Apologies for the delay. Kind of had a few issues with real life. And I can't think of anything else to say, so let's jump right in, shall we?!
Chapter 15: Playing Catch-Up
The following morning, I slowly peeled the sheet off of my boiling body. It had been a hot night, and I couldn't wait to get some breakfast going. Grabbing onto the rafter my hammock hung from, I hoisted myself up, and leapt down to the floor, rolling as I hit the ground. With the prickly carpet digging into my bare feet, I looked up to my teammates. Blake was performing graceful moves that resembled tai chi, while a soft track of rolling waves with a mournful horn warbling in the background emanated from a CD player in the corner. Weiss, however, was nowhere to be seen.
Ruby was still writing in her scrapbook, perched on the edge of her bed, and still in her pajamas, minus her sleep mask. I walked over to her, curious.
"Morning, Rubes. Whatcha doing?" I asked. Startled, she let out a soft yelp, and quickly covered the book as her eyes swung to face me. For a moment, I could've sworn that she had an expression of pain and sadness. I knew that it was probably none of my business, but if there was a problem, maybe I could have helped solve it. Even so, I had to play it cool: if Ruby guessed what I had just seen... I don't know what would happen.
"Oh. Is this a bad time?" I whispered, not wanting to disturb Blake from her morning routine. Ruby shook her head, and gave a smile.
"No, no, it's fine, Darrel. Just... Just looking over some stuff from Signal days." She said, a little too quickly. I shrugged, pretending not to notice. Trying to change the subject, I thought back to previous interactions.
"Any... you-know-whats? Like in the ballroom that night?" I asked nervously, wringing my hands. Ruby shook her head, a smile on her face. I sighed in relief: my shin still had a bit of a discolouration from that particular incident.
"Well, I-I'm gonna go have a shower." I hurriedly said, as Blake would most likely rebuff any conversation with sentences consisting of a single syllable, and Weiss was too 'in the zone' to talk. But as my fingers clutched the handle, Ruby spoke up.
"Uh, Darrel, don't go in there, Yang's-"
The warning came too late: I had opened the door, to come face to face with a topless Yang, as she was in the process of toweling off her hair. Now, don't get me wrong: it was purely a lapse of judgement on my part, I had no idea that the bathroom was occupied, and, most importantly, I would rather have the Reckoning happen over this kind of incident any day. But no matter the excuse I could think of, none of them sounded like a good one. Partly because there is no possible explanation that excuses an act like this, but mostly because my mind only had time to conjure up two letters before I was met with a flaming fist to the bridge of my nose.
As I was sent flying across the window and into a pile of cushions, I heard the bathroom door slam, and Ruby dejectedly finish her sentence.
"-called first dibs."
"You don't say." I groaned nasally, lacing my voice with sarcasm and feeling some blood trickle down to my upper lip. Blake didn't stop performing her movements, even though I had narrowly missed her. She just looked down, and gave a wry smile.
Finally, the group was dressed, my nose had healed, and we were waiting in line to get some breakfast. Yang looked very apologetic, as she snuck furtive glances in my direction. To be honest, I was kind of expecting her to be a lot angrier at me barging in on her. Although Ruby promised to talk to her about this mistake, I still didn't have much hope. I'd seen what she had done to Junior and his goons. No way in hell did I want to go through that. Shuddering, my mind flashed back to her method of interrogation: one more bit of pain in that area, and the Conway bloodline would likely die out.
"Hey, Grimm Puncher! You gonna order, or what?"
The lunch lady gestured to the multitude of platters spread across the counter. I decided on a toasted muffin, filled with bacon, and some scrambled eggs on the side. The lunch lady sighed, and holding up two fingers, went to get the order ready. Waiting, I unconsciously glanced around the crowd, trying to see what some others were having for their meals. One seemed to be having cereal, another a buttered bagel, and a third a smoothie of some description. As I continued to glance, I saw someone familiar standing in the crowd. Someone who was quite familiar.
Kimba.
She just stood there, looking in my direction, never taking her eyes off of me. A serious look on her hooded face, but her eyes just seemed... different. As if she was angry at me or-
"Oi, Grimmpunch! You gonna eat, or did I just make this so you could ogle the crowd?!"
Turning to face the lunch lady, she was holding a plate carrying my order. Turning back to the crowd, I noticed that Kimba had gone. I shook my head in disbelief and grabbed the bag from the lady. She grumbled, and muttered something about 'no respect anymore', but my mind was elsewhere. Why the hell would she show herself now?
"Darrel, over here!"
Ruby calling me over through a crowd... Deja vu, much? Walking to her voice, she had sat with Nora, Ren, Weiss and Blake. Now dressed in their combat gear, they all had plates carrying various foodstuffs. Ren balanced a mug of coffee on his hand, taking occasional sips in between glancing at Nora, who was gorging into a bowl of what appeared to a pile of sugar. Her lips, nose and cheeks were caked in the powder. Weiss munched on an apple, taking a break every now and again to glance at her ice-blue scroll. Blake just kept her nose in a book, a tuna omelette congealing in front of her. Surprisingly, Ruby didn't have a plate of cookies before her, but a plate loaded up with strawberries and bran.
"Strange..." I muttered to myself. Ruby looked up at me.
"What's strange?" She asked.
"It's just, every time I see you eating, it's usually... cookies with a side of cookies. Why the change?" I shrugged, curious. Ruby just stared at me blankly.
"Much as I'd like to, I don't live on them alone. Besides, strawberries are my favourite food." Ruby answered coolly, taking a spoonful of bran and strawberry as if to prove a point. I shrugged: guess Earth had been busy while I was gone. I sat down on a spare seat at the end, next to Nora. She pulled her face out from the nearly empty bowl of sugar, and turned to me, her turquoise eyes shining out of a mask of white powder.
"Aren't you the guy that rode the Nevermore and punched the Grimm yesterday?! You have to show me your skills! What's next on your list, punting a Wahtani?! Could you get it's skull for me?! It'd make a great trophy! My dad's always wanted—"
Before my mind melted, Ren interjected.
"Nora, relax. You'll scare him away."
I chuckled, scratching the back of my head nervously. I couldn't let them guess I knew them already, otherwise things would fall apart.
"Nora? Cool name. Mine's Darrel, Darrel Conway."
Ren gave me a hard look.
"My name's Lie Ren. But just call me Ren."
I flashed a thumbs up at the young man, who took another sip of coffee. Behind him, I saw Yang, Jaune, and Pyrrha, all carrying trays of food. Ruby waved them over, and they sat at our table. Yang shot me a nervous glance, and I felt my nose tingle a bit.
"Oh yes. Darrel, this is Pyrrha Nikos. She was the top graduate of Sanctum Academy, and the victor of the Mistral regional tournament for four years running." Weiss introduced me to her, a proud smile on her face. She turned to Pyrrha, and gestured to me.
"Pyrrha, Darrel Conway. He's the one who nearly died in initiation." She stated blandly. Pyrrha looked at me.
"Nice to meet you, Darrel. I admire your bravado, but your recklessness is terrifying." She said, shaking my hand. I gave a small frown.
"In my defense, the Nevermore kind of carried me away, and things went FUBAR when the Boarbatusk broke loose. My style may be reckless, but I've survived this long, haven't I?" I explained. Pyrrha raised her hands defensively.
"Oh, no, I'm not saying that that's a bad thing. It defines you. You don't show fear, and you're willing to do what others would not. Riding that Nevermore... That was incredible." She gushed, as if she was describing her favourite pop star to a stranger.
"Oh, sorry about that." I apologized. Pulling my roll out of the bag, I began to nibble on it.
"What does FUBAR mean?" Ruby asked. I looked up at her.
"I'll explain later."
Yang gave me another glance.
"Hey, Yang, why do you keep looking at Darrel? Something you'd like to share? Maybe a crush?" Nora asked. Yang spluttered on a drink of orange juice, and reached for a serviette. While she wiped her mouth down, Ruby spoke up.
"There was a... issue in the showers. Long story short, Darrel gets blasted out of the bathroom." She explained. I didn't care that the event of this morning had been revealed, as long as that was all the details that were leaked to the world.
"An issue? Did you like what you see?" Nora asked, her voice taking on a seductive tone at that last sentence. Ren clapped her on the head.
"Nora, do not go there! Darrel would never do that." He hissed. Nora groaned in annoyance. I looked at her, hard.
"Nora, what goes on in Team RWBY's dorms is none of your business until we say otherwise. Understand?" I stated. Nora nodded, a sad look washing over her face, similar to when the Ursa 'broke' back during initiation.
*Attention students. Could all first year students please report to the weapons gallery for training. Once again, all first year students report to the weapons gallery for training.*
Well, so much for breakfast...
"C'mon guys, let's go." I said, standing up and bagging the rest of my roll, which had been forgotten until now, and throwing it into my rucksack for later. Ruby groaned, and followed suit, as did everyone else.
"Nora, you've got... something." Ren said gesturing to her face. The valkyrie licked her lips, futilely trying to clean her sugar coated face.
"Did I get it?" She asked. I sighed, and began the long walk. How Ren survived knowing her this long was anybody's guess.
"You may already know this, but in the life of a Hunter, their weapon is all that stands between life... and death. Should you lose your weapon, be it wrested from your grip, or heaven forbid, be destroyed, then do not simply rely on your own mettle. Our ancestors fought and bled with countless weapons. But when their weapons were destroyed, did they run and hide? Did they cower for their lives with a hilt and a metal shard in their hands? They did not. In battle, every fallen weapon has potential. My name is Professor Kor, and I will be teaching you how to best utilize that potential."
Professor Kor stood atop a podium, the holographic arena projecting a massive image of him for everyone to see, so large, his hands could easily pick one of us up.
"You must understand the basics of not just your own weapons, but your teammates as well. If you cannot coordinate attacks that utilize the best of your abilities, then you risk not only your own lives, but the lives of your teammates, the lives you have sworn to defend. Now, I would like to give a quick demonstration. Who here wishes to assist me?"
The hologram of Professor Kor faded from view, replaced by a scanning machine of some sort. As tempting as it was to let my hand shoot up, I had had my moment in the sun yesterday. I didn't want to be a glory hound, and to be honest, I began to feel a little dizzy since I'd stood up from breakfast. So I kept my hand firmly anchored to my side.
"Weiss Schnee. And Cardin Winchester. I see you two are most enthusiastic to help me out. Please, come on up and place your weapons in the scanners." He cried, gesturing to the device. Weiss walked up, and placed her weapon into her scanner. Cardin did the same with his Almace. A loud digital tone sounded, as the weapons were scanned. First came a holographic image of Myrtenaster with a long list of details following.
I would have read the list, in case of an incident where I'd have to use Weiss's weapon occurred, but I was distracted by a tap on my shoulder. Turning, I saw Yang wringing her hands.
"Hey, uh, sorry about what happened in the dorm, Darrel. But to be honest, you should have considered that anyone could have been in there." She whispered. I just pinched the bridge of my stinging nose. Now was the time to lamely explain myself.
"Yang, believe me, there is no way I would do that on purpose. And if I'd stopped to listen to Ruby, it never would have happened. It's my fault, plain and simple. I'm sorry, and it won't happen again." I whispered back. Yang shot me a nervous glance, twirling a lock of her hair in the process.
"Ruby told me it was an accident, so I can forgive you for that. Just promise me that it doesn't happen ever again. I don't want to have you go to the hospital wing again." She placed a gloved hand on my shoulder, giving it a rough squeeze. Grimacing, I nodded.
'Knowing Yang, that sounds more like a promise than a preference...'
"And now, Ms. Schnee and Mr. Winchester, exchange weapons!"
Professor Kor's booming voice caused some murmurs in the crowd. I understood why: wielding weapons tailored to their strengths was all these students knew until now. Being forced to pick up other weapons was going far outside everyone's comfort zone. Nevertheless, Weiss's Myrtenaster and Cardin's Almace switched hands. Weiss seemed to struggle with the heavy mace, but mustering the effort, she hoisted it up on her shoulder, face contorted while trying to carry around the heavy weapon.
Cardin, on the other end of the scale, looked positively ridiculous with the royal rapier resting in his massive palms. By size alone, it looked like he was wielding an enormous silver toothpick. Swinging it around, his hands nearly crushed the grip. Clearly, brute force wouldn't work for him here. Though I doubted the man even knew any other way of combat. Most of what I had seen him do revolved around the concept of attacking, attacking, and attacking.
"Now, take your places at the edge of the arena, and wait for the tone. When you hear it, try and defeat your opponent using their weapon."
With those words, Weiss stumbled unsteadily over to one side of the arena, while Cardin to the other. Weiss seemed to struggle, but, after some grunting, finally managed to heft Cardin's weapon aloft. Cardin merely swung her sword around, trying to get a feel for it. Looking at his build, he was more suited to taking a lot of hits and dealing out a lot of damage. Myrtenaster wasn't capable of that: rapiers were used for thrusting and stabbing.
"Fight well!" Blake cheered, waving a pennant that had "RWBY" emblazoned on it.
'I have GOT to get one of those...'
"You got this, Weiss!" Ruby shouted, causing Weiss to turn to her.
"Ruby! I'm trying to concentrate!" She yelled out, causing Ruby to shrink back and mutter a small apology.
*BOOP*
As soon as the tone sounded, Cardin rushed forward, slashing Myrtenaster every which way, hoping to hit Weiss with an aggressive strategy. Weiss tried to block with Cardin's weapon, but she barely managed to hoist it up before Cardin slashed at her. Using the weapon's weight, she threw it to the side, flinging herself away from Cardin's attack.
"Come on, Weiss, you can do it!" Ruby cried out. Weiss merely shot an angry glance, but it was replaced by one of worry when Cardin swung Myrtenaster at her, causing her to drop the Almace. Spinning on his heels, Cardin immediately began pursuing Weiss, who had brought up a series of glyphs to shield herself with. Cardin slashed at the impromptu defense, without showing any mercy.
"Weiss, try and use your glyphs to make the mace lig-"
"STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!" She burst out, trying to look at Ruby and block Cardin's strikes at the same time. I glanced at Ruby, and sure enough, she looked hurt at this outburst. As Cardin finally broke through Weiss's shields, she took a chance, and rolled out of the way of Cardin's slash. While Cardin glanced around the battlefield looking for her, Weiss flicked her hand, causing four glyphs to surround Cardin. They turned black, and engulfed Cardin's wrists and ankles, hoisting him into the air, helpless.
"Hey, what gives?!" Cardin struggled against his bonds, to no effect. Weiss said nothing, merely strode over to the discarded Almace, and wrapped her fingers around it. As soon as she lifted, small blue glyphs formed around the handle of the weapon, and she hefted it onto her shoulder like it weighed little more than a twig. Striding over to Cardin, who continued to struggle, she roughly grabbed his chin, causing him to stop resisting.
"If you ever treat my rapier, or any other weapon, like that again, I will cut your heart out." She hissed. Then taking some steps away, she flung the Almace back, aiming right at Cardin's stomach. The mace hit true, knocking the wind right out of Cardin, shattering the glyphs that had previously bound him, and sending him flying into a wall. As he flew, Myrtenaster flew out of his grip, and twirled through the air. Weiss effortlessly caught it, and sheathed the rapier before anybody could react. Then, without a word, she strode out of the arena. Professor Kor took the stage, clapping.
"An impressive display of power, Ms. Schnee. You are truly a wonder on the battlefield!" He said to her. She didn't even acknowledge him. And with that, Professor Kor turned to us.
"Unfortunately, that is all we have time for. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, before the next class. And if anyone has issues, I will gladly assist in any way I can. Good day."
Essentially, the main reason Professor Kor had Weiss and Cardin switch weapons was because Monty posted that the characters of RWBY wouldn't just be proficient with their own weapons. It's just my way of interpreting it. Besides, you run out of ammo in Halo, you don't just run over to the same weapon and pick up the ammo from there. You grab what you can.
Anyway, I'd like to make an announcement. I will post answers to any questions you put to me. It doesn't matter what the questions are, just ask anything, and I will do my level best to answer.
EDIT: Okay, the questions have to be within reason, as in, relating to the story. Thanks a lot, Jozern, you smart-arse...