DISCLAIMER: I do not own RWBY. Obviously.
Red Reaper's Resolve
Chapter 3: Reaper and Flowers
'The other students are mostly still asleep. I'll go for a morning run while it's still early.' The teenager noted.
It was currently 4 A.M. in the morning. Just about an hour before the sun comes up to wake most people from their slumber. Given it was still very dark out, with the inevitable rise of the sun's light slowly creeping on the horizon.
After an… eventful night, Garnet honestly slept peacefully surprisingly. He'd thought he wouldn't get a wink of sleep because of the unknown variables of what's to come in the initiation.
Cutting off the red head's thoughts, he was greeted by an odd sight.
He noticed Yang and Weiss were cuddling up to each other in a messy way. After waking from his sleeping spot, Yang's arms were encircling Weiss's waist. By using one of her arms, the Heiress was attempting to move the blonde's face away from her.
What surprised Garnet the most is they were still in very deep sleep. Their bodies probably reacted on just instinct alone.
Garnet pulled out his scroll and took a pic of both sleeping girls.
What? He needed the extra ammunition for when Yang teased him!
What else was there in his sleeping quarters worried him. Gathered around his sleeping bag like Garnet was a campfire on a cold winter's night, there were a lot of girls, unusually in large numbers, sleeping suspiciously close to him.
Garnet shuddered.
The lad was cautious as he moved across the makeshift sleeping quarters for the pupils, not wanting to trip over someone or worse, wake them up. He had the impression of being in an old-fashioned movie strolling across a minefield.
Quickly after, he went to the washroom to change from his normal clothes to just a plain red hoodie and some sweatpants. Beacon is next to a water deposit, therefore it was very cold today. The frigid air was accompanied by a slight breeze.
Garnet stepped outdoors and inhaled deeply, much needed fresh air after seeing so many students in one room the previous evening. He warmed up a little by doing some easy leg stretches and leaping in place since he wanted to get his morning run started quickly.
This is a ritual the boy has followed since he first enrolled at Signal Academy. His father asked him why he was out for runs at such an early hour. Garnet wanted to start developing his stamina as soon as possible, and his father was cool with it as long as he didn't overdo it. At the moment, he was still a child—at least, Garnet acknowledges that today.
Garnet raced across the large empty area of Beacon's campus outside; this early in the morning, hardly a person was visible. Only with the infrequent custodians and what Garnet assumed to be the Academy professors still making the most of their meager remaining time to get ready for the incoming class of students.
The air was still very chilly, but Garnet was starting to warm up due to his light and steady jogging. He didn't want to overexert himself because running till you can't walk anymore before the initial probably isn't the best of ideas. He did this because it helps him stay focused and get rid of morning drowsiness.
The reaper didn't use his speed semblance at all for this morning routine, what'd be the point of running if there's nothing to gain from it? Sure, he could train his semblance, but it works completely different from how a normal human body does to improve itself.
After about fifteen minutes or so, Garnet decided to cut it short. He'd still need to conserve energy for when the initial begins, which to his knowledge, he has no clue or idea on what it might be. He assumed the worst, meaning lots of physical activity being involved.
Luckily, Beacon had many public accommodations. For one of the four huntsmen academies, this place had lots of budget. So Garnet took it upon himself to quench his thirst from one of the drinking fountains nearby.
As Garnet was getting himself hydrated, another person was drinking the fountain next to him.
When Garnet glanced at the person next to him, a female voice spoke up. "Oh! I uh, hope you don't mind. There was no other nearby fountain, this was the nearest one."
"It's okay. Being hydrated is important after all." Garnet replied to the stranger. He then took note of the other girl's appearance.
She was tall. Taller than his older sister by quite a bit. The girl wore a red hooded sweater, she wore gray sweatpants similar to Garnet's. She was wearing her hoodie over her head quite tightly, so it was somewhat hard to make out a face, but those green eyes of hers certainly stood out from the small darkness created by her hoodie. There was a bit of her hair sticking out, it was as red as her attire.
Garnet suddenly realized they essentially had the same hue of red clothing.
As the girl was done quenching her thirst thanks to the fountain she turned to Garnet. "So, out on a morning run? I rarely meet people getting up this early for jogging."
"Yep. I've woken up earlier than what I'm used to, since my initiation is also soon." Garnet replied.
"O-Oh! You're gonna be a first year student too? I also happen to be in the same boat as well." The girl sheepishly stated.
Garnet nodded, "Ah, I see. Name's Garnet Rose by the way."
The girl smiled, "Pyrrha Nikos. A pleasure to meet you Garnet. Ah, how rude of me! I forgot to take off my hood."
Pyrrha took off her hoodie that previously obscured her face. She was pretty, now those green eyes are in full show. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail, similar to Weiss, but in a much more simple manner. The female redhead had a tiara accessory at the top of her temples. It was golden.
Now for her name, Pyrrha Nikos. Garnet swore he recognized her from somewhere but he can't get it off the tip of his tongue to know. Her face was definitely recognizable, wait… Garnet thought about what he had for breakfast the other day. The boy recognized her!
"Wait! Are you the girl on the cover of Pumpkin Pete's cereal box?!" Garnet exclaimed.
Pyrrha was slightly taken aback from the reaction of Garnet, "Y-Yes? Though it's not really a big deal, many people get on the cover. I'm not that special in that regard."
Garnet reeled himself back from his reaction earlier, "I'm sorry! Didn't mean to explode on you like that. Though, only athletes and celebrities are able to be qualified to be on the cover of Pumpkin Pete's."
"It's quite alright Garnet, I'm used to when people discover who I am." Pyrrha apologized, though there was some hint of sadness when she said that.
Garnet noticed this, he then rubbed the back of his head in shame. "So, uh. What do you think the initiation would be?" The reaper asked, trying to quickly change the subject.
"I'm not sure, I heard from upperclassmen that it changes every year. Last year was just a simple physical test." Pyrrha replied.
Makes sense, Garnet thought. You can just straight up cheat and ask for previous graduates or any student above first years what it could be. If it was the same test every year, it can easily be prepared beforehand.
"Physical test? Understandable, considering the line of work of a Huntsman, being physically attuned would be very important. Especially when dealing with dangerous situations." Garnet hummed.
Pyrrha gave a nod. "Agreed, I'm interested to see how the teams will be put together.
"Well. At the very least, I'm hoping that this year's will be fascinating! I find anything that is unpredictable to be much more intriguing than a physical test. With a sparkle in his silver eyes, Garnet spoke.
Pyrrha giggled slightly at his reaction. "Well I hope for that as well. I prefer things were chips fall where they lie."
"Oh for sure." Garnet commented.
Suddenly his scroll was beeping, the reaper took it out. It was his alarm that was beeping.
"Oh, we should probably get ready for the day. The sun is already up and people are most likely waking up as well. It was nice talking to you Pyrrha." Garnet said.
Pyrrha smiled at the boy. "Likewise, and goodluck on your initiation."
"Thanks. You too!" Garnet beamed while waving.
After taking a quick shower in the public restroom, the red reaper decided to get a light breakfast. A light breakfast was definitely the play Garnet though, if you ate too much before strenuous activity, you're just asking for a tummy ache. As much as Garnet wanted to gorge down on chocolate chip cookies for breakfast, it wouldn't end well during the initiation.
Declaring Beacon's Cafeteria to be enormous would be an understatement. The building was almost twice as large as the auditorium where Garnet had previously been located. There are numerous entrances and tables lining the cafeteria, reducing the need for you to walk a considerable distance to enter. It was a lively area to eat because it had numerous window panels in addition to it.
Not to mention the kitchen section, where students can choose from a vast range of foods, from Mistralian to Valean. essentially every culture found across Remnant. Thus, there was essentially no justification for not becoming bored with the menu options—they've had some very intriguing dinners, too. The dinner servings were nothing to laugh at. A substantial dinner was much needed to fill the Huntsman and Huntresses after their long day of work.
He wasn't that peculiar about food, according to Garnet. He is aware that he won't be able to eat extravagant meals while working in the field. The food was prepared with great care, which surprised the reaper. The ingredients were of the highest quality, and the staff could accommodate any request. Not quite as good as the five-star cuisine from Atlas chefs, but then again, this food was practically free as long as you were a registered student. It was an absolutely incredible opportunity to seize.
After Garnet acquired his breakfast, which was a simple cream cheese bagel and orange juice, he wandered the many seats in the cafeteria. He figured he'd sit down where it was least crowded, until he saw a particular pair of people.
It was a girl with hair the color of bright orange. Her eyes possessed a rich, deep blue hue. She was wearing a white vest with what seems to be a heart symbol with a lighting bolt going through it. She also wore a pink skirt with white and pink frills at the end that barely covered her knees. The girl was extremely short; in fact, Garnet was slightly taller than her, but that was significant because Garnet was probably the only student in this class who was younger than two years old.
Adjacent to the ginger was a boy. His hair was all black save for one pink strand. The boy dressed mostly in green, in a Mistralian ensemble of black and green. It was decorated in a pattern resembling a lotus, with a few gold lines added for accent. He wore beige pants. His eyes were a rich shade of pink, and he exuded an air of seriousness and sternness. The boy was average height for a male student because he was significantly taller than Garnet.
Between those two, was what caught Garnet's attention the most.
It was pancakes.
It was the one thing that wasn't offered in the breakfast menu. So where did they get them? They couldn't have got them in the city of Vale, aircrafts weren't in function until later in the morning at 10 A.M.
As Garnet approached the duo, and pancakes. His tray was placed in front of them. The ginger-haired girl started gorging on the pancakes like it was an eating competition before Garnet could say anything. One by one, the dessert breakfasts were almost entirely disappearing from the large stack where they had accumulated.
Garnet stared at the display, "Good morning?"
The ginger haired girl took a quick glance at the reaper for a brief moment before gorging at the cakes. What came out of her mouth was, "Goof morthin!" Pretty much gibberish.
The boy in green sighed, then looked at Garnet with an apologetic look. "Good morning. My apologies to my friend here."
"It's no problem, I was just curious about where you guys got those pancakes." Garnet said.
The ginger haired girl took a moment to swallow a large amount of what she'd eaten, then replied. "Ren made them! He's like, the best pancake maker in all of Remnant! One time I asked him to make me pancakes with everything on it! By everything, it was everything! Oh, there was also–,"
"Nora." The green clothed boy cut her off.
"Oops!" After that, the girl, named Nora, went back to devouring the pancakes.
Garnet for a moment was quizzically stunned for a bit at what had occurred in front of him, not at what was said but what their actions towards one another were.
Were they together? As in together together? He wasn't gonna ask them since it'd be rude for people he just met, though Garnet can tell at a glance that these two definitely have some history with each other. It wasn't his business anyway, so he just brushed off the thought anyway.
"So you made them? I don't think I've heard of an home-ec class opening up this early, before the initiations began anyway." Garnet asked the boy.
"They haven't. I requested one of the staff in the kitchen for permission to use a bit of their ingredients and stove. They also said the less work for them, the better." The boy in green stated.
Garnet nodded as he took a bite of his bagel. Makes sense, guess even the school's staff has a bit of a rebellious side.
"Oh sorry, how rude of me. I'm Garnet, Garnet Rose." Garnet introduced himself.
The boy responded, "Lie Ren, you can call me Ren though. The person beside me is Nora Valkyrie."
Garnet glanced at Nora besides Ren, she gave thumbs up to Garnet before gorging down on the pancakes again.
The reaper was gonna make a comment on how they know each other, but once again he decided against it. They probably got here together.
Suddenly, Nora spoke up. "So, do you have an idea what the initiation would be?! I personally hope it's brutal, something that no one can expect! Kind of like sending us off the cliffside, all heading towards our doom!"
Nora has quite the vivid imagination, Garnet thought. Deep within him he could see a bit of himself like her. Just a little less destructive as far as precognition goes.
"Sending us all down a cliffside might be a bit much. It could be who knows, tests vary every year from being extreme to downright simple." Garnet commented.
Ren nodded silently as he took a bite from his breakfast, which was just pancakes as well.
As the trio were finishing up their breakfast, Garnet's scroll buzzed in his pocket. It was a text from Yang.
Yang (a.k.a best sister) sent at 7:45 A.M. : yo lil bro i kind of slept in! i just got done taking a shower, but i'm gonna grab somethin real quick then head straight to the weapon locker room. c u l8r ya later garn!
When Garnet got his first scroll. Yang immediately added herself into his contacts. She insisted to title herself in his own scroll, hence the name; 'best sister.' She instantly made the icon by taking a very forward selfie with Garnet. In the picture, Yang was smirking widely while Garnet had a wide eye look on himself.
He decided to not change it though, who knows what she'll do if he even changes a smidge of the contact details of Yang.
Garnet sighed, just before he and Yang slept the night before, he strictly told Yang to wake up earlier than usual in case of anything. Not to mention Yang took very long showers. Her hair is amazing Garnet had to admit, but it was definitely due to the fact that she takes a stagnating amount of time to care for it. Drying took a while as well. Yang doesn't use hair dryers because it makes the hair all dry and frizzy, so she uses the natural way to dry it.
He remembers one time back at Patch, Garnet really needed to use the bathroom in the morning. Garnet had to admit it was so bad that he was doing the dance for when you really, really have to use the bathroom. It was almost a common occurrence, but it slowly came to a halt when both of them got older. Garnet guessed she was doing it now because they were in a new environment.
Shaking the memory away, he turned his attention to the pair in front of him. They were just about done with breakfast, well Ren was. Nora was just a hint of slowing down of vacuuming the pancakes, which from the expression that Ren was giving off of. It meant that she was almost done.
He decided to head down to the weapon locker room to make some last minute adjustments for Crescent Rose.
"Gonna head down to the weapon locker room early to make some last adjustments to my weapon. You guys wanna come with?" Garnet offered as he picked up his trash from the table.
Ren shook his head, "You can go on ahead. Nora will have seconds after she's done with this batch of pancakes."
'That's not seconds?!' The reaper exclaimed in his mind. Honestly, where does all that food go?
"Thanks for the offer Garnet! Catch ya later at the initiation!" Nora said while still stuffing herself with pancakes.
With goodbyes said, Garnet then left to the Academy's weapon locker.
After navigating through Beacon, being in mind it was still confusing as to how vast the academy was, Garnet finally found the weapon locker room.
Considering that it only held the weapons for the first years, the location was fairly spacious. The lockers were arranged in different rows, with some being slightly taller and wider than the others. This was mostly because different students had different types of weapons; not all of them could compress and contract like Garnet's Crescent Rose.
Some benches were in the room, well that's probably because it was a standard to all locker rooms. There was also a machine of sorts though, it looked like a vending machine but on a much bigger scale.
The machine itself provided weapon tuning tools, cleaners, polishing, screws, and a whole supply of other stuff. To access it, you need to supply your student number to the keypad just off to the side. Students aren't assigned a student number yet until after the initiation though.
A vending machine, but for weapons!
Garnet loved this place already.
Taking his stupor out of him, someone bumped into him.
"Ah crap– sorry… my bad." The person muttered.
Garnet turned to look at who bumped into him, he was tall. Almost as tall as his dad, but slightly shorter and much scrawnier. He had pure blonde hair, much like his sister's. It was in comb length. Blonde blue eyes accompanied him, but the look he was giving off was a confused one. The armor he equipped was plated, it covered his chest, elbows, and knees. Underneath he slightly worn out jeans and a hoodie as his top.
Garnet was confused, was his equipment put on at the last minute before getting to Beacon?
"Well hello there~ you come he–"
"I'm a guy." Garnet deadpanned.
The blonde visibly choked in front of him. Garnet seriously didn't need this right before the initiation.
"Y-You're a guy?! I'm so, so sorry! I was in a rush this morning, had a heavy breakfast, and was running around the entire academy to look for this room!" The blonde explained himself rather quickly.
"It's okay. I get that a lot, you're not the first one who thought that though. It's not a big deal dude."
"You caught me off guard. This is the first time I got–, A-Anyway! I was looking for my locker. Would you happen to know how these lockers are organized?" The blonde boy quickly cut himself off before finishing the sentence.
Garnet raised a brow for that near slip. He decided to not bring it up. "It shouldn't be too difficult. The lockers are organized in alphabetical and numerical order. You just need to know which row corresponds to the number and letter."
The maybe knight looked confused for a moment then took out his scroll. He took a glance at it to what appeared to be his assigned locker number. "Ah, thanks man! To be honest, I have never really been in a locker room before. Oh and to start all over, the name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet and ladies love it!"
Garnet nodded. He quickly brushed off what was said at the end. "Garnet Rose. Really though, it's no big deal."
It wasn't, really. He can't count the number of times he'd been mistaken for a girl during Signal, and even during all his time at Patch. One time when getting ready for physical education, one of the boys immediately shouted, "Girl! A girl's in here!" Loud enough so every single soul within the locker room started to cover themselves up as fast as possible. Garnet tried to diffuse the situation, only for the coach to blow his whistle to stop the panic.
That wasn't even the worst of it.
Quickly shaking off that terrible memory, Jaune said. "Alright, so I'll uh get ready. Thank you so much for the help. Goodluck on the initiation."
Garnet nodded and the two boys separated their way to their respective lockers.
The reaper needed to focus now. He still needs to micro adjust the settings to Crescent Rose.
After finding his locker, he was curious where his sister was.
Garnet memorized where his locker was and remembered the combination code as well. So opening it up was a piece of cake.
His Crescent Rose was in pristine condition, he doubled, no, tripled to make sure that it was in top form. Especially after that skirmish in the city. Garnet was maybe being paranoid, but he'd rather feel that way than regret it not being prepared beforehand.
After making sure all his gear and accessories were in order, he was interrupted.
"Guess who it lil' bro?! It's me!" Yang said behind Garnet.
He turned around, only to give Yang a deadpan stare with slight disappointment in his silver eyes. "Yang, where were you? You know they don't tolerate tardiness here, especially at initiation time."
Yang's everlasting smirk faltered for a bit, "You know that girl Weiss? After she and I woke up, we fought… because we woke up in, er, awkward positions."
"Awkward positions? What do– oh!" Garnet held back a smirk of his own, but quickly failed.
"Garn. What did you do while we slept?" Yang narrowed her eyes.
"Oh nothing dear big sis. I happened to see a most… interesting sight. Though, I don't think anyone would know besides me!" Garnet teased.
His sister paled. "You… you didn't?"
"Didn't what? Someone needed to 'reload'."
Yang blushed. "You took a pic didn't you?! Delete it right now!"
"Only if you delete your farewell party photos on going to Beacon! How did I end up sleeping in the bathtub anyway?" Garnet replied.
"You drive a hard bargain Garn. Tell you what, I'll explain to you what happened and delete the photos. Only if you delete yours first."
"No way, it's time for you to get your just deserts sister!" Garnet pointed at her.
Yang brushed his finger off, only to retort with a finger pointing at her scroll showcasing a very… embarrassing photo of him.
"Not in public Yang! Alright, two can play that game." Garnet took out his scroll, then raised the photo he took of Yang and Weiss sleeping awkwardly together.
"I w-will not be shipped with Ice Queen at the start of the year!" Yang said agape.
Garnet smirked. "Well how about we delete it at the same time then? We could surely make a compromise here."
Yang lowered her phone, in turn Garnet did as well.
"Alright. Then on the count of three, we delete." Yang stated.
Garnet nodded, "We'll take turns counting down."
"One."
"Two."
"Three!" Both of them shouted.
…Neither of them touched their scroll. Thus both of the photos are still in existence.
They groaned, only to be interrupted by a shrill.
"Would you two idiots stop playing around?! Some of us are trying to get ready!"
It was revealed to be Weiss' voice.
After rearranging themselves after that sibling bout, they turned their attention to what's ahead of them.
The initiation begins.
A/N: Thank you for reading!
I apologize for the big delay on getting this chapter done. Life interruptions, procrastination, and distractions. I hope to get the next chapter done at least a little faster, I'll try to reorganize myself for a better upload habit.
Anyway, this chapter Garnet meets JNPR! It was a bit difficult to write. Definitely at the start for sure, if only canon RWBY had more interactions between Ruby and Pyrrha. So I had to assume what the dialogue would be like if they ever talked to each other one-on-one. I hoped I write Pyrrha in character though, it's kind of hard for me to get a grasp on her character. Same thing with Ren and Nora.
Anyway, with the story details out of the way, thank you all for reading. Once again, apologies for the delay and slightly shorter chapter.
With that said, thank you all for the reviews, favorites, and follows. It greatly encourages me to write more.
Please don't hesitate to review and critique. I'll always take it in stride to further improve my writing.
Take care and stay safe!