Welcome To Beacon... Titan
AN: Whelp... here it is. The second chapter.
Outside of Beacon, a fleet of Atlesian ships was landing on the school's air pads.
"Ironwood certainly likes bringing his work along wherever he travels," Glynda commented in annoyance, looking out the window in Ozpin's office.
"Running a military and a combat school makes him a very busy man," Ozpin commented. "But yes, those ships are a bit of an eyesore," the headmaster felt the need to add.
"...So why am I here again," asked a curious Adenine in a thinking pose, "I would much rather spend my time working on the mysteries of Remnant with Barty."
Glynda couldn't help rolling her eyes. Honestly, the Goodwitch wasn't sure if Adenine was more interested in the activities she mentioned, or doing them with Oobleck.
"James sent me a message that concerns something from Alrest," Ozpin said earning both Glynda's and Adenine's attention.
"What did it concern about," Adenine asked, more curious than anything else.
"...An Atlesian patrol spotted an unknown creature attacking a flock of Giant Nevermores with what James described as "extreme prejudice"," Ozpin explained, already wondering what kind of creature it was this time. First an arachno in Forever Fall, now this. If the arachno didn't prove itself such a threat, Ozpin would be almost extatic about creatures of Grimm being hunted down.
"What kind of creature," Adenine asked with interested look, while Glynda looked worried. Seriously, the deputy headmaster had started wondering what kind of world Alrest is, for it to house a monster like the arachno. Worse yet, if Dragunov hadn't burned the body, there would be dozens of them out there by now.
Before Ozpin could answer, the elevator that led to his office opened, revealing Ironwood. "Oz, it's been too long," the general greeted friendly.
"Ahh, perfect timing general," Ozpin replied with a smile.
"Please cut the formalities, "Ironwood said as his eyes fell on Glynda, "Hello Glynda."
"Oh, James," Glynda said sarcastically before glancing at Ozpin, "I'll be outside." With that, Glynda left. She would ask the information from Ozping later, but right now she wasn't in the mood for Ironwood.
"She hasn't changed a bit," Ironwood said in good nature, before his eyes fell on Adenine," And you must be Adenine."
"That's my name," Adenine said, not even surprised that Ironwood knew about her,"Now, Ozpin said you spotted an unknown creature attacking the Grimm. Could you go into more detail?" You would have to be blind not to see the light of eagerness Adenine had in her eyes.
The general was surprised at the request, before directing a hard look at Ozpin, "Ozpin, why did you reveal classified information?"
"Because among the Blades here at Beacon, Adenine is the only one with any information about Alrest beyond the basics that the others have," Ozpin replied with a neutral expression, "Therefore, it is in our best interest to see if she knows something."
Ironwood looked between an eager Adenine, who seemed a little oblivious to the tension, and Ozpin who wanted to get to the bottom of this. "Very well," Ironwood conceded to the point with a sigh, before fishing out his personal scroll and went to Ozpin's desk to place it on the surface. Shortly after that, a short and unclear footage of a flock of Giant Nevermores fighting against a large flying enemy appeared on a holographic screen. It seemed to be in the middle of a blizzard, so it was hard to tell what the creature opposing the Grimm was, but it looked like some kind of bird. Though it was somewhat bigger than the flying Grimm. And it looked like it had a long tail.
"Several days ago, we tested a scout drone outside Atlas borders," Ironwood started explaining with Adenine and Ozpin listening with rapt interest, "Our drone was supposed to return to the base after a short flight in harsh conditions, but the testers captured this moment." During Ironwood's explanation, the unknown creature was bombarded, by the Nevermore's feathers, but it didn't seem to have any visible effect on the creature. Then the creature chose to fly towards the offending Grimm to clamp it's mouth around it's head, killing one attacker in an instant. Two more Nevermores tried to attack it from behind, but their mysterious opponent swiped them with it's long spiked tail, crushing it's would be attackers. But then the concerning thing happened, the creature shot homing energy blasts from it's wings and head, destroying any of the remaining Grimm.
"...Where is the creature now," Ozpin asked, worrying about a monster with that kind of firepower flying around.
"...It flew past Atlas," Ironwood admitted earning a shocked look from Beacon's headmaster.
"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner!? And what did it do in Atlas," Ozpin now all but demanded.
"It passed near Atlas, never actually trying to enter the city itself," Ironwood said, putting his hands up in defense. "It changed direction halfway through it's path, far enough to be out of any citizen's sight," the general finished. "Besides... Even when some of my fighters flew near it... the creature didn't seem to care," Ironwood explained with a sigh, "Which leads me to what the pilots saw when they scanned the creature. Unknown energy, stone, and soil. It was basically a flying landmass."
"...Sounds like a titan," Adenine piped up, earning the two man's attention, "A small one though."
"A titan," Ironwood asked in concern.
"A small one," Ozpin added in with a raised eyebrow.
"Titans are the only patches of land in Alrest with their own ecosystems on their bodies," Adenine started explaining, "Although the one in general Ironwood's footage is too small to carry an ecosystem beyond patches of grass."
"Wait a second! Are you telling me, that there is life on that thing," Ironwood asked, clearly not believing it.
Adenine frowned a little at the tone she was given, "I already told you, if that creature is a titan, it's too small to carry an ecosystem yet. Maybe in another thousand years it can possibly support animals or even people on it's body."
Ozpin frowned at this information, "You say that as if titans can grow bigger than what we just saw... How big exactly?"
"Enough to house a kingdom," Adenine said with a shrug, which made the two men have worrying thoughts. That would essentially mean that these things could be moving continents at largest.
"...Is that titan a danger to the kingdoms," Ironwood asked, clearly alarmed about there being what was essentially a moving island flying around Remnant. That could also shoot lasers.
"No... titans in general are peaceful creatures, so they don't attack unless they feel threatened," Adenine replied, before looking thoughtful,"Then again... it did attack those Grimm with extreme prejudice... But if the creatures of Grimm are truly enemies of life as the information I've accumulated makes them out to be... Then it would make sense that a titan, a being that brings life, would perceive them as a threat that needs to be eliminated." Halfway through the speech, it sounded like Adenine was talking to herself.
Regardless, it seemed to ease Ozpin a little. Because if what Adenine said was true, it sounded like a titan would consider the Grimm it's mortal enemies, but not the humans.
"What about human settlements," Ironwood asked in concern, "Will it attack them?"
Adenine looked at Ironwood like he asked something very stupid, "...Would a huntsman or huntress eat their own babies?" Judging by the look of horror Ironwood had and a bewildered one from Ozpin, the answer was no. "There you have it," Adenine said like she didn't just ask one of the most insane questions ever.
It would probably take a moment for Ironwood to gather his thoughts after being asked something that disturbing, despite being battle hardened.
"...Right," Though it looked like Ozpin got the point. "Is there anything else we should know about titans," Ozpin asked, slightly less concerned about the titan that was who knows where by now.
"Hmmm... Nothing of note... Except... with a titan here, it could spread ether into the atmosphere by simply existing," Adenine said, "If that is the case, then in time, us Blades wouldn't have to rely on dust."
Now that information was interesting for Ironwood, because to his understanding, without this "ether" Blades are basically limited in the use of their power. Part of him was worried about what Blades were capable of if they could use their abilities freely, but that kind of potential also sounded good if it was on their side.
As Ironwood and Ozpin kept asking more questions from Adenine, team RWBY was at the library playing a board game. With their Blades acting as their generals.
"If we want to go for maximum damage then I think these cards together would be good," Roze told Ruby as he pointed at the cards in question.
"...Aaalright," Ruby mumbled as she considered her other options. Until... "Yang Xiao Long prepare your kingdom for battle!"
"Bring it on," Yang replied with a fist pump.
"I deploy, THE ATLESIAN AIR FLEET!" With that, Ruby played the card in question, earning a dramatic gasp from Yang. "Looks like I get to fly right over your Ursai and attack your wall directly," Ruby said evilly, making airplane sounds to go with her speech.
"You fiend!" Yang pointed at Ruby accusingly.
"You will pay for this little ones, mark my words," Dragunov growled playfully.
Unheeding of Dragunov's threats, Roze smirked, "As if, you oversized paperweight! The Roseus Kingdom will taste victory."
"Yeaaahhh!" Ruby cheered enthusiastically. "And since Atlas is part of the Mantle, my repair time only lasts... one turn," the red reaper and soon to be conqueror said with an evil grin.
Which was soon wiped off when Yang lifted a single card with a snicker, "Pretty sneaky sis, but you just activated my trap card!"
"WHAT!?" Ruby and Roze cried out in unison.
"GIANT NEVERMORE!" Yang and Dragunov bellowed in unison. Yang even slammed her fist on the table, knocking some of the pieces off.
"If we roll seven or higher, Fatal Feathers will slice your army in two," Dragunov said, doing a chopping motion with his hand for emphasis.
"Buut, " Ruby butted in, "...if you roll six or lower, the Nevermore will turn on your own forces."
"Well, that's just a risk I'm willing to take," Yang said with narrowed eyes.
As the heated war was raging, we see team JNPR along with their Blades doing various things. Ren and Otohime were reading books. Nora was asleep, mumbling something about pancakes, while Electra was surprisingly reading whatever Otohime was reading while sitting on the water Blade's lap. "Surprisingly", because Electra has yet to zap the woman by accident. Anyway, Jaune was reading a comic book with Joana standing behind him vigilantly. And then, Pyrrha snatched the comic book away and replaced it with a textbook. And then the Mistral Champion started reading the comic herself, while Jaune looked a little miffed. Talos was simply sitting on the floor, having found something to read himself.
During JNPR's activities, Yang and Dragunov had just finished crushing the Roseus Kingdom's army. Dragunov gave the rose duo a savage grin, "And with that, the Golden Empress of the Sun Dragon Imperium crushes another puny assault against our borders." Those words were emphasized by clenching one hand into a fist as if crushing something.
"That's right, my loyal general," Yang said, giving her "general" a fist bump.
All the while Ruby slumped down with tears in her eyes, with Roze wrapping his arms around her in a comforting gesture. "Don't worry my Queen, we shall grow back stronger and let them taste our beautiful thorns," Ruby's loyal "general" said while rocking his "Queen" lightly.
"After all your losses, you still fight on feebly," Yang asked, haughtily, "Admirable, but futile." And then Yang dropped her "Golden Empress" persona for the moment, "Okay, Weiss. It's your turn."
"...I have... absolutely no idea what's going on," the heiress admitted while looking at her cards blankly, while Dahlia was reading the instruction manual.
"Weiss, we're playing as Vacuo. Which means all Vacuo based cards come with a bonus for us," Dahlia explained to the best of her ability. Unlike the ice Bunny, Roze and Dragunov took to this game nearly instantly. While Nox seemed to be eyeing each and every one of them, no doubt cooking up a nefarious plan to bring the Nightshade Dynasty to victory.
"That sounds dumb," Weiss said, not understanding what her loyal "general" was trying to say.
Which earned a sigh from the said general, "It's like having a homefield advantage."
"Oh... right," Weiss said, still unsure.
"Now, if I understand right," Dahlia said as she moved closer to Weiss' hand,"If we use this, we can take Ruby's and Roze's discarded air fleet to our hand." That information made Ruby whine as her "general" sent a glare at the Schnee and her general.
"Okayyy," Weiss said unsurely.
"Then, since Vacuan warriors have a resistance against natural hazards, we could use the sandstorm to disable Yang's ground forces and at the same time, infiltrate her kingdom," Dahlia explained while glancing at the Golden Empress and her mighty general.
The two had a miffed look. "You can try," Dragunov said with a mild glare.
Which was shared by Yang, "But just know... that we won't forget this declaration of war."
"And that means...," Weiss drawled cluelessly.
The answer came from the still heartbroken "Rose Queen", "You're just three moves away from conquering Remnant."
With that realization, the "Dread Queen" stood up, "MWAHHAHHAAA! Yes! Feel the almighty power of my forces! Cower as they pillage your homes! And weep as they take your children from your very arms!" That little monologue is why Nox suggested Weiss to be called the Dread Queen.
Only... "Trap card." Two voices said in unison.
"WHAT!?" Weiss had barely let out her cry as Yang rearranged the board.
"Your armies have been destroyed," the Golden Empress said all too cheerfully.
"And now the Dread Queen and her general are ours to do with as we please," Dragunov said evilly. Unfortunately, that earned a very scared look from Weiss, who latched herself on Dahlia, while everyone else glared at him. "...What?"
"It's the way you said it." Nox showed on his scroll with a shake of his head.
"I hate this game of emotions we play," Weiss said with tears in her eyes as she hugged Dahlia for comfort.
And then Ruby joined Weiss on Dahlia's lap. "Be strong Weiss, we'll get through this together," the fallen Rose Queen told the now not-so-dreaded Dread Queen, while hugging her.
"Shut up! Don't touch me," Weiss said as she hugged back, with Dahlia hugging both of them comfortingly. Poor Roze felt abandoned as his white eyes looked more empty than ever.
"Okay, Blake, you're up," Yang said, having had enough fun with this drama.
"Huh?" Blake snapped out of her thoughts, before glancing at her cards, "Sorry, what am I doing?"
"My lady, we play as Vale, trying to conquer the kingdoms of Remnant." Nox showed on his scroll.
"...Right," Blake said, although she was clearly not focusing on what they were doing.
During this, Jaune had gotten off team JNPR's table, and moved towards the board game players. "Hey. Can I play," Jaune asked.
"Sorry, Jaune. We already got four people," Ruby said, already having moved back into her seat from Dahlia's lap.
Weiss having done the same thing. "Besides, this game requires a certain amount of tactical cunning that I seriously doubt you posess," the Schnee girl said haughtily.
Which earned a smirk from Dragunov, "Says the girlie who attacked her own naval fleet couple turns ago."
Weiss looked sufficiently put out by that remark. The worst part is, Dahlia tried to stop it, but Weiss didn't listen.
"Bring it on, ice queen," Jaune said confidently, "I'll have you know that people tell me that I'm a natural born leader."
"By whom? Your mother," Weiss asked sarcastically.
"...And Pyrrha," Jaune said while pointing at the said girl, which earned a "Hello again." out of her.
"Please do not forget me, milord," Joana said, having moved next to Jaune.
"Right, sorry," Jaune said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, before turning back to Weiss. "Come on. Let me play your hand for just one turn," the blonde boy practically begged Weiss.
"Milord, it is unbecoming of you to plead anything from this lowlife," Joana said as she gave a glare at Weiss who was fuming at the comment. As far as Joana was concerned, Weiss being the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company made her a merchant and therefore, a money grubbing lowlife.
"Weiss... ignoring Joana's comment," Dahlia said in an attempt to pacify her Driver, "Jaune does show some tactical cunning that I unfortunately lack." Dahlia says that, but she had grasped this game much better than Weiss did. Though that skill still pales in comparison to the male Blades and their Drivers.
"...I'm not trusting him with the good citizens of Vacuo," Weiss said, though it sounded like she did that out of spite for Joana.
"Me thinks milord is much more trustworthy for managing an army than a lowly merchant who can't tell the difference between a straight sword and a scimitar," Joana said, succeeding in sounding a lot less spiteful than she probably felt.
"Why you...," Weiss was getting furious at Joana who considers Weiss a lowlife. Then again, the mecha-knightess also considers Dragunov a foul creature alongside Yang. Blake she considers shady and untrustworthy, that's not even counting Joana's delusions about Nox planning to assassinate Jaune just because. As for Ruby... she, along with Roze, are the only ones who have been spared Joana's razor-sharp tongue.
"Joana, please," Jaune hissed at his Blade, "You're making me look bad."
The knightess Blade stared at Jaune with an uncomputing look, "...I do not understand, milord. This cretin has no right to insult you. After all, you have been entrusted with more important thigns, such as the fact that Blake is a f-""Fun loving person," Pyrrha cut in, covering Joana's mouth, "Who we all love and respect."
At that intervention, everyone turned towards Blake who was probably regretting her decision to reveal her heritage to team JNPR. Because sadly, their Blades had to know too. Not that any of the said Blades had a problem with it. Nox too had his pupil in the cross-glare, as everyone has come to call his eye turning into a cross when he's angry.
"Uhh... right," Jaune said, deciding to back off, "Ladies, enjoy your battle." With that, Jaune gave a courteous bow.
"Sup losers," said Sun who had just arrived.
"Hey, Sun," Ruby greeted the monkey faunus.
"Ruby, Yang, Blake..., Ice Queen," Sun said, introducing the girls to Neptune.
Though Weiss didn't like the last one,"Why does everyone keep calling me that!?"
"Aaand... dudes I've never met," Sun said nervously at the stares he was getting from the Blades of team RWBY.
"The name's Dragunov, monkey tail," Dragunov said in annoyance, already disliking theses pathetic-excuse-for-boys.
"My name is Roze, not dude," Roze introduced himself not liking being called that.
"Call me Nox, or I will clip your tail." Nox showed on his scroll with a cross-glare
"I am Dahlia. Nice to meet you," Dahlia said, being the only nice one.
"Riight," Sun drawled awkwardly, "Anyway I didn't get a chance to introduce you girls to my old friend."
The said friend looked at the situation in question, "Uhh... aren't libraries for reading?"
"THANK YOU!" Ren and Otohime shouted in unison.
"PANCAKES!" Which woke up Nora.
*ZAP* "OW! ELECTRA!" And made a startled Electra finally zap Otohime by accident.
"SORRY!" The child-like Blade quickly jumped off of the water Blade's lap.
Deciding to ignore that bit of chaos, Sun focused on Neptune, "Shut up. Don't be a nerd."
"Kehkehkehkehkehh! Intellectual. Okay, thank you," Neptune defended himself before turning to everyone else," I'm Neptune." The Blades nodded in acknowledgement
"So Neptune," Weiss piped up, "Where are you from?"
"Haven," Neptune replied as he moved towards Weiss. "Aaand I don't think I caught your name, Snow Angel," the blue haired boy then flirted with Weiss.
Which seemed to have worked. "Oh, I'm Weiss," Weiss introduced herself in mild fluster.
"Are you kidding me," Jaune complained in the background. He had tried that nickname in the past with poor results. Though the situation made Joana smile for some reason.
"Pleasure to meet you," Neptune said with a smile, though he had extremely hard time not to stare at Dahlia for obvious reasons.
Speaking of which, the quite literally snow white Blade looked at the exchange with a smile.
During this, Sun had moved next to Blake... Except he was blocked by Nox. "Hey, man. Could you move aside," Sun asked, still nervous.
"No. Because then you would get too close to my lady, ape." Nox showed on his scroll to Sun.
Which made the guy frown, "What? You got a problem with faunus?"
"My, you're dumber than you look." Nox's scroll message was accompanied by the ninja bringing his clawed fingers in front of Sun's face.
"What's your problem, buddy," Sun then demanded with a heated glare.
"First: Do. Not. EVER! Call me. Buddy. Second: My problem is yellow, has a monkey tail and is very annoying." Nox showed on his scroll with annoyance in his eye.
"NOX!" And then he was slapped in the arm by Blake. "Stop bullying Sun," Blake said with a heated glare.
"I'm sorry, my lady." Nox showed on his scroll, bowing his head as he did. "But this person screams 'unreliable'." the ninja rolled more of his scroll.
Blake sighed... not wanting to deal with this right now,"Whatever. I think I'm done playing actually." With those words, Blake dropped her cards and walked away.
With everyone staring at her retreating form for a moment.
"Women," Nora commented, earning all the stares. Though the moment everyone turned back to Nox, he had disappeared... again.
In team RWBY dorm. Blake was resting on her bed. Thinking about why White Fang was working with a human like Roman Torchwick. Or with a human at all. More importantly, why did the White Fang need so much Dust to go through with so many robberies.
"Something on your mind, my lady?" Nox showed on his scroll, right in front of Blake's face.
"It's nothing," Blake said, turning away from Nox.
But the dark Blade was persistent as he shoved the scroll into her face again. "My lady, I am the first to admit that I'm not the most compassionate or easiest to talk to. But please, if there is anything I can do, even if it's just to lend an ear... Please let me help."
This prompted Blake to turn towards her Blade, witnessing a sad look in his eye. "Alright... Do you remember how I told you I was once part of the White Fang," Blake asked Nox. Of course she had to tell him eventually about her past. And thankfully for Blake, the only thing Nox did was congratulate his Driver for not becoming one of them.
"I do. What about it?"
"...Some time before I resonated with you, I tracked the White Fang to Vale docks where they were robbing the dust. A human named Roman Torchwick was working with them," Blake explained, before pausing to get a reaction out of Nox.
"A human? The way you spoke of White Fang makes it sound like they would never do that."
"That's right... And yet... Torchwick said he was going in on a joint-business venture together with them," Blake then explained.
"Did you find out, what that 'joint-business' is?" Nox had a suspicious look as he showed that text.
"No... they got away," Blake said sadly, "Now... We did tell the authorities, but no one is doing anything about it!"
That made Nox frown. "No one is doing anything? Unless the authorities are rotten to the core, they should at least be keeping an eye out."
Before this conversation could go further, the door to the dorm opened. "Urgh! We should've never let him play," Yang said in annoyance. Which was shared by Dragunov who looked like he wanted to break something.
"You're just mad because the new guy beat you," Ruby said a little happy about her sister's reign of terror ending, "See if you had attacked when I told you none of this would've happened."
"Stop," Weiss called to Blake who was trying to leave with Nox. "Lately you've been anti-social and moody," the heiress said as Blake stood in front of the door.
"Uhh, have you met Blake," Yang asked sarcastically.
But the blonde was being ignored. "Which I get, is kind of your 'thing'." Weiss did air quotations to emphasize her words. "But you've been doing it more than usual. And quite frankly that's unacceptable."
"She's not wrong, Blake," Dahlia said, having seen the signs herself.
"You made a promise to me," Weiss said pointing at herself and the others, "To all of us, to tell us if there was anything wrong. So, Blake Belladonna! What is wrong!" With that, Weiss had jumped on top of a large ice pillar, courtesy of Dahlia, while pointing down at a surprised Blake.
After few seconds, Weiss got down from her improvised perch to wait for Blake's answer.
"...I just... I don't understand how everyone can be so calm," Blake explained.
"You still thinking about Torchwick," Ruby asked.
"Who's Torchwick," Roze asked his Driver.
But he was ignored for now as Blake went on, "Torchwick, White Fang, all of it. Something big is going on, and NO ONE IS DOING ANYTHING!"
That last shout worried everyone, especially Nox. Yang stepped forward, "Come on Blake, I'm sure Ozpin and the other huntsmen can handle it."
"Well I'm not!" Blake shouted, "They don't know the White Fang like I do."
With that, Weiss decided to address where this was going, "Okay... between blowing up night clubs, stopping thieves and fighting for freedom. I'm sure you all think that you can apprehend these never-do-wells."
"Uhhh... who," Ruby piped up.
"Baddies," Roze translated.
"Oh."
"But let me once again be the voice of reason, were students," Weiss kept talking, wanting her point across, "We're not ready for this kind of situation."
"And we may never BE ready," Blake argued, "Our enemies won't sit around waiting for the graduation day! Something big is happening! I don't know what it is, but it's coming!"
Nox decided to show his scroll for everyone to say his next piece. "It's true. Whatever our enemies are planning probably happens before any of you graduate. Besides... you're not just students anymore." At the last part, Nox was smiling through his eye.
"What's that supposed to mean," Yang asked, being a little confused.
"He means that you're Drivers now too," Dragunov said with his arms crossed, "And we are your Blades. Which means you have my talons on your side." That last one was directed to Yang.
"And my bitball," Dahlia added in, giving Weiss a warm smile.
"My scythe is ready," Roze said as he gave an enthusiastic look to Ruby.
"My weapons and power are yours to command, my lady." Nox showed on his scroll to Blake who smiled at her Blade gratefully.
"Okay," Ruby announced enthusiastically, "All in favor of being the youngest huntresses to take down anevilorganizationschemingagainstthekingdomofVale, say aye."
"Yes," Yang cheered, before turning to Blake, "I love it when you're feisty."
"Is that the only thing you love about her," Dragunov tried to joke, but was greeted by glares from Blake and Nox.
"I suppose it could be fun," Weiss shrugged, earning a disapproving look from Dahlia.
"I don't think this is supposed to be fun," the ice Bunny lightly scolded.
"None of you said aye," Ruby said, a little put out.
"Aye," Roze said, hoping to cheer up his Driver, which worked to an extent.
"Okay, were in this together," Blake said, smiling for the first time all day.
"Let's hatch a plan," Ruby said, earning a "Yeah!" from Yang and Dragunov. But then the red clad girl gasped in horror, "I forgot my board game in the library!"
"We're doomed," Weiss complained as she held her face.
With that, Ruby dashed out of the room, "I'll be right back!" And then she bumped into someone. "Sorry," Ruby quickly apologized.
"Don't worry, just watch where you're going," said the green haired dark skinned girl Ruby bumped into. Emerald was kind enough to offer a helping hand for Ruby.
Then Roze followed Ruby outside. "Ruby, are you okay," the rose reaper asked, earning confused looks from the three people Ruby bumped into.
"Is he your brother," a gray haired boy asked Ruby, noting the similarities between the two.
"Oh no," Ruby quickly said, waving her hands frantically, "He's Roze, and I'm Ruby."
"Uhhuh," the gray haired boy said, giving a weirded out look at the blind looking person.
"Why are you staring at me," Roze asked the boy.
"No reason," the boy responded, looking away.
"Sooo... are you guys new," Ruby asked the two.
"Visiting from Haven actually," a third person said, coming from behind Emerald. This girl had black hair and was very beautiful.
The black haired girl noticed Roze staring at her, "Is there something you need?"
"...Why are you here, the exchange student dorms are east of here," Roze asked the three.
"Guess we got turned around," the gray haired boy shrugged.
"Roze, don't be rude," Ruby scolded, before turning to the three people, "Sorry about that. He's not very sociable."
"It's fine," the black haired girl waved it off, "Though I do wonder... he looks just a little old to be a student."
Roze didn't answer, staring at the girl without any visible indication that he was offended in any way. And Ruby wasn't sure what to say, for she didn't know if Blades are known in Mistral yet.
Emerald looked annoyed, "Look, I know she's pretty, but can you drop the staring? It's creepy." The sad thing is, the girl actually meant it. What with Roze's blank eyes that seem to want to devour your soul if you stare at them too long.
"...I will, once you start leaving to your dorms," Roze replied.
"Roze, don't embarrass me," Ruby hissed at her Blade.
"I suppose we should leave," the black haired girl said, before turning to her two "friends", "Emerald, Mercury, let's go."
"Oh, uhh... Welcome to Beacon," Ruby called after them.
"...Why do I feel so uneasy about them," Roze wondered as he watched the retreating guests from Haven. "Especially the black haired one... Though I do wonder what happened to her hand." Roze thought that, because the black haired girl's right hand was covered in bandages.
AN: You have no idea how much fun I had writing the board game scene. Making up new kingdom names, and the titles for their respective rulers.
And we see that Joana is a bit of a... problem child.
And most of the Blades have an instant dislike for one reason or another.