Metal like Roses
By ReaderWarrior
I do not own Mistborn or RWBY.
It's a Brawl in the Family
Beta'd by: Icarus720
Vin mentally kicked herself. She had run after Ruby but lost track of her target, Qrow. The strange man avoided her questions on his nature and presence, then ran off when the strange ship appeared in the sky.
Ruby had chased after her uncle and Vin after her. Sadly, Ruby was unable to keep track of Qrow's position and lost him in the crowd. As they arrived at the Bullhead zone, Ruby and Vin saw Weiss and Blake.
"Weiss!" Ruby called out and walked up to her teammates. "Who's here?"
Weiss' eyes sparkle. "Winter!"
"You're sister?" Blake asks, her eyes going wide.
Nodding, Weiss turns to one of the loading Bullheads. "I'm going to go greet her."
Ruby smiles, "say hi to her for me!"
"You-," Weiss gulps. "You're not coming?"
"Do you want me to?" Ruby asks. "I didn't think you would like me to meet her just yet."
Vin places a hand on Weiss' shoulder. "I can go with Weiss." She turns to her team leader. "Take Blake back to the others, and we can meet back up later. Maybe your uncle doubled back."
Ruby nods and grabs Blake's arm. "Come on, let's go see if Ren saved you any pancakes."
As Ruby and Blake head back to the campsite, Vin and Weiss strap into the Bullhead. Vin did this gingerly, still not trusting the machine.
"What is so special about this… Winter?" Vin asks as Weiss buckles up next to her.
"Winter is in special ops for the Atlas Military," Weiss explains. "That means she is a very skilled and dangerous woman working for the most powerful army and government on Remnant."
Vin raises an eyebrow. "So she is… an assassin?"
"Gods no! Nothing so barbaric," Weiss exclaims. "She is far more dangerous than any would-be assassin or bandit."
Frowning, Ruby looks down at her hands. What does a society that spends its time fighting Grimm have any need for someone to kill other skilled warriors? These 'special ops' must deal with threats greater than Grimm. But what?
Vin didn't have much time to ponder this, as the Bullhead ride was short, only dropping from the colosseum to Beacon's drop-off zone a few leagues down. As they landed, Weiss quickly lept out of the bullhead's belly. Vin followed closely behind, taking a moment to refresh her metals.
Weiss led the way, running up to one of the landing platforms. The large ship from early had, to Vin's guess, just landed. Its occupants were now being unloaded.
Vin counted six of the metal guards, as well as four of the armored men in red. They all were armed and seemingly ready to begin a fight. However, Vin was more concerned about the woman who seemed to be in charge.
Winter, Vin assumed, didn't notice Weiss and Vin's approach, and remained invested in her task.
Weiss cupped her hands around her mouth. "Winter!" She called out.
This seemed to be heard by the older Schnee, who turned her head towards the teammates. Weiss ran forward, pausing in front of two of the red guards, with Vin walking slowly behind.
Vin uses this time to study the woman she now faces. Winter is a tall and fair-skinned young woman with slate-blue eyes. She wears her white hair tied up in a bun, high on the left side of the back of her head, while her bangs are shaped around the right side of her face, a small curled lock of hair reaching almost to her left shoulder.
Her outfit consists of a white long-sleeved coat with a single dark blue clasp around the centre waist holding it shut alongside a red jeweled brooch on the collar. The coat's length runs down to her ankles and the sleeves are split from shoulder to elbow. She wears a white pleated sleeveless blouse with a dark blue waistcoat. A pair of white trousers with dark blue garters alongside a pair of gray thigh boots with black detailing around the knees. She also wears a pair of black forearm length gloves with gray trimmed cuffs.
On her belt, by her side, Vin notices her blade and weapon. The sword has a single-edged, slightly curved blade. The sword's hilt sports a wide, crescent-shaped guard that envelops the hand of the person that wields it, purposefully protecting the hand and fingers from any angle. The hilt has a spiral design etched down it that stops at an orb-shaped pommel.
However, Vin thinks that her blade holds a few secrets than what is visible. Using her steel-sight, Vin notices what appears to be a secret compartment in the blade's handle. There seems to be a lever located between the hilt and the guard, and Vin cannot help but wonder what resides inside.
"Winter! I'm so happy to see you!" Weiss begins. Then she seems to remember her stature and curtsies. "Your presence honors us."
Winter steps forward, her arms now crossed behind her back. "Beacon, it's been a long time. The air feels… different."
Vin stops next to her teammate, earning a quick glance from the older Schnee.
"So, what are you doing here?" Weiss asks.
"Classified," Winter responds without so much of a look at her sister.
"Oh, right." Weiss grabs her hands in front of her, settling into a more conservative look. "Well, how long are you staying?"
Without a beat, Winter responds with another "classified." Vin glares at the woman, studying her more. What's necessary for classifying in this dystopian world?
Weiss nods. "Of course."
A moment passes in silence, the sounds of other students or festival spectators walking to and from the landing zone.
The silence was killed when Weiss started waving her hands excitedly. "You're going to love it here! I know you travel a lot, but so much of Beacon is different from Atlas." Weiss holds up a hand and whispers, "Vale too." Dropping her hand, she holds up two fingers and comments on how "the government and school are completely separate! Can you believe it? I-"
Winter cuts off Weiss, "I'm more than familiar with how this kingdom handles its… bureaucracy." Vin can't help but notice the disdain in her voice when she refers to Vale's politics.
Looking down, literally, on Weiss, Winter continues. "That is not why I came."
Weiss' body straightens, "right! I'm sorry."
Winter leans down towards the young heiress. "Nor did I come here to watch my own blood fail so miserably in battle." Vin can't help but notice the door to the ship behind her close. "But it appears I have no choice in the matter."
"But we won," Weiss argues.
"Only a novice would refer to that as a victory," Winter responds coldly. "I counted at least two strikes missed."
Weiss frowns and looks down at her feet, dejected. Vin places a hand on her friend's shoulder.
Winter holds up an arm and orders her guards to "leave us." This is met with a couple of beeps and clanks as they take a few steps back.
She sighs and holds up a hand towards her sister. "How have you been?"
Weiss perks back up and smiles. "Oh, splendid. Thank you for asking. I'm actually in the top ranking of our sparring class. The rest of my studies are going wonderfully too. I'm-"
Winter cuts off Weiss with a sharp smack to the forehead. This causes Vin to flinch and reach for her daggers, which are not being kept on her person.
"Silence, you boob! I don't recall asking about your ranking. I asked how you've been." Vin notices a small smile on Winter's face grow. "Are you eating properly? Have you taken up any hobbies? Are you making new friends?"
"Well," Weiss turns and points to the teammate next to her. "There's, Vin."
Vin bows, splaying her arms to her side and leaning in a deep curtsy. "It is a pleasure to meet such a well-renowned member of the Atlas Military."
Winter raises an eyebrow. "I see. And who exactly might you be?"
"Vin Venture, the fifth member of team RWVBY." Vin responds.
Winter frowns. "I was unaware that you had gained the addition of another teammate."
"I apologize," Weiss looks down. "It was a fairly recent revelation and there hasn't been enough time to write on some of the recent events."
"But there was enough time to get arrested, I see." Winter glares at Weiss, who coughs.
"Well, you see, we were just trying to look into something. I am very grateful that you were willing to provide bail for me."
"Then do not repeat your mistake again," Winter scolds. She turns to Vin and nods her head. "Greetings Vin Venture. I wish to thank you for looking after my sister."
"Your thanks are unnecessary," Vin responds, standing up. "I feel I am to thank you for helping raise such a woman who let me join her team out of the kindness of her heart."
"And may you never forget that, Venture. While my sister may be kinder than I, be aware that my kindness is limited to my faith in others to keep her safe."
Vin nods. "Team RWVBY will do whatever it takes to take care of one of their own."
Hmphing, Winter turns back to Weiss. "I have business with the general and your headmaster. But seeing as I am early, why don't you take me to your quarters?" Winter's hands move from her back to her front as she steps forward.
"Really?" Asks Weiss as she steps to the side, letting Winter walk alongside her. Vin takes this moment to fall back behind one of the strange machined men.
"Yes, I wish to inspect them and make sure they're up to my personal standards."
"Of course," Weiss understands. "Just so you're aware, the bunk beds only look unstable."
"Bunk… beds?"
Ruby quickly pulled Blake back to the campsite, where everyone was still enjoying Ren's (delicious) cooking.
"Look who I found!" Ruby exclaimed as she and Blake walked up.
Yang gasped, "a lost kitten?!"
"I swear," Blake growls. "If one more person calls me a cat, I'm going to claw their throat out."
Ruby giggles as Blake slaps Yang's forehead, sitting down and taking a small stack of pancakes for herself.
"Did I miss anything?" Blake asks.
"Our uncle Qrow showed up."
"Pyrrha and I are being sent to the doubles!"
"Weiss' sister is here."
"Nora ate all of my backup pancakes."
"Pyrrha has a crush!"
"I n-n-never said that."
Blake sets down a fork and rubs her forehead. "I'm sorry, what?" She holds up a 'pause' sign. "Let's go through this one at a time. Who is Qrow?"
Yang smiles. "He's mine and Ruby's uncle. He's usually a teacher at Signal, but sometimes takes on some freelance work for the kingdoms."
"What is he doing here then?" Ren asks.
Shrugging, Yang responds. "I don't know. Maybe hired security?"
Blake nods and turns to Nora, "you and Pyrrha are going to the doubles? That's a good pick. I can't wait to see how that pans out."
Nora flexes and smiles. "We're gonna break their legs!"
Pyrrha places a hand on Nora's legs, causing her to sit down. "I hope we can refrain from enacting any actual physical damage to our opponents."
"And I already know about Weiss' sister," Blake responds. "I was there with her when her ship showed up."
"You didn't see her?" Yang asks.
Blake shakes her head. "Vin went with Weiss to go greet her. Ruby wanted me to come back and get some food." The cat Faunus turns to Ren, "did you seriously not expect Nora to eat all of them?"
Ren shrugs and Nora grins, pocketing a spare fork in case she stumbles across any more of Ren's cooking.
"And you," Blake turns to Jaune and Pyrrha, "who has a crush on who?"
Pyrrha blushes, "no one!"
Jaune smirks and opens his mouth, only to get it covered by Ren and Nora.
"No one," Nora whispers in his ear.
Pyrrha blushes and looks at the blonde. "No one but you," she whispers, heard by no-one.
Weiss and Winter chatted aimlessly next to a set of mechanical men as Vin walked behind them. Further behind her were more mechanical men, guarding the special operative from a distance.
If she is so skilled, why does she need guards? Vin ponders. However, before she could think upon this further, a steady number of running footsteps are heard behind her.
Vin quickly spins around, dropping into a small combative stance. In front of her, Qrow dismantles and destroys the two aforementioned autonomous guards. Vin would have missed it if she had not heard him run forward beforehand with her tin-enhanced ears.
After ripping off one of the mechanized-heads, Qrow tosses it at the Schnee sisters. Vin quickly intercepts it, iron-pulling on the head and catching it.
The sisters hear this commotion and turn around, as do the guards who now point their guns at the old drunk. Winter tentatively places a hand on her sword.
"Hey," Qrow calls out, ignoring the Mistborn who stands in front of him. "I'm talking to you, Ice Queen!"
Vin looks behind her and notices that she drops her hand from her sword. Does she not see him as a threat? No, he easily destroyed two of her guards. Does she know him?
"Halt!" Winter commands, to which Qrow tosses the headless body to the side.
Weiss growls and marches over towards the dark-haired huntsman, but Vin grabs her arm before she can reach him. "Excuse me," she calls out. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?!"
Qrow ignores the young heiress and glares at the older Schnee. "Saw that gaudy ship of yours in town. I guess you're here too."
"I'm standing right in front of you," Winter clarifies.
Qrow leans towards the huntress and squints. How drunk is he?
"So it would seem," Qrow states.
"You realize you just destroyed Atlas property, correct?" Winter asks.
"Ohhhh, I'm sorry," Qrow states after taking a moment to look around at his surroundings. "See, I mistook this for some sort of… sentient garbage." Qrow smirks.
"I don't have time for your immature games, Qrow," Winter snarls as she takes a step forward.
Weiss turns back to her sister, "wait. You two know each other?"
I figured as much, Vin thought.
Once again, Qrow ignores Weiss. "Geez, you Atlas specialists think you're so special, don't you?
"It's in the title," responds Winter.
"Well, you know what you really are?" Qrow pauses. "A buncha like your boss."
"I'm not sure what you think you're implying., but I've heard enough. "
"Oh, I heard too." Qrow raises his hands in mock surrender. "I heard ol' Ironwood turned his back on Ozpin."
Vin turns to Winter. "What about Ironwood?"
Winter turns to her sister and Vin. "I think it would be best for you two to leave."
"What?" Weiss exclaims.
Qrow chuckles. "Listen to big sister, Weiss. She'll protect you." He then raises his arms and spreads them, "just like Atlas is going to protect all of us, huh?" Qrow stumbles a bit from the sudden motion.
"If you won't hold your tongue," Winter growls as she unsheathes her sword. "Then I will gladly remove it for you!"
Vin hears a couple of students whistling and 'ooh'-ing.
"Alright, then." Qrow chuckles and runs a hand through his hair, "come and take it."
Faster than Vin thought anyone could move without pewter or some sort of semblance, Winter dashes forward. She arrives in front of Qrow in the blink of an eye, stabbing at his head. He easily dodges, causing the elder Schnee to attempt another strike at the other side of his head. Qrow easily dodges this as well, ducking his head as the blade swings across.
This repeats for a few seconds with Qrow side-stepping and avoiding strikes. After another dodge, Qrow steps to the side and bows.
Winter's mouth curls into a snarl and she slices downward on the man's back. Luckily for him, her blade lands squarely on his, blocking the attack. Qrow quickly grabs his sword's handles and presses a button, causing the blade to extend outwards.
Qrow twirls and spins, pushing Winter's blade back and causing her to take a few steps away from him. Qrow smiles and tosses his blade into the air, catching it easily and placing it between them in an easy stance.
Winter pauses then follows suit. She pulls her sword forward in a more even stance and folds her left arm behind her back.
Qrow jokingly tests out her stance and taps his large blade against her small foil. When he raises his sword, Winter quickly raises hers defensively, but Qrow only pokes a bit more at some random spots near her body.
By the time the first swing was tossed, a large crowd was already forming, filled with students from each of the schools.
Qrow swung sideways, slicing downwards and catching Winter's blade. He follows this with another quick set of swipes. Upwards, then across, and across again. By the third swipe, Winter began tossing herself backward, dodging them easily.
On the fifth swipe, Winter blocked the blade with her own weapon and began exchanging blows. They begin to speed up, their attacks barely visible except for the sharp lights that appear when metal meets metal.
Winter seemed to be losing ground, her dodges becoming more visible than her blade's sparks. As she ducked, she quickly swung around and aimed the pummel at his jaw.
"SCHNEE!" A voice called out, freezing Winter mid-swing. She blinks and seems to come out of her bloodlust, turning to face General Ironwood. Next to him, Vin seems something she has never seen before.
Vin studies the girl who has hundreds, if not thousands of steel-lines in her body. The girl has short, rather curly orange hair that came down to her chin with a small ahoge on top, and she wore a pink bow on the back of her head. She also has bright green eyes, light skin, and freckles. She wore an off white old-fashioned styled off the shoulder blouse with frill detailed trim and frill flared cuffs that half cover her hands alongside copper button detailing on the lower parts of her sleeves. She also sports a short gray pinafore dress with golden trim on the hem alongside four light green stalagmite styled stripes on the lower half of the dress, two on the front and two on the back, accompanied by two matching colored circles above the tips that have a stripe that runs around her waistline, with golden outlines, and a detachable black and light green collar. She also wears a pair of black thigh-high leg pieces that seemingly are attached to black shoes. The leg pieces have a single green stripe up the sides that appears to light up.
Vin immediately distrusts her. Vin had seen many things while here on Remnant, things that would make any Scadrian's eyes go wide. But this was something else entirely. This girl was no girl. She's a machine, Vin realized.
Before Vin could question this further, Ironwood steps forward towards his subordinate. "What in the world do you think you're doing?"
Winter stands up at attention. "He started an altercation, sir."
Qrow sheaths his sword and places his hands behind his head. Tilting around Winter, he states, "that's actually not true, she attacked first."
Ironwood turns to Winter. "Is that right?"
Winter struggles to explain but sighs when she is unable to come up with a good reason.
"Only technically!" Weiss yelled, still held back by Vin. "That… ruffian taunted Winter, she had no choice but to defend her honor!"
Ironwood raises an eyebrow as he looks to the young huntresses. "Even so, she should not have fallen prey to Qrow's provocations." He then turns to look at the large circle of students that had formed.
Ironwood slowly walks up to Qrow, "what are you doing here?"
"I could be asking you the same thing," was Qrow's snark reply.
Before Ironwood could respond, Ozpin walked up, cup and cane in hand, followed closely by Glynda Goodwitch. "Now, now everyone. There is a sanctioned fight happening just around the corner at the colosseum that, I assure you, has better seats. And popcorn."
Professor Goodwitch quickly waves her arms, "Break it up, everyone!"
Ironwood adjusts his tie and walks back towards his fellow headmaster. "Let's go," he orders his specialist, who turns and follows.
As Ironwood and his entourage walk back to the school, the orange-haired girl turns and waved at Weiss and Vin. "Tell Ruby salutations," she whispers.
Weiss nods and Vin whispers, "who is she?"
"The girl? That's Penny. She's the closest thing Ruby has to a best friend I suppose."
Besides you? Vin wonders, but mentally reminds herself to ask her team leader about this… Penny.
Ozpin turns to the drunk huntsman. "Qrow," he calls out, "a word, please.
Qrow leans over to Vin and Weiss, "I think I'm in trouble…"
Humphing, Weiss turns to the man. "As you should be, you… you… befuddled buffoon!"
"Tell Ruby I'll see her and Yang later," Qrow chuckles.
Weiss sighs. "And suddenly Ruby's recklessness makes sense."
Vin nods in agreement, "he did seem very sure of himself. But I think that if the battle continued, things might have gone well for your sister."
In Ozpin's office, Ironwood stood at attention, waiting for the owner while Winter paced across the length of the room. After a few 'laps', Winter turns to the elevator door after hearing it ding.
The doors open to reveal Qrow, Ozpin, and Glynda, one of whom had a large smile on his face.
"What were you thinking!?" Winter demanded.
"If you were one of my men, I would have you shot," Ironwood adds.
"If I was one of your men," Qrow responds, pulling out a flask from his back pocket, "I would shoot myself."
Glynda sighs. "While I wouldn't condone his behavior, retaliating as you did certainly didn't help the situation," she directs towards Winter, crossing her arms. Ozpin walks behind everyone and stands behind his desk, setting down his mug.
"He was drunk!" Winter exclaims.
"He's always drunk!" Glynda cries, dropping her hands.
Qrow starts chugging from his flask, creating a loud gurgling noise that turns everyone's heads towards him. Qrow freezes and drops his flask, then gives a small chuckle.
Even Ozpin wasn't amused. The headmaster of Beacon sighs and asks, "Qrow, why are you here?"
"You've been out of contact for weeks," Ironwood added. "You can't just go dark like that out in the field."
"I'm not one of your 'special operatives', Jimmy," Qrow snarls. Ozpin's head falls into his palm.
"General," Winter clarifies.
Qrow rolls his eyes. "You sent me to get intel on our enemy, and I'm telling you our enemy is here. Then I got a message from Ozpin to get back as soon as I could, so I came back!"
Ironwood walks to the other side of the desk and leans against it. "We know about the enemy. We have it handled already."
Qrow laughs. "Oh. Oh, you know. Well, thank goodness I'm out there risking my life to keep you all informed!"
Ironwood sighs. "Qrow-"
"Communication's a two-way street, pal." Qrow pulls out his scroll and holds it up for everyone to see. "You see this?" He points to the large yellow button at the base of the device, "that's the send button."
"We were dealing with a crisis of our own," Glynda responds. "We believe we found those responsible for Amber's condition."
"And," Winter added, "they had reason to assume you'd been compromised."
Qrow drops his hands, clenching his scroll. "And I have reason to assume you don't need to be here." He then turns to Ozpin, "and you couldn't tell me this why?!"
"It only just happened last night, Qrow. Or more exactly, this morning."
Qrow growls but nods. He then points to the eldest Schnee, "seriously, who invited her?"
Ironwood pushes himself back up, uncrossing his arms. "Schnee, we'll discuss this incident back on my ship."
Winter's jaw drops and she turns to her commander. "But, sir…!"
"Winter. Leave." Ironwood commands.
Winter turns towards Ironwood and follows his orders. "Yes sir!" She snaps a quick, swift salute before turning towards the elevator. She pauses briefly to glare at Qrow, who smiles and winks.
The elevator doors open, allowing the specialist inside, before closing and returning to the ground floor.
Ozpin takes a small sip from his mug. "Despite what the world thinks, we're not just teachers or generals or headmasters. The people in this room, the leaders of two academies, we're the ones that keep the world safe from the evils no one even knows about. It's why we meet behind closed doors, why we work in the shadows."
"Then explain to me," Qrow asks after taking another swig from his flask, " why did James bring his entire army to Vale." He steps forward, getting right into the general's face, "did you think you were being discreet or did you just not give a damn."
A small pause happens between the two trained huntsmen, both studying the other. Slowly, Ironwood pulls out his scroll and sets it on Ozpin's desk. He taps it a few times, activating the hologram projection of Beacon Academy. It shows Beacon, Amity, and the dozens of ships that now liter the skies around it. "Discreet wasn't working."
Ironwood walks over to the large scale hologram and waves his ungloved hand at his armada. "I'm here because this is what was necessary."
"You're here," Qrow interrupts and points at the headmaster of Beacon, "because Ozpin wanted you here! He made you a part of his inner circle and opened your eyes to the real fight that's in front of us."
"And I'm grateful," Ironwood responds.
"Oh?" Qrow raises an eyebrow. "You've got a real funny way of showing it."
"The people of Vale needed someone to protect them," Ironwood explains, "someone who would act.
"When they look to the sky and see my fleet, they feel safe. And our enemies will feel our strength," Ironwood declares.
Qrow laughs, "you-you think they're scared of your little ships? I've been out there and I've seen the things she's made, and let me tell you…
"They are fear."
Ozpin stands up from his chair, "and fear will bring the Grimm." The attendees in the room turn to face Ozpin. "A guardian is a symbol of comfort. But an army is a symbol of conflict. There's an energy in the air now." Ozpin points to the base of his head, "a question in the back of everyone's minds: if this is the size of our defenses, what is it we're expecting to fight?" Ozpin drops his hands back to his side.
Ironwood looks back and forth between three hunters in front of him. Sighing, he walks back to the desk and picks up his scroll. However, without anyone noticing, a black queen chess piece flickers on the screen before Ironwood pockets it. "So then, what do you suggest we do?"
"I suggest we find our guardian."
Cinder smiled for the first time in a while. This is just what I needed, she thought to herself when her scroll received an alert. She opened it and looked at the data spike showing the new connection the Queen-Virus made.
"What's got you so happy?" Adam asks, cleaning his sword.
Cinder makes a few swipes, "we've got a new access point."
"Access point?"
Next to him, Emerald perks up. "Who?"
Smirking, "not who. What."
Adam sheaths his sword. "What then?"
"Atlas."
"So she's a machine… but she's alive?"
After Qrow and Winter's fight, team RWVBY rendezvoused back in their dorm room, where Vin asked about the strange orange-haired girl. Surprisingly, Ruby and her team were already aware of her quirks and told Vin in confidence her secret.
"Yep!" Ruby responds, pulling out her pajamas. "Penny has the very first artificial soul."
Blake pokes her head out from the bathroom, "didn't we mention this back at the ramen stand?"
Weiss nods. "Yes. But it's still hard to take in."
Especially when it seems impossible, Vin thought, also changing into a more comfortable set of clothes.
Comfort. Still such a strange concept to grasp.
"Oh, that reminds me!" Weiss walks up to the young Mistborn and just out her hand. "Where is it?"
"Where is what?" Vin frowns.
"The receipt from earlier. I don't like staying in anyone's dept."
Vin nods to her bed where her pants were placed after she took them off. Weiss walks over and picks them up, digging around in the pockets until she finds the small paper.
Unfolding it, she frowns. "What is this?"
"It's called a receipt, Weiss," Yang chuckles. "Have you ever actually seen one before?"
Ruby giggles and Weiss groans. "Of course I have, you bimbo. But this isn't a receipt."
Blake walks over and looks at the paper. "Yeah, this is a chart with… metals?"
Vin quickly rushed over and peered over Weiss' shoulder. "Steel, iron, pewter, tin… Those are the physical metals for allomancy."
Weiss points to the right of the column, "copper, bronze, brass, and zinc. It says these are the mental metals."
Vin nods but points to the other two sections. "But I've never seen these before.
"The Enhancement metals," Blake reads. "Aluminum, duralumin, nicrosil, and… chromium?"
"I've never heard of nicrosil or chromium. But aluminum wipes the next metal burned, while duralumin boosts it."
"Then maybe the other two are metals you can use too!" Ruby guesses. "What else is there?"
Yang walks over and leans over her sister's head, now completing the RWVBY over-the-shoulder set. "Gold, electrum, cadmium, and bendalloy," she reads. "Temporal… as in time travel?! I thought you couldn't do that anymore."
Frowning, Vin takes the paper from Weiss. "I… I didn't think I could." She turns to her teammates. "We don't even know if these are Allomantically sound."
Weiss pulls out her scroll and types quickly. "Only one way to find out."
"Yeah!" Yang agrees, "I mean, what's the worst thing that can happen?"
"I can die."
This causes RWVBY to pause. "Then, we shouldn't," Ruby states. "If it ends up hurting you, I don't think we should."
"But it could give us an edge in the festival," Blake comments.
Vin raises a hand to silence her friends. "I tested dozens of alloys for duralumin before I got it right. But I want to find out where this," she holds up the paper, "came from."
"Didn't that old guy working at the ramen shop give it to you?" Yang asks.
Vin ponders and nods. "He did. But I could have sworn I have seen him before…"
"He was working at From Dust Till Dawn when I first ran into Torchwick.," Ruby realizes. "And he was the one who almost ran me over when Penny showed me she was a robot!"
"Well that seems highly suspicious," Weiss states.
"I agree," Vin states. "I'll ask my dealer if he can supply me with the bars."
Yang jumps onto her bed, "well, I'm ready to kick some but tomorrow. We're gonna win this, alright!"
Vin quickly messaged Ironwood, requesting the bars of metals.
'No problem, I will have it waiting for you tomorrow morning. Might I ask the purpose?'
'I am testing some new metals for new powers. I am unaware if they will work, however.'
'Understood.'
Vin sighed and tossed her scroll to the side. She tosses and turns, getting as comfortable as she can, and falls into the deep slumber.
This silence barely lasts for an hour, with Yang and Ruby screaming and jumping onto Vin's bed. Vin quickly jumps back, only to get smacked upside the head by a pillow?
"PILLOW FIGHT!" The girls scream before everything erupts into madness.
How about that?! On-time and well-lengthed! See, I can do it! ARE YOU PROUD OF ME MOM?!
Anyways, this chapter had a lot of fun moments. Qrow vs Winter, which is one of my favorite fights to DATE and Vin learning something new.
I'm sorry for cutting the fight short, but with Ironwood's increased security, it wouldn't make sense for the fight to last as long as it did in canon.
The next chapter is going to have another fight, but probably not at the beginning. I want Vin to get some time with her metals and what they do. But she's a big girl, so it might not take too long.
On other news, I launched the pilot of my second story 'My Mistborn Academia'. It was a lot of fun to write, but I did use almost the same opening as I did this one (sorry). Maybe I'll write a story about what happens on Scadrial after Vin leaves.
xFel: Definitely. We've already seen that Vin can detect semblances and magic, so of course she could sense him. In fact, she already did a few chapters ago ;)
Please, feel free to follow and comment on predictions, thoughts, etc. I am always looking for new ways to improve my craft. Tell your friends!
Pa tr eon (slash) readerwarrior