Yo Peeps, GMG back with chapter 6 of Phantom Rose. Had some interesting reviews, so I'll bring up one. knight7572 brought up the fact that people would wonder how Ruby's semblance works and how she got it. Secondary one, that is. This will be handled in due time, so don't worry. I have been holding out on it ON PURPOSE. I really have. Unlike a few of the things I forgot for BCB2, this was preplanned. That said, let's get to it.
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY…
Classes that day had been a bit different then what the girls had expected. Professor Port, for example, had an issue with being a bit too self-important. He regaled the class with stories of his childhood, sharing tales of Grimm slayed and towns saved. Even with his robust manner of speech, the fact of the matter remained; Professor Port was incredibly boring. He also didn't care about pitting his students against a Grimm he had kept caged, Weiss having been the volunteer who had killed it.
Ruby had offered the heiress some advice before the impromptu encounter, of which Weiss had been grateful for. She had even thanked the girl after the fight, seemingly over the scenario from the morning. The other classes had gone by smoothly, thankfully. Now, the four found themselves in the cafeteria for dinner and what a sight it was.
It was a bit unsettling for the caped leader of RWBY, being around that many people. Sure, the city was populous, but not all condensed into the space of one room. The large room was loud too. Yang was the only one of the four that didn't seem fazed by it. Blake looked uncomfortable to say the least, while Weiss was noticeably scowling. All the students housed in one room constituted a dull roar that would deafen the hearing of anyone who entered.
At least it smelled nice. The faculty had provided a decent selection of food for the student, which Ruby was grateful for. Getting some cookies that smelled divine, she loaded some other food on her plate before she and her team settled in, having sat beside JNPR. Jaune's team had waved them over and now Nora was sharing stories, Ren cutting in to correct any lies she slipped in.
While they ate, Blake found her eyes drawn to Ruby. The young leader was so awkward, even when doing something simple like eating. Blake's face lit up with a smile when Ruby's semblance triggered, her cookie falling back onto the plate. The pout that crossed the girl's face was just too precious for the Faunus not to smile. Yang had patted her sister's head, before laughing too. "Don't worry Ruby, at least it's still there."
"Yeah," Ruby replied, smiling. She picked up the cookie, popping it in her mouth. Weiss looked at her in wonder, curious how it was possible. The cookie wasn't a small one, either, it was jumbo sized.
Dinner passed without any further issues, the two teams saying their goodbyes before going their separate ways in the hall. Team RWBY let out a collective sigh of relief when the door closed. Day one at Beacon Academy was a rousing success!
"I'm gonna sleep," Yang announced. "See you all in the morning." Hooking her hand over the head board over her bunk, she pulled herself up in a deft move, landing with a light thump. "These beds are awesome," she quipped before closing her eyes.
Weiss looked at Ruby. "She does know we have homework, right? It's not even that late either." To make her point, she pulled back the curtains, the sun still shining bright. The sky was a bit subdued, tinges of orange intermingling with the blue stretches of sky.
Nodding, the caped girl settled on Blake's bed. "Yeah, but Yang likes to take naps from time to time. She'll get up in an hour or two. If she doesn't, then I'll wake her up." Weiss accepted the answer and set about her own homework.
Settling next to Ruby, Blake spoke. "Are you going to get started now? Since we share a fair number of classes, we can go over it together."
"I'd appreciate it," Ruby replied. "Some of what the teachers went over was a bit over my head." Pulling out her own books and paper, she and Blake got started.
Weiss looked up from her pages. While it was a bit distracting, the other two girls were talking animatedly about the work. Well, Ruby was. Blake nodded and gave her own thoughts, sometimes having to explain something to the younger teen. Looking at the two, she thought that it seemed right to see them beside each other. It was hard to explain, but they were as similar as they were different.
Shaking her head to clear her jumbled thoughts, Weiss looked down at her work and sighed. Even for all her pride of being a Schnee, homework was hardly something she enjoyed doing. She knew a lot of the material, of course. Her father had made sure of that before she came to Beacon. Filling in some of the papers that had been assigned to them, she calmly finished her homework, never fretting over the menial task. After finishing a particular essay, she heard grumbling from the bunk above.
The bed shook lightly as Yang sat up, rubbing her eyes. Yawning loudly, she swung her legs over the edge of bed. "Watch out below," she called out, voice still sounding tired. She dropped down, landing a bit clumsily. Standing up, she smiled at her teammates before making her way to the bathroom.
Weiss closed her book setting it aside. "I'm going to grab some coffee. I'll be back in a bit." Placing her books aside, the heiress stepped out of the room.
Her sudden disappearance was a bit strange to the remaining two, but they shrugged it off. Filling in the last few answers on her worksheet, Ruby cheered. "We're finally done!" Stretching her arms quickly, she picked up her books and set them on top of the bookshelf. Blake stowed her books as well, reaching past Ruby to grab a novel from the shelves. Ruby noticed and spoke. "If it's not too much to ask, could we maybe, y'know, read together?"
Blake's eyes widened slightly before she nodded. "I wouldn't mind at all, Ruby." Patting the bed beside her, she beckoned the other girl to join her. "It helps that I was just starting to read this one."
It hadn't occurred to Blake that such a simple task as reading could be so thoroughly screwed with. She could feel it as Ruby sat beside her, the girl radiating a slight warmth that was extremely distracting in of itself. Not to mention the girl's scent. Blake's acute senses picked up on the subtle aroma that pervaded the air around Ruby. It was sugary and smelled of freshly baked cookies, the clean scent of flowers only slightly noticeable, if she were paying attention. Unfortunately, all of her attention was on the girl. For the life of her, Blake couldn't explain it.
What made this girl so different? Why couldn't Blake stay focused around her? These questions and others flew around her mind and she stared blankly at the pages of the book. "Can we turn the page?" Ruby asked, startling Blake out of her reverie.
"Y-yes, go ahead. I'm a fast reader, so feel free to turn the pages as you wish. I can reread it later, anyways." Blake's cheeks reddened as she glanced at the other girl. Oh, she was doomed and she didn't even know it.
Someone else knew, however. Leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom, Yang had watched the exchange and was reigning in her laughter. All the awkward possibilities causing her to simultaneously bust out laughing and have her heart melt at the adorable images that came to mind. Yes, Yang Xiao Long was going to have a field day when Ruby and Blake ended up together. Not IF, WHEN.
Even if it took some patented Xiao Long matchmaking to make it work.
End…
So, another chapter. This would've been released a lot earlier. As I've had a majority of it finished before today, it could've been posted so much sooner. I'm glad I hadn't finished it until now, since I have some news.
A new story is in the workings.
But GMG, you're already working on Phantom Rose and have yet to finish Snow White Roses…
Worry not! This is a collab with no set timetable for releases and is some time off until it begins. I was speaking with Darkerpaths, someone who was also involved in Converging Paths, and we wanted to see how my readers reacted to the idea. As the others involved with Paths are not responding, we're not bring that story back to the forefront at the moment.
The Idea?
A dual timeline story pertaining mostly to the past of Ozpin and how he became the man he is. The secondary timeline is for Team RWBY and lessons imparted from Ozpin's timeline, as he relays the information to Ruby by way of story. The initial idea was a bit more strict and serious, with only one timeline, so some compromise was needed. From my stories, y'all probably noticed my more positive and free spirited style. Thus we incorporated a way to make things humorous, as well as incorporating the character that dominates the shipping poll for Ship Shape: RUBY.
The past timeline pertains to the war that Ozpin speaks about in Volume Three, whereas the future timeline has to do with RWBY sometime in the future after the events of Volume Three. I won't be sharing anymore details, simply because we haven't fleshed out a more solid idea yet, so it'll take some time to get it up and running.
GMG is planning for a story… RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!
See you all in the next chapter and sorry for the long-ass AN. Adieu for now!