Orion raised an eyebrow as he walked down the street. He had been out shopping for wasn't sure about the situation. But Nia had begged him to grab what she needed. And she was paying for it, so he figured he may as well. He needed the exercise anyway.
But what caught his attention had nothing to do with his own chores. Rather, it was Team RWBY. Ruby, Yang, and Blake seemed to be doing some kind of cleaning project, meanwhile, Weiss stood off to the side, not doing any work.
"Huh? So this was your punishment for blowing up The Dust Lab?" Orion asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl's as he walked past, stopping to get a better look at the situation.
"Yep!" Ruby chirped.
"Two weeks of punishment for a single screw-up," Yang stated, grumbling annoyedly, with Blake seeming equally irritated as the blonde.
"Well, you guys did blow up a room at the academy. That's not really a minor mishap." Orion pointed out, slinging the bag of groceries over his shoulder. He watched as the girls continued, using Ruby's Semblance to create a vacuum, which swept up the trash into bins that Blake and Yang were holding.
Yang seemed to be having no trouble with her bin, but Blake struggled a bit more. Thankfully, Yang was there to help her out with that.
From what Orion knew, this was their last day of punishment. Of course, he only knew that because Ruby had been keeping track of the days ever since it happened. He had to admit, he admired her consistency. She reminded him a lot of Nia in that way, only more naive at times.
"Do you guys need an extra hand?" Orion asked, walking up beside Velvet, the Rabbit Faunus supervising them. But she shook her head.
"No, they're almost done," Velvet replied, smiling up at him. "Besides, this is good practice for them. This kind of cleanup is nothing to what we'll be doing after the Vytal Festival in a few months."
Orion shuddered at that. Yeah, the aftermath of that was gonna be an absolute chore to clean up.
Of course, this didn't look any fun either. Especially with Weiss standing off to the side with her arms crossed. Orion rolled his eyes at that, but what more did he expect from the Schnee Heiress? From what he'd learned from Noel, the two went to school together in Atlas. And the Heiress had always been difficult.
Even Noel, who Orion was pretty sure kept a list of compliments for her friends in her notebook (he was 70% sure). Struggled to find anything super nice to say about the girl.
And now Orion was witnessing this with his own two eyes. She was totally insufferable.
"W-Weiss you should help out!" Ruby tried to scold her, but a quick glare from the Heiress silenced the team leader. But thankfully, Yang was there to back her up.
"She has a point, Weiss. It'll go a lot faster if you help Blake hold down her bin. We won't need to readjust as much." The blonde pointed out, earning an irritated grunt from the white-haired girl.
She rolled her eyes, kicking a can down into a sewer grate.
"There. I helped." She stated.
"Actually...you littered," Orion commented, earning a glare from Weiss, to which the taller male laughed.
Velvet sighed and stepped forward. "Why don't you go help some of the other workers take down the stands instead? It'll be cleaner over there."
Weiss seemed to mull it over for a moment, before letting out a sigh.
"Alright." She complied, turning on her heel and looking toward the other workers, who all seemed way too excited to be working with a seventeen-year-old.
"Yeah come on over!"
"We're glad to have you."
"We'll make for better company than a critter like her."
Orion grew annoyed at that final comment. What the hell was with these people? He glanced over at Velvet, who seemed to take the insult in stride, however, and he let out a sigh. If Velvet didn't care, then he wasn't gonna make a big deal over it.
With that done, Team RWBY got back to work. Orion turned to leave as they started their maneuver again. "Well, I'll see you guys..."
He trailed off as they finished, someone's arm sticking out of one of the trash bins. And in an instant, the girls quickly began to panic, trying to dig the person out.
"How the hell did you people even pull that off!?" Orion gawked at the situation, his jaw on the floor as he tried not to laugh.
"Just shut up if you're not gonna help!" Yang shouted.
"I'll help out for a date-"
"No!" All three voices echoed in unison.
Orion stared. "Damn."
But finally, after a short moment of digging, they managed to get the person's head free. And rather than shouting at them like a reasonable person, the girl that had gotten sucked in smiled cheerfully.
"Salutations!" She cheered, as the girls pulled her out. She was a ginger girl with her hair in a bob style. Orion had to admit that she was cute. Though to be fair, it didn't take much to make Orion call a girl cute.
It was kinda his whole thing.
"Uhm...hi?" Ruby greeted the girl.
"Hello! My name is Penny Polendina." The girl greeted with a bright smile, stepping out of the trash around her as she did so. Orion had to wonder how this girl wasn't totally pissed. She was as forgiving as Noel was, maybe even more so.
Everyone stared at her in confusion.
"I was curious as to why this area was closed off. But just as I entered, I was caught up in a strange localized weather event." The girl explained with a small smile.
Ruby shrunk back in embarrassment. "Sorry about that..."
Penny smiled. "It's no worries, I sustained no damage as you can see."
"Damn, beautiful and durable? You're pretty amazing aren't you?" Orion asked, humming slightly as he walked over.
"Please stop." Yang groaned.
As they were talking, Weiss made her way back over, seeming even more annoyed than when she left. She appeared disheveled, brushing dust and dirt off of her clothes as she glared over her shoulder at the men she was helping.
"You people are ruffians and klutzes worse than Ruby!" She scolded, evidently irritated as Penny stared at her in confusion. Weiss stared back at her.
Ruby perked up at that. "Oh Weiss, this is Penny. Penny, this is Weiss."
Ruby smiled at them both, Penny sticking out a handshake which Weiss tentatively accepted after a short moment of deliberation.
Orion hummed, watching the interaction continue, before letting out a sigh, slinging the bags over his shoulder, and making his way back toward Beacon. Nia would be extra annoying if he took too long after all.
...
That girl was strange.
Sparring practice was today. And unlike her teammates, Noel wasn't quite as excited. Rather, she was actually kinda panicking. She had never been a confident girl, but that was doubly so for any sort of combat. Especially one on one combat.
Seeming to notice her unease, Nia placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Just keep a cool head, Noel, I don't know many people here who could beat you without effort," Nia assured her, smiling at the nervous blonde. "You're gonna do fine."
"Yeah, besides, fighting is fun!" Orion added, pumping his fist. "I wanna beat either Pyrrha or you Yin."
"Good luck with that." The shorter male replied.
"Hey, why do you sound so unbothered?" Orion asked, this was enough to earn a small laugh from Noel. It had been a few weeks since Team NYON was formed, and over that time, they had grown closer. Or at least Noel thought so.
Orion and Nia were as kind as ever, and Noel was sure she had grown as the team's leader in some small ways. And while Yin was still distant, he didn't actively choose to ignore or avoid his teammates anymore.
That made Noel happy...for some reason.
"Oh? Hey Nyon." A cheerful voice chirped, the team of four looked back and saw team RWBY, sans Weiss, approaching from behind them.
"Oh, sup guys." Nia greeted them as they walked, turning backward to better speak with the new arrivals. "Down a man today?"
"Nah, Weiss just went ahead for some reason," Yang replied, looking toward Noel. "Hey, you two went to school together in Atlas right?"
Noel blushed softly at being addressed. "Hm? Oh, yeah. Our f-families have always been close."
Yang nodded. "You got any advice for thawing the Ice Queen?"
Noel hummed softly. Of course, she wanted to help. But she also wasn't sure if she could. She and Weiss were never particularly close, they were only really aware of each other due to their fathers. As much as she wanted to give Team RWBY some advice, she had no idea what to say.
"S-Sorry..." She muttered after a short moment, earning a smile from Yang.
"No worries, that just means no shortcuts for us," Yang replied, shrugging as she spoke.
"I could also hold a group counseling session." Nia joked, earning a laugh from Ruby.
"You guys don't need to do anything," Ruby assured them. "As the leader of Team RWBY, it's my job to sort this mess out."
Noel smiled and nodded at her fellow leader. She was honestly impressed. Obviously, Team NYON wasn't having the same kinds of issues as Team RWBY was. But even still, Noel couldn't help but feel less competent as a leader than Ruby was.
Would she ever be able to handle a Weiss-like situation? She didn't think so, hence believing that she was blessed to have such an understanding team. She had many shortcomings after all.
As they walked, Yin perked up a bit, a curious glint in his eyes. A voice filtered out of the room, one that they could now all hear.
Weiss Schnee.
"Surely, there has to be some kind of process to switch teams! Or at least a way to change the leader." Weiss insisted, looking up at Glynda Goodwitch, Noel watched as Ruby's face fell, and she smiled sympathetically at her fellow team leader, resting a hand on her shoulder.
"Ms. Schnee, hundreds of Hunters have graduated from Beacon. And only a handful of times has a transfer been permitted." Glyna pointed out. "And even then, that was only in extreme cases where a member of the team was injured or otherwise couldn't finish the year."
Noel watched as Weiss turned off to the side, a creepy smile on her face as she cackled softly.
"What is she doing?" Orion asked.
"Fantasizing how to kill Ruby maybe?" Nia replied.
"Guys!" Noel scolded, not wanting to upset the younger girl even more than she already was.
As Weiss continued to cackle, Glynda raised an eyebrow at the Heiress.
"Are you alright?" She asked, breaking Weiss from her moment of sheer lunacy.
Weiss coughed into her hand, straightening up. "I'm fine. I'm just surprised that an academy as refined as Beacon doesn't have such a basic system in place."
Glynda glared at Weiss and pointed at the group of Team RBY and NYON.
"Issues like this are best sorted internally. With the rest of your team." She stated as Weiss gawked at the large group.
A beat of silence followed before Nia threw her arms around Orion and Noel.
"Well! Would you look at the time? Come on, let's let team RWBY have their moment." She laughed, guiding her team away from the scene. Yin watched them leave, nodded at Team RWBY, and followed after his group.
Weiss shifted awkwardly.
Nia could feel the tension radiating from Team RWBY from their spot a little ways away from them. Of course, she wasn't surprised at all by this tension. After all, Nia would be pissed too if a member of her team went behind everyone's back to try and get reassigned.
But, hopefully, nothing here would happen that would widen this chasm any more than it already was-
"Welcome everyone, today, we will be engaging in Partner Sparring," Glynda announced.
...
Okay, this couldn't be much worse.
"It will be a simple spar, the only goal being to get your opponent's Aura below twenty-five percent," Glynda explained, looking toward Nia and Orion. "Nia Blink and Orion will go first. The rest of Team NYON will be on deck."
Nia nodded, glancing at Orion. She was worried about the Team RWBY situation. But for now, she needed to worry about her own situation. That situation being her own battle against Orion.
She knew he was strong. Offensively, he outpaced her badly. But she knew she had a better defense than he did. In the end, this fight would come down to whether the spear could pierce the shield.
The two made their way onto the stage, staring ahead at one another.
"Bow to your opponent." Glynda requested, to which both Nia and Orion did. And with formalities complete, Glynda nodded. "Begin."
Instantly, Orion shot forward, swinging his flame-cloaked great sword through the air. The sound of crackling fire filled the room as Nia put up her shield. The attack stopped dead, and Noel ducked underneath her own shield, aiming an uppercut at Orion's stomach. But he managed to slide back and make use of his superior range.
The flat of his sword slammed into the brunette, but she managed to stay standing, blocking with her forearm. And she spun her tonfa around, aiming and landing, a strike on Orion's torso.
Orion stumbled back a foot or so, and Nia tried to follow up, but Orion sent her flying back with a kick. And before she could recover, he leaped up into the air, his blade wreathed in flame, as he brought it down on top of her.
Diving to the left, she barely managed to avoid the attack. Sliding against the floor, she spun her tonfas around and pulled the triggers on the handles. Bullets fired out of the barrels, shooting toward Orion. But the red-haired student was prepared for this, blocking shots with the flat edge of his sword as he maneuvered around the battleground.
The two were locked in a stalemate. But sooner or later, one side would have to give in. Nia knew that just playing defensive wouldn't be enough.
Unfortunately for her, Orion knew this, too. And he enveloped his blade in white-hot fire, but this time, he swung his blade at a distance, sending a blast of fire at Nia. She gasped, diving to the side. But as she came to a stop, she saw Orion standing over her, bringing his sword down.
Thinking fast, she put up her shield, the collision of the two semblances causing an explosive blast. A blast that bypassed both of their Auras.
The two flew back, both of their Auras dipping below twenty-five percent. Skidding across the floor, they both came to a stop on opposite ends of the arena, shooting up to look at Glynda.
"Who won!?" They both asked in unison.
Glynda sighed.
"Both of your Auras dipped below twenty-five at the same time. The end result is a draw." She explained.
...
"Are you kidding me!?"
"All that for a draw!?"
Both of them complained, falling to the ground in defeat. This earned a chuckle from the room, even the tension from Team RWBY lifted for a moment at the display.
"Sadly, yes, impressive showing regardless, though. It's always a good thing when partners are on a level playing field." Glynda stated her hand on her hip. "You two, shake hands. Then let's get the next match underway."
Both Orion and Nia obliged, and the next match was set to begin.
Noel was far from confident. Knew how strong Yin was after all. Any sense of reassurance she had gained from her friends prior to this was flushed down the drain along with her hope of victory. In her mind, even landing a blow on her partner would have been an achievement for her.
She had seen Yin fight for a little over half a month now. And she had a pretty good grasp on his fighting style. He was highly mobile, agile, and intelligent. Along with that, he fought similarly to a Hunter. He bided his time and waited for the opportune moment to strike.
But the real issue was his Semblance.
Noel's Semblance, Targeting, allowed her to always know where to aim. Her body would naturally react to any evasive moments and adjust her aim to always shoot where her opponent would be.
But that only applied before the shot was fired. The second it was, it could be dodged. Against most people or Grimm, this was a non-issue. Buy the same was not true for Yin. His Semblance allowed him to see the bullet's trajectory as soon as the gun was fired.
And she was confident he had the speed and reaction to respond.
Basically, he was her greatest weakness. But that also didn't mean she planned to give up. She was his partner after all, she needed to prove herself to him and the rest of her team. After all, she couldn't expect them to follow a weak leader.
She needed to do well.
Glynda stepped forward. "The same rules as the last match apply. Both combatants bow and begin on my signal."
Noel and Yin did as instructed, their eyes meeting as they both mentally prepared themselves. Noel rested her hand on the handle of Azure, ready to aim and fire as soon as Glynda gave the go-ahead. Her only chance was to act before he could. But that wouldn't be easy, as one of Yin's hands rested on the hilt of one of his twin swords.
"Begin!"
Instantly, Noel drew her pistols, aiming ahead of her and getting ready to fire. The Dust within them roared to life as she aimed at where Yin stood. Her eyes laser-focused on him.
Those very same determined eyes widened in shock when she didn't see Yin anymore. She felt her world begin to move in slow motion, her own movements included in that. She looked down, her eyes frantic as Yin was mere inches from her.
How hadn't she seen him? Did she have a way out? What could she do? These thoughts raced through her mind at a mile a minute, but in the end, there was nothing she could do.
She had already lost.
Yin's blade connected with her stomach, sending her rolling back and crashing into the floor. Her aura flickered as it went below twenty-five percent in that single attack.
The room was totally silent. Everyone was stunned. What they had expected to be a waiting game of a match ended up as nothing more than an instant win for Yin.
Noel sat on her knees, her green eyes wide in shock as Glynda announced the winner.
She...didn't even have a chance.
Was she really that weak?
Yin sat down with the rest of his team, following his match with Noel. She joined them as well, though with her head down, sitting as far away from him as possible. He was confused.
Had he done something to upset her? He couldn't tell. He had made sure to go all out. He felt it would be disrespectful to hold back against someone as capable as Noel.
He would have done the same for any one of his teammates after all.
"That was impressive," Orion commented, earning a nod from the raven-haired male beside him.
"Alright, up next. Can we get Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee?" Glynda asked, earning a quiet hum from Yin. This was bound to be interesting, considering the circumstances at least.
"Professor, I would like to request a different opponent. Ruby isn't on my level, and you know it." Weiss commented, crossing her arms over her chest. This earned an offended look from her leader, while Yin narrowed his eyes at the Heiress.
He and Ruby weren't friends per se, in fact, he barely knew her. But he had seen how hard she worked. He had respect for someone like her, who clearly tried so hard.
He would be offended as well in her shoes.
"That was...harsh..." Nia muttered.
"Yeah, too harsh." Orion agreed.
Yin couldn't help but agree.
"Enough. This is partner sparring, Ms. Schnee. You will spar with your partner." Glynda stated, staring back at Weiss, not giving an inch. "Again, this will be a free-form match. Your only goal is to lower your opponent's Aura past twenty-five percent. Other than that, any weapons or tactics are allowed. Along with that, if you lower your opponent's past fifteen percent, you are disqualified."
Glynda sighed.
"Now, please try not to kill each other." She insisted as both girls made their way down, Weiss rolling her eyes at The Professor.
"I know the rules already." She pointed out.
"Rules change when the stakes are personal, Ms. Schnee." Glynda shot back. "It is unfortunate that the rules do not stay changed when all is said and done."
Glynda took a step back.
"Now bow to your opponent."
Ruby did so with no opposition. Meanwhile, Weiss did so much more begrudgingly.
"Begin."
Weiss immediately went to ready her stance, but in a mere second, Ruby had already rushed forward. Yin hummed. Her tactic was much the same as his was against Noel.
Using the hook of her scythe, Ruby launched Weiss into the air. And quickly, she spun her weapon around, firing multiple bullets at the airborne Weiss. While in the air, Weiss formed glyphs beneath her feet, jumping between them to dodge the attacks. As she dodged, she fired back with blasts of dust from her own weapon.
Ruby was forced to dive away from those shots, allowing Weiss to land safely. Upon doing so, the Heiress immediately put up a Glyph Shield. Using it to block the continued barrage of bullets from Ruby.
Ruby chose to counter this by rushing forward, using her Semblance to curve around the shield and attack from behind. Weiss, however, expected this, and met Ruby's attack with her own, locking the two girls into a stalemate.
Weiss took a slight advantage. Her close-quarters combat is much more refined than Ruby's. But the younger girl made use of her superior speed, able to keep pace with the Heiress.
The fight was basically neck and neck. Both girls matching each other blow for blow. The two continued in this dance for a short while, chipping away at one another's aura. Until Weiss formed a glyph underneath Ruby. This launched the younger girl into the air, but she reacted quickly. Hooking Weiss around the leg with her scythe, she pulled the Heiress up with her.
The two continued their back and forth, now in the air. Weiss using her glyphs, and Ruby using her speed to continue to chip away at one another. This continued until they met for a major blow, sending them both to opposite ends of the arena.
Both girls panted heavily, their aura getting low.
"Is this what our fight looked like?" Orion asked, turning toward Nia with a small smirk.
Nia laughed in response. "They're evenly matched. This could go either way."
Yin hummed. They were right that this was evenly matched. But the outcome was obvious. In Yin's mind, the winner had already been decided.
Ruby recovered first, shooting forward with her Semblance. But she was countered by an ice wall. The shape of it sent Ruby crashing into the wall. She tried to recover, but Weiss continued to fire ice blasts at her leader. Ruby kicked off the wall, beginning to zig-zag, her speed increasing with every burst as she got closer and closer to Weiss.
Watching this, Yin noticed that Weiss was beginning to panic for a moment. But she quickly steadied herself, focusing on the task at hand. She summoned yet another glyph, slowing Ruby's advance, and sending out multiple projectiles.
The first one hit Ruby's weapon, locking it in place with a sort of binding spell. And just as quickly, Ruby herself was restrained by the very same effect.
Yin sighed.
Truly, this was the only outcome he could see.
Weiss lowered her stance, shooting forward at the immobile Ruby. She landed a powerful blow, breaking the glyphs and sending Ruby to the floor.
Ruby fell, at sixteen percent aura. Meanwhile, Weiss maintained her composure at twenty-six percent. She had one by a hair. But in a real battle, that hair was more important than anything else.
That was something Yin knew well.
The room was silent as Weiss wiped some sweat from her brow. She turned toward her fallen leader.
"As I said. You aren't on my level." She stated with finality. Ruby glowered at her from the floor as both Blake and Yang ran to help their leader stand.
Yin looked toward Glynda, their eyes meeting for a moment. Before the older woman nodded.
Yin took this as permission to speak.
"You speak as though you didn't come within a hairs breath of losing to someone two years your Junior, Schnee." He commented, staring down at the white-haired girl, who paused, glaring back at him. "I would only use my full strength against someone who I either viewed as a true threat or someone I respect too much to hold back."
His eyes narrowed.
"Between you and Ruby. Only one of you meets that criteria." He continued. "That one is not you."
His eyes bore into her soul, and she seemed as though she wanted to speak up, but she turned away with a huff, marching off by herself.
Noel stared at Yin.
"Damn, I have never been more proud of you, Yin." Orion cheered, ruffling the shorter male's hair. Yin didn't seem to react to this, simply staring up at his taller teammate.
"I only said what we were all thinking." He pointed out.
"The fact that you had the balls to actually say it though is why we're impressed." Nia pointed out with a laugh. "She had no idea how to react."
Noel hummed softly as she walked a bit behind her team. Her eyes bore holes into the ground below her. She wanted to ask him. She felt like she needed to. But for some reason, she couldn't. She was embarrassed about the question, but it was important to her.
"Hey, Noel, try and keep up," Nia told her, looking back at her over her shoulder. Noel blushed, shaking her head.
"R-Right, sorry." She replied, quickening her stride to match her friend's pace. Her hands were behind her back as she walked.
Orion hummed.
"So? Any ideas for the rest of the day?" He asked, crossing his arms in a sort of thinking gesture. "I'm not exactly feeling hungry or anything like that."
Yin rolled his eyes.
"I was going to head to The Library, I have some studying to do." He stated, his hands in his pockets as Orion stared at him.
"Seriously? Talk about boring. Why not do some regular training with me?" Orion suggested.
"I alternate between training days and study days. Today is a studying day." Yin explained, shrugging softly as he walked. "I could join you tomorrow, though."
Nia stretched her tired limbs. "Why do you even need to study anyway? You're training to be a Huntsman, not an accountant."
"Well, I figured at least half of our team needs to average better than a D. I trust Noel to do the same," Yin replied. "I lack that same level of faith in you two."
Noel blushed at the praise as both Orion and Nia groaned in annoyance. Yin did have a point after all, and Noel was pretty sure the main thing that annoyed the both of them was the fact that they knew he was right.
Suddenly, Yin pinched the bridge of his nose, yet another headache seemingly coming on. Noel's eyes widened as she stepped forward, concern building in her emerald green eyes.
"Are you okay?" She asked him, looking up at him. Yin nodded in response, waving her off.
"You've been getting a lot of headaches recently. Maybe you should head to the infirmary?" Nia suggested.
"I'll be fine," Yin assured her.
"You could have a hole in your stomach, and you would be saying that." Orion pointed out, staring annoyedly at his shorter teammate. "There's nothing to be ashamed of in just taking a break every now and again."
Yin hummed.
"I'll keep that in mind." He replied, Noel finally having enough. She needed to ask for the sake of her own sanity.
"Umm...Yin?" She asked, looking down at the ground. "I have a question for you."
"Hm? What is it?" He asked, earning another blush from the girl.
"W-When we fought...did you go all out?" She asked, wincing slightly as she waited for the answer. She expected a no, of course. It just didn't make sense for someone as strong as Yin to expend so much effort on her.
She was weak after all-
"Of course I did," Yin replied, seeming confused by the question. "Did you think I held back? I was wondering why you seemed upset."
Noel stared at him, surprised. "U-Upset? No, I wasn't upset with you it's just..."
She trailed off.
"You mentioned that you only went all out against people you respected or thought were strong enough, right?" She asked.
"Yes, that's what I said."
Noel began to twiddle with her thumbs.
"I guess I'm just curious but...which one of those criteria did I meet?" She asked.
Yin stared at her for a moment. His amethyst eyes locked with her emerald ones. Noel wasn't sure what she expected to hear. But it definitely wasn't what came next.
"Both."
Noel perked up, staring at him in confusion.
Yin smiled. "You're not weak at all."
Noel smiled at that.