I don't know why... But I really had a hard time with posting this. No matter how many times I go over it, it just seems... Like it isn't my best work. Oh well, if you all don't like it you'll tell me.
This chapter is kinda long and is more of a perspective from Blake's end, at least that's how it starts. We see some of the things she's observed and what she thinks about them, and we'll also see her take a stand. I purposefully avoided some of the morning routines and skipped over a few things to cut down the chapter and I don't think it's so bad, actually I still think it's a little too cluttered. The next 2 chapters after this are going to be rather long, easily +10k words for both, but they'll be far better to read, I promise!
That being said, I'll shut up and let you read this and decide for yourself just how bad it is. Enjoy!
A light rumble of thunder shook amber eyes open as the rain outside continued to fall. It was a storm that would not stop soon, having been predicted to last well into tonight... Or, tomorrow? Just what time was it? Blake flipped over in her bed and picked up her scroll, tapping the screen and lighting up to see a 'four-fifty-nine' flashing before her. She could get another hour of sleep... But also, if she went back to sleep now, she'd never get up later...
What was she to do? The rain began to clatter against her window at a raised intensity from earlier, indicating that for once, the weather people on the news were right. Today was going to be a rainy, stormy, gloomy... What other adjective was there? Oh well, overall it was going to be depressing. Rain always was, for some reason. As she continued to recall the
'Wait!' Blake screamed at herself, 'Bad brain! Don't distract me with this!' Her amber eyes flew open, quickly adjusting to the darkness around her, save for the kitchen light which shone through the open door. A lone, distant light wouldn't be much to bother her, though. No, it would take much more that that... Like rain... And thunder... Actually, running water in general is something that could-
'Damnit, Brain! Shut up!' She cursed herself mentally, jumping into a sitting position to avoid going back to sleep. The last thing she needed was to be slumbering when Ruby called for school. Not only did she now have a responsibility to school, but she also had a responsibility to get a certain neighbor girl to the same school. Oi, the things she'll do to be a friend.
Actually, she was more than that, wasn't she? Ruby didn't realize it yet, but that was alright to Blake. The black-haired teen inevitably sighed and climbed out of bed, the cool air striking at her body, now clear of the blankets she had, made her physically stiffen up. It wasn't too bad in her apartment, but the cooler night meant that she could have her air conditioning off. It was her hopes that it would be cozier than it was, not low sixties...
Oh well, she dealt with it by simply walking into the bathroom that was practically conjoined to her room, closing the door and flipping the light on, cursing herself for her stupidity. Of course the bathroom lights would be too bright, she just woke up for crying out loud! Maybe she's gotten out of habit, too soft for her own good...
Or, maybe she's thinking too far into this and is just cozy in her new apartment. She stripped down before turning on the shower, allowing the water to heat up while allowing her mind to wander to her aforementioned neighbor of her new apartment, Ruby, as well as Ruby's... Eccentric friends. Mainly, Yang and Pyrrha. Though Nora and Ren were a good team and a better couple (despite Nora's own words), they were pretty basic to the group dynamic. The first two, however...
If Ruby was anything now she like was as a kid back then, then it was safe to assume that she was still shy and quiet, even though she fought off Emerald it was obvious that she was holding back for good reason and her friends knew it. It made sense that her friends wanted her to be more open, but why was Ruby so stubborn? Has something happened in the years since Blake's departure?
Which brought her back to Yang and Pyrrha. Given what she's seen so far, it's safe to assume that Yang was a tough-love, yet truly caring person who wanted to best for her friends. Water began to rush over Blake as she closed the curtain, recalling lunch from the day before, how she kept pushing the red-themed teen next door to finish eating. Not only the tone of voice, but the words were all sincere, even when the blonde defended Ruby against Pyrrha for not telling Blake about the lunch, which wouldn't have mattered anyway. Despite how appetizing the food looked, it was still severely small portions... Perhaps that was why Yang said what she said, so that Ruby could get as much as she could in for nutrients... Curious one, this Yang Xiao Long...
Also, Blake began to recall the way Yang and Pyrrha both pushed Ruby to accept Tukson's challenge in class, not doing so in a chastising manner nor a rude manner, but trying hard to get her to open up, despite the degradation of making and singing a song in front of class... Who wants everyone to hear a potentially poor singing voice, after all?
Shampoo flooded down her still tired body as Blake began to ponder the last girl, the athlete so famous that her competitions were even noted and betted on... Where she once was, Pyrrha Nikos. So strong in her competitions, so confident and understanding, yet for some reason couldn't seem to get over the fact that her own friend was as closed off as she was. What was her problem? Was it just something she wasn't used to, or was it something that she couldn't control?
Maybe Blake was just thinking too far into this, or maybe she was right to think that Pyrrha wasn't as kind as once thought? Or, maybe Pyrrha and Yang were really after the same thing and just had a different method of going about achieving their goals... Pyrrha didn't seem like she was saying anything maliciously, in fact it seemed like harmless fun, but perhaps Ruby was too sensitive? Perhaps there's something else going on that she hasn't figured out... Hm, curious bunch, all of them.
Turning the warm water off and leaning against the near wall, Blake sighed as she considered everything she has gathered over the course of the last two or three days. What she knew: Her childhood friend was living next door to her and didn't remember her, all the while Blake herself was playing a game of hide and seek. All the while another friend of hers is willing to help keep her identity a secret, though it would appear as though Velvet may want something in return, and she knows exactly what that is.
The real question, though: does Blake have a right to be the person she was so long ago after all of this time? Does she have a right to the duty she once had when they were kids? Especially after all of this time, it was her charge to keep Ruby safe and she clearly failed if the young teen was here of all places... Clearly, Ruby was able to hold her own, maybe it was a sign that Blake didn't have to take up her mantle, even if she was allowed to...
Here's what she didn't know, however: The intentions of Ruby's friends, and that's what made her consider her former role to the girl next door. Maybe it was her protective nature telling her to get involved, but what was her right? Compared to Yang and Pyrrha, they might take offense at her getting involved so soon, and it might blow her and Ruby's cover... Really, Blake's cover could be blown all day long, as far as she was concerned. It was very easy for her to live under an assumed identity for a while if need be... But that wouldn't be fair to Ruby.
A lot of 'ifs' were brought up, here... And it's like the 'Old Bitch' used to say: If there's too many if's in a question, it's best to not get involved... But how could she not get involved? Why keep pondering this, though? Why not just talk to Velvet, or better yet, sit down and talk to Ruby?
... Maybe later. It might still be too soon and too suspicious. She sighed, giving in to the latter thought and opened the curtain, revealing a rather steamy bathroom. Clearly the fan wasn't the strongest in the world... Oh well, at least it was still warm. She grabbed a nearby towel and went to work drying herself off, glancing at the mirror around the corner and behind a divider wall that sat between the counter and the toilet. Within the mirror, through the fog that stuck to it, sat a girl with dripping wet black hair, amber eyes, and a pair of cat ears atop her head...
"I'm serious when I say," Ruby began, hesitantly, "It's been a while since I've been this late..."
"How are we late?" Her amber-eyed driver inquired, her voice painfully annoyed, "It's only seven-ten! You know we don't have to get here before seven every single day, right?
"Well I like to be punctual."
"It doesn't matter that much when we're up as early as we are, trust me. Besides, nobody's even here, yet..."
"Maybe they're waiting for the rain to die down?"
"Oh, they're gonna be so late, then..."
The duo sat in the car for a moment, the automatic light shutting off long ago as the sky barely began to light up. Blake was on the far side from the school, as she was the driver, but her black poncho was going to do its job nonetheless. Ruby's red jacket wasn't exactly the best at driving away the rain, as it was a cotton coat, but she didn't care. She wasn't allowed to wear it during class hours, due to Beacon's uniform policy, so by the time she gets back to it at two o'clock, it should be all dry.
Somehow, Blake was able to convince Ruby to leave a few minutes later, despite how early she herself woke up. It was ten minutes past the time Ruby wanted to be, but it was still a good start. Not that getting in late was ever a good thing, the earlier meant the better parking, but sometimes it was better to have a little more time to one's self at home, especially since that extra time was used sleeping... Which was another thing Blake pondered: Was Ruby's sleeping habits the same as before?
The driver shook the though away as she watched the rain fall, turning towards her passenger. Both girls, with smiles on their faces and a hand on each door, began their count. "One..." Ruby said, her silver eyes shooting between the pouring rain outside and her compatriot beside her.
"Two..." Blake mimicked the count, her amber orbs focused on the falling water that would likely be her bane today.
Both girls gripped the handle of each door tightly before quickly throwing them open, a rush of heavy rain pelting them both, "Three!" They cried as their shoes splashed in the deep puddles. If the rain kept up like this then they'd be flooded out in no time. But that was in the back of Blake's mind, because before she could even close her door, her passenger was already halfway to the school, the car's passenger side door closed long ago it appeared. Baffled and dumbfounded, Blake stood back in surprise at the single fact that Ruby was that fast. Was it her short stature coming to her aide or was she just a speed demon?
Either way, the bow-wearing, poncho-using teen realized that she was about two seconds from getting washed away in the falling water and ran as fast as she could through the many puddles in the parking lot and under the overhang where Ruby was waiting, panting and laughing as she embraced the dry cover. "Wow." She chuckled, "How did you get here so fast?"
"Never ask questions about my speed, Blake." Ruby coolly replied, "I'm just that good."
"Ah, let's see if Pyrrha can bring down that ego of yours." Blake quipped while Ruby rolled her eyes.
"She has to catch me to do something about it." The silver-eyed teen opened the door for her friend, skipping inside behind her once Blake had walked in. "Do you know where your locker is? I can help with that?"
Throwing her hood off of her bow-topped head, Blake easily nodded, "Yang showed me after health class yesterday. She said I'm just down the hall from you and Pyrrha?"
"Yeah, Pyrrha and I are side by side with each other, and you're next to Yang."
"I see." The duo turned into a nearby stairwell in order to go upwards, their lockers both located within the same wing on the second story. On their way up, Ruby peered out the windowed stairwell and watched the rain fall as the sun began brightening the sky a little bit more, quickly rising over the horizon, but you wouldn't know because of the clouds. After a moment, once she got to the top of the stairwell, she felt a hand on the small of her back lightly pushing her ahead, instantly knowing the owner of that hand and why said owner was doing this.
Blake kept moving, pretty much trying to keep Ruby to the same ends. The less that they saw the gloomy outdoors today, perhaps the better? She hoped, at least. After a short walk down the long hallway, a string of lockers appeared along the wall. "Mine is right here." Ruby pointed, "Just in case you want to know in the future."
Blake observed the numbers on the lockers, then the numbers on the hallway before each classroom. "Twenty-Three-thousand block, huh?"
"This is the Science wing." Ruby easily explained, "Each core class has a hall with lockers, each locker is designated a number depending on their hall, the floor is the first number- so for us it's two since we're on the second floor." Blake nodded at the familiar information, "The numbers get weirder when you're in another part of the school. Hasn't Yang told you this, yet?"
Blake quickly nodded with a look of surprise, not expecting the question. "Y-yeah, of course she did! I was just testing you to see if you knew!"
Silver eyes rolled around as their owner glanced at her friend, who was quickly departing to avoid the inbound sass. "Sure you were," Ruby slyly said, "Sure you were." Blake stuck her tongue out playfully before turning the corner, disappearing down the corridor. The young teen then turned towards her locker and began to fiddle with the combination lock; four, turn around counterclockwise to one, then two-turns clockwise to one. Very simple, but Ruby always forgot the last turn in the combination every single time. Even after a few weeks of having this new locker, she still found difficulty in it. Seriously, though, why have two turns? Why not just one turn clockwise like normal locks? What sense did this make, locker gods!?
At least, that was her rant towards it. Nobody else seemed to have one that used more than one turn, which is what made it all the more annoying for her. At least to her luck, if anyone wanted to steal her stuff, they'd have a difficult time getting into her locker.
After a few more minutes of careful turning Ruby jiggled the lever above the dial and was able to push it inwards completely, allowing her to finally swing her locker open with a sigh. Finally, she can put away her damp coat and exchange her books from yesterday for the proper classes today. As she shed her jacket, a feeling of dread came over her, causing goose bumps to encompass her body. Ruby threw her jacket within her given space before turning around and examining her surroundings, hurriedly scouring the corridors to see if anyone was watching her. Normally, there would be a few students walking about the hall and some would turn towards her, from a distance Ruby- anyone, really- would and could look like a friend, but as they got closer it would turn out that their thoughts were wrong. Ruby couldn't judge or complain, because she was guilty of doing the same thing sometimes.
But this feeling... This wasn't somebody looking for their friend down the hall. No, this was someone watching her, somebody who was waiting for her... But there was nobody there...
"Blake?" She called, turning to face the hall where her new friend's locker resided, "You there?"
No answer.
This caused Ruby to begin to worry, her thoughts now carrying that it might be Yang trying to cause a jump scare on the young teen, or maybe Pyrrha. It was definitely an option, considering this past April Fool's. Though when she turned the corner, all she saw was an open locker and a body covered by the door. This was clearly Blake and she was far enough down that if she was trying a prank, it wouldn't be done well.
"Maybe... Maybe I'm just paranoid." Ruby convinced herself with a sigh as she turned back towards her locker. She quickly grabbed her books and closed the door, but was surprised to find a body behind the door, someone no taller than she was with pure, snow-white hair. This sudden presence caused Ruby to jump in surprise, but once she stared into the icy-blue eyes of Weiss Schnee, a familiar feeling of dread turned into a nervous tone of voice. "Weiss?" She inquired curiously. "U-um, hi?"
"You!" Weiss snapped with her index finger extended, causing her soon-to-be victim to wince from the sound of Weiss' voice level. "Do you have any idea how much trouble Emerald is in because of you?!"
"Uh..." Ruby rubbed the back of her head curiously, "Probably a lot?"
"Quite! And yet you can run away scot free?"
"Well, yeah, because-"
"Aup-up-up! I want to know what you think you're doing taking the high and mighty role so easily when you brought yourself lower than Em!" Weiss' harsh tone once again caused Ruby to flinch, though her hands balled into fists as the berating continued. "Once again you proved just how far down the totem pole you really are."
Blake could hear the commotion from down the hall and quickly ran back towards her friend, but stopped around the corner with interest. Yesterday may have been good test of her, having a high pressure situation in front of a crowd like that would cause many to hold their tongues, but this might hold a differing response from the teen. Perhaps Ruby did better in front of an audience?
"How does that even work?" Ruby inquired honestly, "If she's so high and mighty and she brought herself down to my level, then how is she still way up there? Seriously, I want to know!"
'Atta girl, Ruby...'
"That's you're argument?" Weiss challenged with a raise of her eyebrow, "You're really pathetic. But, then again, I shouldn't expect anything less from one of Yang's cronies..." The comment was so backhanded that Ruby was completely taken aback, unable to respond in any way which gave Weiss the opportunity, "She's such a bad influence for a little girl like yourself. I'd stop hanging out with her if I were you."
The smug smirk on the white-themed girl's face sparked an anger within both Ruby and Blake, even though the latter was still hiding behind the corner in waiting. The former, however, took her chance, even with a nervous rage building inside of her. "O-oh-ho! Don't bring her into this! This is between you and me!"
"You and I, missy."
"I don't need to listen to this!" Ruby chimed, "I defended myself yesterday and luck was in my favor with Goodwitch and I got away relatively unscathed. If you have an issue with that, fine, bring it up with Goodwitch herself, but I won't be losing sleep over it." Weiss simply blinked as her adversary continued, "I don't get your logic and I'm done with this argument. I have better things to do today."
Ruby turned to walk away, grabbing her backpack and throwing it over her shoulders, though Weiss was finished. She cryptically chuckled, causing the red-themed teen to stop in her tracks and slowly turn. "Like what? Spend time with your new friend while dragging her down more and more? I'm surprised she hasn't drowned yet!" Silver eyes blinked at the insult, deep down however, Ruby winced at the wording alone, "Oh well, I'm over it. We gave her a chance to be somebody in life, but she chose you! Bad judgment, if you ask me."
Silver eyes blinked, trying to find someone, anyone to back her up. Ruby was on the losing end of this fight and she knew it, but this white-haired monster wasn't letting her go! All she wanted to do was leave, find her friends and laugh a little before gym class, was that too much to ask? Still, she had to say something, otherwise Weiss and her friends will take an upper hand... High School drama sucks...
Wait... Why was Weiss of all people challenging her?
Ruby shook the thought away, she couldn't dwell on that right now, she had to get away from this altercation before anybody else saw. As she turned on her heel, her mouth opened to rebut the earlier claim, a voice from around the corner behind her stopped her. Once again, Silver orbs blinked as their owner's face eased up, the new, soothing, voice caused Ruby and Weiss to turn around and face this new arrival, the former's face lighting up to see that it was indeed Blake coming to her aide.
"Is it really poor judgment?" The black-haired girl inquired honestly as well as accusingly, a small smile on her face as she slowly approached the two short teens, "Miss Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Mining Company?"
The heiress' face lit up at the announcement of her title, "Ah, I can see that my reputation preceded me."
"The same company who is under constant scrutiny for their controversial labor rules and shoddy business practices."
"WHAT!?"
Ruby chuckled softly before stepping back, allowing her friend to take completely control of the confrontation now. "I'm not sure if hanging out with the daughter of a corrupt, selfish business owner is really good judgment. I'll pass on your company... Huh, that's a pun, isn't it?"
"I-I, you-!" The shrill stutter of the heiress announced to the duo that she was beaten, even she knew that she had nothing to counter the new arrival, so instead Weiss gripped her white purse, one with her father's company insignia on it, and walked away with a huff. Ruby looked amazed towards her new friend's mastery of the argument, so easily able to dispatch anyone, especially Weiss. The heiress was easily the least aggressive, but the most determined by far.
Which gave Blake her starting point. "I thought you said she was the more docile of the group... Her and that Emerald girl?"
"Th-they are, believe it or not..." Ruby anxiously scratched her neck before gripping her backpack until her knuckles went white. Amber eyes blinked as she observed that fact, though let her friend explain before taking further action, "I-I don't know why they're getting so... Mean. They usually don't care for us, it was always Merc or Cinder who are the instigators..."
'I have a theory...' Blake shook the thought away and nodded, accepting the response while keeping her thoughts to herself. As she did, she put her hand on her short friend's shoulder and gave her a curious, yet calm look. "You can calm down anytime now, you know?"
"Oh, right... Yeah." It took a few deep breaths but Ruby eventually eased her grip on her bag and visibly calmed down, "Thanks... For all of that back there..."
"Don't mention it." The taller teen began to walk away, gesturing for her friend to follow, who obeyed with a quick nod. As she caught up, Ruby began to lose the tunnel vision she had a few moments ago and saw the rest of the halls, still mostly empty, even for quarter-past-seven. The weather must be backing people up, as both noted how the rain was still falling as consistently as it was before they left the complex.
They stopped at the stop of the stairs and observed the outdoors, the sun had brightened up the cloudy sky just to the point where they can make out pure grey and gloomy skies, personifying both of their feelings for the past night.
"Also," Ruby began down the stairs first, her friend close behind her, "Yang hears nothing about this... Seriously, not a word."
"I agree."
"Come on, stupid junk lock! Open!" Yang commanded as she struggled with her portable gym locker lock, the dial sticking to itself with every turn. Eventually, after her third retry, the blonde nurse-in-training was able to finally pop the lock open, allowing her to sigh thankfully. "There we go, finally!"
"Did you get it, Yang?" Pyrrha inquired, pulling out her gym clothes from her bag. Yang did the same and threw it on the bench behind her.
"Yeah."
"Good, now you don't have to use my locker."
"Oh please," Nora chimed from across the aisle in the next hall of lockers. "She would just use Ruby's, or maybe even Blake's!"
The former physically stiffened before continuing with her lock work, while the latter, who had just picked her gym locker, ignored the comment. The gym locker rooms of Beacon were divided into males and females- though at one point they were co-ed at one point. The team couldn't speak for the boys locker room, but in the girls locker room was rather large, about two to three hundred lockers within, once you chose a locker it was yours for the semester. There was about ten spaces within the first half, each space was well-enough sized to hold about twenty small lockers, one stacked on top of the other. Ruby, Yang and Pyrrha took the third space while Nora had to go with the space across the aisle from them, her space was occupied by a few people in other classes.
Both Yang and Pyrrha took top lockers, the former's was stacked on top of Ruby's one the left side of the space while the latter was on the right side, one locker away from the back corner.
"Nah, I couldn't do that to the new girl." Lilac eyes winked at the aforementioned teen, who smirked easily and nodded. "And commandeering Killer's locker here is probably a no-go, so... I'd take yours, Pyr." Ruby shifted slightly at her newfound nickname, given by Yang earlier this morning. It turns out that word spread rather quickly about the young teen's ownership of the confrontation the day prior, though she didn't know about this morning's incident. Blake was still, luckily, a woman of her word. Yang noticed the shift in her friend's stance and playfully nudged her, "Come on, I'm just playing."
"I know, I know." Ruby deadpanned before glancing back at her neighbor, who was in the process of shedding her uniform shirt. "I'd just like to fly under the radar for a few days, let this all blow over."
"I wouldn't." Nora called with gusto, theatrically throwing her locker open, "It's not every day someone puts one of those jerks in their place!"
Yang deflated a bit before turning to her short friend across the aisle, "Nora." The orange haired teen turned to her lilac eyed friend with interest, "What do I try to do on a daily basis?"
"You don't do it with class though." Blake deadpanned with a smirk, causing a wave of 'ooh's' to rally around the group. "At least by what I've seen so far."
"Uh-huh, funny." Yang turned to her red-themed friend beside her and smirked, "I think Nora's right, Rubes. Sure you'd get a lot of attention for this but if more people know that you can put up a fight than more people will leave you alone."
"Not sure if that's how it works but whatever you say Yang."
"I just want to know what Emerald was thinking." Pyrrha chimed, quickly throwing her sports shirt on over her head. "It's not like her to go solo like that..."
"Maybe it's Cinder telling her to do so?" Yang inquired aloud, stuffing her backpack away in her small locker.
Blake intently listened as the tall duo across from her space talked it out, her mind already intent on an answer. It was because Ruby was the weakest link in the eyes of their adversaries, in fact the young teen touched up on it yesterday. Emerald must have thought that she would have gotten brownie points for a confrontation in front of the whole school, but as it turns out, Ruby is not to be trifled with... Which brings up this morning's incident with Weiss...
Why did the heiress choose to confront the teen outside of an audience, and why did Ruby do so poorly this time? She could have easily walked away the first time she said she would, so what stopped her? And what was Weiss going for? Perhaps she was just searching for an answer as to why Ruby isn't in trouble when Emerald was? Even so, she hit way too many rather harsh points to figure out that. Curious...
"Either way," Ruby chimed, "I'm just counting myself lucky that I didn't get into too much trouble." She stuffed her backpack and uniform away, the latter was neatly hung against the side coat hanger and closed her locker, having fully changed very quickly in-between the two woman beside her. She sat down to tie her gym shoes and thought aloud some more, "I'm also lucky I'm not an online sensation."
"Oh, you'd make a great internet star!" Nora cheered, "And I'd be a great manager of a certain great internet star!" She moved to wrap her arm around the teen, though Yang slapped that hand away quickly with a smirk.
"And I'd be the best bodyguard to the internet star."
"Whoa." Pyrrha called, having fully changed out as quickly as possible. Blake noticed how fast all four of her friends were at this, they were all in their school gym uniforms while she still sat back with her gym shorts on but no shirt yet, though luckily Nora seemed to be as slow as her for now. The red-ponytailed athlete rested her foot on the bench and tied her shoelaces while continuing, "Now that's a bodyguard I'd like to have on my back... Can I hire you for the weekends?"
"Sorry, I work the weekends. And I'm not sure if you can match hospital pay."
"You make more than minimum wage at that place, Yang?" The young chef across the aisle inquired honestly, though she didn't get the response she was hoping for as Yang shook her head.
"Technically I'm a volunteer, so no pay. But I get an allowance from daddy for working there, so..."
Just as Ruby was about to chime in again, she felt a familiar feeling of dread sneak up on her, then noticed how the atmosphere around her began to change to a more negative tone... She could just feel the air shift around her, and was quickly able to figure out why as the familiar feeling caused her to turn and face familiar ivy-blue eyes. Weiss was standing in between the locker spaces, staring down the red-themed teen, whose stare wasn't as harsh as hers.
Yang and Pyrrha didn't take too kindly to the sudden appearance, especially the harsh gaze from the heiress, though the latter only stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest, "What do you want, Schnee?" The blonde harshly asked, though a lone finger from her target caused her to stop in her tracks.
Silver orbs and Icy-blue eyes blinked, almost in unison as the duo continued to stare each other down, the latter was the first to say something after a very tense moment, her voice steady and honest. "No hard feelings?"
Ruby was surprised, to say the least. Considering everything that's happened both today and yesterday, the heiress pulls this... Why? What angle was she playing... If she was even playing an angle, she might actually be trying to apologize. And even though Yang and Pyrrha were confused, Ruby still nodded carefully, though kept quiet. If she was serious, then Ruby would want an apology for some of the harsher things said about her friends from the heiress, but deep down knew that asking for it here would raise too much suspicion. She would have to hold off for until she and her friends were separated from each other to avoid intensifying the situation further.
Blake finally changed into her shirt while watching the display unfold before her, the confused faces on all of her friends, save for Ruby, made this all the more enjoyable, yet all the more scary. If they weren't careful, they would blow their whole secret from earlier...
Weiss nodded easily and walked away, deep into the locker room as many students began to walk out. Yang looked back towards her young friend who instantly stopped her and told her not to worry about it, all the while Pyrrha, Nora and Blake had left with the rest of the group. Once able, Yang and Ruby were right behind them, out just ten seconds after the fact.
Was the heiress apologizing for her friend's assault yesterday? Or was there something that happened that involved Weiss that Ruby wasn't willing to talk about? Either way, it scared Yang to think of the worst. First Emerald, now Weiss? Next thing you know the full force of the group of elitist wannabes would come down on the red-themed teen again, and this time Yang alone might not be able to help, since she's not often available anymore. Either way, the thought was not pleasant, and the nurse-in-training could only hope that she had taught Ruby right in regards to self-defense.
She could take solace in the fact that, contrary to last year, her younger friend was starting to show signs of life when it came to direct confrontations, getting better and better at handling those situations.
The group began their small crowd in the middle of their side of the gym as they awaited their instructor, Professor Goodwitch, to line them up for warm-ups. Usually the class would take twenty minutes to run around, loosen up and get ready for whatever sport they were playing that day, and today was Pyrrha's specialty: Volleyball. The class would be divided into eight captains, the rest would wait until they were assigned a team, via drafting. Captains were usually volunteers, too. The class was about fifty people all together, which wasn't too bad considering boys and girls. The class was co-ed, the lockers were not (to Yang's despair).
The gymnasium was split into three equal sizes: Boys side, Middle, and Girls side. Boys and Girls side had a door that went right into the locker rooms while the middle was... Literally in the middle of the two gyms. There was a black and red curtain above the gym's that stood as a divider while at both ends were bleachers that were stashed away until either a prep rally or an important game. The curtains were up for now, revealing the sheer size of the gym itself. It wasn't as big as one would think, actually, it was pretty average in size. But there was two other smaller gyms used as practice facilities that was connected to the main room, so there was that. Above the gym was multiple basketball hoops-two per gym side- yet to be lowered for a game.
"Oh, Pyrrha," Blake called the teen to attention, "Ruby has something to tell you."
"Oh?" The emerald-eyed athlete said with interest, turning to the short teen who eyed her neighbor with malice, "What's that?"
"It's not something I wanted to tell you, nor was it something that needed to be brought up again, Blake." The black-haired teen shrugged with a smile, wrapping her hair into a ponytail like Pyrrha's and let her friend continue, "And it's not really important."
"I insist." Pyrrha assured, "Everything's important if you have something to say."
"No, it's nothing."
"Ruby was talking shit earlier."
"I was not, Blake!"
"Were too!"
Pyrrha raised an eyebrow curiously as Yang and Nora watched on, all interested in just what the young teen said. It wasn't everyday that she said something out of line, especially to one of her own friends. Blake, however, took the reins. "We were running to the school from my car to get out of the rain and she said that you wouldn't be able to catch her."
"Oh." Yang waved off the comment and backed away, Pyrrha rolled her eyes and Ruby shook her head as the blonde came back for a comment, "Like we didn't know that already."
"What?"
"Ruby has the best cardio out of all of us, even me!" Pyrrha added, "I'm the one who said that I couldn't catch her if I tried." The amber-eyed teen hung her head dejectedly as her neighbor stuck her tongue out, "It's not like she's saying something that isn't true."
Before anybody could comment on the fact further, Goodwitch finally blew her whistle three times, which caused everyone to jump and move towards the far wall, in this case it was the wall closest to the girls locker room, and split into lines of three. Yang gestured towards Blake for the new student to follow and she had no choice but to comply, lining up behind Ruby and her blonde guide (in that order) while beside them was Pyrrha, Nora and now Jaune, who lined up behind Pyrrha.
"Just follow our lead." Yang quickly said, "This is very easy."
"I'm a follower today, got it."
"You'll be a follower for much longer than today, trust me."
"Run to the other end, go!" The whistle called and the first in lines took off, once they made it to the end of the girl's gym and entered the middle gym the whistle blew again, and when the second group made it so far, then the third group went.
Luckily enough, warm ups were about as easy as Blake thought. After a few laps they began to skip instead of run, then would do walking lunges for a lap, then did push-ups and each line, ten for each line you were at. Given all that they were doing, it was astounding that it took so long, but then again the sheer size of the class might have something to do with that. Which also made Blake wonder just how they were going to go about playing something today, was it a draft system or could they decide their own teams?
When the warm ups were completed, Professor Goodwitch stood in the middle of the gym, her students either leaning against the wall or standing close to it, intent on hearing their objective for today. "Listen up," She began, "In about two or three weeks my class will start swimming, while Professor Port's morning class will start it next week." A few students groaned, Ruby included, though some cheered. Others stayed stoic and uncaring, "As for today, we're going to continue our lesson from last week and play some Co-Ed Volleyball. I need four captains from each gym."
Pyrrha was first to walk forward from the girl's gym, her boyfriend right behind her with a sinister smirk. Clearly he was looking to play against his Mystralian girlfriend. "This is for yesterday." He said, moving towards the middle of the gym. Before anyone else could say or do anything, joking or other, a familiar short teen walked forward from the middle of the group. Blake instantly remembered the teen as Cinder Fall, and cringed at the sight.
"Oh boy, here we go." Yang deadpanned. "Of course she goes against Pyrrha."
"What? Does she not like Pyrrha specifically or something?"
"She just has an ego to her, thinking that she's better than everyone." The blonde easily explained, "Our star down there managed to beat her out of both the Volleyball and Soccer teams last year, and Cinder did not take it well."
"High School drama," Ruby sighed, "Never pretty." Yang nudged the young teen slightly, as if she were teasing her about something, but she couldn't figure out what. She let it slide, ignoring the contact and watching as more students came forward. Once there was enough students up in the middle of the gym, Goodwitch blew her whistle, Professor Port standing beside her, though the former got the speaking role.
"Alright, we're going to draft teams, now, and captains will get to choose based on who came up first to last. Miss Nikos, you were our first volunteer so you have the floor."
The emerald eyed teen nodded with a small smile and turned towards her friends, as if any other choice would be made today. Between Ruby, Yang, Nora and Blake, she had her options opened. Though she knew what she had to do, to avoid her new friend being caught up with the wrong people and corrupted... "Blake." She easily called, "Come on down." The black haired teen nodded, her bow twitching slightly as she did, but luckily nobody seemed to notice.
"Mr. Arc." Port boomed, "I believe you're up next."
Jaune smirked and glanced towards the end of the gym, "As much as I hate to do this, I'm going to go for the muscle team today. Cardin, I need your services."
"Oh boy." The large boy sarcastically said, "I get to be dominated by Pyrrha again, today."
"If it's any consolation, meathead," Pyrrha quipped, "I wasn't going to pick you anyway."
The class began to cheer at the insult, the large boy stopping for a moment and staring down his new target. He muttered something illegible beneath his breath and let it slide, for now. The draft progressed, students being picked up left and right, Cinder picked up Mercury, though eyed Ruby, much to the younger teen's concern.
To her, no other team mattered than Pyrrha's, maybe even Jaune's team would be nice to be on. So far the blonde young man had picked up a few of the Grifball players, him being on the team as the "aggressor" or the ball runner made it easy to find his teammates for Volleyball today. Jaune was nice and all, but nothing compared to the kindness of Yang and Nora. Luckily for her, every captain was choosing their friends so in a matter of a few minutes she should be in a group.
At least she hoped. Ruby couldn't help but feel the cold stare of Cinder throughout the entire drafting process. Pyrrha noticed this too late, having chosen Yang and relinquishing her place in the draft allowing Jaune a chance to choose. Unfortunately, he wasn't paying attention and picked somebody else entirely, someone Ruby didn't know too well.
The draft had gone around a few times, so each team had about four people, and now they were choosing their fifth. Pyrrha had Yang, Nora and Blake. Cinder had Emerald, Weiss and Mercury and the captain was looking directly at Ruby, giving her an uneasy feeling. It wasn't the fact that she was chosen last, no she could live with that, it was the fact that a yellow-eyed, black haired witch was eyeing her like a hawk.
'Was Cinder honestly considering picking me?' Ruby asked herself, her nerves getting to her, 'Or... Does she have something else in mind?'
"You're up, Miss Fall." Goodwitch easily stated, "Please be fast, I'd like to get a few games in today."
Down at the end of the gym sat an ever patient Weiss Schnee, waiting to be picked up by her friends. Near her was Penny Polendina, a quirky orange-haired teen with a few screws loose... Not in a Nora Valkyrie way, in almost an awkward way, but nobody really talked about it. She was really good at sports and that made her quite valuable, even though she was insufferable to most people. At least, that's about as lightly as most students would put it. Still, sitting at three and probably wanting to keep up the elite echo chamber, Cinder had a choice before her.
Emerald was silently egging her on to pick Ruby in hopes of getting a little bit of revenge for yesterdays excursion, though Mercury was being the metaphorical angel on Cinder's shoulder, telling the shorter woman to go with Weiss and avoid not only the hassle of carrying a pathetic "Bottom Feeder" as he called most people, but also to avoid the crap they'd pick up from Pyrrha's team, maybe even Jaune's team, too.
With a deep sigh, Cinder quickly made up her mind. Revenge would have to come during the games today, if they were lucky enough to face one another. If not, then both Cinder and Emerald had one more class with Ruby today, and they would strike back then. "Weiss," The black haired teen called, wagging a lone finger at the heiress, "I need you here."
Emerald stood back, dumbfounded that her friend would ignore her cry's for vengeance like that. It was Cinder that eased the pain of a sharp stab to the pride after yesterday's debacle, it was Cinder who swore for payback, so why not take the chance and go for it now? Why let it simmer? As the white-haired heiress got ever closer, blood red eyes stared daggers into the back of the shorter captain before turning towards the red-themed teen, who was finally allowed to breathe a sigh of relief. Silver eyes met the red orbs of Emerald before their owner shook her head.
'Thank the light for egos.' Ruby internally said, her prayer going to the gods on high. Luck still held out, that's for sure. For how long, though...
In no time the draft came back around to Pyrrha who quickly attained Ruby, much to the younger teens panic. As the silver-eyed teen lined up with her friends, she shot a passing glance towards her the emerald-eyed teen that loomed above her, offering a few words from her mind as she passed.
"Leave me back like that again and I'll gut you like a fish."
"I'd like to see you try." Pyrrha retorted easily, understanding why Ruby felt that way and also realizing that she just might be serious. Given that Cinder and her lackeys never really got along with the younger teen in the first place, let alone with anyone associated with Yang specifically, it was easy to see just why Ruby would be nervous and quite frankly miffed at the thought of spending time with the group for anymore than a few minutes.
"Calm down, Ruby." Yang soothed, easing her stance a bit, trying to lean back as Ruby took her place behind the blonde. "Pyrrha didn't realize what was going on."
"That's not the point, Yang." The red-themed deadpanned with a heavy sigh, "But whatever, I'm over it."
"Are you?"
"Drop it, Yang." Pyrrha intervened, "Sorry, Ruby. I'll make it up to you later, okay?" The red-themed teen nodded, her face stoic as she glanced towards the freshly formed team beside them, Penny having just fallen in line. This one would be a team to beat today, but not for any other reason than for bragging rights.
Glynda huffed into her whistle three times, bringing attention to herself and Professor Port beside her. She offered a glance to the man, giving him the floor though he shook his head and waived his rights to speak for the blonde woman, who rolled her emerald eyes. "Very well, then. As I've said already, today is volleyball day, and we have enough time for four, maybe five ten-minute matches. Teams are numbered based on their order in the draft, Even teams that win will stay in their respective half of the gym while odd teams that win will move in a clockwise form. Even teams that lose will move counterclockwise to the other side of the room unless we say otherwise." The students began to nod as they understood the calmly said instructions from their rather busty instructor. "The girls side of the gym and the middle of the gym are for winners while the boys side will be for the losing teams."
"Oh, I see how it is." Port indignantly said, seemingly taking offense at the setup that even he agreed too. Goodwitch rolled her eyes and ignored the man before continuing.
"Teams one and eight will begin in the far back of the girl's gym, two and seven will be next to them, so on and so forth you all know how it's done. Stay respectful to each other, be fair with the score, and please keep the trash talking to a minimum. Go ahead and go."
Port blew into his whistle three brief times, dismissing all of the teams to their respective courts. Usually the clockwise system worked in terms of facing away from the entrance to the gym, facing the far wall of the room. So in this case, win and the team moves right. Since they were an odd numbered team, at least. If they lost, they'd stay in place, unless they were told otherwise. Usually there were issues with this but neither instructor would be open to debating a system that worked just yet, so it was all a bit screwy so far.
"Can't face Jaune just yet, Pyr." Yang taunted as the team took their positions, Pyrrha in the middle, Blake and Ruby on the front left and right (respectively) and Nora in the back left, leaving Yang serving on the back right. "Too bad." The emerald eyed teen stuck her tongue out at her friend as the other team took their place, tossing a volleyball that they had received over towards the aforementioned blonde. "I'll serve when you're ready!" Yang affirmed, patiently waiting and dribbling the ball while the Team Eight readied up. Once they all gave a thumbs up, Yang took a firm hold of the ball in both of her hands before tossing it into the air, her hand into a tight fist as gravity began to bring the padded orb down to her.
"Zero serving zero!"
Ah, Volleyball. I remember playing that in Gym in high school... I always overshot the serve. Every. Single. Time.
Oh well, that's not what we're here about now, is it? No, we're here to wrap this story up! So what did we see? Well, hints here and there of various things. Does Weiss feel remorse for what she said? What was Cinder's endgame with choosing Ruby? Why is Jaune on the Grifball team?
... Why is there a Grifball team?
Anyway, there were a few things touched up on and a few things I left out. I know some of you wanted me to get back with Junior and Neo to see what's going on in paradise, but I just can't yet. Give it two, maybe three chapters and we'll definitely see it come to light. In the meantime, we're going to watch Blake adjust to her new friends and also take notes for a thesis paper in the future... Yeah, I'm really not going to give that part up.
Past that, though, how did you all like it? I still feel like it's a bit too much, it was more plot than anything else. Next chapter for sure we'll see some game time, and someone is going to go above and beyond the call quite a few times. Bonus points if you can guess correctly as to who it is. If you'll excuse me, I got some work to do.
Until Next Time.