Author's Notes:
I do not own Library of Ruina or RWBY. These series belong to Project Moon and RoosterTeeth respectively.
Reviews:
Plico0 - It's alright, I don't think asking too many questions is a bad thing. As for the Light situation, I think that adding page attribution would complicate some fights and be tedious to remember. For how the Librarians would fight, they're going to change how the Library operates since trying to wash blood with blood isn't a great plan, so I have something else in mind for when they do fight against real enemies.
Guest - Yup. Dakota is here to wreck some shit. Thanks for trusting me on leading this story, I have no idea but if it works, it works.
It was two days after Roland and Gebura overheard Jaune's confession about his transcripts to Beacon. Since they didn't want to pry into anything unnecessary, they didn't tell anyone about it; survival in the City was often a matter of keeping one's head down and staying out of trouble.
The prospect of visiting the City of Vale had the Librarians buzzing with excitement. When they got there, it was nothing as they'd ever seen before. Instead of the cramped, gray-colored urban complexes they were accustomed to, they saw clean streets, colorful-looking buildings, and lush, green trees that lined the sidewalks. The air was filled with a sense of safety, as friendly locals went about their business, greeting the group with "Hello" or "Good morning". It was unlike anything in the City, most City Dwellers avoided talking to others as it could get them killed.
For the Librarians, the City of Vale was a revelation, a place that seemed to be at peace and harmony. Everywhere they looked, they saw evidence of a society that valued its people and the welfare of its citizens. It was a stark contrast to the world they knew, and it left them feeling freer than ever.
Malkuth and Yesod, the Feathers of a Nest present, found the City of Vale to be a more refreshing place. There was no hate or malice lurking around every corner, and for the first time, they felt a sense of normality that they never experienced before.
As for the other Librarians, their eyes were wide open in awe, as they had never been to a Nest before. They compared and cross-referenced the City with the Backstreets of the City, where Roland and Gebura had been raised; it goes without saying that Vale was infinitely better. Gebura, in particular, had a harsh upbringing in one of the most unforgiving Districts the City had to offer. In contrast, Tiphereth had grown up in the Outskirts, never setting foot in the City, so everything was new and exciting to her.
As he stood there, taking in the breathtaking view of the City of Vale, the black librarian couldn't help but remember the past. His mind wandered to what could have been, had fate dealt him a different hand. 'This is what it could've been like…' the black librarian reminisced. Had the City been less cruel, he could've been in a place like this, with the love of his life. But for now, he had accepted her death; revenge would be off the table as a way to mourn her.
During their time in the City of Vale, the group had the chance to explore many of its most famous landmarks like the Vale City Square, the Vale City Library, and the Port. The Librarians made a note to return to the Vale City Library when they got a chance. As they got closer to the commercial district of Vale, it was very much like the City's own commercial districts, there were Dust shops, clothing stores, bookstores, and cafes.
When they got to a restaurant recommended by Yang for a quick snack, the Librarians were shocked to taste food this good, it had been months since they had real food to eat and the City was no better; most of the food in the City was either human meat or shit that they mushed together, but Remnant's food was amazing. It was actual food, like real meat and real vegetables; the drinks were clean and pure too, unlike the dilute liquid that they called water in the City.
The group went to a Dust store to quench the purple librarian's curiosity, only to find out that most of them were out of business due to a certain individual. Disheartened, they boarded a bullhead back to Beacon to relax for the rest of the day. Overall, the Librarians had an unforgettable experience exploring the City of Vale, and it left them with a newfound appreciation for the wonders Remnant had to offer.
—DINING HALL, BEACON ACADEMY—
Currently, the Librarians were gathered to formally meet Team JNPR, the sister team of Team RWBY. As the Librarians and Team RWBY approached the table with lunch in their hands, the atmosphere was slightly tense as the leader of the sister team was nowhere to be found. The red-haired girl looked a little mad while the other two teammates held concern on their faces. Despite their leader's absence, the sister team hid away their emotions and greeted the group of Librarians. Since they didn't get to see a good view from the door last time, they took in the sister team's appearance as they introduced themselves.
The red-haired girl had a long ponytail that reached her waist and her emerald-green eyes contrasted nicely with her red hair. A brown circlet was worn underneath her hair that was adorned with a pair of small, tear-dropped-shaped emeralds hanging from thin chains. Her posture and confident demeanor spoke of a seasoned fighter, immediately catching the attention of the Librarians, who recognized her as a formidable fighter even before introductions were made.
"Hello there," she spoke, extending her hand in greeting. "My name is Pyrrha Nikos." She expected a flicker of recognition from her name considering her fame.
"Cool, the name's Roland," he said with a friendly grin as if he didn't seem to know who she was; he took her hand and shook it. Weiss, in the background, was getting a little vexed that Pyrrha wasn't getting the recognition she deserved, but knew that the Librarians didn't know who she was.
Pyrrha was surprised that he didn't seem to know who she was, but she brushed it off and continued the introductions. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Roland."
"None of that mister crap," he said. "I'm not that old."
"Swear!" The girl who spoke was ignored.
"Alright then," she spoke again. "Nice to meet you, Roland."
"OOH OOH, ME NEXT!" The exuberant girl sitting next to Pyrrha shouted. "I'm Nora Valkyrie, the Eater of All Pancakes and Lover of Explosions."
"Hello, my name's Malkuth." The bronze librarian put out a hand for a handshake, only for Nora to shake her entire body up and down. The only thing the librarian could think of was how strong the girl was.
"Yesod." He saw what happened to his co-worker and refrained from extending a hand.
"I'm Tiphereth."
"Nice to meet ya!" The short, ginger-haired girl was bouncing up and down in excitement at meeting new people. Her turquoise eyes glanced over each librarian as she took in everything she saw. Before the red librarian was able to speak, Nora particularly looked at her with strange eyes.
"Ooo," Nora spoke. "I can tell that you're strong. How many Ursai can you lift? How many pancakes did you eat to get this strong?" The red fixer could only take a step back as the girl got closer, the former person was getting a bit uncomfortable by how fast she was spewing out nonsense.
"I bet you'll love Ren's pancakes," she kept talking. "He makes the bes—" A hand covered her mouth.
"I'm sorry about her," a calm voice spoke. "She can get a little… unbearable sometimes." The hand was connected to a boy with black hair that had a magenta streak on the left side. Once she calmed down, he let go of her mouth.
"It's alright." Gebura had to compose herself again when the Nora girl was stopped. Back in the City, people just feared and respected the Red Mist enough to give her space, but now that she was in a different world, it felt great that no one knew her. "Just never had someone do that to me before."
"Okay then," the boy sounded convinced. "As my partner said, my name's Lie Ren."
"Gebura," she said as she noticed something about his name.
It sounded like the Liu Association members; now that she thought about it, Yang Xiao-Long also sounded like it. She thought back to the Liu Director of the Southern Branch and how she mourned the loss of a loved one by obtaining her own E.G.O. Xiao nearly burnt down the Library as the red fixer's floor transformed into a hellscape of brim and ash with flags flapping in the open battlefield sky.
Gebura turned to face the yellow member of Team RWBY and squinted her eyes. If Yang had black hair and red eyes, Gebura saw a slight resemblance between the blonde brawler and the Liu Director. Gebura's staring was caught by the blonde girl.
"What?"
"Sorry, I just realized you looked like someone I knew." Yang's eyes grew wider as her facial expression became serious. The Librarians' attention all went to the two talking.
"Who?" Yang demanded.
"A person from… back home," Gebura said. "Her name was Xiao, like yours."
"Huh," the blonde brawler calmed down. "Why?"
"Your faces are the same," she explained. "'Cept the eye and hair color. She had black hair and red eyes."
"Now that you mention it." Roland stared at Yang with narrowed eyes. "She kinda does."
The blonde huntress-in-training became silent, thinking about what she had heard from the Librarians. Trying to move past this topic, the red-haired member of Team JNPR brought up another topic.
"Uh, Roland." She got his attention. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here at Beacon? You all don't seem like students or teachers." Great thing they decided this before someone asked.
"Oh, Gebura and I are bodyguards for Malkuth, Yesod, and their little intern over here." He glanced over to Tiphereth who was peeved at his 'little' comment.
"We're here as guests in a study with Beacon Academy," Yesod added. "Headmaster Ozpin gave us permission to tour his academy in the meantime." They hid the truth as the Library was going to be a secret from the public as requested by the headmaster.
"OOH!" Nora spoke up. "I have a question!" The Librarians turned to face her as the girl looked between the two fixers. "If you're just hired bodyguards, does that mean you two are huntsmen?"
"Oh, uh…" Roland scratched the back of his head. He turned to look at his fellow fixer for help. She glared back at him, telling him that he was on his own. "Kinda. We're not huntsmen, but we're close enough." This got him confused looks from the three members of JNPR.
"Says the guy who knocked the wind out of me without Aura," Yang said. This got her a bunch of hands covering her mouth, the hands belonging to her team. Goddamnit Yang.
"You don't have Aura?" Ren asked. "But how did you beat Yang?" The blonde brawler was one of the top first-year students that were proficient in fighting with Pyrrha being at the top. If Roland was able to beat a huntress-in-training without Aura, it would be strange. The girl in question was trying to say something but he couldn't hear her.
"Let's just say that I have a particular set of skills," Roland replied with a smirk.
"So does that mean Ms. Gebura also doesn't have Aura?" Pyrrha questioned.
"Yeah," she responded before smirking. "If anything, I heard Roland here didn't beat Yang, he was the most injured one from their fight." Roland's smirk faltered as Gebura exposed the truth. She also told them to not call her miss anymore.
"Come on, I wanted to show off my cool side to the kids," Roland sighed.
Yang, who still wanted to say something, struggled out of her restraints and spoke. "I want to fight Gebura." Internally Yang was trying to find something to take her mind off of the red librarian's claims about this Xiao person. But the others were a mix of emotions. The team of girls looked shocked and the three members of JNPR looked a bit confused while the Librarians, except the red one, looked a bit concerned. Instead of declining, Gebura took up the blonde girl's challenge.
"Alright, I guess I can let some steam out," she said as she cracked her knuckles. "Those bears really didn't get me going. So where are we gonna do this?" In the background, a group of students was gathering when they heard Yang Xiao-Long challenge somebody.
Smirking, Yang excitedly stood up from her seat, leaving her empty tray of food on the table. "The combat arena in the training hall." She began to walk toward the exit of the dining hall with Gebura following her. Little by little, a bunch of other students started to tail behind them, wanting to see a bit of action from one of the top first-year students and a mysterious red woman.
The group of Librarians and two first-year teams all sighed at their co-worker/friends/teammates. Ruby and Nora were one of the first to leave the group to see the match with Ren and Malkuth behind them. The rest took their time to clean up after themselves and calmly walked to where the fight would be taking place at.
–TRAINING HALL, BEACON ACADEMY–
The room was the same one that Malkuth and Gebura had seen when they were exploring Beacon, but instead of a class watching the spar, it felt like half the student body was watching. The seats on the second floor were taken up by mainly first-year and second-year students, probably because the other years were too busy training or doing missions.
Roland looked toward the bleachers and saw familiar faces in the crowd. It was a specific rabbit faunus with the beret and sunglasses girl he saw a few days back. He saw the Team JNPR's leader with Cardin and his team for some reason but didn't question it. Over on the side, he saw the Headmaster of Beacon and some other professors next to him. While he was looking around, he was seated near the rest of Team RWBY, Team JNPR, and the Librarians.
"Who do you think will win?" Nora started a bet.
"Probably Yang," the girl's sister said. "She's one of the strongest people I know."
"If you recall, Gebura has more experience," Weiss whispered to Ruby so their sister team didn't hear them. "The Colored Fixers weren't just given their titles for free." Ruby understood and feared the worst for her sister.
"I don't know," Pyrrha spoke. "Without Aura, it could make the difference."
"If anything, I'm pretty sure Gebura won't break anything important," Malkuth cheerfully said. The rest of the Librarians just blankly stared at her. "What?"
Ignoring Malkuth, the group saw the two combatants enter the arena on opposite sides. Apparently, they roped Professor Goodwitch into becoming the fight's referee who was at first adamant about the fight but was persuaded by the headmaster to let the fight happen; he wanted to see how the Librarians 'defended' their books.
Yang with her weapon of choice, Ember Celica, a pair of yellow gauntlets, was fully extended from its bracelet form. It was a beautiful weapon, designed personally for the blonde brawler. With a click of the gauntlets, the shotgun shells of the weapon were ready to fire.
On the other side, the blondie's opponent was holding her weapon of choice, Mimicry. A weapon made by the mind of another, its fleshy and spiky appearance sent chills up the spines of the audience watching. A bunch of "What the fuck is that?", "Why is it staring at me?", and other questions of the sort were thrown around. Even Opzin and the other professors watching were visibly shaken by Mimicry's appearance. Gebura readied the fleshy greatsword with one hand as the large eye on the weapon was blinking rapidly.
"Geez, that thing is giving me the creeps," Yang said.
"Sorry, it does that sort of thing," her opponent replied with a chuckle. "Try not to look at it in the eye."
"If the fighters are ready, we shall begin." The blonde professor touched her extended scroll, revealing a countdown timer above the fighting stage. To prevent any questions, a fake Aura bar was placed under Gebura's portrait. Professor Goodwitch would manually decrease Gebura's bar when she received damage based on her judgment as a combat teacher.
"3…" Both fighters entered their own stances; Yang with her fists ready and Gebura putting a hand in her pocket much to the blonde brawler's confusion.
"2…" Both fighters let out a smirk as the countdown continued.
"1…" A buzzer rang out. "FIGHT"
The blonde brawler put her fists backward and fired her weapon's shotguns. The recoil from the blast sent her forward with speed. Mid-rush, she pulled back her right gauntlet's fist to punch her opponent out of the arena. Not backing down from a charge, the red fixer put some power into her legs and dashed forward, breaking the ground beneath her. A blur of yellow and red met in the middle, the ground shattering from their clash. Once the dust settled, the audience saw the side of the fleshy sword meeting the yellow gauntlet with sparks and flesh flying out.
"Ew, it even feels weird to punch it," Yang commented.
Yang decided to dish out multiple punches combined with her shotgun blasts to add more power to her punch. She unleashed a fury of punches and some mix-ups using her legs. However, her onslaught of attacks was all blocked by Gebura's sword and she was doing so with ease. Deciding that Yang's turn was over, Gebura raised her sword when the blonde brawler reeled back to cool off after her rush. With a red trail, the sword swung down in a disgusting sound effect, like a bunch of flesh was ripped.
Using her gauntlet shotguns, Yang jumped back, attempting to blast Gebura with it as she retreated. The shells were deflected immediately by Gebura. The shells, point-blank, were deflected. The audience including Yang was a bit impressed, the red fixer's reaction time was very high. Not missing a beat, Gebura charged again with the blade dragging behind her.
Since Gebura was adept at fighting close range and able to disregard bullets, Yang had very few options to fight the legendary fixer. She decided to fight head-to-head once again, but with a smarter approach. Once they met at a good distance for a strike, Gebura leveled a slash toward Yang, only for the blonde brawler to get low to the ground, sweeping the legs of the red woman and causing her to fall backward.
Losing balance, the red fixer flipped using her hands to boost herself. Once she regained her footing, Yang charged her opponent using a flurry of punches and flames from the Dust bullets. Get a few good hits on her, Yang smirked at the fact she was pushing back the red fixer.
"Heh, is this all you got?" Yang was getting a bit full of herself, continuing to keep the assault going.
"Not even close kid," Gebura responded with a grin forming on her face. "Let's see how you deal with this."
After she said that, Gebura focused herself, blocking a right hook, she quickly brought her blade up and crashed it into the ground. The arena was taking more and more damage, and cracks were forming around the stage itself. Feeling a bit stronger, the red fixer pulled her weapon back to launch multiple piercing attacks. The only thing the blonde brawler could do was try to block, however, she was too slow.
"Augh!" Quickly looking at her Aura gauge, Yang saw that her Aura dropped to 65 percent from 85 percent before Gebura's attack.
Continuing her turn, the red fixer slammed her weapon's blade into Yang's side, sending her flying. After Yang got up, both of them stopped their attack, studying how to go about the next clash. Sweat dripped from Yang's face, trying to see any points of weakness the red librarian may show. She decided to reload her weapon just in case, she pushed a button on the inside of both gauntlets and the shells ejected out from the sides. She whipped two belts of shotgun shells loaded with Fire Dust and cocked them back with some style. It was a little flashy, but that was Yang's motto.
Gebura, on the other hand, knew that Yang would most likely charge in again, so she readied herself for another charge by putting her fleshy weapon into the sky with one hand, the other, in her pocket; Mimicry pulsated as she tried putting more and more power into this next swing.
A bit confused by how open her stance was, Yang dashed forward again, shooting shells to distract her opponent as she got closer. Much to the blonde's disappointment, Gebura only sidestepped around the incoming bullets like she was able to see them. Once they got closer, Yang thrust a fist laced with flames into Gebura's chest, only for Gebura to tank the blow and send her sword downward like a cleaver. Noises that sounded like flesh being split apart resonated throughout the arena; the audience thought that the blonde brawler's Aura was broken and her flesh was being ripped apart, but that was not the case.
Yang was visibly fine, only having her Aura dropped to 38 percent from the vertical slash. "Holy crap, that thing hur–" She stopped to see a thin, golden-yellow strand fly in front of her face. Subconsciously activating her Semblance, lilac eyes turned crimson red, blonde hair erupted in flames, and her expression turned into pure rage. When she activates her Semblance, it's a final stand as it burns through her Aura.
"YOU BITCH!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. The temperature of the room heated up as she dashed forward with extreme speed, the only goal being to maim the person who ruined her hair. Blinded by anger, she disregards her defense, only putting her all into offense; thus turning the blonde brawler into a blonde berserker.
Gebura, never having seen this from her in the previous clashes, smirked as the blonde berserker charged at her. Flames erupted as fists met flesh sword and kicks were blocked by deflects, Yang was growing more and more pissed that she didn't get a hit in. Her opponent, on the other hand, was the opposite. Gebura could only grow more and more intrigued by the fight, if this was what Aura and Semblances could do, then life here on Remnant would become more interesting.
Since Yang uncovered her ultimate weapon, it would be fair for Gebura to do the same. "Alright... I see how tough you are. The real fight starts now…" With that, Gebura activated her E.G.O., truly defining her as the legendary Red Mist. The black and red armor covered her entire body and her hair transformed into a crimson flame. The previous dark gray coat turned into a deep blood-red flame. The Red Mist's central eye glowed a bright crimson red like it was a machine designed by hell.
The audience was shocked to see the red woman erupt in flames as well, covered in black and red armor. Many people in the crowd summed it up to be her own Semblance, not knowing that it was in fact not. Ruby and the other girls of Team RWBY were not fazed as much, because they had already seen it, but were excited to see what it could do. Meanwhile, Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch were intrigued by how someone without Aura could do something like that.
"Let's have a fun brawl." The Red Mist spoke.
The sight of the legendary Red Mist made Yang hesitate a little bit, being in the fixer's presence made her want to run away but it wasn't enough to stop her rage from taking over again. Like a violent and desperate animal, the blonde berserker charged forward again, trying to get the first hit in their next clash. But, she wasn't fast enough to outspeed the Red Mist, who pulled back her fleshy weapon as it pulsated. The weapon itself, like it was alive, grew in size; going from a measly one-handed greatsword to a giant fucking sword. The massive eyeballs were twitching in agitation and stared directly at the blonde berserker. Yang could only watch as the red-stained curtain covered in eyes was dragged across the arena and slammed into her.
The sound of glass breaking was heard throughout the training hall as Yang was thrown out of the arena with her Aura broken. Nobody moved or said anything, taking in everything that just happened; mouths gaped and eyes were wide open. Only then did Professor Goodwitch snap out of it and called the fight.
"The match goes to Ms. Gebura." The blonde professor called in a medical team to escort the unconscious Yang to the infirmary to let her rest.
With that, Gebura turned off her E.G.O. as it melted off of her, dissipating into the air. She turned to see how much Aura the blonde professor thought she had left, only to see that Gebura had around 70 percent left.
The Librarians were not that shocked because they'd seen the red fixer destroy entire Receptions by herself, taking on entire Associations because she can. The audience, however, burst into a wide range of emotions, those mainly being: confusion, disbelief, respect, fear, and many others.
"I thought she had no Aura!" Nora asked. "How did she do that!?"
Seeing as how Yang spilled the beans earlier, it couldn't hurt to tell them the truth. "We'll tell you later," Roland replied. "We would like it to be told in a less public area."
–A FEW HOURS LATER–
After the fight between Yang and Gebura happened, a bunch of students and staff surrounded the red fixer as she was trying to leave the arena with her colleagues. Her only saving grace was that Professor Goodwitch broke up the crowd and told them to not bother their guests, complying with their professor's orders, the mob gradually left.
Because Yang was still recovering after her Aura broke and Jaune was missing, the remaining member of the two teams and Librarians all met up at Team RWBY's dorm room, to tell the truth about the Librarians.
Much like when Angela told Team RWBY about their origins, the three members of Team JNPR were in a state of shock. Straight up being told that they were in the presence of humans from another world would make them a bit disturbed. However, that all went away when the ginger-haired girl from JNPR cheered at the fact that she met aliens. Her little outburst calmed the mood of the room and made them look more friendly.
"It's still hard to believe that another world exists," Pyrrha said.
"We didn't believe it either," Weiss commented. "But after seeing that little monster girl and Gebura's armor, it convinced us."
"Seeing is believing," Malkuth said.
"Well, I wanna visit your world," the red-hooded girl said nonchalantly.
"OO, SAME!" Nora agreed. The Librarians paled at what they were hearing.
"I don't think you want to." "I disagree." "No." "Please, don't." "You'll regret it."
All the Librarians talked at the same time; they said different words, but their words held the same meaning. A big fat NO. They would not subject anyone to the cruelty of the City when the kids had it better in this world.
'Wha—, Why?!" Ruby begged.
"We already told you," Roland answered. "The City is full of murders, monsters, death, and other inhumane things." As he was talking, he thought about the Night in the Backstreets; he shivered at the thought of being left outside during that time.
"Even if we let you, we don't know how to get back," Tiphereth added.
"But you told us about the cool Corporations!" Ruby pulled out her puppy eyes. "I really wanna see what kind of weapons you guys had!"
The Librarians tried to avoid her gaze, she was too bright and innocent, and they needed to find something to change her mind. At that moment, in an act of intelligence, Roland's brain fired on all cylinders. With a swift move of his hand, a black mist emerged from his gloves. Revealing two objects that were stored in his pocket dimension.
"I-Is that?" Ruby was speechless. As the black fixer held out the two items, she jumped at him immediately. "GIVE ME!"
Dodging out of the way, Roland threw the items into the air. The red huntress-in-training grabbed the two objects immediately; one that she rubbed her face on, and the other she ate instantly.
"Hmm," Ruby chewed. "Cookies~." She continued to eat the cookie as she hugged the black fixer's shotgun.
"Huh, that actually worked," Roland sighed. The heiress of Team RWBY put both hands to hide her face as she was embarrassed that this was her partner.
"Where did you even get that cookie?" Gebura asked.
"When we were grabbing lunch in the dining hall, I wanted to eat it later," he explained. "But I remembered that the kid had a sweet tooth and really, really likes guns."
"What about me? Where's my bribe?"
The black librarian turned to face the person speaking. It was the ginger-haired girl, the other person who wanted to see the Librarian's world. Using his brain, he tried to find something to please the girl with so that she may forget trying to get to the City.
"Roland, why don't you make pajeon?" Malkuth suggested as she remembered Nora proclaimed herself as 'Eater of All Pancakes'.
"What's that?" Nora jumped up at whatever the bronze librarian said.
"Hmm, yeah, you're right," he accepted Malkuth's suggestion before explaining to Nora. "It's a dish, one that you'll enjoy." He remembered when he made the pajeon for the Librarians back when they were still in the City.
"What kind of food?" Weiss curiously asked, thinking about what type of food a dystopian society would have.
"Hmm, you'll find out when you see it," he replied. "Just think of it as a surprise thank-you gift for your kindness."
"Alright then," Weiss accepted his proposal. "Where will you make it?"
"I'll just go to the dining hall and ask if I can use their kitchen." He walked toward the door to leave, only for the door to slam in his face. This caused Malkuth to let out a snort, as for once, she wasn't the one on the receiving end of it.
"Oww," he verbally said it.
"Oops, sorry 'bout that," the familiar voice of Yang called out on the other side of the door. "Didn't 'knock' ya out did I?"
"I wouldn't have said 'Oww' if I was able to 'handle' it," he smirked.
"OH, GODS THERE'S TWO OF THEM." Ruby stopped clutching the shotgun and covered her ears from all the puns. Everyone else except Malkuth, Pyrrha, and Nora shared the same feelings as the leader of Team RWBY.
After that, Roland made his way out the door with Yang entering the room. The people left inside the team of girls' room explained what happened during the time when the blonde brawler was unconscious. When they were done explaining, Yang walked up to Gebura. Fearing the worst, the others were prepared to hold Yang back from starting another fight in case she was going to be a sore loser.
Yang only held out her hand and smiled before speaking. "Damn you hit hard. You really earned that title."
"You're not too bad yourself," the red fixer responded. "Maybe work on suppressing that anger." She gripped the blonde's hand and turned it into a handshake.
"Sorry, it happens when my hair gets messed up," Yang said. "But when I get stronger, I want a rematch."
This caused the Red Mist to grin. "Sure." It was fun watching someone get stronger after losing a fight; even if they caused pain for him during the early days of the Library, that Philip guy really became a threat to the Library toward the end.
"So, where did Roland and Jaune go?" Yang questioned. She saw Roland leave to go somewhere but never got to hear why. As for Jaune, she hadn't seen him all day.
"Roland's going to make a dish from their world," Ren explained. "And Jaune's become rather scarce ever since he started fraternizing with Cardin." The mention of that guy's name brought down everyone's mood.
"Whatever it is," Pyrrha spoke coldly. "I'm sure our leader knows exactly what he's doing."
Nora and Ren shared glances at each other, not knowing what had their teammate worked up. The others in the room could tell that something happened between the leader and his partner. The only other person in the room that knew why other than Pyrrha was Gebura, who remembered the red-haired warrior and blonde knight's fight on the rooftop.
"Well, if there's nothing else, we could go check up on Roland to see if he's done making that dish," Blake spoke up. She was a little bit interested to see what the cuisine was like in the Librarians' world.
All of them agreed to take their minds off the topic of Team JNPR's leader through the thought of food. Slowly, everyone left the room with Ruby staggering behind to leave the black fixer's weapon on her desk so she didn't have to bring it. When she left the room and entered the hall, everyone was already walking toward the dining hall.
Suddenly, the door across from her own opened up. She looked to see who it was, revealing that it was the leader of Team JNPR. She gasped at the fact that he was probably listening to them talk behind his back.
"Oh, hey Jaune!" She started to sweat a little bit. "How have you been?" The girl team leader knew that there was something wrong with the other team leader but couldn't figure out what, only that it was related to Cardin.
Jaune thought about it for a moment before responding. "I… uh," he faltered. "I messed up. I did something I shouldn't have, and now Cardin has me on a leash, and Pyrrha won't even talk to me, and…" He breathed heavily through his nose. He remembered the fight between Yang and that red woman, seeing how outclassed he was. "I'm starting to think coming to this school was a bad idea." He placed his back against his dorm's door and slid down. "I'm a failure."
"Nope."
Jaune looked at her with surprise. "'Nope?'"
"Nope! You're a leader now, Jaune. You're not allowed to be a failure."
"But…" He avoided looking at her. "What if I'm a failure at being a leader?"
"Hmm…" Ruby thought about it for a moment before she started to move to sit next to him. "Nope!"
"You know, you're not the easiest person to talk to about this kind of stuff."
"Nope!" Jaune could only lean back into the wall. "Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid." Jaune groans and sinks lower to the ground. "And you might've even been a failure the first day we met!" He groans and goes lower. "But, you can't be one now. You know why?"
"Uhhh, because...?" He tried thinking of a reason.
"Because it's not just about you anymore," she reassures him. "You've got a team now, Jaune. We both do! And if we fail, then we'll just be bringing them down with us." She stands up and places her hands on her hips. "We have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second. Your team deserves a great leader, Jaune. And I think that can be you." She starts to walk down the hall. "Cya later Jaune!"
As he was starting to understand what his fellow team leader was saying, he picked himself back up. Going to go back inside his dorm room to rest, he felt something beep on his side. He moved his head to face the beeping scroll, telling him that he received a notification from someone. Upon extending it, he saw that Cardin sent him a voice message.
[Cardin: "Hey! It's your buddy Cardin! I know you're probably busy with that Dust project I gave you, buuuut I'm gonna need you to go out and get me a bag of Rapier Wasps."]
Jaune flinched in fear when he heard 'Rapier Wasps,' an insect known for causing terrible pain when they are agitated. He remembered the essay he wrote for Cardin, reminding himself of the horrors those wasps could do.
[Cardin: "And make sure they've got some really big stingers! It's important, so don't screw this up!"]
When the message ended, the blonde knight closed his scroll. As if the talk with the motivation from Ruby didn't exist, he slouched as he started to walk outside to supposedly get the bugs.
–DINING HALL, BEACON ACADEMY–
Surprisingly, the dining hall was still open. Roland waltzed inside to see some Beacon staff hanging out on one of the tables. He saw that one of them was a cook and the other was dressed like a professor. Since he wanted to use the kitchen, he had to ask for permission.
"Yo," he casually said.
"Oh, hello," the chef responded. The other person next to him turned around to see who the newcomer was. It turned out to be the green-haired professor with a coffee mug in his hands.
"Ah, one of the special guests we are accommodating," Oobleck said. "I saw your red colleague's spar with Ms. Xiao-Long. Impressive if I may say." He quickly sipped his steaming coffee.
"Aw shucks, I'll tell her you said that mister…?" He hadn't gotten his name yet, only having seen him next to Ozpin during the fight.
"Doctor Oobleck." The green-haired man took another sip of coffee. "What brings you here?"
"Roland," he responded. "Just wanted to use the kitchen is all; wanted to try to make a dish from… back home."
The chef gave him permission, as long as he shared some of it considering the hard day of trying to feed hundreds of training huntsmen that ate thousands of calories every day; Ozpin needed to give this man a raise.
Interested, the two men followed the black-suited man into the kitchen, wanting to watch what type of dish he was going to make. The aprons in the kitchen were almost gone, the rest of them were sent to the laundry to clean. Finding one that was decently clean, he picked it up with a little bit of disgust. The black fixer hesitatingly donned the apron, the royal blue color completely contrasted against his monochrome attire. Roland hated it, but it would get the job done.
–A FEW MINUTES LATER–
The batter for the pajeon was complete, and although Roland was saddened that kimchi didn't exist on Remnant, he was able to make do with what he had. The man was also saddened by the fact that he wouldn't be able to drink makgeolli with the pajeon since there would be minors.
Meanwhile, the two men that watched were perplexed as to what Roland was making. It looked like simple pancake batter, but there were a whole lot more ingredients used. Once the batter had hit the searing hot pan, the smell immediately entranced them. It was a very fragrant scent that grew stronger as Roland flipped the pancake-like dish, revealing the golden-brown side.
Soon after, the doors to the dining hall opened up. The Librarians and the remaining members of the two teams entered looking around as they smelled something; walking to the serving table of the kitchen to look inside, they found Roland, Doctor Oobleck, and a chef watching the former flipping a pancake into the air with skill.
"PANCAKE!" Nora jumped over the serving table to reach her beloved food. The others had to physically hold her down so that Roland wouldn't be bothered while he slaved over the stove. Ren put a reminder to buy Roland an apron with the same quote as his so that Nora wouldn't do this again.
"Ah, perfect timing," Roland said as he heard Nora. "This is the last one." He used the chopsticks to flip the pajeon onto a plate that already had some stacks of the dish made. He picked up the plate and presented it to Nora who was forced to sit down at a table. "Chef Roland's kickass pajeon, now served!" The bronze librarian let out a little laugh as she remembered a few months ago when he almost burnt their pajeon.
"Woah, what kind of pancake is this?" Yang asked as she started to drool.
"It's a scallion pancake, the best dish of all time." He was exaggerating, but he wanted to inflate his ego.
Nora promptly shoved the entirety of a pajeon into her mouth. She froze the moment she closed her jaw. Everyone was awaiting her reaction to Roland's dish, it felt like an eternity for Roland as he wanted to see if she liked his cooking. Slowly, she started to chew… more and more, she chewed until a tear ran down her face.
"This…" She sniffed. "...Is…" Her mouth was full of pajeon. "THE BEST PANCAKE EVER!"
Roland let out a heavy breath that he didn't know he was holding at the time. Meanwhile, the others watching were very interested to see how good the taste was. Little by little, the stack of pajeon disappeared as the people ate wholeheartedly. Even Weiss, who disliked greasy food was fascinated that the dish had very little grease considering it was fried. Ruby arrived later and was a bit mad that almost all the food was gone, but Yang saved her some, albeit with some reluctance to do so. The other students were savoring the dish as it was completely different from what they had expected.
The chef begged Roland to teach him how to make it so they can add it to the menu. Much like the chef, Nora was practically pleading with Ren to learn from Roland and Malkuth was telling him to make her gamja-jeon next time. After a bit of haggling, he agreed to give the chef and Ren the recipe later and promised to make Malkuth her potato pancakes. In the end, everyone had a good late snack and thanked Roland for it. The late-night food party broke apart as the professor and chef returned back to their sleeping quarters. Later, the Librarians and the two teams walked out of the dining hall after cleaning up after themselves. They casually strolled under the light of the shattered moon, until the cat faunus realized something.
"Do you guys feel like you're forgetting something?" Blake asked.
"If you forgot, then it wasn't important," Yang replied without any doubt.
"OH SHI–," Weiss almost cussed. "We have a field trip tomorrow!" The shock that the most diligent person in their group said something out of character was enough to stop them before they realize that she was right.
"OH, WE GOTTA GO!" Ruby dashed away before looking back at Roland. "I'LL GIVE YOUR GUN BACK TOMORROW!"
Before the black fixer could say anything, all the kids were gone, leaving the Librarians in the night. They didn't think much of it and started to walk back to their guest dorms.
–TOMORROW–
–FOREVER FALL FOREST–
In the northern part of Vale, the Forever Fall Forest was covered in mountains and cliffs. The trees of the forest were a bright red color, and even the grass was the same color as the leaves. Since Tiphereth studied the forest a few days back, they discovered that its red pigment remains permanent, earning the name 'Forever Fall' due to its warm tones like in the middle of Autumn.
As the group of Librarians walked alongside Professor Goodwitch, who was in turn followed by a group of students. They saw the red leaves falling from the tree tops onto the ground, the natural beauty of the forest was breathtaking, it was unlike anything they had seen before.
With her arms behind her back and her grip on her riding crop, she began to speak. "Yes, students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful. But we are not here to sightsee. Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest, and I'm here to make sure none of you die while doing so." Quickly, she turned to face the students following her. She noticed how the blonde knight who failing her class and carrying several more jars than required of him, bumped into Cardin who in turn gave the blonde boy a glare. She narrowed her eyes at the sight but continued to tell them what to do.
"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap," she pulled out a jar full of red sap, "however, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates. Also, our academic colleagues here are also conducting their own research on the forest. Should there be any trouble, you can rely on either their bodyguards or me. We will rendezvous back here at 4 o'clock. Have fun!"
Jaune tried to walk away from his bully, only to get caught by his hand. With a mischievous smile on his face, he turned to Jaune. "Come on, buddy. Let's go!" The blonde knight could only stare down in obedience as he noticed his team walk off without him, his partner only staring back at him. He began to walk away from them as he followed Cardin. Pyrrha could only sigh in disappointment at her leader's state.
The red and black fixers were watching the scene play out, thinking about the reasons why Jaune was blindly following Cardin's orders. They turned back to the rest of the Librarians; Tiphereth and Yesod were studying the leaves and bark of the trees while Malkuth was collecting the sap like the students. Gebura and Roland were supposed to act out being guards so they chose to talk to each other.
"That Jaune kid is going to get himself killed," Roland dryly said. "He'll be a liability when if one of those Grimm shows up."
"I can't disagree with that." Gebura wanted to light a cigarette but didn't want to pollute the forest. "I don't see how he hasn't been expelled yet, considering that his transcripts were faked. This school must have a shitty security system if he was able to get in." Their small conversation came to a stop for a few minutes as they had nothing else to talk about.
"Well, what do you think the others are doing right now?" Roland curiously asked.
"I don't know," she said. "Maybe Netzach is drunk and Hod is trying to do that book club thingie again."
–OUTSIDE THE LIBRARY, EMERALD FOREST–
Back at the Library, a few knocks were heard in the quiet green forest. At the front door of the giant tower, a man with a rugged appearance and mysterious demeanor was standing in front. Crimson-red eyes were unique amongst the people, not many had eyes like his. His messy black hair along with his thin, scruffy beard ran along his jawline, making him look somewhat unkempt. To add to his disheveled look, his attire included a red, tattered cape that was attached to a gray dress shirt and black dress pants.
"Hello? Anyone home?" A raspy voice called out to the door in front of him.
He was sent here by his boss to get information from these so-called 'Librarians.' He knocked on the door again to no avail. Did he get the wrong address? There was no other 'big tower' in the Emerald Forest so there was no mistaking that. The man pulled out a hip flask with a leather cover and opened it. When he was downing the alcoholic drink, the door made a slight cracking sound. In an instant, he placed his flask back into his back pocket as he took out his weapon.
"Yo…" A voice behind the door called out to him. "Can you like… stop knocking so loud?" The door fully opened to show a green-suited man with green-colored hair. His face was drooping like he had just woken up. The man outside put away his weapon as he realized that the green-haired man wasn't hostile.
The man took out his flask again. "Sorry, but I was to find this 'Library'?" He opened it again to take a swig. "Is this it?" He was disappointed to find out that his flask was empty, shaking it a few times over his mouth to get any remaining liquid.
"Yea… You came to the right place…" He yawned as he moved away from the door to let the black-haired man enter. "The name's Netzach, Patron Librarian of the artsy floor."
"Qrow Branwen, a huntsman," he said. "My boss wants me to talk to your… Librarian Director."
Netzach could only stare at him blankly and yawn briefly before speaking. "Yeah, she told me to get you…" Out of nowhere, a flash of light appeared in his hand. Startled by the light, Qrow put his arms in front of his eyes to block the bright light, only to see a bottle in the green librarian's hand once the light faded away. "Here." He handed the bottle to Qrow.
When he examined the bottle, he read the label, "YuRia Atelier Whiskey?" The black-haired alcoholic never heard of YuRia Atelier before, but he wouldn't refuse a drink. He took the bottle and poured some into his flask as he was guided further into the Library. The door behind him closing shut.
Author's Note:
Welp, that's Chapter 7 done. Hopefully, the fight between Gebura and Yang was enjoyable; I didn't want Yang to be overwhelmed by Gebura but also didn't want Gebura to feel underpowered. Right now, all I can say is that Gebura was basically messing around with Yang; for comparison, the female Dante of the Library is mostly on-par with people like Raven, but like with cracked-up boosts thanks to her fixer augmentations and E.G.O.
Also, Qrow is finally here! And first meeting Netzach of all people. The two drunk people from both franchises met; I wonder what their future interactions will be like. Oh if you're wondering why YuRia made alcohol, I think it would be funny if she did.
Hopefully, yall enjoyed this chapter. Huh, I feel like I've been pumping out chapter after chapter since I started working on this, I don't know if this is healthy or not. Either way, Chapter 8 is about 25% finished so it might come out within the next week.
Anyways, leave a review if I forgot a detail or if you have a question. Thanks!