Author's note: Just some training this chapter, nothing too big.
The morning after they arrived in Atlas, Ruby and her group got new outfits, though their weapons took a bit longer to modify. Ruby and Weiss also had matching shark tooth necklaces made, and Jaune and Blake noticed that their hair was somewhat clashing with their new look. The whole group was sitting at a table and eating breakfast, and Weiss was transfixed on a can of fish, which showed a cartoon angler fish next to a fisherman.
"Cute," Weiss said quietly, catching Blake's attention.
"What do you mean?" Blake asked, pulling Weiss back to reality.
"This angler fish," Weiss answered, "The real ones are much larger."
"Really?" Nora asked.
"How do you know?" Ren asked.
"How big?" Yang asked, getting a little nervous.
"Ruby could sit in their mouth if she curled up," Weiss answered, "And I know because, well, last night, Sirena and I fused."
"Why did you fuse?" Ruby asked.
"She wanted to see what our fusion's semblance would be," Weiss answered, "And she wanted to have some of her people copy it, if it was good enough."
"So, you saw the deep sea?" Nora asked, "What's it like?"
"Its… like a different world," Weiss answered, "The plants, the animals, even the rocks down there look nothing like they do up here."
"How was it to fuse with Sirena?" Jaune asked.
"It was… incredible," Weiss answered, "She can see much better than anyone I know, and my vision is perfect. She can see colors I can't even begin to describe, and her perfect memory gives her an incredible reaction time. She can see things most of us wouldn't even notice because of how quickly it happens."
"So, what are we doing today?" Yang asked. She sounded a bit more tense than normal, and obviously wanted to change the topic.
"Well, we still have nine days before Amity gets here," Ruby answered, "So I guess we can practice a little."
"I say we see how which fusion works," Weiss said, "You know, just in case we need to fuse at some point. So we don't get caught off-guard if a fusion acts up."
"I'll go first!" Nora exclaimed, "Come on, Ren, let's do this!"
"No offense you two," Jaune said, "But fusion is difficult if you've never done it before. Pyrrha and I could only fuse after weeks of training, and the only reason Ruby had so little problems with it is because she can use her silver eyes to initiate a fusion."
"Don't worry," Yang said, "Blake and I will help you two." They finished breakfast and go up, heading to the training area.
~o~
When Team RWBY, Jaune, Ren and Nora arrived at the training area, they saw Team FNKI on the floor, with a woman wearing a brown hooded cloak standing in the middle. She also wore thick brown leather gloves, and her cloak completely hid who she was. Team FNKI looked over to the entrance when they heard the door open.
"Hold on," Neon said, jumped onto her roller skates and asked, "You're a faunus?"
"Well, yeah," Blake answered, and backed off a little when Neon got too close for comfort.
"That explains a lot," Neon said, "Like why you have the same last name as Menagerie's chieftain and his wife."
"Yes, thank you, but we really need this room now," Blake said.
"Alright team, let's go," Flynt said, stopped as he passed Weiss and said, "Hey, Schnee. Nice necklace."
"Thanks," Weiss said, and Team FNKI left the group to themselves.
"What about her?" Nora asked, pointing at the woman in the middle. She got into a fighting stance and invited the group to attack her.
"I already like her," Yang said and charged at the woman, with Nora following close behind. Yang threw a right hook. The woman ducked under the punch. Nora tried to kick her. The woman moved out of the way. Yang tried attacking from behind. The woman redirected the strike, and Yang hit Nora.
"Maria, I think that's enough," Ruby said, and everyone turned to her in surprise.
"Wait, Maria?" Weiss asked, "As in, the same Maria we've been traveling with for the past few weeks?"
"Exactly the one," Maria answered, pulled back her hood and opened her cloak, revealing a much younger woman, with her silver eyes restored as well, who looked like she was around the girls' age.
"How?" Weiss asked, and a red portal opened next to Ruby. Sirena stepped out of it and leaned against the wall next to the door.
"Rejuvenation," Sirena answered, "I shared it with her a while ago, and let her decide when to tell you."
"So, she did age backwards?" Nora asked.
"Exactly," Sirena answered, "But it only works in one direction."
"Anyway, let's get started with our training," Ruby said, "Yang, Blake, you two fuse with Ren and Nora so they get a feeling for it."
"Got it," Blake said and walked over to Ren.
"Let's go," Yang said and walked over to Nora.
"Don't worry," Blake said, "I'll just use my powers to pull you into the fusion, but if you want to back out, I'll stop."
"Alright," Ren said.
"Same here," Yang said, looking at Nora.
"Good," Nora said, "Let's do this." The two pairs walked towards the middle of the training room, and Ruby realized she may have been some miscommunication regarding her plans as Yang fused with Nora, and Blake with Ren. The fusion of Yang and Nora had long, light orange hair that turned yellow at the tips and red eyes. She wore heavy light brown boots, black bike shorts under a dark pink pleated skirt held by a white leather belt, a yellow belly-free crop top with a heart-shaped hole in the middle, golden and black metal armor on her right arm, and two small metal pieces resembling dragon wings on her back. The fusion of Blake and Ren had long, black hair, cat ears and amber eyes. They wore black tabi with dull gray metal armor, black pants with hidden pockets all over them, a wide black shirt, with pockets lining the inside, over a chain mail armor made from black steel, and a black utility belt.
"Yora is ready for action," the fusion of Yang and Nora said, "Come on, someone hit me."
"My name is Kage," the fusion of Blake and Ren said, "If it is your request, I shall be your opponent." Kage rushed Yora, hitting her with swift strikes of their index- and middle fingers. Yora let the strikes hit her, releasing electric shocks from her palms at every strike she took, sending small lightnings towards her opponent. Kage jumped back and smiled.
"Wait, what happened?" Weiss asked.
"My semblance," Yora answered, "It converts kinetic energy into electricity, so if someone hits me, I can just launch a lightning in their face."
"Then I will just avoid hitting you," Kage said.
"Fine by me," Yora said, "I'll just hit you instead." She tried to rush towards Kage, but her legs gave in and she fell face-first to the floor.
"It seems you have noticed my semblance," Kage said, "It allows me to see where every being's vital energies flow, and since I know which points I have to strike to block those energies, I can easily disable any foe."
"So, weaponized acupuncture?" Yora asked and said, "Fine, I give up." She split up again, and Kage also split up again. Ren and Nora seemed somewhat shocked by the experience, yet happy at the same time.
"So, who's next?" Ruby asked.
"I'll go," Weiss answered, "I'd like to see which person I can best fuse with."
"Alright, how about we fuse first?" Jaune asked.
"Sure," Weiss answered, and they both fused into one. Their fusion had long, pale white hair and blue eyes. They wore elegant white leather boots with golden patterns, a white combat skirt over a pair of white jeans, and a light white and gold plate armor over a gray hooded pullover.
"So, Weiss and Jaune," Yang said, "I wonder what kind of semblance you have."
"Let's find out," the fusion said and retreated into their soul to uncover the workings of their semblance, came back and created a circle of white energy on the ground around them.
"So, what's that?" Nora asked.
"A healing circle," the fusion answered, "If an ally of mine is inside this circle, their aura regenerates faster. If they don't have unlocked their aura yet, they will be given a pseudo-aura instead. It will not protect them, but it has better regenerative capabilities than a normal aura."
"A semblance that can heal many people at once?" Ruby asked and said, "You have to let me copy that."
"Later, once our weapons are ready," the fusion said, their hands glowed green for a moment, and then they split up again.
"Ruby, can I talk to you for a moment?" Jaune asked, "In private?" Ruby looked around her friends, not knowing what was happening, but Yang gave her a reassuring nod.
"Sure," Ruby answered, turned to her friends and said, "You keep training, Jaune and I will be back soon." Ruby followed Jaune out of the training room, and Weiss and Ren got ready to fuse.
~o~
Ruby and Jaune entered a small room, hopefully outside of Blake's hearing range, and Ruby looked at Jaune.
"So, what's the matter?" Ruby asked.
"There is something I need you to know," Jaune answered, "About Sirena."
"What is it?" Ruby asked, "And why can't the others know?"
"I wanted to talk to you about it first," Jaune answered and asked, "Yesterday, remember how Sirena was visibly weakened all of a sudden?"
"Yeah," Ruby answered, "It's weird, but I figured she had her reasons."
"Well, I checked," Jaune said, "Last night, Pyrrha and I went to Ironwood's office, and I used astral tracing to find out what happened."
"And, what was it?" Ruby asked, getting slightly nervous.
"Sirena erased our memories," Jaune answered, "She told Ironwood that she banned her people from entering Atlesian waters to protect him from her people, and wiped our memories of it for some reason."
"That's weird," Ruby said and asked, "Why would she do that?"
"I don't know," Jaune answered, "But Pyrrha also said that it made no sense, so we decided to talk to you about it first, and see what you think."
"She definitely had her reasons," Ruby said, "Maybe she wanted to say it, but didn't want anyone to know."
"And what do we do about it?" Jaune asked, "Should we tell the others?"
"No, not yet," Ruby answered, "I need to figure this out first. Sirena has a plan, and if this is a part of it, telling the others about it before we know all the details could cause all sorts of problems."
"Well, alright," Jaune said, "I trust you on this one." They waited a bit longer, then headed back to the training room.
~o~
Just as Ruby and Jaune were about to enter the training room, Nora came flying through the door and slammed against the opposite wall. Her aura broke, and Ruby and Jaune heard a voice from inside.
"Who's next?!" The fusion of Weiss and Yang shouted. Jaune went to make sure Nora was alright, while Ruby went into the training room, where Maria kept the fusion busy by dodging her attacks. The fusion had red eyes and light blonde hair, which got darker at the tips. She wore light brown combat boots, beige pants under a white miniskirt with torn edges, a white waist cincher over a yellow top, and a brown bomber jacket, and her right arm had black and golden armor on it.
"What is going on here?" Ruby asked, catching the fusion's attention and said, "You two, stop this immediately. Look what you've done to Nora." Ruby gestured to Nora, who was still sitting on the ground, and had a black eye.
"It's just a little training," the fusion said.
"No it's not!" Ruby said, raising her voice, "People don't get hurt like this during training, and if they do, you stop and make sure they're fine. I'm very disappointed, in both of you." The fusion stepped back a little.
"I- sorry," the fusion said and split up again. Weiss and Yang were sitting on the floor, both holding their heads.
"How are you feeling?" Ruby asked softly.
"Headache," Yang answered, speaking with a lowered voice.
"That's not a feeling," Weiss said, also quieter than normal, "If anything, it would be headache-y."
"Alright," Ruby said, "I guess that's enough fusion training for today." She helped Weiss and Yang back onto their feet, Jaune brought Nora to the infirmary, and the rest of the group just split up to do their own thing.
~o~
Blake and Sirena were walking through the city of Atlas. Blake was looking for a book store so she could read up on some fairy tales, and Sirena had decided to tag along for some reason. They entered a store called Books And Crannies, split up and looked around. Blake browsed through a collection of fairy tale books, wondering how much of which was actually true.
"Excuse me, are you a huntress?" A little girl asked. She had short black hair, blue eyes and wore a white dress, along with white high-heeled shoes.
"Not quite," Blake answered, "But I'm working on it."
"Daddy said faunus can't be huntsmen," the girl said, "They can't do anything as good as humans can. That's why the General lets a faunus stand next to the Ace-Ops when they do stuff, to try and trick people into thinking that faunus can keep up with us."
"Well, your daddy is a narrow-minded fool," Blake said with a nice smile.
"No he's not," the girl said angrily, "He's an Atlas military soldier, and personal bodyguard of Jacques Schnee. He'll kick your ass when he hears what you said about him." A woman with shoulder-long black hair and brown eyes walked over. She wore a long white dress and high-heel shoes that looked like the girl's.
"What's the matter, sweetie?" The woman asked.
"Mommy, this faunus said daddy was a fool," the girl answered. Her mother turned to Blake.
"Listen, I don't know what you've been taught," the woman said, "But my husband is Private Balts Begonia of the Atlas military, and personal bodyguard of Jacques Schnee."
"Really?" Blake asked with feigned amazement and said, "Well, in this case, I should probably apologize."
"At least you have some common sense," the woman said, "I'll call him, and then you can apologize to him."
"Not necessary," Blake said, pulled out her scroll and pressed the speed-dial button for General Ironwood.
"Hello?" General Ironwood asked, and the woman and her daughter froze.
"Hey James," Blake said and asked, "What do the rules say about the family members of soldiers?"
"Come on, the General doesn't-" the woman said, but Blake shushed her.
"It's quite simple," General Ironwood answered, "I hold my men responsible for the actions of their family members, to make sure they behave themselves. I'm assuming you have a complaint." The woman tried to grab Blake's scroll, but Blake kept her away with her free arm.
"Yes," Blake said, "Private Balts Begonia. His wife and daughter have made several racist remarks towards me, and the faunus in general, and the wife is currently trying to steal my scroll."
"Alright, I'll handle it," General Ironwood said, then hung up. The woman dropped to the ground in defeat, Blake put her scroll away again and continued browsing the book store. When she went to the counter to buy several books, she saw Sirena talk to one of the clerks. He had short, blond hair, green eyes and wore a black suit with the store's logo on the chest.
"Excuse me, but where is my book?" Sirena asked.
"Well, we have all orders-" the clerk answered, but was cut off by Sirena.
"No, I didn't order anything," Sirena said, "I wrote one, but I can't find it, even though I was told this store had it."
"I see," the clerk said and asked, "What's the title?"
"Encyclopedia Aquatica," Sirena answered, "But it's also sometimes called The Diver's Guide to the Deep Sea."
"We actually have it in stock," the clerk said, "It's pretty popular."
"Then where is it?" Sirena asked.
"It should be right over there, in the fiction section," the clerk said, and Blake could practically hear Sirena scream internally, based on how her emotions shifted. It was almost scary, feeling that much anger erupt within Sirena, without her expression or body language changing at all.
"Why is it there?" Sirena asked, her tone not changing at all.
"Because of the Atlas board of literature," the clerk answered, "They decided that it couldn't be classified as educational literature, since it didn't have any certified researchers or peer-reviewed studies as source. But because of the Foreign Art clause of the Vytal Convention, book stores have to display it, since there aren't enough other authors from Vale who want their works displayed in Atlas."
"In that case," Sirena said, stopped for a second and said, "Nevermind." She turned around and headed to the fiction section, likely to grab a copy of her book.
~o~
Outside the book store, Blake waited for Sirena to finish shopping. Blake carried a large brown paper bag with the store's logo on it, and Sirena had a similarly-sized bag, which was visibly bulging. They both headed back to the academy.
"Why didn't you tell us you wrote a book?" Blake asked.
"Why didn't you tell your friends who your father was?" Sirena asked.
"I just didn't have a reason to," Blake answered.
"Same here," Sirena said.
"But why did you give in so easily?" Blake asked.
"Too many people know my book already," Sirena answered, "If they knew it was real, it would cause a mass panic, and I want to avoid that."
"But you could get it changed, right?" Blake asked.
"Of course," Sirena answered.
"So, how much did you buy?" Blake asked, looking at the bag.
"One copy," Sirena answered.
"You really wrote down everything then, right?" Blake asked, looking at the size of the book.
"Not really," Sirena answered, "Those are just the threats you will definitely encounter in the deep sea."
"I'm going to pretend this was fine," Blake said and asked, "But, why did you buy that book in the first place?"
"For Ruby," Sirena answered, "Since she can turn into a mermaid now, she needs to know what she'll have to watch out for."
"Couldn't you just have told her?" Blake asked.
"Yes, but I wanted to buy a copy," Sirena answered.
"Why?" Blake asked.
"Because I paid with my card," Sirena answered, "This means that some money from my bank account was sent to the store's account, and some of that money was sent to my bank account. And since the same bank account appeared twice in the same transaction, the system has issues processing it."
"So, you went out of your way just to break the system?" Blake asked, "Why?"
"Because it's stupid," Sirena answered, "Let's get back, I have things to do." The duo returned to the academy, and while Sirena went to do her own thing, Blake turned on the TV, where she saw a report about how a malfunctioning ATM caused a man to assault the machine, resulting in him accidentally flinging his shoe off the flying city and into Mantle.
~o~
Marrow Amin walked through Atlas Academy, still thinking about Sirena's words. He had wanted to buy a book on Grimm earlier that day, and he had overheard a conversation between Blake and a woman in the store and decided to leave before it would escalate.
"Hello Marrow," Sirena said as she came around a corner, and Marrow stopped.
"Hello Sirena," Marrow said, "I've been thinking about what you said yesterday."
"Really?" Sirena asked and said, "Look, I'm sorry for what I said. I… wasn't quite myself back there, and I shouldn't have said those things in front of everyone."
"But it's true," Marrow said and asked, "Can you help me get stronger?"
"Of course," Sirena answered, "We're all on the same team, after all. Come, I know where we can start."
"Thank you," Marrow said, and Sirena led him into a training room.
"First, you need to know is that us faunus aren't humans," Sirena said, "We're better."
"I… don't know about being better," Marrow said, "But we're equal at least."
"Marrow," Sirena said in a deadpan tone, "We're in a room with no windows, and the light coming in through the crack under the door is enough for us to see. We are better than humans. I mean, we have additional limbs, and if a faunus and a human have children, they're always faunus. Natural selection, a rule dictated by the God of Light, agrees that faunus are superior. Don't let some mortal argue against a God."
"I guess if you put it that way," Marrow said and asked, "So, what's first?"
"First, some theory," Sirena answered and explained, "Faunus have instincts. My fighting style is, for the most part, based around waiting for an opening, and then finishing the opponent in one strike, before they know what's happening. Real-life stonefish are ambush predators. They sit and wait, and when their prey comes too close, they strike. One attack, one kill, no witnesses."
"So, I need to focus on my instincts?" Marrow asked.
"Exactly," Sirena answered and said, "This will give you a plethora of different ways to manipulate your aura, allowing you to unlock new abilities, and give you greater control over your semblance."
"What kind of abilities?" Marrow asked.
"Many," Sirena answered, "They're not exactly flashy, but a relative of my team leader, Adalwolf Star, is a husky faunus, just like you. His senses of smell and hearing are impeccable, he can run at full speed for almost an entire day and night, and only requires two hours of sleep each day. Also, his semblance saw massive improvements. Instead of summoning three spectral wolves to chase down a single target, he can summon three dozen to attack whatever enemies there are, and he got rid of the five minute time limit and five hour cooldown. He is currently in the town of Silverock, south-west Vale." Marrow listened intently as Sirena explained all the abilities he would unlock, while Sirena kept an eye on Ruby, who was sitting by the door and eavesdropping.
~o~
After Blake and Sirena had come back from their shopping trip, and Sirena had given Ruby a book on the deep sea, she tried to secretly follow Sirena to see what she was up to next. Sirena waited behind a corner, then stepped out in front of Marrow and got him to let her train him. Ruby followed them into a nearby training room and listened. Eventually it became clear that Sirena knew that she was being followed, and by whom. Ruby also realized what Sirena wanted from her, and astral projected into a town in Vale. She looked around and saw a deer faunus woman walking along the road. She wore brown boots, blue jeans and a white blouse, had long black hair and orange eyes. In the distance, Ruby sensed the presence of Grimm and quickly possessed the woman. The antlers threw her balance off at first, so Ruby let her handle walking and focused on other things.
"Don't worry, I'll help you," Ruby said mentally, "But I'd need your help to walk." A husky faunus ran past the woman, and summoned over a dozen wolves from purple energy. He wore black boots with dark gray fur trims, black linen pants and a dark gray jerkin. He also had a wolf fur cape on his back, a tail protruding from his hip, and his black hair styled into a wolf's tail. He had dark gray bracers on his arms, which had spikes on one side, and drew a pair of double-bladed daggers. Ruby used her semblance to catch up to the faunus, sprinting past him and stopping between him and the Boarbatusk charging towards the town. As soon as the Grimm and Adalwolf came within reach, Ruby unleashed a burst of light from her eyes, turning the Grimm to stone. Without a target, the spectral wolves disappeared, and Adalwolf stopped.
"What was that?" Adalwolf asked as he looked at the woman and at the petrified Grimm. He sheathed his weapons again and walked up to the woman Ruby had possessed.
"That… was light," Ruby answered and put the woman's right hand on Adalwolf's left shoulder. She used her Mentor semblance to let him know how to use her semblance, then returned to her own body.
~o~
Back in Atlas, Ruby entered her soul core and looked for Adalwolf's emblem, a wolf's head in front of a full moon. As she walked through the forest, looking for the emblem, Emerald walked up to her.
"Hello Ruby," Emerald said and asked, "And, did you get your weapon upgraded yet?"
"Hello Emerald," Ruby said and answered, "Not yet. It takes a bit, considering how many weapons there are to upgrade. But at least they all have the standard WR Codes on them, so the scientists could get the blueprints to know exactly what they are working with."
"Yeah, Arthur said something about those," Emerald said, "I needed to get them etched into my weapons when we went to Beacon. I hope they didn't cause too much trouble."
"It's fine," Ruby said, "Sirena managed to fake a voice recording where you left them to me in case you died. Now we just need to wait for Mistral to send over a copy of your death certificate, and we're good."
"You know, I never liked Atlas," Emerald said, "It's way too focused on its bureaucracy. You can't even give a bagel to someone you don't know without filling out half a dozen forms and whatnot."
"That sounds awful," Ruby said and asked, "Anyway, did you see any new emblems show up just now?"
"Yes, one," Emerald answered, "This way." She led Ruby through the forest and to the emblem, and Ruby touched it.
"A predator's heart knows no remorse, it lives for the kill," a deep male voice echoed through the air.
"Thank you, Emerald," Ruby said.
"You're… welcome," Emerald said, still a bit unsure how to respond to genuine gratitude.
"Anyway, I'll have to head back now," Ruby said, "But I'll be back."
"Alright, I'll wait," Emerald said. Ruby returned to the waking world, left the training room and walked through the academy, looking for things to do to kill time.
Author's note: WR Codes, or Weapon Registry Codes, are small images, like QR Codes, which are etched into a part of any official huntsman weapon. Scanning them reveals information about the weapon, such as the blueprints, or its owner. Any scroll is equipped to read them, in case someone finds a weapon and wishes to return it. However, one needs a special software to access the blueprints. Penny has this software as part of her source code, meaning she knows everything about a weapon at first glance, assuming that it was made officially. Some shady businesses can etch them into a weapon, though it is not exactly legal. Blake had to use those services before going to Beacon, since they wouldn't let her join if she couldn't prove that Gambol Shroud was her weapon.
The bit with Blake in the book store was brought to you by my disliking of entitled military wives who think they deserve special treatment because their husband gets paid to kill people, among other things. I had originally planned to have this play out slightly differently, with the woman intentionally bumping into Blake on a military base her husband was in charge of, only to later realize that General Ironwood not only was on base as well, but had been standing behind her while she went on about her husband would make a better General than him. Of course Blake would really enjoy baiting her into saying all sorts of things.
Sirena breaks systems she thinks are stupid. Because if it can break, it deserves to be broken.