"Not only did you sneak out when I told you not to, but you also went and got in a fight with someone who ALSO apparently wants to kill you." Baren kept a hardened glare towards Kagami, her shoulders squared as her left hand was tightly wrapped in a fist.
The jadette sat in a chair with her arms crossed. Her jaw tight as she kept her head to the side, her gaze down towards the floor. She breathed in and out softly, her right pointer finger tapping against her bicep. She let out a quiet sound that faded into a groan, her head sinking between both her shoulders. "To be fair, he started it. We were just trying to relax. Isn't that why we came here?" She glanced up, cocking her head to the side.
She flashed her teeth for a moment at her, letting out a small snarl before exhaling. Her narrowed eyes still locked on her. "And then you sneak out again to visit Haven Academy which was being overrun by a cult!"
"It's not like it's the worst thing we've done..." She trailed off a bit while looking away. She then gave a small shrug while closing her eyes. "Plus we helped stop the attack from turning into another Beacon disaster. So there's not really a problem here."
"The problem is the fact you didn't listen to me." She half snapped, her brow twitching just slightly. "Again!" She added before heavily breathing through her nose. "I told all of you to stay here. That way nothing could happen to you."
"Oh, so what are you going to do? Punish me?" She glanced back up at her. "Take my sword and attack me with it until I can disarm you and take it back? Or make me go and chase another stick and bring it back to you?" Her head tilted slightly.
She let out another low groan, raising her hand and pointing towards her. "I think I liked it better when you weren't talking."
"I thought you were tired of the silence from being a lonely hermit in the woods?" She shot a half smile in her direction.
"Um, so," Elise nervously stood, watching as the two bickered back and forth. "I didn't go to friends' houses... what do you do when your friend is arguing with their parents?"
"How am I supposed to know?" Kris quickly shot her a look. "I didn't have any friends till I met you guys."
"I don't know either..." Cheyenne trailed off, shifting on her feet while biting her lip. "But I'll admit watching this is very... awkward." She glanced around a bit before pulling out her scroll. "I... think I'm going to play a game. Maybe that one deckbuilding game..."
"Pft," The redhead rolled her eyes while pulling out hers. "The crystal match one is better."
"Both of you are wrong. The only mobile game that's worth playing is the one based off the Vytal Festival Tournament." The young farm girl quickly added. "I mean the card balances isn't the best, but the models and art is pretty cool."
"But who wants to play a game they can't even win?" Kris crossed her arms while a screen loaded on her scroll.
"And who wants to play a match three game that literally takes no skill to beat." The Faunus raised an eyebrow while tilting her head.
"And who wants to play a game that is so complicated and takes so long to even play a single match?" The brunet eyed her with a very confused expressions. "Matches should be fun and quick. Not long and boring."
"Wait, are you serious?" Thanaton asked, sitting next to her brother and Val on a bed.
"Yeah." Val gave a small nod, staring at her feet. Her hands gently fiddling with each other. She took a moment, silent for a bit before continuing to nod again. "With what I remembered from the last time I came here... the information helped this woman Baren found find out some things. There's a lot of rumors of a woman who doesn't age on a mountain to the south. Or ages slowly. It's probably your best chance..." She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry-"
"Don't." Nihilus stopped her with a look. "We've been over this enough times. You are Valerie Nicole Tina. You are not the monster kidnapped us and pushed us to the limits in fighting and trained us to kill. That was Valentine. I'm getting tired of reminding you."
She took a deep breath, softly exhaling as she looked down. "You may think that... but I don't think your parents will." She closed her eyes, slowly lowering her head.
"I just can't believe you sometimes!" Baren exhaled with her arm bent. Her hand upward as she had her fingers curled. "You're just so infuriating at times." She reached up to rub her face.
"Yeah, well," The jadette breathed out while looking away. "That tends to happen when someone tries to tell me what I'm supposed to do. Or what's right for me to do."
She took a deep breath, rubbing her face a little more before her expression softened. She took a step closer, placing her hand on her shoulder. "You have made a lot of progress since we met. Both physically and emotionally. Don't push that all away. Alright?"
Kagami blinked a little, slowly glancing up at her before looking away again. Her shoulders dropping slightly. "I'm... I'm trying." She mumbled before looking back up as she felt the grip on her shoulder tighten.
"I know." She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Her eyes slowly opening again. "I know it's hard getting over things that happened to you and things that you've done, but you can't stop progress. You have to keep moving forward with everything. You can't shut yourself out from the rest of the world. You need to listen to people even if you don't listen to them. Understand?" She slowly pulled back. Her arm going to her side.
She faintly smiled while looking back up. "Yeah. I do." She let her arms fall to her lap.
"Good." Baren then grinned as she turned around. "Don't think you're getting out of being punished though. You know that's not how I work."
"Really?" She exhaled, holding her hands out in defence slightly. "You're joking, right?"
"Nope." She let out a quiet chuckle while resting her arm across her chest. "Now all of you, come on. If we're climbing a mountain, I'd like to have something to eat first. I saw a ramen shop while we we're out. I'm going there if any of you want to follow." She rolled her shoulders back, stretching out her arm.
"I mean, I can't exactly say no to food." Elise chuckled softly, both her hands on her stomach that growled as the group made their way down the streets of Mistral. Her nose twitching ever so slightly as the smells of all sorts of meals filled the air. "Oh man... this Kingdom smells so good. No wonder so many people live here. This place is beautiful AND has amazing food!"
Rolling her eyes with crossed arms, Thanaton let out a scoff. "Food really is the only thing you think about, huh? I don't think I have ever heard someone talk so much about eating. And you're so freaking skinny too. Where do your meals even go? You should be fat by now."
The brunet blinked, giving a very simple shrug back to her.
She reached up, letting out a sigh as she rubbed her face and shook her head. "I have never met a group of four people who are so incredibly weird."
"Speak for yourself." Kris muttered towards the purple haired young woman. "You're probably clinically insane." She held out a hand in defense.
Before she could sharply respond back to her, a different voice filled their ears. "Cheyenne?"
Blinking, the deer Faunus glanced around for a moment till her eyes landed on another Faunus. This Faunus dressed in black with white details. A smile then lit up across her face at the sight of cat ears that were no longer covered. "Blake!" She quickly rushed ahead. "What are you doing here?" She couldn't even attempt to hide her smile.
"It's... a long story." Blake gave a small shrug. "Did your team decide to attend Haven after..."
"After The Fall?" She finished for her as she glanced down. "No, not exactly. We're just here on our own at the moment. We're about to go eat."
"Hey, aren't you team MACE?" Jaune asked as he stepped over. The rest of his team along with Blake's and Qrow behind him.
"Yep. That's us!" Elise pointed at herself with her thumb. "Plus a few stragglers but what can you do about them?" She shrugged.
"So," Yang stretched out her arms, the light shining off her metallic right arm and catching Baren's attention. "We're about to head out somewhere ourselves. Could use a quick little meal with everyone together."
"That doesn't sound too bad." Kagami eyed her team with a soft smile. "It's been a long time since we sat down with our classmates anyway."
"Wait, but what about Oscar?" Ruby quickly added before her head was ruffled by a hand.
"Ah, don't worry, kid. He's resting anyway." Qrow pulled his arm away. "Yesterday exhausted him, remember?"
"I do think I really miss eating in the cafeteria with everyone." Kris quietly mumbled. "Even if it was super gross and really loud and obnoxious."
"I'll have to agree with that too." Weiss faintly smiled.
"Well then let's stop talking and start eating already!" Nora shouted while grabbing Ren's hand.
"Nora! Wait!" He stumbled as he was pulled away.
"Um," Val blinked very slowly before looking back at the twins. "Have you met them before?"
"Nope." Thanaton quickly shook her head.
Nihilus did the same, keeping his hands in his pockets. "Not a clue."
"Okay then." She nodded back towards them. "Let's see how this goes."
Staring into each other's eyes, silver eyes locked with tea green ones. Both leaders of team RWBY and team MACE couldn't look away from the other once again.
Breathing softly, Kagami coughed before shaking her head and pulling away slightly. "S-Sorry... I still don't... you have very beautiful eyes."
"Yours are cool looking too." Ruby quietly spoke back before blinked as she too looked away. "I mean they're interesting. Or nice. They look beautiful too!" She let out in a quick breath of air.
Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and reached up to rub them in an attempt to clear her head. "So what is your team doing all the way on the other side of Remnant?"
"Well it's complicated." She waved her hand a bit. "I would try to explain it to you but you wouldn't understand. What about you and your team?"
"Also complicated." She exhaled, shaking her head before looking up. "We're mainly here to take some of our friends home to see their parents."
"Doesn't sound that bad." Ruby smiled softly. "It's not like you're dealing with your childhood fairy tales being real or anything."
"Yeah." The jadette smiled a bit back. "And it's not like you're dealing with magic that everyone doesn't know exist."
The two both quietly let out a small laugh before awkwardly looking at each other again. Their eyes meeting as the two fell silent once again.
Leaning back in his chair, Qrow heavily exhaled while swirling the contents of his flask around. "So," He eyed Baren before taking a drink. "You got stuck babysitting too?"
"Not exactly." She kept her spine straight as her left arm rested on her lap. "Though sometimes it really does feel like I am. I went from one to half a dozen."
"Mhmm." He gave a nod, slouching forward as a waitress came with their meal. He faintly smiled, eyeing her with a wink.
The waitress blushed slightly, glancing away as she brushed her hair behind her ear. At the same moment, she was placing Baren's bowl in front of her. Though, the edge of it struck the table due to her minor distraction, spilling out the ramen over her lap.
Baren let out a quiet groan, blinking before closing her eyes. She took a deep breath, pulling her arm up along with the noodles. She opened her eyes, placing it back in the bowl.
"Ma'am! I'm so sorry! I-" The waitress started before being cut off.
"Don't worry." The pinkette waved her off. "Just... go get me another bowl. Please."
"O-Of course!" She quickly nodded before rushing off.
"Hey um," Qrow let out an awkward chuckle, handing her a napkin. "Sorry about that."
She raised an eyebrow in his direction before she went to wiping herself off. "It's not like you caused it. I don't know why you're apologizing. It was just some bad luck."
"Exactly..." He trailed off before holding out his hand. "Why don't I buy you a drink? This place has some nice sake if you'd like."
"No." She softly shook her head while resting her arm over her lap again. "It's fine. I don't drink anymore. I gave it up. And you should too. I can smell your whisky from here."
He blinked, giving a small shrug before taking another sip from his flask.
"Aren't you the daughter of Jacques Schnee?" Kris blinked, tilting her head towards the former heiress.
"Aren't you the daughter of Ms. Goodwitch's sister?" She shot back, glaring at her with narrowed eyes.
The two sat in silence for a moment before the redhead sighed softly while poking at her noodles. "You have father issues, huh?"
Weiss was quiet back before slowly nodding as she glanced away. "And I assume you have mother issues?"
She softly exhaled, nodding back before taking putting a piece of tofu in her mouth. "She's the absolute worst. She tried to plan out my entire future as a Huntress and didn't even ask me what I wanted. It was always she knew best because she was the parent and I was the child." She said the last sentence in a mocking tone. "I hate her. I really do."
"Hmph." Weiss let out as a breath of air escaped her lungs. "I despise my father as well. He's controlling and manipulative and does whatever it takes to get what he wants. He's a poor excuse for a human being."
Blinking, the redhead flashed a smile in her direction. "Even when you're bashing someone, it's still so proper. It just makes it all the more savage?"
"Excuse me? What?" The heiress tilted her head.
"Oh, nothing, nothing." Kris waved her hand, still smiling to herself. "It's nothing. Just a compliment really."
"Oh." She blinked before giving her a nod. Her long white ponytail swaying. "Well thank you then." She replied before putting a few noodles in her mouth.
"So what exactly do you do?" Nora asked, blinking as she tilted her head and slurped down several noodles.
Rolling her eyes, Thanaton put a piece of shrimp in her mouth. "I can change the potential energy inside objects into kinetic energy which allows them to be charged with-" She blinked, stopping as the girl she was talking to looked completely dumbfounded. She sighed, slowly shaking her head. "I make things explode by touching and throwing them."
"Oooh, well why didn't you say that!" She exclaimed. "Oh that sounds so cool." She heavily swallowed a mouth full of noodles.
"Yeah..." She nodded back slowly, only faintly smiling at her hyperactive and destructive nature. She didn't mind it all that much. To her, it was a welcoming presence. "It's pretty fun. My gauntlets are also highly reactive and cause an explosion when they hit something. Sometimes the impact from them is brutal. I could level an entire building if I tried."
"Aw yeah!" Nora bounced more, holding her bowl up as she tilted it back and took several large gulps before slamming the empty bowl down and waving her hand for another. "Have you ever thought about adding some lightning though?"
"Um, no?" Thanaton flashed her a strange look.
"Well you should." She hissed softly. "We could work way better together then! And call ourselves STORMBREAKER!" She grinned from ear to ear while holding up a fist.
"Wait what." She blinked once then deadpanned while staring back at her.
"You know," Cheyenne smiled to herself as she mixed the contents of her bowl around. "You look a lot nicer without your bow on. I bet it's a lot more comfortable too."
Shrugging back, Blake glanced upward towards her cat ears that twitched slightly. "I suppose." She sipped slightly from her bowl of ramen that had several whole fish laying across the top of it. "It does feel a lot more breezy now."
"I would assume so." She let out a small laugh. "So why did your team end up coming to Mistral?" She tilted her head slightly.
"I didn't exactly come here with them." Her cat ears dropped down slightly as she looked away. "I went home first after The Fall. To Menagerie to see my parents."
Letting out a small breath of air, the deer Faunus looked away while brushing strands of her hair behind her ear. "I did the same. Sort of. My teammates helped give me the courage to go back to Natus to see how my parents were." She faintly smiled. "They were doing better than I thought. And completely ecstatic to seem me."
Blake glanced over, giving her a soft smile along with a nod. "I'm glad you went back home. You deserved it after that night. I wish I could have helped you go back sooner. But it seems your friends are ahead of me on that."
Cheyenne smiled back to her before picking up her bowl of ramen. "I'm happy you went to see your parents too. I'm sure they missed you too. I bet they were happy to see you too."
"Maybe just cut it a tiny bit. Maybe trim it. Because this is a complete disaster." Val mumbled, reaching over the table as she ran her fingers through Jaune's hair. "You would look much nicer and way more professional. All the girls would be looking at you if you did. Maybe even a few boys." She winked in his direction.
"What... no, no!" He shook his head while batting her hand away. "There's nothing wrong with my hair! It's perfect the way it is! Stop touching it!" He huffed, crossing his arms as he slouched forward with a pout.
"Then what about some warmer clothes or more armor for protection?" She brushed some of the hair out of his face. "You can't just wear a sleeveless hoodie all your life. Also who do you only have one shoulder covered by armor? You could also use some nicer boots." She glanced under the table. "When was the last time you bought boots? Do you need some lien to buy a new pair?"
He let out another huff of air, slouching forward even more. "Come on... now you're just being mean. I think my clothes are wonderful. What's wrong with that?"
She sighed, shaking her head. "If you don't know what's wrong with that then we have a long way to go. No mother will ever let you date their daughter if you keep dressing like this."
His shoulders dropped as he fell forward, face planting onto the table with a soft thud. "Someone, anyone, please trade me seats... please." He let out a soft groan while waving his arm.
Staring with wide eyes at the black and yellow arm, Elise couldn't look away as she downed her bowl of ramen. She set it aside in a pile of several other bowls. "That looks super cool." She finally managed to mutter out. "Did it come all the way from Atlas?"
"Yep." Yang smiled, holding out her right arm as she stretched out the fingers. "The General had it specially made for me. I just made it look a little cooler with a paint job." She chuckled.
"Whoa." She blinked, her eyes sparkling before she grinned. "Can I see it?"
The blonde flashed her a strange look, slowly reaching up to grab her mechanical limb. "Sure?" She said rather confused, pulling it off and holding it across the table towards her. "Why?"
"Because." She snatched it, quickly pulling out of her seat as another bowl was placed down. She tiptoed behind the others, stopping behind Baren. She grinned from ear to ear, silently approaching her.
"No." The pink haired warrior spoke harshly without turning her head.
The brunet jumped, quickly scrambling away back to her seat. "Nevermind." She mumbled, handing the metal limb back to its owner. She let out a huff of air, sighing a bit before grabbing the bowl of ramen in front of her and quickly downing it.
"Uh huh." Yang blinked, putting her arm back on with a soft click. She stretched her right fingers around before eyeing Baren. She stared for a moment before looking back at her. "Can she not afford one of her own?"
"No, it's not that." Elise let out a small burp while setting another empty bowl aside. "She... doesn't want a robotic arm. She says it's because she wants to remember what made her lose it, but I think it's because she doesn't think she deserves something as fancy as that."
"Hmm." The blonde glanced over, staring at the old warrior for a few seconds. Her brows furrowed slightly as her mouth twitched. She ended up sighing, shaking her head a bit before taking a bite of beef from her bowl. "She's a strange old woman then."
"Oh no no no," Elise rapidly shook her hands. "Don't let her head you say that! She will actually try to kill you!"
"Has she done that to you?" She let out a quiet chuckle.
The brunet pulled back, letting out a quiet sigh. "Yeah... when we first met." Her shoulders dropped as she slouched forward.
As the others talked back and forth while eating, Nihilus and Ren both sat across from each other in silence. Their spoons clinking against their bowls as they both quietly sipped the broth of their ramen. Exhaling as he set his empty bowl down with a soft sound, Ren glanced upward. "Good talk." He muttered under his breath with a nod.
"Likewise." Nihilus responded quietly, placing his spoon down in his own empty bowl.