Chapter 6: Is This Really A Thing?

Yo, it's The Draigg again. Ready for another chapter? Of course you are! Before we start, I would like to say thanks for the reviews. Keep them coming, you guys. I would also like to say that I don't own RWBY, which belongs to Monty Oum, nor do I own any other media that may be mentioned (They belong to their respective creators). Now let's start reading!

Tuesday was the big day. Well, one of them, at least. Team RWBY was finally going to get started on their musical. Walking through the entrance to the theater, Team JNPR was also ready to get started. Why wouldn't they be willing to help their friends? Noticing Velvet waving them towards the front row of seats, JNPR joined the others.

Velvet was waiting expectantly with Blake, holding a stack of scripts. Yang was sitting in the front row brushing her hair. Ruby was trying to eat as many oatmeal cookies from the craft services table before starting, while Weiss scolded her for skipping dinner for desert while shoving food on her own plate. She was so preoccupied scolding Ruby that she didn't notice that her plate had been overflowing with food for several minutes by now. When she finished her lecture with, "You'll gain way too much weight.", she had a hard time picking up the plate covered in about five pounds of pinwheel sandwiches and chips. Velvet got everyone's attention by whistling. The others sat in the front row.

"Okay everybody, welcome!", greeted Velvet. With the help of Blake, she handed out the scripts for the stage show. She explained, "What you just got handed is the script for the show. Be sure to read it, and know it inside out. And if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask either me or Blake. Well, ask her script related questions. Ask me production related ones.".

Jaune immediately raised his hand. He asked, "Since I'm going to help with choreography, who will be doing the music?". Velvet replied, "I'll be playing the piano, so don't worry. Now, if you would be so kind, would you start to read the script?".

Weiss started to read through the script. Apparently, it was about a lady named Grey Ashe, who had moved to Vale to take over her distant father's flower shop, since he had come down with a terminal illness. Every day across the street, a young musician named Garnet Vine would play the guitar for whoever would bother to listen. Grey grew fascinated with Garnet, and fell in love from afar. However, she was too worried about the business to start a relationship. Eventually, with her dying father's blessing, they became a couple and lived happily ever after.

Weiss thought it was a decent story, if a little cliché. However, she felt that Blake was being a little uncreative, since it was blatant that the character names were just derived from the actresses playing the roles. At least it was far, far better than her fan fiction, 'Ninja Love: Hormone Gaijin' or whatever the hell it was called. From what she had read, it was nothing but lewd garbage, with a plot barely tied around graphic sex scenes. She desperately wanted to get that chapter with the katana and small bells out of her mind. Unfortunately, it led to some uncomfortable dreams about Ruby. Damn that cat!

By the time everyone skimmed over the script, about an hour had passed. They only had a few hours to use the theater before the janitor would kick them out, so they needed to start practicing. So, they started with the first scene.

"Okay Weiss, I marked the area you need to walk to with tape. What I want you to do is to come in from the left and stop when you get to the tape. Alright?".

Weiss did exactly that. "Good, good. Just like that.", said Jaune.

"Now, remember that you should look excited, and maybe a little anxious to be here. Just feel your character as you read the lines.", added Velvet.

That wasn't hard for Weiss to do. After all, she was feeling like that already. She couldn't believe that she actually going through with this play. Hiding her anxiety, she read off the script.

"Oh, what a place Vale is! This is different than Arcouze! But, I can't help but feel that all this hustle and bustle is familiar. I guess that's why Dad moved here. It's been so long since I've seen him! I hope he isn't too bad. I can't help but feel that his letter implied otherwise, though.". Weiss stopped. "How was that?", she asked.

Velvet clasped her hands as her glasses (They were fake. She thought they felt appropriate to wear.) reflected off of the stage lights. It made her look professional, if not a little scary. He cold, analytical gaze focused on Weiss. "What. Was. That?", she said with emphasis. "I didn't know I got a wooden dummy to be an actor in this stage show!".

Before Weiss could protest, she was cut off by Velvet. "I wasn't finished. You're too stiff. You need to FEEL the character. You need to BE Grey Ashe! I want to see a girl who's overwhelmed by Vale, not a poorly acting princess! I, no, WE won't stop until you get this right! NOW TRY AGAIN!".

Nobody really expected Velvet to act like this. It was almost as if she became a different person when it came to this play. Maybe it was because it was her last chance to salvage her career as Theater Club president. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at her. She noticed, and shot a cold glare.

"What are you doing? Get back to work!", barked Velvet. Shocked, they did as she ordered. "Now, begin again.", she said to Weiss.

Weiss' performance improved a little before Velvet decided to move onto a different scene. It wasn't too bad. It was workable, overall. At least she didn't sound as stiff as before. Oh well, it could be worse. Much, much worse. She could be acting as badly as Ruby was.

"Life is A loT like MusiC. NotEs coming TogeTher to make someTHING BEAUtiful. I tHINk We'd make A goOd soNg.", Ruby beamed as she finished her lines. She looked so proud of herself, somehow not noticing that most people were afraid that their ears might start bleeding.

Velvet by now was face palming so hard that she could feel her skull start to fracture. First of all, why did she insist on wearing that hat? She could've just used the flat cap they had, but NOOO, she really did feel that that purple trilby could be pulled off. There was no beating around the bush about it: The hat was pretty damn UGLY. Why did it have sequins and a feather? It hurt everyone's eyes to look at. Secondly, Ruby's acting was so stilted, that circus performers would pay a high price to use her sentences. If the government didn't try to make into a weapon, first. Velvet could use a drink or ten, even though she never touched the stuff. Maybe she could get Professor Port to share some of his imported Atlas whiskey. She knew he had a bottle of it in his desk. She could probably pay him off for it.

Once she uncovered her face, Velvet said, "I… Okay, I… You know what? How about we just focus on Weiss today? Just… go eat some cookies or something. Just please… PLEASE get off the stage before I have an aneurism.". Ruby nodded in confirmation and skipped over the food table, ready to demolish her third package of Little Red's Cheesecake Nibblers.

Was Ruby just messing with her? Was it all a joke? A horrible, horrible joke? Was her acting even a real thing?! Velvet couldn't even tell if this was reality by now. Wait, was SHE even real?! Was anything real?! AAHHHHRRGGHHHH! Velvet's head felt like it was going to explode.

Needless to say, it takes a very special type of bad acting to make the play director suffer an existential crisis. A nasty existential crisis, at that. After staring into a mirror in the ladies' bathroom and silently crying for a good twenty minutes, she walked back into the theater. Everyone was wrapped up in their work. Hoping to salvage this practice session and validate her own existence, she called out to Weiss to get on stage.

"How well can you sing?", she asked.

"Well, I suppose. I'm familiar enough with it.", was Weiss' reply.

"Okay, just pick any song you want. Let's just see how it goes.". Velvet was at the absolute end of her rope.

Weiss cleared her throat. She had never intentionally sung around her friends. Even if they accidentally heard her, i.e. Ruby, they never brought it up much, if at all. It just seemed like a natural part of her. Still, she was afraid of what the others would think. Stirring up her courage, she opened her mouth to sing:

"You listen to my voice/ Listen to my heart/ Now I see it clearly

You listen to your voice/ Listen to your heart/ Do you even smile?"

Nora and Ren stopped painting sets. Jaune and Pyrrha dropped the costumes they were working on. Everyone stopped to listen to Weiss.

"There is nothing you can't do/ Only you can do to make yourself happy

You listen to your voice/ Listen to your heart/ Make yourself live"

"We are free/ Like water flows/ We are one/ As we feel the love"

"How long will it take/ To find our way out?

But she never lost her way/ And made herself to home"

"So we hold each other's hand/ As we walk along the way

No more fears and tears to fall/ We find our way to home..."

Nora and Ren started to hold hands. Ruby, Blake, and Yang were entranced by the song. Pyrrha and Jaune were hugging each other and swaying to the music. Velvet sat in her chair, absolutely stunned. Tears started to flow down Ruby's face. "So… beautiful… Weiss…", she thought.

"We are free/ Like water flows

We are one/ As we feel the love"

"How long will it take/ To find our way out?

But she never lost her way/ And made herself to home"

"So we hold each other's hand/ As we walk along the way

No more fears and tears to fall/ We find our way to home..."

"How long will it take/ To find our way out?

But she never lost her way/ And made herself to home"

"So we hold each other's hand/ As we walk along the way

No more fears and tears to fall/ We find our way to home..."

"You listen to my voice/ Listen to my heart

Now I see it clearly"

"You listen to your voice/ Listen to your heart/ Do you even smile?"

Weiss closed her eyes, finished with her song. It came from the heart, an area filled with love and sorrow, pain and hope. Whenever she sang, she always put her emotions behind it. It felt releasing, to finally be free of her fears and terrors for just a scant few minutes. If she sang for any reason, it would be only for that one.

Nearly everybody was crying. Ren cried the least, only a single tear dropping down his cheek. Nora and Yang were openly bawling at the beauty of Weiss' voice. Jaune and Pyrrha couldn't stop looking into each other's eyes. Ruby, Blake, and Velvet were furiously wiping away the oncoming stream of tears.

'O-okay *sniff*, I think we're g-good for today. *sniff*", Velvet finally spoke. Everyone silently nodded.

It was late when they stopped. Exiting the theater, Ruby spoke to Weiss: "Wow! I never knew you could do THAT with your voice!".

"Yeah!" "No kidding", Yang and Blake said in agreement.

"It's… nothing really. Just something I picked up early in life.", said Weiss.

"How did you do that?", asked Ruby.

"I just sang from my heart."

"Wow. You're so beautiful when you sing, Weiss.".

Weiss briefly paused. Beautiful? Ruby thought she was beautiful? That's… nice. It felt so, so nice. It sent a small feeling of warmth to her chest. It felt really good. Weiss could get used to that feeling. The feeling stayed with her even as she readied to go to sleep. Weiss fell asleep with a faint smile. She would have good dreams that night.

There's your first song! It's 'A Path" by Nami Miyahara (she owns it). It's from Casshern Sins. It's a pretty good show, so give it a shot! And keep on sending in those reviews! Thanks for reading so far! Get ready for more, same time and place! This is The Draigg, signing off for this chapter.