Chapter 29) On Your Marks!
A/N: Sal-u-tations! I said March, and March it is (kinda… depends where in the world you are. It's March here still, though). Well, let's not waste any time and get right to it… Volume 3: go!
[NOTE: CWBP is supposed to be 'Cobalt'… it was the best I could come up with]
A five-mile run every morning was nothing for someone like Ruby Rose. To her, that was just a part of her normal morning routine.
Wielding a weapon like Crescent Rose as effectively and acrobatically as she did required an abundance of stamina. Her fighting style, so dependent of constant uninterrupted motion, took a lot of energy to utilise. So ever since she had first begun to actively cultivate her abilities, Ruby had focussed the bulk of her personal training on building up her endurance.
It had taken a lot of time and effort over several years, but Ruby had succeeded in reaching a level where she could keep on running, keep on sprinting even, long past the point where most other people would have to stop.
She could sprint a hundred metres in a little under twelve seconds without having to use any Aura to boost herself. A four-hundred metre run was little more than a light warm-up. A mile of jogging wouldn't even begin to leave her short of breath. Even a literal uphill climb was little more than a mild inconvenience for her.
Yes, under normal circumstances, a mere five-mile run every morning was nothing for someone like Ruby Rose.
Under normal circumstances, at least.
But then, this past month had not exactly been what one could call 'normal circumstances'.
…
Ruby had remained quiet as the doctor rattled off the results of her tests to her from his clipboard. Most of it flew over her head, but what really mattered was the overall assessment, not the finer details.
And from what she could grasp, it could have been a lot worse.
"So she'll be OK?" Yang had asked in her stead, sat beside her in the doctor's office and holding tight to her hand with her own. "She hasn't… she didn't do what I did?"
The doctor lowered his clipboard and nodded once, face level.
"Indeed. So far as we are able to deduce, your sister did not Overburn her Aura. Or at least, if she did, she did not do so to such a degree that it will have any lasting effects. With time and rest, she'll be back at a hundred percent in due time."
Ruby felt her whole body slump as she finally received the all-clear.
"That being said, these recurring episodes of tiredness are still something we will need to keep a close eye on going forward. I'll book a follow-up appointment for a week from now. In the meantime, just go about your usual routine, but try to be mindful of your limits. If you feel the need to, just stop and rest and let your body recover. I'll be writing you up a medical note for your instructors so they can make any accommodations necessary for you for the time being."
…
'Go about your normal routine', she had been told.
So she had done so. And for the past month, it had been maddening.
Combat training, sparring, fieldwork… all of it had proven to be more than she could handle at first. Day after day, Ruby had been forced to sit on the sidelines and watch as everyone else carried on training, carried on improving, and she was left behind.
Had she been the more outwardly expressive sort, Ruby would have screamed at the unfairness of it all.
Even her daily five-mile run had transformed from a simple morning wake-up activity into a gruelling slog.
It had been quite some time since she had been unable to complete a full run. So having stumbled and fallen, gasping for air and unable to even stand anymore after less than half the distance…
Maddening. Completely and utterly.
And that was the line that Ruby refused to accept. No way was she going to let herself falter to that degree. So the next day, she had marched outside, taken up her starting position, and set off again.
The day after that, she did so again.
And again. And again and again and again.
By hard work, by slow effort, or perhaps simply by sheer stubbornness, Ruby was able to complete the full five miles again after two weeks of effectively forcing her body to keep on going.
The doctor had been… less than pleased with her when he learnt of this, but at least he didn't tell her to stop.
Perhaps he was too preoccupied with also having to deal with much the same from Yang.
…
"Miss Xiao Long, are you quite certain that you feel up to this? It has only been two weeks since your procedure, after all."
"Professor Goodwitch, I'm begging you. If I have to sit on out one more time, I'm gonna go insane. Let me have this, please."
Ruby watched as Professor Goodwitch seemed to give the matter some consideration, before nodding, her expression serious.
"I reserve the right to call the bout early if I deem it necessary, and you will obey my instruction without complaint. Am I clear?"
Yang nodded back, a wide grin splitting her face. "Crystal!"
"Then take your position, and await my signal. Mr Black, the same to you as well."
The grey-haired and grey-clad boy from Haven nodded and took his stance across from Yang.
"Be careful!" Weiss called out. "You don't need to go all-out!"
"Good luck, Yang!" Blake added, sounding a bit more positive for her partner.
Ruby remained silent, watching with worry as her sister settled into her usual stance, both arms up and Ember Celica deployed. She watched as Yang's right arm shook, the rattle of her gauntlet audible as everyone fell quiet, and she saw Yang wince ever so slightly as she adjusted herself, lowering the offending limb as it apparently caused her pain.
Truth be told, it was almost a miracle that Yang had made as quick a recovery as she had done, and Ruby was truly happy for her sister for trying to get back to normal and return to the fight so soon.
But as Professor Goodwitch gave the signal to begin, and as Ruby watched her sister falter and fail to guard in time against Mercury's swift kick to her side, she couldn't help the traitorous thought in her mind that told her this was a bad idea.
But she held her tongue and remained quiet. After all, it would have been pretty hypocritical of her to tell Yang to slow down considering what she had been doing all this time as well.
…
The end point of her run was approaching. The tall tree with her cloak folded neatly at the base, marking the point she had set off from, was just up ahead, and the sight spurred Ruby to push herself harder, to pump her legs faster and close that gap in time.
Reaching the tree, Ruby slammed one palm against the trunk as she came to a halt, then slapped her other palm against her hip to stop the timer on her Scroll.
After a few seconds rest to catch her breath, she unclipped her Scroll from her hip and held it up to see:
33:15
Not her best time, but a darn sight better than it had been for a while, and pretty close to her old average.
For the first time in over a month, Ruby felt like she was close to being back to normal.
Physically, at least.
Everything else?
No.
…
Yang said nothing, but her face said everything.
Ruby couldn't meet her sister's eyes anymore. She looked down at her hands in her lap, waiting for Yang's response to what she had just told her.
About Raven.
"Fucking hell."
Ruby cringed inwardly at the harsh language, but she couldn't exactly hold that against Yang. It was a pretty understandable response, in her opinion.
"Y-yeah. I, uh… I w-waited a f-few days to tell you because I th-thought… well…"
Yang sighed. "It's OK. I get it. You don't have to explain."
Ruby swallowed and lifted her gaze, and couldn't help but flinch ever so slightly as she found herself looking into a pair of eyes that were not soft lilac, but furious red.
"I-I'm sorry-"
Yang held up a hand to stop her. "Don't. It's not you. I'm not mad at you. I'm…"
Yang shot up from her seat and began to pace around the room, her one good hand grasping a fistful of her hair and her breathing growing ragged and uneven.
Tentatively, Ruby got up and reached out to touch Yang's shoulder.
Yang pulled away.
"Ruby, I need the room. You should go."
"B-but-"
Yang rounded on her, and Ruby actually did flinch back as she saw tears beginning to brim at the corners of her sister's eyes, eyes that still burned red.
"Ruby. I need you to leave. Now."
Ruby paused, then nodded, and turned and walked out of the dorm, the door closing with a click behind her.
As she began to walk down the corridor, she heard Yang's scream, and the sound of something breaking as it was punched.
…
That had been a bad day. For the both of them.
Yang had apologised later that night, and reiterated to Ruby that she hadn't been mad at her.
Ruby had known that. She knew her sister's anger was directed at another, and she hadn't been afraid of her for it.
No, she had been afraid for her for it. And judging by the trio of holes that had been punched into the wall of the dorm room, it had been quite a lot.
By the time Weiss and Blake had returned, Yang's anger had faded, and she had been quite sheepish as Weiss lambasted her for the damage to the dorm. Thankfully, a few photo frames moved from elsewhere in the room were able to conceal the holes, and the four of them all agreed to refrain from informing anyone else.
They had only just gotten a clean slate again after a lot of pain and anguish. None of them were in any hurry to get back into Professor Goodwitch's bad book.
After that, Yang had seemingly put the whole thing out of mind and focussed on getting better and helping Weiss and Blake get ready for the Vytal Festival alongside Penny and Ciel, with Ruby helping out all the while.
Ruby tried to do the same. To push it all to the back of her mind and focus on other things.
But she couldn't do that with everything all the time. After all, she still had one other secret she hadn't been able to share with anyone.
Keeping what Professor Ozpin had told her and shown her hidden from everyone was making her feel uneasy most days. It certainly didn't help that she herself didn't really fully grasp what was going on, either. Professor Ozpin hadn't spoken to her since he showed her the frozen Grimm Dragon under the mountain, and he seemed to just be pretending like it had never even happened.
Sometimes, Ruby wondered if she would be better off pretending it had all just been a crazy dream.
If only it were that easy.
Her Scroll buzzed in her hand, jolting Ruby back to the present. Opening up the messenger app, she tapped on the unread message to open it up.
YANG: w r u? we gta gt sts qck
Ruby rolled her eyes as she read her sister's attempt at a message. Thankfully, she was pretty used to deciphering Yang's awful spelling in her texts.
ME: just finished, gonna shower quick and change. meet you there, save me a good spot.
Clipping her Scroll back on her hip, Ruby snatched up her cloak and bottle and began to make her way back into the building.
Ruby's excitement began to mount, and all her worries finally faded into the background as she smiled to herself, her mind now directed towards much more upbeat things.
Ruby was going to have a good day.
The Crow Bar was not what you would generally call a 'high-class' sort of establishment. Nestled between several abandoned lots near Vale's old docks, it tended to attract a more rugged clientele than the average drinking spot. Oh, its reputation wasn't quite as fraught with chaos and violence as some other places, but law enforcement still had a tendency of needing to be called out to settle drunken brawls semi-frequently. Nonetheless, the owner managed to make a semi-decent profit all things considered. He had a few regulars who didn't cause too much trouble, and he had only had to replace one window this year.
But on this day, the bar was almost totally empty. It seemed that everyone's attention was elsewhere.
Not that the barkeep could really blame them. After all, it wasn't often that Vale got to play host to the Vytal Festival Tournament.
"Oh, what a grand display of tactical thinking from Team CWBP's remaining members! With that, Team FNKI are now also down to a pair! But which pair will triumph and lead their teammates into the second round!?"
"Oh please. That wasn't clever, that was luck."
The barkeep chuckled, the sole present patron's commentary once again in disagreement with that of the actual commentators of the battle playing out on screen.
"Ah, don't you think you're being a bit harsh on the kids?" he asked amusedly as he continued to clean up behind the counter. "I think they're doing pretty good!"
The solitary individual scoffed and finished their drink, slamming the empty glass down on the counter. Four more glasses were cluttered around them.
This man could certainly drink.
Not that that was surprising, considering who he was.
Qrow Branwen gestured to the rack of spirits, vaguely in the direction of the whiskey, wordlessly requesting yet another refill. With a smirk and a roll of his eyes, the barkeep complied, sliding a sixth shot along the countertop and into his waiting hand.
"I do hope you have the Lien for all of this, Mr Branwen."
Qrow snorted again, rolling his own eyes right back.
"Come on, who do you take me for?"
The barkeep simply shook his head and resumed cleaning the glasses, turning to place the one in his hand back on the shelf…
CRASH!
The glass slipped from his fingers and shattered on the floor.
"Oh, darn it."
"Sorry," Qrow muttered.
The barkeep shrugged and knelt down to gather the broken bits of glass. "Don't know what you're apologising for. Not your fault."
Out of the corner of his eye, for a brief moment, the barkeep saw a dark look flash across Qrow's face. But it was gone just as quickly as it came, and he was back to looking disinterested and blasé as soon as the barkeep turned back around.
"My goodness! Another swift ring-out at the hands of Miss Polendina! With that, this battle is now down to two-on-one! Will Team FNKI's last remaining fighter be able to turn the tide and secure their place in the second round?"
The barkeep winced as the replay of the finishing blow was shown. That trumpet-playing young man had landed in a rather unfortunate position on his way out of the ring.
"Yeesh, he won't be walking right for a little bit after that."
Qrow just huffed, downed his drink and slammed the empty glass back on the counter. A moment later, a handful of Lien was slammed down alongside, and the now quite drunk Huntsman stagged from his stool and began weaving his way towards the door.
The barkeep gathered up the money and counted it up, sighing as he finished and shaking his head in exasperation.
"He overpaid again…"
The crowd was deafening, a constant roar of noise from all sides as thousands of voices all cheered and hollered and offered their support for whomever they wanted to win… or just yelled in anticipation of seeing someone get knocked out again.
Weiss tuned all of that out. Until the final opponent was dealt with, she did not have the luxury of focussing on anything else.
The rollerblading girl was running rings around them, evading everything she and Penny threw at her while tossing taunts and one-liners back at them both.
Come on, Weiss. You have to win this. You have to make it count!
Blake had taken the fall early on to ensure her own opponent went down with her, a sacrificial play that had seemingly been a spur-of-the-moment choice on her part, since they hadn't discussed anything of the sort in their strategy meeting beforehand. Ciel had then been taken out shortly after that, leaving Weiss and Penny to face the remaining three alone.
Now it was down to the last opponent. If they were eliminated now…
Weiss was running low on both Dust and Aura, but she still had enough left for one last trick. But for it to work, she would need to get to Penny. This would take the both of them to pull off.
Conjuring a Glyph beneath her feet, Weiss launched herself upwards in an arc to avoid roller-girl's charge. Landing perfectly, she launched into a full sprint towards her remaining teammate.
"Aw, is the Princess feeling shy? Don't worry, I'll take you to the ball if you want!"
Just ignore her.
Green bolts of energy flew past Weiss as she continued her sprint, Penny's floating array of guns keeping roller-girl at bay.
"Weiss! Are you OK?" Penny asked, polite and formal even amid the chaos of a battle.
"I have an idea," Weiss said quickly, wasting no time as she began to prepare Myrtenaster for her next move. "I need you to throw me as high as you can!"
"Affirmative!" Penny replied at once, crouching down and lacing her fingers together to provide Weiss with a foothold. "Should I go on three?"
Weiss placed her foot in Penny's hands and nodded, bracing herself.
"One, two, THREE!"
In an instant, Weiss was sent skyward, flipping backwards as she soared above the arena, channelling all her remaining Aura into her blade and preparing to launch her attack.
At the peak of her flip, as she hung in the air directly above roller-girl, Weiss activated her Semblance and her remaining Ice Dust at once.
One Glyph formed around her wrist, while another formed around the tip of Myrtenaster, forming a channel between them. The activated surge of Ice Dust was pushed along by the first Glyph and towards the second, which proceeded to transform the surge into something else entirely.
When Weiss had first demonstrated this new technique to Ruby, her partner had excitedly dubbed it 'The Hailstorm'. And while Weiss would never stoop so low as to start calling out names for her attacks, she agreed with Ruby that the name was quite fitting, given what it did.
With immense satisfaction, Weiss watched as roller-girl was bombarded with an onslaught of ice fragments, raining down on her and chipping away tiny portions of her Aura with each little hit.
But much more importantly, the deluge left the ground at her feet uneven and treacherous, and her rollerblades wobbled and skidded as they struggled to navigate the sudden change in terrain.
Weiss continued her motion as she flipped and descended back towards the arena floor, so her back was turned when Penny seized the opportunity.
But judging by the repeated flashes of green light, the loud yell of alarm, and the subsequent blaring of the elimination signal, Weiss felt pretty good about the results.
"And Neon of Team FNKI has dropped below the elimination threshold! The winners of the first battle of the Vytal Festival Tournament are Team CWBP!"
Weiss rose from her crouch and lifted her head high.
Victory.
"That was sensational!"
Weiss felt a pair of very strong arms wrap around her and proceed to crush her ribs.
In the stands, she could see Ruby wince in sympathy as she applauded.
Yang sat down beside the rest of the gang and set down the bowls she was carrying. "I gotta hand it to you Weiss, that was something. Ruby wasn't kidding about the Hailstorm."
Weiss groaned "Can you please stop calling it that? I don't name my attacks."
Nora laughed as she joined them, her own arms laden with even more food. "Oh, come on! Nothing wrong with having a cool special move! The kids love that stuff!"
Blake watched with amusement as the Yang and Nora continued playfully ribbing Weiss, while continuing to hold her ice pack against her forehead to nurse her headache.
"I for one think you both did wonderfully," Ciel piped in. "You managed to turn things around after I let myself get taken out so quickly. Weiss, Penny, well done to you both."
"Please don't put yourself down, Ciel," Penny replied. "We all fought well. You and Blake included. We could not have been victorious without everyone's efforts."
Blake hummed, but otherwise did not join in the conversation. She instead pulled her bowl towards her and began to eat one-handed.
The chatter continued, everyone at the table dissolving into separate conversations with one another as they ate. Ciel exchanged words with Ren, the pair talking about something unrelated to the Tournament that they were both interested in. Yang and Nora began talking about whatever apparent strategy Nora's team had for their fight. Pyrrha and Jaune were engaged in a quiet conversation that only they could hear. Penny and Ruby sat opposite one another, the former forgoing any food for some reason while the latter picked awkwardly at her own lunch, apparently too distracted by the other girl to realise that she had picked up and dropped the same piece of fish five times in a row.
"What was that, by the way?"
Blake turned back to Weiss. "What was what?"
"You know full well what I mean," Weiss huffed back, brows furrowed. "At the start of the round, you tackled that other boy out of the arena right away. Why?"
Blake shrugged. "It worked, didn't it? I got him out."
"You got yourself out, too." Weiss pushed her bowl away and turned to face Blake fully, arms crossed. "There were other ways you could have acted that wouldn't have been a suicide play. So why? You and I both know you're smarter than that."
Blake took a bite of her fish and chewed slowly, avoiding looking Weiss directly in the eye.
She was right to call her out on this, but Blake wasn't quite sure how to explain herself to Weiss. Her reason would probably be a bit hard to swallow, even if it was the best way forward.
Heck, Blake herself wasn't happy about it in the slightest. But it wasn't like she had any better options available to deal with this whole mess.
…
"Blake, I understand why you might feel this way, but are sure this is what you want?"
Blake sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Of course it's not what I want. But I have to be realistic. I can't risk getting noticed too much. It's better this way."
Ghira removed his glasses and shifted his hold on his Scroll as he leaned to allow Kali into the shot. Both her Dad and Mom now looked at her through the video call, sat side-by-side on the couch.
"Darling," Kali began. "Your father and I want you to be safe, of course. But we also want you to be happy. And forgive me, but I don't think that this will make you happy, dear."
Blake blinked back her tears. She had already cried herself into a mess the first time she called home. And the second. She wasn't about to start crying now.
They were already worried about her enough.
"I'll be fine," Blake lied. "I promise."
…
Blake swallowed. "I made a bad call," she lied. "I got caught up in the moment, and it cost me. Sorry."
Blake knew Weiss wasn't buying that for a second. But for now at least, she seemed to be willing to drop it, as she turned back to her bowl and resumed eating.
Blake tuned back into the other conversations for a moment, just in time to catch what Nora was saying to Yang.
"…then it's just a few more years of walking around school with everyone knowing we're failures, our friends will slowly abandon us to preserve their social status, we won't be able to show our faces in class, no one will sit with us in the cafeteria, Ren and I have no parents, we have no home left to go to, we'll be officially renamed Team Lose-iper!"
Blake promptly tuned back out and resumed eating her lunch, deciding that whatever was being discussed was not worth worsening her headache over.
The path leading up to Beacon was long, winding, and not really intended to be walked the entire way from the city centre. Especially when one is drunk.
But Qrow had learned the hard way that attempting to fly after over a half-dozen shots of whiskey was not a good idea. So, slowly but surely, he meandered his way up the hill towards where the festivities were taking place.
Oz had called, so whatever it was was likely important, but Oz had also told him that he didn't need to rush and that they could wait until evening to talk if needs be.
But Qrow wasn't about to sit about in Vale bored out of his mind until then, so after drinking his fill, he had decided to alleviate his boredom by going in search of something else to do. However, as he had been wandering away from the bar, he had just so happened to spot the unmistakable silhouette of a familiar airship approaching on the horizon.
And so Qrow Branwen decided to alleviate his boredom in the best possible way.
By annoying the hell out of James' favourite protégé.
The path was long, winding, and not really intended to be walked.
But it was going to be so worth it.
Blake was keeping something from them all again, and Weiss was determined to find out why.
Granted, she had her suspicions already, and they didn't exactly fill her with optimism, but that was beside the point. They had made a promise to each other. No more secrets, no more hiding things. They couldn't keep on backsliding over and over again, or they would keep on having the same problems.
The challenge would be finding a way to get Blake to talk. If not to her specifically, then at least to either Yang or Ruby.
But how to approach this was something Weiss wasn't sure about.
Why does this always have to be so difficult?
BUZZ! BUZZ!
Oh, you have got to be kidding me!
Weiss practically tore her Scroll from her pocket, using every ounce of her willpower to throw it away then and there.
Father had been trying to call all week long. Using his own number, Whitley's even Klein's to try and get Weiss to answer. After the first few times falling for it, she had had to work hard to convince herself to not smash the blasted thing into pieces.
Acting automatically, Weiss moved to hit the decline button to shut the damn thing up-
She stopped. It wasn't a call. It was a message.
And it wasn't from Father.
WINTER: I'm coming in to land in about five minutes. Meet me at the airship dock.
"That's not your Dad again, is it?" Yang asked. "I could talk to him if you want. Seriously, give me five minutes and he'll never be calling you agai-"
Weiss leapt up from her seat and turned to begin sprinting towards the dock.
"I'll catch you guys up later don't wait for me bye!"
And with that breathless declaration, Weiss tore across the Festival grounds with the biggest smile on her face in weeks.
Sal-u-tations once again! Not Scot here, and Volume 3 of 'RWBY Re:Mixed' has begun! And guess what? Since I have taken the time to pre-write some stuff these past few months, I can confirm to you all that the next chapter is done and ready to go! It'll be uploaded this coming Friday, so check back in then for my take on 'Brawl in the Family'!
And guess what? The next chapter after that is already part-done as well! I'll be working on that (and some other stuff), in the hopes of it being ready for the following Friday. If I keep this up, I might even get Volume Three finished in a reasonable time frame! Wouldn't that be something?
As for, uh… recent events, until we definitively hear otherwise, I'm continuing under the assumption that RWBY has not been outright cancelled, and that my initial assumption of twelve Volumes is still the goal. Granted, that's looking less and less likely each passing day, but hey: stranger things have happened. You never know what the future holds.
But in the event that it does get cancelled, I'm gonna carry on regardless. I think that's the best way forward, really. RWBY only really ends when we stop caring about it, just like any other story in the world. So for as long as you all enjoy reading this fic, I'm gonna enjoy writing it. And if the canon series never gets an ending, then at least I can come up with one for this version.
Granted, at my average pace, that's gonna be at least a few more years yet. But I'm in it for the long haul!
But it's getting pretty late where I am now, and if I don't upload this soon, it won't be March anymore, and that'll make me a liar. So for now, I shall take my leave.
Until next time,
Not Scot.
P.S: Of course I had to give Yang the singular f-bomb that a PG-13 story allows. Who else could it have been?
