Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY
This chapter consists of four separate stories, or vignettes. They are separated by line breaks.
Chapter 15: Days at Beacon, Part 3
White Passions
Weiss stood before the very gates of Hell itself, sweating dripping down her brow as she tried to gather her courage. It was a simple thing, but it had grown into a near-impossible task for her, her mind racing and her breath quickening with the knowledge of what lay beyond. She had faced against savage Grimm, but this was a different beast all together and she would need an iron will to make sure-
"Hey Weiss, you heading in?"
Weiss jumped slightly and turned to see Blake looking at her. She too was dripping with sweat, her gym clothes soaked through.
"Come on" Yang said, coming up from the other side. "We need to get cleaned up. My hair is covered with grime and I'm going to go crazy if it isn't washed soon."
Weiss couldn't help but agree. Gym class today had been all about physical exercise, with laps, push-ups and sit-ups going on for seemingly forever, pushing their bodies as far as they would go. It had ended with an enjoyable game of volleyball, lifting the spirits of the tired students. Team RWBY had, obviously, dominated the games they were in.
All in all, despite how tired and sore they were, everyone felt good about class and felt they had gotten at least a little bit stronger. Still, with it all over now and the adrenaline leaving their systems, they were now acutely aware of all the sweat, dirt and grime that covered their bodies and there had been a rush towards the gym's showers as soon as they were dismissed.
Weiss had noticed Ren sneaking out of the gym, doubtlessly heading back to the dorms to take a shower in his own room. She cursed herself for not doing the same, but that would have led to questions from her sisters, questions she wasn't fully ready to answer yet.
So, Weiss took a deep breathe, pushed open the doors she had been standing in front of for a full minute, and marched into the girl's changing room, her sisters following behind.
Inside was the usual collection of benches and lockers but it was the young women within, all covered in sweat and all in various states of undress, that was the main draw here. Weiss kept her eyes forwards, cursing that she had put her clothes in a locker near the back of the room.
"It's okay. Just keep focused. Don't let anything distract you."
"Hey Pyrrha!"
Ruby's greeting pulled Weiss away from her thoughts and towards their friend she had almost passed on by. Pyrrha had stripped to her underwear and was sitting on the ground doing cool-down stretches. She had been given a clean bill of health from the nurse when she got her cast off a few days ago but she was still taking her physical well-being seriously.
"Hello again." Pyrrha gave her customary greeting. "I must say you four were amazing in the game; your teamwork was exemplary."
"It was nothing" Yang said with false modesty. "You gave us a good run though."
Weiss wasn't paying attention to the conversation, instead focused on Pyrrha's body. Stretching out like that put her impressive muscles on full display and the sweat dripping down the lines and contours of her body enhance it even more. Powerful calves, strong biceps and a lovely pair of breasts all served to take Weiss's breathe away.
"Still didn't help in the end" Nora bounced up, hopping up and down on her feet. "No matter how well Pyrrha served or how fast I slammed the balls, you guys always counted it perfectly. It's like you guys can communicate psychically or something; you guys aren't psychic, are you?"
Weiss barely heard her sisters laugh and reply in the negative, her attention full on Nora now. Her 'Thunder Thighs' were on full display as she continued to bounce up and down. The motion caused her very large chest to jiggle up and down with her, moving against the confines of her bra.
"Up and down…up and down…up and down…"
"Hey Weiss, you okay?"
Blake's voice again brought Weiss back to Earth, but before she could stammer out a response, another voice cry out loudly.
"Coco! Careful, it's really cold!"
The Sisters turned to see Velvet and Coco, the latter applying cream to a large bruise the bunny-girl had gotten during class on her upper thigh.
"Stop squirming. I need to apply this evenly or you skin might get discoloured." Coco was someone who took both the well-being and appearances of her friends seriously. She grasped her teammate's leg firmly and continued to spread the cream against the bruise, which only caused Velvet to squirm more. As she was stripped to her underwear, the end result was that her impressive rear was wiggling back and forth in front of Weiss.
The white Xiao Long's gaze was fixed on the sight before her and one of her eyes began to twitch slightly.
"Weiss…WEISS!"
"Bunny Butt! I wasn't looking at the Bunny Butt!" Weiss whirled around to look at her sisters, barely about to keep those thoughts to herself. Her sisters were giving her confused and concerned looks, so she gathered herself up.
"Yes…well…We should hurry up and get clean. I need to get some studying done in the library today, so let's go!" Weiss almost sprinted to her locker, took out her clothes and toiletries and head towards the showers, keeping her eyes firmly forward.
For Weiss, the Elegant and Graceful Lady, this place was Hell.
For Weiss, the Closet Lesbian, this place was absolute Heaven.
Weiss didn't know exactly when she started to look at girls in this way, but the fact was she liked girls and disliked boys. An explanation could be found with how she lived in a fairly female-dominated household, but the simple truth was this was who she was. She had some difficulty accepting it at first as a young teenager but eventually came around.
She wasn't ashamed of it at all, or that she was having these feelings to begin with. The issue was that Weiss wanted to be in absolute control of every aspect of her life and she had no control over these feelings. She really didn't have any outlets for these feelings, and with her hormones raging like a high schooler, she was honestly afraid that she would do something stupid. It didn't help that every girl at Beacon was drop-dead gorgeous.
None of them close to Yang or Blake's level of beauty but she wasn't doing to hold it against them for falling short of perfection.
Her family was the other side of the problem, as she hadn't gotten around to telling them about her orientation. She knew they would accept her, as understanding and accepting people for who them was a major lesson both of her parents had imparted to their children. She knew they would love her no matter what.
It still scared her like nothing else though. Taking on an entire horde of Grimm with her bare hands was easier then coming out to her family. Even when she knew they would still love her, the tiniest chance they wouldn't froze her heart solid. She didn't want to heap anything more onto her family, what with her Debt and all, so she decided to keep it to herself for now.
It wasn't the smartest move by far and she vowed that she would tell them when the time was right. Maybe tomorrow? Or the next day…or the day after that….
Yang and Blake watched as Weiss made a beeline for the showers, the same though passing through their minds.
"She may be a genius, but she's the dumbest girl in the world if she thinks we don't know."
Did Weiss really think she could hide something that big from them? Part of them was angry that she didn't trust them enough to share something so important, while another part wanted to bring in up themselves and relieve this burden from their sister.
But this was Weiss's choice, and it was her step to take. If she could come out openly to her family, then she could handle anything. They would do as they had always done; love and accept her with all their hearts.
The two gave Velvet's butt their own appreciative look before following Weiss to the showers. Neither had anything against looking at other girls and had found their thoughts drifting to the same-sex more then once during their young teenage years. If another girl had asked them on a date back on Patch, they would have agreed; it was just that only boys had approached them.
They weren't currently interested in starting a relationship with anyone right now, both too focus on becoming Huntresses and because all their previous relationships had been lacking something, a spark or connection. They didn't know what was missing and couldn't really describe it, so they decided to avoid any romantic attachments for now and focus on their studies and their family.
Ruby, who had been busy chatting with Pyrrha and Nora, hurried to catch up to her sisters. Her focus was squarely on her siblings, her mind barely registering the other half-naked girls around her. Her eyes and attention were for the three girls who had been with her for as long as she could remember.
Always those three…only those three…
Her sisters…
Perspective from Home
Jaune stepped out onto Beacon's rooftop, the same place he had confessed to Nora about his transcripts. He had come here often since, to ponder the strange but still fulfilling course his school life had taken.
Pyrrha had made a full recovery and was back to her reserved self, though she still insisted on a rematch with Nora in the near-future, something that the Pink Bomber was understandably hesitant to commit too.
His private talks with Nora had gone on, with the girl revealing only little personal things about herself, nothing about the secret that terrified her so much. He had a feeling it had something to do with the match against Pyrrha but still didn't know exactly what it could be. Nora seemed monstrously strong all the time and he had no clue how that could tie back to her hiding how smart she was.
Still, these talks were enjoyable, with Jaune telling tales about his family while Nora listened with rapt attention and commenting on everything and anything that came to her mind. He was coming to understand the many facets of this amazing girl.
He hadn't made any sort of progress with Ren, the stoic ninja politely refusing any offer to talk. The dance lessons had continued and were going well, but Ren had avoided any attempt by Jaune to apologize for before or for them to try dancing together again. He was resisting any attempt for the two to get closer, but not out of hate or disgust. There was something else going on and he wished he knew more.
Jaune shook his head and was about to leave when his Scroll rang. Checking the caller ID, he answered with a smile forming on his face.
"Hey Vert."
"Hey! How's my favorite little brother doing." A cheerful female voice answered on the other end.
Jaune didn't point out he was her only brother and didn't rise to her calling him 'little'. Their mothers had gotten pregnant at the same time, but Vert had been born three days before him, so she constantly called him her little brother. Jaune had long since given up arguing with her about it.
"I'm doing great here. How's everyone at home?"
"Everything's good here." There was a long pause. "Come on, don't keep me in suspense. Tell me how the spouse hunting is going!"
"My Huntsmen training is going well, thanks for asking." He answered dryly.
"Don't give me that. I know you were holding out on us on all the juicy details from the last family call. Hurry up and give me the deets on my future sisters-in-law!"
Jaune had called his family soon after passing Initiation, speaking to all of them on video call and letting them know he was okay. He had deliberately been vague about his team, mostly to avoid a conversation like this.
Relationships were very important to the Arc family, as it was made up of several different relationships that formed a greater whole. Creating connections with others was a big thing for the family, but unfortunately it had backfired more then once. Each of the Arc children had lost at least one friend because they had been too intense, tried to get too close too quickly and thus made them uncomfortable. It wasn't even an issue about romantic desire; the Arcs just wanted to be close and connected to as many people as possible.
That didn't always turn out well with other people from different backgrounds. Jaune had decided to keep his family and teammates separate, at least for the first part of here, to let things settle and to get to know them better.
Vert's curiosity was, however, certainly mirrored in the rest of his family and if they didn't get some answers soon, they might decide to make the journey to Vale to 'check up' on him. That would be quite embarrassing for him, so maybe giving some broad answers would satisfy them for now.
"My partner is Pyrrha Nikos. She from Mistral, where she's apparently some sort of champion fighter. She's amazing both in the fight ring and in the classroom; she definitely one of the strongest and smartest students here and I'm learning a lot from her."
"Yeah, yeah, and…?"
Jaune sighed, knowing what his sister was really interested in.
"She's got bright red hair and green eyes, along with a very athletic and toned body."
"OHHHH! Your children will be so cute! All bright eyes and maybe mixed hair, like blonde with red highlights? I can't wait!" Vert was practically squealing in delight. "Don't stop, keep going; who the second wife-to-be?"
"My other teammate" Jaune emphasized the word, "is Nora Valkyrie. Short red hair and bright turquoise eyes. She's short but she is damn strong; not someone you should ever underestimate."
"That's good. You need to be strong to carry around children. So, who's the final lucky girl?"
"His name is Lie Ren. He's got dark haired and has magenta eyes. He's very stoic and quiet, but also kind and thoughtful."
"That's great! I always wanted a brother-in-law. Let me tell you, sometimes there is just way too much estrogen in this house."
"Vert!" Jaune snapped, losing patience. "They are my friends and teammates; I'm not trying to seduce and marry them. I'm here at Beacon to do something bigger, to be someone bigger. I'm the leader of Team JNPR and I will support my teammates as their leader and friend; nothing more, nothing less."
"Oh, come on, you know I'm not being serious. We're all happy for you and want you to be the best Huntsmen you can possible be, but I don't want you to be so focused on one of your dreams that you forget your other one."
Jaune's other dream, which he hadn't shared with anyone outside of his family, was to have a large family of his own one day, with multiple spouses like his parents. He wanted to love and be loved as much as possible and he wanted to be a Huntsmen to protect those he loved. It was all connected together, and it wouldn't do if he focused so much on one part that he neglected the other.
"I haven't forgotten or anything but being a Huntsmen is literally life or death. I need to focus everything on that, especially since I didn't go to Combat School. Besides, I'm only 17; I have my whole life ahead of me before I think of settling down."
"Doesn't mean you can't keep an open mind." Vert countered. "These teammates sound like they could be good matches."
"They're great and amazing but it's not like they're perfect or anything. They have a lot of stuff going on in their lives and while I'll do my best to help, I'm not going to 'fix' them for my own benefit. I respect them too much to do that." Jaune was very firm on that point; he wasn't going to try and make someone else into his ideal partner. "I have to focus on the here and now, so everything else will just have to wait."
"Come on Jaune, there's no reason you can't do both. You know all the stories about the dashing Huntsman, saving the day alongside his beautiful teammates, the group growing closer as they realize their mutual attraction and…wait, you do think your teammates are attractive, right?"
That was a fairly loaded question, with a very subjective answer, but Vert was working with very incomplete picture and the little fantasy she was making for Jaune needed a clear answer.
His answer was very, very clear.
"By all the Gods Above, YES!" Jaune almost shouted before starting to pace back and forth. "They are three of the most beautiful and physically attractive people I have ever met. Like, seriously, why are they even at Beacon? They could easily have been models or something."
Vert stayed silent, smiling to herself as she let her brother vent.
"Pyrrha's practically an Amazon; tall, large breasts, thick thighs and an incredible degree of muscle, all perfectly balanced. Nora's a short-stack, with a large chest and butt. She's always jumping and bouncing around, and when she does, everything jiggles. And Ren, oh, when he does acrobatics and such when training, it's poetry in motion."
"Does he have a nice butt you can stare at all day?" Vert asked conversationally.
"And nice hips too, when you can actually see them." Jaune answered absently, before shaking his head. "That's not all there its to them, of course."
Vert hummed an agreement, knowing her brother wouldn't have had such a reaction if he only saw them as sexy bodies and nothing else. He was attracted to the whole package here, which spoke quite highly of those three.
"Must be pretty tough, sharing a room with three people like that. Must be getting really frustrated by now." Vert said in a teasing tone.
Jaune simply grunted a reply; while he was fairly open with his family about his sexuality, there were limits.
"My teammates are beautiful, amazing, talented…and completely out of my league." Despite how matter-of-factly he said it, he couldn't keep the twinge of sadness out of his voice. "They certainly have higher standards for a romantic partner then I could ever reach. And I don't think Ren swings that way, so it just better if I focus on being their friend and nothing more."
Vert wished she could reach out and hug her brother at that moment. It was clear that he had come to care deeply for his teammates but had convinced himself that he wasn't good enough. Their father's advice that 'All girls looked for was confidence' did hold some truth, not in acting confidently but by being confident in oneself.
Jaune's family all understood his desire to be a Huntsmen and that focusing on that was important, but they didn't want him to be neglected himself. Sure, none of them wanted him to try and seduce everything that moved or pull out a ring and propose to every person he developed a modicum of affection for, but they still wanted him to be true to himself.
There was no easy answer for this predicament, but it wouldn't be good if he put off everything else in favor of being just a Huntsmen. Jaune was someone they knew could make so many people happy, not just as Jaune the Huntsmen but as Jaune the kind, sweet person. He had a good, solid moral foundation and Vert earnestly believed he could find the right balance, but he needed confidence in himself to succeed.
Vert turned the conversation towards lighter topics, of what everyone had been up to since he left for Beacon. It took his mind off of his teammates and brought back his good cheer.
As they said goodbye to each other, with Jaune promising to call home more often, Vert still had many concerns but also hope; not just in her little brother but also in these teammates of his. The way Jaune spoke of them made it clear that they were exceptional individuals and she just had a feeling that things would work out.
Beacon was a place were great people gathered to become the best they could be. Jaune's passing of Initiation proved that anything could happen there, and his family just need to have a little faith that he could make it.
Lotus Nightmares
Lie Ren sat patently on the stool as the woman brushed his long hair. Looking closer, many of the objects in the room had a blurry, indistinct look to them, and part of him realized he was dreaming. The fact that the face looking back at him in the vanity mirror he was seated in front of was that of a child was another hint, along with the knowledge that the woman standing behind him was long dead.
"Oh, your hair is so lovely my little Lie. You need to make sure to take good of it, so be careful when you're playing outside." An Ren said softly, humming a gentle tune as she continued to brush her child's hair.
The rational part of Ren was saying that this was all fake, just a dream but the larger part just accept this, wanting to embrace this happy memory and just live in this moment. His mother put down the brush and bent down, placing her head next to Ren's. They look at each other through the mirror, two bright smiles reflected back.
"I love you so much." An said, kissing Ren's cheek. "I love you, my beautiful little…"
His mother's lips moved but no sound came out. Ren frowned, trying to hear what she was saying as he just knew it was important.
Suddenly, the ceiling collapsed on top of them, and Ren was sent tumbling into darkness. He got to his feet and looked around, see scenes of his village burning, images he had hope to completely forget about.
"Mother! Mother, where are you?" His voice was that of small child, scared and alone and desperate for their parent's comfort. He called out, over and over, despite know what the answer was.
"Lie."
A deep voice made Ren turn around and look up at the figure of his father. He had blood streaming down his face and was looking at Ren with hard eyes.
"Boys are easier to deal with then girls."
The words were spoken in a harsh tone and the look he gave Ren was accusatory, like all of this was his fault. A huge claw suddenly appeared behind Li Ren, grabbing him, and pulling into the darkness, his gaze never wavering from Ren's face.
Hot tears fell down Ren's face, just as they did on that day. All around him was destruction and deaths, of both human and Grimm screaming, of everything he ever known and loved being taken from him.
Something emerged from the scenes of devastation surround him, a figure that was vaguely human. He couldn't make out anything distinct about them, even as they drew closer. All that was visible was swirling ring of pink lightning, lashing out and destroying the surrounding buildings at random.
"Stay away!" Ren shouted, wanting to run away but finding his feet rooted to the ground. "It's…it's all your fault! Your fault!" Ren didn't know why he said that, but he needed the blame to belong to someone, someone other then him.
The figure drew closer, opening their arms wide as if to envelope him. Ren struggled to move, finally getting enough strength to move forward, thrusting both hands to push the figure away.
"Go away. Just go away!"
Ren pushed the figure, falling down and…was back in Team JNPR's dorm. The young man shook his head, trying to focus as his consciousness came fully back. He had partly fallen out of his bed, his upper body almost on the ground. Dawn was barely breaking and the faint light coming through the window helping him make out the room.
Jaune and Pyrrha was still sleeping soundly in the beds. Nora's was empty, due to the girl currently laying sprawled out on the floor next to Ren's bed, her bright eyes visible in the dim light, pure confusion shining from those turquoise orbs.
Realization of what had happened hit them both at the same time, and Nora leapt to her feet just as Ren sat up straight on the bed.
"Sorry!" They both said at the same time. The sudden noise made Pyrrha moved a bit in her sleep, the two awake members of JNPR waiting in silence until she settled back down.
"Nora, I'm sorry." Ren whispered. "I didn't mean-"
"No, it's…it's my fault." Nora replied, her voice low and tight. "I…shouldn't be doing things like this anymore. I need to grow up and stop making you feel uncomfortable."
"I don't…I'm don't feel uncomfortable around you. You know that, right?"
A long moment passed before Nora replied.
"I know…how you feel about me." With that, Nora turned at went into the bathroom, dawn's first light catching the tears forming in her eyes.
The words stabbed Ren in the heart, and he sat in silence for several minutes, hands clenched and his fingernails digging into his palms.
Nora had nightmares on a fairly regular basis; who wouldn't, after having a life like hers? She often crawled into bed with him, taking comfort in his presence to help her go to sleep. They had shared a bed plenty of times as kids in the Mistral and Vale foster care and later at Bonfire Academy. They had been together since that terrible day, so it was natural they would seek comfort with one another.
Except if Ren was having a nightmare of his own. Nora had come to him for warmth and safety and he had physically pushed her away. Never mind that he wasn't fully conscious of his actions, he had hurt her when she needed him to comfort her. Sure, it had been getting more uncomfortable for him and he had asked to try her best to stay in her own bed, as they were sharing a dorm with other people now, but that was still no excuse for what he did.
Ren got out of bed and exited the room as quickly and quietly as possible, heading for the dorm's common room and the attached kitchenette. Last time they had all gone shopping, he had made sure to get several boxes of pancake mix, planning to make a big breakfast for Nora and the others.
Pancakes…pancakes would solve everything. He would make a huge mountain of the things and Nora would eat them all up and smile and laugh and be all good again. He wouldn't to worry about her or think about how right now she was crying her eyes out in the bathtub and he really should go to her directly and sort things out that way instead of running for the easier option.
Ren gritted his teeth at his own weakness. He didn't know why his relationship with Nora had become so difficult lately, while it always had some rough parts to it due to their past, they had still managed to work well enough together. Being at Beacon, interacting and opening up to new people had seemingly expose the many cracks they had been hiding over the years.
It…it shouldn't be like this. Everything would be fine if Nora just listened to him and stopped being so childish all the time. She was always bouncing around and talking nonsense when she should be focusing on her studies; he didn't want to think how poor her grades probably were. Instead, she was always goofing off with Team RWBY or going to talk with Jaune in private, all completely useless in the face of them becoming Huntsmen. Sure, he was helping Pyrrha but that was different, as it was to definitely help someone else.
Nora was just being so selfish, not considering how her actions were affecting others. If only she would stop being such self-centred, over-emotional bitch and just do what he told her to do. It was all her fault and if she just-
Ren internal tirade was cut short as his right fist collide with his cheek. He was almost knocked off his feet, falling to his knees and breathing deeply for several moments as the pain cleared his mind.
"What…what am I thinking?! I want what's best for Nora, but I don't want to control her life. What kind of relationship would that be?"
Ren was a very intelligent individual, so it didn't take him long to figure out the answer to that question.
It would be an abusive relationship.
Ren got to his feet and started to pace. "NO! NO! I would never do something like that to Nora. I don't hate her, I lov-"
Ren suddenly found himself unable to breathe, as if a metal bar had been lodged into his throat, stopping him from even thinking of that particular word. After a few panic-filled moments, he managed to forced it all back down and started breathing normally again. He took a solid moment to collect himself before resuming his journey to the kitchen.
Pancakes…pancakes would solve everything.
It was quite the lovely surprise for Jaune, Pyrrha and Team RWBY to wake up to breakfast, even if it was just an absurd number of pancakes. The ever-ravenous Xiao Long Sisters had no qualms about the meal, easily accepting Ren explanation that he just felt like doing it doing it today. They also bought Nora's excuse that her eyes were a bit red because she had accidentally gotten some shampoo in them while showering that morning. She didn't give them much time to contemplate, as she dug into the pancakes with a gusto, giving Ren a bright smile all the while.
The ones not convinced by the display were Jaune and Pyrrha. They had spent a lot of time with Nora and Ren respectfully in private, and though they couldn't place a finger on it, they just knew something was wrong. With such a jovial atmosphere on display, they couldn't bring it up without bringing everyone else down. It wasn't the right time, so the two just smiled and ate their pancake, unaware that their partner had the same thoughts.
For right now, all they could do was focus on the pancakes.
Fun Food Fight
Lunchtime at Beacon's cafeteria was its usual state of semi-controlled chaos. Team RWBY had just finished their first massive serving and were casually picking at the remains as they let it settle before going for Round 2. Ruby had left in a hurry, promising to return in just a moment, so the Sisters were patiently waiting.
Unlike the usual setup, Team JNPR was sitting a couple of tables away from RWBY. Jaune had said that his team had some matter to discuss and so were eating apart today. RWBY had naturally been worried that something was wrong but were willing to let their friend handle it among themselves for now. It didn't look like they were really talking about anything, just quickly eating with Nora even engaging in a game of tossing food across the room for Yang to catch in her mouth, so it couldn't be that serious.
That wasn't the case, as Jaune wanted to talk about what was going on between Nora and Ren ever since that sudden pancake breakfast a few days ago. But it never seemed like the right time or place, and it was easy for Nora, Ren, or both to deflect his attempts to discuss their personal problems. They respected Jaune as their friend, but he didn't exercise much authority over them as team leader. Jaune just wasn't a confrontational or forceful person, so it was easy to shut him down.
He belatedly realized he should have asked Pyrrha for help, as having both of them confronting Nora and Ren would make it harder for them to avoid. But Pyrrha had issues of her own and he couldn't just burden her with this out of the blue.
The irony was that Pyrrha also wanted to help Ren and Nora and would have readily agreed to help Jaune if he had asked. The two just hadn't deepen their relationship as partners yet, ending up spending more time their other teammates. Both were beginning to realize this issue and vowed to spend more time with each other, but that didn't help with the here and now.
The last option was to turn to their friends in RWBY. Those girls were nothing if not kind and open-minded and would help their friends with anything in a heartbeat. But Jaune and Pyrrha, perhaps selfishly, wanted to keep it within the team and not involve others. That method wasn't making much headway, so they would have to turn to Team RWBY sooner rather then later.
Speaking of the Xiao Long Sisters, Ruby finally returned carrying a large binder, which she promptly dropped onto the table.
"My dear sisters. Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream." Ruby proclaimed in a serious tone.
"This should be good" Yang commented, catching a berry in her mouth, and giving Nora a thumbs up.
"I dreamed that we would come together, as a family and a team, and have the most fun anyone has ever had…ever!"
Weiss looked at the binder on the table and then up at Ruby.
"Did you steal my binder…again?"
Ruby help up her hands in a peace sign. "I am not a crook."
"What are you talking about?" Blake asked.
"I'm talking about starting this semester off with a bang," Ruby answered, pointing a finger at Blake for emphasis.
Yang sat up and looked at her sisters with a grin.
"I like to start my semesters off-"
"With a YANG!" Her sisters cut her off in unison. "We know, we know…"
They loved Yang to death, but sometimes her puns were too much.
The blonde brawler scowled at her ruined joke, catching an apple thrown her way without looking and tossing it the room, where it hit some random student.
"So, what activities did you come up with, using my binder?" Weiss asked, turning back to Ruby.
"They've halted construction on the new overpass for the week, so the main yard is empty right now. We can take Bumblebee for a ride without anyone seeing."
"Sick", Yang said, a smile returning to her face. Her motorcycle had finally arrived from Patch and she was itching to go for a ride. A large, empty construction yard would have plenty of space to go full throttle, along with lots of objects to use as ramps to get some good air.
They were obviously not allowed in such a place, but the Xiao Long Sisters never let a little trespassing get in the way of some fun.
Ruby continued.
"There's a poetry reading going on downtown, along with an amateur's contest, with the prize being a signed copy of the works of some famous poet."
"Sick," replied Blake. It had been a long while since she had flexed her poetic muscles. She might be a bit rusty, but she was confident her prose would take first place.
"Mickers-Larmstrong is unveiling a new ore crusher that they say will revolutionize traditional mining and could be used for Dust mining as well. It's bound to send shocks through the financial world. We'll head to the Vale's Central Stock Exchange and see how it plays out."
"Sick," said Weiss. She had traded with penny-stocks in her last years at Signal but had to quit as Beacon was going to be a huge commitment and take a lot of her attention. She had gathered a respectable little fortune to herself, which her sisters only had a vague idea about, but it was no where near enough to repay her Debt.
To do that, she would need to break into the big stocks. She wasn't ready for that, but she could lay the groundwork. The prize money from the Vytal festival could be used to great effect if used wisely and it would be prudent for Weiss to get a feel for the market before their inevitable victory in the tournament.
Leave it to Ruby to take all their varied interests into account, even those they themselves had put on the back burner.
That did remind Weiss about her other great passion that she hadn't indulged in a while.
"Do you think we could do some karaoke afterwards? I feel like singing today."
Ruby looked at Weiss with an almost sad expression.
"Dear sister, do you have so little faith in me?" She tapped the binder on the table. "It's already in the plan. There a karaoke bar downtown that has a discount in the evening for groups of four or more. We'll be able to sing our hearts out."
"Sweet."
Ruby was definitely improving when it came to thinking of all the variables; she was coming into her role as a team leader.
"Hey", Yang said, speaking in a low voice, "do you think we should invite JNPR along with us? They don't seem to doing so hot lately."
As she spoke, Nora and Pyrrha was leaning in close and whispering to each other, Pyrrha having a very concerned and reluctant look on her face.
"This is supposed to be a day for us, as a team, so…I don't know." Blake was hesitant, not wanting to ruin Ruby's plan but not wanting to ignore her friends either.
"Well, I think-"
Weiss was cut off as a banana-cream pie hit her square in the face. Looking over at JNPR's table, they saw it was Pyrrha who had thrown it, frozen still in the motion with a horrified look on her face.
She had been trying to talk with Nora, who turned the conversation around and managed to convince her to join in her little game of throwing food at Yang. She had been reluctant, but Nora was remarkable persuasive and so Pyrrha agreed to just one time, hoping it would make her happy and thus open up a bit to her.
By sheer chance she had decided to pick up a pie of all things and, not being used throwing such things, her aim had been off and hit Weiss instead.
The pie plate slid off, leaving Weiss with a face covered in cream. Blake and Yang reached out and scooped up some of the cream on their fingers before licking it off.
"Banana Cream Weiss", Yang said.
"Sweet and Salty", Blake commented, licking her lips.
The three sitting Sisters stood up together, taking a step behind the table. Ruby pick up the binder and tossed it onto the floor behind her before taking a place next to her sisters.
Weiss calmly wiped the cream off her face before looking over at Team JNPR.
"You understand of course…that this means war."
With that, all four kicked the table, sending it spinning high into the air. Many of the dishes still on the table fell down, being caught by the Xiao Long Sisters who promptly threw them at Team JNPR.
For their credit, the Jaune's team recovered quickly, jumping out of their seats as Nora pushed the table forward, making a shield they could take cover behind. As the initial onslaught ended, the airborne cafeteria table crashed to the ground and Yang jumped on top of it.
"Justice with be swift!" she proclaimed before Blake joined her.
"Justice with be painful!"
Ruby hopped up as well.
"It will be…"
Weiss was last, raising one hand high into the air.
"DELICIOUS!"
After that, everything happened very quickly. All JNPR could tell from behind their table shield that an absurd amount of food was being thrown in all direction, lots of people were yelling, screaming, and running and they all swore they heard something explode.
"Do…do you think they're upset with me?" Pyrrha asked, fearing she may have done something terrible.
"No, I think they're just having fun with the situation," Jaune replied. The sound of someone being tossed in the air and impact against one of the large windows of the cafeteria made the blonde leader wince. "Maybe," he added hastily.
"Either way," Ren spoke up, "it's probably best if we sneak out and talk to them after they've calmed down a bit."
The others nodded and crawled to the end of the flipped table before standing up, preparing to make a dash for the door.
They were stopped by the sight of dozens of chairs and tables piled up high into a make-shift structure at the end of the room, the members of Team RWBY standing triumphal on top of it.
How in the world did they make something like that so fast?
"We're the Queens of the Castle, we're the Queens of the Castle." The Sisters sang the little song in unison, which was just the tiniest bit creepy. The smirks they gave to JNPR, now the only ones in the cafeteria, made it clear they wouldn't let them get away.
Jaune looked around frantically.
"Nora! Watermelons!" he pointed to a nearby table that conveniently had several whole watermelons laying on top of it. The Valkyrie nodded and rushed to it, flipping the table over and sending the watermelons flying towards RWBY.
"Yang. Turkeys." Ruby's order was followed instantly, with Yang scooping up two turkeys and, using them as gloves, punched the watermelons to pieces.
"Guys," Jaune called to his teammates, "Grab weapons and take it to them. We got a food fight to win."
Nora and Ren nodded, being used to such things from Combat School. Ren got two long leeks and Nora used an iron bar and a watermelon to make a hammer. RWBY got their own food-based weapon and dash forward into battle.
Pyrrha stood still for a moment, confused as to why they were doing this strange and completely ludicrous activity. Why fight with food instead of sparring with weapons? It was absolutely foolish and undignified for aspiring Huntsmen and Huntresses. Her parents would have disapproved strongly.
That last thought passed for her mind for a solid moment before she dashed forward, grabbed two long loaves of bread, and joined in the melee. Her friends were taking part in it, which made it more then worthwhile.
It was certainly the strangest fight Pyrrha had even been it, trading blow with a sword-fish armed Weiss, but it still very intense and required her to use all her skills.
The tide began to turn as Yang managed to uppercut Nora through the roof and Blake, using a very long link of sausages, grabbed Pyrrha and threw her against the back wall. She hit one of the vending machines and a torrent of cans flew out of it, surrounding her as she got back to her knees.
Looking at the cans, she remembered that soda cans in Vale contained a very high metallic content, much more then was usual in other countries, and she could use her Semblance on it.
Normally, she wouldn't consider such an open display of her Semblance, even if it were just her team and RWBY around, but the whole crazy situation help to loosen her hesitation and she decided to go for broke.
With a wave of black energy, to took control of every can in the room, tearing them out of the other vending machines. She manipulated them into a massive, swirling storm of metal and directed it towards the Xiao Long Sisters. The Sisters, focused on Jaune and Ren and thinking Pyrrha was out of the fight for the moment, were taken off guard and swept up by the tide of carbonated beverages.
With Pyrrha controlling the tide of metal like a conductor, she send it hurling towards the other end of the cafeteria, smashing through RWBY's makeshift 'castle' and plastered them against the far wall. The cans of soda and other food swept up in the swirling mayhem, crashed and exploded on and around Team RWBY, covering them in a mess of milt-coloured substances. They stuck to the wall for a moment as the storm ended, before slowly peeling off and falling to the ground.
Pyrrha looked over at destruction she had wrought and wondered if perhaps she had gone a little over board.
"Sorry," she called out to RWBY as the Sisters began to pick themselves up.
Just then, the sound of clicking heels could be heard approaching. Every student quickly learned to recognize that particular sound and, sure enough, Professor Goodwitch entered the cafeteria. With a flick of her riding crop, the tables and chairs began to float in the air and moved back to their original places. In only a few moments, the cafeteria was back to looking normal.
"Children," The deputy Headmistress glared at the students before her, "please…do not play with your food."
At that moment, Nora came crashing back down, landing next to the group. She immediately jumped to her feet, none the worse for wear, and gave a thumbs up.
After that, Weiss, the graceful and refined one, let out a very loud burp.
Pyrrha looked around at her friend as the entire situation sunk in. Her lips twitched for a moment before she started to laugh, bending over double and letting out a loud and beautiful sound.
Everyone was shocked by this, including Goodwtich, as no one had ever heard Pyrrha laugh before. She was always so reserved, but now she was letting out a full bellied laugh, even snorting a couple of times and seemingly unable to stop.
It proved infectious, and the rest of JNPR and RWBY joined her, laughing heartily along with her.
Goodwitch looked over the school, her planned reprimands falling to the wayside in the face of such good cheer. She looked off to the side and saw Professor Ozpin standing by the doorway, coffee in hand and a small smile on his face.
"These children are supposed to be the protectors of the world," Glynda thought to herself. She let out a deep breathe and began to walk away. "But they should still enjoy what few moments of peace they can. They won't be able to do that forever."
The eight weren't aware of the Deputy-Headmistress's departure, too busy laughing and enjoying each other's company. Through his own laughs, Jaune saw Nora and Ren look at each other, smiles on their faces. Those smiles faded a bit as they two gazed at each other but didn't fully go away.
The trouble between them wasn't gone by a long-shot, but tensions surrounding them, making in impossible to talk about the issue, had vanished. It might actually be possible to talk with them now, and it was all thanks to Team RWBY. Those girls were amazing, helping his team without even realizing it. He promised to himself that he would talk with them about his team's troubles in the near-future; it was the best course of action and they were all in this together.
Ruby stopped laughing long enough to dash one corner of the room and returned with a large binder that was miraculous untouched by the food fight.
"Hey guys. We're planning on heading into the city for the day; got a lot of different activities planned. You want to come?"
Jaune looked at the other Xiao Long Sisters, who were smiling at Ruby's suggestion and making clear their consent. A look at his teams confirmed that they too were happy with this idea.
"Sure," he replied, "just let us get cleaned up first."
Getting into a sudden food fight and then hitting up the town? That was definitely one way to start the semester off with a bang.
That's the end of the chapter and the end of this series of vignettes, next time we'll be getting into the meat of Volume 2. There may be another series of vignettes in the middle of the run, and definitely before we get into Volume 3. I enjoy making these and I can get them out fairly quick, but the main story still needs to move on.
Weiss here is a lesbian while Blake and Yang are bisexual. A common theme in this story is people holding in things instead of talking about with others, hence why Weiss hasn't told her sisters about her orientation. She's certainly making a bigger deal out of it then needed, but such thing are very personal and complicated.
With Ren, he's gone through serious childhood trauma that is affecting both is thoughts and his memories. Being at Beacon is opening up these poorly patched wounds and hurting his relationship with Nora. This will rapidly be coming to a head in the coming chapters, with some resolution on the horizon. I had planned this scene out a long time ago, but it seems quite fitting now with how Volume 8 is going into their relationship. All of the characters in this story have deep issues they will have to labour through, but they will all be resolved and reach a happy outcome in the end.
I've belatedly realized that Jaune and Pyrrha really haven't had much interaction so far, so I'm planning some moments between the two of them to help develop their personal relationship.
The final story is just a fun twist on the food fight, with JNPR winning and showing more of the somewhat odd tastes of the RWBY and what they consider fun. It also reinforces the theme that RWBY and JNPR will be very tightly bound in this telling of events, with them joining RWBY on their mission to fight the White Fang in Vale.
I will state now that I'm adding in a lot of different elements and such into this story, some that may not fully tie back to the main Sisterhood element. With how things are going and my own writing limitations, I will probably never really write another RWBY fanfic besides this one. This story has already evolve into something both bigger and different then what I had originally envisioned. There are many ideas I have bouncing around in my head and I don't want them to go to waste, so I'll be incorporating them into this story. They may not fit very well but I still want to do this. Many ideas are based about many changes that are different and unique for the sake of being different and unique, which I understand is not the best way to write a story.
Still, they are ideas I like and are helping me be creative, so I'll be doing my best to make it all fit.
This story will be delving somewhat into different sexual orientations and such. I personally have little experience with such parts of life and while I may do some comedic scenes with them, I want to be as respectful as possible. If I make a big mistake or cross a line, please let me know and I will change it right away.
Thanks again for reading my story. Please leave a review or PM and tell me what you think.
