(Vatican City, 2 weeks prior to Allen's arrival on Remnant...)
People all have pressure placed upon their shoulders. A working parent has the pressure of earning enough to feed them and their family. A barber has the pressure of their customer enjoying their work.
For Allen, it was originally the pressure of a soldier. A man charged with the defense of the normal, everyday person from forces that seek to do them harm. Except change the 'everyday person' part to the entire human population.
And now, he faces a new pressure. The pressure of a leader, as he kneels on one knee with his head faced down, upon the leader of the church, their Pope.
The man wore robes of varying fabrics with decorations sewn onto each one. He wore a silver mask modeled after a gentle smile, with eyes that seemed to express great pity, sorrow, and age.
"Allen Walker," The Pope's voice echoed through the large room. "Do you understand the weight of what you're proposing?"
Allen closed his eyes and inhaled to keep himself calm. "Yes, I do."
"And you realize what the costs might entail as well?"
"I understand what we stand to lose if we pursue this fight." Allen raised his head. "But I also know what we stand to lose if we avoid it. This is our best chance to end this war, once and for all."
"But the risks. The possible loss of life..."
"Have already been taken into account. What I'm proposing is something that Central, the Cardinals, and most of the Black Order have been wishing to pursue since their creation. A decisive battle for this war's end."
The Pope let out a depressed groan, one hand covering his masked face. He almost seemed close to tears. "All those that will be lost in such a battle. Can we truly pursue it?"
"If we do not..." Allen spoke calmly. "Then another chance like this will not come to pass. Innocence has become scarce since the Noah began hunting for it and attempts to find more Exorcists have borne little to no fruit. If we ignore this chance, the war will simply become a countdown to extinction as the Noah Clan pick our numbers off at a steady pace, faster than we can replenish."
The Pope's hands gripped the armbars of his throne, knuckles turning white before relaxing as his posture sagged defeatedly. "...if what you say is true, then may God help us. I shall approve this... Crusade with a most heavy heart."
Allen rose, smiling brightly. "Thank you, your Holiness."
"How..." The Pope's voice made him seem like he was on the verge of tears. "How can a soul as young as yours, tortured, tormented, and tested time and time again, smile for what could be such a painful and pitiful end."
"Well, that's quite easy..." Allen's shoulders sagged. "It's because, even at the cost of my life, this war that has torn families and friends apart, desecrated the sanctity of the soul and the afterlife, and caused so much pain, shall end."
The Pope took a deep breath to calm himself. "I pray for you, Allen Walker. May God be merciful and reward your many sacrifices. And may you forgive us for the pain we have caused you."
Allen chuckled. "Your holiness, if I didn't forgive you all, I certainly wouldn't be doing everything I can to save you all."
The Pope's hands crossed over one another on his lap, as he watched Allen Walker step out the room. "Perhaps we aren't deserving to be saved, Allen Walker."
(April 3rd, Monday, Allen's Dorm Room, 3:45 AM)
Allen groaned as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of his room. Looking at the clock on his nightstand, he winced as it just struck two and a half in the morning.
He clenched his eyes shut, hoping to somehow will his body back to sleep for at least an hour, only to open them again and find a measly five minutes had passed.
'...I guess I can make do with five hours of sleep.' He sighed, slowly sitting upright and rotating his joints with a few pleasurable pops echoing from them.
Soon enough, his feet made contact with cold, wooden floorboards as he felt around for his slippers.
Once he made it to his bathroom and flipped the light switch, he let out a groan from the sudden all-encompassing bright light that filled the tiny room.
'And God said, 'Let there be light'. Why couldn't he have said 'Let there be comfortable light' or 'Let there be non-bothersome light.' He splashed his face with cold water to fully wake himself.
His hands gripped the sides of the sink, shaking slightly. 'First day. Just got to treat it like my first day at the Black Order.'
Allen thought back to his first day... and shivered. 'Probably not exactly like the first day."
He stared at his hands, the shakes still going. '...Maybe I should go for a quick jog before breakfast.'
(April 3rd, Monday, 7:50 AM, Beacon Dining Hall)
Cedric watched in horror and wonder as Allen scarfed down a pile of food, in fifteen minutes since they sat down.
"Where..." Cedric leaned back as another plate of food disappeared before his eyes. "Where does it all go?"
Allen chewed through another mouthful of food quickly and swallowed. "In my stomach, of course. Where else?"
"Is your stomach some sort of void?" Cedric joked as he picked at his own leftovers. His eyes went left and right as he looked at the two piles of empty plates beside Allen.
Allen set the final plate down and let out a burp so loud, it almost felt as if the room shook. The dining hall quieted down as groups of students all turned to him.
One slowly began clapping, followed by another, then another, and more until the place was full of applause and laughter. Allen grinned, stood on top of his seat, and gave a bow.
Cedric simply shook his head. "You're a clown, you know that?"
"And what's wrong with that?" Allen asked as he sat back down.
"Nothing, I'm just saying what I see. But if you keep acting silly and laid back, not many people are going to take you seriously."
"That's fine by me." He picked up a napkin and wiped the corners of his mouth. Not that there was much to wipe. He picked the plates clean. "I'd rather see people relaxed and smiling, even at the cost of my dignity if I'm being honest."
"Why?" Cedric couldn't help but ask. "I really don't see the point of going out of your way to do that."
"When I was young, my first adoptive father and I traveled as a clown pair." Allen began, propping his head on a gloved hand with a fond smile. "A lot of the places we traveled were villages that were in poor conditions. We'd perform our shows with minimal to no costs there, bringing a smile to those who hadn't smiled in a long time."
"...Wow."
"Yep. And honestly, the impact of such a thing was amazing too. People began to talk, help each other, and smile by themselves. By the time we left the village, they'd start thriving. Like they went from waiting to die to wanting to live their best with each other."
"That's... kinda amazing." Cedric complimented. "But I don't see the need for that here. We're in a school with students more or less the same age as us. There's plenty of stuff to keep us happy here too."
"Cedric, we're far from the city and past the Kingdom's walls. Most of us aren't used to being away from the comfort of families and now we have to befriend people that some of us don't know very well. Couple that with being by a forest full of shadowy monster creatures attracted to negativity, and you'll start to realize everybody's lying to themselves about being happy and hoping they can trick their minds to believe it."
"That's... I..." Cedric didn't have a response. It wasn't that Allen was wrong. It was that Allen managed to put into words what every general study student was feeling on their first day here.
Even while he enrolled at Beacon with his brother, he hadn't seen him since he watched his initiation and even celebrated him becoming the leader of his team. And he'd barely be seeing him at Beacon that often. Maybe on weekends, but the Huntsmen course students' schedules were a lot fuller than a general student's.
He didn't really think about it, but Allen was a slap of reality for him.
No.
A slap wasn't the best description. Allen was a friend. That was better. Someone who'd watch your back and wanted what was best. Someone to share a laugh and moments in life. Someone to knock sense into you when you stray off your morals.
And as he let his words sink in, Cedric started to notice it. How all the conversations in the dining hall came back louder than before, cheerful too. With an action to make a fool of himself, Allen broke the ice that no one noticed.
People had wide, joyful smiles as they conversed. Conversations for the classes they're looking forward to, who they thought were cute, shows they watched, books they read, games they play.
"Allen. You're amazing."
(April 3rd, Monday, 9:19 AM, Beacon Halls)
Allen smiled while walking out into the hall, unaware of his surroundings as most of the other students that left Doctor Oobleck's class were nursing headaches. Cedric followed right behind him, his head hammering.
"Allen. You're awful."
"What? What did I do?!" To Cedric, it looked like he had the audacity to look offended, which made him glare harder.
"What did you do? WHAT DID YOU DO!?" He yelled, prompting Allen to raise his hands in surrender. "I couldn't follow anything that happened in that class once you and Professor Oobleck-"
"Doctor." Allen corrected, with a smile that made Cedric's eye twitch.
"Doctor Oobleck," Cedric added with annoyance. "Started going back and forth!"
"I had a lot of questions!" Allen defended. "And this is one of my favorite subjects!"
Remnant's history was fascinating to Allen because it didn't feel like history to him like with the other students. He was an alien to this world. A foreign entity. Learning such things was akin to listening to stories of mythical battles. Perhaps that was largely to do with how this world worked.
Crystals with elemental effects. Strange creatures of darkness. Don't get him started on how fascinating Faunus were to him. Their traits sparked a curiosity in him. Like enhanced vision, hearing, and so forth. He genuinely respected the Faunus for their traits, and Doctor Oobleck was quick to pick up on that.
In the first half of class, Allen spent taking notes for the lesson on Warrior Kings for each Kingdom, back when they were barely a tenth of their size now. His school-issued Scroll was a blessing since he was permitted to type notes into it. His writing was atrocious and autocorrect was a blessing to him on occasion when it came to spelling.
The second half was when his interest was shown as he asked questions about the Vassal to the third king of Vacuo, a Faunus Knight known for having an exoskeleton trait to cover his joints and weak points in his armor.
Allen's first question was how the joints specifically defended those areas in the armor, and Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck explained that the Vassal's armor was designed with his trait in mind.
Then he asked how the man became a Vassal to the king, which went into a lengthy tale of two friends from differing backgrounds developing an unlikely kinship. The two would go on to slay many of the Grimm that inhabited the surrounding Vacuo's deserts to expand the kingdom.
He smiled when he heard that the Faunus Vassal was buried alongside the king who called him brother. Then it died an ugly death when Doctor Oobleck revealed that the Vassal's grave would then be moved to an unmarked location by the fourth King of Vacuo.
Apparently, the noble saw that such a person of low-class birth was buried next to his father as a blight on the royal family's legacy. The Vassal's history was purposely hidden and made to fade with time that it wasn't until an archeological find a quarter of a century ago that had them unearth the private journals of the third king's wife.
And so, the Vassal's history was rightfully restored, with the exception of his name, which even now is still sought after.
Before the two knew it, their discussions took up most of the class time with only a few short minutes remaining. Allen apologized repeatedly to the teacher, but the man simply laughed it off and praised him for being so curious about the world's history.
He was even offered to come for talks and tutoring at the man's office during the weekends, which he planned full well on taking advantage of. After all, a year's worth of studying only helped him get the gist of Remnant's history, and that was NOT one of his strong suits, but he still loved it.
"I'll see you in the next class." Cedric groaned and began to hobble away with his crutches. "I need to make a detour."
"Where are you going?"
"To buy some headache medication from the campus store!" Cedric yelled, making Allen wince.
He sighed and shook his head. People couldn't understand. To him, Remnant was a fairytale world come to life, full of wonders that appeared as if they'd never cease.
It was as if this world, despite the dangers that loomed out the kingdom's walls, was designed to provide him with healing and many options for different lifestyles he could pursue.
It eased a lot of the regrets he brought with him.
He quickly shook those thoughts out of the way and started to make his way to the 'Dust Sciences' class. He was especially grateful for lessons dealing with THAT. Tukson gave him a pamphlet when he tried to use powdered Dust instead of crystal to power the appliances in the kitchen.
He tried to use the cheap option to avoid costs, only to end up paying more to replace the toaster and microwave. That's the last time he was cutting costs for quality.
Lost in that memory, he barely noticed that he passed by Headmaster Ozpin, let alone when he was about to turn the corner and bumped into a familiar, short, black and red-haired girl with silver eyes.
Ruby Rose fell on her butt with the gracefulness of a Ursa on roller skates. She looked up, unamused at whatever she knocked into, thinking it was probably a pillar or part of Beacon's decoration before she saw it was a person.
Worse, a person that she knew.
Double worse, a person that she yesterday assumed was a girl just by the long white hair tied into a ponytail behind him before he turned around.
The same person was currently holding a gloved hand out to her, which she spent almost a minute staring at as he simply waited patiently.
'Oh great, I've made things super awkward now.' Ruby thought.
"You only fell," Allen commented, showing that Ruby unintentionally must have muttered what she was thinking. "It's not something anyone should feel awkward about. Besides, I should have looked more closely where I was going."
"No, it's fine." She gratefully accepted his assistance helping her up and dusted off her school skirt. "I wasn't paying attention. Got lost in thought. First-day jitters, you know?"
Allen chuckled. "I hear that. But the classes aren't too bad though, right?"
Ruby's eye twitched as she tried hard to keep the smile. "Y-yep. Not too bad..."
"You don't have to lie, you know."
"I'm not!" Ruby defended. "The classes are great..."
Allen raised a brow, an expression that all but showed that he didn't believe her, prompting her to groan.
"Okay, you're right," Ruby admitted. "First class was kinda rough."
"Rough as in 'hard to follow the materials' kind? Or do you mean rough as in 'surrounded by strangers and groups of people I've never seen before'."
"Yes."
"Ah." Allen winced. Thinking for a moment, he pulled out his scroll to check the time. "Hey, Ruby. What class do you have next?"
"Hm? Oh. Dust Sciences. Why do you-" Ruby raised a brow. "Why are you smiling like that?"
Allen had a smile that looked like a cross between someone who was just told he'd be dealing with something that required no effort at all and someone who won the lottery. "Follow me."
"W-what?"
"We're gonna go grab snacks at the campus store," Allen explained as if that answered everything.
"We? Hold up, I didn't agree to that or anything!" Ruby pouted. She legitimately pouted that it almost made Allen wanna pat her head like she was one of those villager kids from his travels as an Exorcist.
Unfortunately for her, he already had a hint of her weakness from last night when he brought snacks for the two teams. "I'll buy you cookies."
/~/
Ruby sat on a bench outside the campus store, staring at the thin, cardboard box of confectionaries in her hand. Meanwhile, Allen bought a can of Soda and opted to stand beside the bench.
"I feel like I should be concerned that you know my weakness like this," Ruby grumbled.
Allen spat out a bit of his soda, constantly bouncing back and forth between coughing and laughing as he crouched and clutched his stomach. Ruby glared at him, but it was like being hated by a chihuahua. It was hilarious.
Ruby didn't take it the same, face turning red. "It's not funny! People could abuse it if they knew they had such an easy way to get to me!"
Allen still laughed.
"Stop laughing!"
He laughed even harder.
Ruby just kept glaring. Soon enough, her mouth was shaking, and a chuckle escaped her lips.
And then it evolved to laughter.
"Th-this doesn't make sense! I don't know why I'm laughing!"
"That's the beauty of it!" Allen managed to say between laughs. "You can find amusement even in the smallest of things!"
And so, they laughed for a couple more minutes. Once they started to calm down, Ruby wiped a few joyful tears from the corner of her eyes. "Oh wow. I've been an idiot."
"How so?" Allen took a curious glance at Ruby as she fiddled with the box of cookies in her hand but didn't look at it. She hadn't even tried to open it since they got here. She probably didn't even realize it was still in her hands.
"It's just, I've probably been overthinking things lately and rushing into them at the same time." Ruby began. "I came to Beacon two years early, y'know."
"Really? Wow, you graduated early then?"
"Actually, the headmaster kinda offered to bring me in last week and I... well, I did say I rush into things..."
Allen blinked once. Then twice. "Oh my god, you joined in a split second."
"Yeah... pretty much. And I feel bad half the time because it feels like I stole someone's spot too."
Allen hummed. "Wanna know something funny?"
"What?"
"There are several empty dorm rooms and seats in the classrooms," Allen explained. "Beacon is actually very under capacity. Barely two-thirds of the student body filled if we include the second, third, and fourth years."
"Really?"
"Yep. During exam week for the general study course alone, a lot of applicants gave up. Do you know why?"
Ruby thought for a moment. "Was it because the test was hard?"
"Hardly. There are study guides and lesson plans printed out every year. They're not accurate and don't include EVERYTHING on the written exams, but as long as people follow it, then the minimum score they need is barely above sixty to be accepted."
"What?!"
"Yep. Some quit because they half-assed it."
"Swear!"
Allen slowly turned to her as she realized what she had just blurted out and an embarrassed blush crept up. He took a breath and stifled a laugh. "I won't tease for that."
"...Thank you." Ruby quietly mumbled.
"Anyways, some didn't put enough effort, some quit weeks before the test after having second thoughts, and some applied to other academies. What I'm trying to say is that you didn't 'steal' anything from anyone. People had the option to come to Beacon and accept the difficulties. They just... chose something else because it felt better."
"Huh." Ruby looked up at the clouds. "When you put it like that, I guess I was blowing those thoughts out of proportion."
"Yep." Allen took another sip of soda. "Anything else bothering you?"
"A lot." Ruby groaned out. "Being a team leader at the top. But Headmaster Ozpin gave me some pretty good advice on that."
"Really?"
"Yep. I'm going to show Weiss that I'm good enough to lead Team RWBY by always performing at my best!"
Allen stared at her. "Team... RWBY...?"
"Yeah- uh oh."
"So, your team is named... after you... snrk... and you're also the leader." Allen turned away from her, but Ruby could still see him struggling to keep his smile down. Barely. "Must be a hell of a confidence booster."
"I didn't come up with it!" Ruby defended. "I mean, can YOU come up with a name that makes sense using our first initials!"
"I mean, I don't have to. That's a job for the teachers."
"Exactly! It's bad enough people think I'm getting special treatment for coming into Beacon two years early-"
"Do they?"
"What?"
"Do they actually think that? Do you know for certain?"
"Well, no..."
"So why worry about what they might think when you can prove them wrong if they think that?"
"...Eh?"
"The Headmaster offered you to come to Beacon early for a reason." Allen pointed out. "The most likely reason is probably potential. I caught how you guys fought in the initiation, y'know. How well you worked with your peers. Struggling is the last word I could use to describe you."
"...Allen."
"I mean, jumping headfirst and trying to take on a giant scorpion monster is also the last thing I'd ever thought to try either."
"Allen..."
"I mean, seriously. That thing looked like one of those Atlas tanks in those old war movies, but with legs! Running directly at it is the last thing any normal person would do."
"Okay, I-" Ruby glared at him. "You're teasing me again, aren't you."
"Yep." Allen didn't look apologetic. "Now you're getting it."
"I hate you."
"You're smiling." Allen pointed out.
"I know." Ruby giggled and then let out a long sigh. "I really have been putting a lot of stress on myself. On the first day of all things."
"Yep. Honestly, though, you should probably talk about some of these problems with your team. Don't let them fester and stress you out to the point where it pops up when the four of you are out... I wanna say 'in the field' but I feel like that sounds too militaristic?"
"Yeah, it kinda does." Ruby nodded. "How about 'Out on a hunt'? I mean, we're Huntsmen and Huntresses after all."
"That sounds better. Seriously, you can lean on them too. Only a foolish leader tries to shoulder everything and not seek advice from their subordinates or even fellow leaders. I know for a fact your team isn't the only one in those dorms. If you can't take a problem to them, there's no shame in outsourcing."
"Huh..." Ruby's eyes widened. "You're right."
"Why do you seem surprised?" Allen raised a brow. "Don't tell me you think the problems of a leader only apply to Huntsmen. Store managers deal with stuff like this. Sports teams as well. Leadership is a job in many fields."
"Yeah, but most of those aren't situations that could lead to life-threatening consequences."
"And you think this school is going to toss you into life-threatening situations unprepared?"
Ruby gave Allen a flat look. It took Allen a second to register what he just said.
"Okay, yesterday doesn't count. Plus, they had teachers preparing to intervene!"
"I was nearly impaled by a Deathstalker!"
"...Okay, fair." Allen crushed the empty can of soda and tossed it into a nearby trashcan. The fact that he did it without facing the same direction somewhat impressed Ruby.
"Nice shot."
"Thank you. Anyway, just remember you have four years here. That's four years to do right by your teammates, four years to develop as a leader, and four years to hone your skills. Don't worry about today and just think of any mistakes you've made and how you'll improve upon them. Make a plan to better yourself. Does that make sense?"
"Sorta." Ruby leaned back onto the bench. "You know, you're kinda like the teenage version of the Headmaster, Allen."
"Really?" Allen jokingly patted his sides, face, and neck. "I certainly don't have a cane, a mug, those weird sunglasses, or that cowl around my neck."
"Not like that!" Ruby laughed. "I mean, you both kinda gave me some similar advice. Although both still felt complicated, yours felt more for someone my age. Don't suppose you and the headmaster are related?"
"Ha!" Allen laughed out loud. "If we were, I wouldn't need to maintain my grades like crazy throughout the year just to keep my scholarship! Don't even get me started on how much my eating would cost me if the school wasn't paying."
"Yeah, I heard you eat a lot."
"That's an understatement," Allen mumbled. "Anyways, we got 17 minutes to get to 'Dust Science'."
"Oh my gosh! I forgot about the next class!" Ruby shouted. "I don't even know where it is! I was gonna ask another student-"
"That building," Allen pointed to the one right across from them. "Room 103. It's a two-minute walk from here."
"...You knew that ahead of time, didn't you?" Despite phrasing it as a question, Ruby knew the answer already.
"Yep." Allen grinned. "You know, if you get to the class early, you'd probably impress your partner."
"You think so?"
"Oh yeah. People like her are those who respect those who arrive early to appointments, meetings, and get-togethers. You know, the uptight kind?"
"Right." Ruby nodded, got up, and brushed her skirt before making her way. "Thanks for the talk, Allen!"
"No problem! I'll see you in a bit, too!" He shouted with a wave and a smile. Leaning against the wall, he sighed. "You can come out now."
Weiss Schnee stomped out from around the corner of the store on Allen's left. "Okay, first, how long did you know I was there? Second, I am not uptight!"
"First, to answer your question, I knew you were there when Ruby began to talk about her problems," Allen answered. "Second, yes, you are."
Weiss took a deep breath to calm herself, walked around Allen, and sat on the same bench Ruby sat on with a pout of her own. She took a glance at the box of cookies beside her.
"That dolt." She grabbed it and held it on her lap. "She bought it and didn't even have one."
"Honestly, I don't think she was even aware of her surroundings that much while we talked." Allen pointed out. "Then again, I don't think anybody pays attention to anything with all that stress on their shoulders."
"She's too young for that."
"The stress or being a leader?" Allen asked with a brow raised. When Weiss didn't answer, Allen sighed. "Seriously? Is that why you're giving her so much trouble? It's literally the first day!"
"I know." Weiss let out a sigh of her own. "I... voiced my opinions on the matter of leadership to a teacher already."
"Got shot down, huh?"
"How did you-"
"It was obvious. You were irritated since you sat down, and I doubted it was from me calling you uptight." Allen crossed his arms. "So, do you need me for anything or-?"
"Can you teach me how to be a better person?" Weiss interrupted.
"...What?"
"Can you... teach me... how to be a better person." She repeated with some frustration.
"...No."
"What?!" Weiss made to stand and shout at him, but Allen already had a hand on her shoulder. Not roughly or anything like that. It was more of a soft touch as if to politely help her sit down.
"Relax. I don't mean it in any rude way or anything." Allen explained. "I can't teach you how to be a better person because I don't know WHAT you want to be as a better person. I can only assume you mean in social terms outside of the rich social circles."
"That's right," Weiss confirmed.
"Okay, that makes things easier. So, Weiss... can I call you that?" Allen looked at her and waited until after she nodded before continuing. "Good. So, what you have to understand is that I can only give you advice, not lessons. If I taught you how to act, it wouldn't come off as sincere in the same way. You'd be lying to others AND yourself."
"So, what advice CAN you give me then?"
Allen placed a single index finger over his lip thoughtfully. "Try to... see things from other people's perspective more, everyone has lived different lives. Don't jump to conclusions, you're not dealing with rich CEOs or nobles or politicians or whoever you usually deal with trying to take advantage of you."
"Okay... anything else?" Weiss asked.
Allen sighed. "I really don't know what else you want from me. Why are you even asking me for this advice?"
"Because you've barely known both team RWBY and JNPR for a day, and yet you've managed to befriend seven out of eight of us!"
Allen blinked once. Then twice. And then laughed. "Ha! Oh man, that's hilarious!"
"I don't see what's amusing."
"I-it's that you're so socially stunted!" Allen explained. "Weiss, I haven't befriended any of you, save for Ren and Nora. And maybe Ruby, but I still barely know anything about her outside of the problems we talked about. I've simply introduced myself as a nice person people can go to is all."
"What? But everyone is so friendly with you!"
"True but think about this. How much do all of you, except Ren and Nora, know about me?"
Weiss opened her mouth and then closed it when she couldn't think of anything.
"See?" Allen pointed out. "Knowing someone is one of the biggest requirements in a friendship. At best, I'm mostly a friendly face to all of you or a good Samaritan. That's it. Now, if anybody wanted to get to know me so we could be friends, I wouldn't say no to that. In fact, I know another student that's probably doing the same thing to me right now."
Allen took a glance at Weiss' blank expression. "I see I've shocked you. Okay, I'll just leave you with this. Everybody goes through different ways of being a better person. The easiest way is to find out what troubles you have when connecting with people and see if you can't get around it. Also, don't feel bad about not being able to connect with someone as much as you want to. Just be happy with what you've managed. Baby steps."
Weiss kept her eyes on the box of cookies on her lap. "You've... given me a lot to think about."
"I'm sure I did, but I think it has to do with how little experience you have with all this," Allen explained. "Normal social interactions, I mean."
"It is an... adjustment."
"I'm sure it is. And you probably have a lot to adjust to as well." Allen stepped away from the wall he was leaning on and stretched. "What do you say we head to the next class? I'm pretty sure your team is already there, and Ruby is probably expecting you to be impressed."
"And I will be."
"Genuinely or acting?"
"Yes."
Allen chuckled. "Whatever you prefer, heiress."
"I'd prefer you continue calling me by my name," Weiss said as she got up, the box of chocolates in her hand as she followed Allen to class.
"I'll think about it when you apologize for how you acted when we first met."
"It takes a lot to make a Schnee apologize," Weiss tilted her head up. "But I guess I was in the wrong at the time. I apologize if my actions when we met made you uncomfortable or offended you."
"You are forgiven, Weiss," Allen replied with a smile.
"Could I trouble you for a favor, Allen?"
"That depends on a lot of things, mainly the favor itself. Name it."
"Can I... get a moment of your time once in a while to talk?" Weiss explained. "I feel like there's going to be moments where my team and I will have troubles, and probably a few will be from how I phrase my opinion. It would help if I... had a friend outside my team to turn to."
"...Just give a knock on my door or give me a call and I'll try and oblige," Allen answered after some thought.
Weiss wore a small smile on their way to class after that.
Omake: Possible Future
"Well, this is it. This is the Ark." Allen's hand motioned over the entire white concrete city. Meanwhile, team RWBY and JNPR just stood behind him, shocked.
"Y-you own a city!?" Weiss screamed out.
"Not exactly a city." Allen corrected. "It's more of a central hub in a way? When I make a portal, it becomes connected to one of the doors here. I mean, I can make rooms to connect to the doors as well, so I guess it can be used as a city too."
"W-where even are we?" Blake voiced creeped out.
"A pocket dimension," Allen explained. "I mean, we're not COMPLETELY separated from the world. Do you remember that giant, glowing white cube in the sky? That's where the Ark is inside of."
Allen received multiple nods. Well, only from the ones that weren't still reeling from the shock.
"Yeah, that's the Ark." Allen pointed out with a smile. "Yeah... the funny thing is, it's even bigger on the inside. There's a library, multiple private rooms, several large kitchens..."
"Wait!" Weiss interrupted. "You said a library."
"Yes?"
"What kind of books."
"A mix of fiction and non-fiction. It rivals the collection of the Bookmen, granted they updated their collection daily with knowledge of folklore, myths, and information even the Noah didn't have. Even lost magic."
"What about science?" Weiss asked.
"Oh." Allen blinked. "From what I understand, the first generation of Noah kept extensive knowledge of their previous world and my world."
"So, does that include technology? Say, even alternative energy sources."
Allen's eyes widened, and that was all the answer they needed. Dust was becoming scarcer as a fuel and not much was done to research alternative sources. By the time the Kingdoms would put more effort into finding alternative sources, they'd be dealing with a depression in their economy for at least a decade or two.
But if what they're guessing was correct, then that means Allen owned the key to jumpstarting the entirety of Remnant moving away from Dust. Not to mention a hub of portals that'd cut most of the dangers of travel and transport down to practically non-existent, making mass expansions possible.
"I hate you." Weiss groaned as she massaged her head. "I hate you so much."
"What did I do!?" Allen yelled.
"You have, under your control, the ability to change our very world with knowledge from two different worlds."
"I mean, my world wasn't as advanced. We still used trains and horses to get around. And oil lamps occasionally."
"You had holograms, robots, artificial life forms, and all without Dust." Weiss pointed out. "All of which came from research into that Innocence material your left arm is made out of. It wouldn't surprise me if you somehow ended up the most powerful man on Remnant with the travel ability from this Ark alone. Add knowledge that could advance Remnant by centuries, and you'd practically be worshipped."
"...I guess now would be a bad time to mention that the Ark has a vault."
...
It was honestly impressive how quiet things became.
"Uh, Allen?" Jaune unsurely raised his hand. "When you mean a vault, do you mean like the kind filled with treasure?"
"..."
Allen dared to look ashamed. Meanwhile, both teams RWBY and JNPR were catatonic and had dropped to their knees as they stared at what could only be described as the largest collection of expensive minerals, jewels, and art.
Some were even behind displays.
"Is that a coffin?!" Yang screamed out and pointed to one of the said displays.
Allen walked over to it and read the plaque. "Ah, yep. Specifically, it's a solid gold sarcophagus belonging to one King Tutankhamun from Noah's original world."
"Solid... gold...?" Ruby mumbled. That was the most she managed to say since they all arrived in the Ark.
"Yep." Allen nodded. "...Anybody wanna mess around with the jewelry of royalty?"
It didn't even take five minutes before everyone was wearing robes of expensive materials, crowns from ancient civilizations, and swinging weapons that belonged in museums.
"The priceless collection of two worlds, and we're wearing some of it like costumes..." Weiss groaned out.
"Says the one wearing the golden tiara." Allen pointed out. Weiss had put on a golden tiara with silver and diamonds that decorated it with snowflake patterns. It fit her. Along with the white fur coat hanging off her shoulders, and the silver jewel-encrusted bracelets hanging off her wrists.
"Shush, you owe me for driving me mad earlier." Weiss defended and then walked away from him, jewelry clicking together.
Author's Note
Okay, a few things for this author's note.
First, I've begun a search for a beta reader! Mostly to help with quality and the constant self-doubts and depreciation I put on myself since I had to rewrite this one chapter 9 times and came close to just discontinuing this! Yep. I 'want' to continue this, but those kinda thoughts were driving me up the wall and increasing the worries about the quality for the chapters. Actually, if I recall, I was looking for a beta-reader before but I had NO clue how to even find someone willing to do it. Especially since I don't even get paid for this.
Second, I'm gonna do a tally for this, but comment which you prefer. Chapters that are half the length but more likely to update, or chapters more or less the same in length to the ones I've been updating with but chances are the updates will be random. If I'm lucky, I'll maybe update more often with this same chapter length after being able to get help with quality more often instead of, again, deleting four thousand word documents and starting from scratch over and over.
Third, tell me if this interest you, but I'm thinking about making a small disc server for the fic. Just to talk about the chapter, give progress on the next one, or even take recommendation. Maybe even sneak peaks. Honestly, it's more just for me to boost my motivation for this but still.
Anyways, that's all I had. See you next time around!