Chapter 8!

I don't own RWBY

Enjoy!

Team DHLA

Anticipation

"Locker 627, 627627627." Daien muttered as he searched for his locker. "Ah! Locker 624, 625, 626, aaaand," Daien said, pointing to each locker number as he said it. "627! Perfect!" He exclaimed as he found his locker. Most of the students kept their weapons in their lockers when they weren't sparring or on a mission, but Daien never went anywhere without his babies. Daien dropped his duffle and it hit the ground with an audible thud.

"Wh-what do you have in there that's s-so heavy?" Chichi asked as she walked up. "Oh, hey Chichi!" Daien said with a smile, "sleep well?" "Y-yes, thank you." She said looking away a little. Daien unzipped his duffle, "What I have in here is some clothes, extra sets of armor and replacement plating, sewing kit, gun cleaning kit and supplies." Daien set each item in his locker, minus the clothes, as he said it.

"Next I have some... Extra artillery." Daien pulled out three sets of weapons and laid them out, "These beauties, are Wrath and Rage." Daien said holding up a set of revolvers that were equal in size, caliber, and color scheme to Fury and Strife. Hanging the monstrous firearms in his locker, Daien picked up a pair of breech loading, single shot grenade launchers, "These are War and Death." Daien hung those where they belonged and picked up the next set of weapons, "And these are Hate and Pain." Daien said holding up a pair of five inch, ten inch when open, balisongs; these he placed in his pockets. "And finally," Daien reached into his duffle and carefully pulled out a pair of pistols, one black the other white, that were surprisingly regular size and caliber, "El Diablo Negro y El Ángel Blanco." Daien said, holding the weapons as if they were holy relics. Carefully, he set the firearms in the center of the locker.

"Why do you have so many guns?" Chichi asked looking up at the locker full of high velocity death. "I'm an artist, and these are my masterpieces." Daien said as he hung two pairs of bandoliers in his locker, one held grenades for War and Death, another held full cylinders for Wrath and Rage, and the other two held handgrenades of different color Dusts. "Weapons aren't just dangerous devices of destruction, they're beautiful tools crafted by skilled hands. Artists put time, effort, love, and care into their creations and so do weapon makers." Daien ejected the magazines from Strife and Fury and topped them off with a few fresh rounds from an ammo box from inside his duffle.

"The definition of art is the expression or application of creative skill and imagination to produce works of beauty that invoke an emotional or psychological response; weapon makers shed blood, sweat, and tears for their art, knowing that their creation may not only touch someone's soul, but save their life as well." Daien put the ammo box in the bottom of his locker and pulled three Red Dust handgrenades from the bandalier and placed them in the pouch on his belt behind him. "B-but don't weapons hurt people?" Chichi asked. "Most people would say yes, but then again most people are idiots." Daien stated plainly. Daien picked up Wrath, "This gun is fully loaded with one of the most deadly bullets in the world." Daien pulled the hammer back to fullcock, "Now it's cocked and live." Daien set the firearm on the bench next to him and stood there.

After a minute of silence, "N-nothing happened." Chichi said, trying to figure out what Daien was getting at. "Exactly. We have been standing here with a fully loaded, live weapon right there. And we're fine." Daien picked up Wrath and held the hammer, slowly letting it down. "Weapons, no matter what kind, are only objects and can't do anything but gather dust on their own." Daien put Wrath back in its place. "Weapons don't hurt people, people hurt people, weapons are just along for the ride." Daien said turning to his friend. Chichi thought about it all for a moment. "That... Makes sense." She said finally. Daien nodded his approval. Holstering Strife and Fury Daien asked Chichi, "So what do you have?" Chichi seemed surprised by the question, obviously unaccustomed to being the center of attention.

"I-I don't have a gun if that's what you're asking." She said, finding a new interest in the floor. Daien chuckled, "No, no I didn't think so. But you've got to have something, you don't need a gun to protect people. So what do ya got?" Chichi motioned for Daien to follow and the pair walked over to her locker. Chichi put in her six digit code and opened her locker. Hanging inside wear a pair of black halfgloves that were covered in reddish brown calligraphic designs with a reddish brown heart made out of a treble clef symbol and a bass clef symbol on the back of each. "Ooo, cool." Daien said. "They're n-nothing special." Chichi said. "I disagree. Aura sensitive halfgloves with Dust woven into them, and one of those new SuperDusts too." Daien said looking the weapons over. "Y-you can tell all that by just looking at it?" Chichi asked obviously impressed. "Yup. I think I'll let you get ready now, see ya." Daien said before walking off to give Chichi some privacy while she changed.

Daien was nearly knocked over by an orange haired hyper girl as he walked back to his locker. He was going to call out to the girl but she was gone. Daien shrugged and continued on his way. "Oh who knows. So, you seem awfully chipper this morning!" Yang said to her sister. "Yup! No more awkward small talk or getting to know you stuff. Today I get to let my sweetheart do the talking!" Ruby said as she caressed the Sniper Scythe of Doom. "Amen to that, sister!" Daien said walking up. "Yesterday I got into three fights, three arguments, and a lot of dirty looks from the guys and nothing but this from the girls." Daien said, point at Yang as she swooned over him. "I can't wait to cut loose with my babies!"

"Well, remember Ruby, you're not the only one going through initiation." Yang said after regaining her composure, "If you wanna grow up you're gonna have to meet new people and learn to work together." "I hardly think the girl that was swooning over me not five seconds ago has any room to talk about growing up." Daien thought. Ruby groaned, "You sound like dad! Ok, first of all: what does meeting people have to do with fighting? And secondly: I don't need people to help me grow up, I drink milk!" Ruby said crossing her arms. Daien sort of just backed away from the conversation, obviously it was some sister thing he had no business in. Daien backed right into Jaune, knocking his locker assignment sheet out of his hand. "Oh! Sorry! Let me get that!" Daien said as he bent down and picked up the paper. "Your locker is the one next to the one with the busted latch." Daien said pointing in the direction of the locker in question. "Oh, thanks!"Jaune said, taking the sheet of paper from Daien.

Daien spotted Weiss and Pyrra Nikos, a very powerful duo. "So Pyrra, have you given any thought as to whose team you wanna be on? Everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well known individual such as yourself." Weiss said to Pyrra. "Hm, I'm not quite sure. I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may." Pyrra said. Daien got the feel of a practiced professional speech pattern that was not entirely voluntary from Ms. Nikos. "Well, I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together." Weiss said. "Well that sounds grand!" Pyrra said, still with the 'must keep up appearances', 'reading off a teleprompter' talk. "We get teams?" Daien asked, taking Weiss's diabolical moment to cut in. "Yes, we will be splitting into four man teams, I believe." Pyrra said. "Oh, great." Daien said.

"You know what else is great? Me, Jaune Arc, nice to meet ya." Jaune said in an attempt to hit on Weiss. "You again?" "Nice to meet you, Jaune." Pyrra said, but Jaune just pushed her out of the way, "Yeahyeah, so, Weiss, couldn't help but overhear your fondness of me the other day." He said flexing. "Oh you've got to be kidding me." "Don't worry, no need to be embarrassed. So, been hearing rumors about teams, I was thinking you and me would make a good one. What do ya say?" Jaune asked trying to be suave. At that moment Pyrra cut in, "Actually, I think the teams are comprised of four students each, so-" "Ya don't say." Jaune said before sliding over to Pyrra. "Well, hot stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join up with the winning team." Daien just kept his mouth shut and tried not to die laughing.

Weiss got in between Jaune and Pyrra, "Jaune, is it? Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" Weiss asked. Daien stopped laughing because the funny stopped at 'do you'. "Not in the slightest, Snowangel." Jaune said, oblivious to what Weiss had just implied. "One Pyrra Nikos, graduated top of her class at Sanctum, won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years running, and is on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's marshmallow flakes box." Daien said, coming into the conversation with a semi seriousness. Jaune gasped, "Thats you?! They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!" "Oh god!" Daien groaned, displaying his distaste for the 'omg you're famous' reaction. "Yeah, it was pretty cool. Sadly the cereal isn't very good for you." Pyrra admitted. "So after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?" Weiss asked. Daien clenched his fist, "Shit like that really pisses me off!" Daien thought. "I guess not. Sorry." Jaune said sounding like someone just shot his dog.

"I disagree!" Daien half said half shouted, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room, "Why shouldn't he ask her? It's not like she's any better than he is! We're all on the same level here. No one cares about what you were, just what you are. She's just like everybody else now, and so are you, and me, and everybody." Daien said, clearly stating how he feels about the matter. Pyrrha walked over and put her hand on Jaune's shoulder, "Actually, Jaune. I think you'd make a great leader." Jaune instantaneously started gushing, "Oh, stop it!" "This guy's something." Daien thought. "Seriously, please stop it. This kind of behavior shouldn't be encouraged." Weiss said, earning a subtle glare from Daien that only he knew about... Or so he thought.

Jaune slid over to Weiss, "Sounds like Pyrrha's on board with team Jaune. Spots are-" Daien grabbed the blonde boy by his hood and yanked him back, "Too close. Pyrrha, pin 'im." Daien said. A second later Pyrrha's spear skewered Jaune's hood and carried him a short ways before pinning him to a nearby pillar. Weiss and Pyrrha walked away when Glynda Goodwitch came over the loudspeaker asking for the first years to go to the cliff, Pyrrha stopping to retrieve her spear. "It was nice meeting you!" "Likewise." Daien shook his head as Ruby helped Jaune to his feet, "He's either doomed or blessed!" Daien commented.

Daien felt a tug on his jacket. "Hmm?" Daien turned and saw Chichi standing there in her combat clothes, which consisted of a black ninja outfit covered in reddish brown calligraphic designs, much like her gloves, without anything covering the head. There was very little armor other than small black plates here and there. "I like it!" Daien said. "R-really?" "Yeah! But it feels like it's missing something." Daien said, taking a moment to think. "Ah! Got it!" Daien said snapping his fingers. Daien reached into his pouch and rummaged around for a short time before pulling out a few lengths of dark blue ribbon. Chichi took the ribbon, tying three lengths together and wrapping it as a belt and tying another around her head like a headband, "Perfect! Now you've got just enough color, and a minor boost to your Aura too." Daien said. "W-what? My A-Aura? Is it woven w-with Dust?" Chichi asked in surprise. Daien nodded, "I take care of my own. We better get going or they might start without us."

Aaaaaand that's chapter 8! Longest one yet!

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