Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, Assassin's Creed, or The Gamer. The only thing I have even the most tenuous claim to ownership of is my Self Insert/Original Character.
Story recommendation for this chapter is The Games People Play by fvdv123. All his stories are ridiculously funny and great reads.
[System Message]
"Speech"
~Scroll Text~
'Thoughts'
{Party Chat}
4
-A few months later-
I have well and truly settled into the Rose-Xiao Long household by now. It turns out that being a huntsman in Vale at least means the government streamlines such pesky things as guardianship applications and building permits. My room had been framed and finished in a month with some help from Tai's friends from around the island, and I even had my own bathroom. Apparently, it was a necessity that no one shared a bathroom with Yang, something to do with having enough time to spend on her hair.
Not that I was going to complain about it; I might still be seven, but I had memories that gave me a pretty good hint about what was coming once puberty hit. And I really didn't want to be sharing a bathroom with two girls my age when that happened, whether or not they had already practically become my sisters by this point.
School had started a couple of weeks ago, and Tai had promised us all a treat for a great first few weeks. So today we were headed into Vale to spend the day and get some ice cream. We walked into probably the biggest ice cream parlor I have ever seen. The sign above the door reads, "The Art of Flavors: Cookie and Ice Cream Emporium." Walking in, we all order our ice cream: Tai gets a simple double scoop of vanilla on a waffle cone, Yang gets something called a Strawberry Sunshine Sundae, Ruby orders a double scoop of cookie dough on a cookie cone, and I go for a scoop of mint chocolate chip with a scoop of cotton candy on a waffle cone. Collecting our orders, Tai moves to a seat at the counter and sends the three of us to the separate children's lounge.
As I step into the children's lounge, I receive a new quest notification.
[Quest Alert!
Destroyer of the Silence
Story Subquest
Rating E
Objectives
Sit next to the lonely ice cream girl
Become her friend
Bonus:?
Rewards:
500 EXP
Private Messaging Function Unlocked
Penalties:
-100 EXP
Private Messaging locked for 2 years
Accept Quest
Y/N]
'Yes,' I immediately replied to the notification. Private Messaging could prove invaluable, and one could never have too many friends, at least that's what I heard, none of my memories contain much experience on the matter.
Spotting a girl sitting at a table towards the back with hair matching the Neapolitan ice cream she was eating, I say to Yang and Ruby, "Why don't we sit over there? She looks like she might like some company."
I received two uninterested grunts of acceptance from my companions. Both were entirely too focused on their confectionary delights to care for where we sat. Walking over to the girl I had seen, I asked as warmly as I could, "Do you mind if we sit next to you?"
The girl smiles and shakes her head, no, that she wouldn't mind gesturing to the open seats. Before I can even pull the chair next to her out, the girls have already plopped down and dove into their icy treats. Shaking my head at the ravenous nature of my two pseudo-sisters, I turn to the girl. "Hi, I'm Ciar; the blonde is Yang; and the cookie-obsessed one is Ruby," I say, introducing us all. "What's your name?" I ask her.
She points to the cone in her hand and holds up three fingers.
"Con?" I ask, only to receive rolled eyes, a giggle, a shake of the head, and a poke at the scoop of ice cream on the cone. "Oh, Neo?" I ask her to clarify my understanding of her gestures.
She nods happily and goes back to her cone.
"Are you here with your parents?" I ask, trying to make some kind of conversation between licks of my cone, only to receive another quick nod in reply. "Am I annoying you? I can stop if you like."
At this, she pauses while eating her cone and seems to think about something hard for a second before moving to reach for something at her side, only for a look of confused panic to flash across her face when she doesn't find what she's looking for.
"Is everything alright?" I ask, starting to feel a small measure of concern for the girl sitting next to me.
She turns to me and holds out her free hand, rocking it slowly back and forth in the "so-so" gesture. She then points to herself and makes a quiet beowolf hand gesture before pausing to see if I understood.
My eyes widen as realization hits me. "Oh, are you mute?"
She nods quickly before drawing a square shape and pretending to scribble on it before miming grabbing it and throwing it over her shoulder.
"You usually have something to write on, but you lost it today?" I asked, making sure I understood what she was trying to say.
She nods quickly before putting on a sad expression and starting to lick her ice cream once more.
Quickly making up my mind, I turn to the girl and ask quietly, "Can you keep a secret?" She squints hard at me before nodding sharply and leaning towards me conspiratorially. I lean in as well and whisper softly in her ear, "My semblance can let people talk to each other with their minds. Would you like to try that?"
Her eyes widen, and she looks hard into mine before seeming to trust that I wasn't just messing with her. She nods at me, giving permission.
"All right," I say. "Just think yes or accept when you see it."
Ignoring the expression that clearly says, "See what?" I think to the System, 'Party Invite: Neo'
[Send Party Invite to Neo Politan
Y/N]
'Yes,' I reply, and immediately see Neo's eyes widen in shock and awe.
[Neo Politan has accepted your Party Request
Neo Politan has changed their Username to Neo
Open Party Chat?
Y/N]
'Yes,' I think to the system before switching to Party Chat.
Ciar(Host) :{Can you hear me Neo?}
Neo: {Yes, can you hear me? This is awesome. I can talk just as easily as I can think. Is this what talking really feels like? Is it always this easy to communicate without writing?}
I chuckled slightly at the stark difference between the quiet girl I had first met and this girl that seemed to have an unending amount of questions. Seeing me laugh, she pouts and turns away exaggeratedly.
Ciar(host): {Don't be like that; I'm not laughing at you. I guess I just didn't expect all these questions at the same time. Friends?}
Neo: {What did you think that I was going to be just as quiet in my head?}
She turns back to me and rolls her eyes before smiling back at me.
Neo: {Sure we can be friends. I don't have many of them because most kids don't want to take the time to read my boards or try to figure out what I'm miming at them.}
Ciar(Host): {I guess that makes sense, but kids can sure be jerks, can't they?" All I know is that if we ever play charades I want you on my team.}
She blushes slightly before smiling brightly at me.
Neo: {You would pick me first for a team game? Really?}
Ciar(Host): {Duh. You're like a charades master by now, right? Plus, if I ever get you stuck on one of my words, I could just tell you through the Party Chat. We would totally destroy any other team!}
Neo: {You would cheat with your semblance to win a game of charades? I think this may be the start of a beautiful friendship.}
She sends me the most mischievous smile I have ever seen at that, and all I can think is, "Cute."
Her cheeks immediately turn bright red, and I realize what I did.
Ciar(Host): {I said that out loud didn't I}
She nods, that same impishly cute smile showing on her still blushing cheeks.
Neo: {Yep.}
Ciar(Host): {Can we just pretend that never happened?}
She turns and looks at me hard, noticing my blush and traitorous ears showing off my embarrassment, before that same impish grin grows even wider.
Neo: {Nope.}
I groan and hang my head dramatically before desperately shifting the conversation away from my slip of the tongue.
Ciar(Host): {So what do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be a huntsman like my parents were.}
Neo: {I don't know, I think I'd like to be a huntress but I don't know if I can.}
Ciar(Host): {Why not?}
She turns to look at me and points to her mouth theatrically, as if pointing out something that should be obvious.
Neo: {My parents would never allow it because they believe I'm too delicate for anything. The only reason they even left me alone is that this place has seating, especially just for kids. Even then, I had to beg them to let me sit on my own.}
Ciar(Host): {I don't think you would have any difficulty getting into Signal Combat School at all if you trained for it. There have been blind, deaf, and even huntsmen who have had prosthetic limbs before. I don't see how a little thing like being quieter than normal would be a hindrance.}
She turns to me and exaggeratedly rolls her eyes, pulling a face at my words.
Neo: {It's not exactly a little thing to me but I see what you mean.}
My eyes widen, and a sheepish expression crosses my face as I realize what I just said.
Ciar(Host): {I didn't mean…}
I start to say before she cuts me off with what is quickly becoming my favorite expression of hers. That impish grin of hers is too cute to be legal.
Neo: {It's fine, Ciar. I know what you meant; maybe I'll give it a shot, convincing my parents to let me go to Signal. On two conditions though.}
Ciar(Host): {What are they?}
Neo: {One you stay my friend whether I get In or not and let me talk to you like this.}
Ciar(Host): {Of course I will. I wanted to be your friend even before I even thought about you being a huntress. What's the second condition?}
Neo looks back at me sheepishly before looking down and continuing to work on her cone.
Neo: {You let me use your semblance to help convince them. I think if they know that there are semblances like yours they might be a little more open to me getting my aura unlocked}
I wait until she looks back up at me before locking eyes and nodding with a smile.
Ciar(Host): {Sure, I'll help you convince them. If you think that could help get them to agree then I'm all for it.}
I watch as Neo's face goes from the uncertain expression it had gained upon stating her second condition back to that impish grin I not so secretly approved of. She then wraps the hand that isn't holding her ice cream around my waist and pulls me into a nearly rib-crushing hug.
Neo: {Thank you, Ciar, thank you, thank you, thank you. I can't believe that I'll actually be able to talk to my parents without having to write down what I want to say!}
Ruby and Yang, who have finally finished their ice cream and are happily chatting with each other, look at us with curious expressions. Yang leans over across the table, looking quizzically at the two of us. "Why do I feel like you were having a really deep conversation this whole time when you were both clearly just eating your ice cream?" She asks.
"Yeah," Ruby adds in. "Why are you leaving us out of your super-secret silent conversations? Are you using Morse code or something?"
Neo looks at me, puzzled, gesticulating at the two girls across the table from us. I facepalm hard as I realize why they had both been so quiet during our conversation. "I totally forgot to invite you guys to the Party Chat!" I exclaim in exasperation. "And here I was thinking you guys were just too focused on your ice cream to want to talk."
All three girls burst into a simultaneous fit of giggles at my statement, only causing me to groan into my hands even harder before inviting both of my pseudo-sisters to the Party Chat.
Ciar(Host): {Girls, this is Neo. Neo this is Yang and Ruby}
I say to the chat, gesturing to each girl in turn.
Yang: {Yo, nice to meet ya}
Ruby: {Hi, it's nice to meet you. But why are we talking like this? I thought Dad said you were supposed to keep this a secret until you unlocked your aura, Ciar?}
Neo: {It's nice to meet both of you as well. I'm mute, and Ciar offered to use this to let us talk like this. But I didn't know you could get in trouble for telling me about this! Are you sure It'll be fine to let me use this to talk to my parents?}
I smile reassuringly at the slightly panicking pink and brown-haired girl in front of me trying my best to calm her down
Ciar(Host): {It's not really the chat function of my semblance that I'm supposed to keep secret, so I won't really get in trouble for it or anything. And I'll talk to Tai and get his permission to share it with your parents if that will make you feel better.}
She gives me a hesitant nod before grinning at me again and pulling me into another rib-crushing side hug while we both finish the last of our ice cream. Yang sees this, and her face splits into a grin a good deal more predatory than any of the impish grins I had received from my new friend that day.
Yang: {Ooh someones got a crush.}
My face instantly goes bright red, and my ears come out to the side. From the stiffening of her body, I can guess that Neo had a similar reaction, but I don't dare turn to look for fear that she would see my blushing face.
Ciar(Host): {Sh… Shut up, Yang. No one asked you.}
Yang: {I never said it was you that had the crush Ciar, did I?}
Neo's hand instantly came away from my side as if it had been burned, and she seemed to be very focused on chewing up her cone.
I groan and put my own attention toward finishing the last of my cone.
Ruby: {Eww… Ciar has Cooties!}
Ciar(Host): {Cooties aren't real, Ruby. Now stop making fun of me or I'll kick you off the Chat both of you}
I see Neo nod her head violently at this out of the corner of my eye.
Ruby: {Fine, it was Yang's idea anyway}
Yang: {Hey, no fair throwing me in front of the Bullhead like that! But we'll stop… for now.}
I roll my eyes at the two across the table, but already knowing that this is the best I am going to get from them, I turn back to Neo.
Ciar(Host): {Do you want to go talk to Tai, and your parents now?}
Neo nods excitedly, and we get up and walk towards the adult seating area, where we find Tai talking to two people: a woman with pink hair wearing a nice sundress and a man with brown hair wearing tan slacks and a polo. Neo points to the couple talking to Tai
Neo: {Those are my parents talking to that blonde guy in cargo shorts.}
Ruby: {Ooh… that's Dad!}
Neo looks at me quizzically at this, and I nod in confirmation that this was who I needed to get permission from.
"This will make it simpler," I say. "Tai should be able to back me up on what my semblance can do."
I quickly pulled Tai aside and explained what I wanted to do, and after a moment's consideration, he allowed it. Quickly getting Neo's parents' names, I invited them into the Party Chat. Neo makes her case for being allowed to train for and join Signal Combat School alongside me. They seem hesitant still, but Tai brings up that he is a teacher at Signal and could help us all train together to get to the point where we would all be strong enough for Signal's entrance exam. Between Tai's promise of assistance and the fact that they could hear their daughter's words in their minds, Neo's parents agreed to let us all train together on the weekends and to assist her however they could with training at home. Upon receiving permission, Neo hugs her parents tight before tackling me in a hug.
Neo: {Thank you, Mom and Dad. Thank you, Ciar, thank you, thank you, thank you.}
I laugh excitedly with her at this. "You're welcome, Neo; it'll be nice to know I already have a friend at Signal. Yang and Ruby are a year ahead and behind me, so knowing someone my age already gives me a leg up on those two. Plus, I can't leave my charades partner hanging now, can I?"
Neo bursts into peals of silent laughter at this and nods excitedly. Neither of us noticed the slightly confused reactions to the inside joke from the rest of the group. Neo waves goodbye with her parents after they give Tai their Scroll IDs, and I sign off of the Party Chat before checking on the quest I had just completed.
[Quest Cleared
Destroyer of the Silence
Story Subquest
Rating E
Objectives
Sit next to the lonely ice cream girl
Become her friend
Bonus: Convince her to join Signal Combat School with you
Rewards:
700 EXP
Private Messaging Function Unlocked]
'Those are good enough rewards for something I feel like I should want to do already' I think upon seeing the rewards. Thinking that I should check my Status I think out to the System. 'Status'
[Name: Ciar Tzefanya Uwzal
Species: Jaguar Faunus
Traits: Black Jaguar ears, Jaguar eyes, Enhanced senses, Silver Eyes(Dormant)
Age: 7
Level: 7(2200/7000)
Class: Gamer
Sub-Class: Assassin
HP:130/130
STAM:84/84
AP: N/A
STR:8
DEX:9
CON:7
INT:15
WIS:17
CHA:11
Stat Points:0
Skills:
Gamers Mind: Max
Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows for a peaceful state of mind. Grants immunity to mental disorder and illusions
Gamers Body: Max
Grants a body that allows for the user to live in the real world like a game. After sleeping in a bed, it restores HP, and MP and cures all status effects.
ID Create: Novice 1 (0/100)
Allows for the creation of Instant Dungeons
Higher-level Dungeons can be created based on Skill Level.
Current dungeons:
-Empty Dungeon-G: 5 AP per use
-Beowolf Den-E: 10 AP per use
ID Escape: Max
Can be used to exit Instant Dungeons at will. Can only be used on Instant Dungeons. Activates automatically at 10 HP with a 5 HP penalty. Costs AP equal to entrance cost
Observe: Novice 10 (13/100)
Grants information on the target based on skill level and the level disparity between the host and target
Sneak: Novice 10 (63/100)
Conceals your presence, level of concealment is dependent on skill level
Early Novice-Can hide in shadows and soften footsteps to surprise unaware targets
Freerunning: Novice 7 (95/100)
The ground is not the route for an assassin. Intelligent use of your surroundings enables quicker movement over and through obstacles(consumes 5 STAM per minute)
Gauntlet combat: Novice 7 (82/100)
Grants control and mastery of the gauntlets of the Creed, depending on the skill level. 5 STAM consumed per minute
Dagger combat: Novice 7 (42/100)
Grants control and mastery over short and long daggers, depending on the skill level. 5 STAM consumed per minute
Firearms combat: Novice 7 (95/100)
Grants control and mastery over short- and long-range firearms, depending on the skill level. 2 STAM consumed per minute]
AN: I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Hopefully, this didn't seem too forced. As always, constructive criticism is very much appreciated. Big timeskip coming up in the next chapter as we move closer to the start of canon. Each member of Ciar's team is going to get their own trailer, so depending on the length of those will be when we see the start of canon. Anywhere between 2 and 4 chapters is how it's looking now. Thanks for reading; see you guys next time.