The house was empty again as Kay left for something he said was an important appointment. He cooked breakfast for the team consisting of bacon and over-easy eggs and hung out with them until early afternoon. He was kinda enough to order pizza for the crew before he left. Oscar, Weiss, Blake, Ruby were sat around the kitchen counter with a book in the middle. Ren and Nora listened in to their conversation from the sink, making the cleaning chore a lot easier and faster as Nora dried and placed the clean dishes and cutlery back in the cabinets. Yang and Jaune were playing some first person shooter together, playing the campaign of the game.
"So what did you think of the end of the story?" Weiss asked Blake, who took a moment to remember the part. Ruby grabbed the book and skimmed the blurb of the book; she wasn't interested in the story so much rather than the heroics and the actions scenes. She still read the whole thing, much to Yang's surprise; that sort of attention was usually saved for comics and weapon mods.
"It was definitely a painful ending," Blake answered. "He really suffered so much just to learn that the person leading the Academy had allowed all of that to happen."
"The way he characterized the Academy Principal sounded familiar," Ozpin mused aloud, having been the one out of the two souls in the body to have read the. "Like it was some allusion to Lionheart in a way."
"Kay did say it was originally a fanfiction of our show," Blake explained. "Perhaps his characters went to Haven in that iteration."
"I mean, it's called A Safe Haven," Ruby added, placing the book back down. "Seems pretty obvious."
"The use of individual special abilities is definitely relative to our Semblances." Weiss said, nodding. "I don't think I've ever heard of anyone who shared a name with these characters, either."
"So this world's Roman is simply a coincidence." Ren popped in from the sink area.
"It would appear so." Ozpin agreed, nodding. A loud cheer from the living room caused heads to turn momentarily as Yang and Jaune high-fived each other and continued with their gaming session.
"Back to the book on hand," Blake said. The group's collective attention returned from the distraction. "What was your favorite part?"
"I really liked the big tournament part." Ruby answered, much to the groups' expectations. "There were tons of tense moments both on the stage and behind the scenes.
"And the way the tournament rival character, Winry, was very interesting." Ozpin pointed out, alluding to his previous point. "Almost like he was describing Winter Schnee herself." Weiss nodded. The text described Winry as a young woman with white hair and blue eyes that attended a rival Academy in a country that lauded its military. It was obviously another Remnant reference a la the fanfiction aspect.
"Do you think he should have let the romance begin with Winry instead of Kiera?" Blake asked. "I felt there was a lot of emotional tension there because of the underplot."
"Oh definitely," Weiss responded another nod. "But I think that was more because of what Winry's company were doing to rig the tournament, taking those who won and sapping their energy after each round. Plus, Kiera had already settled into the relationship."
"Especially after the targets placed on their backs with that rather manipulative marketing they had when they got there." Blake added. "And it didn't help that Winry was aware of the rigging plot!"
"I really like Railen," Ruby popped in. "The hero who rises from the darkness, but relies on what he learned in the darkness to protect those he cares about."
"Definitely a complex character," Ozpin agreed. "He is much more brutally written than his teammates and friends."
"If he were a Huntsman, would you want him on our side?" Ruby asked.
"With his sense of loyalty?" Weiss asked. "Absolutely. He'd be a valuable ally."
"Railen would be just as dangerous as an enemy." Ozpin answered. "It seemed like he could've been a strong hand in the underground had he chosen to stay with his gang instead of taking the Academy's offer."
"The loss of his friends broke him," Blake recounted. "Kay really made each loss so emotionally and visually visceral." The group nodded collectively in agreement. Kay's story was less about the heroic actions of an underdog and more of a young survivor learning to grow outwards and find a new family in the Academy. The moments where Railen had watched helplessly as he lost some of his newly found family were soul-wrenching to say the least.
"Kris and Railen's fight was awesome!" Yang shouted her opinion from the living room, still playing with Jaune. She quickly pointed to the other blonde's side of the television screen. "On your right!"
"Got it!" Another cheer from the blondes sounded.
"I wonder how Kay's doing." Ruby wondered. She began to idly swing her legs on either side of her stool.
"He was pretty adamant that he go alone today." Blake replied. "We should respect that choice." /sp
"I know," Ruby whined. "But I'm so booooored!"
"You could join Yang and Jaune." Blake suggested, though Ruby shook her head automatically.
"I suck at shooters." Ruby pouted. "They're nothing like the real thing."
"You could always read more books," Weiss answered, gesturing towards the office. "There's plenty to choose from."
"Words." Ruby grumbled, face down into the counter top. Weiss sighed.
"There are a few visual novels." Blake offered. Ruby seemed to perk up at the idea. "Those are pretty action packed."
"Sure, I guess." Ruby got up to follow the Faunus to the office to find one.
"More tea, Ozpin?" Weiss asked the remaining member of the book club. The former headmaster nodded before picking up and looking through the book once more. Kay's story was quite faithful to the lifestyle of Remnant Academy students, despite the changes to certain concepts to avoid copyright issues. There was much passion put into the work. Perhaps there was something more to that?
. . . . .
"So, how was therapy?" Roman asked nonchalantly. A cigarette petered out smoke from between his fingers. Kay made sure he was upwind from his friend/editor as they walked slowly side-by-side.
"We talked about recent developments," Kay said, dragging his feet. He cherished these little hangout moments with Roman. They were both usually busy around this time of year. "Told her about the bit of stress that's been building since then. "Making sure everyone was accounted for and comfortable has been… taxing."
"How you feelin' now?" Roman asked after taking a pull from his cigarette. He made sure to lean away to exhale the smoke. "I mean, they're still there, aren't they?"
"Yeah," Kay nodded. "But it's starting to mellow out. Most of my work's still getting done. The kids are kept distracted for now. Despite the amount of food I have to buy nowadays, I'm actually doing decent. Looking forward to trying something fun for the holidays."
"Speaking of work," Roman insinuated. "How's the writing going?"/
"You'll be getting a few more pages later tomorrow," Kay answered. "Any problems so far?"
"Everything's pretty on par as far as I can see. The printing company's very receptive to the idea and love the early samples you gave me." Roman replied. A silence settled between the duo as they walked onto the street where Kay lived. The homeowner was glad the houses on his block were rather far apart, because the more excitable nights in this past week had been rather loud. Especially the one night he decided to establish dominance in Smash Brothers quickly. He was surprised how quickly Jaune and Yang picked up the game in the short time they'd been there, though it didn't help much when he took them to task with Chrom and Pikachu. The curly redhead broke the writer out of his reverie. "Quick question."
"Shoot." Kay answered simply as the two stopped right in front of his house.
"Why are you really keeping them at your place?" Roman asked. "That's plenty of money among the eight of 'em to get several hotel rooms."
"Is it wrong to be kind to some friends?" Kay asked, avoiding eye contact. He appeared to be distracted by the distant sun setting. A cool winter breeze blew at his messy black hair. Another silence passed as Kay began to notice small snowflakes beginning to fall from the darkening sky. "Less money spent for them."
Roman took a deep breath. He didn't like taking advantage of his friend's easily distracted and vent-prone mind, but this was how he was going to get answers. He began, "They help out?"
"Yeah," Kay answered. "Cleaning, they come with grocery shopping."
"Blake likes your books?"
"Oh she loves 'em."
"Yang likes the games."
"Plays everyday."
"Nora?"
"Helps Ren with cleaning."
"They together?"
"Yup."
"Ruby?"
"Oh, she's- Wait." Kay pulled himself away from the distracting surroundings and realized what was going on. Roman grew giddy as he could just barely hear his friend mutter, "Ah, shit."
"Are those kids the same kids from the show?" Roman asked, his green eyes peered into Kay's brown, delving into his shoes.
"N-no." Kay managed. Roman's leaned in closely, forcing Kay to take a step back.
"Then why were they so shocked to see me?" Roman pressed. When Kay couldn't answer immediately, he pressed further. "Why was Ruby so scared to see me?"
"I… uh," Kay struggled more to come up with an answer. "M-maybe she-!"
"Nope!" Roman laughed out the word. "You suck at lying on the spot. You always needed a whole damn story to make a decent fib, buddy!" The writer sighed, but didn't make any attempt to refute him. Damn Roman. He always had the quicker mouth between the two. That's why they teamed up years ago; Kay was the writer while Roman knew how to talk his way in and out of any situation. A look of realization came upon the editor's face. "Ruby thought I was Roman Torchwick! That's why she was horrified!" He gave a cheer as his assumptions were proven true by Kay's silence. "I knew something was way off when I first met them. You didn't even cover Weiss's hair and Blake's ears! Dude, you've totally got the RWBY kids in there!"
"Next time," Kay sighed and glared at his friend. "Give warning before you visit."
"Is that why you were so pissed at me for that?" Roman asked, incredulous. "Dude, I wouldn't even peep!"
"You yelling at me about this in public proves that entire sentence wrong." Kay pointed out, deadpan.
"Fuck that, no one's out here!" Roman threw his arms up and around them to show that they were truly alone. More wind built around them as played with their hair. "I loved that show as much as you did, man! I'd protect the hell outta those kids!"
"I know," Kay assured. "I just don't know if that was really necessary. Plus, the whole Roman thing really seemed to freak them out. I'm just keeping them here because this is where they landed after they somehow got transported here. Like, magically."
"What happened?" Roman asked in a much more subdued tone. He glanced back to the house, where he could already see Ruby peering out the window at them. "Be careful, Ruby's watching us."
"Long story short, they beat Salem, some crazy explosion happened, now they're here."
"Wow," was Roman's simply answer. "They beat Salem years ago in the show."
"Apparently they won in the same way the show had it," Kay asked. "And besides the much more PG-friendly skewed stuff in the animation, they confirmed that it was how it all went down."
"That's nuts, man." Roman said. "Shit, that's why you've been so stressed lately. You got a ton on your plate dude. At least you got Blake and Weiss to help you keep level." Kay looked back at the house to wave at Ruby, only for her silver eyes to widen immediately and move back in the house to get Weiss. Kay didn't see the rest of the exchange as he was brought back to the conversation by Roman's sudden stammering.
"S-s-Sn…" Roman sounded like he was shivering. "Sh-Sn..."
"Yes, Roman, it's snowing. You getting cold, buddy?"
"Sh-Schnee!" Roman exclaimed. Kay rolled his eyes.
"Yes, Weiss is also there. What's-!" Roman forcibly turned Kay by his shoulder to see a very real Winter Schnee, only for her fist to make solid contact with his face a second later.
"Oh shit!" Roman cried, looking back up at the armed Huntress that appeared out of nowhere.
"Torchwick? You fake your death and are somehow involved for all this?" The Atlesian Specialist glared at the man cowering before her. Her light blue eyes glared with a fearsome coldness that rendered the editor speechless. Before the innocent civilian could even attempt to sputter his denial, her signature blade was viciously released from its sheath. "Tell me everything or you meet your real end here and now."
"Kay!" Weiss's voice distracted Winter momentarily, though she wouldn't dare remove her eyes from her target. She summoned a large white glyph behind Roman as she turned to her little sister, who slowed upon approach and looked upon the scene with unbelieving eyes. "Winter?"
"Weiss!" Winter lowered her sword ever so slightly. She recognized Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc as they emerged from the house with haste towards the scene."You're unharmed! I'm-!" Her jubilation was ignored as Weiss looked over the unconscious man and the unfortunate Torchwick-lookalike.
"Ruby, Jaune, get Kay onto the couch! Roman, you too." Weiss ordered. Before Winter could respond, Weiss turned back to her with an expression that mixed surprise and concern. The younger sister gently put a hand in front of Winter's sword, lowering it further. "Put that away and get inside before any neighbors check out the noise!" Unused to being the subject of her sister's orders and confused as to what just occurred, Winter felt obliged to follow them. Weiss looked to her elder sister with a stern countenance."We'll explain when we get inside."
Several moments ago…
"Miss Schnee, are you sure?" The lead scientist in the lab had carefully but quickly placed the specially crafted Dust explosive several paces away from the statue of Salem. The pulse of light from the shattered Relics traveled from the fallen Grimm Queen's head to the ground, moving along the surface of the Grimmlands for a few meters.
"These are exactly the conditions that existed at the moment of the incident," Winter nodded, not really listening to the scientist. The bags under her eyes were much more pronounced, a testament to how much rest was lost in the pursuit for answers. "I will be applying a mid-level gravity glyph similar to the ones Weiss is able to conjure. It should also be somewhat easy to replicate via Dust and machine experiments.
"One last time, Specialist Schnee." A deeper voice brought her attention back to the observers of the experiment. Ironwood stood at the front of the group, looking at Winter with a concerned expression. She had been working towards this "solution" of hers for the last month. While he was proud that one of his most loyal, trusted, soldiers was dedicated to their working and saving others, the way she had thrown herself into the investigation was clearly unhealthy. He made sure to look directly into Winter's eyes as he asked her, "Are you sure about this?"
"Absolutely, General." Winter answered immediately. All this time spent mining enough Grimm-Dust for all of the experiments until they found the right quantity to result in the closest imploding pressure that happened during the original explosion. The added intense inward pull from the gravity glyph exponentially strengthened the implosion to the point of what the scientists could only liken to a small-scale singularity. "There's no other way to test if this works or not."
"And you'd go alone?" Ironwood asked.
"Better to lose one in the pursuit rather than lose more with conviction." Winter replied coldly to her superior before turning to the scientists. "Let's begin."
She stepped into the observation tank that contained Salem and the Relics, stopping right in front of the Dust bomb replica. Shards of Burn and Lightning stuck out from the cohesive agent, glinting in the afternoon sun. The former SDC heiress took a deep breath as she began to form the gravity glyph. Too strong of a concentrated fractal and there only be an explosion, too little and nothing would happen. Weiss was still learning to develop her glyphs and would have only been able to quickly conjure up a mid-level strength Gravity glyph. The dark circle grew beneath her, pulling in particles in the air. She poured more concentration into the stability and strength of the glyph, causing the bomb to be pulled in slowly. She was standing right where the pulse of light from the stature began to diminish, the same as Weiss and her friends had.
"Detonate!" Her order was answered with a loud ringing noise, before she was pulled in, pushed outward, then pulled inward once more intensely. She felt her insides lurch as the gravity itself seemed to invert and revert itself several times before the world righted itself and her senses recovered... only to hear her sister's name uttered from the mouth of an impossibly familiar redheaded, green-eyed man. The Valean criminal that had been killed in the fall of Beacon Academy was alive? And somehow involved with the disappearance of Teams RWBY, JNR, and Ozpin? Her limbs moved instinctively as she lunged forward, catching Torchwick's accomplice square in the face and successful incapacitating him. She would have done the same with the Dust thief had Weiss not burst out from a nearby house to stop her and protect the suspects she stumbled upon! What the hell was going on?
Kay was still unconscious as everyone had settled in the living room. Winter was still surprised at how casual everyone was acting within the house, though a feeling of calm came over her as she realized they were under no distress. Roman was ushered onto a stool dragged from the kitchen as Winter stood in the middle of the living room.
"What is the meaning of this, Weiss?" She demanded. "Are you harboring these two criminals?"
"Criminals?" Yang repeated, incredulous. "What? No!"/
"Then explain him!" The Specialist pointed at Roman and a collective wince echoed through the room at what was an unfortunate coincidence that came back to bite them.
"His name is Roman James." Ruby said, remembering their first meeting. "He's a friend and coworker of Kay. Our friend who you knocked out."
"Also the man who owns the house." Ren added from the kitchen, preparing mugs of tea for Roman and Kay when we woke up. Winter looked to the shaken redhead with distrust and to the unconscious man with apprehension. A familiar young man entered the corner of her vision and she turned to face Oscar.
"Miss Schnee," Ozpin spoke with a serious tone. "I believe an explanation is in order."
. . . . .
Kay woke up with a massive headache and the image of a Winter Schnee sitting on her knees in front of him . Her sharp blue eyes met his own the moment he blinked to clear his vision. The early winter night had appeared to have settled in the house. It was much quieter than he expected.
"Ah," Winter exclaimed softly. "You're awake." She wasn't alone as Kay could see Oscar approach him from the kitchen.
"How are you feeling?" Ozpin asked as he made his way over to the couch and handed the homeowner a mug of tea and a small white pill. "It's everyday a civilian takes a blow from a fully trained Huntress and lives."
"I truly am sorry about that, of course." Winter's apology sounded as sincere as it could be, veiled behind her naturally militaristic tone. "Ozpin and the others explained the situation to me while you recovered."
"Thanks for that, Oz." Kay said, popping the pill in his mouth and downing it with tea. He took a deep breath before turning to Winter. "So how are you holding up?"
"Should you be the one asking that question?" The Specialist retorted.
"I'm no stranger to getting punched in the face." Kay countered. "You're in a completely different world from Remnant. Can't imagine how jarring that might be."
"It is… difficult to understand the vast differences between yours and mine, yes." Winter admitted. The lack of specificity made Kay wonder if the group had truly told Winter everything. There was a pause before Winter's eyes locked back onto Kay's. "I believe thanks are in order."
"For punching me?" Kay joked, though he cringed when he realized his jest seemed to fall short. It was apparent that the woman did not appear to be in a joking mood.
"For taking in my sister and her friends, not to mention Ozpin." She clarified. "He told me that this world is capable of cruelty and injustices as much as Remnant, even without the existence of Grimm and magic. They were lucky to have stumbled upon such a generous soul as yours."
"Thank you." Kay replied, not breaking eye contact. He felt it would be rude if he didn't keep it up. "Where are the kids?"
"We sent them off to sleep." Ozpin answered. Before Kay could ask another question, Ozpin continued. "Roman's fine, we sent him on his way as well."
"I'll have to check on him later." Kay noted that, adding it to his mental to-do list. He took another sip of tea as he turned back to Winter. "I'm assuming you though he was Torchwick."
"Yes," Winter answered flatly. "The resemblance was very close and the fact that he knew m sister's name added to my negative reaction."
"So how did you get here?" Kay asked the question on everyone's minds. She had told everyone before already, but Winter felt he also needed to know.
"We made countless experiments to replicate the conditions that led to everyone being transported here. It took until this most recent attempt for us to consider using the bomb replica, my gravity glyph, and the light from the Relics." Winter recounted. "And here I am."
"And what about a way back?" Kay asked, eyebrow raised. It stayed raised as it took the Specialist a moment before responding.
"Now that the experiment is successful, there will be more attempts to create a reverse effect." She explained. "It may take a while, but I have faith that it will happen posthaste."
"So what you're saying is that you rushed your way over to this side without a confirmed way back." Kay's point caused Winter wince in realization.
"That is… an accurate statement." She muttered. Kay sighed as he rubbed his eyes.
"At least you went bulk grocery shopping yesterday." Ozpin offered. Kay laughed lightly, much to Winter's surprise. "Kay's been a very gracious host while we've been stuck here."
"I do what I can," The writer replied dismissively before looking around and coming to a conclusive thought. "Would you be okay with sleeping on the couch?"
"Is that not your bed for the time being?" Winter asked. "I understand the teams take up the two bedrooms in the house."
"I can live with sleeping on the floor for a while." Kay said. "It helps that you said that there's a way back in progress, so it hopefully isn't for too long."
"I hope so as well," Winter agreed, letting out an exasperated sigh. "I worked for an entire month until we had were able to have the right conditions for the experiment to work."
"M-month?" Ozpin repeated. His hazel eyes went wide as a green glow signified the switch between souls. Oscar emerged with a yawn and a small smile in greeting to Winter.
"I'm guessing he went inside to think it over." Kay speculated. Oscar nodded before yawning again. "Go ahead and get to bed. Let me know if you need anything to help you knockout while he goes crazy." Another nod from the boy, though he did not resist the order to go sleep.
"Why is that so shocking?" Winter asked. "We had to run dozens of tests and did so as quickly as efficiency and effectively would allow."
"It's only been a week's time here." Kay answered. "They've landed in my living room Sunday morning."
"I see." Came Winter's curt answer. Another awkward silence fell between them. A quick glance at the clock behind them told Kay that it was already a quarter to 10. "I owe you thanks again for being a kind host, I suppose."
"It's nothing," Kay sighed. He rose to his feet and stretched his arms up and behind him in a swinging motion. He hoped he didn't look too creepy as he looked the Specialist up and down to gauge her sizes. "I'll go get you some clothes to sleep in."
"I'll be fine with this, sir." Winter stood to match Kay.
"You aren't one of my students, don't call me sir." He said, completely serious. "And I'd rather you'd be comfortable, if anything, while you're staying here. We could go buy more clothes for you tomorrow, if that's alright with you."
"As if I have anything else to do tomorrow." She shrugged.
"Gimme a second." Kay walked over to the room that JNR and Oscar occupied to find that they were still awake and idle chatting among themselves. They stopped once they realized who walked through the door.
"Hey Kay!" Nora greeted. All four of them were seated in a small circle on the bed as some sort of card game was taking place. "Whatcha need?
"Got any eights?" Jaune asked.
"Go fish." Ren responded, much to Jaune's exasperation
"Just gonna get some stuff from the closet real quick." Kay answered. He made his way into the closet, which was filled with hangers carrying brown, blue, green, and pink clothes. He pushed them aside to reach a small cabinet in the back of the closet, retrieving white v-neck tees, a pair of light blue sweatpants, white socks, and jeans for tomorrow. "Pajamas and some clothes for Winter."
"How're you feeling?" Ren asked as Jaune asked Oscar for threes to no avail.
"I'm good." Kay assured as he exited the closet. "I can take a few hits."
"If anything," Ren began. "Taking a punch from Winter Schnee is pretty impressive."
"Thank you for the weird compliment, Ren." Kay rolled his eyes, but smiled. He wished the teens a good night and rejoined Winter in the living room, handing her the bundle of clothes. "The shirts are the same, it won't matter which one you where now or tomorrow. I'll get new sheets for you and me. You can get changed in the bathroom in either bedroom."
He walked over to the small linen closet in the living room and gathered a couple pillows and three blankets; two for his spot on the floor and one for Winter on the couch. He turned and was graced with a half-naked Winter Schnee putting on the sweatpants he gave.
If he were drinking something, the spit take would have given him away.
He spun on his heel and faced the closet again to give her privacy. He looked at the laundry machines in the linen closet and wondered if it was about time for him to do laundry now. He mentally shuddered at the thought of the potential load. Maybe he could get Ren to help him out with all the clothes. Is this what having a big family was like?
"You can turn around now." Winter spoke up and Kay followed her suggestion to see that the t-shirt and sweatpants fit almost perfectly. The shirt was snug, though Kay made a point not to stare for too long. "You didn't have to do that."
"I felt it would have been creepy to just stand there and wait for you to change," Kay replied. "Though a little warning would have been nice." His concern was waved off. Must be an army thing, he thought. Like changing rooms after gym.
"I must admit you were right to assume I'd rather sleep in comfortable clothes." Winter relaxed with a stretch and sat on the couch. "If I may trouble you for a while more, I have some questions."
"Seeing as I got ahead on sleep, I could stay up for a little while." Kay justified as he walked over and placed the sheets on the arm of the couch.
"I would hope so." A curious look came upon Winter's face. "I'd very much like to get to know the man who has been watching over my sister and her friends." That confused Kay. What did she mean by that?
"You don't trust me?"
"No."
"Ah." Of course. It's not like she would just accept that he had only known the group for a week and it seemed pretty suspicious that he was just so set on helping a bunch of strangers with such a ridiculous situation so easily. He could see how one might think he head ulterior motives. Kinda.
"I'm known as an effective and thorough interrogator." Winter crossed her arms. "I will know if you lie to me."
This should be a fun night.
Oof. Don't meet your heroes, kids.
Heyo, Kariotic here with another update. And surprise, it's the longest chapter yet! With this chapter, I confidently say that we are roughly around halfway through the story. I say that with minimum confidence because it's tough to gauge when you're writing each chapter off the top of the head. Either way, I hope you enjoy! Please feel free to leave reactions and what you think might happen in the reviews. It would definitely help me build the story up more. Thanks for reading, and see you next update!