Chapter 47: Disaster Domino Set-Up
Look there! It's your friendly neighborhood author, The Draigg! As he swings from building to building, he encourages the fair citizens of Fan Fiction City to remember that he doesn't own RWBY, or any songs he puts in his stories. Now, let's start the latest, amazing volume of The Sounds Of Vale!
Cardin made his way through the fringes of the concert audience. He was lucky that nobody paid much attention to the bucket full of pudding. It seemed like his assumption was correct, in that the people were paying more attention the concert than him.
But then, he ducked into some nearby bushes. He couldn't get away with walking past the stage towards the back. He would have to wait for the song that the Ice Queen was singing to finish. That way, people wouldn't be focusing on the stage as much as when she was singing.
However, it was still a matter of luck that he would be able to make it up there unnoticed. But, he was Cardin Winchester, damn it! He had luck on his side! Well, except for those other times, but those didn't matter right now.
And so, Cardin bided his time. Yes, timing was the key. His magnum opus depended on it. He would begin his climb after the next song.
Weiss was panting a little after finishing the last song. But, she had to remain firm. Her fans were depending on her! Wait, fans? That was a new idea to Weiss. It was interesting to think that she could get fans of her singing. Weiss could get used that idea.
Twirling her microphone in her hand, Weiss moved closer to the edge of the stage. She reached out her hand to touch some of the audience's hands. After giving a few students high-fives, she skipped back to the middle of the stage.
"Man, you guys are just exploding with love here! I think we can make it reach the moon!", Weiss said to the crowd. Inwardly, she blanched at what she said. Apparently, Ruby thought it was the height of wit to introduce songs with bad puns. Maybe she had got it from whatever side of the family Yang also came from.
With a properly timed snap of her fingers, the lights refocused on the stage, bathing it in light blue and rich purple light. It was meant to invoke an ethereal mood in the audience. Weiss stood under the main light, slightly dancinng to the melody of the song. She began to sing:
"Fly me to the moon/And let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like/On Jupiter and Mars"
Weiss didn't really understand those lyrics. Why were those (rather common) names mentioned like they were celestial bodies? Some pretty lame people must have named those (assumed) planets. Hopefully, she would never have to meet such uncreative people like those who came up with lame names for planets.
"In other words, hold my hand
In other words, baby, kiss me"
"Fill my heart with song/and let me sing forever more
You are all I long for/All I worship and adore"
"In other words, please be true
In other words, I love you"
During the instrumental section, Weiss danced elegantly with an imaginary person. She hoped that it didn't look too bad. But, given that the audience wasn't reacting badly, Weiss assumed it was fine.
"Fill my heart with song/Let me sing forever more
You are all I long for/All I worship and adore"
"In other words, please be true/In other words, I love you
In other words, I love you."
At the last note, Weiss clenched her fist to her chest, and offered it to the audience. Letting her fist go, the crowd cheered at her performance. After listening to the rock songs before, it was nice to hear a catchy, jazzy song.
"You see?", Weiss said, "I think we did make it to the moon!". The crowd cheered in mirth, pleased with the atmosphere they were soaking in.
"But, hey. I think we should bring it a little down.", Weiss said in a calm voice. On cue, the lights dimmed, and only a center light focused on Weiss. She began to sway gently to the melancholic piano piece. Her mouth opened, and the words of the song began to pour out.
"One life/Is not a long time
When you're waiting/For a small sign"
"Patience/Is hard to find
Shadows/Seem to fill your life"
The audience began to wave their scrolls again, but this time the lights were a little dimmer. It was a soft, sad song. But, at the same time, it was powerful as well.
"Don't be disappointed/Don't let your heart break
Don't spend another minute/In this way
It's okay"
"Dry your eyes now, baby/Broken wings won't hold you down
You'll take flight soon, baby/You'll be lifted up
And you'll be there"
"Twelve hours/Is a long night
When you're searching/With no hope in sight"
"Aimless/On the inside
And the damage/Makes you want to hide"
"I know that it seems pointless/I know that it feels fake
I know you can't stand the thought of/Being stray
One more day"
"Dry your eyes now, baby/Broken wings won't hold you down
You'll take flight soon, baby/You'll be lifted up
And you'll be there"
Weiss sighed at the end of the song. To her, it made the memories of Blake running away flood back to her. That was a new, emotional time in her life. Plus, it reminded Weiss of herself a little. She just wanted to find a home of her own someday.
So, wiping a tear from the corner of her left eye, Weiss readdressed the audience.
"That song… it certainly brought up a lot.", Weiss admitted. She didn't have to exaggerate her opinion that much.
"But… I'm glad that we got that out. It's really a special thing to share a powerful emotion with so many of you.", she continued, waving her hand over the audience. They whistled and cheered in response. Surely, they must have felt the same way.
Cardin ducked out of the bushes and over to the scaffolding. This was his chance! Slinging the bucket's handle around his shoulder, he stepped onto the bottom part of the light rigging and began to climb.
Hopefully, he could make it pretty far up there before another song would start up. But, he had to take his time. Cardin couldn't afford to spill all the pudding in the bucket. He paid good money for it, and damn it, he was going to make it worth every lien!
He stopped partway up the rigging, having to take a break. That bucket was a lot heavier than he realized. Plus, the sloshing of the pudding made it worse. Luckily for him, he was hidden behind some heavy wiring and a speaker. If another song started, he would remain unseen. The next song came all of the sudden to Cardin, since he wasn't paying attention to the stage once he started climbing. The lights moved across the stage. Well, he could afford to rest a little longer.
Ren was doing his job to the letter. It was a good thing he actually had an actual idea how to be a DJ. He listened to the radio enough to get the basic idea to make it work. So, setting the next song on play, he decided to take a quick bathroom break.
He had a few minutes to spare, and nobody would even notice his absence. Leaving the soundboard, he walked down from the staging area and towards the nearest bathroom building. It was a good thing they weren't too far away.
He walked into the unisex bathroom and closed the door. Unzipping his fly, he urinated into the toilet. Given the amount of coffee he had drunken so far tonight, Ren was a little surprised that his bladder hadn't exploded yet. Looking out of the corner of his eye, he spied the storage closet slightly ajar.
Huh, that was odd. Normally, that was closed to student access. But, it looked like the lock had been violently smashed off. Tucking his manhood back into his pants, Ren walked over to the closet to examine it. He wasn't very pleased with what he saw inside. In fact, he was completely fed up with the object in question.
Shoved in the corner of the closet was that damned tree costume of Nora's. Now that Ren thought about it, it made sense that Nora would sneak it over here. He guessed that Nora planned to change into it when she had the chance. If she did that, then the next logical step was to do something stupid while wearing it. Nora could be a little predictable at times.
Ren decided to end this issue now. Washing his hands in the nearby sink, he tried to think of a solution. He knew that the best way to completely eradicate the costume issue was with fire. Otherwise, he knew Nora would search all over for the costume of he hid it or threw it out. And, if that happened, he feared that it would negatively affect the way the show was running. So, the costume needed to be completely destroyed.
A plan began to form in his mind. He needed fire. He knew where to get fire. He knew that Weiss' Myrtenaster was being kept with her clothes, which were being stored back stage. All he needed was some fire dust from the multi-chambered rapier, and the whole problem would go up in smoke.
Before Ren stepped out of the bathroom, he grabbed the costume. Dragging it behind him, Ren walked back over to his work station. Just as he thought, nobody really noticed his absence.
Dropping the costume, he walked over to where Weiss' clothes and weapon were stored. Unlocking the chamber of Myrtenaster, Ren took out a small amount of fore dust. It was a good thing that Weiss practiced poor weapon safety, since she kept her unattended weapon still loaded. He should probably talk to her later about that, after he explained that he 'borrowed' some of her dust.
Walking back over to the tree costume, Ren sprinkled the dust on a corner of the costume and stomped on it. A small amount of flame was summoned. However, the costume had barely even caught on fire. He should have grabbed some more dust. Oh well, Ren was a patient fellow. He would just have to wait for the bright embers to catch.
Satisfied with his work, Ren grabbed a can of coffee from the ice cooler and slumped back down into his chair behind the soundboard. To be honest, Ren was feeling a little relieved. That was a good weight off his shoulders. So, settling in, Ren prepared for the long haul. Yep, everything seemed fine in the world to him now.
Since they weren't going to be in the show until the finale, Blake and Yang didn't have much to do. So they decided to go over their song, flirt, play on their scrolls, flirt, flirt, read, flirtatiously read, surf the internet, flirt, and play thumb war. Eventually, they ran out of ideas, so now they were just talking about random subjects.
"Hey.", Yang said, looking of at the distant horizon. The night sky was barely visible, given all the bright lights around the stage.
"What is it?", asked Blake, eating the eye candy that was Yang in a costume. She never stopped doing it from when she started earlier today.
"I'm hungry.", Yang complained. It wasn't exactly fair that they had to stay out of the audience's view. Velvet and Ruby agreed that they wanted the whole team's performance a surprise. If anyone saw the others in costume, it would spoil the ending.
Blake rolled her eyes. But, she didn't have much room to pass judgment, though. Blake was also feeling hungry. She really should have bought food before coming here. Right now, she would be willing to chase a laser pointer if that meant she got a tuna sandwich.
"Mmm… tuna…", Blake thought, her mouth filling with saliva. Her stomach rumbled in annoyance. Man, she really needed something in her right now. And no, not in the way she usually meant that sentence.
"Me too.", Blake agreed.
"You, uh, wouldn't happen to have anything eat, would you?", Yang asked, sounding desperate.
"Other than me? Not really.", Blake replied. She hoped that her little dirty joke would lighten the mood. It really didn't. Yang was too hungry to notice it.
Yang sighed in annoyance, rolling around her head. "I'm BOREDDDDD. And HUNNNNGRY.", Yang whined loudly. She could be pretty childish occasionally.
"Yang, calm down.", Blake said in an even tone. She began to stroke her girlfriend's knee. Sometimes, she needed to be treated like a child, too.
Blake hoped that this wouldn't continue for much longer. All they needed to do was bide their time until they were called onto stage. Then, they would actually have something to do other than sit around and look pretty.
Man, all the pair of them wanted was something interesting to happen. Hell, maybe the answer would fall out of the sky. They could only hold out for something like that.
And… there! The last domino in the chain is set up! All we need now is someone to flick one and send them falling over! I hope you like the songs I put in here, 'Fly Me To The Moon' by Bart Howard, and 'Wings' by Jeff Williams. Yes, I absolutely had to include one song from the soundtrack in here. Anyway, let your opinion be known in the reviews section for me! This is The Draigg, signing off to wait for the tipping point.