Here we are at Chapter 34. Time for the last of the teams rounds in the tournament. I do not own RWBY or Genshin Impact. They belong to their respective owners. Here's chapter 34. Enjoy.
Chapter 34: Hunt with Elegance
The final day for the teams rounds in the Vytal Festival tournament has come. This will decided who makes it to the doubles rounds along with the teams still in the competition. Teams RWBY and RDCN are in the stands as they wait for the one match they're looking forward to seeing. Their friends in Team CLDN have yet to fight, but are finally getting their chance. Side note, Weiss and Ruby seem to be doing better now that Weiss figured out what's really important. However, Winter said she wanted to have a little luncheon with her and Ruby after the fights are over to get to know Ruby better. While she's glad Weiss is more forward with their relationship now, she still wants to make sure Ruby is worthy of her. A moment later, Team CLDN enters the arena, waving at the thunderous applause of the audience.
"Oh, I've been waiting for this. It's about time we get to see them in action," Yang says.
"Yeah, they talked big, but now we can see if they can walk big too," Dehya adds.
Weiss scoffs, "Please, Clorinde and Navia alone could win this match. Don't underestimate those from Atlas,"
"So far, the only other team from Atlas that made it through was Penny's team. She practically beat them all by herself," Ruby smiles, happy for her friend.
"Meanwhile, Beacon has four teams that made it in. Not looking good for your home, Weiss," Blake smirks.
"It's about quality, not quantity, Blake. Besides, I'm part of Beacon. The more teams in our school that make it through the tournament, the better the chances that Beacon takes the glory. But, if we win it all, then it'll be even better," Weiss says.
"The other team is coming out now," Ei says.
They look and see Team CRDL come out, getting quite a few boos from the crowd. Most likely fellow students who want to see the bullies get the crap kicked out of them.
"Break their stupid faces, CDLN!" Ruby and Yang cheer.
The two teams meet in the center," Hmm, this shouldn't take too long," Diluc notes, adjusting his gloves.
On his back is a claymore with the design of a phoenix on the blade. Meanwhile, Navia has her umbrella, Layla has a black sword with a silver edge on her hip, and Candace has a silver blade with a fancy handle and a white and gold musket on her hips.
Cardin smirks, "You're right. It won't take long. Must be rough being the only guy on a team with a bunch of weak girls. Then again, maybe you got lucky since you get them all to yourself," Cardin is seen checking Navia out.
Diluc stares flatly, "Shall I take care of him?"
"No. I'll deal with him," Clorinde is glaring at Cardin.
It seems someone is in need of a lesson in respect. The arena changes around them. One side features an ocean section, with an old pirate ship to boot. The other features a plains location with tall grass and a few trees. The two teams draw their weapons.
"Alright, everyone. Let's get this match underway. 3... 2... 1... Begin!" Oobleck starts the match.
Team CRDL all charge at Team CLDN. Cardin makes the first strike at Diluc, but his strike gets blocked by the open parasol of Navia. She pulls a trigger and knocks him back with a shot from the tip of her parasol. This gives Clorinde the chance to jump over Navia and double kick Cardin in the face. Sky goes at her left flank, but Diluc intercepts him with a swing of his claymore. Meanwhile, Navia and Layla duke it out with Dove and Russel. The two boys make a combo attack with their blades, but Layla and Navia parry their strikes. Layla slide under one swing from Dove's blade and reaches out to touch his right leg. Right after she does, Dove stumbles with his footing.
"What the-my leg went numb for a second!" Dove checks his leg.
"It didn't go numb per say. It simply feel asleep. Lucky," Layla says, muttering the last part to herself.
"Asleep? What?" Dove wonders.
"Forget it. Just take them down!" Russel says and they run at them.
Navia and Layla lead them to the plains to continue the fight. Meanwhile, Diluc and Sky duke it out in the center of the arena. Sky twirls his halberd around before swinging it down on Diluc, but the swordsman swings his sword upwards to counter, knocking Sky back. Using the momentum, Diluc swings his sword all around at his opponent, striking him and making him roll across the ground. Sky growls as he gets back up and attacks again. At the ocean section, Clorinde flips over a smashing strike from Cardin, sending explosions behind her. She lands on his mace and makes a swift strike of her blade across his chest. When they separate, Clorinde keeps her left arm behind her back and her blade aimed at Cardin, just like the duelist she is. Cardin jumps up with his mace reeled back. He swings down, but misses as Clorinde quickly dodges the strike and then hits his left and right flanks with her blade.
"You'll have to be faster than that," Clorinde notes.
Cardin stares daggers at her before going back on the attack. Back with Layla and Navia, Navia fires off a few shots at their opponents, but Russel blocks them with his swords. Dove goes after Layla as she starts to doze off, looking for an easy strike. However, when he thrusts his blade at her chest, Layla comes to and parries the strike in time. Her hand brushes against Dove's outstretched arm and it falls to his side, dropping his blade.
"My arm! It's heavy!" Dove tries to shake his arm awake.
"Maybe you boys didn't get enough sleep last night. Too busy trying to cram last minute for ways to lose in today's match?" Navia taunts them.
"I wish I could sleep so easily," Layla shakes her head.
"Once the match is over and we've had something to eat, we'll head back to the dorm room and let you get some rest, Layla. I'd say after today, you've earned it. It's a shame your semblance doesn't work on yourself," Navia says.
That's right. Layla's semblance allows her to put anyone she touches to sleep. If it's just a limb she touches, it falls asleep alone. If she touches their heads, their whole bodies go to sleep. The longer she has physical contact with them, the longer they're out of action. Unfortunately, it never seemed to work on her when she wanted to sleep. Truly a shame for the sleep-deprived young lady.
"Oh well," Layla sighs.
Navia twirls her parasol around as Dove makes a swing at her and deflects his strike. Russel moves by him for a combo strike, but Navia blocks him by opening her parasol. Dove then jumps over them and lands behind Navia. He attacks her rear, only to get blocked by Layla's sword. Layla reaches up and grabs his face, her true target. Her semblance activates again and Dove falls asleep, collapsing onto the ground.
"Dove, get up man!" Russel yells.
"He'll be out for a short while," Layla says.
"Oh, and it looks like Dove fell asleep at the wheel here. His aura remains intact, but if he doesn't wake up soon, his team might get eliminated before his eyes open up," Port says.
"Well, there might be one way to wake him up, but it is a very painful one so I wouldn't recommend it," Oobleck adds.
Now finding himself short one partner, Russel quickly gets put on the defensive when Navia and Layla attack him together. Anytime he makes a counter, Navia goes on defense, followed by Layla going on offense and attacking an opening. He tries to change things with a cross slash at Layla, who dips under the strike and counters with an upward swing of her sword. The strike knocks his blades up, allowing Navia to shoot him close up. Russel goes flying and lands on Dove's back.
"Argh!" Dove stirs awake from the painful 'rise and shine' from Russel.
"And that's a wrap," Navia twirls her parasol around as her semblance activates, creating four cannons behind her. "And fire!" she commands and the cannons fire at the two downed idiots.
They get consumed by the explosions. When the dust settles, both Russel and Dove's auras are depleted.
"And Team CRDL is down to just half a team left!" Port announces.
"What?! Damn it! How'd those idiots lose so quickly?" Cardin curses at seeing the replay.
"Because your whole team lacks training and discipline," Clorinde replies.
Their fight has brought them to the pirate ship as they fight on the deck. Cardin growls before going after her again. Meanwhile, Diluc is still fighting against Sky, but the latter is looking a bit winded while the former looks like he's barely broken a sweat.
"I was expecting more, honestly, considering the other Beacon teams have shown such great skill. You're just a disappointment," Diluc notes, looking bored.
Sky jumps in the air with his halberd reeled back. Diluc steps back to dodge the strike, then weaves around the next few swings from Sky. As Sky makes a swing at his head, Diluc parries the blade and directs it to the ground, stepping on it to pin it down. Sky looks up just to get swatted away by Diluc's claymore. As Sky staggers to one knee...
"Here, you can have this back," Diluc tosses his halberd back to him, which hits him in the face.
Sky stumbles, giving Diluc the chance to make an upward swing that nails him in the air and nearly sends him out of the arena. He hits the ground hard as his aura drops to nothing.
"And that's number three. Looks like we know who this match belongs to," Dr. Oobleck notes.
At the pirate ship, Clorinde and Cardin clash with their weapons. Cardin has the edge in physical strength, but Clorinde side steps him, making him stumble forward. Throughout their exchange, Clorinde has kept her pistol holstered. Clorinde can see that she won't need it against him.
"You team has been defeated. You stand alone, and your strength is fading. If you have any sense of honor within you, surrender now. Spare yourself from further humiliation," Clorinde asks.
"Screw you! As if I'd listen to some rich snob from Atlas in a fancy hat!" Cardin refuses to back down.
Clorinde sighs, "Very well. Then I'll make this quick,"
Lightning sparks around her form and her blade. She aims the tip at Cardin. Sweat drips down his brow as he feels a new pressure in the air. A second later, Clorinde shoots over so fast that not even the cameras catch it. She reappears right behind Cardin, her blade thrusted forth. Cardin then drops his mace, followed by collapsing behind her.
"Oh, wow! Clorinde's strike was so fast that even we didn't see it. She might even give you a run for your speedy money, my friend," Port nudges Oobleck.
"Yes, yes, haha. But, the point is that Cardin's aura has been depleted. The winner is Team CLDN!" Dr. Oobleck calls the match.
The crowd cheers at Team CLDN's victory. In the stands, Teams RWBY and RDCN critique the match.
"That was amazing. Thank god they kicked Team CRDL's butts!" Ruby cheers.
"Hah, as if there was any doubt," Weiss scoffs.
"Those guys got skill. Looks like there's even more competition around than we thought," Dehya says.
"Ah, that just makes it more fun when we win," Yang notes.
"That was impressive, don't you think so, Ei?" Nilou asks her girlfriend.
"Yes. Most impressive," Ei keeps her eyes on Clorinde as the skilled warrior gets a hug and a kiss on the cheek from Navia.
"She's strong, swift, and incredibly skilled. Even if I don't have to reveal my full power in the tournament, I definitely cannot let my guard down around her," Ei thinks.
...
The rest of the remaining team matches go by without much fanfare. Ei didn't really care about them as she had a much more important matter to attend to. Watching Nilou dance on stage. The Zubayr Theater had finally arrived and were quick to get things set up for the party. Nilou was very happy to see her old friends and home again. The troupe were quite surprised when they learned that Nilou was in a relationship, and with another girl no less. Suffice it to say, both she and Ei got swamped with questions from the female members of the crew. They really love gossiping about love stories, it seems. After that gets taken care of, they get the first show underway. Ei has a front row seat to watch Nilou dance. A large crowd forms as the show gets underway and everyone enjoys Nilou's performance.
"I can never get tired of this," Ei mutters as she enjoys the show.
Nilou's dancing in her regular outfit now. Ei thought it was a slight shame that she's not dancing in her fairy outfit, but on the bright side, she managed to make a deal with Furina to let Nilou keep the outfit. All Ei had to do was act like a triple A battery for the lights for a few shows with her power. It was so worth it. So, while she's not dancing in the fairy outfit right now, there's always next time. Soon enough, the show comes to an end and Nilou bows to the roaring applause. The Vytal Festival is always a good way to get the Zubayr Theater's name out there. And Nilou looked really happy performing with them again. After bidding her farewells, Nilou met back up with Ei behind the stage.
"Oh, that felt wonderful. It's been so long," Nilou notes, looking bright.
"I'm glad you're happy, Nilou. I enjoyed your dancing as well as I always do," Ei replies.
"Thanks Ei. That's just about it for Zubayr Theater for today. There's always tomorrow, but we have our next match in the tournament as well. I want to watch Candace and Dehya win another one for our team" Nilou says.
"Agreed. Come; you must be hungry. Let's get something to eat," Ei takes Nilou's hand and they walk off for a meal.
"Speaking of which, I hope Ruby's okay with meeting Weiss' older sister, Winter. I heard she can be even more uptight than Weiss sometimes," Nilou notes.
"I'm sure she'll be fine. Even Weiss wouldn't let her sister harm Ruby... hopefully," Ei replies.
...
Speaking of which, the three aforementioned ladies find themselves at a pavilion, away from the hustle and bustle of the festival, so they can have a nice, private chat.
"So, you've been in a relationship for some time now, but you've barely been on any dates?" Winter asks.
"Yes, sister, I-," Weiss begins.
"I'm speaking to Ruby, Weiss. Be silent," Winter interjects.
Weiss was allowed to stay, but not to answer for Ruby. If Winter is to deem her worthy of being her sister's partner, then Ruby must show her herself.
"W-Well, yeah. We've been busy with a few recent missions lately. We only recently got together, so we haven't had the time yet. Though, we did go on a few trips to Vale that could count as dates," Ruby thinks back.
"Hmm, I see. Tell me, Miss Rose, what do you think of Weiss? I want your honest opinion," Winter asks.
"Well..." Ruby taps her chin as she thinks on it. "Well, when we first met, she wouldn't stop yelling at me over a little accident that almost happened if not for Ei. Honestly, I just wanted her to stop yelling at me,"
"Oh, really," Winter glances at Weiss, who looks away with a slight sweat. "Continue."
"She can be a lot to deal with too. She's crazy when it comes to schoolwork and always wanting to be perfect. She was pretty mean. With a few exceptions, she looked down on everyone else like they were beneath her. She even said that she didn't want to be on a team led by me. She and Blake even got into an argument that almost broke up the team. It was only after that that she started being nicer to everyone," Ruby recounts Weiss' history at Beacon.
This only makes Winter stare at her sister even more while Weiss sinks further and further into her seat out of guilt and a lot of other emotions.
"But, I also know she works really hard and gives everything her best. And when it came to fighting, she was always there for her friends. She's helped me out with my studying too. And she said my cookies were delicious too," Ruby smiles.
"I-I-I did not say that," Weiss blushes.
"You didn't, but you eat them almost as much as I do," Ruby notes, leaving Weiss no argument.
"You bake? Well, I suppose being able to cook is a plus. Weiss was never good at that back home. Has she made improvements in that regard here at Beacon?" Winter asks.
"Nope," Ruby replies.
"Ruby!" Weiss shrieks.
Winter sighs, "I can't say I'm surprised. Weiss has never been skilled in the kitchen. But, that makes me curious. If you bake, and if your baking is up to my standards, it would do more to get you into my good graces,"
"Oh, I actually have a small bag of cookies I made earlier today right here. I always keep a few on hand as emergency food," Ruby pulls out a small bag of chocolate chip cookies.
"Ruby, you can't be thinking of serving plain old cookies to my older sister. We have standards!" Weiss says.
"But Weiss, you always enjoy me cookies, so what's the problem?" Ruby is not listening.
Ruby hands Winter the bag and she pulls out a cookie, carefully inspecting it. She then eats the cookie, chewing slowly. A moment later she freezes. Weiss waits for Winter to say something bad, despite believing Ruby's cookies are delicious herself. Winter then swallows the cookie.
"Winter..." Weiss looks on with worry.
"Ruby Rose... how would you like to leave Weiss and become my partner instead? I promise I'll take good care of you," Winter offers.
"WINTER!" Weiss yells.
"What, her cookies are delicious, and from what I've gathered, she's earnest and hardworking and loyal. She'd make a great wife. We'd have to solve the issue of having children, but I'm sure we could figure something out. So Ruby, do we have a deal?" Winter smirks.
"Winter! Ruby is mine and I won't let you take her from me! Do you understand?!" Weiss grabs Ruby and shields her from her sister.
"Uh, sorry Winter, but I'm Weiss' girlfriend. I can't become yours," Ruby shoots her down.
"Oh, what a shame. Well, if you ever change your mind," Winter offers.
"WINTER!" Weiss shouts.
And that's the chapter. Team CLDN make it to the next round in the tournament. Meanwhile, it seems Weiss now has competition for Ruby with her sister of all people. Ruby's cookies are just that good. Until then, please Read and Review.