"Reeennn! Get up, Get up Get up! Today's the day, today's the day!"
Ren rose slowly from his bedroll, watching as Nora practically vibrated next to him in excitement. She stared expectantly at the reticent young man, waiting for him to respond.
"Alright, get it all together then."
"Yay!" Nora scrambled about the tent, tearing through Ren's pack. A small smile appeared on Ren's face as he watched the overly excited girl.
"I got it!" screamed Nora, brandishing some cooking equipment and a small bag full of powder.
Silently, Ren extricated himself from his bedroll, taking the offered equipment and heading toward the campfire. Yang sat motionless, smiling at the ruckus she had heard Nora cause. Both remained quiet as Ren restarted the dying embers of last night's fire. The light of early dawn gave him just enough sight to work. The two enjoyed the quiet of the early morning before it was harshly broken as Nora flew past them, screaming something about working up an appetite. Other tents began to stir from the explosions powering Nora's exodus.
"So what's the occasion?" Yang asked, still smiling.
"I promised Nora pancakes when we got to Haven," Ren said quietly, chuckling at the red head's excitement, "If all goes according to plan, we should be there by midday."
"Did you bring enough for everyone?"
"Sorry, just enough for Nora."
"Fine. I always though your pancakes were too sweet anyway," Yang huffed in mock disappointment. In reality she knew she wouldn't have gotten any even if there had been enough. Nora was very territorial when it came to pancakes.
Slowly, the rest of their team to began to stumble bleary eyed from their tents. Too tired to talk, they sluggishly rooted through their packs for rations. Slow chewing was the only sound for awhile before increasingly loud explosions heralded Nora's return.
"Pancakes!"
Ren silently held out a plate of pancakes, which were summarily devoured by the hungry redhead. By the time she finished, the rest of the group had broken down the tents and were ready to move. They began to move towards their goal, beginning to murmur excitedly about what the day had in store for them.
"Ruby, for the love of god shut up the redhead," Qrow whispered lowly to his niece, "She's giving me a headache," Nora continued her loud humming in ignorance of the pain she was causing to the old man. Though no one would ever outright tell her, three hours of loud humming had begun to take their toll. Qrow's incessant drinking only added to the problem.
"Maybe if you stopped drinking so much, it wouldn't bother so much," Ruby whispered to her uncle, smiling slightly. Qrow merely grimaced, turning to his other niece. The last thing he needed was a scolding from a teenager,
"Yang," he whispered, "can you shut up the redhead?"
"Her name's Nora," Yang said in irritation.
"Fine, can you shut up Nora?"
"No go on that, if you want her quiet so bad, why don't you ask her?"
"I've been told I lack a certain… tact when it comes to these things," Qrow's eyes darted back to the oblivious redhead, "I'd prefer someone to handle it with a tad more delicacy." Yang's eyes lit up in realization.
"Uncle Qrow, you aren't scared of Nora are you?" Yang teased. Another swift glance at Nora by Qrow confirmed her suspicions.
"Scared isn't the right word," he said lamely. The truth was, Qrow could tell that the Nora girl would be a dangerous huntress in her own right in time. Stronger even than Ironwood's lap dog. He had already made enough irate huntress to last a lifetime, he certainly didn't feel like adding another. But he really did need her to shut the hell up.
"Please?" He half begged.
"Hmm, let me see wh-"
"Nora!" interrupted Penny, " there are a few ursa about a mile ahead. Could you take care of them?"
"Absolutely!" said the huntress, dripping confidence. Without hesitation, she launched of in search of the enemy.
"There, that should give you a few minutes Qrow."
"Penny! I didn't know you had it in you! Are there even Ursa?" Yang said in appreciation.
"No," answered the robot smugly, "nothing within three miles of us. It should keep her occupied for a bit."
"Thanks," Qrow said slowly. He still harbored doubts about the android, but he couldn't deny that she helped him out. The group continued in silence, even Ren secretly happy for the Nora break.
Their walk was eventually interrupted by an inn on the side of the road. Signage said that they were less than a mile from Haven. Qrow's interest was peaked by the inn; he shook his flask and deemed the sloshing unsatisfactory.
"Give me a few minutes kid. This'll just be a quick pit stop."
Yang groaned in frustration but agreed, the rest of the team dropping their bags at the front of the inn and waiting. Ren fired a single round in the air, signalling Nora. He startled a few patrons, but they quickly turned back to their own business once they realised he harbored no ill will. The team waited for Qrow to return, Nora appearing about ten minutes in.
"I couldn't find the Ursa," she huffed.
"I suppose you wouldn't have," Penny chirped, not missing a beat, "Once you started after them, they started rapidly retreating. Looks like you scare them off without even seeing them."
Nora puffed out her chest while Yang tried desperately to hold in a giggle. Jaune sat in the dirt and set to sharpening Crocea Mors, Ruby quickly joined him. Weiss began to practice her glyphs, her irritation at having to wait evident on her face. Another ten minutes and Yang was losing her patience.
"I swear to god, Uncle Qrow," Yang reached for the handle of the inn, preparing to give her uncle an earful. Before she could open it however, the door swung hard into her sternum.
"Oh! I'm sorry miss," A middle aged man stared down at Yang, who had landed hard on her butt. "Here let me-" The words died in the man's throat, his eyes transfixed by Yang's, "Hey, you're that Xiao Long girl," The man's voice turned gruff as he retracted his helping hand.
"How do you know me?" Yang asked, confused. The man ignored her, stepping over her into the road. Another man immediately behind him did the same, giving her a sour look as he passed.
"I asked how you knew me?!" Yang said louder. She hated being ignored, and the stink eye those two were giving her made her livid.
"Hard to forget the Bitch of Beacon!" One of them said over his shoulder
"Excuse me?!" Yang's hair began to slowly drift, her eyes turning red.
"You heard me," he said calmly, "what are you gonna do? Break my legs?"
"He deserved it." Yang seethed, her knuckles turning white.
"Bullshit! You should be in prison, bitch! You ruined one of our best; if Atlas hadn't stopped you would have killed him. I never realized Ozpin was breeding wild dogs up at Beacon," This last line was punctuated by a gob of spit fired at Yang. The saliva made it within a foot of her face before evaporating in an instant, but the insult still struck.
Yang swung through a haze of red, aiming for the jaw of the offender. A hand from behind caught her fist, twisting the girl into an impromptu flip. With her hand behind her back, all of her kinetic energy had been effectively killed.
"Calm down," Ren whispered, "You'll end up killing someone if you don't get a grip. Let me handle this."
Yang struggled for a moment as she processed Ren's words. Eventually, her hair fell and her eyes turned their traditional lilac. Once Ren released her, she returned to her spot on the wall.
"What, that all the fight you got, blondie?" one of the men mocked
"Please stop harassing her," Ren said quietly, "not only is it rude, it could very well be hazardous to your health."
"You threatening us, boy?"
"Just stating a fact. She's a huntress, you're just drunks. There is very little doubt in my mind that she could accidentally kill you. You should be thankful I stopped her."
"Is that so," The man closest to Ren placed his hands firmly on the buys shoulders and shoved. Or at least, he look like he was trying to shove. Nora smiled knowingly as Ren held his ground. The other man, however, did not slide backward. To him, it was if all the strength was drained from his arms. Once he released the boy, he felt his power return.
Ren sighed, clearly fed up with dealing with these mens' nonsense. Bemusedly, he pressed a single digit into the chest of the man who had assaulted him. The drunk flew backwards, landing in a crumpled heap.
"What the hell was that?" the remaining drunk and Yang asked simultaneously. Yang, at least, got an answer.
"Oh, that's right!" Nora exclaimed, "You haven't really seen Ren use his semblance have you?" Yang shook her head emphatically, encouraging Nora to go on. Nora began to explain before she was cut off by a sharp whistle, accompanied by the door of the inn being slammed open by at least a half dozen similar ruffians. Yang again made as if to fight as the new group surrounded Ren, but Nora placed an arm in front of her.
"Trust me," she whispered, "You are going to love this."
The duo returned to watching Ren as the ring of thugs closed around him. One intrepid individual threw a punch, only to have Ren catch it effortlessly. Once again, Ren gently pressed his palm into the man's chest. The effect was immediate, the man falling to his knees and wheezing.
"How is he doing that?" Yang whispered.
"Oh, it's so cool! It's all martial artsy!" she exclaimed emphatically, chopping her arms to demonstrate.
"Well I can see that." Yang deadpanned. Ren certainly had excellent hand-to-hand ability, but that didn't explain his ridiculously soft incapacitations
"Well, it's complicated. What he does is, like, absorbs attack? He's kind of like you, I guess."
"Kind of like me?" Yang had never heard of anyone with a semblance like hers, the idea of a similar sparring partner was intriguing.
"Well sort of. He does this thing where he minimizes strikes, and well just watch," Nora gestured once again to the fight, which was beginning to heat watched closely, and began to notice a pattern. Whenever one of the other fighters took a swing, Ren would roll the strike down the length of his body, taking minimal damage. While his assailant was still recovering from the end of their swing he would place a palm and his chest, often ending with the man wheezing on his knees. Ruby popped up between Nora and yang, carefully studying the display.
"Oh, I think I've seen this once in one of those semblance books in the library," the scythe wielder muttered as she thought back to what she had read, "Isn't it called transference, Nora?"
"Yeah, I think that's what he called it," Nora said distractedly, admiring the ninja as he systematically dismantled his opponents.
"That's so cool," Ruby said in awe. An irritated look from Yang prompted her to explain, " He can absorb and redirect kinetic energy."
"That seems a tad… much," Yang replied. She'd seen Ren face down in the dirt a little too often if he had a semblance like that.
"Well he still feels it," Ruby clarified, "That's what all the martial arty stuff is for. Transference is all about minimizing damage. Obviously, he doesn't really need to worry about it with these guys," Ruby glanced at the floundering pile of drunks still attempting to get up, "but with Grimm and actual fighters, he has to absorb their strikes with minimal damage. If he does everything right, he can hit them with all their power while he takes next to no damage. Gah, it's just so cool."
Ruby stopped talking as Ren quietly rejoined them, the only sign of a fight the tangled mess of men behind him. Another five minutes, and a freshly drunk Qrow rejoined the team. Yang gave him the evil eye as he observed the results of Ren's exhibition. The older hunter simply laughed, deflating Yang's anger in an instant.
"So that's what the barkeep was on about," Qrow chortled, pointing at the heap.
"Barkeep? What was he saying?" Yang asked.
"He seemed to not really appreciate what was happening out here. He went and called the police."
As if on cue, the sound of distant sirens warbled towards them. The gang's first instinct was nearly unanimous, all of them stopped roughly by Qrow as they attempted to flee.
"Relax, running is what gets you in real trouble. Just let me do the talking, we'll be fine. You guys' didn't start it, right?" When Yang nodded in the affirmative, Qrow smiled and waited patiently for the law.
Eventually, a single squad car arrived in front of them, flipping off its sirens once it had parked. Slowly, a balding head emerged from the driver's side and wandered cautiously over to the heavily armed group. If he had known he was dealing with hunters, he would have made sure he had some backup.
"Is it safe to say one of you lot is responsible for this?" He asked, gesturing at the pile of unconscious men.
"Well you see officer," Qrow began, "if I had to pick out who was responsible for that, I'd have to say it's the people in that pile."
"Very funny, smartass but -" the officer was interrupted as the passenger side of his cruiser opened, a head of bright blue hair rising from the car. Weiss was the first to recognize the junior detective.
"Neptune?"
A/N: Well, Ren finally got a semblance! He needed one sooner rather than later, and I figured you wouldn't want an explanation of it during an important fight. I feel like it fits the ninja aspect, plus it explains that scene with those bigass snakes in season one.
I thought up this semblance as a sort of foil to Yang. If those two were to ever spar, its more than likely that would one would accidentally kill the other. Either yang would lend a superpowered square blow, or Ren would redirect a supershot into an aura weak Yang.
Lastly, sorry for the exposition. I know its not the greatest to have a full chapter explaining a semblance, but I had to invent one for Ren and make it make sense. Hopefully I did that. As always, let me know what you liked/hated so I can improve!