Here we are at Chapter 15. We'll basically be starting the second semester here. Mostly because I did not want to skip one of my all-time favorite scenes from RWBY. I do not own RWBY or Genshin Impact. They belong to their respective owners. Here's chapter 15. Enjoy.


Chapter 15: Best Day Ever

The break between semesters was coming to an end and soon, classes would resume anew. For Team RDCN, the break definitely went by too fast. They had split up for the break Dehya and Candace returned to Auru Village to check up on things back home. Nilou went back to Mistral to see her friends back at the Zubayr Theater. And Ei returned to Inazuma to make sure nothing happened while she was gone, and to speak with Miko. Miko had told her that she's still looking into the woman who attacked Venti, but has nothing so far. They also made sure Ei's Gnosis was safe. Miko took this opportunity to see what Ei had been up to while in Vale. Though, Ei was confused by how much Miko was asking about her friend Nilou. Perhaps she heard of the dancer's talents and wanted to see her perform as well. Ei couldn't blame her. Nilou truly was dazzling whenever she danced. Whenever Ei talked about that, Miko would only sigh, leaving the archon confused.

It wouldn't be until after Ei made her way back to Beacon that Miko would hear something of note.

...

"You're sure about this?" Miko asks while on her scroll.

"Not entirely, but I have a good feeling about it. There's a lot of strange stuff going on in Vale. And I think it's all connected, or most of it at least," Chiori replies.

"Well, I appreciate the assistance, Chiori. I can always count on you when it comes to information," Miko notes.

"You know, you could've warned me beforehand that the Almighty Shogun would be coming to Vale. I thought she was going to come after me if she found out I was in Vale at the time," Chiori rants.

"Oh, but that would spoil the surprise," Miko giggles.

"This damn fox. Maybe I should skin her fur off and make a shawl out of it," Chiori's eyebrow twitches. "Anyway, you owe me big for this. I don't work for free."

"Yes, yes. I'll be sure to contact you for some orders... Actually, I'd like to make a few right now if you don't mind," Miko smirks.

A brilliant idea just popped into her head.

...

In Vale, Ei steps off the airship and looks back at her school, Beacon. Most would say that it's been forever since they've been back here, but given her extra-long lifespan as an archon, it was more like a blink of an eye for her. She walks towards the school, only for someone to tackle her from behind in a hug.

"Ah! Huh, Nilou?" Ei turns to find her teammate as the culprit.

"Ei, it's so good to see you!" Nilou greets her with a big smile.

"Nilou, it's good to see you as well. I trust the break was enjoyable for you," Ei returns the greeting.

"Yes. Everyone back home is doing great. And it looks like the Zubayr Theater will be coming to the Vytal Festival to put on a few shows. I can't wait to dance for everyone again," Nilou is positively giddy today.

"I'm happy for you. I look forward to seeing you dance again. You remember our deal?" Ei asks.

"Yes, if we qualify for the tournament, which I believe we will, then I'll perform another dance for you," Nilou nods.

"Good. I'm looking forward to it," Ei says.

"Hey, you gonna leave us hanging?" they turn to see Dehya and Candace approaching them. "Don't forget about the other half of the team," Dehya waves.

"Dehya. Candace. Glad to see you again," Ei greets them, as does Nilou.

"How were things back home?" Nilou asks.

"Everyone's doing fine. Our friend, Cyno, has been doing an excellent job of watching over the village while we're away," Candace explains.

"Apparently, a couple bandits tried to ransack the place, but once Cyno was done with them, they practically begged the authorities to take them away and lock them up just to get away from him. Shame I didn't get to see it in person," Dehya adds, chuckling.

"This Cyno certainly sounds like an interesting person," Nilou notes.

"Well, we'll have more time to talk later. Come on, let's go unpack our belongings," Ei says and the team head to their dorm room.

As they leave, a young woman in a very fancy black dress with a parasol and sunglasses steps ono the landing platform. She lowers her shades to gaze upon Beacon.

"Hah, I must admit, this place certainly has a better aesthetic than Atlas, that's for sure. The air feels so much fresher here too," the girl notes.

"Are you thinking of moving to Vale, Navia?" another young woman with long, dark blue hair and a bycocket hat walks up beside her.

"Now, now, Clorinde. I'm just saying whoever designed this school has more creativity than the one who designed Atlas Academy. That place has always been way too strict at times," the girl called Navia replies.

"I'm just saying. Of course, I'd be more than welcome to join you. But, if you did want to move here, you'd have to convince your father," Clorinde replies.

"Please, don't remind me. Father can be way overprotective at times. I mean, it took everything I had to convince him not to send servants and guards with me when we would be coming here for the tournament," Navia groans.

"At least it shows how much he cares about you," Clorinde notes.

"Come on, let's go unload our luggage and see where we'll be staying for a while," Navia says before they take their leave.

...

The next day, Team RWBY are heading to the cafeteria for some breakfast. It's the last day of their break, but everyone is already back in their school uniforms to help get back into the swing of things. However, their leader remains missing.

"So, what did Ruby say she wanted to take care of again?" Blake asks.

"Beats me. I'm sure she'll be fine. She never misses a meal. Trust me," Yang says.

Weiss remains silent through this exchange. Her mind drifted to her time spent at the Rose-Xiao Long household. It was... actually quite relaxing. Of course, her father kept calling and trying to get her to come home during the break, but she told him that she was working on extra credit assignments for some of her classes and couldn't return. He begrudgingly allowed her to stay, but he definitely wasn't happy about it. And her mother was too drunk to see her too. The thoughts of her own mother made Weiss drift to when Ruby introduced her to her and Yang's mom, Summer Rose.

...Flashback begins...

Ruby and Weiss walk through the forest on Patch, the former carrying a small bouquet of flowers in her hands.

"Um, Ruby, why are we out here again?" Weiss asks, getting some leaves out of her ponytail.

"Come on, we're just about there," Ruby replies.

Shortly after, they come out of the foliage to a cliff overlooking the island. Weiss widens her eyes when she sees a grave at the edge of the cliff. They walk up to it and Ruby places down the flowers before making a silent prayer. Weiss has a chance to read the tombstone. It reads "Summer Rose. Thus kindly I scatter". This is Ruby and Yang's mother, Summer Rose.

Ruby finishes her prayer and stands up, "Hey Mom. Sorry I haven't been around in a while. I've been busy. I got into Beacon early and now I'm leading my own team. Team RWBY, and yes that does cause a lot of confusion. In fact, this is one of my teammates and my partner, Weiss," Ruby gestures to Weiss.

"Um... hi, Miss Rose," Weiss says awkwardly.

She didn't mean to, but she wasn't expecting to become part of the conversation.

"Yeah, and I'm on a team with Yang and another new friend, Blake. We're an amazing team. Oh yeah, also..." Ruby goes into a long speech about her time at Beacon.

Weiss doesn't listen in on most of it; her mind in other places. Here is Ruby, a girl younger than her and definitely more naive. Weiss thought she had an easy life, unlike her. She has never been proven more wrong. Even if they don't really speak to each other anymore, her mother is still alive. But Ruby's mother is gone. She can never have a real conversation with her. Feel her mother's warm embrace. She'll never see her again. And yet, Ruby still shows show much joy and determination and hope. Weiss has had a rough childhood, but so has Ruby apparently. It seems they have more in common than the heiress first thought.

"...Well, that's about it. We have to get back before it gets dark. I promise I'll come by again before heading back to Beacon at the end of the break. I'll see you later, Mom. I love you," Ruby shows a warm smile before she walks away.

Weiss remains a moment longer, eyeing the tombstone, "...I'll look after her. And I'll protect her with my life. On my honor as a Schnee, this I swear," she mutters her vow before turning to follow her leader, now having a greater appreciation for the girl than ever before.

...Flashback ends...

In the cafeteria, Team WBY and Team RDCN are having their meals at one table while Team JNPR is eating at a table next to theirs.

"Man, the one thing I have missed from this place is the food. They have everything here," Dehya notes, chowing on a sub sandwich.

"We'll be getting back into our lessons tomorrow. You'd better be ready, Dehya," Ei notes.

"Lame," Yang notes, catching a thrown piece of food from Nora.

"Yang, you really shouldn't play with your food, you know," Nilou says.

Just then, Ruby drops a huge binder filled with papers onto the table in between them.

"Sisters. Friends... And, uh Weiss," Ruby says.

"Hey!" Weiss shrieks, earning a few giggles from Dehya and Candace.

"Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream..." Ruby decrees.

"Was this in one of our history lessons?" Ei asks Nilou, who shrugs her shoulders.

"A dream that we would have the best day anyone's ever had... of all time!" Ruby cheers.

As she speaks, Yang gets hit in the face by an apple from Nora. Yang takes that as a challenge, and they start throwing food at each other.

"As such, I have created a list of super fun exciting activities for us all today. Before lessons begin tomorrow," Ruby says.

Weiss looks and notices her name on the binder, scratched off in red marker, "Hey, did you steal my binder. I never said you could-," she suddenly gets in in the face by a flying pie.

Everyone turns to Team JNPR. Jaune and Pyrrha look shocked, Nora rubs her head, and Ren just facepalms.

"Nora, I told you not to do that," Ren groans.

"I have an idea for a 'fun' activity. How about today, we start a new Beacon tradition, here in the cafeteria?" Weiss calmly suggests.

"A tradition?" Ei asks.

Weiss slams her hands on the table, grabbing two apples in mid-air.

"It's a food fight! You ready?!" Weiss declares.

Her teammates are quick to jump on the idea, followed by Team JNPR. The last ones are Team RDCN.

"Hey, I'm game," Dehya smirks.

"I think it could be fun," Candace joins in.

"What do you think, Nilou?" Ei asks.

"If you want to do it, then I'm all for it," Nilou replies.

Ei stands, "Then we accept your challenge,"

Students run out of the cafeteria as the chaos begins to unfold. Team JNPR is seen standing on a makeshift castle of tables on one side of the cafeteria. Meanwhile, Team RDCN has a fort of vending machines and Team RWBY are only ones without a base.

"Hey, how come we don't have a base?" Yang pouts.

"Forget about that. Justice will be swift. Justice will be painful. It will be delicious!" Ruby shouts, and her team shouts with her.

"Victory will be ours," Ei says.

"We will take all of your heads!" Nora says as she jumps down.

Team JNPR make the first move, throwing a storm of watermelons at both opposing teams.

From RWBY, Yang uses a pair of turkeys like boxing gloves and smashes through the watermelons while Blake supports her with a pair of baguettes like swords. Meanwhile, Candace uses a large food tray as a shield and an extra-long baguette as her staff. She blocks the watermelons with her shield while Ei jumps over her, wielding an extra-large, extra-long candy cane as her polearm. Why the cafeteria had something like this, Ei will never know. She twirls her cane around, break through the watermelons that Candace doesn't get to.

However, they see Blake coming at their side, her bread blades at the ready. But Dehay intercepts her with a baguette of her own. The two cat Faunus duke it out with their bread, making a few swings and parries at each other. However, Yang jumps over Blake, ready to pound her into the floor. Ei jumps in and kicks Yang away and then swings her cane down on Blke, forcing the Faunus to jum back. Candace looks as Pyrrha comes at her with a long baguette. Candace parries Pyrrha's strike and then swings her food tray at her head. Pyrrha rolls under the strike and throws her baguette right at her.

Candace blocks the bread with her tray shield, but then gets kicked away from Pyrrha when her focus is not on her. However, Pyrrha has to jump back when Nilou comes at her with a baguette as well. Ren runs into the fray with a pair of leeks, taking Pyrrha's place as he goes after Nilou. However, he gets blindsided by a white blur which turns out to be Weiss wielding a swordfish like her rapier.

"Consider that thanks for the fun dance from before," Weiss notes.

Nilou smiles, but then Weiss turns her fish at her. The two swing their blades, bread clashing against meat. As they do that, Yang jumps in and fires her turkeys at Ei. However, Ei nimbly dodges them, and the dead birds hit Jaune instead, knocking him out of the food fight. Ruby slides in on a food tray heading straight for Ei. Ei dodges right and just as Ruby passes her, she grabs the tail of her cloak with her cane and swings the younger girl around right into her sister. Ei turns around, just as Nora comes in, wielding a hammer in the form of a watermelon on a steel poll. She twirls her melon hammer around and swings it at Ei. Ei blocks the strike but slides across the floor from the impact. Nora goes after her, but Dehya intervenes and stops her advance. Ei watches this before turning as Blake goes after her this time. Nora swings her hammer at Dehya, but the Faunus parries the strike before nailing Nora with a punch to the face. Nora growls and twirls her hammer around. Dehya leans around the twirling weapon but can't dodge the main blow and gets sent crashing into a few tables. Candace narrows her eyes at Nora and charges at her opponent.

Meanwhile, Yang runs towards Ren and the two clash with their food weapons. Yang throws a few hooks, but Ren dodges them and counters with a few swings from his leeks. The blonde goes for a knee to his chest, connecting. Ren staggers, but attacks with a spinning hook kick at her face. Yang leans back to dodge it and hits his stomach again. She backhands his face and then hits him under the chin with a huge uppercut. Ren ends up hitting the ceiling before falling to the ground. Off to the side, Ei continues her bout with Blake. The Faunus is good, but Ei has more years of experience under her belt. Charging electricity into her cane, she twirls her weapon around and makes an upward slash that not only breaks Blake's bread into pieces, but it sends her flying into a wall. Ei looks over as Candace fights against Nora.

Nora tries to break through Candace's defense, but her shield remains standing even against Nora's powerful attacks. Nora growls as she gets frustrated and goes in for a power swing. Candace smirks as her golden eye glows. Just as Nora closes in, Candace jumps up, revealing Weiss flying in who was hoping to get Candace from behind. Instead, all she got is a smash from Nora and a one-way trip to a pillar in the cafeteria. Weiss gets knocked out and falls to the ground, but Ruby catches her.

"Weiss, Weiss! Don't leave me. NOOOO!" Ruby cries out dramatically.

Yang runs past them, heading straight for Ei. She throws a punch, but Ei deflects it with her cane. Yang flips into the air for an axe kick, but Ei grabs her ankle with her cane and swings her in the direction of Candace and Nora. Candace smirks with her glowing eye and parries Nora right in the direction of Yang. The blonde nails the pancake lover and they crash into a few tables. Nora glances up, just her castle comes tumbling down on them. Ei smirks before looking at one of the last fights. Nilou dukes it out with Pyrrha before the champion fighter kicks her away. Nilou flips in mid-air to land on her feet in time to see Pyrrha's next move. Pyrrha hits the vending machines behind her, making them spray all the cans they had inside. She uses her semblance to make them all float into the air before flying at Nilou like a swarm. However, Nilou uses her own semblance on them, specifically the liquids within their cans. They were part water, so she could control them. The cans stopped in mid-air as both fighters pushed their semblances to the limit to get the assault onto one another. Eventually, the liquids broke out of the tin cans and fly at Pyrrha, while the cans continued their path towards Nilou. Nilou gets nailed by the cans while Pyrrha gets washed up by the soda pop.

Candace runs to check on Nilou, but Ei doesn't because there's still one enemy left standing. She spots Ruby from across the cafeteria. The two narrow their eyes at one another before Ruby takes a running position and guns it. She flies across the cafeteria, the vacuum from her speed bringing anything she passed by along for the ride. Ei remains in her position, her eyes glowing. Lightning course across her body as she breaks off a portion of her cane, making it more like a sword than a staff now. She takes a sword draw position, waiting for the right moment. Just as Ruby gets close, Ei swings her cane sword, unleashing a powerful lightning slash. The strike sends Ruby flying back, and the vacuum of her flight pulls the debris she brought along with her. Ruby crashes into a wall, and then gets buried in food. With the final opponent down, Ei and Candace are the last ones standing which means Team RDCN is the winner.

However, the victory is short lived when an angry Professor Goodwitch strides into the room. Using her semblance, she cleans up the entire cafeteria in a matter of seconds.

"Children, please... Do NOT play with your food," Glynda commands.

The students are scared under her angry glare, but when they see each other covered in food, they can't help but laugh together.

Ozpin walks up and places a hand on Glynda's shoulder, "Calm down. Let it go,"

Glynda sighs, "They're supposed to be warriors who must one day protect humanity,"

"True, but that day is not here yet. They're children who still have much to learn. Let's at least let them maintain that role for a while longer. Besides, Ei is older than all of us, and she hasn't been a child for a very, very long time. I think it's nice he's able to smile again," Ozpin says before walking away. "I don't want her to lose that smile again."


And that's the chapter. Again, I couldn't resist putting the food fight into the story. I loved that episode in RWBY. Navia and Clorinde also make their debut in this chapter. Who knows what encounters Ei will have in her second semester at Beacon. Until then, please Read and Review.