RWBY: Team CRML
Chapter 13
The day of the dance was finally here and everyone was pretty excited. Nicci was already heading over to the ballroom with her date while Chrome and Liam both headed over to team RWBY's dorm room to meet theirs.
On his way, Chrome ran into Yang who was heading to the ballroom. She was wearing a gorgeous floor length yellow dress and had her hair tied back in a ponytail.
"Yang?"
"Oh, hey Chrome." Yang waved as he walked over to her.
"You're heading to the dance?"
"Yeah... I'm one of the greeters. Kind of happened last second." Yang told him. "I told Ruby to tell you if she saw you. Sorry, we won't be able to spend much time together until everyone arrives."
"Nah, it's fine." Chrome told her. "I can wait." offering his arm, Chrome gave a gentle smile. "Shall we?"
Yang couldn't help but smile as she took his arm. "Love the suit, by the way."
"Love your dress. Looks amazing on you."
Back in the dorms, Liam had just arrived outside of RWBY's room. Knocking three times gently, the door opened to Weiss. She peeked out from behind the door. He could tell she was a bit nervous.
Taking a breath, she opened the door the rest of the way.
Standing with her hands folded in front of her, Weiss was wearing an ice blue floor length dress and had her hair tied in one long braid that ran down her back.
Staring at her in amazement, Liam didn't notice as Weiss tried to get his attention. "Liam?"
"You look...absolutely stunning." Liam told her.
Blushing, she looked to the side. "You look real good yourself."
"You ready?" Liam offered his arm.
Weiss took his arm and the two walked to the ballroom. It didn't take them long to reach their destination, heading inside and being greeted by Yang.
"You two look great together!" Yang told them. Weiss blushed as Liam rubbed the back of his head. "Go on in."
As the two made their way inside, a slow song began playing. Weiss started heading for the tables to sit down, but Liam stopped her. "Where are you going?"
"To sit..?" Weiss replied, unsure.
"Why?"
"I thought Yang said you couldn't dance..."
Taking her hand, he pulled her onto the dance floor. "I don't dance." Liam corrected her. "Mainly because I've never had a partner before." Placing his hands on her hips, Weiss wrapped her arms around Liam's neck as the two swayed to the song.
"Really?" Weiss asked. "That's rather hard to believe."
"How so?"
"Seriously?" Weiss chuckled. "I know we haven't exactly talked much, but from what I've seen and heard, you're just...amazing!"
"Heard?" Liam asked.
Weiss blushed a bit. "I asked your cousins about you."
"Oh. Find me interesting, huh?"
Weiss blushed even more. "Maybe just a bit."
"A bit?"
She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "You're much more difficult than I thought."
"In a good way?"
"Possibly." she rolled her eyes.
"Possibly, huh?" Liam smirked.
Weiss giggled before looking to meet Liam's gaze. "What about you?" she said. "You asked me to the dance, so what do you think about me?"
"There's quite a bit." Liam replied. "You're skilled, smart, snippy."
"Snippy?"
"Just a bit." Liam told her. "But you're also kind, and very, very gorgeous."
Weiss blushed more and more with each word he said. "You really know what to say to a girl, huh?"
Liam smiled as the two continued to sway to the song. Once it ended, the two of them found a table and sat down to talk.
"So, what's your family like?" Liam asked. "Coming from a heritage like yours has to have a couple of stories."
"Honestly...it's...filled with heartache." Weiss replied. "My family is about the furthest thing from that word. My brother and I don't get along. My father is..." she trailed off, her eyes suddenly filling with sorrow.
Liam immediately took notice of this. "Hey, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."
"No, no, it's fine." Weiss replied. "My family is just...dysfunctional." taking a breath to calm herself, Weiss looked to Liam. "What about you? What's your family like? Outside of Ruby and Yang?"
"Well, I lived with my dad and never knew my mom." Liam told her. "I looked up to Ruby's mom, Summer, as if she was my mom. She looked after me a few times when my dad was off on Huntsman missions. She was pretty awesome. But...one day, my dad walked through the door, hardly even looked at me as he went straight to the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of alcohol, sat down and just...drank." Liam took a breath. "He told me that Summer was gone."
"Gone? As in gone?" Weiss asked.
"Yeah." Liam nodded. "She was killed on a mission." he glanced to his younger cousin who was hiding by the punch bowl. "Ruby was still just a baby when it happened. I was hardly even five. Even though I was so young, it still hit me hard."
"I'm...sorry, Liam."
He sat back and wiped his eyes. "Heh, sorry. I'm getting emotional when today is supposed to be fun."
"Do you have any other family?" Weiss asked.
"Yeah, actually." Liam replied. "Yang's biological mom. My aunt. She stopped by on my fifteenth birthday with an offer, said it was a gift. She asked me if I wanted to go with her, live with her tribe and become one of her people. It wasn't the first time I met her, probably around the fifth or sixth time. But it was the last time, I had seen her. I declined, obviously."
"Sounds like your home life is a bit complicated." Weiss said.
"Whose isn't?"
"True." Weiss shrugged. "My family rarely talks to each other. The only person that I really talk to anymore is my sister."
After a few seconds of silence, another song began playing. It was a bit more upbeat and more energetic than the previous one. "Would you like to dance?" Weiss asked.
"Yeah." getting to their feet, they walked onto the dance floor once more. Taking Weiss' left hand in his right, Liam placed his free hand on her waist as Weiss placed her free hand on his shoulder.
"You know how to ballroom dance?" Weiss asked.
"Maybe." Liam smirked. "Care to find out?"
As the two of them danced, both of their moods quickly shifted. Both of them began smiling as they twirled in each others arms. Pulling Weiss close, she laughed as she looked up at him. Staring into each other's eyes, the two of them began inching closer until their lips pressed together. Everything else seemed to fade as if nothing mattered but this moment.
Pulling away, both of them smiled. "That was rather...nice." Weiss said.
Liam smiled as the two of them continued to dance.
Across the room, Yang had greeted the last of the students who were attending. Heading over to Chrome, she apologized. "Sorry for taking so long."
"It's fine." Chrome stood up and offered his hand. "Care to dance?"
"Actually, I sort of promised someone a quick dance." Yang replied. "It'll take just a second."
"Who?" Chrome asked.
Yang just smiled as she made her way over to Blake. The two shared a quick dance before Yang stepped aside for Sun to take over.
Turning to Chrome, she wrapped her arms around his neck as he placed his hands on her hips. The two didn't share any words, just enjoyed each other's company.
As everyone was having a good time, there was someone else who hadn't gone to the party that was getting a bit stir crazy. Marek, tired of staring at the wall, got to his feet and left the dorms. Placing his hands in his pockets, he started wandering the courtyard.
As he walked, he noticed two silhouettes running across the rooftops. They were wearing all black, which immediately aroused suspicion.
Following them, he watched as the two entered the CCT. "You noticed them, too?"
Marek was startled when a voice came from behind him. A voice belonging to a young silver-eyed Huntress. "Ruby, right?" he asked.
"Mmhmm." Ruby nodded. "You're Marek?"
"Yeah."
"Alright." Ruby moved forward. "Let's go!"
Approaching the building, Ruby and Marek saw four guards unconscious outside. "That's not good."
Taking his weapon off his back, Ruby summoned her locker and retrieved her scythe from it. The two of them shared a quick glance before heading inside.
Seeing more guards unconscious, Ruby and Marek made their way to the elevator and got inside. Pushing the button for the top floor, they began to ascend.
Once the doors parted, Ruby and Marek exited, their weapons at the ready. "Hello?" Ruby called out.
After a second passed, two people, one man and one woman, emerged from an aisle of computers. Both of them were wearing masks. "You know, it's not a masquerade party. So why don't you take off that mask?"
"Him first." the guy shot back, looking at Marek.
Marek aimed his weapon at the man and fired a shot. The man easily blocked the shot. Looking to Ruby, Marek shook his head. "Don't talk, just shoot." Marek told her.
Readying her weapon, the woman, using ice dust, threw icicles at them. Rolling to the side, the elevator doors dinged as they opened, showing Ironwood.
Marek and Ruby both looked back at him before turning to their attackers, only to see they were gone.
Downstairs, the man and woman ditched their masks, revealing them to be Shadow and Cinder. Shadow, not being part of the undercover team, took this chance to make his way out of Beacon as Cinder used dust to change her outfit to a dress as she entered the dance floor.
Blending in, the guards who were following them lost them both.
Back in the CCT, on one of the computers a black queen piece flickered before fading.
End of chapter 13
