And I am back! I am SO sorry it took a long time for me to give this story a true update. Man, the road to a quick recovery was a bit of a roller coaster, but I got through it. After speaking with some friends and family and getting back into the groove of life, I am good to go now. Now I can finally get to some of the meat of this story, a special arc and a few decisions that I made in order to make this chapter especially juicy. Enjoy!
Beta: CrowSkull
Coverart: Nova
The Blind Huntsman
Chapter 69- Volume 2, Episode 12
Dance, Dance, Manipulation
As she was directed, Blake held her hands over her eyes in anticipation for the youngest of Team KRBR to exit the bathroom to show off her dress. Well, Orchid was the one who was covering her eyes, but it practically was the same thing. She was baited into doing this the moment she entered the room right after helping with the final finishing touches of the dance. Thanks to Yang's incredible knack for making her friends try things out of their comfort zone, her rather simple black dress that she was originally going to go to the dance with was replaced by a slightly more extravagant one. Surprisingly, the skirt was slightly longer and had long sleeves that reached all the way up to her wrists and sparkled more in the light. Honestly, it was a beautiful dress and she was thankful for Yang's advice.
This was why she shouldn't have been so surprised when she also seemingly helped her younger sister Ruby find a dress of her own to go to the dance with. She was still going alone, evident given the fact that no one has arrived to pick her up just yet but that was expected, Ruby may have had a crush once but she was still a young girl who was known to dedicating herself fully to becoming a huntress. It didn't mean that she wouldn't be embarrassed, oh far from it. She just wanted to show her friends first after Yang, who exited the bathroom with stars in her eyes about an hour after finally getting Ruby into three-inch high heels. After arguing incessantly the entire shopping spree, they settled for a compromise where it didn't feel like Ruby was 'Walking with stilts attached to her legs' as she put it.
"Eee~! I can't wait to see how she looks!" Orchid squealed as she sat behind her. She wasn't in her dress just yet, but she was in her underwear and pet flamingo beside her waiting for her turn in the bathroom. Since she asked Kai to the dance accidentally apparently, and for the fact that he actually said yes to her lit a fire under her to go out and get her dress on her own. Blake was sure that she had help, probably from Yang or some other female friend or otherwise to help her. Either that or from the dozens of other personalities in her head that would assuredly help with the final decision of what she would wear. "Can't you?"
"Of course," Blake said, long given up trying to get Orchid to stop covering her eyes. "I am proud of her for being brave like this. I could tell that she wasn't going to go if no one wanted her to."
"Pft, as if she would have waited for her all by herself while all of her friends and the rest of her classmates went to the dance without her." Orchid snickered.
Blake snorted, yes, even the most introverted of people might have made the decision to go on their own if all their friends were doing it. Hell, she almost wasn't going to go. The stress of the White Fang and everything going down in Vale almost made her too stressed out to go have fun, especially after the little failure that was their raid. But she was well assured that something was being done about it. If it weren't for their resident vigilante, then it was for the council and the headmaster giving the terrorists their deserved amount of attention.
"Hey, Ruby!" Orchid's giddy, and rather loud voice, blasted her out of that train of thought. "Are you done yet? The dance is starting soon!"
"H-Hold on," Ruby nervously called through the girl. "Almost done!"
"Girl, it's been an hour. That's it!" Blake's yellow eyes blinked as light suddenly flooded into her retina when Orchid tore her hands off her eyes and stalked toward the bathroom, now determined to drag their partner out of there.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait-!" It wouldn't save her, Orchid ripped the door handle off of the door and somehow didn't rip it off its hinges as she introduced herself needlessly as she forced herself into the bathroom. Out of context, an older girl forcing herself into a bathroom when a younger girl clearly didn't want her there could have lead to some nasty rumors, but knowing her teammates, Blake laughed as Orchid carefully wrestled Ruby out of the bathroom. Being much stronger physically, Ruby stood no chance of pushing her away, especially when she was too afraid of ruining her dress to even try it.
Blake smiled contently as Ruby soon stood before her with a nervous blush on her face. Hugging herself with arms wrapped up in black stockings and a black and red dress that matched the style of her hair. Blake was surprised to see that Ruby even let her hair down, having it not in its usual style that she's grown very used to seeing her wear it in, but in where her chin-length hair flowed evenly around her hair and looked softer than any fabric Blake has ever touched.
"You look beautiful," Blake complimented her with a bright smile on her face, causing Ruby to further shrink in on herself. "Seriously, there is nothing to be nervous about here. It even hides a lot, which I know you'd like."
"I look like a girl…" Ruby whined.
"That's because you are a girl." Orchid laughed, patting her roughly on the back. "Even been growing into one if you know what I mean." She winked.
"I don't wanna go anymore!"
"Too late," Before Ruby could throw caution to the wind and tear her dress with the speed of her semblance, Blake gripped her wrist softly yet firm. "If I have to go, then you do too."
"If Kai is going, then you definitely are too," Orchid added. "If only to make me not die of my own nervousness."
"Mmm…" Ruby hummed, it was true, Orchid was probably the most nervous out of their entire friend group. She was just the best at hiding it. Or the best at switching to a more level-headed personality at just the right time.
"My turn to get ready!" Orchid exclaimed as she slammed the door shut and stuffed the hole where the door handle used to be with a towel. "Give me five minutes!"
"She's excited," Blake remarked with a smirk as she sat back down with Ruby next to her, being careful for the flamingo Orchid definitely did not kidnap.
"Excited to get it over with, maybe." Ruby corrected with a laugh that Blake joined her on. "Really, I can't believe it."
"Can't believe what?" Blake asked. "Orchid being excited or just in general."
"I mean all of us," Ruby giggled, knowing that Blake was just messing with her there. "The beginning of this semester was… rough, to put it lightly. I didn't know if we were a team or if we were all just friends working together for the sake of a grade."
"Hm," Blake hummed in agreement. "Kai's gotten better though, and so have we."
"I know, and that's awesome!" Ruby replied. "He's become a much better leader and he was already someone I looked up too, if not because of how much time we've spent together or because he's the only other… uh, silver-eyed person, I know who actually knows how to use the power." She said in a whisper, Blake nodded in acknowledgment. It was a world secret in which only a handful of people should know at a time for the safety of the warriors themselves. "Or even just because I see him as an older brother of sorts," Ruby added with a shrug. "It's why I wish I could help him more. I try to be there for him whenever I can, and it was really hard for me to tell him to not come with us on that mission to the docks that we set up together for his own sake, but even now as he is all smiles and spending more time with us, I don't think his heart is really in it."
Blake raised an eyebrow, surprised with Ruby's assessment. "You've known him better than I. I've heard this a dozen times, that he was a much kinder and outgoing person before what happened in Mistral. People change." Blake sighed sorrowfully, remembering a certain bull. "Sometimes there's nothing we can do about it. I can't even imagine the weight he makes himself carry. You know he trains an extraordinary amount of hours each day right?"
"Mhm," Ruby huffed through her nose. "Every morning, every night, and now every afternoon. He thinks he is being sneaky, leaving the room in the middle of the night while we're sleeping but I saw him leaving with another set of clothes one time. He must've spent the night with… a certain someone."
"A certain someone?"
"Someone who's family… well, Yang's family. It's complicated, I really shouldn't be the one to tell you about it."
"I respect that," Blake nodded her head with understanding. It wasn't her business to know every little thing about any of her friends.
"He always comes back… but… can I tell you something, Blake?" Ruby looked to her suddenly with a very sad and desperate expression. "Something that will stay between you and me?"
"Of course," Blake agreed with little hesitation.
Ruby sighed out of relief, which put off Blake. The conversation made a turn toward a much more unexpected approach.
"I feel like one day, Kai is going to go out like he usually does and just… not come back." Ruby admitted, sagging her soldiers as if she just dropped a massive weight on her shoulders. "You know how he is, he's obsessed with getting stronger, and better. At first, I knew it was because he's blind and he had to train harder than anyone in order to keep up with everyone, but that really isn't a weakness for him anymore at this point. He's been training with the headmaster, Raven," She cursed herself for saying that name, but Ruby ignored it and kept going. Blake promised internally not to repeat that name. "And the normal training that Miss Goodwitch puts us through. Honestly, I think he's already surpassed some pro huntsmen. He's definitely stronger than Pyrrha at least. I just… do you know what I mean?"
"Yes, I understand where you are coming from," Blake said right away. "You know Adam Taurus and I used to be… involved."
Ruby nodded her head. After the docks, she heard that whole story. It was sad, she wished her friend didn't have to go through that.
"In some ways, I see some similarities between him and Kai," Blake continued. "They both have their own solid beliefs and are willing to fight and die for them. They both do things that they wouldn't necessarily do if they didn't already feel like they had too. Both go through changes as a result of that, some worse and others for the better. In Kai's case, I an proud that he has been able to stay connected with us because, in Adam's case, he let go of everyone except me in pursuit of his goals. I feared that he would have gone nuts because of that but… he's proven me wrong, for better or worse."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you remember all of that…" Ruby said as she noticed Blake take in a choked breath, she was clearly getting emotional, even if it was a tiny amount.
"Don't worry about it," Blake smiled and put a hand on her shoulder, showing her that she didn't hold it against her whatsoever. "We'll keep this between ourselves, promise?"
Ruby smiled and held out a pinky finger. Blake looked at it and rolled her eyes before raising her closest hand and connecting their pinkies with each other. "Pinky promises can never be broken," Ruby said as her only explanation for the action.
"Of course," Blake agreed.
"Are you guys having a moment!?" Orchid asked through the door, reminding them both that she still existed. "Because if you are, I'll wait a little longer and take my fingers out of my ears. I'll have to wash my hands after, but it would be a necessary sacrifice for the sake of your privacy. But I must respectfully point out that I am all dressed now and I want to show off!"
"You're good to come out now," Blake called out to her other teammate, Ruby comically swiped a finger across her lips, promising to keep herself silent of their little chat in the earlier moments.
"Great!" Orchid burst through the door, knocking it off a single hinge as it swung open and slammed against the wall to her left. Her face was red and it was obvious that she was giving herself a pep talk. She must have also gotten into her OCD personality because her dress was perfectly put on. No wrinkles or folds and it hugged her figure very snugly. Magenta in color, the long skirt was cut on the side so when she walked one her of bare legs would be revealed, she had no sleeves on her arms, a black sash across her waist and the part of the dress that came up from her back and over her shoulders were two parts and connected with each other as it went down her chest and to her belly. In regards to her chest, she wasn't being very conservative about it.
"That's a lot of side boob," Blake remarked, strangely not being able to look away from it.
"Sideboob is the best kind of boob," Orchid assured her. "Overboob is overrated and underboob is just not possible with this school. So, what do you think?"
"It's awesome!" Ruby exclaimed, her nervousness fading in order for her to compliment her partner. "You're so pretty!"
"Oh, stop," Orchid blushed and cupped one of her cheeks. Her shoulder-length dark magenta-red hair flowed with her head as she looked off to the side, embarrassed. "I'm not that pretty."
"Surely, you will have Kai frothing at the mouth," Blake added.
"Really!?"
It really was too easy, Blake thought as Orchid once again fell for the trick of forgetting that Kai was blind.
It also showed her how much she really cared. Just because Kai was blind doesn't mean that she wasn't going do her best to look the best she could for him. If he couldn't see it, well, that just sucked for him. Because Orchid looked pretty, felt pretty, and there was nothing anyone could ever say to convince them otherwise.
"Let's get going then," Blake said after a few moments of letting Ruby fuss over Orchid. "Everyone's starting to go to the dance now, so we can all meet with each other downstairs and go as a group."
"Goddamn stupid fucking tie," Rick complained as he untied said tie and threw it at the mirror. Huffed at his own frustration, then picked it up and tried again.
"I could tie it for you, you know." Pyrrha pointed out from behind him. Waiting patiently and doing her very best not to laugh at the shorter boys expense for his utter failure in trying to figure out how to tie a said tie.
"No, no, I've got it!" Rick said as he began the first steps of tieing the tie, first wrapping it around his neck, then pulling one tail over the other and— he lost it again as one tail twisted around the other and he began choking himself. Coming to his rescue, Pyrrha loosened the tie for him and potentially saved his life by freeing his throat of constriction.
"Here, let me do it," Pyrrha said as she turned her partner to face her, the boy being a head shorter than her pouted as he let her do her thing. It was adorable, she thought. He was so indignant it was endearing, and while his brother was very similar, Brick certainly didn't complain nearly as much as Rick did. This is something she would keep to herself, of course, it was a simple observation, and it wasn't like Rick was obnoxious in the way he talked. She actually found him to be quite amusing.
Like when he suggested that they go to the dance together because "We might as well, I mean, who else are you going to go with? Jaune?" If it wasn't so amusing and cute she might have been offended by that, though it wasn't a lie. The only boys her age she knew and was friends with were Rick, his brother, Jaune, Ren, and Kai. Kai was already going with Orchid, Jaune was as well, and Ren was going with Yang as partners.
"Why do you have that weird look on your face?" Rick asked, his face flushing as he looked up at her. "Stop that."
"Stop what?" Pyrrha said innocently, continuing to keep her smile and shining green eyes plastered all over her face. "I am afraid I have no idea of what you may mean, my dear partner Rick Violet."
"You see!? That is what I'm talking about." He grumbled.
"There is nothing for you to complain about here." Pyrrha practically sang to him.
Rick grumbled and turned away as Pyrrha finished tying the tie with a soft snap. The dark blue garment was the same color as the rest of his suit, though, in the representation of his brother, he had a bright red pocket square in the pocket on the right side of his chest. If Pyrrha were to make assumptions, she would guess that Brick would be wearing an inverted version of Rick's suit. She certainly wouldn't be surprised.
"There, all done," Pyrrha said as she took a step back.
Rick looked at himself in the mirror and scoffed like any teenage boy would when they thought they looked like the most handsome man in the world. His hair was also slicked back, and after a few moments of looking at himself, he decided that he would look better if he had his forehead covered more. So he messed up his own hairstyle by combing his hair more forward and shaking his head. Back to its usual wild style, but still with gel and some shine in it. Pyrrha laughed and patted his head, amused by his actions.
"I get it, you're taller than me and you find that funny," Rick said as Pyrrha rubbed his scalp with her gloved fingers. Pyrrha was in a bright red dress that matched her hair, and dark red glove on her arms that ended just above her elbow. Rick wouldn't admit it, but when his mouth hung at the first sight of her wearing this she knew that he thought she was beautiful. Honestly, she thought she should be more embarrassed for that. But instead, she was much more flattered than the former. Comfortable, even.
"I actually find it quite cute," Pyrrha said with a sudden burst of nervousness. It didn't help when Rick's eyes went wide and his face grew a darker shade of red that it betrayed his choice of favorite color. They both looked away from each other at remained silent for a few moments, neither willing to speak after that comment.
"...I guess you're pretty too." Rick forced out, proving Pyrrha wrong in a sudden burst of confidence.
Another few short moments of silence reigned after that.
"Thank you," Pyrrha eventually said after recovering. "Shall we go then? I fear Nora and Jaune will be waiting for us downstairs for much longer than we really out to make them."
"Y-yeah, lets." Rick stuck his arm out expectantly.
Nervousness fading away, Pyrrha laughed and ringed her arm through his, holding it comfortable and allowing the boy to lead her out of the room and into the hallway. There were many other pairs leaving at the same time, though they were much more noticeable given their utter opposites in color choices. She was proud of that, being more unique than the other students around her.
"BRICK!" Pyrrha and Rick winced at the screeching sound that came from the room just one door down ahead of them. "What are you doing!? We're going to be late!" Weiss shouted again.
"I'm trying to tie this damn tie!" Brick shouted back.
"Still!?" People started laughing at their expense, growing louder at what came after. "Let me do it for you, I used to do it for my brother all the time!"
"I got it!"
"No, you clearly don't. You're choking yourself!"
"Gak-" From the hallway, everyone could hear how Brick choked himself with his own tie, and what came after when Weiss gave up and went in to fix it for him. Though it was not with the Violet's permission. The sound of arguing and sounds of wrestling were heard even as Ren and Yang walked out while barely concealing their laughter. They took one look at Rick and Pyrrha further down the hallway and finally burst out laughing when Pyrrha held up a thumbs-up gesture, confirming for them their suspicions.
Finally, Rick and Pyrrha burst with laughter seconds later. Really, the seeds of the apple tree grew very close to each other. They were practically the same person at times.
"What's that sound?" Jaune asked as he sat on a bench next to Nora, hearing all sorts of weird noises from the floors above them. It sounded like laughter, screaming, and then some cursing. But that could have just been his imagination getting to him.
"I dunno," Nora said as she swung her legs. "But the others are taking so long. Heh, and they thought we were going to be the slow ones?"
"Hah, yeah, funny thinking about it now." Jaune laughed. All he had to do was get dressed, wait for Nora in the hallway, gawk at her beauty, let her tease him for it, and then that was that. She grabbed his arm and took him away. They would have gone straight to the ballroom if they hadn't gotten the text from the others all agreeing to go as a full group. Even now, Nora was just itching to completely ignore their pleas and go on without them and it was only Jaune and his below-average skills with girls to keep her from doing so. "We're actually the tamest of them all."
"Oh, is that a challenge?"
Or not, Jaune lost control quickly.
"I-I mean, no? It shouldn't be, really. It wasn't me."
"Nope, too late!" Nora grabbed his hand and yanked him back up to his feet. "C'mon, we are going to show Beacon while Jaunora is the King and Queen of this school!"
"Do I have a choice in the matter!?"
"Nope!"
"Is this entirely necessary?" Kai asked as his mother as she wrapped his blindfold around his eyes for him.
"It very much is," Marron confirmed. "This is the first time you've ever gone to a social activity like this, and as your mother, I'm going to make sure you look your best! Right, Mal?"
"Yup!" Malienna chirped happily as she sat in Kai's lap.
"Wow, not even going to attempt to pick your big brother's side?" Kai teased as he grabbed her sides, threatening to tickle her with his tail while he pinned her arms to her sides. Malienna's eyes went wide with fear.
"I-I mean, you look really cool?"
"Hm," Kai let go of her. "I guess that's good enough."
"Yes!" Malienna cheered. "You do look cool though, I was being serious about that."
"You sure do!" Marron exclaimed in agreement. "I chose the suit for you after all, and I was definitely not going to let Vernal do any of the choosing after she suggested what she suggested."
To be fair, Vernal suggested that Kai goes in a more stylish version of his combat outfit, which was like his usual outfit. Which was apparently a big no-no for Marron. Luckily for the maiden, Raven took her back to the tribe with her portal during Kai's third dressing. Which was good for Vernal, because she was not the kind of girl to stick around waiting for a mother to choose what their son looks best in. Honestly, Kai was surprised she stuck around for as long as she did already before that point.
"Thanks," Kai was still blind, but he felt like he looked a little better. It was hard to describe for him. The clothes he was wearing felt softer, maybe even a little heavier than usual. He was also banned from not wearing shoes so it was harder for him to sense the world around him, though not impossible. He was sure his mother did a good job dressing him, and also doing his hair. It was the first time he ever willingly let her do anything to his hair before and she was excited. He never cared about it before because he's never seen what he looked like, but apparently it was very thick and fluffy. Which was, again, apparently attractive to girls. He'd never see it for himself so he opted to take her word for it.
Malienna was in a cute dress as well. She was going to go to the dance as well as the princess of Beacon. No one would take that title from her, though he was curious about how Nora would react to that given her own self-given title of Queen of the Castle. If she tried to adopt his sister though, she'd have to answer to his mother first.
"There, you can go now," Marron said as she stepped away from him at last. Kai stood up right away and stretched his arms, only for his mother to stop him from going for the full stretch out of fear of him ruining his suit. With a resigned sigh, Kai decided to let his body deal with the weird non-painful ache he felt across his shoulders for at least an hour.
"There's my handsome boy," Marron added as she added some final touches to his hair. Kai turned his head away and scoffed, accepting the compliment with mild embarrassment.
Continuing the trope of wearing the same color his aura shined, his suit was a light grey in color. Though the tailor insisted that it was silver. A white pocket square to represent his clouded pupil, a black shirt underneath with a white tie to match the square, black shoes, and a small hole above his butt so that he had room for his tail to stick out comfortably. It waved and wrapped around his waist gently as he sensed the clothing pull down on his body by the pull of gravity, he felt about ten pounds heavier and wearing shoes for about the third time in his life he felt like he was clunky as well.
The fighter part of him said that it was a bad set of clothing to get caught out in if he was suddenly challenged, but the inner teenage boy part of him told him that it was time to have some fun for once. It was hard remembering that despite everything, he was still a teenage boy. Living with constant anxiety and feeling like the world was resting on your ability or inability to stay on your feet did that to him. But for tonight, he'd let himself rest.
The White Fang and Cinder have been quiet ever since that raid. And while that was concerning it also brought forth relief for him. It meant that Cinder was taking things slow and not doing anything that would warrant him to go out as Stone Face with the help of Qrow, Raven, or the others. He woke up every day expecting to hear the news of another attack but there was just nothing to keep up with. Nothing.
After the dance, he would go out a few more times having Raven and Vernal help him as they usually did. Nothing didn't necessarily mean good things when it came to terrorists, they were planning something.
For now, he'd stick to his relaxation plan. He had Orchid to look forward to and another dance. The last time he settled down for that was back in Mistral a few years ago when Vernal snuck them all alcohol when Shae… It was a good memory, at least. He'd be able to relive that now. He loved that feeling, looking forward to something for once.
"Oh lord," Marron caught him thinking about it and poked his cheek. "I never thought I'd see that look on your face. I guess later is better than never though. Should I be afraid of having grandkids so young?"
"M-Mom!" Kai blushed and recoiled. "I'm leaving, see you later." He said as he turned around and stalked out of the room while Marron and Malienna laughed at his reaction.
"Make sure you wear protection!" Marron further teased. "And that doesn't mean your bracers!" She added in a quiet shout, knowing that her sons enhanced hearing would still be able to catch her voice through the wall and doors.
Marron laughed as she heard Kai kick the wall outside. "Hah, it's not often I get to tease him like that but when I can it's the best part of the day. Let's go find Qrow sweetie, I'm sure he's having trouble tying a tie like the rest of these kids are."
"I can't do this anymore," Nervous Orchid nervously whined as she bounced back and forth on the heels of her feet with a great deal of nervousness, biting at her nails as she did so. "He's going to come in about twelve seconds and here I am, a mess, a multiple personality mess surrounded by other single personality people."
"O-orchid, it's going to be fine," Ruby assured her in an attempt to calm her down. It worked little. "It's just a school dance, it isn't like you two are getting married or anything." It was a very ironic turn of events from when Orchid was the one assuring her that everything was going to be okay and that there was nothing to worry about just a few minutes ago. On the way here her nerve just died out and Nervously Nervous Orchid returned with a vengeance after being forced away from the wheel for so long.
"But… But… dancing!" Orchid exclaimed as if that explained her entire problem. "Only twelve of my personalities are good dancers and they're all sleeping right now! I won't know what to do?"
"And you think Kai will?" Ruby laughed. "He's blind and goes out with friends just as much as I do." Considering that Ruby was quite the introverted individual before you got to know her, that said a lot. "Probably less."
"That is a valid point and makes me feel just a little bit better!" Orchid said honestly. "But it does little to no change to my nervousness- Nope, wait, I'm a little better." Orchid took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, feeling her heart rate slow down as a result of her calming down. "Thanks, Ruby, who knew you were such a good person to talk to in times of need?"
"Not me, surely."
Since Blake was picked up by her date, it was left to her to take care of Orchid while they waited for the rest of their friends. Which pretty much meant just Kai since he was the only one not with them, the fault was their own of course. Or at least Orchids. She kicked him out of the room that afternoon so that they had all day to get ready for the dance. It really should not have taken that many hours to put on these stupid heels... Anyhow, Kai went back to his mom's room and sent them a voice message earlier telling them that he was on the way there and would arrive just any second now. The rest is history.
Earlier he saw Sun and Penny come in straight after them. Somehow, Penny managed to get Sun in what vaguely looked like a suit and she was in a simple white dress. They looked adorable together, and both seemed to be exploring interests they didn't know they'd like for the first time. She still remembered when Sun asked Penny, it was something she'd never forget.
Sun entered the cafeteria and had a pep talk from the rest of his team for about twenty minutes as Penny sat on her own at a lunch table save for her partner from Atlas, who sat silently beside her. After half of the lunch period went by, Sun finally worked up the courage to walk up to her. Sat down next to her, and gave her his best pickup line. Something that must go down the hall of fame, she mentally noted.
"Your hair is the same color my cheeks make when I think of you. Your eyes are as green as my experience with girls. Penny, if I may be the one for you, can I take your hand to the dance with me?"
Penny's response was priceless. "I like you too." With a perfectly happy expression that was completely natural for a girl like her. Sun was over the world and the rest of his team was just as hyped as he was while Penny clapped for them excitedly. Ciel didn't look so excited and looked like she wanted to be anywhere else, but that didn't matter. Sun asked and didn't get no for an answer. Which was awesome.
It reminded her of when Orchid asked Kai seemingly by accident. He just said yes and that was that. It might have been because Orchid was his best friend, but Orchid's true feelings wasn't really a secret among their friend group. She's always had something for Kai, and while she was usually very good and keeping it down in favor of her studies and for Kai's sake since he obviously isn't ready for any kind of romantic relationship at the moment. Tonight she was losing her grip on it. Understandable, given who she was and who Kai was. But Ruby knew it wouldn't get too out of hand, Kai and Orchid would never stop being best friends at the very least, that much was a definite.
"Here he comes!" Orchid squealed as she hid behind a girl more than a head shorter than her. Ruby laughed and let her use her as a shield, laughing at the implied joke of Kai's blindness.
Kai walked into the ballroom while adjusting the blindfold covering his eyes. Immediately, he sniffed the air and used his senses to gauge their current location and found them quickly. Needlessly, Ruby waved at him as Kai found them, and absentmindedly Kai waved back. Seconds later, and he was right in front of them.
"Hey you two," He said with a slightly nervous smile. "I'm sure you beautiful."
"Thanks," Ruby laughed. "You look pretty good in a suit, I never thought I'd see you in one though."
Kai shrugged his shoulders. "I never thought you'd let Yang force you into heels." He retorted.
"Touché." Ruby nodded with acceptance. "Orchid's hiding behind me, by the way."
"Traitor!" Orchid whined.
"She didn't betray anyone, I can smell you," Kai remarked with a slight nod of his head.
"That's strangely unsettling and also arousing."
"Huh?"
"Astounding!" Orchid shifted back to her relatively normal personality and stood up straight to meet her greatest fear and pleasure face to face. "I meant astounding, definitely astounding. S-So, you wanna go get someone- I mean something to drink?"
Kai shrugged his shoulders and stuck one of his arms out expectantly. "Sure," He said. "Also, I'm wearing shoes so my sensing is thrown off a bit. You mind if you-"
"Of course Kaizy!" Orchid replied before he could even finish his sentence and practically lunged to grab his right extended arm. "Let me lead you to the punch line, hopefully, Coco didn't do anything to spike it while she was setting up the place."
"Lead the way." Kai laughed as Orchid already began taking him away. Ruby watched the two of them with a happy glint to her silver eyes. They were always the same, Orchid swapping back and forth between personalities and Kai just going with it in strides. Team KO, like they were made in Signal, never were truly separated. She felt bad that she was Orchids partner instead of Kai, but it made it so much easier bearing it since they were all on the same team together. Blake was awesome so there was nothing to complain about there. Everything was working out perfectly so far, even as Fox accidentally missed Kai's cup and spilled some of the punch on the floor to everyone's amusement. He was still practicing seismic sensing it seemed. Coco hurried over and cleaned it up while Velvet took over the punch line for Fox.
Looking around, Ruby made her way to a row of seats up against the wall where people who were just like her and didn't want to dance. Many of the students that came to the dance weren't actually going to dance, which gave her a sense of acceptance since she wasn't the only one too shy to get out there and get on the dance floor.
Maybe next year, but not this year. It was funny, she spent a lot of time telling Kai to take it easy and here she was with no one to take her to the dance. She, of course, didn't care much for that and instead found ironically funny.
She watched and observed. Soon, the headmaster Ozpin, Miss Goodwitch, and General Ironwood all entered the ballroom about an hour after the activity started. A few brave male students went up to try and offer Miss Goodwitch a dance, but they were all expectantly politely turned down. Another few minutes passed and Qrow stepped in. Seeing her uncle who was usually drunk off his ass in a dashing black suit with a red tie was never a sight she would think she would see. But she quickly found the reasoning for his dress choice when Marron followed behind him and Malienna was revealed to be clinging to his back for dear life since Qrow gave up on holding his legs. If the little girl wasn't so adorable she would have gone to greet her uncle herself. Ruby reluctantly decided to leave her uncle alone with his girlfriend in the meantime. He's never had a girlfriend before to her knowledge. Sure, she saw some women come and go from his room from time to time, but never anyone that actually stuck around long term. It was good for him, healthy for him. She was so proud and happy for him and hearing her fathers reaction to her telling him about them was priceless. She didn't blame him, Qrow and girlfriend used to not really get along together for the entire time she's known her uncle.
Tearing her eyes away from the adorable scene of Qrow taking Marron for a dance, she looked on to Sun and Penny who were currently doing a good job at attracting attention to themselves. They weren't good dancers by any means, but they were having loads of fun. She could tell. Sun was pulling off crazy breakdance moves during a song that did not warrant it and Penny was doing a funny wild gesture with her arms and body over and over again and it somehow passed at dancing. One time she went a little too hard on a single move and Sun was sent flying as she accidentally bumped her arm into his with a little too much strength. Penny apologized for her outburst and went to go help him up, only to laugh it off as she remembered that aura was a thing.
Next up was Pyrrha and Rick, who took their dance with a small amount of awkwardness. Pyrrha was clearly the better dancer and was leading an indignant Rick on to continue their dance. But as time went on Rick was learning and getting better. He made a few complaints about their height difference again but Pyrrha laughed it off and pointed out that if he really thought it was a problem then he wouldn't constantly bring it up. Which shut him up. Right behind them was Weiss and Brick, the former of the two taking the lead and proving to actually be an amazing dancer while Brick stumbled to keep up with her. For once, the two weren't arguing and were actually having a lot of fun together. They looked cute together and Ruby wished them the best of luck.
Yang surprisingly didn't steal Ren for a dance, probably because she respected his wishes and didn't force him to dance with her if he didn't want to. She expected something like that from him, he didn't seem like a party person and it was really loud in here. The two of them were talking for now but it would only be a matter of time before Yang started looking for her, so she was on a time limit.
In the corner of the room, Blake was talking to some blue-haired guy that she never personally met before. She knew that he was Sun's friend and partner from Haven so she trusted him easily, and she knew that Blake would be able to take care of herself just in case anything went wrong. Besides, they looked like they were having fun.
She was content with staying how she was until Yang went to go get her. She mingled about just a little bit with a few passing people by just saying hi. Which not might be mingling to some people but it was an improvement for her. There was nothing much to do then vibe with the music and hum to it while trying to stand on her feet. Once everyone was done dancing she'd include herself much more with her friends, right now however was their night. And she wasn't going to be the one to get in the way of that.
"So," Orchid rocked back and forth awkwardly as she held one of Kai's arms, slowly inching their way to the dancefloor each time she rocked forward. "Dancing… huh."
"Yeah," Kai sensed her hesitation and her nervousness. To be fair, he was as well. It's been a while since a girl got him close to a dance floor, and never with one this crowded before. "I'm sensing a lot of vibrations over and over again. I'm pretty much blind."
"Aren't you already-"
"Like, really blind. Orchid."
"Ah, I see." They shared a laugh and it helped them both get back into the flow of things. Orchid eventually took a deep breath and built up her confidence to the point where she successfully leads Kai to the dance floor and guided his hands so that one was on her hip and the other was in her hand while she put her last free hand on his shoulder. It was a basic dancing stance between two partners, and it had the desired effect of making their hearts beat just a little harder.
Silently, they agreed to focus on the dancing moves rather than keep up a conversation. Orchid took most of the lead of course, given the fact that her partner was blind it was a given that she'd probably have to take over the reins for a few moments until Kai got the hang of things. To her amusement, it looked like he was trying very hard in order to get all of the moves right, his brow was furrowed and visible through the cloth of his blindfold and the expression on his face told her that he was focusing. Trying to make it the best experience he could give her for this night. Though she felt like she should be doing it for him instead since she was the one who asked him to go with her in the first place. He was always like that, always putting his friends over himself. It made her sad thinking about it.
It made her sadder still as she heard him take in a breath a little too quickly, grip on to her hand a little more tightly, and even start to sweat a little. Orchid observed and went through her mind the possible causes for this turn of events for her former partner. The first thing that came to mind was their last dancing session three years ago, just before Cinder attacked Mistral with the White Fang. Shae… she was sad just thinking about her, she didn't know her very well but she knew that she was fond of her partner, and he was fond of her as well. She saw for herself what happened to her and it was terrible, was that what he was thinking about right now?
"Hey," Orchid placed her cheek against his shoulder and pushed herself against him in a very soft, gentle hug that still allowed them both to move freely and continue their dance. "Remember the time when you thought you had scars on your eyes?"
"Only for most of my life," Kai said with a soft chuckle, remembering those earlier times.
"Yeah, when I first met you and you had that blindfold on, I thought you looked really cool." Orchid continued. "I was nervous at first because I had a very small amount of friends before I met all of you guys, but I was able to control myself better and grow to become a better person. All because I ran into some blind kid and then got partnered up with him at Signal. Really, that could be written as a story."
"Yeah," Kai chuckled. "You were a bit of a handful at first, but I got used to you quickly. I even grew to trust you, and you were the first I showed my eyes too."
"I remember that!" Orchid giggled against him. "You were so nervous, we sat underneath the night sky and you were working yourself up to take it off for me."
"Okay, I wasn't that pathetic."
"You really were, and it was adorable," Orchid said. "Only for you to take it off and nothing but a pretty set of silver eyes to stare back at me. Of course, my first friend also had to be a part of an ancient warrior race that's nearing extinction."
"I didn't have much control over that part. But I can see how that can be viewed from your perspective." Kai laughed, gently leaning his chin against her forehead as she leaned against him.
Orchid hummed and nuzzled into him. The nervousness was still there and it was there in full force. But it didn't stop her from getting into this moment— from their moment. She enjoyed being this close to him, and based on the sound of his heart from how her ear was pressed into one of his major arteries, he was enjoying this as well.
Kai never felt more relaxed before. He felt warm, a feeling he hasn't felt in a long time. Orchid was someone he could always rely on and be comfortable with anything. From the beginning, since he got to Vale she's been there, and he loved that about her. Never willing to leave his side and always eager to hear his thoughts and concerns. A true friend, and if things kept going on like this, he felt like it could become something more. Not now though, he couldn't let himself fall for anyone if he could help it. Not with Cinder and Salem out there just waiting for a chance to corrupt or take those he cares about hostage.
For tonight though, he'd let this go on. He felt happy and warm and the feeling was addictive and intoxicating. He'd rather let it last for as long as he could before the night was over. Hell, Orchid seemed more than okay with that with how close she was to him.
Ozpin looked at all of his students having a good time and smiled, particularly at the sight of his student and latest apprentice actually enjoying himself for once. He could practically hear Marron frothing at the mouth and taking pictures even from the floor above them, Qrow at her side desperately trying to convince her not to use her pictures as blackmail not only because it would be pointless with Kai but because it was wrong.
Amusing as he thought about it, but it couldn't last. Over his many long years of life, he's learned not to cling to such thoughts and emotions and memories. He's been married hundreds of times and fathered and even mothered thousands of other children. Most were dead, due to old age or to Salem and the Grimm finding them and destroying them. If he allowed himself to keep clinging to those memories Salem would win, so he let them die with the past.
"I am pleased to see you smiling for once." James woke up him from his train of thought.
"Young love and happiness is always something to smile about," Ozpin indulged. "Especially when you no longer remember your own times."
"I second that, I hardly remember any of my own teenage years and I am nowhere near as aged as you are," James said with a light-hearted chuckle.
"You are still in your prime James," Glynda pointed out. "Don't start to feel old too early or else you'll start playing the part."
"Wise words Glynda," Ozpin complimented. "Wise words."
The three of them stood by each other as they have been for the past two decades. A few years before Team STRQ Glynda was the first to be brought into his circle, around the same time as the General from Atlas. It was hard to believe how much it grew and died down over the years, going from hundreds to just him and one other at times. Today, he guessed that he had about a dozen. Of course including a certain seventeen-year-old boy by the name of Kai Matsuoka. He wondered if he had started becoming desperate again, taking in a child, which was what Kai still was, and informing him of the worlds true secrets at an even younger age than Malikai was when he was brought in. It may be chalked up as a mistake, but Kai has done nothing to prove him wrong so far and he is confident to admit that he does not feel like this is a mistake to regret in the future. Instead, he felt like he was in a better spot than he has been in for years.
Despite that, he still felt like something was off, this should be a happy joyous day, but it also leads to Beacon becoming most vulnerable. All the students were either getting some extra sleep in or enjoying this night to the best of their ability. They were distracted, their minds were dull and they were not ready for a fight at this moment in time. It may have been just him being paranoid, but when creatures like Salem and those who work for her exist in the world, he felt like it would be justified.
He nearly jumped when he heard James' scroll go off as it rang with Winter Schnees caller ID profile popping up on the front of his screen. James answered it politely after silently asking permission from his fellow headmaster, and brought the scroll up to his face.
"Yes, Specialist?"
"Vale-... Under attack… a Breach!" Ozpin's heart went cold as Winter Schnee's voice screamed over the scroll's staticky speakers. He knew she was here and was currently acting as extra security for Vale in the meantime, but he didn't think she'd find something so soon. What was said next as loud and clear. "We need reinforcements! There are too many! Send all the huntsman you have, all of them! Now before it's too-"
The scroll winked out and Ozpin felt his heart drop. No, this was it. James gave him a knowing look before sprinting out of the ballroom, causing all sorts of commotion as he knocked aside students and ordered the present Atlesian soldiers and Penny to follow him. Everyone looked shocked and even the music stopped as they all turned to him, expecting an explanation.
Ozpin looked to Glynda and he knew what he had to do. However sudden, Vale was under attack and they needed to help them, no matter what.
"Vale has been breached by the Grimm," He announced to his students. "Get your weapons and go to Vale as soon as possible, this dance is now ended."
Just when everything seemed to be going their way… damn it. Well, this was the real chapter 69, and again I am sorry it took so long for me to get this out. After this, I am going to go try and finish another story of mine so bear with me for now. Give me a few weeks to finish that story and I'll be back again with a few chapters to end this brand new arc. It's going to be another long one next chapter, so look forward to the ending of Volume 2!
Please review and let me know what you think!
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