Chapter 33: Platinum Record

Lend me your ears, dear readers! I bear news from myself, The Draigg! Now, I have bestowed another chapter upon you for your collective enjoyment! Just be forewarned, I do not own RWBY, or any other works spun by fairer bards. Thus, let us bask in this freshly weaved tale!

Wednesday passed by with nary a drop of anything interesting. Sure, Ruby asked Velvet to hand out more fliers for the music show to drum up interest, but that was all she really did for the show that week. She was too worried about Weiss. Just seeing her shut down when her family messaged her made Ruby very upset herself.

So, by the time Thursday rolled in, Ruby was frying her mind in worry. They had to pull of their plan perfectly. But, the question kept on lingering in her thoughts: "How well can we trick Weiss' family?".

Ruby mused on that question when she picked at her cereal at breakfast. It would be tricky to trick someone who made a career of being an inspector. But, she had her girlfriend's sake on the line. Team RWBY couldn't fail. They WOULDN'T fail.

When Velvet sat at the table with Team RWBY and JNPR, Ruby was pulled out of her current thoughts by seeing her smiling face.

"Guys, I have good news!", Velvet announced.

"Oooohhh! Did the Vale News Network accept my resume?", Nora guessed out of nowhere.

That got her very confused stares for a minute.

"Uhhh… no? But what I can tell you guys is that I talked to my contacts up at the Administration Office, and I can make an announcement over the speakers!", boasted Velvet.

Talking to her contacts was putting what she went through lightly. In actuality, it was more like begging and pleading to Ms. Muffet for a good twenty minutes. Eventually, she got fed up enough to accept whatever terms Velvet made. It was no wonder that Ms. Muffet wanted a new career.

This announcement stirred Ruby's interest. "Awesome!", she complimented. "What should we say, though?", Ruby pondered aloud.

Everyone except for Ren (who didn't care much) and Nora (who was fuming over the fact she still didn't hear back from VNN) thought on what their ad slot should say.

"I know! We should have a song sung over the speakers! That'll give people a taste of what to expect!", Yang suggested. Those who were paying attention thought that it was a pretty good idea.

"That's a good idea, Yang.", Blake complimented.

"Yeah. Weiss should do it, right?", Jaune posed to the others.

"I suppose I could…", Weiss mused. If she was going to sing in front of a live audience, a live promotion would be good practice.

Just as the table was going to let the topic drop so they could continue eating, a thought clicked in Ruby's head.

"Hey, Velvet? What day did you schedule the announcement?", asked Ruby She hoped that her fears would be proven wrong.

"Oh, on Saturday. Why?", replied Velvet.

Ruby and Weiss' hopes plummeted quicker than Schnee Dust Company stocks when the White Fang rose to power. Saturday was the day the Schnee family would send over their inspector to check on Weiss.

"That's the day… my family tries to ruin my life.", Weiss grumbled lowly.

Ruby tried to clarify what Weiss meant. "She means that her family's going to send over their inspector on that day.", she explained.

Oh… now it made sense to the others. That's why she asked for their help the other day. Now, this was just a case of terrible luck. But, it wasn't like luck was on their side in the first place, given all the stuff that happened over the past month or so. Who was even keeping count at this point?

The air hung thick over Team RWBY and JNPR plus Velvet's heads. What should they do?

"Is there anyone else who can sing for us?", Pyrrha tried suggesting.

"Maybe Ruby can do it?", thought Jaune.

Ruby briefly looked surprised, then nervous.

"I-I'm not sure I can…", she said, playing with her fingers nervously. She didn't have enough confidence in her own singing voice. Weiss was WAY better than her at it.

"No. I want Ruby with me.", Weiss protested. Ruby was the one thing she felt could carry her through this rough patch.

"You know… we could just RECORD her singing.", butted in Ren. Of course he was the person who needed to bring logic to these people. It was his role in life, unfortunately.

In complete unison, the work group slapped their foreheads in exasperation. Now they just felt pain stupid for not thinking of it before. Well, at least that was one bullet dodged.

"Of course! Thanks, Ren!", Ruby cheered for her friend.

"Whatever.", Ren replied, rolling his eyes. Being the straight man really bothered him. All he wanted was to eat his toast in peace this morning. Could he just go one week without something weird and/or stupid happening?

Now that this issue was resolved, Task Force Musical went back to eating their breakfast like normal. Nora chatted, Weiss did her nails, and all went well that morning.

Team RWBY decided to record their advertisement on their lunch break. All were feeling pretty refreshed, since nobody paid too much attention to Professor Port's rambling lecture today. All anybody got out of it was how he used a bag of peaches and some void dust to kill a nest of Nevermore.

Gathered in the dorm room, Blake was fiddling with a microphone next to Weiss. Since it was hooked up to her laptop, Blake could just email Velvet the audio file to use on Saturday. Well, once it was recorded, anyway.

For some reason, Weiss was having a hard time choosing what song to sing. She was really wracking her mind on choosing the right song.

"How about 'Blue'? No, that won't work. Maybe 'Ask DNA'? Oh, I don't know!", she mused out loud.

Yang and Blake were starting to get impatient. They only had an hour and a half to spare. If this kept up, they would end up late for class.

"Hate to derail your train of thought, but we only have so much time, ya know?", Yang urged on. Her hand gestured in a circular motion. She really needed to pick something. Anything, really.

"Urrgghhh, what do you think?", Weiss asked to the room in general.

"How about 'Gotta Knock A Little Harder'?", Ruby suggested. She heard that song in a movie once. It was a pretty good song. That perked up Weiss.

"Good choice, Ruby!", complimented Weiss. She had also seen that movie as well. Secretly, it was one of her favorites. Quickly going through her throat massages, she motioned for Blake to ready the recording program.

"Okay, I'm ready.", Weiss announced. She took a deep breath. She felt it would be a walk in the park.

"Okay, three, two, one.", Blake counted down. She gave a thumbs up signal as she pressed record.

Weiss began to sing:

"Happiness is just a word to me /And it might have meant a thing or two
If I'd known the difference"

"Emptiness, a lonely parody /And my life, another smokin' gun
A sign of my indifference"

"Always keepin' safe inside /Where no one ever had a chance
To penetrate a break in"

"Let me tell you some have tried /But I would slam the door so tight
That they could never get in"

"Kept my cool under lock and key /And I never shed a tear
Another sign of my condition"

"Fear of love or bitter vanity /That kept me on the run
The main events at my confession"

"I kept a chain upon my door /That would shake the shame of Cain
Into a blind submission"

"The burning ghost without a name
Was calling all the same /But I wouldn't listen"

"The longer I'd stall /The further I'd crawl
The further I'd crawl /The harder I'd fall
I was crawlin' into the fire"

"The more that I saw /The further I'd fall
The further I'd fall /The lower I'd crawl
I kept fallin' into the fire /Into the fire
Into the fire"

"Suddenly it occurred to me /The reason for the run and hide
Had totaled my existence"

"Everything left on the other side /Could never be much worse that this
But could I go the distance?"

"I faced the door and all my shame /Tearin' off each piece of chain
Until they all were broken"

"But no matter how I tried /The other side was locked so tight
That door, it wouldn't open"

"Gave it all that I got /And started to knock
Shouted for someone /To open the lock
I just gotta get through the door"

"And the more that I knocked /The hotter I got
The hotter I got /The harder I'd knock
I just gotta break through the door "

"Gotta knock a little harder /Gotta knock a little harder
Gotta knock a little harder /Break through the door"

Weiss gave the signal to stop recording. Stopping the recording, Blake looked over the data on screen. She plugged in Ruby's headphones and listened to the recording. It sounded good, and best of all, useable. Blake gave the thumbs up sign.

"Yay!", Ruby cheered. She offered her fist to Weiss to tap. Not even hesitating, Weiss returned it without even looking. Their bond allowed them to know when to have a sis fist without even missing a beat.

Blake typed up an email to send to Velvet. Sending over the audio file, Blake felt confident in their plan. Velvet would definitely be able to use this for the ad. Now, they had some time to burn.

Team RWBY settled into their designated relaxation roles. Yang browsed the internet for motorcycle parts, Ruby tried teaching Weiss how to play BattleMace 300K from her third edition rulebook, and Blake logged back onto her fan fiction account. Someone named 'Magus Rabbit' left a good, if somewhat critical review on one of her stories. Clearly, she knew something about good writing. Blake felt a kindred spirit between her and this fellow reader.

So, Blake—no, 'ShadowCat333' wrote a message to this 'Magus Rabbit'. She wanted to get to know this person better. Maybe together, they could come up with the. Best. Story. EVER!

Eventually, the hour and a half lunch break ticked by uneventfully. It went by pretty well, all things considered. In fact, they were a little bummed that they had to go to another class. Improvised Weaponry 901 could get pretty boring, surprisingly.

Let's skip forward to the late evening. To be fair, nobody, not even the students, found the afternoon/evening classes interesting OR engaging. It seemed like Beacon just shoved the boring classes towards the end of the day. Well, it was certainly one way to get students ready for bed, if a little too early.

Yang and Blake were in their respective beds. Ruby was snuggled up next to Weiss on her bunk. Neither of them knew why they decided to keep Ruby's bunk. Considering that they just shared a bed nowadays, they didn't need it. Plus, if the inspector was going to check their room, they would need to make it look better. Having a bed hanging from the ceiling wouldn't help their image in the slightest.

Both laid together in silence. They were content in watching the moonlight dance across the far wall. Night always gave people the opportunity to reflect on something, whether it was their day, their life, or whatever else.

Weiss was worried about this weekend. To be fair, the thought was always in the back of her mind. But, at night, she had nothing to distract her raving mind at night. Well, there was something she COULD do with Ruby, but she thought Yang shouldn't watch.

Anyway, the idea of having her family creep back into her life at Beacon scared her. What if they found out that Ruby was her girlfriend? As a lady of the Schnee family, she was expected to bear an heir. They might try to break the two apart. That was a terrifying thought. But, Ruby insisted that she could keep her family back home sated with the help of her new Beacon family. Weiss prayed that her girlfriend was right.

Ruby, on the other hand, felt conflicted on what to expect this weekend. She felt excited that the music show would get some much needed publicity. But, on the other hand, she needed to be strong for Weiss this Saturday. What if the inspector couldn't be tricked? What if their plan failed? What if Weiss was forced to leave?

If.

Life was full of 'if's'.

Ruby couldn't worry too much about this. Fear would bring nothing good. Fear was a mind killer. Fear was the death of everything she worked so hard for. No, Ruby wouldn't be afraid. She couldn't afford to be. Her girlfriend, her Weiss was on the line. So, Ruby resolved to make right by Weiss. She wanted to, she needed to.

As the duo looked into the eyes of their better half, no words needed to be exchanged. They both knew that this Saturday was their worst trial to date. As Weiss brushed away some loose strands of Ruby's hair from her face, she reminded herself of what she was working for.

"I'm… sorry.", Weiss whispered to Ruby.

"For what?", Ruby asked, baffled by the sudden apology.

Weiss sighed. "For dragging you into this.", she clarified.

Cupping Weiss' face Ruby gave her a quick peck on the forehead.

"You silly goose. You don't need to apologize for anything.", Ruby whispered back. She flashed a cocky grin at Weiss. Ruby put on her best reassuring face.

"I know… I just…", Weiss tried to say. But, she couldn't find the right words. Weiss was having a hard time expressing that she loved how Ruby was brave, even in the face of almost certain defeat.

Finally, she settled on the first words that came to mind. "You're amazing.", Weiss said to Ruby.

"And so are you.", Ruby complimented back.

Giving Weiss' sides a light squeeze, Ruby then flipped onto her back. Staring at the underside of her bunk, Ruby couldn't help but think how lucky she was to have Weiss love her. That Schnee girl was amazing in so many ways, she couldn't keep count.

Weiss was passionate, smart, wise, caring, and, most importantly, willing to stay by Ruby's side, no matter what. Ruby was sure that her girlfriend felt the same way about her. That's why they worked so well together. That intrinsic understanding made ofr an unstoppable duo.

As the lovers closed their eyes to sleep, they shared a single thought:

They would survive Saturday, no matter what.

Hark, this chapter is now over! All of the songs mentioned above were made by the fair bards Yoko Kanno and The Seatbelts. The soundtrack to Cowboy Bebop is certainly some of the finest music to grace the lands of Earth. Be sure to post any notices on this tale in the reviews section. This is The Draigg, signing off on this heraldry.