away from her with the skill that only a master of Aikido would be able to show. While in midair, and nothing to ground her. Akoúo̱ quickly followed the kicks, which Neo barely dodged with a twist of her head. The small angry red line that appeared on her cheek showed it had been close, considering Neo's body was not twisted into a position that contortionist would deem foolish and dangerous, that was saying a lot.
Before the intense fight between the two could continue and escalate further. The First Year Representative seemed to have finally slipped up. A combination of attacks from four of the six present had the black clad girl launched into the nearest wall at an impressive velocity. Enough surely to crack ribs and possibly cause a concussion.
Blake and Yang, apparently not satisfied with their attack, or wishing to end the fight as soon as possible, charged into the dust cloud that had shot up after the impact. Glynda scowled at the idea of attacking someone who was already probably incapacitated.
Ozpin merely drank from his apparently bottomless coffee mug.
Glynda, the non-believer, watched in open fascination as Mato proceeded to end the originally equal seeming fight, in such a one-sided, and brutal fashion, that she found herself asking the same question from no more than three days prior.
'Just what are you capable of. How much will it take to see your real strength… and how much coffee does that mug hold!?'
A/N: REVISED!
Ok, so I went and made a few corrections in the grammar from the first two sections. I also added a FEW lines to compliment the changes that I involved with the last part. As well as hopefully making a few of the scenes flow a bit better.
Finally, of course, I added an entire new section to the bottom, showcasing our two favorite professors, besides Port and The Doctor.
I do hope this makes the chapter better for all of you. I know I feel better after adding it in.
No matter what I did, I just couldn't add any of the fighting portions, TO the original part, without me feeling weird about it. Finally, this idea came up from one of the later chapters I have written, with Ozpin acting like an evil overlord at the top of his tower, while watching a few choice scenes about his students. AND VOILA! A perfect way to introduce the fights in a bit more detail. AND, I get to have more screentime for Ozpin. Win-Win-Win I say!
As per usual, I love reviews and PMs. Send them to me, I will reply when I have time (BTW, I have a full time SALARY job. For those who don't know what that means: I am paid to work 40 hour weeks… I average 70 hours per week instead. I don't have a lot of free time, it is why my chapters tend to be on the short side, usually between 3-5k words. And only once per week. I just don't have that much time. That said, I love you all too much to have left you with a sub-par chapter, simply because a business trip left me without enough time to get it done right the first time. So here is the redone 13! and 14 will be up on Thursday as per my usual schedule. Till then!)
Oh, Team TAPE is an OC team that I am borrowing, courtesy of CushionySiren3. Do go and read his RWBY fanfic. It is still one of the better OC stories out there.