RWBY: Light Extinguished
Chapter 11
oxoxoxo
How do those studying to be the greatest warriors on Remnant prepare for a dance? The same way that any others would: dressing up. The men of Teams JNPR and EMAD had spent the afternoon preparing for the dance, getting their suits on and cleaning up as to look at least somewhat presentable.
"Alright lads," Said Thatch, showing off his new suit. "What do you think?" The renegade was dressed in a standard suit and tie, but with a longer coat and with his standard tricorne hat on his head. The tie and highlights were red, and the suit pants and coat were black.
"It's just missing one thing, mon ami." Francois said, stepping up to his partner. In one swift motion, he took off his tricorne and replaced it with a fedora before Thatch could complain. "There, now it's perfect."
"He's got a point." Said Ren, dressed in a standard black suit with a purple vest and bowtie beneath it. "That tricorne might be good for combat, but for something like this, maybe go with something else."
"Well, at least it's not quite as ridiculous as Noble Boy's." Thatch commented. The nobleman in question was dressed in a long, navy blue coat with matching pants, a gold trim along the coat. Beneath the coat he wore a white, frilled shirt with a light blue neckerchief and his trademark wide brimmed hat on his head.
"Is it too much?" Francois asked.
"It is a bat... Excessive." Ren supplied.
"Mate, I don't mean any disrespect, but he passed excessive when he put on the coat and the hat." Thatch pointed out.
Francois frowned and muttered something to himself while Thatch laughed and Ren chuckled.
Thatch paused in his laughter to turn to the bathroom door. "Jaune, are you done in there?"
"Just a second." Jaune said through the door. The other boys rolled their eyes. The knight had tested several different combinations of shirt and tie to go with his suit, and hadn't been satisfied with any of them. "Alright, what do you guys think of this one?" Jaune said, emerging from the bathroom in a black shirt and silver tie.
The reaction was a chorus of thumbs ups from the other guys.
"Oh, no it's not right!" Jaune groaned, running back into the bathroom and slamming the door, the other boys applying hand to face as soon as he did. A few seconds later he emerged wearing a white shirt and red bowtie. "What about this one?"
Thatch gave Jaune an annoyed look. "Jaune, if you change one more time, I will shoot you."
Jaune gulped heavily. "Right then, well we'd better get a move on." He said, very quickly, nearly running for the door. The others followed him at a much more measured pace. Opening the door, they found Sun and Neptune waiting outside.
"Are you guys ready yet?" Asked Sun, dressed in what could only be described as the surfer's suit, a partially opened black dress shirt with a high collar and a white tie around his neck. To his credit, he wasn't wearing shorts... though he was still wearing cargo pants with the legs rolled up to just below his knees. Neptune was dressed much more traditionally, with a classic suit and tie with an orange bowtie and his goggles on his head.
"You know it mate." Thatch said, clapping the monkey on the shoulder.
"Alright." Sun said, returning the gesture. "Nice hat by the way."
"I told you so." Francois said, walking past the two of them.
Meanwhile, in Team RWBY's room, the ladies of teams RWBY, JNPR and EMAD had been preparing since the morning. Yang and Weiss had left earlier to do final preparations for the dance itself (with Weiss being done with her makeup in record time). Maria had also finished and left early, saying she had urgent business to attend to. At this point, the remaining girls only needed to finish final preparations.
Ruby stumbled out of the bathroom in a knee length red dress with black trim, a pair of black high heels completing the look. She groaned as she tried to keep from falling over. "Ugh... I hate these things..." She muttered.
"But you look great in them." Pyrrha noted.
"Easy for you to say!" Ruby retorted. "Not only are you WAY better dressed than me, but you're apparently way better balanced too!"
The young reaper was right, Pyrrha was dressed to impress in a stunning, floor length red dress with a slit up the right leg. The dress was tied off around Pyrrha's neck, and hugged her body, but also showed off her toned but lean form, making her look not only beautiful, but also intimidating. Ruby knew Yang had said that she would be turning heads, but she knew for a fact that Pyrrha would be noticed the second anyone spotted her.
"Oh come on guys!" Nora said, bouncing on the balls of her feet in her knee length white and pink dress. "This is going to be awesome!"
Ruby only gaped at her. "How is she bouncing in those?!" She demanded.
Alison only laughed at Ruby's response. A small chuckle, barely heard above the other girls' talking. The artist was dressed in a green dress that matched her eyes as well as the streak in her hair. It stretched down until just below her knees and was strapless, hugging her slim frame well. She had received her fair share of teasing about how Thatch would fall over just from looking at her, but she ignored that since she was too excited for the dance. Predictably, Alison had never been to a gathering this big in her entire life, having been raised essentially on her own with very little contact with the outside world. It was a bizarre mixture of nervous and excited since there would be so many people there, but she was also going with a whole group of her friends, and above all, her team. This was set to be one of, if not the best night of the year.
Meanwhile, yet another group was preparing for the night, but this one was less excited and more dreadful, especially for one half. "Ben, are you done in there?" Maria called, knocking on Ben Aparte's door. The Centurion was, for once, out of her armour, having dressed to impress for the night in a purple floor length dress that hugged her body with a single line of fabric running over her left shoulder. She had elected not to do anything with her hair, deciding instead to simply not restrict it in her helmet, letting her brown locks fall down to her mid back.
"Just about done!" Ben called from inside. "It's hard getting on a suit when you're this tall."
"You'd better not be carrying a weapon when you come out." Maria warned. "This might be a school for hunters, but this is a dance, not a Grimm Hunt."
Ben was silent for a moment. There was the sound of something large hitting the ground before Ben spoke again. "I don't have any weapons..."
Maria rolled her eyes as the door opened. Ben emerged from his room dressed in military formal wear: a green suit with Matching pants and a black shirt and silver tie. His hair that was normally covered by his hat was now combed, and Maria could finally see just what it was. His hair was light brown and cropped short in military style, though it had started to grow in, so Ben had combed it. "I swear, I didn't have a gun with me." He said, scratching the back of his head.
Maria frowned and leaned over to look past him, easily spotting through his open door that his sword was lying in a fancy scabbard across his bed. "Whatever you say." She muttered.
Ben hurriedly slammed the door, almost cracking the wall with his superhuman strength. "That was nothing." He hurriedly said. "So... you look nice?" He tried.
Maria smirked and twirled to show off the dress she wore. "What, you were expecting me to wear full armour?"
"Well, I've only ever seen you in that or your school uniform." Ben replied.
"Well, now you've seen me in this." Maria said with a slight smile. "You look good too."
"Really?" Ben asked. "I mean, this is my only fancy outfit, and it's my military formalwear, and it's really-"
"You really are worried about this, aren't you?" Maria asked, cutting him off. "You look fine. Now come on, we'll be late if we stick around here too long."
"Right." Ben confirmed, holding an arm out for Maria. "Shall we?" He asked with an attempted smile.
Maria gave a slight smirk of laughter. "I said you could join my team, not date me. Now come on." She said, leading the way. Ben stared after her for a moment before following his new leader.
oxoxoxo
Thatch stood outside the ballroom and waited. The sun had set, the moon was casting a gentle glow over the entirety of Beacon, and from the music he could hear from inside, the dance had begun. The other guys were already inside, but he and Sun were still out, but for completely different reasons. Thatch was outside because there was something, someone he was waiting for. Sun was outside because...
"Stupid... dumb... neck trap..." The monkey muttered venomously as he paced, attempting to fix his tie.
Thatch chuckled, but his laughter soon died when another voice was heard. "I knew you'd look better in a tie."
The monkey and renegade looked as one to see who had spoken, and neither one could believe it. Standing before them in a dark purple, knee length dress with a matching bow on her head was Blake. Both of them blinked at the sight of her. After how she'd been acting just the night before, the intensity, the anger, the borderline obsession of trying to track down Torchwick and the White Fang, Blake looked for all the world like she had just gotten up from a relaxing nap. She was even smiling.
Thatch smiled as Blake took sun by the arm and led him inside. "Good on you, mate." He said quietly as he watched the two of them enter the ballroom. His smile grew as he heard the unmistakeable sound of soft, tentative footsteps approaching him. "And here I was worried you wouldn't show up." He quipped, turning to face Alison as she approached.
The quiet girl looked more than just nervous as she slowly walked over to him. "How did you know I was here?" She asked.
"When I worked on airships, I needed to hear orders over the sound of engines, so hearing you over the sound of muffled music is easy." Thatch replied with a smile, holding his arm out for her. "You look amazing."
Alison blushed and took his arm in hand. "Thanks." She muttered, just loud enough to hear. "You look really good too..."
"You can thank our resident pretty boy for that." Thatch said. "He gave me the hat."
Alison giggled. "It is a nice hat."
Thatch gave her a genuine smile. "Thank you." He said as he pushed open the doors to the ballroom.
Stepping through the doors, the pair found Yang on the other side, welcoming the students. The second the blonde laid eyes on them, she immediately started jumping up and down in place, clearly holding back a squeal of joy. "Oh, you two are here together!" She gushed. "Does this mean you're dating?"
Alison and Thatch went red at her words, Thatch being the first one to recover and reply. "We're not sure yet. Maybe."
"Are you sure?" Yang said with a wink. "You didn't hear the things she says about you-"
"Wellcomeonlet'sgodance!" Alison blurted out before dragging Thatch out onto the dance floor and away from Yang. The blonde watched as the artist hauled her date off and chuckled to herself. Now she just needed to find Blake. After all, she still owed the faunus girl a dance.
oxoxoxo
The last thing Maria expected was to run into her sister at the dance.
She had been about to call her team and tell them to meet up with her and Ben to show them that the soldier wasn't as bad as they thought, but before she could make the call on her scroll, there was the very audible sound of someone clearing their throat. "Maria." Her sister greeted. Lieutenant General Julia Gaia stood before them, her arms folded behind her back. She was dressed in an Atlesian military dress uniform, a pristine white suit and pants with a red vest beneath the suit. Her short hair was well combed and her red eyes were locked into her sister's
The centurion put her scroll down. "Julia."
"General Ironwood would like to speak to you and him." Julia said simply, gesturing to her and Ben.
"And why, pray tell, is that?" Maria prompted, ever so venomously.
"I don't question orders from my superiors. You shouldn't either."
"General Ironwood isn't my superior." Maria replied.
"Enough." Ben interjected. "I'd like to see what he wants. We can make this quick, I promise."
"Are you sure?" Maria asked.
"I'm sure." Ben replied with a nod. "Ironwood seemed like a good man during the war, I want to see what he wants."
Maria looked from Ben to her sister and then back. "If you're sure..." She said. Ben nodded and Julia led them off. The centurion could only wonder what her sister and the general had in mind for them, and why they had waited until now to talk about it. She knew Ben had fought in the Faunus War a few years ago, and that Ironwood had commanded the Atlesian forces in that war, but Ben had fought under the kingdom of Vale in that war, so what would Ironwood want with him? And with her?
She wouldn't have to wonder for long, as they soon met the general in person. "Ah, Ben Aparte, former protégé of Erwin Frundsberg." Ironwood opened to them. Maria could see why he would invoke the name of the general Ben served under. Frundsberg was renowned for his actions in the Faunus War, especially considered to some of his colleagues. Maria personally idolized him as a general, wanting to be that successful against the Grimm someday. "It's an honour to meet you." Said Ironwood.
Ben gave a quick salute. "Thank you sir."
"At ease, young man." Ironwood said. "I'm not your commander today, merely a visiting headmaster. I must admit, however, that I never thought you'd meet my lieutenant's sister. Maria, it's an honour to meet you. Your family says so much about you."
Maria frowned and folded her arms. "I can only imagine the title 'waste of potential' is brought up quite a bit." Julia growled at that. "What do you want, General?"
"Respect, sister." Julia stated.
"At ease, Lieutenant Gaia." Ironwood said, raising his hand. "Your sister and parents do often express their desire for you to join the Atlesian Military. It is, after all, in the family. And you, Ben, your actions in the Faunus War have definitely made you into quite the distinguished soldier."
"Just what are you saying, General?" Ben asked.
"What I'm offering the two of you are distinguished spots at the Atlesian Military Academy." Ironwood explained. "With your records in combat and leadership, the two of you could reach general rank in only a few years."
Ben looked contemplative for a moment, while Maria merely shook her head. "I'm sorry General Ironwood, but I must decline."
"And why might that be?" Ironwood asked. "Were you to come to Atlas, you could have an entire army under your command."
Three figures stepped up behind Maria as she spoke again. "I don't need your armies. I have my team." She said, smiling as she gestured to her three teammates. "They're as good, better even than any army you could put under my command."
"That's quite a statement about a team that has already let you down once." Julia interjected. "How long have you been able to walk on your own recently?"
"You might blame my injury on them, but I would gladly go through that again for one of them, and I know they'd do the same for me or for each other." Maria stated confidently.
"Any one of us would." Francois agreed.
"Aye." Thatch concurred. "Even for Noble Boy here."
Alison merely nodded her agreement.
Ironwood looked from Maria to her teammates standing proudly behind her. "I can see you've made some loyal friends, but you could take them with you were you to come to Atlas."
"I'm not interested in going to Atlas, however." Maria retorted. "I'm not going to stop Ben if he wants to, but my place is here: at Beacon Academy with my team beside me and the Grimm in my crosshairs."
"You'd be wise to reconsider, sister." Julia said, glaring at her younger sister. "Atlas needs all the generals it can get got her army."
"For what purpose?" Maria demanded. "The Atlesian Army may be a great fighting force, but what is needed right now is a force of hunters. The greatest threat to Remnant right now isn't a war between the nations, it's the monsters lurking just on the edge of our cities. The Grimm have been hounding us for as long as we've been alive on this planet, and it's only been recently that we as people have begun to realize that our real threat doesn't see us as the enemy in some great possible war, but as a meal to be eaten."
Ben gulped. How right Maria was... if only she knew why... If only he could tell her why.
Ironwood nodded. "I see your point." He said with a nod. "However, that said, there will still be a space at the Atlesian Military Academy should you choose to accept it."
"And you should." Julia added, the slightest hint of venom in her voice. "Mom and dad would definitely approve."
"And should they ask either of you, you can relay to them what I just said." Maria shot back. "Exactly like I told them and you when I left for Beacon. Now if you'll excuse me, this is a party, and my team and I would like to party with our friends." With that, the centurion turned on her heel, her teammates minus Ben following suit, leaving an impressed Ironwood and a furious Julia behind them.
"Your sister is certainly... bold." Ironwood noted.
"She's infuriating." Julia growled.
Ben stood awkwardly by, looking between the generals and his team, a team that held him with them under the Legion Protocol."Sir," he began awkwardly. "I'm honoured by your offer of placement in Atlas, but I'm not sure if I can accept it just yet. I've just begun to find my place here."
"Your placement will not be revoked yet." Julia assured. "You can still accept."
Ben frowned in thought. "I'll consider it."
oxoxoxo
Ruby rose stood by the punch bowl, a glass of the precious liquid in hand. She would have gone out to dance, but, well... that required more human contact than she was willing to endure at the moment.
Jaune quickly and quietly stepped up next to her, punch in hand. "I see you're hiding at the punch bowl too."
"Yep..." Ruby replied.
Jaune nodded. "To the socially awkward." He toasted, raising his own glass.
Ruby giggled and raised her glass in a toast. She offered the knight a sad smile afterward. "Sorry things didn't work out with Weiss."
Jaune merely shrugged. "Eh, it's fine." He conceded. "Neptune's pretty 'cool,' I guess."
Ruby looked at Jaune, surprised. "What do you mean?"
The blonde snorted. "Well, come on, not many people can pull off blue hair." He said with a chuckle before taking a sip of his punch.
Mentally bracing herself, Ruby continued. "No, I mean, Weiss came to the dance alone." She was ready to help when Jaune began choking on his drink, but luckily, her help wasn't needed. Good thing too. The last thing she needed was to draw attention to herself by doing first aid. "Yeah, she said she had too much to focus on to worry about boys."
In truth, Ruby was actually happy to see that neither Jaune nor Neptune had successfully asked the heiress to the dance. She wasn't sure why, but some part of her just didn't like the thought of it. She had no idea what could have made her think like this, but for some reason, she did.
As she wasn't paying attention, she was surprised then when Jaune handed her his glass, said "Hold my punch..." And stalked off. Not sure what to do, Ruby took a sip of his drink. It tasted exactly the same as hers.
"Good evening, Ruby." Said a new voice. Ruby looked in its direction to see it was Francois Delatrois who had spoken, the nobleman serving himself a cup of punch. "How are you tonight?"
"Oh, hi Francois." Ruby said with a smile. "I'm alright. I think we all needed this."
The nobleman poured his drink with a chuckle and stood next to her. "I can certainly think of two who needed it more than me and you."
The young huntress looked up at him. "Who?" She asked, genuinely confused and curious.
Francois chuckled and pointed out onto the dance floor where Thatch and Alison held each other as they danced into the night. "Those two." He said simply, wiping away a fake tear. "C'est parfait." He said with a smile.
Ruby giggled at the nobleman's words. "Well, at least this happened before Yang could try anything."
"I hesitate to ask what her plan would be." Francois quipped. "So, a girl so pretty as you can't be here alone. Where is your date?"
Ruby chuckled to herself slightly and scratched the back of her head in embarrassment, her face reddening slightly. "I... don't have one..."
"Quoi?"
"No one asked me." Ruby replied. "I'm too young for a lot of guys here, and Yang tends to scare off the rest." She said, laughing slightly at the last part. "Besides, I came here to have fun myself, not for some guy."
Francois shrugged and took a sip of his drink. "I have an idea." He said, smiling at Ruby. "You don't seem to be having too much fun maintenant, so perhaps you would like to dance avec moi?"
Ruby almost choked on her punch. "What? No, I can't do that! I can't dance, and I mean, what would Velvet say and-"
"Ruby, please." Francois said with a smile. "I asked you for a dance, not a kiss, I don't think Velvet will mind if we shared seulement one dance."
"But-" Ruby protested, but Francois cut her off.
"One dance, that is all. Then you can go back to the punch bowl." Francois then raised his right hand in a sort of oath. "And I promise, if I do anything you don't approve of, you can turn me over to your sister." The nobleman didn't give Ruby a chance to respond as he pulled her, the reaper stumbling over her own high heels, onto the dance floor, taking her hand in one hand and her waist in the other. Ruby desperately tried to keep up and not to step on the noble's feet as she attempted to dance. Soon enough though, a smile began to form on her face. She began to dance more confidently, and became so much less worried about stepping on his feet. Francois smirked as his semblance took effect. The smile on Ruby's face only grew in parallel to the golden shine at the edge of her eyes.
A tap on Francois' shoulder interrupted them mid dance. Both dancers turned to see the face of Velvet Scarlatina, the rabbit girl dressed to impress in a long sleeved, chocolate brown floor length dress. "Mind if I cut in?" She asked, looking from one to the other.
Ruby giggled. "He's all yours." She said, walking off. Francois caught her by the hand, however, pulling the young huntress back for just a moment.
The nobleman smiled. "Merci Beaucoup Ruby." He said, raising her hand and planting a light kiss on her knuckles. Ruby immediately went as red as her dress and scampered off. Francois chuckled and extended a hand to Velvet. The faunus girl took his hand, the nobleman putting his other hand on her waist as she placed hers on his shoulder. "How was your mission mon cherie?"
Velvet sighed slightly. "Tiring." She said, resting her head on his shoulder as they swayed back and forth to the music, the slow, soft music allowing her to dance with him while getting a much needed rest. "I'm glad to be back at Beacon, back with you."
"I'm more than happy for you to be back mon cherie Velvet." Francois replied, holding her close as he led her in swaying to the music. "I missed you terribly."
"So did I." Velvet replied. "I'm just glad my team was able to get back tonight, a day earlier than planned. Coco insisted on helping me with my outfit, but was rather disappointed when I didn't let her 'go all out.'"
Francois chuckled slightly. "I'm sure she was just devastated. Though I must say, you look stunning tonight."
Velvet blushed at his words. "Thank you."
The two stared into each other's eyes as they swayed to the music, each one wearing an expression of identical bliss. As one, the two closed their eyes and leaned in toward each other, their lips meeting as they grew closer. At that moment, like when Velvet had first left on her mission, it seemed as though they were the only ones in the room, perhaps even the only ones in the kingdom for all they cared. Neither one wanted it to end, but as the chorus to the song ended, they slowly broke apart, each one looking into the eyes of the other once again. No words were spoken, but none were needed.
Nearby, another pair danced, each one awkwardly attempting to not step on the others' toes. That said, both Thatch and Alison were enjoying tonight more than anyone in their position should have. They were finally able to share a dance, share a moment together. They were growing closer as the music grew closer to its ending. In his head, Thatch was thanking Francois and taking back every threat and possible nightmare he had planned to drop him into while he was teaching him how to dance with Weiss. Despite the heiress constantly berating him while he tried to dance, it had all been worth it in the end. He spun Alison under his arm and caught her as she turned to face him again, a smile splitting her blushing face, a smile that only grew when Thatch dipped her as the song drew to a close.
"I had no idea you could dance." She said, near breathless and completely flushed.
The renegade pulled her back up to face her and planted a kiss on her hand as he did. "Until recently, I couldn't do anything like that." He said with a chuckle. "I'll tell you the rest of that story later."
"I'll hold you to that." Alison replied, putting her hands on Thatch's shoulders. Thatch smiled and looked her in the eye, but before either one could say anything, the ballroom began to erupt in laughter, the sound slowly growing as more and more students looked to the source.
Thatch and Alison turned as one to look at where the sound was coming from, and as soon as they saw it, even Alison couldn't resist laughing, a sound that Thatch thought was the sweetest thing he'd ever heard, and one he could still hear over his own roaring laughter.
Of course, the source of the laughter turned out to be Jaune. The boy had entered the dance hall, and pushed all the way through it to his partner Pyrrha while wearing... Well, no one could quite believe it. Barely squeezed on over Jaune's shoulders and reaching down to just above his knees was a frilly, white, strapless dress. "A promise is a promise." Jaune said awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
Phyrra, to her credit, tried to hold in her laughter, but it inevitably failed as she began uncontrollably laughing. "Jaune!" She choked out in between guffaws. "You didn't have to!"
"Hey." Jaune said, standing tall and proud. "An Arc never goes back on his word. Now, do you want to stand there and laugh at me, or do you want to dance?" The proud knight said, holding out a hand for her to take.
As Pyrrha reached out to take his hand and accept his offer, Thatch recognized the song that had begun. It was a song most people would assume he hated, but it couldn't be further from the truth. It was Shine but Casey Williams.
"Now this, I know how to dance to." He said quietly. Alison turned to face him, but before she could say a word, he took her by the hand and pulled her close, beginning to sway to the music with her, slowly, as the song began in a slow, soft section, making it seem for all the world that this dance was the only thing in existence. Soon enough, however, drums kicked in, and the song began a crescendo, becoming faster and louder with each moment. Before long, the two of them were waltzing to the beat of the music, and Alison didn't care how many people were watching her as she danced, as she was having the time of her life.
She needn't have bothered though, as the entire ballroom was completely focused on Team JNPR as they all took to the dance floor and began to dance as one. The dance to Shine was known all over the world as the song was just that popular, and JNPR danced it like they had rehearsed it for months, moving in complete sync to the beat of the music. They stepped, and spun as one, the entire room watching in awe, as Jaune led his team, even while wearing a dress. Pyrrha's eyes never left her leader as they danced, Ren and Nora behind them the whole time. As the chorus drew to a close, Jaune pulled her close to him and began to give her the dance of her life. "I had no idea you were a dancer." Pyrrha admitted, a smile cracking her face and giggles slipping out every so often.
Jaue shrugged as he continued to dance. "Yeah, well, these things tend to happen when you grow up with seven sisters." He said as he spun and dipped a still smiling Pyrrha.
Meanwhile, Thatch and Alison continued their dance, Alison's face as red as Ruby's cloak, but the smile plastered on her face told anyone who saw her that she was having the night of her life. She smiled and giggled as Thatch spun her, catching her in an embrace. "How did you learn to dance to this?" She asked, still giggling.
"You attend a few nights out while traveling on cargo ships." Thatch said. "More energetic songs like this are much easier to dance to than slower stuff."
Alison smiled as he dipped her and pulled her back up, only to begin their waltz anew. As the song drew to a close, they drew closer until they were chest to chest. The two hunters knew that after tonight they were hunters again, but tonight they were just two teens at a dance. No swashbuckling swordsmen or battlefield artists, just two kids on a night out. With that thought in mind, the two of them locked eyes, neither one breaking the shared gaze. Brown met green as they locked eyes, their foreheads touching as they leaned in. Seemingly as one, they closed their eyes and leant in further until their lips met in their first ever kiss.
As Thatch and Alison shared their first kiss, Maria watched from the sidelines, arms crossed and a smile on her face. "Well, it's about time." She said to herself. That was the moment she had been waiting for since the night began. She looked over the crowd, seeing that all her teammates were currently busy. Thatch and Alison were sharing their moment, Francois and Velvet were enjoying a glass of punch and, much to her surprise, Ben had joined them, the colossal soldier toasting with Francois and Velvet as they watched Thatch and Alison separate, both blushing heavily.
As Maria continued to look through the crowd, however, one figure caught her attention, likely because the person in question looked like she was trying to avoid attention as she carefully slinked out of the dance. Maria watched as Ruby Rose slowly made her way out the door. Curious, Maria decided to follow behind her.
Ruby stepped out of the ballroom and looked back with a heavy sigh. She turned away from the door with a slight groan and walked away from the dance.
"Problems Ruby?"
The reaper turned to see it was Maria following her out of the dance, a soft smile on the Centurion's face, a rare expression on her face if there ever was one. "Oh, Maria, I was just... leaving... a bit early." She attempted. Maria hardened her expression and folded her arms at the young girl's words. "Okay, maybe there's a slight problem..." She muttered.
Maria, now used to the 'older sister' role, stepped in and put a hand on Ruby's shoulder, the young girl looking up to face her. "What's the matter?" Maria asked.
Ruby bit her lip for a second and gestured to the door. "Take a look and you'll see." She muttered.
Maria, though confused, did take a look into the ballroom, looking for anything that could relate to the young reaper. Though it was difficult at first, the centurion was able to look past the dancers and at those sitting in the back of the dance. That was where she saw it. That was when she understood. Sitting at the back of the hall was Ruby's partner Weiss was sitting and talking to the exchange student Neptune, a blissful smile on her face and a slight blush on her cheeks. "I see." Maria said as she turned back to Ruby. "You needed a bit of air then."
"Yeah." Ruby replied, looking a bit glum.
"Maybe you could use some company then." Maria suggested. "I could stay with you if you want."
Ruby gave a small smile to the centurion. "Thanks."
"Anytime." Maria said, giving the younger girl's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "So, you and Weiss...?"
"I don't know, I mean we've been getting along better ever since the first day of classes..." Ruby said, looking up at some of the buildings on campus. "I don't even know, it's just... there's someone on the roof over there."
Maria followed Ruby's gaze to the roofs of the nearby dorms. Sure enough, a lithe figure was leaping from one rooftop to the next, making their way across campus. The figure leapt over a rooftop and disappeared behind a building.
Ruby and Maria locked eyes for a second before nodding as both made to follow the figure in the direction she had fled in. "Who is that?" Ruby wondered. "What are they doing here?"
"I guess we'll find out when we interrogate them later." Maria stated as they rounded the corner into where they last saw the figure jump to.
There were several locations where she could have possibly gone, but only one of them really stuck out to them: the Campus CCT. What made this location seem more likely than the others was simple: the knocked out guard at the door. Ruby was about to move in closer, but Maria stopped her and held a finger to her lips as she gestured to another building rooftop where another figure entered the building from the roof. This time it was the library. Ruby gestured to herself and then to the CCT, before pointing to Maria and the library. Maria nodded and both girls pulled out their scrolls, their rocket powered lockers slamming into the ground a short distance away, the doors opening to reveal their weapons: Crescent Rose and Imperator.
Upon grabbing their weapons, the girls exchanged a nod and ran in their respective directions. Maria pulled open the door to the library with her free hand before advancing inside and drawing her sword. The library was oddly silent as she advanced through it, the tall bookcases casting heavy shadows since the only light was through moonlight. The centurion stepped as quietly as she could, considering she was in heels, meaning she had to move slowly or risk being caught. It made little difference, as she knew exactly where her opponent likely was. With the library being so quiet, she could hear the sounds of fingers clacking against a keyboard. They were using the computer.
As silently as possible, Maria made her way through the bookshelves, attempting to move quickly, even while in heels. It wasn't much further now, she could clearly hear the intruder's typing and see the glow of their monitor in the darkened room. The centurion crept closer, shield raised and sword at the ready. She was almost close enough to see the intruder when she stumbled, tripping over her heel. Through sheer luck, Maria managed to catch herself before she hit the ground, thanking any deity she could think of for the carpeted floor of the library that muffled her fall. She was tempted to kick off the shoe with a long string of muttered curses, but she didn't dare. She still wanted the element of surprise.
Creeping around the corner of the bookshelf, she finally caught sight of the intruder. She sat at one of the library computers, searching for something. Almost immediately she recognized the intruder. Her hooded, snake pattern robes and twin wrist mounted crossbows making her unmistakeable. It was the snake girl who fought Francois at the docks and atop the APC during their 'night out' with team RWBY.
Slowly, Maria moved closer and put her sword to the back of the snake's neck. "Don't move." She said, the girl going rigid as the point of Maria's blade pressed her hood to the back of her neck. "I'd rather not make a mess of the library."
The snake took a deep breath, through the reflection on the screen she saw her grin. "Actually," she said, her voice resonating in Maria's mind. "I think you should put that sword down. Someone could get hurt after all."
Maria was about to shoot back a response, but before she could say a word, her body seemed to move on its own, her right arm carefully sheathing her blade. Gently now, she didn't want to hurt anyone. That's when she remembered what Francois had said about this girl: she was very persuasive. "That's better." She cooed as she began typing anew.
The centurion immediately went to draw her blade again, but no matter what she tried she was unable to reach for her sword. Her hand would near the hilt, but her fingers refused to wrap themselves around it and draw the blade. It was as though she was trapped in her own body. Desperate to know what she was up to, Maria looked down at the screen of her computer, her eyes immediately going to the search bar where two terms were typed: 'The Abyss' and 'Inferri.' "Also," the snake girl continued. "Be a good girl and keep your eyes off my screen, it's rather rude to read over someone's shoulder."
Maria's eyes immediately shot off the screen. She'd done it again. The leader of Team EMAD knew she had to stop this girl. Whatever she was looking into, she had broken into the Beacon Library to gain information on it, and that meant it could not be good. That was when she had an idea. She couldn't use her sword or look at the screen, but she didn't need either for her plan. She smirked as the boss of her shield opened, revealing the spinning barrels beneath it.
The snake girl's eyes widened as she dived out of her seat, a split second later, Imperator's minigun opened fire, obliterating the computer she had been sitting at and blowing a hole in the window behind it. Maria instantly turned to where the snake had landed and brought her shield up to deflect a crossbow bolt she fired. With the girl's concentration broken, Maria found she could draw her blade again, a good thing too, since the snake girl had activated a pair of blades hidden under her crossbows and she looked ready to fight. "Normally, I'd let my colleague in the fancy hat handle you, but since he's a little preoccupied at the moment, I'll take his place."
"Actually," Said a new voice, a deep, threatening baritone that filled the entire empty room. "I think you'll both be coming with me." With those words, the room began to darken, a single figure emerging from the shadows. It was the dark suited masked form of Professor Erik Fantine, his eyes glowing a harsh blue as his semblance cast the library into shadow.
The snake girl looked from Maria to Fantine, quickly realizing that she was outnumbered. In a last ditch effort she screamed out "Let me go!" Causing both of her pursuers to screw their eyes shut and stumble back as though in pain for a moment. Realizing this would be her last shot, the girl broke into a sprint and dove out the shattered window into the darkened grounds below.
Maria and Fantine made for the window, but by the time they got there, the girl was gone, having vanished into the night. "We can call security, have them track her down." Maria put forward.
Fantine rested his chin in his hand. "We can, but I have little confidence in their being able to find her. Marlow told me about her. She was able to break into and out of the Vale City Prison once."
"What?" Maria demanded. "Who was she? What did she want?"
Fantine began to walk away from the broken window, using his scroll to sound the silent security alarm. "I don't know her personally, but I do know what she was looking for. After all, I'm alerted whenever someone tries to track it down. My dear girl, what happened tonight is only going to end badly, so I suggest you enjoy the relative peace of this night while it lasts."
Maria cast her mind back to her teammates as they enjoyed the dance. Thatch and Alison were likely still dancing together or at least spending time with one another, while Francois and Velvet were probably on the balcony under the stars, the nobleman being quite the romantic. She hoped they were having a good night, because tomorrow, things were likely to get worse.
oxoxoxo
Well, that took longer than expected, I hope you enjoy the results.
A couple of announcements before I end this chapter, first of all, I'm an idiot. Why? How? What did I do this time? Am I just taking the blame for DeadAliveManiac? No, this is something entirely on me.
On May 6 2015, Team EMAD officially began starring in a new story called "RWBY: Light, Dark, and Shadow" by author undaed15. I highly recommend you check that one out, it's a great piece of writing, and not just because my team is in it, but because the author has genuine talent in him.
Second, for those of you waiting for the next chapter of "Deadliest Warrior of Fiction," I can only apologize for the lateness, as I've been working on a few Death Battles for my esteemed colleague (and professional ingenious moron for hire) DeadAliveManiac. I ahve one more of those to work on alongside the Back for Blood chapters, but I still plan to have the next chapter out before the end of the month.
Third... Okay, you got me, I can't really think of a third...
Anyway, as always, please take a moment to leave a review, it costs nothing and the review button is right there, you might as well give it a click while you're down here. Please.