"No no no no no no no no! Why did I think this was a good idea?!" Demyx moaned. His robbery hadn't gone well. Bursting into a jewelry store unannounced, from the roof, no less, and then proclaiming you were going to steal everything in the store was evidently not a good method of robbery. Demyx ran as the police chased him. His sitar swung in his hand, and he played a hurried note, creating a wave of water that knocked into some of the cops. However, there were still more, and Demyx needed to get far enough away so that he could leave Torchwick a little message that he was sure would make the news.
"They really picked the wrong guy for this!" The Melodious Nocturne whined, turning a corner.
"Freeze!" More police burst from the door in front of him, and he hurriedly took another exit.
"Please don't shoot me!" He exclaimed, running away at an even faster speed. This is what happened when you sent the laziest Organization member on a mission that involved delicate planning.
"Damn, he's fast!" A cop cursed. Demyx was indeed very fast. After so many years of running away, he'd grown to be among the fastest of the Organization members, going toe-to-toe with even Larxene, who he actually had to run from on numerous occasions. He heard gunfire and squealed in a high-pitched yelp, even higher-pitched than his normal screams. As he ran, a stroke of luck fell upon the hapless Nobody. He found an employees only door, and, after quickly knocking the door opposite of IT open with a blast of water, carefully opened the door and slunk through the doorway.
"That should distract them...now, for a little message..." Demyx mused, using a thin strip of water to carve a message into the wall of the room before knocking open the door and vanishing into a portal of darkness, leaving the police bemused and defeated. They looked into the employees only room, and found there a message. It read: "Can Roman Torchwick come out and play?"
Demyx panted as he leaned against the wall of the alley. He felt the sweat dripping from his brow and made a squealing noise before wiping it off hurriedly.
"Ah, not sweat! This sucks. I can't believe I actually broke a sweat! As if getting chased by mean cops wasn't enough...why do they even have to do their jobs anyway? What happened to the good old days of corruption?" Whined the Melodious Nocturne, making his way through the darkness, eager not to be seen.
Ruby licked her lips in anticipation of her next cookie binge. The cafeteria had restocked since last week, when she learned of the existence of her favorite desert and ate every last cookie at Beacon. Her friends knew it was coming. Even if she was being subtle, they knew Ruby well enough to understand her cravings. Weiss and Yang, personally, didn't support Ruby's diet, but Blake played along with a humorous twinkle in her eye.
"Alright Blake, you know the drill! We rehearsed this, so be ready! I ask for lots of cookies, then you ask for lost of cookies! They'll only serve me once because of last week, so, like I said, we need to be ready!" The red-cloaked girl whispered loudly to her black-haired friend. Blake nodded.
"Of course. Also, Weiss and Yang are giving us dirty looks," she said. Weiss had a frown curling at her lips, and Yang was outraged that Blake would let her little sister indulge herself in such unhealthy eating habits. She didn't want Ruby's gluttony enforced for fear that the girl would balloon out when she got older.
"I thought I could trust you, Blake!" Yang scolded.
"Ruby's team leader, what she says goes," Blake responded.
"This is incredibly unhealthy, Ruby. Are you sure you want to do this? Do you have any idea how hard you'll have to work to burn all of those calories? As a Huntress-in-training, you have to be in peak physical condition in order to combat the Grimm!" Weiss shouted in annoyance.
"I'll be fine, Weiss! My metabolism is faster than...something that's really fast! Don't worry, your team leader won't be put out of commission by cookies!" Ruby assured her friend with confidence. Weiss, despite her attempts to respect Ruby's authority, couldn't help but snap.
"How irresponsible! You cannot possibly get any more immature," she moaned. Ruby, however, had walked off. Blake trailed behind her, ignoring Yang's angry looks.
"Blake is so going down during training," the blonde muttered. Suddenly, she was interrupted from her dark thoughts of revenge by a familiar voice over the intercom.
"Hey, Ruby! It's me, Sora! I wanna see you in my office," the informal voice of Beacon's new professor rang out. Weiss sighed at how nonchalantly he spoke, bearing himself like a student who had somehow rigged the intercom rather than a professor with access to it. Ruby paled, giving her tray to Blake.
"Could you prepare some cookies for when I come back?" She asked sadly.
"You shouldn't even have to ask, Ruby," Blake said with a smile.
"Oh, also, you're not in trouble," Sora added, making Ruby's scared expression light up with her usual friendly smile. She ran off to Sora's office, wherever that might be, and left her three friends to wonder why Sora had called their leader to his office on such short notice.
Ruby, after opening random doors and finding nothing save for closets and other professor's offices, had finally come across Glynda Goodwitch, who had told the poor girl where she could find Sora's office. She opened the door with bravado and found Sora sleeping in his seat, his bulky shoes propped up on the wooden desk and knocking off papers and pencils. Ruby hesitantly tapped the professor's shoulder, and Sora snorted awake.
"Huh? What? Oh, Ruby! Sorry, I fell asleep," he apologized guiltily.
"It's fine, I fall asleep during class all the-I mean...you're forgiven! Heh heh heh..." Ruby laughed awkwardly, but Sora didn't seem to care.
"This isn't about how loudly you snored during class, but you were loud. What I want to ask you about is...why you were so interested during the first half of class?" He asked. Ruby sat down and looked at Sora determinedly.
"I...Yang used to read stories to me all the time. They were about, well, fairy tales. They had strong heroes, going off and saving the day from evil! I got really attached to them and, well...I'd kind of like to think that, as a Huntress, I could fight for a happy ending, just like in the stories...I know it sounds weird, but, well-" Sora cut Ruby off with a boisterous and unintentionally rude interruption.
"Really? So you're fighting for a happy ending for everyone?"
"Yeah..." As she spoke, she noticed a change in Sora. He looked more thoughtful than usual, as if he had realized something while Ruby was talking. However, he shook it off and grinned his normal grin.
"Then you'd better stop falling asleep during class," he teased.
"H-Hey! I don't try to, I just get really bored!" Ruby said hastily in her defense.
"Hey, relax! I'm joking!" Sora told her. Ruby smiled in relief.
"Anyway, I was listening to what you were saying and it felt really familiar. All this talk about saving worlds really reminded me of a fairy tale and...you seemed like the tale's hero. I mean, you have the keyblade and you go around saving worlds, so...I guess I got excited." Sora chuckled.
"Well, I don't do all the work. I've got friends who help me out all the time. I'd be dead without them," he said, grounding Ruby's flattering description.
"In the stories Yang read me, the hero saves the day without any help...I learned that reality's a lot different," she said, thinking about all the times that her teammates had bailed her out, especially the time when Weiss had saved her in the Emerald Forest, willing to put aside all of their differences from the greater good. Even as team leader, Ruby seemed to have the most to learn from her friends. Sora nodded, and quickly changed the subject.
"There's a lot of promise at Beacon, but in that class at that moment, I saw a determination in your eyes that I didn't see in any other student. I'm not a teacher, Ruby. That's obvious. I almost fell asleep from my own speech! But during that class, I had a gut reaction to your determination. I don't know why, but I just did. Look, this might be a bit crazy and I might be wrong, but I had the same feeling when you were talking to me about fairy tales, so now I know I have to follow it through. What I want to say is that I think you might have what it takes to wield the keyblade."
Ruby lay on her bed, made giddy by the events of that day. Yang looked at her intently, brimming with pride of her younger sister. Blake was reading a book, tuning out the talking, but still smiled at how excited the younger girl was. Weiss, who was under Ruby, balanced feelings of surprise, annoyance, and intrigue.
"And then, Sora said that I might be a keyblade wielder! I'm not kidding, he said it with a straight face and everything! I wonder if I have to do some ritual or something or if I just get a keyblade? Did Sora just get a keyblade, or did he have to work for it?" Ruby wondered, her thoughts making her words trail off into musings.
"That is so cool! You're gonna be the cat's pajamas around here, Ruby! People are gonna be all over you! Especially guys. Well, and some girls, but I don't think you swing that way," Yang congratulated.
"I know that I should be happy, and I am, but...it's really nerve-wracking. First of all, I came to Beacon two years early, which gets me enough attention as it is! I'm never gonna be able to be a normal girl with normal knees if I have a keyblade," Ruby replied.
"Why would you want to?There's nothing wrong with being unique," Blake said, still reading.
"Yeah, what she said! It's not like I bother hiding how awesome I am. Why should you?" Yang asked. Ruby opened her mouth, but Weiss answered for her.
"A normal life has a certain lure to it. People all over Beacon are living their normal lives. Nothing's special about them. If you see so many people doing one thing, one has to wonder how they'd react if someone broke the cycle and stood out," she said plainly.
"Weiss is right...I just don't want people to think I'm any different because...uh..." Ruby froze, unable to say the words that were forming on the tip of her tongue.
"Because you are different? Sis, just accept it and move on! Look at Sora, he goes around in his ridiculous getup and swings around an oversized key. And while you're be a student who got moved up two years, he's a professor that got moved up his entire education. And even if people look at you differently, your friends never will. We know you, Ruby, and we know that you're not going to change just because you have a different weapon. Besides, it's not like everyone is exactly the same. And if that doesn't console you, just know that I'm more than ready to introduce my fists to the face of anyone who's getting on your case," Yang assured her sister, who looked as if she was feeling a bit better.
"I don't understand how someone like you could possibly wield the keyblade, but if Sora actually knows what he's talking about, then I'll support you as a teammate...and as a friend," Weiss added on. Ruby got up and hung her head over the railing of the bunk bed she shared with the white-haired girl and beamed.
"Weiss...thank you."
"It's nothing," Weiss replied nonchalantly, although she was slightly annoyed by the prospect of Ruby gaining yet another honor that Weiss wasn't sure she deserved.
"Blake?" Yang asked.
"Banzai!" The black-haired girl shouted, raising her fist into the air while still looking at her book.
"Is that all you have to say?" Yang admonished.
"It's fine, Yang. She's just trying to read. She's the only one who supported my right to eat cookies, after all. I have no doubts!"
"I still haven't forgiven you for that," Yang said to Blake.
"Ruby didn't mind," was the reply.
"You told her what?!" Donald shouted in disbelief. Sora had three sleeping bags spread out on the floor, and he wrapped himself in one. Donald stood on top of his while Goofy was was trying to get into his, and was met with failure.
"That's great! Do ya think she'll get a keyblade soon?" Goofy asked as he pulled the sleeping bag over his head.
"Wrong way, Goofy," Donald sighed.
"I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not. But yeah, Donald, you heard me. I told her she might be a keyblade wielder," Sora challenged. Donald accepted that challenge, rising up to argue with Sora's baseless claim.
"You got a feeling and you decided that Ruby is a keyblade wielder? You don't have any proof!" Donald protested.
"Maybe the keyblade had the feeling and I just felt it. I don't know how it decides who can use it, but I do know that you need to be strong to use it. Not only did Ozpin make her the leader of team RWBY, she also came to Beacon two years early, so she's obviously pretty cool," Sora said nonchalantly.
"So she's physically strong. But what about her heart? Is it strong enough to fight the darkness?" Donald asked seriously, no longer arguing. Instead, he was asking calmly. He knew how strong one had to be to use a keyblade. Sora had shown him.
"All she wants is to make a happy ending for everyone. She told me about how she loves fairy tales and how she admires their heroes. If she's so serious about it, then I know that her heart is strong enough. Just look into her eyes. Ruby is a lot more than she seems," Sora answered.
"Like you?" Donald asked teasingly.
"What's that supposed to mean, huh?" Sora asked, playing along.
"Uh, guys?" Goofy spoke out to draw attention to his plight. He had the sleeping bag over his head, and his feet were sticking out from the bottom. Sora laughed and pulled the sleeping bag from off of Goofy's head.
"Thanks, Sora!"
"No problem."
"So are we going to sleep or do you want to talk more about this?" Donald asked Sora. Goofy answered.
"Sora can see the light in any heart! If he thinks Ruby can use the keyblade, I believe him. That's really all there is to it, so we should just get some sleep now," Sora grinned, clapping Goofy on the back. Donald sighed.
"Then I guess we'll see."
FINISHED! I'M NOT SURE HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS CHAPTER, SO I'D REALLY LIKE ANY FEEDBACK PEOPLE HAVE ON HOW I HANDLED THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT THAT WAS GOING ON AND HOW THE DIALOGUE FELT TO THEM. IT GETS ACROSS THE POINT I WANTED TO MAKE, BUT I WANT TO KNOW IF PEOPLE ARE AS IMPRESSED BY IT AS THEY ARE THE OTHER CHAPTERS.
ALSO, IT SEEMS THAT THIS IS MY MOST POPULAR STORY. I DIDN'T JOIN THE SITE WITH THE INTENTION OF SWEEPING THE WORLD OFF OF ITS FEET WITH MY INCREDIBLE WRITING SKILLS, BUT I'M NOT GOING TO LIE: I REALLY WANT PEOPLE TO LIKE MY STORIES. EVERY TIME I GET A NEW REVIEW OR FOLLOW OR FAVORITE, IT FEELS LIKE KINGDOM HEARTS 3 JUST CAME OUT. THAT'S HOW HAPPY IT MAKES ME. LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, I WRITE FAN FICTION OUT OF WISH FULFILLMENT, TO SEE FRANCHISES AND CHARACTERS I LOVE MEET AND PORTRAY HOW I THINK THINGS WOULD GO DOWN, OR AT LEAST HOW I WANT THEM TO. HOWEVER, I'D BE LYING IF I SAID THAT I DIDN'T SOMETIMES CHECK TO SEE IF I GOT A NEW REVIEW, FOLLOW, OR FAVORITE ON ONE OF MY STORIES. BASICALLY, THE PEOPLE WHO READ THIS ARE AWESOME AND REALLY HELP OUT IN THE SELF-ESTEEM AREA OF MY LIFE. NOT ONLY DO I GET FEEDBACK, BUT I ALSO GET SOME GREAT SUGGESTIONS OF WHAT TO DO WITH THE STORY AND HOW I SHOULD PROCEED. IN FACT, THIS STORY WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN WRITTEN IF A FRIENDLY USER HADN'T GIVEN ME THE IDEA. ANYWAY, KEEP ON BEING AWESOME AND GIVING ME SUGGESTIONS, BECAUSE ALMOST EVERY SUGGESTION I GET IS A GOOD ONE!