RWBY Fanfic: Time Keeps On Tickin'

Chapter Two

She didn't know. How could she have known? Had Weiss known, then she would've been more polite. She wouldn't have pried. But, now she's done it. She's gone and ticked off the huntsman that they're supposed to shadow. Oh, Oum! How could she be so stupid!?

Clearly the fact that Crimson had shown up alone meant that his team was… no longer with us… and she was smart enough to have been able to figure that out.

"I… I'm sorry. I didn't know…" the heiress couldn't get her apology out, unable to determine the right choice of words.

But, even if she could, Weiss would've been too slow on the draw. "It's fine." Wait, what? "There was no way you could have known." His words sounded empty. Drained of their previous good nature. He didn't look at her. At anyone. Just stared down at the ground."I'm going to go take a walk."

Oh, good going! You just pissed off the guy that you're going to be living with for the next six months!

They needed to do something to cheer him back up. He was so nice. And kind of cute. But, Yang would never admit to that last part. Still though, that doesn't change the fact that this was a wrong that needed to be made into a right again. And so the blonde of Team RWBY decided to take action, beginning to brainstorm how to make up for the Ice Queen's transgressions.

"Maybe, we buy him something nice?" Weiss had suggested.

"We don't know anything about him except that the rest of his team is dead. What could we possibly get him that would cheer him up from being reminded of that?" Blake was right. They knew little to nothing about who Crimson was.

"Ooh! Maybe, we could-" Ruby was cut off by a sudden knocking on their door.

That can't have been him. It's been all of five minutes. No one can cool down that quickly, not even Blake. Ruby had rushed to open the door, and was pleasantly surprised by the members of both Team CFVY and JNPR. "Hello!" Pyrrha said. "Just want to see how you guys were doing."

"AAAAAANNND MEET NEW ROOMIES!" A head of orange hair burst through the doorway into the dorm.

The martial artist of their group sighed heavily. "Nora… please. Quiet down."

The remainder of JNPR and all of CFVY had filled into RWBY/CMSN's dorm. The three teams had gotten to talking, the problem of a pissed off teammate being brought up inevitably. "Yeah, where is the new team, anyway? I'd figure that they'd be here with us," Jaune had asked.

Ruby had taken the liberty of giving the delicate answer. "Well, see… we got paired with Team CMSN and…"

The fashionista of CFVY interjected at the mention of this new team. "Wait. You got paired with Team CMSN?" Her tone abnormally serious.

"Uuuuh… yep. Is that bad?"

Coco shook her head. "No. It's just that… Crimson… well, he's… he's an interesting case." Everybody had stopped their side conversations to listen to the team leader's story. "See, his teammates… his former teammates… were Magenta, Scarlett, and Navajo. They were a lot like you guys." She pointed at the four members of Team RWBY. "Strong. Inseparable." The praise filled the team with pride. But, the small amount of joy was short lived as Coco continued her story. "But, one by one, every member of his team died. Leaving him alone. This happened a little over a year ago. And while yes, time does heal most wounds, this one will take a while. He became pretty cagey after his team passed. Only just started to open up again. My advice to you… to all of you," she said, now addressing both JNPR and RWBY. "Is to leave that topic alone. That, and also this one other thing…" She paused. Everyone leaned in to hear what she had to say next. "Never take him lightly. He may joke, he may seem pretty laid back. But, NEVER take that boy lightly."

As if on cue, Crimson had returned from his walk. Only to find the dorm room now severely overcrowded. He seemed calmed down now, more relaxed. Why did he seem like he was out of breath? "Right, okay… um, hey Coco." He waved slightly at her. "And you four are…?" He then pointed at JNPR.

"Name's Jaune. Jaune Arc." The leader said confidently, standing up to his full height. The rest of his team introduced themselves. Ren bowed slightly when he told Crimson his name, and got a small bow in return. "And you must have already heard of Pyrrha."

The loner nodded slightly. "Yes. I've seen a few of your matches. Impressive. I hope to see you in action tomorrow."

Jaune was a little confused. Clearly, he didn't know that they'd be doing sparring matches tomorrow in Goodwitch's class. "T-tomorrow?" Then, realization hit the boy like a truck. "Oh crap," He groaned out.

"What's the problem? It's just a little sparring."

"Yeah, Jaune's not the strongest fighter," Yang said, earning a defensive 'Hey!' from Jaune. "But, he's learning!" She added on, in the hope to lighten the blow that she had dealt to the boy's pride.

"Yeah, but that Cardin a-hole isn't helping," Weiss inserted.

Crimson didn't know who Team CRDL was, but soon he will. "Should he be? I'm a little out of the loop."

"Cardin Winchester's this guy. He's… a troublemaker for lack of a better word."

Nora began to list off the numerous humiliations that Jaune had suffered at the jerk's hands. "Shoving him into a weapons locker. Pantsing him in front of Goodwitch's class. Tripping him every time they pass each other in the halls. Activating his weapon's shield mode so as to get him stuck in doorways. And the list goes on and on and on and on and-"

"I think I get the point. Guy's a bully. Tell you what, Mr. Arc. Tomorrow, I'll kick his ass so bad that he won't be able to walk straight, let alone pester you." What? Everyone was shocked by the offer. Well, almost everyone. Team CFVY seemed relatively unfazed by the statement. Except for Velvet. Yang could barely catch a small grin on the quiet bunny's face. But, naturally so.

Nora jumped at his offer. "Ooh, BREAK HIS LEGS!" She slammed her fists together so as to accentuate her point.

He chuckled softly. "I said I'd kick his ass, not cripple to guy. But, trust me when I say that he'll be hurting."

Ruby hadn't slept well the night before. And Port's boring lecture wasn't doing much to help her. Three times already, she had fallen asleep only to be woken up by Weiss lightly slapping her arm. The heiress had caught the eye of the reaper the first day they met. At first, it was a slight crush. But, then Ruby had begun to… notice… Weiss. Her figure, thought petite, was beautiful. Her silver locks flowing smoothly in the wind. Her fair skin flawless.

Ruby realized she had been staring too long, and launched her head down to bore holes into her notebook. One which had remained blank this entire class. While sleep begged for her to return to its loving embrace, Ruby struggled onwards. Because when Port's tirade involving a watermelon, his uncle, and a nevermore was over, they would be off to Ms. Goodwitch's class.

While Ruby was never one for violence when it was unnecessary, she was excited to see their new dorm mate in action. A dorm mate that, thankfully, was quick to forgive Weiss's attitude yesterday. 'It's okay,' he had said. 'You had no way of knowing. Just, don't… don't bring it up from now on. Please?'

They had all agreed to his request. Ruby understood. She didn't like talking about… her… that much either. It still hurts. To even think about it. And whenever she does, the rose finds herself back there again. On that day… when she knew her-AND THERE'S THE BELL!

Timetogo! Timetogo! Timetogo!

The girl in red sped through the hallways, the run to the training hall was short as it was from Professor Port's class, but Ruby was anxious to get there. As she burst through the door, finally slowing down, she realized that she was the first one here. Scanning over the empty rows of seats, she had picked out the perfect place to watch Crimson: Front row.

And so she sat there. And waited for him. Her team sat with her. JNPR behind them, and CFVY behind JNPR. But, no Crimson. Where was he? Ms. Goodwitch walked into the now filled room. It was bustling with activity and commotion, more so than before, as now there were twice as many students. Goodwitch slapped her crop hard onto the desk, the loud noise catching the attention of everyone in the room.

"Alright. Settle down now. Time is short, so we'll just move right onto the matches. Any volunteers?"

Out of nowhere, Crimson's had shot up. He was sitting right next to Yang on the end of the bench. Ruby might be a little oblivious, but he wasn't there before. So, his sudden appearance made the entire front row jump. "I'd like to go."

"Very well, Mr. Harrison. Would you like a random opponent or…" She trailed off.

"I'd like to choose who I'm facing, if that's okay," he said as he stood up. Today, he was wearing a long coat, one that was tattered around the edges and a faded… maroon? Ruby knew red like no other, and that was maroon. Why not crimson? Maybe it was just preference. His katana was hanging from his belt, halfway hidden underneath the coat's flowing exterior. He made his way out to the center of the arena. His picture and aura levels popped up. He gazed out across the masses seated in the audience. "Cardin Winchester."

Goodwitch was not expecting this, but didn't question him. "Very well. Mr. Winchester, do you accept his challenge?"

Team CRDL was seated on the opposite end of the room. Cardin seated in his armor. He was as surprised as the witch was at the challenge from someone he had never met before. But, he was a prideful man. Arrogant to boot. "Yeah, sure. I can take him," he said, standing up and grabbing his mace. "He doesn't look so tough."

"Oh. He has an attitude. Good. Now, I don't feel so bad about what happens next." Crimson removed the sheathed katana from his belt, now holding the scabbard in his left hand. Cardin stood some three meters away from him, standing tall, his mace resting in both hands.

Goodwitch signaled the beginning of the fight. Crimson just stood there, arms hanging loosely at his sides, as Cardin charged. When he was within range, Cardin swung his mace downward, going for a blow to the head. Crimson took a simple step to the right as the mace flew harmlessly past him, crashing down onto the ground. The swordsman then turned quickly to face Cardin before smacking him in the legs with the scabbard of his sword, causing the first year to trip as he tried to retreat and fall on his back. Cardin's aura dropped by two percent.

Crimson made no further advances on him, instead taking a step back, letting the boy stand back up. This time, Cardin took a mighty swing at him from Crimson's right. The man in red simply lifted his scabbard up to intercept the blow before it could connect, stopping the massive weapon in its tracks. Weiss leaned over and whispered in Ruby's ear, "He's strong." She was surprised. As was the reaper. But, what came next was even more impressive.

Pulling away from Cardin's mace, Crimson then shot his scabbard out, jabbing his opponent in the gut, before pulling up and striking him upside the chin, sending him flying back. Now, Cardin's aura was down to eighty percent. "Come on, man. Like you said, I don't look so tough," Crimson taunted. Cardin pushed himself back up, and charged him again. "Again with this?" Ruby could hear him roll his eyes, right before sidestepping another downward swing and retaliating with a quick draw slash from his katana. His movements were so quick that they left afterimages. While he wasn't hit, Crimson's aura dropped slightly. But, what he lost was nothing in comparison to what Cardin suffered. The bully had been sent flying back from the force of the strike alone, his aura completely drained, and a huge cut along the breastplate.

The boy was panting. Hyperventilating. "I… I think I'm dying." Wait, WHAT!?

As Crimson slid his katana back into its scabbard, he said, "Oh, you're fine. Just got the wind knocked out of you, is all." Ruby could barely hear him say under his breath, "Whiner."

People clapped, but only slightly. "Impressive. Now, for our next match-"

"Hold on a moment," Crimson interrupted. "That was FAR too easy, and it seems that the crowd is… unimpressed. How about we make things a little more interesting?"

Glynda was about to protest, but something changed her mind. But, why? "What did you have in mind?"

Crimson grinned. A wicked, menacing grin. "I want to fight Team RWBY."

So, two things that I feel the need to address: 1) The SS White Rose will set sail 2) Bumblebee is not happening, instead Black Sun.

Also, while I do not have a set upload schedule, new chapters will be posted between Friday and Sunday next week.