A/N

Again just a quick note saying that these will be at the end of a chapter, I don't want you to have to scroll through these to get to the chapter. The rest of the chapters will be longer from this point on so please enjoy.

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth

Chapter 4 – New Friends

Nick Eldrien

Nick laid back on his bed and thought back to the naming ceremony that had taken place only a hour ago. Lionheart had called them onto the platform and announced them to the school as 'Team Cinnamon'. Given his fondness for cinnamon itself it wasn't a name that bothered him too much but what did bother him was that Camea had been selected as the leader. While he had no real desire to be team leader himself, he certainly wasn't happy about having to take orders from some high society, Mistral snob.

He hadn't met many residents of upper mistral but the ones he had met had all been the same. Stuck up, self important and with no idea of how the world really worked outside of the kingdoms. All someone had to do was look at their failed attempt at building their own kingdom to see how little they understood. So far his leaders only saving grace was that Camea was at least a capable fighter, going from what he had seen during the claiming.

His own partner Majorella, who was currently sat on the end of his bed, was slightly more interesting, he could tell that she was somewhat of a party girl but he couldn't deny she was a good fighter. She also seemed to have figured out his semblance rather quickly.

The fourth member of their team, Nadea, was probably the worst of the lot and he had no idea why. There was just something about the girl that put him on edge. It could have been the coat she wore that made her look like piece of rhubarb, a food he wasn't particularly keen on, or maybe it was the fact that he had only seen her weapons for a brief moment as she had replaced the blade in one of her guns but he could already see a huge design flaw.

"So, I think we should probably start off by introducing ourselves" Camea began as she stood up from her bed and looked at each of them. Oh boy, this is gunna be fun, Nick though to himself. " I'm Camea Thystel, I was raised here in Mistral and learned to fight at Sanctum."

Nick sighed loudly and closed his eyes as his own partner jumped up and shook Camea's hand.

"Nice to meet ya Camea," she replied in an accent he didn't recognise. "I'm Majorella, though most people just call me Ella, and I used to live in Vacuo." Ella, he noted to himself. At least he no longer had to deal with that stupid name.

He felt a shift from where he knew Nadea was sitting as he guessed she was about to talk. Of there was anything else to listen to he probably would have tuned her out but today was not his lucky day apparently.

"Nadea Heart," she said simply. This apparently wasn't enough for Camea.

"Nice to meet you officially Nadea," she said in a genuinely pleasant tone. "Where are you from?"

"Just a small village outside of Mistral," she responded with a hesitancy to her voice. But now his interest was peaked. "I doubt you've heard of it."

"Try me," Nick challenged and even opened one of his eyes to look at her. There wasn't many villages he didn't know of.

Now she really did seem hesitant but she was clearly refusing to drop her gaze from his own. After a couple of second deliberation, she finally answered.

"Russle."

He didn't even try to restrain the scoff that forced its way out of his mouth.

"Something funny?" It was her turn to challenge him. This could be fun, he thought to himself .

"That place is a shithole," he replied, eager to see her reaction. He wasn't disappointed as he watched a flash of anger pulsed through her eyes.

"Oh really? And where are you from that's so great?" she replied with an edge to her voice that made him chuckle.

This really is going to be fun, he thought to himself. He watched her closely and answered her.

"Lardon."

Her reaction was instant. A scowl appeared on her face and her lips pulled up into a sneer.

"And you call my home a shithole," She all but laughed back. "Doesn't your entire village smell like piss."

"Common misconception, we're close to the ocean so it smells rather clean," he countered with a grin, knowing it would only infuriate her more. "You should come by sometime, you might enjoy a place where people actually bath."

She looked like she was about to reply but Camea had clearly decided the argument had gone on long enough.

"OK," she all but shouted. "Enough arguing."

Nick just grunted in response and closed his eyes once again and chuckled to himself as he heard Nadea say something about him and his village being arseholes. It was a term Nick had often heard people use to describe him but it had never bothered him. Outside the kingdoms, being nice and playing friends got people killed and he wasn't going to be one of those. He was who he was, everyone else just had to deal with it.

"Sorry am I missing something?" Ella asked, the usual happiness of her voice was slightly absent.

Nadea didn't seem to be willing to answer do with a sigh, Nick sat up and looked at his partner before answering.

"Russle and Lardon are considered bandit villages," he stated simply.

Nick watched as Camea looked between himself and Nadea, her face clearly showing her confusion.

"I don't understand," she said to herself. "Why would Haven allow bandits to attend?"

"Please," Nadea scoffed in dismissal. "If they stopped everyone who had connections to unsavoury things from attending Haven there would be barely anyone here."

"Besides," Nadea continued, "My village only attacks convoys because we need the stuff to survive. We don't attack other villages and never kill. Lardon is the same from what I understand."

Nick just grunted in response. He didn't know why Nadea was bothering to explain it to these people who wouldn't understand. They had lived their whole lives in protected cities and had likely only encountered small Grimm in controlled conditions. Resources were scarce outside the kingdoms and that lead to lowered moral, argument caused by hunger when there wasn't enough food to go around attracted Grimm and deterring those Grimm cost precious resources. It was a painful cycle to watch. Even more so to live through.

"Oh well," Ella chirped out. Even Nick opened his eye to look at her."I mean, I come from Vacuo, it's not exactly the most law abiding kingdom. Plus my dad runs a dust shop and more than likely caters to a few criminals."

This appeared to do nothing to abate Camea confusion. Instead she simply shook her head and sat down on her bed. The confusion the girl was showing was finally starting to get to him.

"Stop acting like this is all so surprising to you," he snapped. "You probably fucking grew up around people who took part in the war and unless I'm mistaken, Mistral was on the side of turning everyone into emotionless puppets."

Her reaction to this was more visceral as she flinched away. He knew right then that everything he had just said was correct. And given her reaction he was willing to bet that her family had taken part too.

"See," he sneered. "You high society snobs are no better than us."

"OK Nick," Ella stepped in. "Enough of this. We are a team for the next four years of our lives so why don't we just stop judging each other for stuff none of us have any control over or the stuff we do out of necessity."

"Whatever," grunted as he got up from his bed. "I'm going for some food."

"I'm hungry too so I'll come as well," Ella said. "Do you two want anything?"

Nick didn't bother to wait for her.