Chapter 28

The instant Weiss's alarm went off, at seven the following morning, the bed above her and Neo swung on its ropes as Ruby bolted towards the bathroom. With her short hair and simple routine, she hated getting stuck behind the other girls, especially Yang. Weiss shook her head, sympathetic to the redhead, knowing how many fights have erupted throughout the past semester and a half over trying to get into the bathroom before the blonde.

"Neo, do you think we can spar after class?"

Neo shrugged slightly before nodding.

"Okay. I'm going to message Winter and have her come by. We can show her what a skilled warrior you are and, maybe, we can get some information out of her." With a wink towards Neo, Weiss finished, "And maybe we can convince her to take us out for dinner on her Schnee Dust Company credit card!"

Neo liked the thought of free food, especially after a challenging fight with Weiss, but she wasn't enthusiastic about the idea of hanging out with Winter. She knew that the woman didn't approve of Weiss's Sapphic tendencies, and that she was incredibly judgemental. Neo wasn't enjoying the thought of sitting through a meal with her while she seethed in anger that, not only was her sister a lesbian, but she fell for Neo, out of all the other eligible women at Beacon.

With a silent sigh, Neo dressed herself and gathered her materials for another hyper start to the week with Professor (Doctor) Oobleck. It was still early and Weiss said that she was going to wait for Ruby before heading to the dining hall, so Neo took the scenic route around campus to breakfast.

When she arrived at the dining hall, Neo didn't see anyone else she knew from Team JNPR or Team CFVY so she decided to walk through the gardens for a little while before heading back.

The gardens were mostly empty this brisk morning. A pair of students sparred off in the distance and a handful of benches were occupied with bundled up students, making use of the morning light to read before classes begin. For the most part, though, Neo was alone with her thoughts. With no immediate distractions, she tried to plan her next move. As she told Ozpin, she had seen Cinder on the campus a few times; it worried her that her former boss was so close. And she knew that it wasn't going to be easy to hide forever, despite her diminutive stature, her multi-hued hair certainly stood out in a crowd. It was only a matter of time before she ran into the woman and was forced into another fight with her.

After the last fight at the restaurant, Neo didn't think she could take Cinder on her own. She needed help, but couldn't bear the thought of dragging Weiss or her other teammates into her battles. They've been so accepting. They've given me nothing but love and trust. Gods! What if Cinder did anything to any of them because of me? How can I protect them? With a pause, Neo knew what she had to do. To keep them safe, I have to kill Cinder and cut the head from the serpent that is her faction. It doesn't matter; I'm killing her one way or the other. To avenge my family and what she did to me or to protect my new friends ~ one reason's as good as the other. As she walked, Neo replayed the couple of bouts she had with Cinder in her mind, desperately searching for the woman's weakness, but no weaknesses came to mind.

Neo's feet took her in several loops around the garden as she thought to herself. She knew the morning was wearing on, so she made her way into the large, high-ceilinged dining hall. She immediately saw Ruby and Weiss laughing together at Team RWBY's normal table, with Nora and Ren at the table behind them. Neo went to the line, grabbed a tray, and began filling it with food. It's been well over a week, and the novelty of unlimited food still hasn't worn off! It's just bizarre to be this well-fed after seven years of starving and scraping for whatever I could find. She looked at the dessert options and picked up a couple still-warm-chocolate-chip-cookies. Neo smirked, sure that Ruby already grabbed more than a few of the cookies, but she thought a gesture of good will towards the energetic, kind-hearted girl would be a good start to thanking her. After all, it was Ruby who freely accepted Neo onto her team, despite all of the complications it created for her feelings for Weiss.

Neo approached the table from behind Ruby and Weiss and paused behind the pair. She placed the plate of cookies and a glass of milk in front of Ruby, set her tray down across the table from her, and pulled the pair into a large hug. Ruby hands flailed as she tried to get to the cookies. Weiss laughed and Neo smiled at the girl's antics. Releasing the pair, Neo gave Ruby a small kiss on the cheek and Weiss a slightly longer one on top of her head before she took her seat and tucked into her pile of food.

"Hey! How many cookies do you think I can fit in my…" Ruby couldn't finish her question as Yang interrupted

"Hey little sister, didn't we just have a conversation a couple weeks ago about limiting your cookie intake at breakfast? I mean, you're hyper enough as is, when you're on a sugar rush, you're almost as bad as Oobleck."

Ruby sorrowfully pouted at her sister, "Well, Neo brought me them and I thought it would be rude to refuse such a nice gesture."

Neo tried to crunch into herself and will herself to become invisible as she watched Yang turn towards her and drop an arm over her shoulders. A heavy arm around her shoulders yanked her towards Yang as the blonde chided her "Well, I suppose we can give Neo a pass, this time anyhow, since she didn't know the 'no cookies for Ruby before noon' team rule." Yang looked Neo in the eye and pointed a finger at her, "But know this, you're sitting next to her throughout Oobleck's class and keeping her contained. For the entire lesson."

Neo looked from Yang to Ruby and back, and couldn't help but notice that Ruby was already bouncing in her seat. Dejectedly, Neo hung her head, somberly nodded, and knew that her teammates were bound to be entertained by, what was sure to be, her futile attempts to reign in their leader.

"Don't worry, Neo. We can swing by the room and grab the emergency roll of duct tape." Weiss deadpanned before taking a bite out of her post-breakfast apple.

"Nnooo!" Ruby shrieked, "Last time you got my hair caught in it and ripped some out."

"Are we taping Ruby to her chair again?" Came Nora's excited voice from the next table, "It was so much fun last time! Plus, other than Cardin's normal annoying self, it made for a quiet class. All the better for sleeping!"

"Class isn't really for sleeping, Nora." Weiss replied.

"Thank you!" came Ren's agreement.

Neo was amazed at this group of friends and teammates. Effortlessly, they all teased and gave each other a hard time, but always in a good-natured manner as they laughed together and enjoyed the others' company. It was nothing at all like the time she spent working her way up through the ranks of Cinder's faction. There were no friends. Only competitors and predators that tried to use each other. People Neo knew she needed to outsmart; to get the most she could out of them while they tried to do the same to her. Neo looked at each of these little goofballs in turn and tried to imagine what her life would have been like if she had friends like these before now. What I could have become if I didn't have to dedicate my life to killing one evil woman…