Disclaimer: I own nothing but my two OCs.
Divine Intervention
Chapter 4: The Badge and the Burden
It was a peaceful morning in the Beacon dorms; Dante and Nora were snuggling together as usual, Pyrrha was comfortably sleeping on her own bed, and Iris was splayed out rather awkwardly on hers while quietly snoring.
Pyrrha's sleepwear was pretty traditional: a light bronze colored long sleeve button-up top with a matching set of bottoms. It looked like it was just the right blend of functional and comfortable.
Iris wore a bright blue top with a halo on the front and a pair of white feathered wings on the back as well as a matching pair of cotton shorts with a white cloud pattern on them that showed off her athletically toned legs.
Dante woke up first and made sure not to disturb the others as he swapped out his sleep mask for his sunglasses.
The dorm itself hadn't changed much since the four moved in.
They all found it kind of funny that all four of them were used to living on essentials.
Dante, Nora and Pyrrha had all come from Mistral with nothing but the clothes/weapons on their backs (aside from a few comic books that Dante had) and Iris had only brought her clothes/weapons from Vacuo along with-
The peace was interrupted by the sound of a whistle coming from another dorm, causing Dante to flinch, Nora to snort, Pyrrha to stir and Iris to bolt awake with a yelp.
Before anything else could happen, something small, black, and furry leapt onto Dante's head with a mewl and wrapped four limbs around his skull.
"Fifi!" Iris admonished, "that is not where you go when you get scared!"
The yellow-eyed black cat just meowed in response.
"It's fine, Iris," Dante said, "her claws can't get through my glasses and I doubt any scratches she leaves can't be fixed by my Aura."
The whistle sounded again and Dante started to feel Fifi shudder and dig her claws into his flesh.
"And if not," Dante continued through gritted teeth, "I could get some cool scars and a new fur hat."
Iris smirked with her arms crossed and cocked a hip, "so you want a cat for a hat?"
Dante chuckled, the pain already fading, "what is this, some kind of rhyming kids book?"
By this point, Pyrrha was more awake and stretching, "oh, I remember my mother reading Doctor Zeus books for me every day when I was a child."
When there was no response, she looked over to see Dante pulling Fifi off his head with a pleasantly surprised look on his face.
"Is something wrong, Dante?" Pyrrha asked, tilting her head to the side.
"No, no," Dante said quickly, stroking the already-purring cat, "it's just… I've never seen you with your hair down before."
He was right, Pyrrha's crimson hair was out of its usual ponytail and freely pouring down her back.
She blushed and lightly moved a lock of her hair behind her ear, "is it… bad?"
"No, not bad at all," Dante said, letting Fifi leap to the floor, "it's… pretty."
Pyrrha's face went even redder, but neither of them noticed that Iris' eye twitched briefly.
dXb
Nora eventually woke to the smell of Dante holding an open bottle of syrup under her nose and they were soon dressed in their new school uniforms and eating breakfast in the cafeteria.
Dante wore the standard boy's uniform as well as his trademark eyewear.
Nora wore the standard girl's uniform with a pair of brown socks reaching up to her calves and some matching sole boots as well as her pink fingerless gloves.
Iris also wore the standard uniform as well as her golden headpiece. She chose to keep her legs bare like Nora and also wore a pair of short socks hidden inside a pair of dark red sneakers.
Pyrrha wore the same uniform with black tights covering all of her legs. Her hair was back in its usual ponytail and once again had her bronze circlet holding her hair in place.
"Hey," Iris said, swallowing a mouthful of bacon, "shouldn't Team RWBY be here by now?"
"Yeah, they should," Dante replied before looking at a clock on the wall, "hope they make it in time to eat something before class starts."
dXb
As Team DVIN passed through Beacon's courtyard on their way to their first class, they saw Professor Ozpin and Glynda observing them not too far away.
Neither of them said anything as Glynda looked at her watch and Ozpin took a sip from his mug.
"Think Ozpin has a caffeine problem?" Iris whispered to the others.
"Nah," Dante replied, "I got a good sniff yesterday before he threw us off the cliff; the only thing that's ever been in that mug is hot chocolate."
Nora snickered, "kind of like a guy having a flask, but never fills it with alcohol."
"It's quite deceptively clever if you think about it," Pyrrha agreed.
Their conversation was cut off as Team RWBY suddenly bolted into view and zoomed past Team DVIN.
"Must've lost track of time," Dante noted and the others all shared a look of agreement.
dXb
Their first class was led by a portly older man ironically named Peter Port.
He was a jolly man with short gray hair, huge bushy eyebrows and a matching mustache that looked a little too well-groomed. No one could tell what color his eyes were because his puffy cheeks and abundant facial hair made it so he was always squinting.
His clothing consisted of mainly a deep red coat with brass buttons, black pants and matching shoes.
The classroom was similar to the other classrooms aside from a weapon mounted over the chalkboard. It was mainly a blunderbuss with two ax blades sprouting from the handle.
Dante's first impression of the man was that he was a bit boisterous, but still an honest man and a capable warrior despite his age. He was almost eager to hear Port go on and on about past adventures, even if they weren't completely true.
"Monsters! Demons! Prowlers of the Night!" Port said after the class began, "yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Hah Hah!"
Team RWBY was seated in the front row. Blake and Yang were paying attention while Weiss took notes, but Ruby had dozed off until Port's bad joke jolted her awake.
The only other response to the joke was Dante quietly chuckling at how bad it was.
Team DVIN was seated in the third row. Pyrrha was listening intently while Iris was struggling to keep her eyes open. Nora had her arms wrapped around Dante's and the look on her face made it seem like she was at the movies instead of class.
Seeing that he got at least one reaction out of his joke, Port smiled and continued, "and you shall too upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as Mistral, Atlas, and Vacuo, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world. Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces!"
He gestured to all the students, "and that's where we come in! Huntsmen! Huntresses!" He winked at Yang and clicked his tongue, causing her to groan uncomfortably as Port continued, "individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world!"
"Yeah!" another student cheered, standing up and raising his fist… only to realize that he was the only one who did that and sat back down in embarrassment.
"That is what you are training to become," Port went on, "but first: a story. A tale of a young, handsome man… me!"
As Port dove into his story, Dante heard chuckling coming from the first row.
He looked down to see Ruby holding up a piece of paper to her teammates.
Blake and Yang were the ones chuckling, but Weiss was not amused.
Port cleared his throat to regain their attention before finishing his story, "In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero!"
As Port took a bow that no one clapped for, Dante glanced down to Team RWBY while still listening.
"The moral of this story?" Port went on, "a true Huntsman must be honorable! A true Huntsman must be dependable! A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise!"
Through that whole speech, Ruby was goofing off in a way that Dante found adorable, but Weiss looked like she wanted to strangle her leader.
"So," Port said after taking a breath, "who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"
In less than a second, Weiss' hand shot up, "I do, sir!"
Port smiled, "well then, let's find out!"
He gestured to a cage nearby that was shaking to contain whatever was inside it. All anyone could see were glowing red eyes.
"Step forward and face your opponent!" Port declared.
Weiss stood up and made her way down to the empty space in front of the seat rows.
"Wait, wait," Port said, holding up a hand, "apologies, I got a little ahead of myself. You must first change into your combat gear and have your weapon with you."
An awkward amount of time later, Weiss returned in her regular outfit with Myrtenaster in hand.
In the meantime, Port had retrieved his weapon, Blowhard, and stood next to the cage.
"Go Weiss!" Yang cheered, raising her fist.
"Fight well!" Blake said with moderate enthusiasm, waving a small flag with 'RWBY' printed on it.
"Yeah!" Ruby agreed, "represent Team RWBY!"
Weiss lowered her sword and glared at her leader, "Ruby, I'm trying to focus!"
Ruby shrunk back and quietly apologized.
"That sounded oddly personal," Pyrrha noted.
"Guess she's still sore about not being leader," Dante replied.
"Do we get flags like that?" Iris asked, looking at Blake's Team flag.
"Wish we had some popcorn," Nora said.
"Alright!" Port bellowed like an announcer in a wrestling ring, "let the match… begin!"
With that, he broke the cage's lock with Blowhard and the door dropped open.
Not even a second passed before a small Grimm came charging out of the cage.
It was roughly the size of a large dog with long curved tusks, a big snout, and four stubby legs under its rotund body.
"A Boarbatusk," Dante noted, "one of the smaller Grimm, but makes up for it with speed and durability."
Locking eyes with Weiss, the Boarbatusk squealed and charged at the heiress.
She used her rapier to deflect its tusks and rolled to the side.
Instead of charging again, the Boarbatusk kept its distance as if it were studying her.
"Wasn't expecting that, were you?" Port stated.
"Hang in there, Weiss!" Ruby called.
Then both Weiss and the Boarbatusk charged at each other.
Weiss tried to stab the beast in the skull, but Myrtenaster just bounced off the Grimm's thick bone plating and got hooked on its tusks.
She held on and tried to pull her weapon free.
"Bold new approach," Port noted, "I like it!"
"Come on, Weiss," Ruby encouraged, "show it who's boss!"
Weiss turned to glare at her, but the Boarbatusk used this distraction to turn its head and rip Myrtenaster out of her hand while she herself was knocked back.
"Oh-Ho," Port almost chuckled, "now what will you do without your weapon?"
The Boarbatusk charged at Weiss again, but she saw it coming with enough time to roll out of the way and the beast crashed into a desk instead.
Weiss rushed over to grab Myrtenaster, picking the rapier up in a slide.
"Weiss, go for its belly," Ruby suggested, "there's no armor underneath-"
"Stop telling me what to do!" Weiss snapped.
Dante couldn't see Ruby's face, but he grimaced at the hurt she must be feeling.
The Boarbatusk jumped into the air and curled into a ball. It spun faster and faster, even after it hit the ground until it eventually shot itself at Weiss.
The white-haired heiress in turn summoned one of her white glyphs to block the attack.
As the glyph turned black, Weiss jumped up into it before it turned white again and she shot at the dazed Boarbatusk, impaling its underside in one move.
The beast squealed before falling silent and slowly dissolved into black smoke.
"Bravo! Bra-vo!" Port cheered, "it appears we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training!"
Weiss stood at attention before a tone sounded on the loudspeaker.
"I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today," Port concluded, "be sure to cover the assigned readings and… stay vigilant! Class dismissed!"
Still glaring, Weiss turned around and walked at a brisk pace past the rest of her team and out the door.
After seeing how worried Ruby, Blake and Yang looked, Dante turned to the rest of his Team, "you guys go on ahead, I'll catch up."
"Are you sure you know what you're doing, Dante?" Pyrrha asked.
"No," Dante replied, "but something needs to be said."
The other three looked at each other before hesitantly leaving.
dXb
When Dante exited the classroom, he saw that Ruby and Weiss were arguing again.
"Weiss, where is this coming from?" Ruby pleaded, "what happened to all that talk about working together? I thought you believed in acting as a team."
"Not a team led by you," Weiss said firmly, "Ozpin made a mistake."
With that, she turned around and walked away.
Dante walked over and put a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. She flinched and looked at him, her eyes fighting back tears.
Before anything could be said, Dante brought Ruby in for a gentle hug.
"One leader to another," he said softly, "you couldn't be more worthy to lead."
Ruby didn't reply and instead just returned the hug.
After a few moments, Dante's head perked up at the smell of hot chocolate. He looked around and saw Professor Ozpin smiling down at them, a mug in one hand and his cane in the other.
After Ruby followed Dante's gaze, Ozpin spoke up, "pardon the interruption, Mr. Belmont, but would you mind if I had a word with Miss Rose in private?"
Dante separated from Ruby and looked at the Headmaster, "not at all, sir; there's somewhere else I need to be anyway."
He gave Ruby one last reassuring smile before walking around the corner… before leaning against the wall and cocking an ear back in the direction he came from.
"Was Weiss right?" Ruby asked Ozpin, not sounding as sad as she had initially looked, "did you make a mistake?"
Ozpin laughed softly, as if calling up a bittersweet memory, "that remains to be seen."
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.
"I mean, it's only been one day," Ozpin replied before getting more serious, "Ruby… I've made more mistakes than any man, woman, or child on this planet. But at this moment, I would not consider your appointment as leader to be one of them… do you?"
There was a brief pause before Ozpin continued, "being a Team leader isn't just a title you carry into battle, but a badge you wear constantly. If you're not always performing at your absolute best, then what reasons do you give others to follow you?"
The sound of footsteps indicated that Ozpin was starting to walk away, "you have been burdened with a daunting responsibility, Ruby. I advise you take some time to think about how you will uphold it."
Not wanting Ozpin to catch him eavesdropping, Dante began to casually walk down the hall to look for who he'd originally wanted to talk to.
dXb
Heading out to the courtyard, Dante found Weiss pouting on one of the benches. She was so caught up in her frustration that she didn't even notice Dante sitting down next to her.
"Nice fight back there," he eventually said.
Weiss didn't flinch, but she did look surprised, "you… really think so?"
Dante nodded, "mhmm, it's clear you've spent most of your life honing your skills and it's definitely paying off."
Weiss briefly glanced away while some red dusted her cheeks, "I still don't understand why I wasn't made leader of Team RWBY."
"That's an easy one," Dante replied, "because you wanted to lead."
"Excuse me?" Weiss said.
"The best leaders are those who never wanted to lead in the first place; people who are used to being followers and thus know what their own followers want or need to hear," Dante explained, "most people that do want to lead from the beginning are probably more interested in bossing people around instead of actually leading."
"Easy for you to say!" Weiss snapped, "you didn't even try and you were still made leader!"
"Because the others decided I was worth following," Dante said, "despite your obvious skill, all you did during Initiation was act like an entitled brat. Does that sound like someone worthy of being a leader to you?"
"So you're saying it's better to have a child lead instead of me?" Weiss said, though some of her initial rage was starting to fade.
"No," Dante replied, "I'm saying that stomping your foot and screeching at people won't prove to anyone that you should've been made the leader."
He smiled fondly and looked up at the sky, "when I was little, my parents taught me that 'a thankful heart is a happy heart.' You shouldn't whine about what you don't have and be happy with what you do."
Weiss' anger dissipated and she looked at the ground with a thoughtful expression, "they sound like wonderful parents…"
"Yeah," Dante said, much softer than before, "they were…"
Weiss gasped, "I-I'm so sorry, I didn't-"
"It's fine," Dante replied, holding up a hand, "it was a long time ago."
He stood up and took a few steps before looking back to Weiss over his shoulder, "the past is the past. We'll never know if you would've made a better leader or not, but you can still be a great teammate and more importantly, a great friend."
Dante started walking away until Weiss stood up, "Dante!"
He turned back to her, but didn't say anything.
She gave him a grateful smile, "thank you."
"You're welcome, Weiss," he replied, giving a two-fingered salute, "see ya 'round."
With that, he left to rejoin the rest of his Team.
Weiss watched Dante leave with the smile still on her face before going off in another direction.
dXb
That evening, Team DVIN returned to their dorm and changed back into their pajamas. Their homework wasn't too hard since it was only the first day, so it didn't take them that long to get it done.
"Do you think Weiss is doing better?" Pyrrha asked as she sat on her bed.
"She's fine," Dante said, cuddling with Nora on their own bed, "she just needed someone to bring her back down to Remnant."
"I hope so," Iris said as she stroked Fifi, "seeing one of her tantrums was seeing one too many."
"What did you say to her?" Nora asked.
Dante smiled and held her closer, "I just pointed out that 'a thankful heart is a happy heart.'"
Nora's eyes brightened, "'be glad for what you have, that's an easy way to start.'"
They both laughed and nuzzled each other.
Iris tilted her head, "what was that?"
"Just something my parents used to sing to me when I was a kid," Dante replied.
"Sounds like quite the fond memory," Pyrrha noted.
Dante chuckled, "they were always full of sayings like that."
He looked up at the clock, "well, we should probably head to bed; we got another busy day tomorrow."
"True enough," Pyrrha yawned, settling into her own bed.
Iris was already snoring with Fifi still in her grasp.
Dante and Nora shared a kiss before falling asleep in each other's arms.
dXb
In the dreamscape, Dante realized he was sitting on a comfy couch with Tiamat leaning into him.
"You never cease to amaze me, my love," she said, pecking him on the cheek.
Dante smiled at her, "Weiss is a good person where it counts, Tia; she just needs to see that she won't always get her way."
Tia giggled and held him tighter before being engulfed in a flash of red light.
When it dissipated, Pyrrha was now in Tia's place.
"So, dearest Dante," she purred in the warrior's voice, "when are you planning on telling me…"
In another flash, Dante was now holding Iris.
"Or me," she continued before another flash returned her to normal, "about… well, me?"
"Soon," Dante replied, "I want them to get to know me first before I tell them about us. Remember how much Nora freaked out when I told her?"
"I have never heard a higher octave before or since," Tia replied before nuzzling into Dante, "still, as far as first days go, it could have been much worse."
Dante returned the nuzzle, "if this first day was any indication, these are going to be the best years of my life."
They then went on to enjoy the rest of the night together.
To be continued…
That's a wrap!
I was kind of worried that focusing more on Dante and Team DVIN instead of Team RWBY would be challenging, but I feel that things turned out pretty well.
As for Iris' cat, I figured that since cats are sacred in Egyptian culture that she would share my love for felines. I based Fifi's name off of Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service, a movie I watched all the time growing up.
Plus, since Ruby and Yang didn't seem worried about keeping Zwei at the school, there probably isn't a 'no pets' rule at Beacon.
For Ozpin's mug being full of hot chocolate, I'm not making that up. The RWBY novel 'After The Fall' revealed that Ozpin never had coffee in his mug.
Now for the reviews I can't PM:
Cinos slayer: Don't worry, he has a few more tricks up his sleeve.
Blue beetle omni: What kind of harem fic do you think this is? …Of course they'll be in it!
Dark thundercat: I'm not as familiar with DMC or FF, but anything could happen down the road.
Next time, we'll be covering Jaunedice and maybe Forever Fall where we'll see Dante coming face to face with his most hated enemy: bullies.
Again, feel free to favorite, follow, and/or review. All I ask is that you keep things friendly and professional, both in your praise and your critiques. Suggestions are always welcome, just keep in mind that I might not see or reply to every single review or message.
That all said,
Later Bros!