Yeah, this one is actually one of the more annoying chapters that I forced myself to write. In advanced, I'm sorry that you guys have to read this. If you want to skip it, I won't blame it. Warning! It is completely repetitious and annoying! I have no idea how to speak Volleyball... Or much sports for that matter. Sorry.
That being said, this chapter does hold some importance in a few ways. I also cut this down from 12k words of idiocy that made even my beta reader cringe (sorry, buddy!) to this, cutting down on something that was not really as important. If you'd like, and the demand is extremely high for it, I'll actually edit the chapter before chapter 9 goes up and I'll include the last 4 or 5 thousand words where necessary. I'll throw a Poll up on my account so if you want, go ahead and vote!
Once again, I can't apologize enough for how poorly written this one is. Go ahead and take out your annoyance on me, I promise that the next one won't be as bad! I'll see you guys at the end of the chapter.
Enjoy!
"Yeah, baby!" Yang declared, pumping her fists as her team scored their fourth straight win. "Undefeated! That's how it's done!" She high fived everyone on her team as they began to pool into the middle gym to find out where they would go for their last game. "That's girl power right there!"
"Alright, Yang, calm down." Ruby chided with a smirk, "We've still got one more game ahead of us before we can celebrate."
"Sorry, Rubes, but I'm only taking orders from the team captain!" Yang patted Pyrrha on the back, who rolled her emerald eyes and sighed. "What?"
"What if I make Ruby the co-captain, will you listen then?"
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that Ruby has a point. Yes, we're undefeated but we still have one more game to play, so we shouldn't get so hyped yet. Eyes on the prize, Yang, we're not there yet."
Yang deflated, but did as she was told, falling into line and calming down her victory parade. Nora and Blake stood back to observe the display, the former rather impressed with what she saw.
"That's something you don't see everyday, Pyrrha agreeing with Ruby on Yang's "Hyped-Up" antics..."
"What does she normally do?" Blake inquired, "Ignore her or something?"
"Nah, normally Ruby just goes along with it until we all get annoyed, but even then it takes a long time for us to get annoyed by Yang. She'd really have to hit a few nerves before that happens. I'm saying it's weird because she never really speaks up..."
"Ah," Blake nodded in understanding, noticing a common theme between her neighbor and her friends: That the Ruby she was seeing now was not the same one from two weeks ago. So what changed? The black-haired teen had only been here for a little under a week, so her presence alone couldn't have done it... Was it Yang and Pyrrha's constant pressure, or even Velvet and Coco's constant efforts that drove this change? Or was it the fact that something happened over the course of the last week that forced this change?
Many teams had been standing in or around the middle gym, patiently waiting for the instructors to set up the last match of the day. They had twenty minutes in class to go, which left ten to play and ten to change out into their school uniforms. It seemed like enough time and for most it usually was, though some who took showers after class were usually hard pressed for time.
"Last match!" Goodwitch declared after another huff into her whistle, causing many teams quickly scurrying to their next match. As if there was any doubt, Pyrrha's team made it undefeated, but weren't the only ones. Cinder's team had also achieved their four-and-zero status, so now for bragging rights the two super teams came together in the court right in front of the instructors tables in the Main Gym, or the Middle Gym as it was commonly referred to. "Make it count!" With another huff of her whistle the time began, and the busty instructor brought both teams into the middle of the court to discuss the rules of the match.
"Alright, ladies... And Mercury." The boy gave a quick nod, uncaring, "Here are the rules: This match is for bragging rights only and it will go until somebody has eleven points or we say otherwise. Usual rules in place except the trash talking rules. I know how rowdy you all can get when your around each other." Yang and Weiss shared a spiteful glance as Cinder and Pyrrha did the same, Blake admiring the passion of hatred these two groups had for each other and how if she were in college, this group would make a good thesis.
Actually, she should start taking notes now, this thesis is practically writing itself.
"Cinder, you're team is going to serve first, swap positions after every change of possession, and please try to have fun." All present nodded before slowly walking back to their respective sides, their instructor holding onto the game ball while her students moved into position.
In the front for Cinder's team was Mercury and Emerald, the middle position was held down by Penny, while the two back positions were held by Weiss in server's position and Cinder opposite of her.
On Pyrrha's side was Ruby on the front right, next in line to serve, with Blake across from her in front left. Nora, being a notorious bad server (despite her restaurant prowess... Yang's overused pun) was behind Blake, last in line to serve. Pyrrha held the middle position and Yang was serving in back right, though the captain had an issue with that.
"Wait, one sec!" She called quickly, gesturing for Ruby and Yang to huddle, "Ruby." She quickly stated, "No offense but I'm going to need every tall person I can in fro-"
The silver eyes teen knew where this was going and nodded, "No offense taken, I get it." She and Yang traded spots quickly, the shorter of the two taking the back spot as the blonde slowly moved up, her expression confused and weary of her athletic friend. Pyrrha shrugged, her plan was one of victory though she understood the stares from her friend. She could also feel Nora's harsh gaze on her back, though did her best to ignore it.
It seemed to Pyrrha that the only people who understood her reasoning was herself, Ruby and maybe Blake, who hadn't done anything to warrant her being suspicious. It was a common tactic, keeping taller people in the front to instantly fire back over the net with little or no issue, while the shorter teammates would be more for in case of emergency, and keeping Ruby in the back for that reason alone was enough for the captain. Ruby was far more athletic than she let on and was a true secret weapon, having scored or assisted with over half of the points in today's game alone. It really caught not only Pyrrha's eyes, but also Professor Goodwitch's as well.
Speaking of the instructor, the older blonde woman stepped in, ensured that both teams were ready and tossed the game ball to Weiss on the other end, who easily caught and dribbled it in patience. "You have a little over eight minutes to score eleven points. Good luck."
With another huff of her whistle, she backed away and began to observe what was sure to be a rivalry match like no other. To everyone present in the Champion Court, time seemed to slow, their surroundings were no longer existent as Weiss tossed the volleyball into the air, using only half of her strength to make impact with it and smacking it over the net.
Pyrrha was right under it, having little time to prepare for the speedy strike. Very quickly she was able to get both hands clasped together and under the ball, causing a dig that sent the pure white orb airborne, though it didn't have enough force to make it back over. This is where both Yang and Blake came in, rushing towards their airborne target the latter was in the air first but purposefully whiffed the strike, allowing Yang to capitalize on any confusion and bring the ball down in the sweet spot between Cinder and the entire right side of the court. The ball fell inbounds, causing a point.
"One-Nothing." Glynda declared. "Swap serves every three points." Weiss nodded and accepted the ball from Penny, who awkwardly tossed the ball to the heiress after chasing after it. Weiss sized up her shot, lining up carefully. From experience, she knew that Nora wasn't the best in the world at this game, so the next shot would be going right to her. In familiar fashion, Weiss sent the ball airborne and with an open palm, sent it straight towards the young chef in the far back.
There was a lot of power behind this shot, enough to make Nora consider not going after it, but when it arced just past the net and began to shift its way downward, the hyperactive girl realized that she had to hurry in order to save the play. Unfortunately, she was too late, having dove for the ball too late, she missed the easy dig in front of her face and the ball landed just barely inbounds. Pyrrha sighed, but helped her friend up as Ruby gave chase after the rogue equipment.
"Never take a chance, Nora." Pyrrha easily explained, "Good attempt though." The chef rubbed her aching chest after having a hard landing, all the while her red-themed friend beside her threw the ball back and made ensured her friend's safety.
"This is going to be a fast game." Ruby admonished, patting her friend on the back.
"It'll be okay, little flower." Nora assured, "The faster, the better."
Pyrrha rolled her eyes as she eavesdropped on the conversation behind her. Sure, faster the better, but this was a rivalry match more than anything. It wouldn't be over that quickly...
Why was she getting so serious about this? This isn't conference play, it's gym class? The athletic teen shook her thoughts away and watched as Weiss served up the one-one shot, smacking the ball over the next and right into her space. "I got it!" She confirmed, getting an easy dig and sending the ball airborne and to the right slightly, into Yang's territory. The blonde jumped to meet the orb halfway and spiked it downward, right behind Emerald, though the red-eyed teen saw it coming and was able to back up and deny a usually easy point. The ball now in the air on the opposite side, Cinder was the one to get out of position, though her attempt to end a rally went sideways as her spike had too much power behind it and flew right past Ruby and out of bounds.
"Uhg." The short, young woman groaned, "Bad aim."
"What else is new?" Merc teased, though his tone seemed as though he were chiding the shorter woman. Still, Cinder waved the boy off as her side began to shift, her taking Mercury's position, Emerald taking the middle and everyone else moving in a clockwise fashion while Ruby on the other side of the net now prepared to serve, waiting patiently and politely for her adversaries to be set.
Once she was sure they were ready, Ruby proceeded to perform an underhanded serve, holding the game ball in her right hand as she made contact with her dominate left hand, balled into a fist, giving it just enough power to make it over the net. Luckily, given her handedness, the other team thought that this shot would go sideways and go out of bounds, but instead flew over Penny and in front of Weiss, staying less than a foot inbounds. Glynda waved the point for Pyrrha's team as the captain clapped.
Usually, she would be giving her advice to the red-themed teen behind her, telling her to go with her right hand, though Pyrrha knew how tough it was to play while using your non-dominate hand. It was not fun, and even though Ruby was ambidextrous, she was still more of a lefty. So, she'd have to serve as such.
Still, she turned back to her friend and held her hands up to stop play as Ruby caught the ball tossed over by Merc. "Hang on a second." Pyrrha began, catching Ruby's attention, "Try to set up closer to the middle of the court." She whispered, barely loud enough to be heard over the rest of the gymnasium, "You barely stayed inbounds for that ace, I'm afraid the next one will be too far out."
Ruby slowly nodded before sidestepping to her left a little bit, taking the advice to heart. She knew that her friend wasn't being malicious, she just wanted another victory to the record. And let's face it, going undefeated was the goal of today, anyway, so it would be best to heed the warning.
"Three-one, right?" Glynda nodded, confirming the students suspicions as she set up more to the middle of the court, her stance and preparation the same as the serve prior. Another underhanded serve using her left hand for contact sent the ball well over the net and straight ahead, right towards Emerald who had to jump with both of her hands raised in order to save her team from facing another ace. With the power of her fingertips, she sent the ball back to where it came from, but Pyrrha, who was in the way, basically said "No" and with a dig with too much force, sent it back towards Emerald, starting a rally. Em herself got an easy dig on the ball, setting it up for Penny to spike, which the awkward teen did, sending the ball down towards Yang with extreme force. The blonde had nearly no time to prepare, barely getting her left hand on the ball and deflecting it, but unable to stop it from hitting the ground.
Yang found herself to rather annoyed with what just transpired as Pyrrha tossed the ball back to Ruby for the final serve. With a snap of her fingers the blonde quickly reset herself and tried to calm down, shaking away the feeling of dread she had just faced. All the while Pyrrha turned back towards her team's current server with another suggestion: "Try an overhand serve, you might have better results."
"But... I'll send it too far...?"
"Just pull back on your strength, Hercules," The athletic teen teased, "You'll be fine."
"... Alright..." Ruby did as she was told, tossing the ball into the air and smacking it with an open left palm, and even though it was at half strength the orb still went flying past both of the back guards and would have gone out of play, had Mercury not gone after it, saving his team from an easy with a quick dig dive. The ball made contact with his forearms, angled just right to where it could be sent back beyond the net, though he didn't put enough power to it and the ball went flying right into the mesh netting before flopping to the ground. Glynda raised her right hand and blew her whistle, giving Pyrrha's team their fourth point.
"Yes..." Ruby whispered to herself, clutching her left hand into a fist, keeping her face relatively stoic as she shifted to the left side of the court. Pyrrha moved to Yang's spot, Yang to Ruby's, Blake took the middle and Nora took the front-left position. "Four-to-two, still our serve..." Yang picked up the game ball that was thrown to her, Ruby finding newfound confidence in her team. Really, she found confidence in herself, especially after the last two games.
They were comeback wins after being down by two points, two that were really all her fault for missing. But she made up for it with Pyrrha, getting easy setups with the pro-captain and allowing her to make easy spikes. Yang was up to serve the first game and won out with an ace, while Blake came in for a tie-breaking victory in game two, countering a great serve against Jaune's team by making them go after a weak hit and in turn caused them to send the ball into the net. She called it 'baiting', Pyrrha called it tricky. Whatever it was, it worked, keeping the team undefeated.
Which led them to now. Pyrrha's team was still in the lead by two, and had the chance to increase it even more. Ruby, in all fairness, wasn't that good of a server. She was a great striker, and good in literally any other position, but serving wasn't her game. Yang, on the other hand, was wicked good at serving and defense, but striking for her wasn't all that great. She just couldn't maintain the hang time that was required for that level of offense. Pyrrha and Nora both attributed it to being too 'top heavy', but Yang would never agree to that.
Once her team was set up and in position, the blonde tossed the ball straight into the air. Since her team scored the last point, they could keep serving. Considering just who Pyrrha had drafted, it was best if they stayed on the offense, especially since they weren't sure about Blake. Yang leapt up to meet the ball on punched it over the net, towards Mercury in the back. He stepped in and got underneath the orb, his intertwined fingers offering a power boost for the return shot that sailed barely over the top of the net, its momentum stalled momentarily, but Blake wasn't fazed. She got underneath after a quick reset in the middle of the court, rallying the ball upwards with both of her palms and sending it right for Pyrrha. Ruby also stepped in just in case, but it was an easy spike for the Varsity player, who slammed the ball down in open territory on the other side of the net with brutal force.
Glynda raised her hand for a second time in a row as Pyrrha, Ruby and Blake shared a high-five, Penny throwing the ball back to Yang in the backcourt. The blonde caught the thrown object and nodded towards her instructor before taking another shot at the tossed up ball. However, Cinder seemed hell bent on not allowing another point, so she jumped to the net as soon as the ball came over, both of her palms colliding with the orb and stopped it, the force of the collision caused the ball to be sent right in front of Blake, who couldn't react in time to save the point. The ball hit the floor and bounced into the bow-wearing teens hands, who dejectedly sighed and kicked herself for not going for it.
Glynda raised her left hand towards Cinder's team and blew her whistle, acknowledging the point. "Their serve, Blake." She declared, giving the other team a chance to go on offense. The new student nodded and threw the ball back over the net towards the boy in silver. Mercury easily caught it and smirked, now he had three serves, something to his specialty. Merc was a jack of all trades, so to speak, in terms of sports. He could play any position well but didn't care enough to try out for sports in school. Either way, he wasn't to be messed with. Ruby and Pyrrha both nodded to each other and took a step back and in, tightening up the court as they knew what would happen.
"Stay sharp, Blake." Ruby called, trying to keep her friend in the game. Blake nodded and readied herself as Mercury began his serve. In the back of Ruby's mind, all she could consider was the current score, six-to-two. If her team kept playing as they did, it would be a fast win. They were a mere four minutes into the game and already they had such a lead.
The silver-themed boy across the net hit the airborne ball with his fist, taking half a swing to ensure a point. The ball soared over the net and back towards Ruby, who stepped back to get underneath and dug into a shot. The ball moved more towards the middle of the court, where Blake was in position to continue a rally, using both of her palms to keep the ball in play, but it sailed to the left slightly towards Nora. The short chef tried her best to get up for a spike, but she leapt too late and spiked the ball into the net, hitting it with her forearm instead of her hand.
She groaned, running a hand through her orange hair as she kicked the ball back to Mercury. The silver-haired boy picked up the rolling orb and smirked as his score increased. He knew where to go with this next shot: Right in between Ruby and Nora and it's an easy ace. Ruby wouldn't be able to get there in time to save the play and Nora wouldn't be able to get up to stop the shot without making it worse. He committed himself to his plan, tossing the ball upwards and doing another half-powered shot.
The white orb sailed over Nora, arcing at the top of the net and landing three feet in front of Ruby, just barely inbounds. Glynda watched the play unfold and gave the point to the proper team, raising her left hand.
Ruby snapped her fingers in annoyance with herself, knowing that she should have gone for it. She's done it before already today, so why didn't she go then? Maybe she just didn't think about it, instead wanting it go out of bounds, which obviously didn't happen. Oh well, next time.
A big ace for Cinder's team as Merc took the orb, sitting back for a second to gather himself. They were starting to come back, now down by two with barely five minutes left. He readied his next shot, confident that it would be another ace as he proceeded to perform his next shot much like the last, only to have Ruby step in with her hands clasped together, the ball making contact with her forearms and sailing back to the other side of the net, next to Penny but too far for anyone to do anything.
Yang applauded the play as Professor Goodwitch raised her right hand, declaring the score as she knew it. "Seven-Four!" The best part was that it was Yang's serve, and all she had to do was score a point on her last shot of three and her team could win. Pyrrha was up next to serve after her, so she had that going for her.
Cinder's team began to swap positions as Yang awaited the ready signal. Cinder was now in serving position, Penny was in the front left in front of Nora, Emerald was a striker, Weiss was in front of Pyrrha and Mercury was behind the heiress. Yang saw a beautiful chance for three easy points, all she needed to do was aim it in the sweet spot between Weiss, Emerald and Mercury. Or on the other side of the court, provided it wasn't too far back for Cinder to make a play. Despite popular belief, Cinder was very, very athletic and could even rival Pyrrha in skill at this sport. Despite her size, she had a pretty high vertical leap, which made her just as dangerous up close as well as backcourt.
And just like she was, her team was equally as dangerous. Emerald was all over the place, Penny pitched in the school's softball team which... Wasn't nearly surprising, given her powerful arm, and Weiss... Well, despite her delicate touch, the heiress was still an impressive server and was incredibly useful for preparing spikes and power shots for her team. Living a life in high-heels usually gave one an appreciation for being light on their feet.
Yang knew as well as anyone else that this team was never to be underestimated, just like hers. But still, couldn't help but feel confidence in her crew as their lead was by five points with five whole minutes left in class. So far, it looked like a good win.
So far, at least...
Blake had no idea what just happened... They had a five point lead, and in just a few serves... Gone... They even scored one more to retake the lead but Cinder aced her final serve, which was her fault for not going for in the first place... Given the fact that there was only a minute left on the clock that Port and Goodwitch setup, meant that this would be a tie if not done right.
Just as she considered the possibility of a draw, Goodwitch blew her whistle and ordered both teams to fall in around her. Maybe this would be overtime? The score was eight to eight, and Cinder's team was on a hot streak... Were they really choking this bad? Ruby and Pyrrha made some attempts that fell flat, and both of them knew that it was because they were too far out of sync with each other, at least that's what Ruby excused. Still, to Blake she couldn't help but feel guilt as well. She let a few of those go, herself, she was just as much to blame as anyone else on this team.
"So, we have a tiebreaker match with this much time left, I don't really want to be here forever. So here's what's going to happen." Glynda began as the courts in the surrounding gyms finished their games. "It will be one serve and one serve only. The next point wins. You can take any position you want, it doesn't have to be in correlation to how you were during the game. Understand?" Both teams nodded in acknowledgement as the instructor reached into her pocket and pulled out a coin, "Alright. Call the flip and you're team get's to serve, Miss Nikos. Ready?" Pyrrha nodded and Glynda flung the quarter off of her thumb.
"Heads!"
"Call is heads, and..." The instructor caught the coin and place it in her palm before placing it on the back of her left hand, slowly removing the cover and revealing a face of a historical figure to Vale. "It's heads, alright, you're up." She passed the game ball to the Team Captain as both teams began to take positions. Pyrrha called hers in for a quick huddle as the opposing team waited patiently, a small crowd gathering around the last few games still going on.
"Alright..." Pyrrha sighed carefully, her team anxious to hear their leader speak. "Who wants to serve?"
The team began to peer around each other, each one shrugging, not really looking for the high pressure of the last serve of the day, especially a tie-breaker serve. But Ruby had an idea of sorts. Throughout the day, there had been two people who were top-scoring in terms of serving, Yang and Blake. Both had the most ace's, as well as returnable shots that could be trapped into easy spikes, thus easy points. Clearly nobody was volunteering, so someone had to be volunteered.
"I have an idea." The silver eyed teen calmly said, bringing the groups attention to her.
"Go for it, Hot Stuff." Yang confidently declared, causing Ruby to roll her eyes and shake her head in annoyance.
"I think Yang or Blake should serve." Pyrrha raised an eyebrow with interest, eager to hear more. "They gave us the most points today whenever they served, they clearly have the best aim at it and they can quickly set up to rally if need be."
Blake and Yang both locked eyes, the latter shrugging, not waving off the option. When she thought about it, it was true, both her and Blake were dominate in the backcourt all day, despite this game. Though, it was Blake who opted to take the position, not wanting to leave her friend to a high-priority role.
"I'll do it." The bow-wearing teen finally volunteered, causing both the captain as well as her neighbor to smile.
"Anything else, Ruby?" Pyrrha inquired honestly. Clearly, the youngest member of the group- maybe even the whole graduating class- was on a roll and she didn't want to get in the way. "Go ahead and dictate positions, we'll listen."
Blake marched towards the back right of the court as Ruby began her dictation, oddly confident in her strides. To everyone else on her team, it was like she was a totally different person, but to her, she didn't feel any different. "Nora, sit front right... My right, so left court." The chef smiled sinisterly and nodded, finding an odd sense of hype to go along with her position. "Yang, take front right, Pyrrha will be striker for right now. I'll take back left."
The team captain simply tossed the ball back towards Blake before giving a single, audible clap. "You heard the girl, get going!" The team nodded as they scurried to their given positions, doing as they were told and patiently waiting the serve, for some reasons all smiles. Pyrrha glance around the court and peered back towards Ruby, "This good?"
Nora was in front left, Yang was on the other side, Blake was behind Yang and Pyrrha was in the middle, leaving Ruby in the back left, but more inwards just in case. "Yeah, we're fine." She peered across the net to spy on her opponents, with Cinder at Striker, Weiss and Emerald at front right and left (respectively) and Mercury and Penny in back. This was fine to her, though it's going to be tough. 'Cinder's playing to our weaknesses' Ruby thought before turning towards her neighbor across from her. "Go ahead, Blake."
The bow-wearing teen nodded at the command, sighing cared while tossing the ball into the air. Time seemed to slow and all of the sounds dimmed into nothingness, most games now being completed which meant that most eyes were on this court. This type of attention would make most people buckle in fear, but there was no fear here. No, it was adrenaline, it was excitement. It was a sweet taste of victory being so close...
'Jeez, it's a high school gym class game, not the Olympics.' Blake chastised herself, 'Get in the game!'
The ball came down and she smacked it with an open palm, sending her serve clear over the net, having it arc just prior to the mesh and coming down just behind Cinder. At least, it would have, had the short young woman not reached up and tapped the ball back with the tips of her fingers, passing the net and slightly to the right where Nora was waiting, getting a slight dig on it and making an easy spike for Pyrrha.
However, she didn't get as much power on it as she would have wanted. It was aimed in the back right and landed right into Penny's grasp, her powerful right arm doing its work and returning the ball to the sender after diving for the save. Once again sailing over the net and being saved by a certain blonde nurse-in-training.
The rally continued with Yang knocking the ball upwards with her two palms, though it didn't go forward nearly enough, so Blake stepped in, using her forearms and aiming a dig straight and out over the net and to the other side. Pyrrha stepped in as Penny was able to make contact, using a lone right palm to knock the ball more towards the center of the court where Cinder stood. The short young woman served a straight shot upwards, giving an easy spike to Mercury. At least, it would be easy had Nora not been there.
The young chef took a shot right to the chest, the ball hanging in the air long enough for Pyrrha to dive for it with a closed right fist and blasting it back across the net behind her. Ruby watched as Pyrrha hit the ground hard, as did Nora, the former trying to get to her feet as Weiss had an easy dig from way back in her court. "Nice shot, Pyr…" The red-themed teen complimented, but quickly noticed that Weiss' return hit was higher than expected. With Nora and Pyrrha on the ground, nobody was in place to stop the winning point.
Well, almost nobody…
Yang and Blake both scrambled to the center, but it wouldn't matter. Yet, to Ruby… She saw one chance while Pyrrha was on all fours, back to the sky. Ruby rushed up, using her friend as a trampoline and jumping into the air, meeting the ball as it barely sailed over the net and smacking it with a vicious right palm, smacking it towards a certain center standing young woman…
Ruby's feet hit the ground and a sharp pain went up her left side, then her right before finally ending near her back, causing her knees to buckle. She rolled to the ground to avoid a hard landing, and as she crawled to her knees, she noticed that the pain she had just a moment ago was now gone, causing her to believe that maybe it was just the impact of the landing. Silver orbs looked around and saw a mixture of stunned faces to elated expressions, causing her to turn back and see the game ball rolling on the floor. She began to smile, until she saw a figure on the floor, writhing in pain. She was horrified when she realized that the person was Cinder Fall.
A wave of cheers and applause that rose after the amazing play soon ceased when the students realized that someone had taken to the floor. Ruby tried to get to her feet, but a weakness in her legs stopped her in her tracks, so she instead maneuvered to a sitting position, watching as Emerald and Mercury knelt by their friend. Glynda rushed to the side of her student who held the left side of her face.
"You okay?" Yang asked, offering a hand for her younger friend. Ruby turned up in surprise, not expecting anything at this point but accepted the notion and rose to her feet.
"Did… I do that?"
"It's not your fault." The blonde assured, "For Cinder it was literally wrong place at the wrong time, promise." The gang watched as the scene unfolded, though they weren't allowed to for much longer as Professor Port boomed across the gym with his whistle in tow, all the while Cinder slowly moving to a sitting position.
"Haven't you all seen a game injury before?" The man declared, "That's it for gym class today. Congratulations to Miss Nikos' team for making it undefeated, better luck next time for everyone else. You are dismissed to the locker rooms!"
Yang began to practically push Ruby away from the scene, moving around the net and towards the locker as silver eyes stayed glued on the young woman on the ground, getting a concussion test from Professor Goodwitch. Pyrrha tried snapping the young teen out of her trance by trying to get a high-five out of Ruby, but when she realized it and finally connected, it was late and the return was weak. Ruby turned back one more time at the display behind her team before entering the locker rooms, meeting both Weiss' stone cold gaze as well as Emerald's hateful stare, all the while Cinder began to rise to her feet.
"Get going, come on." Pyrrha called back behind her after noticing her friend had slowed down, nearly yanking Ruby into the locker room, "We don't have all day."
Silver eyes blinked rapidly as Ruby shook her head out of her confused trance. "Sorry, sorry, you're right… Thanks."
"Well that was something else!" Yang cheered before tearing her sports shirt off of herself, trying her best to hype up her team after their undefeated victory. She quickly entered the chosen space of lockers she had acquired, sitting on the bench below her own locker with Pyrrha and Ruby working on theirs, a smile on her face as the other two members of the team approached. "Who would've thought that Ruby would be today's MVP?"
"Like there was any doubt?" Pyrrha admonished, catching up to her friend with the aforementioned silver-eyed teen closely in tow, "That's what happens when someone is finally done with putting up with somebody else's crap!" Ruby stayed silent, deeply sighing as she took a seat next to Yang, the blonde currently in the way and sitting in front of her locker. "What's wrong, Ruby? You just won us the game in astounding fashion!"
"It's nothing, Pyr." Ruby assured, keeping a stoic expression, "I'm just thinking is all."
Both the lilac eyed and emerald eyed teens peered at each other, shrugging as Nora and Blake finally rejoined the conversation. "Well, what are you thinking about?" Pyrrha inquired, taking a seat in front of her chosen locker, opting out of changing just yet.
Silver eyes blinked as their owner carefully shrugged, trying to understand just what it was that was concerning her. "I... I guess I'm just a little worried that this might have seriously hurt Ci-"
"Oh, stop it." Yang quickly interrupted, waving her young friend off. "When it comes right down to it, you made a play and someone got hurt from it. That's how sports work, that's how it's all played. It's inevitable! You outplayed them with miss diving board here," She nodded towards Pyrrha while wrapping an arm around Ruby's shoulders, "and now your two-for-two when it comes to challenging them!"
"But I didn't challenge them, though!"
"Nope, they challenged you." Blake easily explained, intervening on the conversation as more people began to pour into the locker rooms, nearly filling it to capacity. "And I'm not sure if the issue is so much that you hurt someone in another group, albeit someone you probably don't care much for."
Once again, Pyrrha and Yang locked eyes, the latter turning back after a quick moment towards her black-haired friend, "How do you mean, Blake?"
Amber eyes easily blinked, their owner smirking slightly as she began, "From what I've seen so far, it's easy to assume that Ruby doesn't really care much for what other people think except for the people around her." The target of this examination begged her friend to stop, using both of her hands to make a 'T' for timeout, but Blake didn't care. She would say what needed to be said, "However, she is conscientious about hurting people, specifically the people closest to her. All in all, she's more afraid of doing something that will make you all think less of her, or have a negative opinion of her."
Ruby rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, carefully trying to scoot away and out of Yang's grasp, but the blonde wasn't having it. Yang pulled her friend in close beneath her arm, trying to make sense of what she just heard. "So let me get this straight: Ruby doesn't care for anyone's opinion of her, other than ours?"
"The people closest to her, yes."
"Oh-ho-ho! Blake, thank you for that kind analysis, it was greatly appreciated." Yang said with glee, her assumptions of her younger friend being confirmed. The bow-wearing teen bowed her head before stepping back towards her locker, observing the display across the aisle further. "So, Bu, since you're cover's been blown by your friendly neighborhood... Well, neighbor, why don't you come clean and tell us what's really bothering you?"
"It's nothing."
"Bull."
"I don't believe it, how about you, Nora?"
"Not a chance." The chef declared easily.
"Well, believe it, because I'm not talking."
"Talk or your smelling my pits for the rest of the day."
Pyrrha went wide eyed in horror at the proposition, having a feeling that she may know of what the problem is, intervention might be required soon. "Yang, that's a war crime, right there."
"Whatever gets the prisoner to talk, right?" The lilac-eyed teen winked before turning back towards her stubborn friend. "Now come on, what's up?"
"Yang, I'm telling you, it's-"
"It's me, isn't it?"
All present who were observing the display turned to Pyrrha, who calmly stared at the younger teen still caught in Yang's grasp. Both Silver and Lilac orbs gazed at the athletic teen, eager to hear more. "You're worried that you might've hurt me after that little jump, aren't you?"
"Well... I mean... Yeah..." Ruby dejectedly admitted, breaking eye contact with her red-haired friend.
Pyrrha lightly chuckled before shaking her head, "That actually does explain a lot, thank you Blake." Once again, the black haired teen nodded as she began to change out of her workout attire and into her school uniform, Nora mimicking the action. "Ruby, if anything else I'm proud that you stepped up like that, not because of the win but because that play in itself was gutsy and tricky an you pulled it off so well. I'm impressed at the lengths you went for this, and I'm a little disappointed that you don't go so far that often. Obviously, someone got hurt, and regardless of who it is you should probably apologize for it."
"Well..." Yang shrugged, only to get a stone cold death-stare from Pyrrha. "Eep... Sorry..."
"Anyway, Someone got hurt playing a game. It happens, boohoo sad story. The real story is that these past few days it's like you've been a totally different person, heaven knows why." She quickly glanced back at Blake, but not long enough for anyone but her to know why, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm glad you're starting to show a different side of you, regardless of what you did to me back there."
"So... You're not mad?"
"Not in the slightest." The emerald eyed teen assured, "I mean, the boot print in my back will say otherwise, but I'm not upset at all. I'm proud at how far you're willing to go for the team. It shows how much of a player you are."
"And remember," Yang added, "She really took charge in that last game, too, making those calls like that."
"Right! See, Ruby? You did better than even you think!"
The younger teen sat back, still wrapped in her blonde friend's arm with a look of assured realization on her face. Her friends had both managed to open her eyes and tell her that really nothing was wrong with what she did, despite how much blame she wanted to put on herself. Though, she honestly was just trying to figure out what came over her that made her do this? Questions for later...
"I... I guess you're right."
"Of course we are!" Yang clapped with a playful grin, standing up from the bench, noticing that "Now get up and get changed, we've wasted enough time already!"
"You sure have." A new, smooth voice called from behind her. Instantly, Yang recognized the seductive tone of Cinder Fall and turned around with a balled up fist, though was stopped when the black-haired teen raised a lone hand. The group noticed two things wrong with this picture; one, was that Cinder's left hand was occupied by a bag of ice, keeping it up to her left eye, and two, a lack of Weiss or Emerald... Well, the former was to be expected after taking a power shot to the face like Ruby gave, but the latter was the surprising part. "Believe it or not, I'm here on peaceful terms."
"How can we be sure?" Pyrrha inquired honestly, folding both of her hands over each other and keeping it in front of her chest. The short, young woman chuckled with a grin before shaking her head.
"If I was here to start a ruckus, I would have by now." The assurance was... Not well received, but Ruby was the one to calm the fears of both of her taller friends beside her, giving a nod to the team leader before her. "I'm actually here to congratulate you, Ruby. That was a hard fought win you made for your team. I'll let your poor aim slide, though."
"You should be congratulating my team for their work today." The red-streaked teen smirked with a small huff, though tried to keep the attitude in her tone to a minimum as she defended herself and her friends. "And who said my aim was off?"
"Oh my, the silent girl has sass." She removed the pack of ice from her face and turned back towards Blake, golden eyes piercing deep within the bow-wearing teen's soul. "I wonder why that is? Oh well, who am I to make guesses?"
"One of the biggest gossipers in the school?" Yang accused harshly, much to Cinder's delight.
Another rather seductive tone from the short, black-haired teen caused the group to shift uneasily, knowing that this was usually her way of speaking, it was still... Odd... "I guess I'm guilty as charged. Oh well." She shrugged as she walked away, stopping quickly for a moment before turning back to the cornered trio, "Oh, and Rose." Ruby turned back, slowly, locking eyes with the golden-eyed young woman. "Just so you know, next time, you won't be so lucky."
"I'm counting on it... And, uh, I guess I should apologize for that. I honestly didn't mean to... You know..." A simple nod and a stoic expression was accompanied the young teen's words as Cinder smirked as she walked away, leaving the conversation and the group to their own divides. Ruby tried to turn back to her locker, but a few playful shoves by Yang stopped her in her tracks.
"Two and O! Two and O! She's a machine!"
"Calm down, Yang." Pyrrha admonished, coming to her shorter friend's aide. "That wasn't even a fight, let alone a confrontation. That's more trash talk if anything."
"If you wanna call an idle threat trash talking..." Blake huffed under her breath, though only Nora heard it. The chef nodded easily after watching the events unfold, knowing full well the implications of what could happen in the future. Sure, Cinder could take this as a game-time injury, or she could turn it into much more. Not like she hasn't done it in the past... Still, a win is a win, that's all that mattered.
Blake stood back, having already changed out during the aforementioned confrontation and is now ready to go in her school uniform, but continued to do what she did best and observed the group of new friends that she had acquired, happy with her choice if she had to be honest. These girls were easily the far different than her earlier assumption, especially Pyrrha. She had gone above and beyond Blake's own assessment with what she told Ruby just a few moments ago, assuring the teen that there really wasn't any issues with what happened during the Volleyball game.
Glynda ran passed everyone, hauling ass towards the door, though Blake ignored it as her thoughts carried over to Yang, who was still shirtless- though thankfully her bra was doing its job- and impeded Ruby's attempt to get changed as she was celebrating a victory of sorts. There must be something more to this rivalry between Cinder and Yang, this has to go deeper than what Blake's been led to believe, but what? Maybe this is a question for later, and also someone may want to intervene on the scuttle between Yang and Ruby, the former doing her best to block the latter from getting into her locker. Ruby really did have a fiery personality, and it showed through the cracks of her shy exterior... or perhaps, maybe it was just how she acted around Yang and the others? Even with Velvet, the silver-eyed teen seemed to be more polite and stiff rather than loose like now.
Despite the hilarious scuffle Blake was witnessing now, she couldn't help but notice another one at the entrance to the locker rooms, Glynda slamming and locking the door, the only way in or out of the room. The resounding impact caused many to stop what they were doing and glance over at their instructor, who had a calm face, though rather panic stricken eyes as she held a walkie-talkie in her hand.
"Whoa, what's this?" Yang inquired, finally releasing Ruby and walking in the path of her teacher, who practically blew her off and charged back into her office. "What the...? Teach, what's going-?"
A loud beep came over the intercoms above, once again silencing a rather uneasy locker room. A not-so-familiar voice came over the speakers, calm and collected, easily speaking. "Attention all students and staff, this is Headmaster Ozpin with an important notice."
Yeah, how annoying was that all to read, huh? At least until the end of the game, after that, I'm pretty happy with myself.
So what have we here at the end, huh? Blake ratting out Ruby to her friends using her apparent findings over the last few days, and Glynda turning the locker rooms into a lock-in event? I wonder what's going to happen (as if I don't already know). And no, I did NOT make Cinder's eye get smacked with the full force of Hell because of the show. Honest to god, that was planned weeks ago, it just... Kinda fell into place... Yeah, that's believable, right?
For going through all of that, I'll give you a little hint as to next chapter. It's a chapter that will show more about how Yang, Nora and Pyrrha feel about Blake, as well as how Blake feels about Ruby and the rest of the gang, we might even have some more of her observations of the school at large and see just how far off she is or not. We also might get a sneak peak into Velvet and Coco and their plans for Blake, as well as Nora's work at the restaurant. And, as a special treat, next chapter will NOT be cut down to any length unless it exceeds FIFTEEN THOUSAND words. That's right, 15,000. Give or take a thousand or two. I'll go all out for you guys for putting up with this hot mess of shit. I cannot apologize enough, so I'll treat you guys next time. Given work and school, I'm gonna need some time, so say, about this time in about 2 weeks should be the extravaganza.
Anyway, I've rambled and promised enough, I should ask how you guys felt about that one? Personally... Shit, you know how I feel about it. But I wasn't going to slide this under the rug, this game was too important to pass up. The rest was fodder trash that didn't matter, but I can touch up on those games in the future, and to be honest probably will. Also, give a little hint as to what you want to see next chapter, and we'll see just how right or not you are! I like playing that game, "Guess what happens next!" In these event, guess why Glynda shut the doors!
As always, if you have any questions, go ahead and shoot me a PM! I always respond, sometimes I need some time but I always get to it. Anyway, I've rambled enough.
Until Next Time.