Chapter 53. Beacon Days 34
A little apartment hideaway in Vale
Sunday morning began with watching the sun rise, even if the sky could stand to be a little clearer, accompanied by a brisk wind that did wonders to wake him up. It was early enough that the streets were still deserted, lending this moment a sense of tranquility. Jaune, leaning on the balcony railings of his hideaway in the city, hummed in contentment as he stared out at the distant sea, at peace with the world. The fighting tournament from the same weekend and its related troubles were but a distant memory.
The sound of the glass door behind him sliding open made Jaune turn his head. It was Melanie, rubbing sleep from her eyes. Sloppily dressed in the clothes she wore last night, she took one step outside and stopped in her tracks.
"Cold!"
With that cry, Melanie practically leapt at Jaune, maneuvering around him to burrow herself under his jacket, bare feet standing atop his shoes to avoid the air-cooled tiles. Prompted by her, he wrapped his arms around the girl's waist in an embrace.
"Why is it freezing in spring? Ugh!"
"We just got out of winter, so days like this are to be expected." That said, there have been quite a few storms as of late. From this vantage point, he can see gray clouds rolling in from a different direction. "Spring rain helps the flowers bloom, doesn't it?"
"But cold…" she whined.
Cute.
He answered by pecking her with a kiss on the forehead, and hugged her tighter as if that would stave off the elements. Judging by the dopey smile, Melanie had no complaints.
Scarcely a minute later, the door opened again, this time with Miltia poking her head out, fluffy bathrobe worn on top of sleepwear.
"G'morning,*yawn*, Jaune~" She murmured, fluttering her fingers in a half-hearted wave. She perked up when she noticed Melanie peeking over Jaune's shoulder. Suddenly roused from lethargy, she rushed to them. "Ooh, me too, me too!"
Her sister scooched aside to give Miltia room, and the girl promptly snuggled into him. As he did with Melanie, Jaune planted a kiss atop her head, resulting in Miltia giving a silly laugh full of delight, her cheeks pink.
A sharp gust weaved its way past their apartment, causing the sisters to shiver and press close to him. They did not make any attempt to draw apart once it calmed. Amidst softly-spoken inquiry of how went their sleep or what breakfast may be, the three of them watched as the sun crested more than halfway over the horizon to banish the last traces of the night. Little by little, people appeared on the street below, calling out greetings to one another. Cars pulled out of parking garages, their owners setting out to enjoy the Sunday morning while they had the chance before the rain arrives. The city came alive with activity.
"This is nice," Melanie said when some time had passed.
"Uh-huh," Miltia agreed. Her voice belied frustration. "After last week? We so needed it."
Catching the hint, Jaune began to rub their backs in comforting motions.
"What happened last week?"
She was all too happy for the chance to grouse. "If it wasn't an idiot causing trouble in the nightclub, then it was a fight out in the street!"
"Everybody and their mother must be, like, hyped on the Vytal or whatever," Melanie added. "Day and night, there's skirmishes with the other gangs. A lot of the minions got hurt, so they took time off—"
"—meaning the rest are stretched thin now. The enforcers received the worst of it—"
"—so it's us that are getting called on to fill the undefended gaps in our territory. We're being run ragged!"
"—Ragged!"
As he soothed the pair, one question sprang to his mind: how come nobody told him about this? He could have helped.
"Why don't I take a break from Beacon? I'll do patrols for a week or two to ease the pressure off you."
Melanie balked, reversing course. "Nonono, that's not what we meant. Your classes are more important than a little overtime work! It's just…"
"We can deal with the dumbasses, so long as we can still enjoy a day with our dumb blond~" was Milta's cheeky follow-up. Her twin nodded, red-faced and embarrassed to say the same.
"Two days would be better."
The soft whisper. The shy, averted gaze. Jaune almost collapsed from the critical strike.
Ahhhh! Why did he ditch their date night to go help Yang with that underground tournament? He made money, he gained rep, but who cares about those useless things now!?
"You've got me for all of today," Jaune declared, resolved to pamper the pair. "Wherever you want to go, I'm down for it. Or we can chill here and binge movies? If I miss the shuttle to Beacon, I can trek back through the forest just fine."
Melanie considered it. "I feel like, you know, we should do something. But not. You know?"
Not really, you know?
Mind firing on all cylinders, he parsed through the uptalk and filler words, searching his memory to match what Melanie said to similar instances prior so as to decipher the whimsical riddle. Then, when that failed to work, he took a wild guess.
"Are you in the mood for a casual date? Sightseeing and whatnot?"
"You read my mind!" Melanie replied, Miltia chiming in with an energetic 'ditto~'.
A bit of thought, and he struck upon inspiration.
"Let's go to Beacon, then." He noticed their skeptical looks. "It's not like my school has classes on the weekend. You won't be suffering through lectures. Instead, there's preparations for the upcoming Vytal Festival events underway all over the campus. My classmates are joining in with their own attractions and I'm kinda curious to see what ideas they've decided on. I'll treat you to breakfast along the way at that waffle place you like."
They did that thing with their eyes, where a whole conversation was held without him understanding what they discussed, before looking at him again.
"You don't have anything else you have to do, right?"
"We can spend the whole day together?"
"Yeah, I'm completely free. Nothing in my schedule until tomorrow. No detentions, either." For now.
Bright smiles lit up their faces like twin suns. Assured that they'd be able to monopolize his time, Melanie and Miltia happily agreed to the plan.
-o-
"Hahaha! You thought you saw the last of me, Beacon, but Melanie Malachite has returned!"
"Will. You. Just. Move?"
Arms akimbo, Melanie posed at the Bullhead entrance, digging in her heels to counter against her sister pushing from behind. Jaune watched over the affectionate(?) scene with warm eyes for a while, then maneuvered around the pair, grabbing their hands and walking on. The challenging expression Melanie was sending toward the Academy melted into one of laughter as the trio set off down the wide avenue.
Theirs were not the only Bullhead making a landing, shuttles disgorging dozens of civilian crews carrying tools and supplies, everyone headed for the fairgrounds. Painted lines marked out lanes for forklifts to transport pallet after pallet of materials in the same direction. There, a makeshift wall enclosed the massive area set aside for the festival, built of prefabricated metal sections topped by anti-Grimm armaments. The students were the real defenses, always eager to grind some Grimm into a paste, and had in fact been given the assignment of laying waste to the forest each week on a rotating shift for exactly this purpose, but the barrier provided further peace of mind for the people within. Booths were springing up at a quick pace, the majority being a simple roof atop four poles and a table, others more elaborate affairs incorporating light systems and walls and such. The multiple groups and individuals scurrying about—tripping on people's feet or outright bulldozing over someone else's booth—made for a loud, messy scene full of arguments that had to be screamed over the cacophony of a hundred hammers put to work.
Rather than following that crowd, Jaune steered Melanie and Miltia to the main campus, leaving behind what sounded very much like a battle breaking out.
"Oh, thank fuck! Like, we love a bit of noise—"
"Nightclubs-for-lifers we are."
"—but 'nails on chalkboard' was preferable to that." Melanie covered her ears for emphasis, her sister copying the movement.
"Yeeeah, it's clown school shenanigans over that way. Things should be better inside, since that's reserved for us students. The exhibits are more spread out."
"You know, that your classmates are taking part in this reminds me of something." Miltia turned to her sister. "Isn't it a lot like—"
"Like what they have in Mistral schools? Yeah!" Melanie finished the thought, her tone rather excited. Noticing Jaune's confusion, she explained, "Back where we're from, civilian schools would host these things called cultural festivals and, you know, let their students open restaurants and perform concerts and stuff."
"Apparently, the classes and school clubs would each come up with an idea for their classroom, and turn the whole place into something like a mini theme park. Food, games, contests. You'd even get maid cafes and haunted houses," Miltia said, snickering. But then, she displayed a wistful mien. "We've always wanted a chance to attend one."
He knew part of the story. Not much. They had left Mistral far too early in their life. Dwelling on the subject often puts the pair in a funk. He moved on with haste, seeking to distract them.
"Huh. And here I thought we were so amazingly original with this." Two scoffs answered him, smug and prideful. The eastern Kingdom would forever be a part of their identity, it seemed. "Beacon didn't split us into classes, though. We're divided by year and Academies. On the flip side, they gave us the run of the buildings."
The budget was sizable, too, Ozpin granting them leeway for a measure of extravagance as long as they understood they would be representing the Academy. Beacon considered it a fair price to display their best side to prospective applicants taking the opportunity provided by the Vytal Festival to visit the campus along with the second underlying reason, not often spoken, of wooing the students from the other three institutions. Poaching might be considered bad form—sanctionable, even—but everyone wanted the best talents attending their school. This was the subtler compromise, where the three guest Academies received their own sections with which to showcase the appeal of life abroad.
Walking into the entrance hall, the twins peered this way and that, as if a festival was just hiding around a corner. They were pulling him along now, not that they had any inkling of where to go. Once they realized that and asked, he redirected them to a student lounge on the second floor, the first one after they exited the grand staircase. Its size and convenient location made the room quite popular with the Beacon populace, and most of the time it would be filled to bursting with people hanging around or studying. Hijacking it had not endeared the Beacon first-years to their upperclassmen.
"What's your group doing?" Melanie asked as they walked up to the doors. Faintly can noises be heard through the thick, sturdy wood.
"I don't know, really. I'm exempt from helping out since I'll be managing the Xiong booths when the festivities kick off. The central theme should fit with Vale, so I would guess it has to do with the arts or fine cuisine. Something classy." Eager to find out, he grasped the doors by their two handles, and flung them apart.
Fire. Fire everywhere.
Jaune shut the doors.
"Was that your friend Ruby zipping around with a bucket of water? She does know those rose petals she's scattering would, like, serve as fuel to make the fire worse, right?"
"Your teammate, the skinny guy. He's on the ground, and Nora was holding a set of defibrillators."
From the room came the sound of a loud zap, followed by a feminine voice shouting, "He's alive! Muahahahahaha! He's aliiiiive!"
Jaune decided he heard nothing. "It's fine. Everything's fine. And even if it wasn't, Huntsmen and Huntresses are a capable bunch. They can handle whatever problems that crop up…also, was it me, or were they dressed like maids?" Ren included.
"They were," Miltia confirmed. "Real 'classy', huh, Jaune?"
Melanie was shaking her head. "The dresses were cute but, like, who would ever wear a maid outfit?"
"I'd love to see you two wear maid outfits."
"What?" / "What?"
"What? Hey, let's go check out what Atlas is doing." Avoiding their intense stares, he sped off down the corridor.
Ten minutes after asking around to learn where the people from Atlas Academy had their exhibit, Jaune stood in front of a different set of doors. This one opened up not to a vision of fiery hell, but of water. Because, of course, when one thought of Atlas, the first thing that came to mind was summertime at the pool.
Wait, no it wasn't!
"How is this supposed to be anything like the frozen north!?" he called out in incredulity to the girl donning a beret and a blue one-piece swimsuit, Ciel Soleil, having identified her as the person in charge.
Similarly, her classmates have dressed for the occasion as they went about their tasks, those on break dipping into the water for a spot of recreation. A beach ball was making its way back and forth from one end of the indoor pool to the other.
Unfazed at his sudden appearance, she shrugged. "Wait and see. Can I offer you a cup of water ice?"
Jaune looked at the proffered dessert in her hands.
"...Just because it has 'ice' in the name, doesn't make it Atlesian." Nevertheless, he accepted it.
"It works well enough in the surveys. Besides, this is simply an extra to the main event. You should know by now that Atlas never goes for half-measures." She waved a hand towards a couple pieces of machinery in the corner. "With the artificial snow sprayers, this place will look like a winter wonderland when I'm done. Only, with swimsuits."
"Swimsuits?"
Ciel laced her fingers together, and stretched both arms above her head, hips cocked.
"Swimsuits. Atlas has this one in the bag."
What assuredness, as if she had already won. Not that there was a competition until she turned it into one. Pride surged forth, calling on him to defend the standing of his school and Kingdom.
"Oh, puh-lease. Beacon has a maid cafe. A maid cafe." And if he can convince the two girls behind him to help out—purely for the honor of Vale and not for any other motive!—then there would be no contest between the Academies, or even from the upperclassmen.
"I thought that was a Mistralian thing."
Ciel made plain her accusation, that his friends were also people devoid of principles willing to coopt random ideas that appealed to the masses. The ignoramus.
"Excuse you. Maids and butlers are a proud Valean tradition that harkens back to the time of the Warrior King." Beat that! He just name-dropped the big guy. "As a Kingdom, we are famed for our hospitality and our spirit of service. Haven't you seen our hotels' ratings?"
Was he lying through his teeth? Meh, call it an exaggeration. They may be nowhere near the cultural icon he implied them as, but maids as a profession began here. The common features of the uniform, the headdress and the apron and such details, were designed by one of their royalties from a bygone era according to legend. King O… something or other. To wear a maid dress was to honor history, probably.
And while he had not a clue of how their hotels fared on the world stage, he was betting on the same holding true for Ciel.
"I have, yes."
Seriously?
"They ran a story on it when I was channel surfing. Studies show Atlas's hotels ranking higher on average. I think it's the whole 'set on an island floating in the sky' appeal that pushed their popularity so high. The view is phenomenal."
Okay, fair. He'd concede her that point.
Before he could muster a new response, Ciel counterattacked. Her entire demeanor softened, eyes becoming half-lidded. She sauntered close and poked him in the chest.
"You know, Atlas doesn't have to be your enemy. Instead of arguing every time you meet us, you could give what we have on offer a try. We're always happy to accept transfers." Her gaze drifted down and up again. "I hope to see you here when the festival starts. From the pictures, you'd look good in swim trunks."
"Melanie, put in an order for a cement truck."
"No, no, Miltia. I say we bury her in the mountains."
Ciel peeked around him to meet the glares of the twins, reacting with surprise at their presence.
"My apologies, I did not see you there. You are?"
"Melanie Malachite—"
"Miltia Malachite—"
Bristling with hostile intent, Melanie slipped around his form to stand in front of him, and Miltia emulated her to complete a protective barrier. Chin tilted back, arms crossed, the duo brought all their haughtiness to bear, going full throttle on the arrogant act to assert dominance.
""Jaune's with us.""
The target of their ire looked from one twin to the other, at a loss."O-oh, someone did mention that he might be taken, but I dismissed it as baseless gossip at the time…"
"Well, they were right. He's ours!"
"Ours!"
The happiness he felt on hearing their declaration dampened somewhat when he noticed the look on Ciel's face. That expression of crushing disappointment, had she—
"Does this mean we won't get any more pictures on the group chat?"
Eh?
"Whoa, hold up." Miltia placed her arms in a time-out gesture.
"We keep hearing about pictures."
In unison, the sisters tilted their heads.
""Like, what are you talking about?""
The previous animosity vanished with the three young women putting their heads together, Ciel fishing out her scroll from a purse. Watching over their shoulders, Jaune saw her enter a chatroom, then tapping on a pinned message before handing it off to the two sisters. Their jaws near instantly dropped to the floor, as did his.
Holy hell, he thought Reese was joking when he let her, but she had been serious about posting those?
On the screen were a series of pictures, the result of a particular photoshoot done as a penalty game. It showed him dressed in almost nothing, posed on a pile of pillows and blankets whilst aiming a smouldering look at the camera. Subtle variations between shots chronologized his attempts at following Neptune's exacting instructions.
Those reactions beneath the photos were something else. What did the eggplant even mean?
"W-Wasn't this from the night you sent us that one picture?" Melanie muttered, a hitch to her voice, eyes riveted and unblinking.
"As I've said, I wasn't the one to send it. But yeah, there was this girl, Reese Chloris, at boy's night." And didn't that make him and the guys sound stupid in hindsight. "She snapped a couple shots of me and asked if- whaaat are you doing?"
Melanie and Miltia gave him identical sheepish grins, having surreptitiously navigated to a different page, one meant for generating invite links. They had been in the middle of entering their scroll numbers.
"Hehe. Sorry."
"But can we? Please?"
"I…sure." Everybody and their mother had seen it, anyways.
"Here, allow me." Ciel took the device back and, after learning their numbers, inputted the rest. A few seconds later, two dings came from the scrolls of the twins, who checked the message then high-fived each other.
Partly amused, partly exasperated, Jaune rolled his eyes and went along with their antics, thinking that would be the last of it. Suspicions to the contrary arose when he heard Ciel give a cough, sounding very fake.
"My classmates and I brought spare swimsuits. You're welcome to join us in enjoying the pool."
He waited for the other shoe to drop.
"We're using this chance to get promotional materials for posters and things so you might end up featured in one or two of them, but that shouldn't be a problem."
There it was. The sly woman already had Melanie and Miltia on board, judging by them bouncing on their heels. They turned to him and batted their eyes.
"Hey, Jaune…"
"How do you feel about taking a few pictures?"
"Or, like, a lot."
"A lot would be better."
Nobody asked you, Ciel.
The hopeful looks from Melanie and Miltia were what did it. He knew he would agree just to watch their smiles brighten the room, his promise to pamper them notwithstanding.
Yet, a thought occurred. Haggling was the way of the world, and a Yakuza was a selfish creature, always pursuing his own ends. Thus, brandishing his scroll, Jaune countered their request.
"Show me yours and I'll show you mine?"
-o-
Not far from Beacon's indoor pool lay the gymnasium. Its interior was a city now, ringed by buildings of different heights, wooden facades emulating bricks and stones. Stare at it long enough, and you might start to see the patterns in the little details, finding handholds in the most innocuous of objects. But, why?
"Because Vacuo is a freerunner's dream!" May Zedong explained. "If you're willing to take a few risks, you can travel from one side of the city to the other without ever touching the ground."
"Or having to talk to people. That's her actual reason for preferring high places," Brawnz Ni said before eating a shoe to his face. Afterward, a blushing May hopscotched over to retrieve the shoe and put it back on. She continued as if no interruption had taken place.
"The people at the fairgrounds are selling food and souvenirs from home already, so I figured we could let everyone experience another side to life in Vacuo. It's a much livelier place than most people expect. Your friends are blending right in."
Jaune laughed at that, and cannot help but agree. Melanie and Miltia, full of energy, were testing out the completed sections of the course, and seemed to be having a blast as they ran ahead, stopping for the barest instances to figure out their path. Windowsills, flag poles, ledges, deliberately-uneven bricks—whatever came to hand offered them ways of reaching the next rooftop. The stage was not intended for their brand of cooperation, the two blazing through the deadends and traps by using each other as jumping points and grips, compensating for their jeans and sneakers with physical prowess. He would watch this aerial dance of theirs for hours if he could.
"What about that thing, then?" he jerked a thumb at the structure occupying the center of the room. Platform stacked on top of platform, receding in size as they rise. Only the bottom two tiers were finished, but it allowed him to envision the finished product. A step pyramid. "Not gonna lie, Beanie Girl, I'm getting major 'human sacrifice ritual' vibes from it. Will we need to deal with a hellmouth on the first day of the festival?"
"Pft. No, Poser Boy. It's a scale model of Shade Academy, and we're using it to recreate a… an annual tradition of ours, you could say."
Jaune turned his body fully towards her, intrigued to hear more. A quirk of an eyebrow prompted May to carry on with her story.
"Each year, there's a game we play at Shade. We start from the bottom, and try to climb our way up. Most anything goes, and brawling is par for the course. The one that reaches the top and defends their spot there gets crowned as 'king' for the year. The title's a joke, but does come with VIP status at the casinos. Best rooms, topnotch service. It's great."
Vacuo sure earned their reputation as a lawless, bloodthirsty Kingdom. They straight up organized battle-royales in the middle of the city. What fun. Not for the first time, Jaune considered transferring schools.
"Do they let anyone join in?"
Understanding why he asked, a grin widened on May's face. "Entry rules are a bit looser than the Vytal Tournament. They only mention lower and upper age limits, and said nothing about citizenship. It takes place in the summer, if you're interested."
"I'll give this one here a try first before thinking about it."
"Fair enough. Don't cry when I win."
"You wish."
The sisters have managed to climb atop the highest finished building. They waved down to him now, oozing with smugness and basking in his applause.
"Not bad. They beat the time for some of my classmates."
"Heheheh. Amazing, aren't they? Melanie and Miltia could have been Huntresses if they wanted to." Miltia blew him a kiss, one he returned.
"You really are dating them?"
He frowned at May's odd tone of voice. "Yeah, I am."
Now, was that an 'I'm so sad I lost my chance' tone, or—he strained his ear to catch May whispering to herself.
"Would a second album still happen in that case?"
His palm met his face. Unable to look at the girl, he said, "Check the girls' chat group."
She did, and May's mortification at being caught did not prevent her from squeeing her heart out, making some weak excuses, and running off at once in order to peruse the new collection at her leisure.
Ciel Soleil took good photos.
From the gymnasium, a trip past the athletic fields back to the entrance hall, a quick run up the staircase, then a trek down a different wing landed them before the music room. This time, they could not even begin to guess what activity they might find, Mistral being a weird, weird place known for too many things. The twins, betting on the possibility of a cliche straight out of a Mistral school, were the ones to throw open the doors. Eager, they peered inside, Jaune poking his head between theirs to see.
The scene of a few dozen men in suits set their instincts screaming in alarm.
"Yakuza!?"
"How did they—?"
"Mel, Mil, behind me!" Jaune stepped forth to cover them and plunged a hand into his suit, grasping the everpresent long knife hidden there. They, too, prepared for battle while cursing that they left their weaponry at home.
No fight ensued, to their confusion.
A closer look revealed the 'Yakuza' as Haven students. Instead of weapons, they carried trays weighed down with wine glasses or microphones, practicing their poise. Others worked on their smiles in front of mirrors. Interspersed among them were the female half of the group, dressed in casual clothes and dealing with the set pieces. Couches, tables, and the like.
"Dude, what are you doing here?"
He should be the person asking that question, but on recognizing the voice he put the matter aside to jab a finger at its owner.
"You! We are going to have a talk…why are you wearing that?"
Reese Chloris, hair stylishly combed and rocking an all-white suit, dropped her face in her hands, groaning.
"Uuuugh. I dun wanna talk about it!"
Neptune Vasilias, passing by, hollered, "Keep a cool face on, Reese! 'Crossdressing prince' is the hot new thing, and we need to capitalize on it. That means none of your usual silliness."
He noticed Jaune's group, specifically the two pretty girls, and for an instant seemed about to come closer, a cool face of his own plastered on. Once he remembered who they were and saw the slasher grin Jaune was sporting, Neptune thought better of it, turning on his heels and speeding away.
The green-haired 'prince' tried to heed the advice given by her classmate, raising her head high, though she could not quite dispel the last vestige of a blush on her cheeks.
"T-There you have it," she said, morose. "Apparently, girls go wild for other girls dressed as boys. Somebody—frigging Neptune—told Cinder about the trend, and now I'm one of the hosts."
Haven was opening a host club for the festival? Wow, they're evil. That entire business model was designed to suck as much money out of their customers as possible in exchange for, not romance, but a fantasy approximation, all of it hinging on the attractiveness of…ohhhh.
Their group wanted to use the Pretty Boys Team, aka Team SSSN, to rake in the money. They had a fan club, didn't they? How positively diabolical.
A scan of the room confirmed the strategy. He located Sage and Scarlet practicing near the center, each heading up a division of hosts as their frontmen. Neptune's group was stationed close to the entrance, the purpose no doubt to attract passersby looking in once opening day arrived.
Jaune searched for the last member of that team, Sun Wukong, finding him far from the spotlight, in a corner. By all appearances, the other blonde was already hard at work as a host, attending to a woman in red.
Cinder Fall certainly seemed to be satisfied with the service, lost in her own world as she ordered Wukong to wait on her hand and foot. A smile stretched from ear to ear on her face. Some of their classmates hovered on the periphery of the scene, making half-hearted attempts at catching her attention to ask for further instructions. She ignored them, solely focused on one boy.
"Are they…?" he said to Reese.
"Don't ask. Nobody is sure what's happening there."
Jaune thought it over and was inclined to agree. Something about the woman evoked images of whips and candles. Best to leave that alone.
The considering glances the twins were giving Jaune worried him immensely.
"What are you two thinking?"
"Weeeell, you do look good in a suit." Hint, hint.
"And it annoys me how smug that bitch is acting." Hint, hint.
"You want me to be a host?" He scrunched his nose to show what he thought of that idea. Acting like some foppish poser? Couldn't be him.
Shut up. A Yakuza was not the same thing.
He would have refused. He intended to refuse. Yet, right as he prepared to deflect the two girls' request, Melanie pointed to Sun, and her words froze him solid.
"And we want you to outdo that guy."
…Heh. They always knew just what to say.
"Give me time to train. When this place opens for business, we'll show them."
"Cool. You guys have fun with that. I'll be over here, checking out these new pics. Shout if you need me."
Nobody asked you, Reese.
Author's Notes: A few episodes until that particular battle.
RWBY deserved a school festival. It was called the Vytal Festival taking place at a school, but all we got was a fighting tournament and a ramen meal on the fairgrounds. Then Beacon burned down to kill the school-life part of the show altogether. Boo! Boo!
Dipped a toe outside the RWBY fanfic scene with Dark Lords of the Isles, a Harry Potter story. There is also one RWBY idea left that needs to be tossed out before this year is done. Really do not like how long it's been sitting unwritten (ㆆ_ㆆ)