The God of Remnant Chapter 6: Dances and Drama
" " – Dialogue
' ' – Thinking
Vale - Location
"Renewal Taekwondo" – Technique
Beacon Academy
Goodwitch's Combat Class
"That's the end of the match." Announced a proud Glynda as she entered the now lit arena. Joining in her in the arena was the resident spartan Pyrrha 'Invincible Girl' Nikos and the unconscious forms of team CRDL. "You should be more than prepared to take on the Vytal Festival." Goodwitch praised as she used her semblance to move the unconscious boys.
"Thank you, Professor." Pyrrha thanked with a smile on her face. The girl couldn't stop her eyes from drifting up towards the stands, however. Her eyes finding the blues of her partners for the briefest of moments before he evaded the contact, eyes becoming downcast. Seeing his expression caused hers to slightly sadden as Goodwitch addressed the crowd.
"Alright, we should have time for one more match, does anyone else wish to fight today?" She asked, eyes scanning the crowd of students. A hand shot up immediately in response to her question, causing her to sigh. "Mr. Jin, how many times must I tell you that you can only fight once per day?" Goodwitch sternly stated, receiving a groan of displeasure from the faunus.
"I'll do it." A new voice spoke up with a hand raised. Tracing the hand back to its source, Goodwitch found the face of the silver-haired exchange student.
"Mercury, was it? Alright, who would you like to fight?" Goodwitch droned out, looking back at her scroll.
"Her." He said with a finger pointed towards the red-haired spartan that had yet to vacate the arena.
"I'm afraid that Mrs. Nikos has just finished a fight so she can't fight-"
"It's fine professor, I don't mind fighting him." Pyrrha interrupted, her serious eyes locked onto the (Pseudo) joyful eyes of Mercury.
'Something feels off about him…' Pyrrha thought to herself as the exchange student made his way down to the arena.
"Oi! Why does she get to fight twice!" Mori said, rising to his feet as he yelled down at Goodwitch.
Ignoring the fuming faunus, Glynda proceeded with the match. "Are you both ready?" She said, receiving a nod from both parties.
"Then Begin!" Goodwitch yelled, prompting the two combatants to begin their battle. Anyone looking towards the stands would've seen a still-fuming chibi-Mori struggling against the invisible binds of Goodwitch's semblance.
Back in the arena, Mercury decided to take the initiative and ran towards Pyrrha as soon as Goodwitch started the match. Being a fighter that primarily fought with kicks, Mercury started with a straight kick at the Spartan's chest. This was easily blocked by her shield but the force behind the kick rendered her unable to respond to his other foot kicking her shield. The second kick seemed to trigger his weapon as a shotgun shot rang out, sending Pyrrha skidding back as Mercury gracefully flipped backwards.
"You're really good!" Praised Mercury as he landed, letting the red-haired girl regain her posture.
"Same to you!" Pyrrha returned as their battle began again with Mercury leading the charge.
Upon getting within striking range of Pyrrha, Mercury quickly spun and began a series of kicks that began at her shins. Pyrrha responded by shifting the armored part of her leg to take the brunt of the hit. His next kick came at her midsection and clanged off of her shield. The final kick was at her head and she was unprepared for the attack from her blind spot. Leaning back to dodge it, Pyrrha recognized she wouldn't be in time and utilized her semblance with a wave of her hand. The effect was subtle but effective as Mercury's heel missed her temple in lieu of displacing the air in front of her forehead.
"Huh?" Mercury voiced with visible confusion as his kick flew wide and he stumbled a couple steps away from her. Replaying the events in his head, it didn't take long for him to discover what happened as his eyes suddenly took on a calculating quality as he gazed towards his opponent. Standing up straight and looking towards his eagerly rushing opponent, Mercury calmy turned towards the proctor and said, "I surrender."
"Huh?!" Pyrrha gasped out as she corrected her trajectory so her sword swing would miss the silver-haired student.
"Sorry but you're a lot stronger than I expected, it's no wonder they call you invincible." Mercury said with a chuckle.
"Well I hope that you've learned a valuable lesson about estimating your opponents." Chimed in Goodwitch as she walked over to the combatants. "And to all of you in the stands, I hope you're ready for more matches as we need you all in top shape for the Vytal Festival. Dismissed!" She announced while releasing the now strangely silent monkey faunus from her hold.
As everyone filtered out of the room, Teams RWBY, JNPR and JS began to exit in a loose group with Jaune far in front and Mori in the back.
Jaune was walking with his head downcast as he replayed Pyrrha's triumphs in his mind. Her swift defeat of the team that had previously tormented him weight heavily on him. Several questions plagued his mind. Would he ever be able to do that? Shouldn't he already be able to do that? Was everyone else able to do that? And the most prominent of all: Why is he so weak?
Just as that last thought infiltrated his mind, a hand placed itself on his shoulder and broke his train of thought. Turning to see who was responsible, Jaune found the person who began his dark thoughts in the first place.
"Jaune, are you alright? You've been oddly silent since we left Professor Goodwitch's class…" Pyrrha asked with a worried expression on her face.
"Huh? Me? I'm fine. I was just thinking about that test we have coming up in Port's class." Jaune responded with a forced smile. "You know, I actually think I'm gonna cram for that really quickly, so I'll see you later!" Jaune said as he hurried off, leaving Pyrrha to stare at his retreating figure with the same worried expression on her face.
"What do you think is wrong with him?" Ren asked his downtrodden teammate to which he received a shake of her head in response.
"I'm not sure, I thought since the whole issue with Team CRDL was solved that he would be happier, but it seems like he's more frustrated than ever." Pyrrha pondered.
"Maybe his pride is hurt because he didn't fix it himself?" Nora said, earning shocked looks from her other two teammates. "What? I can say smart stuff too sometimes!" The hammer wielding girl said with a pout.
"I'll go talk to him, but can you guys leave this to me? I don't wish to harm his pride anymore by making it seem like we're all pitying him." Pyrrha asked of her team.
"No problem/Go get 'im girl!" were the responses she received. Steeling her resolve, Pyrrha began to dash towards their dorm, hoping to catch her teammate before he left again.
"What do you think that was all about?" Asked Yang asked her team as Pyrrha hurried away.
"Who knows? Maybe she forgot something?" Weiss suggested, ignoring the possibility of her pursuing the blonde knight.
"Hey Guys!" A yell interrupted. A look at the source of the noise revealed it to be the ever-cheerful Sun Wukong.
"Sup, Sun?" Greeted Ruby as the blonde monkey faunus approached.
"Nothing much, I was just hoping to borrow your most cheerful teammate for just a moment." Sun said as he gestured towards Blake, who had her head buried in a book and was slowly walking away from everyone.
"She's all yours." Ruby responded with a playful gesture in Blake's direction to which the blonde responded with a mock salute before pursuing the girl in black.
"Hey Blake!" Sun called, "Got a minute?" He asked, causing her to turn her head and slow down so he could catch up.
"What's up? Did you finally buy a shirt that manages to cover you?" She asked sarcastically.
"Nope!", he responded, not even noticing the nuance. "So, I heard there's a dance this weekend and it sounds pretty lame but you and me don't sound so lame." He attempted.
"…What?" Blake rightfully questioned as his attempt at a pick-up line crashed and burned so magnificently that it's a miracle an actual explosion didn't occur.
"The dance! Do you wanna go? Together, I mean." He actually managed to get out.
"Sorry Sun, but I have much more important things to do right now than worry about a dance." Blake responded simply before walking away, leaving the crestfallen boy to process the rejection as her team looked on.
"That was cold. Even colder than me." Weiss said, expecting Yang and Ruby to agree.
"Nope, you're still the undisputed Ice Queen." Yang refuted with a nodding Ruby next to her, hammering it home.
"Impossible, I would never do something so cold!" She shot back, somehow forgetting almost every interaction she's had with the resident lover-boy of Team JNPR.
As Team RWBY began to migrate back to their dorm, following their black-themed teammate. We finally focus on Team JS, who were unaware of the drama unfolding before them albeit for different reasons.
"Hey, Mori?" Seraphina, who was playing on her scroll the entire time, called out to her focused partner, who had been that way ever since Pyrrha's second match.
Her call seemed to snap him out of it as he responded with a noncommittal "Yeah, what's up?"
"You've been focusing pretty hard since Pyrrha fought that silver dude. Everything alright? Normally you'd be screaming your ass off about her getting to fight twice." She remarked bluntly, gaining a sweatdrop from her teammate at her accurate, but sharp analysis.
"Well, the way that guy fought had been bothering me. The way he moved, the way he spoke and even his surrender just all seemed… Fake." Mori said with a scrunched face. "I'm not sure about his motives for doing so but I just feel in my gut that he was holding back." Mori concluded with a sagely nod.
"You noticed that too? I'm not sure if the others noticed but he definitely could have worn her down and possibly beaten her if he tried, so why?" She asked
"Well I guess it doesn't matter too much because I'm definitely gonna fight him next time and see what he's got!" Mori declared with a smirk and a glint in his eyes as he began walking back to the dorms with a spring in his step.
Seraphina just shook her head at her teammate's antics as she kept pace with him, engaging in lighthearted conversation on their way back. Little did they know, their suspicions were much more well-placed than they believed.
-GoR-
Ozpin's Office
Ozpin's office was as peaceful as ever. There was naught a sound in the room, barring the rhythmic ticking of the clock in which it was located. The man himself was seated at his desk, silently drinking from his signature mug as he read a seemingly important document. The tranquil atmosphere was finally broken, however, by the timely buzzing of the intercom embedded in his desk. Answering it with a press of a button, Glynda's voice began to come through.
"Headmaster? James Ironwood is here to see you." She informed, awaiting his response.
"Alright, send him up, please." Ozpin politely requested, to which he received a concise 'as you wish' in return.
The wait was not long as soon after he gave the order, the elevator to his office began to make noise, signaling its ascent. Not even a minute later, the doors parted to reveal a tall man with pale skin and dark hair cut in a short, neat style. He was dressed in a white overcoat, with a gray undercoat, black sweater, a red necktie, and a white glove on his right hand. His suit pants share the same color as his overcoat and are tucked into silver boots accented in gray.
"Ozpin, it's been too long." Ironwood acknowledged his old friend with a perceptible amount of joy in his voice and a small smile on his face.
"James, you look well." Ozpin returned while standing to shake his friend's hand, a small smile of his own present. "To what do I owe the visit? The Vytal Festival is near but still far off enough that I was not expecting you for some time yet."
"That's just what I wanted to talk about actually. The Vytal Festival draws near and Qrow's messages are increasingly concerning, so I came regarding the security at the festival." Ironwood stated, his smile dropping as he became purely professional. "I came to formally request that you allow the Atlas Military to provide security for the event."
"General, I hardly think that will be necessary. I believe the huntsman and huntresses to be more than adequate to provide security." Ozpin deflected smoothly.
"But do you not think it necessary given Qrow's messages? She seems to be moving and the last thing we need is to be unprepared for her arrival."
"I just want to avoid making people more anxious than they have to be. If people see the Atlas military on standby, they may start to think that there is a war on the horizon. I'm sure that I need not remind you the negative emotions associated with war and what that may mean for the grimm situation." Ozpin coolly reasoned.
"I see. While I do see your point, I refuse to relent. Let us save this discussion for a later time, so that our colleagues may weigh in on the issue." Ironwood conceded as he began to walk towards the elevator.
"Take care, James. Maybe you would consider attending the pre-tournament ball? The headmaster of the illustrious Atlas academy may prove to be quite the hit." Ozpin playfully suggested.
"hm, I'll consider it. Farewell Ozpin." Ironwood said as he entered the elevator and vacated the office.
Upon Ironwood's departure, Ozpin simply returned to drinking his coffee and reading through his paperwork. His hope in the forces he's built up staying strong and serving to calm him enough to proceed as if a potentially world-ending threat was not approaching.
-GoR-
Team RWBY's Dorm
-Same Time-
All of Team RWBY was in their dorm at this time. They were all engrossed in various tasks, so the room was silent, however. Weiss was sitting at one of the desks, reading a textbook on grimm biology in preparation for their upcoming test. Ruby was at a different desk modifying Yang's weapon, Ember Celica, due to the blonde requesting an increase in power. The only reason given being some light grumbling about a 'stupid monkey' and 'fancy moves'. The sounds of her modifications being some of the only consistent noise in the room. Blake was laying on her bed while reading one of her… biologically educational books, her eyes being the only indication of the material she was consuming. And last but not least, Yang was sitting on the edge of her bed, swinging her legs, and scrolling through social media.
"Hey Blake." Called out Yang, breaking the silent streak.
"hm." Came the light answer from the cat faunus.
"Wanna go to the library and do some research on the Fang?"
At the mention of the Fang, Blake was already standing and putting on her shoes. Promising to take it easy meant that she couldn't go overboard with her independent research, so being given the opportunity was a great chance.
After letting Yang get her shoes on, they departed for the library. Arriving at the library after classes seemed to be the right choice as there was scarce a soul present. Choosing two computers that were side-by-side, the two began their browsing. Using various search engines and typing in common buzzwords associated with the heists was the most effective way of gathering info, so that's how they both started.
Amidst their search, Yang decided to ask Blake a question that had been bothering her. "Hey Blake? Why did you turn down Sun earlier?"
The sudden question caught Blake off guard and caused her to mis-type a word and hit enter." Why do you ask?" Blake said after recovering her composure.
"I was just curious because he seems like pretty good guy and the reason you gave was kind of weird." Yang explained, having stopped typing.
"Weird how? I just said that I have much more important things to do, which I do." She said, taking a moment to gesture at their current actions before continuing her research.
"You know, Blake? It's alright to enjoy yourself. Even if you don't go to the dance with Sun, you should still go. It might not be your style but worst-case scenario, you could just leave." Yang reasoned.
"But the Fang aren't going to stop while I'm just messing around at a dance." Blake retorted.
"That's true but if you focus completely on this even when there's a lull to do something, you're gonna grow to regret it. It's just like Ozpin and Goodwitch always say: we're not going to be kids forever." Yang concluded,
Blake actually paused again and thought about it for a minute. Even taking the time to lean back a little and bring a hand to her chin before answering.
"Fine, I'll go to the dance and I might as well go with Sun." She relented to her partner's elation. "Honestly, you deserve a medal for being such a good wingman. Those points were solid and even using Ozpin and Goodwitch's wisdom against me? Are you sure you're not a secret genius?" Blake praised with a little shock in her voice.
"Heh. I could get used to being called a genius." Yang said while leaning back and putting her feet up on the desk. Unfortunately, she leaned too far back and ended up falling out of her chair with a loud thud.
"I wouldn't get used to it if I were you…" Blake silently cautioned with a small smirk while turning back to her computer, having finally discovered a pattern. Maybe taking it easy once in a while wouldn't be so bad after all.
-GoR-
Cinder's Team Room
The room was completely silent.
This silence was different that the comfortable one that permeated Team RWBY's room, however. This silence was heavier, more oppressive than that. This was the kind of silence one would expect to walk into when entering the chamber of an emperor. The kind of silence that existed because the only one who possessed the right to make noise was being silent. This was the situation following Mercury's report about his bout with one Pyrrha Nikos. He was currently standing before the sitting form of Cinder as she contemplated what she had heard.
"You believe her semblance to be polarity or something similar?" Cinder repeated back to her subordinate.
"Yes, the speed at which I attacked her and the speed in which she responded should have caused her to take my kick to her temple. What actually happened, though, was my foot ending up two inches over her head. I would have normally just assumed I had miscalculated had I not seen her do a peculiar gesture that coincided with my loss of control." Mercury smoothly reported while recalling the event in question. "Combining this with the strange pathing her shield takes when she throws it presents ample evidence that her semblance is magnet-related."
"Interesting… Emerald is currently gathering intel on the security detail surrounding the CCT. Go find her and tell her to begin surveilling Pyrrha. She may prove to be a most important piece in formation of our plans…" Cinder ordered with a cruel smirk growing on her face.
-GoR-
Team JNPR's Room
Jaune had retreated quickly to the team dorm. Walking in a bit of a hurry until he was out of sight of his team, the boy sprinted the rest of the way to the room. Anyone in front of him parted as the dark cloud over his head may as well have been real with the aura of sadness surrounding him.
Thinking back to Pyrrha's defeat of team CRDL was a painful notion but his brain just kept doing it. Each move that she did to counter them. Each missed strike of theirs. Each landed strike of hers. Each hit that he wouldn't have been able to dodge. Each hit that he wouldn't have been able to connect. The thoughts ate away at him.
Finally reaching back to his dorm, he closed the door behind him and leaned against it for a little. Finally realizing how tired he was didn't help the thoughts of his own weakness. Deciding to just lay down and sleep it off, Jaune stepped off the door and took a couple steps towards his bed. This was the scene Pyrrha walked into.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha called out to the boy upon opening the door.
"Pyrrha?" Jaune responded, spinning around at breakneck speed at the appearance of his partner. "I didn't expect you to come back too" Jaune said, fake smile quickly reforming.
"It's just that you looked really troubled when you left earlier so I just wanted to make sure you were alright." She said , taking a step towards him.
"I'm fine, really. It's not really something you'll understand anyways." Jaune said with his smile looking more and more forced. 'Not as the Invincible Girl anyways…'
"I can at least try if you'll just tell me what's wrong. We're teammates, aren't we?" Pyrrha said, features softening.
"Look, I know that we've been practicing and training recently but am I even worth it? I look at all of you guys and I just see you all do these amazing things, but what can I do? I'm just useless! I can't even say that I'm smart or get good grades! I just hate this feeling of being so useless!" Jaune released in an outburst that started as a mumble and ended as a shout. After saying his piece, Jaune was breathing heavily and looking down with his hair shadowing his eyes.
"Jaune…I…"
"You don't understand, right? Of course, a girl called invincible wouldn't understand." Jaune cut her off with an attack equally as attacking as it was self-deprecating.
"Jaune, you need to understand that nobody here became strong in just a week, a month, or even a year. I'm sorry that you think that way about yourself but even me, The Invincible Girl, had to practice for years before I saw results!" Pyrrha yelled back, tears beginning to form in her eyes.
The tears in her eyes shot through Jaune's own misery like a cannonball shot against wet tissue paper. "Pyrrha, I…" He attempted, taking a step towards his partner.
"I'm sorry, you were right. I really have no place trying help you with issues that my status as the Invincible Girl would prevent me from understanding." Pyrrha said as she turned around and made to leave the room.
Jaune only had enough time to reach out before she was gone, door closing lightly behind her as she left Jaune to his thoughts. Looking down in regret, Jaune only thought on thing.
'Nice going, Me…"
-GoR-
With Team JS
The two members of Team Jasmine were out in the fields surrounding Beacon academy. They were neither dressed in combat attire not their school uniforms, though. They were dressed in exercise wear while stretching. Why, you might ask. This is because Seraphina approached Mori about his physical conditioning, and he offered to show her first-hand. Naturally, she accepted.
Mori was wearing a long-sleeved neon yellow hoodie with short white exercise pants. He also had on black fingerless gloves and black tights on, covering his legs. He finished his outfit with stylized black and white running shoes and with his iconic sleeping mask resting on his head.
Seraphina was simply dressed in dark pink sports bra and black tights with a dark pink outline, leaving her midriff exposed. She had her hair tied back up into a ponytail to keep it out of the way.
"So, why the sudden interest in my training routine?" Mori asked as he stretched to touch his toes, his natural and practiced flexibility allowing him to place his palms to the ground.
"I just want to get my stamina up and maybe do some strength training. I mostly rely on my semblance in combat, but I was just thinking that I should give myself some more options." She explained while stretching as well. Thoughts of a certain dark-haired boy with amber eyes flashing in her mind for a moment.
"Makes sense, it's always good to try and give yourself more options in battle. I was honestly thinking of training with my semblance to get a better handle on it, so maybe you could help me with that later." Mori suggested with a smile.
"hm, shouldn't be a problem. Ready to start?"
"If you're all warmed up then let's begin with a 5-mile run. Then after that we can do a couple hundred push-ups and then a few hundred sit-ups then…" Mori kept going, holding up a finger for each exercise. Seraphina's face got paler and paler as he kept going on.
'This… may have been a mistake…' Seraphina thought as Mori used all of his fingers.
-One Mori Jin Workout later-
Seraphina was dead.
Or rather, she felt like she was dead after the absolutely grueling gauntlet she had just gone through. She used to be confident about her physical abilities but now she was in severe doubt of them, in comparison to her partner's anyhow.
Seraphina was currently lying flat on her back, catching her breath under a tree on Beacon's campus. A pink and green water bottle was in her hand and was held for dear life as she prepared to take another drink. Mori, for his part, was only sweating profusely as he sat on a branch on the same tree, his own water battle held with his tail.
"That wasn't that bad… Was it?" Her teammate said, quickly changing it to a question when he spotted the glare, she was leveling at him.
Whether her glare was due to her inability to keep up with him or whether it was due to the state that it left her in was unclear, but Mori knew he needed to change the subject before she decided to act on the glare's implications.
"S-so that dance that's going on this weekend, are you going to it?" He suddenly asked. 'Saved' he thought when he saw her glare abate in favor of a thoughtful expression.
"I hadn't really thought about it and I figured nobody would ask me because I've been called unapproachable, so I figured I wouldn't go." She answered after catching her breath.
"Well, wanna go?" Mori asked, "I mean, it looks like it's gonna be fun and apparently you're supposed to bring someone with you so why not go with me?" He asked with a goofy expression at his rather childish reasoning.
His question caused Seraphina to pause for a minute. Was this technically her first time being asked out? She thought. That thought died when she saw Mori's face and remembered who she's talking to. "Sure, I'll go with you." She responded to Mori's joy.
"Great! It'll be so much more fin with you around!" Mori said with a grin on his face.
'Yep, definitely not a date' Seraphina though with a little bit of a giggle in response to her teammate's enthusiasm.
-GoR-
Time-skip
The City of Vale
-The Day of the Dance-
Seraphina found herself in a salon with all of the girls from her fellow teams. Those of course being all of team RWBY, and the P and N of Team JNPR. Everyone was getting ready for the dance that was to happen that night and wanted to get their hair done in preparation.
Everyone's hair was just being touched up, but when it came to Seraphina…
"I want it cut. Can you make it about this length?" She asked the hairdresser that was assigned to her, getting a thumbs-up in response. She confirmed the length she wanted to be at the nape of her neck and sat down in the chair.
"Didn't your mother say that ladies should always have long hair?" Weiss said, witnessing the interaction.
"She did, but I decided that I want it short, so it looks like that's how it's going to be." Seraphina answered.
Just like that, when the girls were finished with their hair and set out to pick up the dresses, they had pre-ordered. Everyone seemed to be having a good time conversing with one another, everyone except one Pyrrha Nikos.
Having spoken to Jaune as little as possible after their little spat had taken its toll on their relationship and the team chemistry. Ren and Nora knew what was going on and decided to stay out of it while the other teams had begun to suspect something. While Pyrrha was sad about not talking to Jaune and wished nothing more than to make-up with him, she wouldn't feel right doing so until she got an apology. To top it all off, nobody had even asked her to the dance. Not like she would have accepted, but the feeling of nobody even showing interest was a cold one.
'This is going to be a long day…' Pyrrha thought to herself as she continued to the dress shop with the girls.
-GoR-
With the Boys
The boys were in much the same situation as the girls minus the hair and dresses, or course. The J and R of Team JNPR along with Mori, Sun and Neptune were situated in a tuxedo store just chatting while they awaited their tuxes. Mori was excitedly chatting with Sun and Neptune while Jaune had a much more subdued conversation with Ren.
"So, who'd you end up asking, Sun?" Mori asked like a kid would ask their friend about their crush.
"Ha! You're not gonna believe it but Blake actually ended up saying yes!" Sun declared proudly.
"Nice going! I was worried because you were really sad after she turned you down." Mori said, slightly dampening Sun's spirits as Neptune watched with a sweatdrop.
"So, did you end up asking anyone?" The resident lady-killer Neptune asked.
"Oh yeah, I just asked my partner and she ended up saying yes." Mori said, much to the others' shock.
"Wait. That hottie with the long pink hair is going with you?" Neptune asked incredulously to which Mori just nodded with a slightly confused expression on his face. "So, are you two like…?" He trailed off.
"Like what?" Mori looked back at the blue-haired boy with a quizzical expression.
"Yeah, nevermind actually." He said, just abandoning that train of thought completely.
"If you say so. Looks like our tuxes are ready anyways." Mori says as he gets up to go retrieve his from the pick-up counter with the others following suit.
"Now that this is out of the way, you guys wanna hand out until the dance starts?" Sun proposed to which he got one enthusiastic response(Mori), a grunt(Ren), a sullen nod(Jaune), and a 'sure'(Neptune).
-GoR-
Beacon Academy
-Later that Night-
The night of the illustrious Vytal Ball had arrived, and people were steadily beginning to fill the venue. The future huntresses in training were wearing vibrant dresses and the prospective huntsman were dressed in suits of various designs. On the upper floor overlooking the ball, Ruby and Yang were observing the increasing turnout with joy.
"People seem to be really enjoying it so far, I didn't expect it to be so lively." Ruby remarked to her sister.
"You call this lively? You should've seen the signal graduation ball, that was a blast!" Yang said with a laugh at the memory.
"…Didn't you end up punching a guy through a wall at that?" Ruby asked, recalling that night.
"Details, details." Yang waved off. "Where's everyone else? I expected them to have shown up already." Yang asked, looking around.
"Blake and Sun are probably going to be late because… well Sun, Weiss is sitting over there, " Ruby said with a finger pointed at the lonesome heiress, "Team JNPR said they were on their way but I'm not sure about Mori and Seraphina…" She trailed off
"Oh, there's JNPR now, but it doesn't look like Jaune's with them." Yang remarked as she saw the duo of Ren and Nora walk in (Read as: Nora dragged Ren in with his legs barely touching the ground). Pyrrha trailed in behind them, her red dress and golden tiara combination making her look as regal as ever.
Ruby and Yang were not the only duo watching the entrance, however, as across the way Mercury and Emerald were taking note of each and every face that entered. Upon the entrance of Pyrrha Nikos, both of their eyes followed her until she retreated out to the balcony.
"We're missing one from RWBY, one from JNPR, both from SSSN and both from JS." Emerald said to her partner-in-crime.
"Do you ever lighten up? Like even at a school dance?" Mercury teased to his zealous teammate.
"Not when I'm being counted on, no" Emerald shot back with an edge of annoyance.
"Well a wise man once said that being too tense all the time isn't good for your health… There's your J by the way." Mercury quipped as Jaune wandered into the hall, seemingly looking for someone. He soon made his way out to the balcony after asking a couple people.
On the Balcony
Pyrrha was situated on the balcony, leaning on the railing, and looking out towards the distant city of Vale. The lights from the city shone bright and even served to highlight the clouds floating through the night sky. She wanted nothing more than to be alone, left to wallow in her solitude. So, imagine her surprise when she hears her name from the last person she expected it to hear it from.
"Jaune." She acknowledges as the boy makes his way to stand next to her.
"Pyrrha, I've really been wanting to apologize for everything I said the other day. It was insensitive and I really shouldn't have taken my sadness out on you, especially not on you. You're the person that's trying to help me after all. I mean you do all these wonderful things, and you help me all the time and-" He was cut off by Pyrrha raising her hand to stop his rambling apology.
"It's alright Jaune." She said with a giggle at the boy stumbling through his apology. "I'm just glad that you apologized because it's really been quite annoying giving you the silent treatment." She joked and began to laugh when the Arc's face went red.
Amidst Pyrrha's teasing, the trendy dance music that had been playing switched to a slower ballroom dance tune. Upon noticing this, Jaune swallowed hard and popped the question. "Uh…Would you let me have this dance?" He asked, awkwardly extending his hand to the red-haired girl.
"I'd love to." Pyrrha said as she grabbed his hand and led him into a gentle, albeit clumsy dance.
Neither would notice the figure of Neptune vanish as he made his way to the ballroom, intent on correcting a mistake.
The Dorm Hall
Mori was bored.
Mori was currently sitting outside his team's dorm waiting for his teammate to be ready. He was already dressed in his suit before coming to meet the door locked and promptly being told to wait. Thus, he sat cross-legged against the wall next to the door, awaiting his teammate's call.
"You can come in now!" He heard through the door.
Standing up and stretching his legs for a bit, he positioned himself to open the door. Imagine his surprise when he found the door opened for him, with a slightly annoyed Seraphina on the other side. Her annoyance melted away once she spotted the monkey faunus on the other side, however.
"Hey, I thought you were asleep or left or something." She joked, "You definitely clean up well, though." She complimented after looking him over. He was dressed in a simple black suit with a classic white dress shirt and a dark green tie.
"thanks! You look really good too, like more so than usual." Mori complimented good naturedly and appropriately so. Seraphina was dressed in a dark pink dress that matched her now short hair. The dress went down to her ankles and was frilled past the hip, giving an ephemeral appearance to the thinner parts. As for accessories, she had on a silver bracelet with a sapphire as the centerpiece and matching earrings. She was also wearing silver necklace with a small blue pendant.
"Shall we?" Mori said with his arm outstretched, which she accepted by looping her arm through his as they set out to the dance.
Finally making their way to the ballroom, they arrived right as the ballroom music began. Seeing everyone dancing in pairs, Mori asked the obvious. "Wanna dance?"
"Do you even know how?" Seraphina said with a little amusement.
"Nope! But let's do it!" Mori said as he led her to the dance floor and into a clumsy but fun series of missteps. Throughout their dance, Mori noticed various pairs also find their way to the dance floor. He saw Ren and Nora going at a wild pace and he also saw the equally as disastrous pair of Neptune and Weiss, with the poor girl trying to teach the boy how to dance. He even noticed Mercury dancing with his green-haired teammate.
This evening was going so well that he doubted there was anything that could derail it.
With Ruby
Ruby had departed from the dance some time ago. She had seen a suspicious figure running across some rooftops and decided to pursue it. Calling down her weapon using the rocket lockers, she was now chasing the infiltrator with her weapon, Crescent Rose. She was about a minute behind , but she managed to track the figure to the CCT. Deciding the best course of action would just be to catch them off guard, Ruby entered the building.
She would almost be caught by the three arrows that came flying at her from above for her efforts, however. A timely use of her semblance saved her from her fate, as she finally came face to face with the infiltrator as she landed where Ruby previously was. The infiltrator was a dark-haired woman with pale skin and black eyes. She was dressed in a sleeveless jumpsuit that had a low v cut into it, exposing her bust. She had a utility belt that seemed to have various escape tools stored on it. To hide her identity, the woman had a black face mask that covered the top half of her face.
The most shocking thing about her was definitely her weapon. Her weapon seemed to be a bow made of glass that seemed to have been created from a semblance as she had no arrows on her person.
"Who are you?" Ruby asked the woman to which she got no response.
The only entrance to her back, the woman shrugged her shoulders in response to Ruby's question and then turned to run. Making her way outside of the building despite Ruby's protests, the woman kept running until she reached a sufficient corner and attempted to round it. She instead found herself tumbling along with Ruby towards the center courtyard of the school, courtesy of a semblance-powered tackle from the huntress-in-training.
Using her superior close combat abilities to kick Ruby away from her, the woman stood up while Ruby was reeling from the hit. Taking the time to line up a shot, the woman's clothes lit up as she created another arrow. Ruby looked up right as the arrow whistled towards the space between her eyes.
'I'm not gonna make it!' Ruby thought as she shut her eyes.
The sensation of pain would never come, though as the sound of breaking glass hit her ears. Slowly opening her eyes, she was met with the sight of a sword, seemingly suspended in mid-air.
"I'm battle-ready so I suggest you run." Warned an unknown voice behind Ruby as the woman didn't even take a moment to think before running away. "Are you alright?" The same voice asked Ruby as the sword floated back towards its owner.
Finally looking back, Ruby was greeted to the sight of a pale girl with short, curly orange hair. She had bright green eyes and an interesting tech-themed green dress over a beige sweater. She completed her outfit with a pair of long black leggings and a set of matching brown shoes.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine thanks to you." Ruby thanked "Oh, I'm Ruby Rose, what's your name?"
"Sal-u-tations! My name is Penny Polendina. Wanna be friends?" She said with a hand outstretched to the downed girl, which Ruby gratefully accepted.
-Mistral-
A boy was laying on his side, watching international news on TV. The news was showing a report on the Atlesian paladin defeated by several Beacon students earlier in the week. When it went over the students involved, the boy watching couldn't help but grin.
"Man, I can't wait to head to Vale. The Vytal Festival looks like it's gonna be really interesting this year." He said to himself as he stood up and stretched. "Well, time to get some training done." He thought aloud once again as he reached over and grabbed his signature clothing item. A gray hoodie with black, cloud-designed sleeves and a tiger's head on the back.
Chapter 6 End
AN: And Done! Honestly, I was planning to write this immediately after chapter 5, but life got in the way and so on but it's finally here. I'm happy that you guys were so hyped for Ilpyo to be in the story, that I decided to work him into my current plans. Unfortunately, not many more GoH characters can appear with the way that I have it planned so I'm happy you guys like Ilpyo.
About the chapter: I wanted to get through the dance because it has a very character defining moment for Jaune in that he finally gets over his weakness. I also wanted to take a principal step towards Arkos because I don't really do too good of a job focusing on the side characters, so it was nice to do that for once.
Concerning Seraphina and Mori, I decided not to pair them because I enjoy strong friendships more than I enjoy navigating relationship pitfalls. This meaning that they'll be able to trust one another with their life but they won't date.
Finally, thanks for reading and reviewing! Honestly, it's really refreshing to know that even if I update late, you guys still read and react to it so thank you all. I'll try not to take 3 weeks for Chapter 7 because it's gonna be huge, but I hope you guys look forward to it.
With that, I'll see you all next time in the next chapter of GoR.
-Mango G