Yang sat next to her partner, gradually placing a hand on her back and began to rub it in small circular motions.
That was until something took her attention away before getting up to check.
She swore she could hear muffled shouting from the other side of the door, the voice distinctly belonging to Weiss.
"Ruby get back here!"
Seconds later, that theory proved correct as said door flung open with her younger sister rushing in, nearly pushing past her and kneeling down in front of Blake, grabbing both of the faunus' hands before squeezing them gently.
"Are you all right Blake?"
To Yang's surprise, Blake's demeanour changed instantaneously as she slowly looked up to face the younger girl.
"I've just been very busy, your sister's big favour took a bit of a toll on me."
Ruby tilted her head in confusion before looking up at Yang, then back towards Blake.
"It wasn't like the 'favours' Jaune had to do for Cardin, was it?"
"No, she isn't blackmailing me. It was just... a promise I made."
She then leaned to the side to get a clearer view of the blonde.
"Which I hope I have now honoured?"
Before any retort could be made, Weiss entered the doorway almost in the same fashion as Ruby, but only she was panting for air.
Yang looked directly at the heiress, who's expression simply said,
'I tried holding her back, but she's too damn fast.'
There was a brief period where nobody spoke a word, until Ruby's scroll buzzed...
'Did you want to come and spar with us?'
"Penny and Zen?" Blake asked with a warm smile as she saw Ruby scan the words on the device, while the young leader's eyebrows suggested contemplating going or not.
"Yeah... I can tell them I can't tonight and-"
"You should go... " Blake replied softly.
"But... are you sure nothing is the matter?"
"I'm fine, go, have fun... make the most of your time with them.
It won't be long before we have to spend every day training for the Tournament.
Can't have the bestest ultimate team in Remnant going down in history as coming second, can we?" She smirked before giving a cunning wink at Ruby, who now stood in surprise that Blake used the phrase she once coined very early on as a group.
"Well, if you're sure?"
"I am, trust me."
"Okay... Well if that's the case, I'll see you guys before lights out. Sorry about running off like that Weiss."
"Apology accepted, now get going before I change my mind."
Once Ruby had left, and Yang was certain she wouldn't come back because she forgot something, her attention returned to Blake.
"Now why did you act like that?"
"Like what?"
"You know exactly what I mean, suddenly doing a one eighty on your emotions in front of Ruby."
"I'm not going to worry her because of this temporary feeling I have."
"You know she can still tell you're not a hundred percent, right?"
"Well then, I'll have to try harder so that she thinks I am."
"And what about you Weiss, what happened to 'taking her to talk to Pyrrha'?"
"I was doing just that. But JNPR weren't in their dorm, I contacted them and they told me to find them in the sparring rooms.
So I took her there... we were about halfway, then all of a sudden she just turned back and, you can figure out the rest."
"Well so much for those glyphs you keep boasting about."
"Whatever, but understand this, it's going to take a long time and a lot of buttering me up before I do anymore favours for you Yang Xiao Long.
Now, if you'll both excuse me, I'm going to freshen myself up."
"So what will you do now?" Blake looked up anxiously once Weiss closed the bathroom door with a huff.
Yang clenched her fists until they went white, before relaxing them and sighing as she turned to look at Blake.
"Nothing. I'm staying here, keep you company."
The next morning
After a somewhat restless night, Yang had come to a conclusion, and whilst in the shower, the same course of action resonated in her head.
It might not be the best in the short run, but deep down, it's going to be the best for everyone... well, everyone that matters the most in my life. But when exactly to do it?
Now?
No.
Wait till tonight, maybe.
"...So then what I said was you did it, you hit the Jackpot, get it, cause it was Jack's vase... "
The four of them sat at their usual table, Ruby had proceeded to tell Blake and Weiss what happened once in her art class when Yang got revenge on a boy that had been teasing her sis by smashing his art project.
It shocked everyone in the room and Ruby's only response to that moment was one Yang had to be proud of at the time... one of the few times she came up with a half decent pun.
She remembered how upset it made their dad when he found out, but once she explained why, he was a little more understanding.
And right now, Weiss was pinching the bridge of her nose and shaking her head, Blake chuckled with an infectious smile... but it vanished in an instant as her attention was taken away.
Yang followed her stare to find Penny and Zen had entered the cafeteria.
Of course it's him to sour the mood, Blake's clearly still wracked by yesterday.
She observed the pair parting ways shortly after, Penny leaving the cafeteria and Zen grabbing a tray, loading it up with pancakes, syrup and a glass of water.
Her blood was boiling the more she laid eyes on him, but Blake could tell what was running through the blonde's head and so leaned back to get into her partner's line of sight, her brows nervously furrowed with empty looking amber eyes with worry.
Fine, I get the hint.
Yang looked back towards the table at the main conversation going on, and from the corner of her eye she felt the relief Blake had now that she wasn't fixated on Zen.
Come to think of it, we do seem to be down by four... wonder where JNPR are?
Zen fumbled about with his tray of food, thinking about yesterday and how he definitely knew something will come from the talk with Blake
As to when?
Well, that question will have to remain a mystery for the time being.
Now however was a small issue...
Going to sit with Ruby.
Normally, the pair never really met at breakfast, mainly because by the time team RWBY entered, he would be leaving.
But once he got talking with the leader, they made plans to try and meet up at the same time, for one, to get to know the rest of the team and the other to socialise.
And that would definitely spell trouble if he chose today, so he opted instead to sit at the very end of the cafeteria, as far away as possible from their table, sitting with his back to them.
Luckily Ruby didn't see me. Now if I could-
"Mind if I borrow some of that?"
"Uh? No not at all."
He looked up in surprise at the familiar face as she grabbed his pot of syrup with her pink fingerless gloved hand before she flopped down next to him and drowned her own pancakes in the golden liquid.
"Thanks." She replied with an energetically wide grin while eyeing him up and down.
"Don't mention it."
"By the way, I'm Nora, we're in the same sparring class together... and a few others, but it's the best class so you know, not too focused on the others.
Anyway next time we do have the lesson, you and I should definitely have a one on one."
"Nora, he breaks easily remember, so don't go all out when you do."
The pair spun around to see three equally familiar individuals come into view as they walked around and sat opposite them."
"Oh and these are my teammates. This is my partner Lie Ren, or Ren for short."
"Pleasure to meet you."
"In the middle we have the one and only, Pyrrha Nikos."
"Hello again."
"And as you have already come face to face with our fearless leader, Jaune Arc."
"Hey."
"And together we are team JNPR, the most badass team this year!"
"Huh... pretty ambitious claim there, but not going to contest that.
Nice to meet you all... so uh, why did you guys decide to come sit with me?"
"Well we were just walking by and saw you on your own and thought 'hey, I think it's time we had a chance to talk to the Atlesian student that's going to transfer to Beacon, Zen, same guy in our sparring class-'"
"Nora wanted extra syrup."
To everyone's surprise, Jaune was the one to deadpan that detail, to which Nora began to giggle nervously.
"Pretty sure you're the first student in Beacon to ever be blacklisted for a quotient on maple syrup consumption."
"He's kidding... he knows I was kidding when I said that before... right guys?" She nervously asked looking to her other two teammates for support.
Ren then piped up, resting his chin on his fist, speaking with a hint of teasing.
Clearly any opportunity to see Nora being nearly speechless was once in a blue moon event.
"Now I did hear you say you were borrowing some syrup, so I hope you didn't use it all up. Did you?"
"Yeah yeah I remember. See, still plenty left."
Nora emphasized by grabbing the pot and proceeding to tip the entire contents onto her already saturated stack of pancakes.
It wasn't until the last few drops fell did she realize what she had done.
She looked over to his half eaten pancakes only to see it was lightly coated in syrup, Ren simply face palmed, Jaune shook his head and Pyrrha covered her mouth, but despite that, after a few seconds, the three all broke out into fits of laughter at the situation...though Nora stuttered an apology.
"S-sorry I guess I got caught up in the moment."
"Nah it's fine, really... I've got enough, if you weren't going to use it, it would have just been a waste."
As the laughter died down Pyrrha wiped a small tear from her face as she spoke.
"But in all seriousness, we did actually want to stop and chat with you and get to know you.
When we all started out here, what we all had in common was equally being lost-"
"So we decided to come here and start what hopefully can become a beautiful friendship."
Nora enthusiastically said wrapping an arm around him before shoveling another pancake into her mouth, cheering up after he accepted her apology.
"Thank you... " Zen replied as he looked first to the three opposite him and then to Nora, who pulled away from him after she was content, he was genuinely speechless to say the least.
I'm pretty sure this is the fastest I've been able to make friends... but still, miss the ones back home...
He wasn't left alone with his thoughts for too long, as evident by the group and Pyrrha addressing him.
"So what's it like at the Atlas academy? I hear it adopts a militaristic attitude towards teaching as it has such a tight connection to the military and safeguard of Atlas."
"Any of you been to Atlas itself?"
The four shook their heads.
"One word... COLD!"
"But weren't you born in Atlas? Surely all those years would have allowed you to acclimatise to the frigid temperatures?"
Jaune wondered aloud, the others somewhat nodding in agreement.
"Not really, for one I grew up in Pleiades, which is temperate compared to Atlas.
So actually going north, it was my first time I had been that far from home... well, apart from now that is.
Hell, part of the endurance training there just comes from stepping outside of the campus buildings to go from one side to the other."
"So I take it you don't like the cold?" Ren interjected with an expression which suggested he shared the same sentiment to Atlas' climate.
"Never have, and never will. But don't think I'd fare any better in Vacuo, I probably can tolerate the heat better than the cold, but I prefer to be in that goldilocks zone of temperatures."
"Goldi- what zone?" Jaune questioned, the rest of his team looking equally confused.
"Goldilocks, you know, not too hot, not too cold, but just right, you know from the fairy- actually forget it, it's probably an Atlesian saying, that's why you haven't heard of it before."
"That would make sense, I like it." Their leader acknowledged.
"Anyhow, when it comes down to schooling at Atlas, there is a major focus on excellence in all facets, the sparring classes are intense, you're expected to be in peak physical health... and if you're not, you will be, that includes what you eat too, so pancakes are reserved for special occasions."
He could see Ren and Nora visibly wince at the thought.
"And the same can be said on the academic side, exams nearly every week, anything less than a B and you'd be considered a slack off, oh and you'd better not be that student otherwise your entire team got the long end of the stick."
"They beat you with a stick?"
Ren asked with a shocked tone.
"No, but really having your teammates gang up on you for getting that one question wrong is just as bad."
"Sheesh, talk about overkill.
Changing topics, how are you finding Beacon compared to Atlas?" The valkyrie asked.
"Beacon so far is ten times better than Atlas-"
"Cause its warmer?"
"I mean yes, but it just feels like it can garner the same results in Atlas, but without the need to have a drill sergeant yell and boss about its students. Overall I'm liking what I've experienced here."
"What about Ms Goodwitch and her lesson?" Pyrrha asked.
"Compared to the combat instructor in Atlas...she's definitely not the next incarnation of Satan."
"Who?" Ren asked curiously.
"Satan... the devil... the epitome of all evil- wait I forgot, I'm in another Kingdom.
He is a mythical being tasked with punishing the evil in the afterlife.
Note to self, keep the Earth culture to a minimum, you can only use Atlas as a scapegoat for so long.
Luckily the others didn't further press him about Atlas as Nora spoke.
"While we're on the subject of combat, wanna talk about your loadout."
"My loadout?"
"You know, the gear you take out to go on missions."
"Oh you mean these." He replied, gesturing to his swords.
"That solves that mystery."
"What mystery?"
"When we first saw you in class, you definitely didn't have any weapon on you or next to you... we spent hours trying to guess what it could be-"
"It was a few minutes." Ren chimed in to clear things up before Nora continued.
"Was your weapon semblance generated? Hidden in your sleeves? Or a small hand held one?"
"You mean like a pen?" Zen interjected razing an eyebrow and smirking, Jaune putting his head in his hands with dread, Nora fidgeting, Pyrrha trying to keep a straight face and Ren succeeding.
She proceeded to say,
"Then when you used those training weapons as substitutes ... first we thought it was until you get your real weapon back, since we've heard from some visiting students their weapon hadn't arrived with them, they'd have to wait a few days.
Then we wondered if you needed to make new ones or something like that... now seeing your weapons as just being only swords... kind of a letdown."
"Hey!" Jaune, Pyrrha and Zen yelled in unison.
Nora quickly raised her hands up defensively, head darting between the three that she didn't mean any harm.
After an apology from the redhead to the three sword wielders, Zen responded.
"Well let's just say that prior to coming to Beacon I had been weapon-less for some time."
"Oooh, do tell." Nora asked, intrigued.
"I'd rather not."
"Okay, then how about those strapped to your back."
"Funny thing you remembered that I used the training weapons to fight against you, these are the same ones."
"But these look good!
Those training weapons look like they've never seen the light of day. I might even go far to say they've been there since the opening of the academy.
No way are they the same."
"I can guarantee you they are.
I actually had to ask one of Penny's friends, Ruby Rose to help me make them more suited for modern combat, other than just swish swish stab.
Their names being Spirit and Opportunity."
"Nice names, can I hold one?" Nora asked, Zen silently unsheathed Spirit and handing to her, which she inspected it tenderly, still affixed to the idea of them being the same weapons he used against her leader.
"So you know Ruby?" Pyrrha asked with a warm smile on her face.
"Yeah, she's one of the first people I've met when I came here.
The headmaster recommended I talk to her about my weapons, when I asked, she was more than happy to help.
Once they were made she wanted to spar with me...and well, we've quickly become friends because of it."
"We're friends with her and her team as well. Maybe we should go sit with them?" Nora piped up after handing back his weapon and happily turning to look over to where they sat.
"NO!" Zen blurted out then quickly retracted once all four pairs of eyes looked to him.
"I mean, no, I'm, I'm too nervous to meet the rest of her team just yet..."
Think of a line to get out of this.
The fact is, Ruby is soooo cool, her teammates are bound to be the same. I'd just-"
"You have a crush on her..." Nora cut him off in a sing song voice.
"What!"
"You heard me, you don't want to meet the teammates is because yoouu have a crush on their leader."
"No I don't"
"I'd be nervous too since, you know, her older sister Yang is on her team."
"I'm not nervous, because I don't have a crush on her!"
"You do...I can tell...it's the same look Pyrrha has every time she looks at Jau-"
Zen nearly got shoved out of the way as Pyrrha leapt up and moved around to muzzle Nora, much in the same way she did to Jaune when he nearly spilled the beans that Blake was a 'fun loving and interesting person'.
The red hair pair locked eyes with each other and from where Zen sat, he could swear he saw a hint of genuine fear Nora held.
"Are you okay Pyrrha?" Jaune asked, slightly worried at the sight unfolding in front of him.
"I'm fine, Nora was just about to reveal a very important secret, so I'm making sure it stays that way, right?" Pyrrha said before looking to her teammate for confirmation, which she nodded quickly.
"Well if its anything like the secret about Blake being a f-"
I'm starting to think that Weiss made a mistake of telling him about Blake.
Zen thought as Jaune once again was silenced by his teammate with a quick hand to his mouth, this time Nora being the one to nearly be flung aside in Pyrrha transitioning from one side of the table to the other.
"You guys must really have a good time out on missions if this is how it is simply during breakfast."
Zen mused as a way to deflect any mention of Blake's ears as well as helping Pyrrha from possibly going around and silencing another teammate from any all important secrets.
Though I doubt Ren is the type to have loose lips.
"Well funny you should mention that, last night we were talking about our most recent mission."
"With Ms Goodwitch?"
"Oh yeah, what a time we had. It all started after Jaune and Pyrrha said goodbye to Ruby's and your teams... "
"Right on time children, as always."
"Thank you Ms Goodwitch."
"I'm afraid you mistook my sarcasm as a compliment Ms Valkyrie. Though you two are here. I've yet to see Ms Nikos and Mr Arc."
"Well yeah I mean I can see them right over there." The redhead smiled, turning and pointing over to the pair, then back to their professor.
"When they should really be standing here with you." She retorted folding her arms crossed, looking down at the hammer wielder with a stern frown.
"Fair point." Nora replied rubbing the back of her neck and sighing in defeat.
" I shall be coordinating our mission with the pilot while you call Mr Arc and Ms Nikos over." She replied before walking towards the front of the ship.
"I'll call them... hang on, I think they were just talking about me." Nora leaned in and whispered to Ren, before cupping her hands around her mouth and 'calling' them over.
"I HEARD THAT!"
After which, she placed both hands on her hips and glanced over to Ren, with a smile of a job well done plastered on her face.
"Think that'll get their attention?"
"I bet it will." Ren merely replied, a minute later the other half of their team now stood in front of them.
"Sorry about that we were just saying goodbye to Ruby, Penny and their teammates." Their leader explained, somewhat winded from the short sprint.
"Now Ms Valkyrie, though I did say for you to call over your teammates, I did not stipulate for you to throw your voice half way across the entire kingdom."
"Understood Ms Goodwitch." The redhead saluted, Goodwitch sighed before walking back to the front of the ship to finish talking with the pilots.
"Best we climb in before we're told off any further." Ren suggested, already making his way to the entrance of the main doors to the ship.
"Don't need to tell us twice." Jaune agreed, gesturing the girls to go first before climbing aboard himself.
As the turbines of the bullhead worked hard to get it's occupants to their destination, Beacon Academy became nothing more than a spec on the horizon.
Goodwitch sighed and turned her attention back inside the cabin, each of her students cleaning, adjusting or re-examining their weapons.
"Okay students if I could have your attention, assuming you have read the briefing, I will quickly summarise.
Our mission will take us east of forever fall for a routine patrol and survey the landscape if needed.
Granted this region is usually a low grimm infested area, however if you remember from Professor Port's lessons, groups of grimm can sometimes be known to migrate to differing regions for territorial reasons.
Therefore the number of grimm in the local populous could potentially spike, though I wouldn't say it will be likely we will encounter many if not any at all.
This mission is one least favoured by both staff and students alike, so consider yourselves lucky to get this out of the way so early.
Now were there any questions?"
The four remained silent, until Pyrrha raised a hand.
"Yes Ms Nikos?"
"Do we have any secondary objectives?"
"Officially you do not, while your briefing stipulates no secondary mission for today, if you remember the last time we were in Forever Fall, I had you collect tree sap samples for Professor Peach.
While preparing for today, I was approached by her with a request.
If at all possible while on your scouting patrol, you are to retrieve any flora you deem either unusual or interesting.
Were there any further questions?"
There was again more silence from the group, say for a mix of noises from Jaune, the other three looking at him as he appeared visibly distressed.
"Something the matter, Mr Arc?"
"Still trying to overcome motion sickness?" Pyrrha asked worryingly.
"I'm getting better at it." He replied after removing his closed fist from his mouth and taking a deep breath looking at her.
"Atta boy, I knew you could do it." Nora enthusiastically said as she slapped him on the back, which only caused Jaune to recoil as he gagged, causing him to stand and rush for the edge of the bullhead as he no longer held back his breakfast.
Pyrrha, Ren and Goodwitch all looked over to Nora, who scratched the back of her head and raising the other hand and giving an apologetic wave.
"Sorry about that."
"Feeling better Mr Arc?"
"I'll manage."
Goodwitch was about to reply, but was cut off by the pilots.
"We're approaching the drop off point ma'am, area looks secure, going in for a normal landing."
"Very well, thank you."
She replied before returning her attention to the four.
"Make your final adjustments and checks to your equipment."
As the dust settled once the bullhead touched down, Ren was the first to step out, followed by Nora, Pyrrha, Jaune and lastly Goodwitch.
The group then gave some distance before the bullhead hummed back to life before taking off and leaving.
As they headed eastwards Goodwitch walked beside Jaune, while the other three were slightly ahead of them.
"If it's any consolation to you Mr Arc.
I too suffered from motion sickness with travel during missions when I first began as a huntress, granted the rides were a lot choppier back then... but I got use to it, and you will too."
She said reassuringly, allowing a small smile to form on her face.
"Uh- Thank you." He replied, surprised to see the professor with an expression other than serious for a change, though it didn't last long as he was snapped back to attention by her strict tone.
"Now form up in front of your teammates."
"Yes miss."
"From this point on, Mr Arc will lead the scouting party,
I am merely an observer who will only intervene if really necessary.
Do not forget your secondary objective."
"Yes Miss, they all responded in unison.
The group had been walking through the forest for almost half an hour, Jaune leading and scouting the distance ahead, the others following behind and Glynda trailing at the rear.
"He seems tense." Pyrrha leaned in and whispered to the others.
"Think it could be that Ms Goodwitch is here with us?"
"Maybe, or the fact this is our first actual mission, since the breach stopped us last time."
"Guys- you do realise I can still hear you back there." Their leader replied as he glanced over his shoulder at the rest of his team before concentrating on the way forward.
"Whoops, he wasn't meant to hear us." Nora whispered as she looked at the two next to her.
She was met with nothing more than simple nods.
The scouting party spent the next several minutes walking in relative silence, or at least until one red head spoke out aloud to her teammate.
"It's quiet... too quiet."
"We know Nora, we were told this was an 'unfavourable' mission."
"But I'm bored, can't we have a little excitement?"
As if on cue, the bushes began to rustle and out sprang a dozen or more Beowolves...
Or at least that was what Nora had hoped for the moment she thought of the situation , which only garnered a disappointed expression as she stopped dead in her tracks, wishful that maybe she was right and there was in-fact something lurking in the crimson foliage.
"Let's go Nora, we have a lot more area to scout, maybe we'll encounter something worthwhile that might not be grimm along the way. We still have to look for unique plants at the same time we're out here remember."
Her partner calmly said as he patted her on the shoulder in order to coax her to continue the walk.
"Couldn't we have at least collected more tree sap samples like we did for professor Peach the last time?"
She protested loudly whilst catching up to the rest of her team.
"If I recall correctly, your team received a mixed mark on that little assignment.
Some of your samples were unaccounted for, your jars in particular were not filled as you claimed they 'mysteriously went missing' Ms Valkyrie." Glynda replied from behind the trio, not once taking her eyes off her scroll as she walked.
"Heh heh, I can't help it if it looked appetising." She mutter to herself becoming red with embarrassment.
The group continued on without any incident for several more minutes, Pyrrha now walked alongside Jaune, yet despite the still apparent calm that surrounded them, Ren noticed the champion's guard was up slightly, causing him now to stop.
When he thought about it, his senses became somewhat alert.
Not only that, but the absence of wildlife noises wasn't normal to say the least.
Understandable that if humanity have lived for centuries with the grimm and adapted, so too would any other life that the grimm would be hostile against.
He knew that much, animals closer towards human occupied territory were much braver than those further out.
But the thing was...
There wasn't any wild life around... or rather, it wasn't absolutely quiet. Whatever was making that sound didn't intend on being hidden.
He could definitely sense something, and whatever it was, it was getting closer, bit by bit.
"Do you... hear something?"
Nora asked, drawing Manghild and converting it into hammer form.
The rustling became louder and streaks of black and white could be seen through the dense patches of red, until one shadow emerged from hiding, followed by several more.
"You just had to open your mouth didn't you." Jaune yelled to Nora as he turned and cleaved the head off a naive beowolf that went to strike him, only to miss as he side stepped it.
"I said that like ten minutes ago." She replied with equal volume.
"Never mind. Guys focus and form up on me." The blonde leader ordered as more poured out from where the initial group came from.
Goodwitch meanwhile kept her distance from her pupils, moving only to retaliate against any grimm that sought to attack her directly.
When Jaune had more than a few seconds to breathe from the now apparent swarm, he reached for his scroll and quickly attached it to his shield, activating the program to bring up his aura, it was holding with the bar barely moving, he definitely had improved.
Another beowolf took his attention away for a second and he pierced his sword into its mouth as it tried to get it's jaws around him.
Then going back to his scroll, he switched to another program, one that was able to track the motion of grimm within a twenty metre radius.
To his horror, the screen displayed several clusters of red, and they were approaching directly behind where they had been walking.
There's only so much room to fight , and if we have to deal with more... we're going to get overrun, we need more breathing space.
"Guys behind us... mass of grimm heading this way!
Keep moving till we find a clearing."
With that, the rest of the team sprinted behind their leader, with Glynda in toe as the first new group of grimm pushed past the foliage to where the team fought seconds ago, cutting off any chance for them to double back.
"Five grimm dead ahead of us! Get ready to strike as soon as you see them!"
Jaune called out after looking at his scroll to see another five red blips appearing as if they were trying to block the way.
Three were obliterated by Nora's grenade launcher, Ren leapt up and over another as its paw went to sweep at him, only for it to be shot in the back of the neck as the ninja cleared the jump.
The last was skewered by both Jaune and Pyrrha as it was caught between who to kill first.
Finally, they made their way to what the leader hoped for, a large clearing where they, mainly Nora could have the freedom to hold off the grimm.
Pyrrha spun around and got down on one knee and converted Milo into its rifle form and peppered the beowolves that had tailed them before standing back up and charging at a new group of grimm that were identified as creeps.
They were dealt with relative ease, though that didn't mean the sheer number of them kept entering into the fight.
Another larger hostile appeared from the forest, an Ursa.
Nora gave a war cry as she hurtled towards the large target, swinging her hammer as she closed the distance.
When within striking range, she passed by and let the hammer make contact with the beast's head, the force snapping its neck falling limp on the ground shortly after.
She continued to sail through the air for a few seconds, then re-orientating herself to land feet first and skidded to a halt, that was until her leg became caught against a small stone, causing her to lose footing and tumbling along the ground and past a of cluster bushes.
Ren quickly disposed the group of creep near him and looked over to where Nora had fallen beforehand, now realising it had been more than a minute since she disappeared from his sight.
Yet she hadn't gotten up?
A pang emanated from his stomach as he rushed over to said bushes.
Meanwhile, Jaune noticed what had unfolded in the midst of the conflict and despite his best attempts keeping the grimm at bay, it became apparent to him the battle was turning in favour of the soulless creatures.
Where before it felt like a one on one, now had become a three on one.
Professor Goodwitch had intervened a distance away, he was sure if she didn't, there might have been a five on one.
Now his attention landed upon the green ninja who still stood just in front of where his teammate tumbled and didn't appear to get up from.
Within those few seconds he let his guard down a small black mass brushed passed him and was barrelling towards his teammate...
"Ren, Borbatusk six o'clock!"
He screamed in panic, both that he let his guard down, and as a result his teammate potentially getting impaled on one of the tusks of the grimm.
Instantly, Ren turned while raising storm flower and began to fire.
"Pyrrha try to help Ren, I'll cover you!" Jaune looked over and commanded his partner before turning and raising his shield defensively.
"On it."
She replied, the Amazonian then shifting Milo back to rifle mode.
Even with their combined fire power, their bullets failed to pierce its' tough outer hide, Ren went to shift his position so he could dodge the incoming ball of boar, but as he did so, his leg snagged on an exposed root.
He tried to cut himself free, but it was too late.
Much like the first lesson with Port, the boarbatusk collided with Ren and unfurled itself after bouncing off him, sending the ninja backwards and out of sight of his remaining team.
The boar shook itself of dust before turning to Pyrrha and Jaune, but it never had the chance as Pyrrha fired a round which was able to pierce the underside, killing it instantly.
The pair then ran up to the bushes and looked down where Nora and Ren had disappeared.
Behind the cluster of bushes was a short length of dirt which then ended with the opening of a ravine.
They stared down, but the green and pink teammates couldn't be seen through the inky black void
Their attention was then taken by the sound of loud snarls coming from an alpha Ursa which began to charge at them without regard to how many bullets impacted its hide, even as one managed to clip its eye.
Once it drew near and lashed out, Jaune managed to impale his blade through its neck and neutralize it, but was knocked off his footing before falling into the ravine, shutting his eyes as he feared for the eventual landing.
That was until he felt his body lurching, and opened his eyes to see he was suspended in the air , he then looked up to see Pyrrha had held him up using her semblance.
In one hand she was holding Milo, still in its rifle form picking off any grimm racing towards her, the other, her teammate.
Despite concentrating on two fronts, she was able to steal a glance to Goodwitch, but unfortunately the Professor's back was to the pair as she staved off the rest of the Grimm.
The stress and strain became too much for Pyrrha with the weight of her teammate outmatching the strength of her semblance, combined with the rock under her slowly giving way, she too was pulled into the ravine.
Urgh my head. How far did we fall?
Jaune picked himself up and held his breath as scanned the area, noticing that his teammates all landed within a few meters of one another.
"Is anyone hurt?" He asked aloud.
"Only my pride." Ren said sarcastically, to which Jaune sighed with relief.
The leader then bent down and scooped up his shield and Crocea Mors, surprisingly his scroll remained attached, after a quick scan over his teammates aura, he again felt a wash of relief come over him... for the most part.
Pyrrha's aura was mostly intact, mainly due to how she landed safely after the fall, Ren was next in terms of a stable aura as well as his own, Nora's however had taken the most and was sitting in the orange.
Whether she was one hit away from being in the red or five, he was uncertain, but it still meant that she was in a fighting state if more grimm showed themselves.
"Mr Arc- ca - ou ear me- is your -eam o-ay..." He visibly flinched as the static laden voice of his professor crackled through his earpiece.
"Miss Goodwitch, you're breaking up, we are all here and aren't injured too badly."
"Please re-eat y-ur br-ak-ing -up."
"At the depth we are, it might be preventing a clear line to the upper surface."Ren answered as his hand brushed the metamorphic rock while looking upwards.
"What if we combined all our earpieces to try and amplify the signal." Nora thought aloud.
"That's actually a good idea." Jaune answered as he pulled out his ear piece and reached out a hand to accept the other's.
"No it isn't." Jaune and the two redheads looked over to Ren as his gaze was still up at where they fell from.
"Our signal might be able to be amplified, but we still won't be able to make out what its being broadcast to us fm the surface.
"Okay- how about use the ear pieces as a way to relay the signal from the surface to down here by getting one of them higher up."
"Now that could work." The ninja said, finally looking back to his teammates and walking towards them. "Only question is how are we going to go about getting the earpieces high up, can't exactly scale the walls of the ravine."
"We can attach them to Milo using some bandages from our emergency kit and I can launch it up as high as we need to."
With that Ren produced a little red tin from one of his sleeves and from it took out some bandages. He then set to work tying two of the four earpieces to the tip of the handle of Pyrrha's weapon in javelin form, first crisscrossing then wrapping around the handle itself.
"Why tie the earpieces there? I remember your weapon being rocket propelled, and your weapon will definitely make the height as well as properly getting embedded in the rock face."
Jaune asked with slight confusion.
"I'll be using my semblance to get Milo up there, yes I'll admit we might have better luck with the rocket thrusters, but I'll have greater control with my polarity." His partner answered.
"By the way, I've never asked, but what does that feel like? Using your semblance I mean?" Ren added after he finished securing the bandage tightly.
"Hard to describe, but it's almost like a warm mix of pins and needles, though it doesn't have that numbing sensation, the more massive the object, the greater I feel that sensation." She replied as she graciously took her weapon.
"Now you might want to step back."
Once she saw that everyone around her were far enough away, she got into a javelin throwing stance, pulled back her arm and looked up before throwing it directly upwards, the moment Milo left her hand she immediately stood upright and extended a hand, closed her eyes and focused.
There was a faint metallic click that echoed above their heads a few seconds later.
"I'd say its up there." Ren said before looking to Jaune
"Yes I can confirm its there and secure too." Pyrrrha answered, while she wiggled her fingers slightly much in the same way one would with something that's nailed in place.
"Will you be able to get it back?" Jaune asked slightly concerned.
"I can, though I'd say I don't want to do anything until we are sure we've finished with it up there."
"Ms Goodwitch, can you hear me?"
There was a short silence as nothing came back, but then the dull hiss of static that was then proceeded by the professor's voice came through his scroll."
"Yes Mr Arc I can, what is your team's status? How were you able to re-establish contact?"
"We are all here and with no severe injuries, the second part of your question we can answer once we get out of here, but it was Nora's idea."
"I see. As for rescue for both you and the rest of your team., the terrain here might make it a difficult task but not imposs-"
"Hold on one sec Ms Goodwitch." He halted his professor as he turned to address the others.
"I know I said we are all fine, but are all of you able to walk?"
They all nodded before Goodwitch's voice brought their attention back to Jaune's scroll.
"What are you thinking Mr Arc?"
"There's a tunnel opening just a few metres ahead of us, if we follow the length of it, we might be able to find a way out and we can signal for a pick up."
"..."
"Ms Goodwitch?"
"You have my approval, I will return to the original drop off zone and inform both the pilots as well as the headmaster.
When you find a suitable location, signal me using your emergency beacon on your scroll and then use your emergency flares so the pilots can land and pick you up."
"Will do, we'll be out of contact once we end this communication."
"Understood, and best of luck."
With that, the transmission ended and Jaune sighed as he turned to his team and nodded to them, Ren and Nora responded but Pyrrha walked past them standing face to face with him before looking up and raising a hand upwards reaching to the black abyss above.
A few seconds later metallic scrapes could be heard before Milo sailed back down, landing neatly in its owner's grasp, she then smiled, nodded at Jaune then gestured for him to lead the way.
The team of four trailed into the tunnel, light that illuminated them from where they landed began to fade until they were only able to see an arm's length in front of them.
Each step echoed with a earthy crunch under their shoes, but apart from that, no other sound came from them.
Simply put, there was a reason to be quiet, they had learned (including their initiation) that there were some species of grimm which dwelled in caves and other natural underground formations, so it was essential to keep an ear open.
But for the Mistral champion, she felt the pressure her leader put on himself, and the others also sensed the same thing, though they would have opted to talk to him once the mission was over.
She on the other hand knew that as long as he lingered on what was bothering him, the more likely he'd put himself in jeopardy along with his team if a threat emerged from the darkness.
"How are you feeling?" She asked once she was beside him, her voice soft and calm, yet also worried.
"You saw what happened while we were up there.
I lost track of what my teammates did, each of us divided, Ms Goodwitch had to step in to keep most of the grimm from overrunning us.
I'm sure she had been taking notes since we left the ship and began scouting.
I guarantee that most of it will reflect on how much of a 'good leader' I am. "
"We'll get out of here, and when we do, it will show her that you can lead us, you have been doing so thus far, and it's been a good job.
As for the grimm, we were being overwhelmed, any other huntsman would have been in the same situation, and we are capable to work in tandem with each other or independently, we all had some part in the fight."
"I know, but it's as if I know I can do good, I do good in lessons, but when it comes to exams or being watched by the professors, I tend to screw up."
His partner didn't say anything for a while as they merely walked along the path, but after looking around for the right words, she glanced over to him as she spoke.
"Can I tell you something?"
"Sure."
"When I first started becoming a huntress, I wasn't that good...at least in front of my parents, whenever I trained on my own, I could mimic what they taught me perfectly.
But when I practiced on a dummy while they watched or when I thought I was ready... a sparring match with either of them, I would more than likely flail about and my parents would cut the match short in fear I'd hurt myself."
"Really?"
She nodded before continuing.
"They supported me as any parents would, though as I got older, I could tell they felt sorry that wasn't getting the hang of things.
But once I started combat school, that's when things changed for the better, I performed exactly how I was taught at home and it reflected in my grades as well as the feedback my teachers gave.
After several months, I became known as the 'over-achieving' student that soon was recommended by her teachers and encouraged by her parents to take part in the Mistral championships when I was eligible."
Her leader said nothing, though expressed for her to go on.
"The thing was, in between me starting at combat school and my status of over achiever, there were several sparring matches, which were open for parents to spectate and one or two carnivals with combat between students being the main attraction.
And as you might have guessed, when my parents were there, I lost to nearly every of the opponents I faced."
"..."
"Then the day came for the first Mistral championship, and because it was already set in my mind what caused me to fail, I begged and pleaded my parents not to come to the championship in fear that I'll fail once again.
As confused with my pleading, as it sounded, they eventually agreed not to attend.
They had showed love and support throughout my trials of combat school, and here I was asking them to just go against it.
The dumb thing, though was as selfish as it sounded, when I finally fought in the championship, I walked away victorious."
"Why are you telling me this?" Jaune asked, brows now furrowed as he knew where she was coming from, though he wanted to make sure he wasn't wrong.
"Can I ask you something first? About what you said before, about how every time you're being watched, you feel as though you screw up."
"Pyrrha, it's not that I think I screw up, it's that I do screw up."
"What exactly are you thinking when it happens?"
"I don't know."
He answered before stopping and waved his hands in the air with reluctance, before pacing back and forth, then looking back at his teammate.
"I think... I guess the thought that runs through my mind is that maybe... Ozpin might have made the wrong decision by making me the leader, you are definitely qualified to be the leader... I might- one day, I'll get to a level of skill you are, it's not just now."
"So in essence what you are saying is you're not confident in your abilities to be a leader because you see yourself as being 'worse' compared to me?"
"It's hard to describe...but yes."
"That is why." She said, her features now grace with a warm smile.
"What?'
"When it came down to it, the reason why I seemed to fail whenever my parents were around, it was because I placed the pressure of trying be where my parents were when they were my age, and if all I could think about was simply being exactly like them or even better... then failure was certain.
That first championship I won, it felt good only while I was at the event, once I was home however... felt like a kick in the teeth."
"Then how did you get over that feeling?"
"It took me till the second championship for me to realise. Already suspecting the same thing, my parents opted not to come to the event.
When I stood there in the arena, hundreds spectating, yet no sign of the ones I looked up to, I realised that I can try to be the best person I can be, it won't matter where I am in relation to my parents.
Doing the best I can to be the best person I can be is all that counts, similarly with you.
What you may lack in combat skill, you make up for in your own way, and for you that's your ability to strategise and react in combat.
So the next time you are faced with uncertainty with yourself, think about where you were and how far you've come and that you can get through what's challenging you from moving forward to being better than what you would be."
"Guess that line of reasoning works, a little confusing to get, but I think I understand.
And by the third championship you became the Pyrrha we're all familiar with?"
Jaune responded with a chuckle as they continued through the tunnel.
"Funny enough, not exactly, see when next year did finally come, I asked my parents of attend and eventually convinced them to come.
However the title 'Pyrrha the three time Mistral champion' might not have been as I might have had a minor slip up in one of my fights, though as you have guessed I made it that year... and by the fourth championship I had the adopted mindset of just 'doing the best I can do where I am' had become cemented in my routine."
"I might try that next combat session... thank you Pyrrha."
"N-no problem." She nervously choked, looking away while she tried her best to conceal the blush that was forming on her cheeks.
With Jaune and Pyrrha now trailing behind Ren and Nora, the latter giving space for their friends to converse without being interrupted while also staying alert if things changed.
"Those two, they're totally into each other..." Nora whispered to Ren as she pointed a thumb back at the pair. Her teammate simply nodded in agreement, aware that boredom had once again found his partner.
Nora's hope for something other than the same dreary grey tunnels they walked through for what seem like hours, opened up to a large area with a few openings in the natural ceiling and letting in daylight from the surface.
What was more interesting besides the natural formation was the presence of plant life, not just any simple moss either, but an actual flowering plant.
As soon as the Valkyrie saw it, she rushed over and began looking it up and down much in the same fashion as she did with the rook in their initiation.
The lone flower appeared to be almost identical in shape to the emblem on Ren's jacket, a lotus with mainly pink petals with a few white patches, though around the edges were also white.
The unusual thing about this flower, if it was a lotus, was how it grew in moistened soil rather than a small body of water as they're known for.
"Hey guys I think we've found our secondary objective." She eagerly called as Jaune and Pyrrha finally entered from the tunnel.
Ren smiled at his teammate while he reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and produced a pink silk handkerchief, knelt down and gave it to Nora, to which she tenderly place the flower, with a little soil around its roots after scooping it from its resting place.
"We need to keep moving, there may be still plenty of daylight, but we don't know how long its going to take us to get out of here."
Jaune called out as he took the lead once again.
If there even is an opening out of here to begin with.
He thought to himself while looking back where they came from, then glancing over to the flower now nestled gently in Nora's cupped hands.
With their second objective accomplished, the group ventured further forward, leaving the illuminated area behind and once again following the length of the natural tunnel, though this section being definitely more 'roomier'.
Say for the soft crackle of dirt and gravel it was practically silent, however Jaune felt uneasy, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up he could tell something was different in this stretch of tunnel.
The rocky wall appeared to be eroded away, but his conscience, or rather a few images he recalled seeing in Port's lecture told him that it wasn't water that caused it.
A few minutes later he was proven correct.
At first there was a dull scratching noise, but soon became louder as they entered another larger section of tunnel.
A humanoid like grimm stood just a few meters in front of them, paying no attention to them as they came to a halt once they could see it fully.
"What is that?" Nora whispered from the rear.
"Looks like a polypheme."
Pyrrha replied, turning her head ever so slightly to answer her teammate's question while still keeping her weapon trained on it and her shield up.
"We need to be cautious, from what I've read, these things tend to be highly aggressive while also being fairly strong despite their weak appearance .
"No guesses as to why its scraping its claws against the rock wall." Jaune replied without breaking eye contact with the beast.
It stood about twice the height of Nora and had the skeletal structure of a human, though it had more elongated legs and arms, that were covered in black 'muscle', its head appeared to have a pair of horns jutting out from its exposed cranium which was also mere bone.
Its claws were its most defining feature, though the arms looked simple and weak, the claws were more pronounced, looking some twenty centimetres long, starting at the palms and ending in a razor sharp tip.
"So what do we do, the only direction forwards we can't-"
Ren was cut off from what he said as the polypheme stopped scratching at the wall, gradually lowering its arms and began to sniff the air.
It's head slowly turned to the group before it's stature became hunched as it kept sniffing, it's face resembled a human skull but with one red and black eye in the centre of its forehead.
JNPR tensed up as it's eye furrowed with rage before reeling its head back and gave a deep vocal roar that echoed throughout the length of the tunnel.
The creature was on top of them instantly, the legs allowing it to bound towards the group in two strides, Jaune and Pyrrha readying their shields as it reared its arm up for a strike but seemed to pay no attention to the pair as it pushed past them.
Nora leapt back while still holding onto the plant as she narrowly missed the silvery white tips of the claws, Ren then injecting himself between them, storm flower's blades grazing the beasts wrists while round after round impacted on its bony ribs.
Pyrrha and Jaune picked themselves up and ran to Nora, for as she tried to put down the flower to grab Magnhild, the polypheme took no notice of Ren and charged at her yet again. The JP pair striking from behind only enraged it further, attention shifting to the pair though still fixated on Nora.
Further into the tunnel, they could hear the echo's of more incoming grimm, this time they were howls.
The all too familiar sound of beowolves may have been a small relief, they could deal with them easily, yet it didn't mean they were welcome to this fight.
We need to take care of this thing before those beowolves get here... but how to take it out?
Jaune hesitated as his shield clashed with the polypheme once again as it tried clawing at his teammate.
"Go for it's eye."
Might not kill it outright, but it should slow it down.
Order given, Ren sprinted from behind and dug his weapon's blades into the polypheme's back, it snarled and flailed in every direction to get him off its back.
With it now distracted, Pyrrha converted Milo into its javelin form , held her stance waiting for the right moment, a second later the tip of the weapon impaled the target.
It recoiled back as it screeched in pain , Pyrrha opting to charge towards it in order to retrieve Milo before it could remove the weapon itself.
The polypheme then thrashed about at whatever was within arm's length preventing any direct close quarters contact for a few seconds, all the while Ren and Pyrrha kept with short and medium range attacks. Jaune stayed beside Nora , though it looked as if it now fought blind, it's head still tracked Nora.
The four's attention then shifted as the first beowolf appeared from the tunnel, before a second and then a third, they stood on hind legs, frozen for a moment with their ears pricked up.
Much like the polypheme, they began sniffing at the air before growling their sights set on Nora, but as they got on all fours to attack, the polypheme roared again.
What happened next could only be described as 'seeing is believing', the beowolves charged for the polypheme, one of the smaller beowolves vaulted up onto the creature and began bighting at its throat.
The polypheme retaliating in equal fashion by clawing at the nimble beast in an attempt to wrench it off.
The remaining three assisted it's pack member by striking multiple areas, from its legs to its arms, clawing and biting.
JNPR had regrouped whilst the grimm fought amongst one another and were about to run, however several more beowolves appeared from the tunnel, preventing escape.
Jaune noticing their amber eyes seemingly drawn to the hammer wielder, then it hit him.
"Nora stay back, we'll keep the grimm away."
"What? Why? It's not like I've had the chance to fight this whole time." She replied in confusion.
"There's something entirely strange going on with the grimm, how they have been targeting you specifically.
And I bet it has to do with what's in your hands.
Protect that flower at all costs."
"Don't have to tell me twice."
Nora simply shrugged her shoulders and took a step back.
Pyrrha converted Milo into rifle form to make quick work of the first few beowolves, Ren and Jaune running head first to deal with another two.
Meanwhile the polypheme still clashed against the four beowolves, the smallest now on its back which caused the humanoid to move even more erratically to get it off.
Their little conflict had moved them further away from the second fight, though Jaune felt like it was still too close for comfort.
All of a sudden, the ground underneath the polypheme gave way to form a sink hole and all five grimm plummeted from sight.
At that moment one of the larger beowolves managed to avoid the three's attempts to stop it. Charging directly towards Nora and though she did her best to evade an incoming strike, the beast was able to connect one of its claw with the valkyire, dislodging the precious flower she'd protected all this time from her hands, sailing in the air.
Without a second thought, she ripped Magnhild from her back, unfurled it and slammed the hammer against the creatures skull, a loud crunch could be heard, reverberating throughout the tunnel before it was sent flying.
She then dropped her weapon and sprinted to save the flower.
"Nora!" Ren yelled out as he saw his teammate and knew what would happen next.
She leapt for the plant, sure that if this was some scene in an action movie, the scene would be in slow motion, with the camera angle facing directly in front of her the stem of the plant between her eyes as it was now once again nestled in her palms.
The three exhaled a breath they unknowingly held with relief, had Nora leapt further forward or failed to stop where she did, she would have fallen into the newly created underground abyss.
Without prompting, Ren rushed over to help ease his teammate back on her feet, who then smiled gratefully before looking back down at the flower, undisturbed by the chaotic event.
"I think I've had enough excitement for today." Nora joked tiredly.
"Wow, if you're saying it, then it must be serious." The green ninja retorted coyly, slowly walking away from her so she couldn't see the smirk forming on the sides of his mouth.
"Now correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure beowolves aren't known for living in caves." Jaune asked rhetorically.
"No you're right, they prefer to remain in wooded open areas, except maybe either to seek shelter or to find prey." The Amazonian answered.
"Well if that's true, then that means there should be an opening. And we can get out of here." Their leader declared.
They spent the next ten minutes walking in absolute silence, gradually the tunnel became brighter until they could see the mouth of the cave opening.
It was a welcome feeling of fresh air that greeted them as they stepped out, finally able to relax.
After a second or so to take it all in, Jaune detached his scroll to verify they could now relay a message to Goodwitch,
Luckily the response time was instant, the strict professor's voice echoing relief, knowing they had found a route out of the ravine and all in one piece.
Jaune turned to his team, Ren had already begun opening the emergency flares and tossing them on the ground a few metres from them, Pyrrha at the ready, scanning the area with Milo in rifle form, and Nora in between the three, safeguarding the plant.
"And that's exactly what happened on our first ever mission."
"Sounds like it was some-what eventful, but did you nearly risk your life for a flower?"
At that moment Ren piped up sounding quite un-phased by the question.
"Normally she tends to exaggerate her stories, but this time, all true...plus it was a cool flower, I would have done the same thing."
Nora laughed before she casually punched Zen on the right arm which caught him off guard as he now found himself on the ground, which in turn, caused the rest at the table to burst into laughter.
"I think we best be going to our first lesson." Pyrrha spoke up once they had all calmed down.
"Yeah same." Zen replied.
"It's too bad we're not in the same class... but hey at least we have sparring, and who knows, in a few days we'll be assigned another mission. Hopefully our teams get grouped together." Nora answered as they all stood and collected their belongings.
"It's a shame, but hey, maybe tomorrow morning we can sit together and I can tell you about our mission.
Great talking to you guys, I'll catcha later."
The group split off, with JNPR heading one way, Zen the other, yet the Amazonian fell behind the rest of her team as she looked back before halting altogether, which Jaune picked up immediately.
"Hey Pyrrha, everything okay?"
"Yes, I'll just be a few minutes, meet up with you once I'm finished, I remembered something."
After her leader nodded and followed the others she turned heel and ran to catch Zen.
"Zen. Could I ask you something?"
"Sure, what's up?"
"I didn't want to bring it up while my teammates were around, and I don't mean to pry. Though I just wanted to ask, how are you doing?
When we first met, you seemed... upset and you didn't stay around to talk.
"Oh, I- I can understand why you'd think that.
Let's call it a... sudden shift in perspective, and truthfully I couldn't cope with it... my only instinct was to run and unfortunately I ran into you-I eh mean, it was unfortunate we collided but I met you..."
He averted eye contact while scratching the back of his head in an attempt to keep himself composed so not to think about the moment he slammed into Pyrrha, or the images of her eventual fate shortly after.
He returned his attention after hearing a small chuckle from the taller girl before reassuring him.
"I understand what you're trying to say and after this morning, I'm glad we did.
If you ever want to talk to me about any problems that you're having, come find me.
And though I may not understand or be able to help, I can always try, and sometimes, that's all someone needs."
"I'll keep that in mind, thank you... oh and likewise.
I might not be the best at giving advice, I assure you I am an excellent listener."
With that, the two parted ways, one feeling great relief knowing she can be there for him.
The other burdened by what eventually awaited him, will he be there for her?
That night
Weiss placed her belongings on her desk and sighed with relief, now able to relax in her own dorm.
"Well. I'm going to have a shower if no one else is."
"Knock yourself out." Yang said nonchalantly.
To which the heiress nodded, gracefully walking to the bathroom after getting her showering essentials.
"Man you'd think that after coming down to Vale she'd ease up on the hot showers."
Blake said as she stared at the closed door, before looking at Yang and continuing.
"You ever notice how when going straight in after her, it's like a sauna in there-"
"Focus. Now Ruby is going to be coming back soon, maybe in five minutes maybe in half an hour, but what I'm going to need you to do is to take Weiss out... leave me alone with her."
"Yang? What exactly are you planning on doing?"
"I've been giving it some thought and I'm going to talk to her about seeing Zen."
"Yang please don't, it won't work out how you think it will.
You'll end up with her pushing back and maybe even distancing herself from you."
Blake at that moment stood up to get her point across, eyes now pleading for Yang to reconsider, but was met with lilac eyes which were shifting to red.
"Sit down Blake."
Yang put a firm hand on Blake's shoulder pushing back to where she sat.
"I'm still her older sister and guardian, and this is the time I use that to ensure her safety.
"Are you certain she'll agree?"
"She's seen me when I'm angry... so whether or not she wants to do things the easy way or the hard way is entirely up to her."
"This isn't going to go well."
"Now, are you going to get Weiss out of the dorm or not?"
"..."
"Blake?"
"I'll help, but not because you asked me, I'm doing this so I won't witness your sister getting upset and the aftermath that will surely follow."
She replied dryly, though her partner remained adamant everything would go to plan.
After several minutes, the heiress finally exited the bathroom, steam pouring out before she shut the door behind her.
Seeing this, Blake immediately stopped what she was doing and almost leapt up to speak to her.
"Weiss, I need your hand with something... well, Yang and I were talking and I wanted to get something for Ruby... call it a celebratory gift once we win the tournament."
"A little over-zealous to assume we'll win, though I'm not going to deny the confidence I have in our team.
But what about you Yang, aren't you coming with us?"
"I've got this report I need to finish up for next week's lesson from Peach." She replied as she waved a sheet of paper in hand for emphasis.
"Yes well I can agree you should stay here to finish that off.
Oh and if Ruby comes back tell her to do the same."
"No worries ice queen." Yang replied, winking at her shortly after.
"So that means you're going to help?" Blake asked.
"Yes, just give me a second I need to grab my scroll."
Walking over to her desk, she grabbed the device which sat face down and pressed a few buttons on the screen upon noticing a new message, a stern look adorned her face before her attention was taken away by Blake.
"Is something wrong?"
"Hmmm, it's just an audio message from my father."
"Anything serious?"
"Nothing to worry about for now, I'll sort it out once we get back."
"Alright, I'll see you guys later." The blonde called out with a wave as the two stepped out into the hallway.
"The minute we shut this door you better be putting ink to paper for that report, okay?"
"I got it Weiss."
"Fine. Now, shall we get going Blake?"
"Yes we- uh shall." Her monochrome counterpart replied.
Later
Ruby entered her dorm ready to sleep after an exciting and intense fight, seeing her sister sitting on the edge of Weiss's bed, arms loosely crossed.
"Hey Yang,"
"Hey sis." The larger girl responded in a tired manner. The smile on Ruby's face disappeared as she knew that tone her sister used.
Something's not right.
"Yang, what's wrong? Where are Weiss and Blake?"
"They had to go out, leaving me here to talk to you."
"Talk to me? About what?"
"Where were you after you left class." "I told you, I went to the training arena to fight with Penny and Ze-"
"Ruby, I don't want you to hang out with him anymore." Yang interjected sharply, pushing herself off the bed, standing at her full height while pointing a finger, all the while Ruby appearing puzzled.
"Why? What has he done? And why the sudden outburst?"
"Because I don't trust him!
Answer me this Ruby... did you tell Penny about Crescent Rose?"
"What, I- uh-" She stuttered as her sister began to raise her voice.
"Let me rephrase it. Did you tell Penny the name of your scythe?"
"No, I never really brought it up before, but what does this have to do with -"
"Because he knew. Alright! Don't you remember, just as you two were about to leave he distinctly said 'shouldn't you bring Crescent Rose?'.
Now, unless he asked you when you first met and you told him.
How did he know about your weapon by name?"
"I never really thought about it, but what if he just overheard me talk about it during class and that's how he knew, besides what does it matter anyhow?"
"Okay let's just assume he did, explain then how he was able to know that Rimmy Tim's real name is Jeremy Jooley, he may have gotten the last name wrong, but he was on the money with the name if only by one letter."
'Wait, so Rimmy's name real name? Huh."
"Ruby focus. Think about this, why and how such an inexperienced fighter from the military kingdom shows up without any weapon to speak of as well as never having encountered a Grimm, not just fought one but actually seen one?
And can be admitted to fight at Beacon, and given our line of work why choose it if he has the best chance of being killed?"
"Yang, I don't know what to make of what you're saying and why you think this justifies me not being able to talk to him."
"Because he's hiding something."
"What if he is?
We all have our own problems Yang, some people can hide it well, some people can't.
Maybe he has a funny way of dealing with people and to you he comes off as some sort of sociopath.
And what makes you think that anyhow?"
"Have you seen Blake recently?"
Of course you haven't as she's put on a facade when you're around so you don't fret
"She's become quieter than usual, on edge and has sometimes shuts herself out when we ask her if she's okay .
You want to know why?
Because she went and had a talk to him.
I don't know what he said, but I can guess it wasn't good.
It's my fault she's like this cause she could see this was eating me from the inside and I didn't want to say anything in case I lost my temper.
But after what went on, what he said to Blake... I don't even care what happens.
He is going to be sorry he even set foot in our dorm."
"Penny trusts him, and I trust Penny, she knows how to judge a person, and so do I.
As far as I see it, he has done nothing to suggest he is a threat to anyone.
Not to Penny, not to you and more importantly not to me.
I know you, you are looking out for me and I love you for that, but please understand that Zen is a person of good character, determined to better himself and wants to protect people.
And I want to help him out in any way I can, and if that means sparring off against him in training, then so be it".
Yang kept quiet for the moment, clearly she wasn't going to get through to her sister, and this conversation could go on for the night and the next day.
'You'll end up with her pushing back and maybe even distancing herself from you.'
If she was going to have any peace of mind...
Her fierce manner quickly dissolved as she walked up to Ruby hugging her tightly. Speaking with a soft gentle tone, years of love behind her words.
"Ruby, I have always tried to look after you as best as I could. I - we, have lost so much already, I don't want to lose you.
I am trying to do this for your own safety.
I might be wrong about this whole situation.
But as far as I can tell, I am staying alert, I will always keep you safe and happy.
I can't talk you out of this and I'm not going to push this matter any further.
Just know, that if you do see any sign of danger from him you won't hesitate in responding.
Okay?"
"..."
"Ruby?"
"Fine, if he poses any sort of danger, which he won't I will take him down if need be."
"Thank you sis, you might not understand yet, but one day you'll understand why I am acting so defensive"
They pulled apart from the embrace, and the older sister's normal mood returned once again.
"I'm glad you understand.
I'm going to the cafeteria, did you want to come with me?"
"Nah, I think I'll stay here."
"Okay If you're sure."
Once she was sure she was alone, Ruby climbed up to her bed, laying face first and began to quietly sob.
Non Cannonical Omake:
Ruby enters the dorm, noticing Blake sitting on the edge of her bed, eating a bag of peanuts.
"What are you doing!" She asks with eyes wide in shock.
Blake, still munching on the peanuts looks up surprised, "What?"
Without a second thought, Ruby rushes over and slaps the bag out of Blake's hands.
Blake now staring in confusion at the bag now on the floor before looking up at Ruby. "Hey I was eating those."
"Exactly." Ruby replies, now with a stern look on her face arms cross as she stares back at Blake.
"What?"
"Blake, it's No Nut November, and what do I find? My teammate chowing down on a bag of nutty goodness."
Blake blinks for a second before answering.
"Ruby that's not wha- I mean I haven't broken any rules.
"How? I clearly saw you."
Blake smiles before closing her eyes and shaking her then looking back up at her leader.
Ruby, peanuts are legumes, not nuts."
Ruby then relaxes her arms at the realization.
"Oh."
Before then kneeling down and scooping the peanuts that had fallen out of the bag back in and then standing up before handing the bag back to Blake.
Looking a little sheepish once timidly asked once her teammate took the bag.
"Can I have some?"
Blake smiles before patting the space next to her on the bed.
"Sure."
Ruby and Blake sat on the edge of raven haired girls bed, sharing the bag of peanuts between them.
- Little something I thought of as a comment to a post on a RWBY FB group in relation to a NNN joke where Ruby leaves for patch as her team are 'nuts' and Weiss is stoped by Yang from telling the truth
Guess who wanted to get this chapter out a lot sooner than what he did after a little thing known as work, friends and Halo infinite decided to take his attention away... That's right, me.
Okay lets start off with this chapter to clarify anything some readers might be asking when they finished.
1. Though JNPR have been introduced, they won't be at the forefront of the story, they will play their part, but ideally Penny and the four girls will be the focus.
entire chapter was actually centered around the first few paragraphs (which continue where we left off in the last chapter) and the final few paragraphs ie Yang talking to Ruby (which was what I wanted the original chapter to be.
2(b) Truth be told I did include JNPR to help increase the length of the chapter, and the talk between Pyrrha and Jaune... I was kinda depressed (not related to the fic) at the time before writing that, but a good friend talked to me about it, he made me feel netter and so I tried to translate it into the story.
3. The whole thing with the lotus flower won't play a major role in the story, but it may be brought up later, I had originally planned Nora to be obsessed with the flower and just bringing it along until we get to the part where she nearly falling into the underground abyss, but latter I rethought the situation and made it a secondary objective so it was something they needed.
4. Yes you can imagine that throughout the fight in the tunnel, Nora held the lotus in cupped hands, she wanted to be gentle with it and by the time she could put it down to then grab her weapon she would already be in danger, so she mainly backpedaled while the others did the fighting.
5. The Polypheme: it's appearance is somewhat light the apathy but not as skinny and the skull of the polypheme is more black than white. the horns also look like those on the doom hunter from doom eternal (though I was inspired by Doom's Baron of hell to begin with).
6. Ruby appearing as though she is oblivious to what is going on with Blake: She isn't but she also respects Blake enough for her to tell her if something was wrong, that and Blake is good at keeping things a secret when need be.
7 . Ruby and Crescent Rose: Yes Ruby is the weapons geek and if was standing in front of you, that would be the ice breaker to get her talking to you, so the fact why she said no to Yang about why she never told Penny... to me that wouldn't make sense, it would have been one of the first things she would have talked about to her.
So let me put this out here (as i don't think i conveyed in the chapter properly).
Because Yang was starting to raise her voice at Ruby, Ruby went into fight or flight mode and she quickly answered her older sister's question without even thinking, so she basically lied to Yang about talking to penny as 'No' was the first response she could come up with.
8. (Final) Ruby sobbing: She's crying for a few reasons, as stated above, Yang was raising her voice to her, she was also upset at the accusations (and possible threats) being leveled at her friend and the potential chance she might (next chapter pending) be barred from helping Penny and Zen, and the other reason being the overall confusion of the conversation.
Other than that things have happened since the last chapter and this one, and I was going to mention them to you (but I've forgotten) though obviously the biggest standout since last year has been Halo Infinite.
Have you played it?
If so have you liked it, so far I've been doing collectible hunts in the campaign so I'm only just getting to the 'dig site' mission.
Apart from that wishing all you beautiful readers a later merry Christmas and happy new year.
"And as always I will see you in the next video, buh bye." - Markiplier