The Grimm Queen
Fencer
Writer
- Location
- 2nd shift
- Pronouns
- He/Him
AN: Mmmmm Meh. It's a worm x RWBY fic. Again from the days when RWBY was new and shiny. I don't really love this one. Despite giving it three chapters it's just... I feel like the POV changes from first to third person and back a few times throughout, and it's another one of those snippets that suffers from me trying to cram the whole backstory in right from the get go. Such a bad habit.
Teams had been assigned and the first years all prepared to head off to their dorms, when professor Ozpin asked that team RWBY and team JNPR join him in his office. Shrugging the eight students followed him.
Exiting the elevator, they teens took in the professor's office with varying levels of impressed looks. The massive gears in the ceiling made a symphony of creaks and groans that was oddly soothing. The desk itself was simple though the numerous glass windows gave an amazing view of the city of vale lit up with lights from storefronts and windows. Standing in front of one of the windows is a tall thin girl. She wears black combat boots and grey pants as well as a brown jacket.
Two weapons rest across her back, the first is a bullpup style sniper rifle, it rests in a harness of sorts over her left shoulder. The girls other weapon is a large bowie knife sheathed at the small of her back with the handle pointing to her right. Despite this, the girls most striking feature, at least from the back, though most likely the front as well, is her hair. Or rather it's the brown feathers she has instead of hair.
The girl turns revealing brown eyes, a small nose, and a green shirt underneath her half open jacket. On her waist is a metal emblem of a black feather with a jagged line of electric blue lightning wrapped across it. She takes in the new arrivals with cautious eyes and a tense posture.
"Teams RWBY and JNPR, may I introduce Taylor Chouette." Blake and Weiss both sucked in sharp breaths at the girl's name something that the now introduced Taylor does not fail to notice. She also notices Weiss fingering a small charm bracelet. "Miss Chouette, may I introduce team RWBY. Their leader Ruby Rose, her elder sister Yang Xiao Long, Weiss Schnee, and Blake Belladonna." The girls all nodded or waved. "And team JNPR, Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren."
"I feel I must apologize again, miss Chouette. I invited miss Ross to attend late, and unbalanced the number of potential students. I had assumed that as with most years we would see at least one student fail to pass initiation. However, this year's students proved remarkably capable."
"Sir, um, I'm not sure I understand-" Ruby started to ask.
"Of course, miss Rose. Students are grouped into teams of four. The number of students who participated in initiation when divided by four, left a remainder of one this year. In other words, there would always be at least one student who could not find a partner. In this case that student was miss Chouette. She retrieved a relic and returned to the clifftop on her own. Normally at least one student fails and this is not an issue, but in this case every student passed." Ozpin paused to sip his coffee.
"I'm hoping that one of your teams would be willing to take on an extra person until a spot opens up." Several of the teens winced at the reminder that they were very much at risk of death or debilitating injury in this line of work.
Taylor gave a hesitant smile to the rest of the group.
"Sure." Both team leaders responded without really giving it any thought whatsoever.
Taylor mouth dropped into an "o" and her eyes went wide in surprise. The look lasted only a moment before a genuine happy smile spread across her lips. Ozpin favored the young teams with his own slight smile.
"Well then, miss Chouette, do you have a preference?"
"Oh, well uh, rooming with all girls would make things simpler I guess." She said, but paused with a grimace. "Though only if she stops fingering her holdout weapon." Taylor said as she pointed to Weiss, getting confused and shocked looks from the rest of the room.
"How did you know?! Weiss demanded in an almost shriek.
Taylor calmly showed the group a ring depicting an eagles head on her right hand. Then, for just a moment, the ring sparked with electricity. "Saved my life once." She said as she reverently rubbed the ring with her thumb. "Since then I've gotten pretty good at spotting jewelry with hidden dust."
Shaking her head Weiss resumed glaring at the feathered girl. "Regardless, I refuse to share a dorm with you."
Taylor stiffened, a scowl on her lips.
"Weiss," Ruby's tone was a bit frigid. Ruby was tired, and her partner was being rude to the girl who lost her spot on a team because Ruby had been admitted two years early. Not only did Ruby feel she owed the girl, but not even an hour after being made team leader Weiss was already outright ignoring her decisions. Frankly, Ruby was a little annoyed. "You're being mean, and I already said she could stay with us." The little reaper growled… It was a more adorable than intimidating, but it got her displeasure across.
Weiss opened her mouth to respond but Taylor beat her to it. "It's fine, Ruby was it? I should have expected it from her." Taylor said giving the Schnee the stink eye. "I don't want to mess up your teamwork before you even get it sorted out. Jaune, right?" The blond nodded. "Any chance I can take you up on that offer?"
Jaune looked back and forth between the three girls before shaking off his confusion. "Ugh, yeah, sure. No problem." Taylor gave the blond a grateful nod.
"Don't be surprised if I shuffle you from team to team, miss Chouette. Your skills make you ideal for support, and I'd like to get you experience working with different groups." Ozpin stated sipping at his coffee. "Team RWBY, I'd like you to stay a moment, Team JNPR, miss Chouette, you are dismissed."
Taylor gave a curt nod before heading to the elevator with JNPR.
The door had barely shut before Weiss started talking. "Sir, what is she doing here! Surely you can't-"
"Enough." Ozpin's voice was firm. "Miss Schnee, your behavior just now was unacceptable."
Weiss squawked. "My behavior?! But she's-"
"I am well aware of her history, miss Schnee. Though I'm beginning to think you are only familiar with what others made of her actions, and not the actions themselves." Ozpin said with a slight frown. "In the future, you would do well to think before you speak, and make sure that you are in possession of all the facts. Now, you are all dismissed."
{}{}{}{}
"Weiss, what the was that about?!" Ruby shouted. "You made us all look bad in front of professor Ozpin! And you were totally rude to Taylor!"
"She's a murder!" Weiss shouted. "She's the one who inspired the filthy white fang to start attacking people!"
Before Ruby could even begin to respond Blake had moved across the room and slapped Weiss across the face. The smaller girl was knocked off her feet and stared up stunned and angry.
"Don't." Blake hissed. "Don't. You. Dare. That girl was a victim who had to fight for her life! So, don't you dare call her a murderer for what she did!"
"Enough!" Ruby shouted, rose petals flying off of her. Things had been going so well towards the end of initiation, and already they were falling apart. "We'll talk about this tomorrow, after class. For now, everyone just go to bed. It's been a long day and we need to be up early tomorrow." Blake and Weiss moved to beds on opposite sides of the room glowering at each other the whole way. Ruby visibly deflated once the two girls crawled into bed.
She had not expected to have to deal with this kind of thing when Ozpin made her team leader.
The little red reaper squeaked as her big sister gave her a hug from behind before relaxing into the calming embrace. She would work it out. She had too.
{}{}{}{}
"So, Taylor, why was Weiss so umm" Jaune trailed off searching for the right word.
"Bitchy?" Norra chirped, making Jaune palm his face and Taylor snort.
"It's a long story, and not something I like talking about." Taylor said dully. "Could we talk about this some other time." She asked looking away from the group.
Ren reached out and rested a hand on her shoulder. Taylor looked up at the boy in surprise. "You can tell us when you're ready." With a grateful nod, Taylor and the others turned in for the night.
{}{}{}{}
Classes for the two teams started off with an atmosphere of restrained tension. Weiss glared constantly at Blake, at Taylor, and even at Ruby. Blake was doing an admirable impersonation of a glacier and ignoring the fact that Weiss existed. Ruby was too distracted by thoughts of her team to pay any attention to professor Port's rambling. Instead she spent the class frowning and tapping at her notebook.
Team JNPR on the other hand could not help but shoot nervous glances back and forth between Taylor and Weiss. Taylor had chosen to simply ignore the heiress and was instead focused on a back corner of the room with a puzzled look on her face.
"Now then," Professor Port said as he wrapped up his story. "Normally I would ask for a volunteer. However, this year there is something I'm rather excited to see in person. Miss Chouette, I've heard a great deal about your semblance and I would greatly appreciate the chance to see it firsthand. Would you be willing to give us a small demonstration?"
Taylor gave an anxious look around the room at the now curious faces. Taylor did not want to show off her semblance. The usual response to her semblance was… Well fear, paranoia, disgust… Some people thought it was amazing, just not most. Still, she had been singled out in the middle of class. To back down would only make her classmates more curious. Better to get it out of the way now with a teacher on hand to spin how people thought about it.
With a resigned sigh, Taylor nodded and pulled her knife from her bag. The blade is ten inches long with a line of yellow dust running up both sides. Several students are surprised when she forgoes leaving to change into her combat clothes but keep the speculation down to low muttering.
Excitedly Port pulled out a cage from a back closet and with a swing from his axe/blunderbuss hybrid broke off the lock. A boarbatusk leapt from the cage with an indignant snort before locking its eyes on Taylor who stood there completely relaxed, bored even. After all she had already known what was in the cage. Her semblance let her sense the grimm, and what it was, now there was only one thing left for her to do.
Taylor's eyes took on a bloody red glow to match the grimms before both sets of red eyes flashed back to brown. The grim dropped to one of its front knees and lowered its head as if bowing. The classroom exploded into hushed conversations.
"My semblance lets me sense and control grimm." Taylor said loudly getting the classes attention and putting an end to the muttered debates. "Numbers aren't an issue. I've controlled whole hives of rapier wasps before, but there is a mass and distance limit, those have been growing the more practice I get with my semblance."
Around the classroom reactions were vastly varied. Most saw the combat potential of such a semblance, it would be a huge asset against the grimm. But following on the heels of that revelation was the question, what kind of damage could someone do with a semblance like that? A few even went so far as to question what it said about the girl as a person if the representation of her soul is to control evil and hate incarnate. Those asking the last question did not come to very charitable conclusions.
Back at the front of the classroom the grimm rolled onto its back, offering up its soft underbelly. Taylor drove her knife in and with a quick sure motion cut the grim from neck to tail. It did not so much as flinch or groan as it died.
"Stupendous! Wonderful!" Professor Port shouted as he clapped excitedly. "Miss Chouette, I sincerely hope that when you select a combat mission in the future you will keep me in mind as your teacher chaperone. I do believe the sight of grimm being used to kill other grimm would make for a magnificent story!"
With a small grin and a "Yes professor" Taylor rejoined her temporary team as the bell rang dismissing the class.
"Ren, this is fantastic! Do you realize what this means?!"
"...No?"
"Our team has two queens now! The queen of pancakes and grimm!" Nora shouted. The rest of her rant was lost to the wind as they rounded the corner.
Yang groaned theatrically and banged her head against her desk. "We could have had grimm fight each other in a pit or something, and sold tickets! Think of all the lien we could have made." She bemoaned. "I'll bet we could have gotten a pay per view deal! Imagine how many people would pay to see grimm kill each other! Not to mention setting up a betting pool!"
Ruby and Blake chuckled lightly at the blonde's antics. Weiss on the other hand scowled.
"Are you insane! This just proves she's evil! The representation of her soul is the ability to control monsters!"
Blake glanced at the disintegrating Boarbatusk before glancing back at Weiss. "I'm sorry for your loss, Weiss. I didn't realize your father was a literal pig." Her three teammates eyes went wide at the catty comment. Blake for her part sashayed out of the room ignoring the seething, and sputtering, heiress.
A moment later Weiss stormed from the classroom and Ruby slammed her forehead into her desk mumbling incoherently as her sister patted her on the back reassuringly.
{}{}{}{}
The first combat class was held an hour after lunch. Taylor looked out of her depth as she talked with Nora… well, listened to Nora talk. The rest of JNPR watched with varying levels of amusement.
Team RWBY by contrast were spread halfway across a bench with Weiss and Blake as far apart as they could get. Ruby was seriously considering locking the two in adjacent cages and leaving them there until they worked it out.
"Right then." Goodwitch wrapped up her explanation of the class and the various safety features and protocols. "We have just enough time for a match so"
"I challenge, Taylor Chouette!" Weiss shouted standing in her seat. Blake scoffed, Yang palmed her face, and Ruby put her head in her hands.
"Miss Schnee, while I admire your enthusiasm,"
"It's fine with me, professor." Taylor called out, surprising everyone.
Professor Goodwitch fixed Taylor with a small frown before finally nodding. Taylor left her sniper rifle with Ren. She didn't really trust Nora not to play with it, and headed for the arena floor.
Weiss stood in the perfect fencer's pose. Taylor had dabbled in fencing when she was learning to knife fight, and she had a hunch she knew exactly what the girl was about to do. Taylor matched Weiss, also getting into a fencing stance causing the heiress to grit her teeth assuming that Taylor was mocking her. Taylor remained impassive watching her opponent for any tells.
"Begin!"
The moment the word was uttered a glyph appeared underneath Weiss and launched her forward. Taylor expected something like this though and put her plan into action. She relaxed her leading leg and kicked her back foot back and to the side. Without any support gravity took hold and dragged her towards the floor even as she leaned forward and extended her knife arm. Slapping down the hand not holding her knife and re-tensing the muscles in her leg stopped her drop with her chest only a couple of feet off the floor.
A picture perfect passat asotto; a body displacement move. Weiss, not expecting it, hit nothing but air; her rapier flying through space previously occupied by Taylor's chest. Her headlong charge was uncontrolled thanks to the propulsion from her glyph and her abdomen slammed into Taylor's outstretched knife. Weiss's own momentum worked against her as she was almost bent over the knife blade and a significant chunk of her aura disappeared with the counter attack.
Taylor wasn't finished though. With a burst of aura, a lightning bolt launched from her knife and into Weiss causing the girl to scream and spasm from the electricity. Taylor took full advantage of the opportunity to get her feet back under her and slash away at Weiss. Her aura fell into the red before she regained control of her muscles.
When Professor Goodwitch called the match most of the class was stunned into silence with the notable exception of a wildly cheering Nora. Taking in the stunned looks Taylor just sighed before making her way back to her seat.
{}{}{}{}
"That was amazing!" Nora cheered as the group headed for the dorms. "She was all 'grr' and you were like 'meh' and then she went 'whoosh' and you just went 'nooope~' and then you were like 'bzzzzzzz!' And she was all 'hrrk' and you were all slice and dice!" Nora enthused, acting out the motions as she went.
Taylor chuckled weakly. "Really, it's not such a big deal. I'm familiar with her fighting style, and she really does not like me. Going into the fight pissed like that made her predictable. I'd bet she's a lot tougher to beat when she keeps a level head."
"Perhaps," Phyrra cut in. "But she challenged you. To challenge someone without being able to face them rationally shows poor judgment which is a serious flaw she needs to address."
"You!" Weiss shouted jumping in front of team JNPR and pointing dramatically at Taylor who just groaned.
"There is no way I can accept a loss like that!"
"Weiss, enough already!" Ruby shouted. Storming up to the heiress scowling adorably. "She won fair and square. You're just mad that you lost."
"That wasn't a fight! She got in one good hit then disabled me, that is not a fight!"
"Well then you probably won't ever get a 'fight' from me." Taylor deadpanned. "My whole style revolves around one hit kills and debilitating strikes like I used against you. Drawing out a fight is stupid and likely to get you killed."
"Sounds like the perfect style for a killer like you!"
For a long moment, no one moved as the accusation hung in the air. Then Taylor snatched the hand Weiss was using to point at her and held it tight. Lightning arced off the girl's ring and from it to the Schnee heiress. Taylor kept it up until Weiss passed out. Throwing the smaller girl over her shoulder Taylor turned to address team RWBY and JNPR.
"My last school I tried ignoring everything and just let the rumor mill go nuts. That, did not work out so well… I promised JNPR an explanation at some point, princess here isn't going to lay off until she hears the truth… If the rest of you want, I'll tell you too. But I'm going to ask that if people start talking you set the record straight for me. Because I don't like talking about this. That sound fair?"
Hesitantly both groups nodded and followed Taylor back to the dorms.
{}{}{}{}
Weiss woke up duct taped to a chair in JNPR's dorm room. Thankfully for everyone's ears, her mouth was also sealed by the wonderful silver tape.
"Oh finally, I thought she would never wake up!" Yang said. "Now we can have our story time!"
"It's a pretty crappy bedtime story, Yang. More like something to give kids nightmares." Taylor said. The blonde boxer only shrugged.
"Right, well, it all starts about three years was a string of murders out in Vacuo. Only pattern the police could find is all the victims are faunus, and all of victims had their animal trait cut off." Everyone even Weiss seems disgusted.
"Basically, the murderer considered herself a big game hunter, and it was open season on faunus, and she liked keeping trophies. So, one night I'm at home, in bed, and I hear a fight downstairs. I haven't made my own weapon yet so we have three in the house; Mom's old punch dagger was with me in my room, Dad kept his rifle close by, and my ring." Taylor says reverently rubbing at her ring. "The ring was something Dad gave me when I started going on runs early in the morning, to keep me safe."
"So, I get downstairs and Dad's fending of a hatchet with the body of his rifle. Only he's fighting a second-year huntress trainee and Dad's rifle was a piece of crap… She broke right through it. Next swing caught Dad in the neck."
Taylor stopped talking. For a good minute or two she simply stared at the floor as she tried to recompose herself. Ruby is crying silently in Yang's lap as the older girl hugs her sister close. Blake has her eyes closed and her head bowed. Pyrrha and Jaune are both horrified. Nora is uncharacteristically quiet with a look just as serious as her partners. Weiss is wide eyed and unable to look away from Taylor.
"That's when I jumped in. We fought, she kicked my ass. Broke Mom's dagger and had me pinned to the floor. I managed to grab the barrel of Dad's rifle and took a swing at her. That was the first time all night she used her semblance. She turned into some kind of mist. Blow went right through her. I was scared, angry, and desperate. I converted all of the yellow dust in my ring into electricity and sent it right through the gun barrel and into her chest. It knocked her out of her shadow state, with the gun barrel still going through her lung, and me still channeling electricity straight into her. Stopped her heart and cooked her right lung." Taylor relaid with a sort of detachment as she looked out the dorm window at nothing. No one said a word.
"Once the story got out my name, my story, became a rallying point for the extremists in the white fang. Little faunus girl fighting back against a bigger more skilled human, avenging the murder of her own father and more than twenty other faunus? I was better than a martyr I was a living symbol of defiance. Then Vacuo tightened up their psych evaluations for hunter trainees to prevent similar incidents. Twenty-six faunus and one human death. That's all it took for a real change to happen." Taylor spat bitterly.
"That was the tipping point, the extremists had real tangible proof that violence can force a change in the government. Suddenly their arguments are legitimized, they won more faunus over to their way of thinking, they had momentum. And before you know it a group of peaceful protestors became freedom fighters and terrorists. Had recruiters after me for years, always told them the same thing; 'I'm only interested in killing monsters.'" Taylor shook her head.
"Semblance showed up maybe a year later. Best the shrinks can tell is I was sick of being afraid, I wanted to control my fear. So, my semblance gave me a way to literally control something I was afraid off. Course most people just assume it's because I'm some kind of monster and the grimm are just acknowledging my superiority." Taylor scoffed before getting up out of the chair she had been sitting in. All eyes followed her every nervous twitch.
"Like I said before, I don't like talking about this, so if you hear any rumors popping up do me a favor and set the record straight… It got, real lonely at my last school… I'm going to hit the rifle range for a while." Taylor stood and left the room letting the door close with a quiet click.
Minutes passed in silence as the group digested what had been said. Finally Blake went over and ripped the tape off Weiss's mouth.
"Ow!" Weiss took a moment to stretch her jaw. "You knew." The words were directed at Blake, not as an accusation, just as a statement of fact.
"... Not any of the details of the fight but the rest, yeah I did."
"How?"
Blake hesitated for a moment before pulling off her ribbon getting surprised exclamations from the rest of the group.
"I grew up as a member of the white fang. The first Rally I remember attending was when I was eight." Blake's lips twitched up slightly at the fond memories of better days. "Then after years of slow progress, we hear about a girl, my age, who fought and killed a huntress trainee that had been murdering faunus for sport. They told us how because of her actions Vacuo was making a real change. They made her out to be a hero, she was my hero… And at first the violence was, not so bad. Destroying or stealing from companies that mistreated faunus workers, selling what we stole to help faunus that were down on their luck, orphanages that took in faunus children, things like that. Then time went on and the violence got more extreme. Buildings burned to the ground people responsible for our mistreatment abducted for ransom, funds used to get better weapons and gear rather than to help people. There was always a justification, and it was a slow shift. It was so easy to get caught up in it all." Blake shook her head.
"But then that wasn't enough. It wasn't about targets that would make a difference, or helping people. It was just about making humans hurt, making them pay, and then I realized that's all it had ever been about… So, I got out, deserted and took the Beacon entrance exam, said I trained outside the kingdoms, wasn't a lie anyway."
Blake plopped back down onto a bed and rubbed at her eyes with the palms of her hand.
"Don't know if it helps but I've never been to Atlas. I never tried to kill anyone. Though I know I hurt a few people pretty badly before I got out..."
Blake shook her head once more before retying her ribbon. "I need some air." She said before she left.
With that final revelation, out of the way the group lapsed into silence, all lost in their thoughts.
{}{}{}{} Ch. 2
Beacon's indoor shooting range was impressive. Twenty firing lines and a maximum range of a thousand yards.
Taylor's sniper rifle was capable of longer shots, but this was about maintaining her skill, not pushing her limits. At the end of Taylor's firing line was a life-sized paper cut out of a beowulf. Taylor was laid out on a mat, her sniper rifle, Thunder, was supported at the front by a tripod. With a well-practiced motion, Taylor slid back the bolt chambering her first round.
Thump thump.
Thump Thump.
Thump Thump.
Thump Pull Thump.
The rifle barked as the .408 round broke the sound barrier. A moments delay and the paper shifted slightly as the bullet tore through it.
Immediately Taylor ejected the spent shell casing and minutely adjusted her aim.
Another bullet flew down range, and another, and another. Seven rounds punched through the target. With a flip of a switch the target returned to her.
"You're a remarkably good shot." Blake said from behind Taylor, startling the sniper. Taylor spared a glance over her shoulder before unclipping the paper target and pointing to two holes, one in each of the targets red eyes.
"You see how the holes nick the white of the bone armor? I'd never try a shot like that on a real grimm. At least not yet, not at this range. The shot nicked it with no wind or movement to compensate for. Normally my .408 rounds can punch through light bone armor and a glancing scrape like that wouldn't even slow them down. Though if my shot is off by a bit more and taken from the side, it might glance off the forehead where the armor is thickest…" She gestured with her hand at the picture to demonstrate the hypothetical trajectory. "Something like that's rare, but it can happen. Much better to aim for the neck or heart."
"Grimm have hearts? I mean, I didn't know anyone had managed to dissect one, they fade so fast and the internal stuff goes first…"
"Ahh, bit of something my semblance helped me figure out. It gives me a feel for where everything is, what makes them tick, what they're capable of. It's, not like a human heart. They don't have blood, just that mist they give off when you kill them…" Taylor grimaced slightly. "I think, anyway. Dissected a lot of rapier wasps while I kept them under my power, but it's not a perfect test. They really do decay quickly, and rapier wasps are so small. I'm hoping to get a beowolf into an x-ray or an MRI one day to confirm some of my theories."
Blake nodded thoughtfully. "That's what these shots were for, right?" She asked pointing to the four holes almost dead center of the chest. Taylor hummed a confirmation as she placed a paper target depicting an ursa in the old one's place before sending it back down to the end of the range.
The two lapsed into silence as Taylor slotted in a fresh magazine and took aim at her new target. Seven shots later the target was on its way back to the girls.
"So, what are you here for Blake?" Taylor asked with forced calm. She didn't like talking about her past. Predicting people's reaction to the fact she had killed someone, even in self-defense, was difficult. Blake seeking her out so soon after had her on edge.
Blake for her part kept her silence for a long moment before moving into the girls view and picking up an edge of her bow to show off one of her cat ears for just a moment.
"... I was one of the ones they hooked with your story. I left them about six months back when I finally woke up to reality." Taylor said nothing. This was new ground for the girl. She had met recruiters before, but never defectors.
"I, said some things to Weiss over the past couple of days. She had an easy time realizing that I already knew part of your story. She wanted to know how I knew. I, came clean to them." Blake winced slightly. "I don't know why I did it. They might have figured it out eventually, and that could have been worse, but…" Blake trailed off.
Taylor waited awhile to see if the girl would say any more before speaking. "After everything happened I got sent to a psychologist. Took me awhile to really start talking, but once I did it was hard to stop." Taylor worked as she spoke, this time setting up a normal bullseye. "It's a, cleansing feeling, talking about stuff. Maybe you just needed it." Taylor offered, before chambering a round. "Though you still haven't answered my question."
Another silence as Taylor emptied the clip into her target. Rather than reeling it back in she shifted to a kneeling position and fired seven more rounds.
Nodding happily, she pulled the target back in still waiting for Blake's response.
"Why didn't you join?" Blake asked rather than answering. "I knew people with almost no reason at all who joined, you had more reason than most. That you didn't… I always wondered why."
Taylor smirked lightly.
"I'm only interested in killing monster." It was almost a joke to the feathered girl judging by her tone, but from Blake's confused look it's obvious she was missing the punch line. "And as far as I'm concerned, I've only ever killed monsters."
Taylor sent another target down range but did not get into a firing position. Instead she leaned against a wall and looked at Blake fully. "It's not the healthiest mindset… I make a point not to apply that label to any other people, but it helps me sleep at night. Keeps the nightmares away. Compared to her? Weiss's father, and some ignorant racist shits? They might be bastards, but monsters? No." She shook her head, feathers swaying more stiffly than hair would, before the corner of her lip twitched upwards. "Having a shrink to talk to might have helped too."
Blake was silent for a moment before nodding. Taylor shifted back into a kneeling firing stance. The two shared a companionable silence for a time as Taylor put holes in paper. Eventually though Blake broke the silence.
"We should see if we can get Ruby into a shooting match with you sometime. Be interesting to see who's the better shot."
Taylor blinked at the other girl for a moment before giggling lightly at the comment so out of place with their earlier discussion. The noise pulled a small chuckle from Blake, which in turn lead Taylor to outright laughing. As the mirth subsided and Blake waved goodbye both girls felt as if their burdens were slightly lighter than they were before.
{}{}{}{}
Weiss wandered beacon's halls with no destination in mind, and a great deal to think about.
She had heard her father curse Taylor's name on many an occasion for inciting some terrorist act or another. In the Schnee household her name had been synonymous with the White Fang.
And now she didn't know what to think. She had pulled up old news reports and even a police report by pulling a few strings. All of it seemed to confirm Taylor's story. She wasn't, and never had been, a member of the White Fang.
But Blake had been. Her teammate had admitted to committing crimes as part of the White Fang. She swore she had left the group because they had become too violent, too cruel. Blake seemed to feel genuinely guilty for what she had done. But did that make it acceptable for her to get away with her crimes?
Weiss growled at the thought of any member of the White Fang not being punished to the full extent of the law.
Still, Blake had not just run and hid in some backwater town. She had instead signed up to become a huntress. She had signed up to put her life on the line protecting the kingdoms! Was it her form of penance? Was it just a job for which she possessed the required skills? Was it some sort of deterrent to her former compatriots in case they wanted revenge?
With a hiss of frustration Weiss spun on her heel and began to pace.
Her options were limited. She could not leave Beacon. To do so for any reason would be a disgrace. That kind of stain on her records would make it extremely difficult to get into one of the other hunter academies, or to re-enter Beacon at a later date. An apprenticeship under a qualified huntsman was possible, but exceedingly difficult to obtain. Leaving Beacon would not impress any prospective instructors. So, leaving Beacon to get away from the two was not an acceptable option… It also would feel a great deal like running, something that she could not stand the thought of.
Shaking her head as if to clear it Weiss tried to approach the problem from a different angle.
Taylor was not guilty of anything, but Blake had admitted to being a terrorist. Could she be thrown out of Beacon, arrested? Oddly enough, that idea also felt like running. Blake had never wronged her, and… And if it was so easy for Weiss to be led to believe that Taylor was a cold-blooded killer who incited violence… How easy would it be to paint the same girl as a hero who fought for a cause, someone to be emulated, instead of hated?
Weiss hated thinking this way. It went against everything she knew. It went against her very upbringing! But she had been taught to think things through from all angles. True the lessons were meant to be applied to business and politics, but they were serving her well in this too. Except that so far rather than make things simpler they had only made them more complicated and confusing.
Getting Blake removed from Beacon was her first instinct… But after being so utterly wrong about Taylor, who just yesterday she was ready to declare had no business being a student at Beacon… What if she was wrong again, and all her actions did was hurt Blake? Did the girl really deserve to have her best chance to do something positive with her life taken from her?
What would happen if she did get Blake thrown out or arrested? There would be an empty space on the team… Which Taylor would then fill.
Weiss winced at the very idea. After today, awkward and tense would be putting things mildly. Ruby and Yang would, probably, not be happy with her either if she was responsible for anything bad happening to Blake. She would be alone, again. Even on a team with three other girls she would be all alone.
No! That was unacceptable! She was tired of being alone!
Unbidden Weiss's mind went back to Taylor and Blake. She wondered if maybe they were lonely too?
{}{}{}{}
Ruby idly poked a strawberry back and forth across the plate in front of her. She had ditched Yang for some time alone to think. That had not been easy, Yang hadn't wanted to let Ruby out of her sight. But Ruby didn't need mothering right now, she also did not want it. She needed to figure out how to bring her team together.
Dropping the berry and her head Ruby let her mind wander.
Maybe a game of truth or dare? That would-be team bonding, right? Right! … Until Weiss asked Blake how many dust shipments she had stolen… Or Blake dared Weiss to kiss a faunus.
The image of a fuming Weiss kissing a smirking Blake just to shut her up, and leaving both girls blushing drew a small snort from Ruby.
It would be pretty romantic, it would certainly solve at least some of her problems… Maybe as a last resort. though she would need Yang's help to pull it off. Hmm it would need a catchy name… Monochrome? Maybe but what was the word for the black and white cats where the white is all over their chest, like a furry little tuxedo? A quick scroll search proved the answer to be Felix…. that sounded stupid … Snow leopard! Yeah, that worked.
Buuuut its still wasn't a very good plan for fixing the team, mostly because it probably wouldn't work. Ruby didn't even know if either of her teammates liked girls. Ruby deflated further resting her head on the table. Oh well, it was a stupid plan anyway.
Unbidden Ruby's mind turned to a different topic. One she might hopefully make more headway on.
Taylor had killed someone.
Most of the time the girl seemed shy and nervous, but the second someone started pushing at her she pushed back, hard. She'd given Weiss three strikes. In Ozpin's office, she had snubbed Weiss, in combat class she'd beaten Weiss and made it look easy. When Weiss called her a killer? Taylor knocked Weiss unconscious and duct taped her to a chair.
Taylor had killed someone. Yes, it was in self-defense, and yes the person she killed was a mass murderer! So why did the idea of Taylor killing still feel wrong? Why did Ruby still feel like she should be saying there had to be some other way?
And the girl Taylor killed was a huntress trainee! Were there others like that? Maybe even full-fledged hunters? Would she ever have to do the same thing Taylor had?
That was a bad thought for Ruby. Beating up bad guys and throwing them in jail? All over that. Killing enough grimm to fill all of Beacon? Where's the ammo? But to actively try and kill someone?
For the first time in a long time Ruby wondered if she had what it took to be a huntress. And for what felt like the hundredth time in less than twenty-four hours she wondered if she could actually lead her team.
"Problems, miss Rose?"
"Professor Ozpin!" Ruby sat straight up. "No! No problems here! No sir!" Ozpin simply arched a single eyebrow as he stood across from the young girl. It only took a moment for her to slump. "Well, maybe a few." Nodding the professor took the seat across from the young girl.
"Perhaps I can be of assistance?"
"I, maybe? I'm just-" she sighed. "I don't know if I'm ready to be here, or lead a team." Ruby's voice was small and vulnerable.
"I see, and what brought this on?"
"Taylor, and my teammates… Weiss was, is, angry. First at Taylor, then Blake and Taylor, now maybe just at Blake. I don't know if I can actually lead them… And Taylor! She, she had to, to kill someone. If she had to, t-then maybe I'll have to-" Ruby choked on the word not able to get it out, not wanting to admit out loud she might one day have to kill someone. A small irrational part of her mind telling her as long as she did not admit it, it would not be real. "She seems so normal, but she…" Ruby shakes her head in a futile attempt to clear it, or at least restore some kind of equilibrium.
Ozpin favored the young girl with a sad smile.
"Tell me, miss Rose, how do you keep someone with super strength, speed, or the ability to teleport, or any number of other abilities, in jail?"
Ruby's nose scrunched up at the seeming non-sequitur. Before understanding started to dawn on her. "You, can't. Or at least not all of them… Not the same way. You'd need different security for everyone."
Professor Ozpin only nodded. "It is extremely difficult, verging on impossible, to keep trained huntsmen and huntresses locked up, especially in groups. It is done, but infrequently. Often times small slip ups earn the hunter a harsh warning and some sort of sanction. Hunters who become unstable though, such as the woman miss Chouette encountered, are almost always, put down."
"You mean killed." Ruby muttered staring desolately at her plate.
"Yes. There is little else we can do in such cases. It is not often necessary, but when it does happen we act as quickly as possible, before the public catches wind of it. Miss Chouette's case is one of the few instances where news of a rogue huntress made it to the public. It incites panic which draws the grimm. In the following three months grimm activity increased by five percent around Vacua. And the girl responsible was only a trainee." Ozpin lectured before adopting a lighter more reassuring tone.
"Miss Rose, incidents like that are extremely rare, and they are only handled by the most experienced huntsmen and huntresses. You are a more than a decade away from even being considered for such a mission. And even then, you would likely be able to refuse it."
Ruby nodded somewhat calmer, though still worried about the possibility.
"As for your team and your abilities as a leader. It has only been two days. Give your teammates, and yourself, time to adjust to your new situation and roles. The only other advice I can offer is that as a leader you must strive to hold yourself to a higher standard. It encourages your team to be the best they can be, and it inspires confidence in yourself. Your team needs to know that you are working hard, not just for your benefit, but for theirs as well."
Ruby took her time to digest that bit of advice before slowly nodding. And for the first time all night the beginnings of an actual plan started to take shape in her mind.
"Thank you, professor. I, I think I need to go find my team." Ozpin favored Ruby with a small understanding smile.
"Of course, miss Rose."
{}{}{}{}
Yang was the last to arrive at the dorm room. She had been working out her anger and confusion the way she normally did, with a punching bag.
The exercise had left her sweaty and had taken the edge of her emotions, but there was still a lot going on that she had difficulty with. Things had just gotten so, complicated. It was a lot to process. The text from Ruby saying they were having a mandatory team meeting in the dorm had been a surprise. She loved her little sister but hadn't been expecting Ruby to tackle the tension in the team head on like this. She was also not sure if she expected this to fix things, or backfire spectacularly… Ruby was not the best with people after all.
The scene in the room was… Honestly not what Yang had expected. Blake and Weiss sat on their respective beds at opposite ends of the room… But Blake wasn't wearing the aloof, 'you are the dirt beneath my feet' look she had sported earlier as part of her cold shoulder treatment. Instead the faunus looked tired.
Weiss still looked angry, but she wasn't glaring at anyone either. She also seemed, nervous? She kept fidgeting which was completely at odds with how she had sat in class.
Ruby was pacing back and forth in front of the door. "Yang, take a seat." It was not the tone Yang was used to hearing from her baby sister. It was an order, and Ruby seemed to expect her to follow it. More bemused than anything else Yang listened and sat cross legged in the middle of her bed next to Blake's. Ruby paced the length of the room a few more times before coming to a stop and facing them.
"OK… This has been, not a great few days." Ruby began letting more emotion into her voice. "I, I learned a lot today though. I learned that sometimes Hunters have to kill other Hunters, because it's almost impossible to keep us locked up if we go crazy, and because we can't let the civilians lose faith in us. Because if they do, they get scared and that, that draws in the grimm." Ruby let out a long shaky breath. Her voice had cracked once or twice during her explanation.
Everyone digested that information in silence.
"Professor Ozpin explained that to me just before I called the meeting. He also said we needed time to adjust to, everything. And that if I'm going to be a leader I have to always try and be at my best." Ruby sighed and rubbed at her eyes.
"Well, I got into beacon two years early. I'm missing two years of classroom lectures. Blake, I'm not even sure you've been in a classroom?" The faunus shook her head in the negative. "Weiss, have you ever been out in the field?"
"... Not before initiation, no." She looked embarrassed.
"I've got two years of classroom lectures up on Blake, and I've got a fair amount of field experience against grimm under my belt. So, I'm somewhere in the middle of you two. Out of all of us Yang has the most well rounded training." Yang preened slightly at that.
"We all have things we need to learn to succeed here. And I'll bet between the four of us we know most of it already." Weiss and Blake looked confused, but Yang was starting to grin madly. Her baby sister might just be onto something.
"Weiss, you have a week to find or create a comprehensive test on the academic essentials. Blake, you have the same amount of time to set up a test on things like map reading and wilderness survival. Yang," the blonde boxer looked up wondering what job her sister had in mind for her. "Personalized workouts based around our builds and fighting styles. The one you made up for me has worked wonders, and I want to make sure we are all at our best." Yang nodded happily. She knew her fitness and she could definitely help the team that way.
"Once that's done we start teaching each other." Weiss and Blake both tried to protest but Ruby just talked over them. "We are a team! That means we have to trust each other. So, all four of us are going to work together, to do our class assignments, to catch each other up on what we don't know, to get in shape, and to deal with any issues." Ruby glared at the two before dropping it for a concerned look.
"I'm still trying to learn how to be a team leader." She admitted. "But it won't matter if I become the best leader ever, if I don't have a team to lead. I need you, we all need each other. We have to make this work. Can, can you at least try?"
Yang and Ruby seemed to hold their breath as Blake and Weiss shared a cautious glance then slowly looked back to their leader before nodding hesitantly. The sisters let out shared sighs.
"Oh, thank Oum. I didn't know what I was going to do if that didn't work!" Ruby moaned before flopping face first into her bed. Yang only just caught the slight twitch of Blake's lips, and Weiss's tiny amused snort. Yang actually laughed lightly; both at her sister, and her teammates. Maybe, just maybe, this would work out after all.
{}{}{}{} Ch 3
More than a hundred rounds, and a long walk around the campus later Taylor finally re-entered the dorm room she shared with team JNPR. She wasn't avoiding her roommates, really, she wasn't! She was just... Giving them time to adjust to the new information. She would electrocute anyone who said otherwise.
She slipped the door open the bare minimum to slip inside and kept her head down only glancing up out of the corner of her eye as she entered. Ultimately the attempt at a subtle entrance was pointless as team JNPR had zeroed in on her as soon as the door opened. Taylor cringed at the attention.
Ren and Nora displayed impressively impassive masks. Phyrra showed a great deal of concern, and Jaune fidgeted awkwardly. For a moment no one moved or spoke than Nora stood and moved towards Taylor with purposeful steps. Taylor expecting the worst cringed and looked away from the girl. She then immediately squeaked in surprise as Nora swept her up into a hug.
"It's OK." The orange haired girl said, her voice uncharacteristically firm and serious. "This doesn't change anything."
Taylor snorted a in a mix of amusement and relief. "Liar, it made you serious, if that's not a change nothing is." The sarcastic quality of the words was lost as her voice almost broke from relief. Nora pulled back to give Taylor a stunningly bright grin. "Thank you." Taylor said sincerely. The others simply nodded to show their support and the room descended into companionable silence.
It was everything Taylor could have hoped for. It was a relief. Right then and there she decided that these were people she wanted to know, wanted to keep close. They had her back, and she fully intended to have theirs if and when they needed her.
{}{}{}{}
Breakfast was as it had been the day before; Ren silent and methodical as he ate, Nora chattering bubbly away as she devoured her meal, Pyrrha and Jaune quietly discussing class as they picked at their food. Taylor watched it all, smiling over a cup of black tea, reveling in the feeling of being accepted.
That feeling of serenity shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces when the members of team RWBY took the seats around her and her temporary team, especially because Weiss had decided to sit directly across from her. Taylor's scowl made her opinion perfectly apparent to everyone, and had JNPR sitting stiffly, waiting to see how things played out.
"I'm sorry." Weiss said, miserably, her head bowed. "My father, he uses your name interchangeably with the White Fang… I, listened to him, and didn't even think to check my facts. I'm sorry for what I said, and how I've been acting towards you."
Taylor's mouth hung slightly open and her eyes were wide as she tried to process just what kind of parallel universe she may have slipped into. Ruby fairly beamed with happiness and pride for her partner.
"I, um wow. I just, wasn't expecting that. Umm, apology accepted, I guess." She said looking thoroughly out of her depth.
Weiss gave a firm nod before focusing on her breakfast to the exclusion of anything else.
Ruby's squeal of delight was followed by her glomping Weiss and babbling about being proud of her. The young leader still had to worry about the relationship between Blake and Weiss, but this was a good start after yesterday.
Weiss spluttered for a moment before shoving Ruby off. Ruby not put out in the slightest shifted focus to Taylor, a wide grin on the young leader's face.
"What's your farthest Grim kill shot?" Taylor's grin slowly grew to match the young leader's.
"Mile and a quarter." She said radiating smug. "You?" Ruby's jaw dropped open just a little before she wined lowly.
"Four fifths of a mile." She pouted. "How did you manage a shot that far?" Several of the other teens were paying attention too now. Taylor grinned cheekily.
"Because Thunder is a sniper rifle, and only a sniper rifle."
"Wait, no mechashift?!" Ruby shouted sounding aghast.
"Mmhmm. Well, that and .408 rounds are made almost exclusively for sniping whereas .50 cal is more likely to come out of a machine gun, so the rounds I'm using are held to higher quality control standards." Ruby gaped before shaking her head.
"Ok, I knew about the differences in the ammo, but I use the recoil from the .50 cal rounds to boost my speed. A smaller round wouldn't work as well for that, but what does the mechashift have to do with anything?" Ruby pouted.
"Ahh, well the mecha shift itself, not a lot. The issue is that because it's also a melee weapon you spend a lot of time swinging it around and slamming it into things. No matter how well made it's always going to cause something to come a bit loose. That's fine if you're some machine gunner hosing things down at a couple hundred yards, but for those long shots? Every little bit counts. Though I'd bet you can eek out a full mile if you tuned everything and didn't swing it around before making the shot." The feathered girl advised kindly. Ruby was now thoroughly pouting as she nibbled at a strawberry. Pyrrha hummed thoughtfully before asking her own question.
"Does that mean your only weapon for close combat is your knife? That doesn't seem like enough."
"I can personally assure you that it is plenty." Weiss deadpanned. Taylor, Yang, and Nora chuckled a little at that.
"My knife, and my semblance. I don't want to carry less ammo for Thunder, and a second gun would mean carrying at least double the ammo, or making do with less ammo for sniping. I've thought about making a second knife, or maybe even a short sword to use with my knife, but I've never been able to decide quite what I want." Taylor admitted with a shrug.
Ruby stared at the feathered teen before pulling out a pad and pen to start sketching while mumbling to herself as she worked.
"Oh, oh! Ooooor you could use a Grimm to carry all the ammo you could ever want! We could get you an Ursa, and make it saddlebags! And a saddle! Then you could ride it!"
Taylor just blinked. "Why the hell didn't I think of that." She said, frowning.
"It would slow you down though. Ursa aren't exactly known for being distance runners." Blake reminded.
"Yeah but think how much ammo one could carry. It'd be like a walking armory! Maybe even enough for two teams!" Taylor hummed thoughtfully. "If my range was better it might make for a decent suicide bomber against hordes too."
"Have you considered using a different kind of dust? I know lightning dust is hard to control for distance attacks. It's why I mostly stick to ice and fire dust." Weiss asked. Taylor nodded thoughtfully.
"Lightning dust, makes me feel safe." She hedged. "It's saved me more than once. Honestly, I never really tried to branch out. Though I guess it couldn't hurt to try using other types."
From there the conversation moved on to classes and the group of teens truly began to relax around each other. Blake and Weiss kept their distance from each other, but Ruby's request that they make an effort hung over both. For now, at least they could be civil while they evaluated each other. Taylor still wasn't sold on being friendly with Weiss, but figured the apology earned her a second chance.
"Hey, Taylor, umm?" Ruby fidgeted looking a bit nervous about whatever she was going to say.
Taylor had to fight hard not to give in to the sinking sensation in her stomach as she wondered if Ruby was going to turn on her now. She had seemed alright before, but maybe she was just putting on a brave front? She was after all the youngest in the group. It made sense Ruby would have the most trouble accepting that Taylor had killed someone. "Yes, Ruby?" She asked, trying not to let her rising fear into her voice.
"I umm, I've only met a few people who, you know, aren't named for colors." Instantly all the tension bled out of Taylor and a bemused, if exasperated look slid onto her face.
"So, you're wondering where my name comes from then?"
"Yes?" Taylor gave a fond sigh followed by a light chuckle.
"My Mom never really liked painting or drawing. She appreciated it, but she always said the only art that moved her was the written word. She taught literature, she loved the classics, the old dramas and romances. She studied the novels from before the war as much as she could. Always digging through old shelters and refugee tunnels, always hitting estate sales and rummage sales looking for lost works." Taylor smiled fondly lost in old memories.
"She would do her best to restore them, copy them so that they would still be there for future generations. Letting those stories die, even the ones she hated, was unthinkable. About a year before I was born she stumbled across a story that was written right before the war kicked off. Right before they started burning the books and the paintings. She thinks most copies were destroyed before they could be sold, it's a miracle the one she found survived at all, though the cover was badly damaged and she never found the title or author of the book. She worked on copying it all through her pregnancy, and she fell in love with the story and its characters."
"What was it about?" Blake cut it. As a book lover Taylor's story was really catching her interest.
Taylor smiled wryly. "It's about a world where semblances exist, but the Grimm don't. Not like we know them. Humanity has spread across the whole map, there are hundreds of cities and billions of people." The idea of so many people, of a world without Grimm gets smiles from everyone.
"But it's not perfect." Taylor continued on not wanting them to get the wrong idea. "Instead people use their semblances to stop or commit crimes. Sometimes whole cities are practically controlled by gangs. There was even mentions of a small country ruled by just one person with a really powerful semblance." Taylor's words destroyed the idyllic image the others had been developing. "There are also three monsters. Creatures with powers of their own and seemingly impossible to kill that can destroy whole cities and sink islands. The governments are ineffective and there are people all over manipulating things to suit themselves. It's a mess of a world that's slowly falling apart, with a few people trying to cover up the cracks."
That brought the mood right back down.
"That doesn't seem like a very nice story." Ruby mumbled.
"Yeah, it sounds really dark." Jaune agreed. Taylor only shrugged. The two weren't wrong, but the story was all about the darker sides of humanity, about how even against things that threaten humanity like the 'Endbringers', or the endless Grimm they represented, humanity could not put aside their differences to fight a common enemy. Or at least not for very long. The message might not be pleasant, but that did not make it any less accurate.
"The main character is this fifteen year old, idealistic girl named Taylor. She dreams of being a hero. She gets sucked into things way over her head and has to fight her way out. She grows from this awkward, naive girl with no confidence into a level headed tactician, a vicious fighter, and a real survivor. Mom wanted me to be strong, just like the Taylor from the story."
Taylor smiled warmly down at her tray, lost in memories of happier times when her mother was still alive.
Blake hummed thoughtfully. "I'd love to read it sometime. It sounds like an excellent book."
Taylor smiled warmly back. "I don't think it ever made it into reprint, but there is a website my Mom and some of her colleagues set up for it, and all their other finds on the net. I'll send you a link."
Before conversation could shift to another topic Phyrra pointed out the time and the group choked down the last of their breakfasts before heading off to class.
Teams had been assigned and the first years all prepared to head off to their dorms, when professor Ozpin asked that team RWBY and team JNPR join him in his office. Shrugging the eight students followed him.
Exiting the elevator, they teens took in the professor's office with varying levels of impressed looks. The massive gears in the ceiling made a symphony of creaks and groans that was oddly soothing. The desk itself was simple though the numerous glass windows gave an amazing view of the city of vale lit up with lights from storefronts and windows. Standing in front of one of the windows is a tall thin girl. She wears black combat boots and grey pants as well as a brown jacket.
Two weapons rest across her back, the first is a bullpup style sniper rifle, it rests in a harness of sorts over her left shoulder. The girls other weapon is a large bowie knife sheathed at the small of her back with the handle pointing to her right. Despite this, the girls most striking feature, at least from the back, though most likely the front as well, is her hair. Or rather it's the brown feathers she has instead of hair.
The girl turns revealing brown eyes, a small nose, and a green shirt underneath her half open jacket. On her waist is a metal emblem of a black feather with a jagged line of electric blue lightning wrapped across it. She takes in the new arrivals with cautious eyes and a tense posture.
"Teams RWBY and JNPR, may I introduce Taylor Chouette." Blake and Weiss both sucked in sharp breaths at the girl's name something that the now introduced Taylor does not fail to notice. She also notices Weiss fingering a small charm bracelet. "Miss Chouette, may I introduce team RWBY. Their leader Ruby Rose, her elder sister Yang Xiao Long, Weiss Schnee, and Blake Belladonna." The girls all nodded or waved. "And team JNPR, Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, and Lie Ren."
"I feel I must apologize again, miss Chouette. I invited miss Ross to attend late, and unbalanced the number of potential students. I had assumed that as with most years we would see at least one student fail to pass initiation. However, this year's students proved remarkably capable."
"Sir, um, I'm not sure I understand-" Ruby started to ask.
"Of course, miss Rose. Students are grouped into teams of four. The number of students who participated in initiation when divided by four, left a remainder of one this year. In other words, there would always be at least one student who could not find a partner. In this case that student was miss Chouette. She retrieved a relic and returned to the clifftop on her own. Normally at least one student fails and this is not an issue, but in this case every student passed." Ozpin paused to sip his coffee.
"I'm hoping that one of your teams would be willing to take on an extra person until a spot opens up." Several of the teens winced at the reminder that they were very much at risk of death or debilitating injury in this line of work.
Taylor gave a hesitant smile to the rest of the group.
"Sure." Both team leaders responded without really giving it any thought whatsoever.
Taylor mouth dropped into an "o" and her eyes went wide in surprise. The look lasted only a moment before a genuine happy smile spread across her lips. Ozpin favored the young teams with his own slight smile.
"Well then, miss Chouette, do you have a preference?"
"Oh, well uh, rooming with all girls would make things simpler I guess." She said, but paused with a grimace. "Though only if she stops fingering her holdout weapon." Taylor said as she pointed to Weiss, getting confused and shocked looks from the rest of the room.
"How did you know?! Weiss demanded in an almost shriek.
Taylor calmly showed the group a ring depicting an eagles head on her right hand. Then, for just a moment, the ring sparked with electricity. "Saved my life once." She said as she reverently rubbed the ring with her thumb. "Since then I've gotten pretty good at spotting jewelry with hidden dust."
Shaking her head Weiss resumed glaring at the feathered girl. "Regardless, I refuse to share a dorm with you."
Taylor stiffened, a scowl on her lips.
"Weiss," Ruby's tone was a bit frigid. Ruby was tired, and her partner was being rude to the girl who lost her spot on a team because Ruby had been admitted two years early. Not only did Ruby feel she owed the girl, but not even an hour after being made team leader Weiss was already outright ignoring her decisions. Frankly, Ruby was a little annoyed. "You're being mean, and I already said she could stay with us." The little reaper growled… It was a more adorable than intimidating, but it got her displeasure across.
Weiss opened her mouth to respond but Taylor beat her to it. "It's fine, Ruby was it? I should have expected it from her." Taylor said giving the Schnee the stink eye. "I don't want to mess up your teamwork before you even get it sorted out. Jaune, right?" The blond nodded. "Any chance I can take you up on that offer?"
Jaune looked back and forth between the three girls before shaking off his confusion. "Ugh, yeah, sure. No problem." Taylor gave the blond a grateful nod.
"Don't be surprised if I shuffle you from team to team, miss Chouette. Your skills make you ideal for support, and I'd like to get you experience working with different groups." Ozpin stated sipping at his coffee. "Team RWBY, I'd like you to stay a moment, Team JNPR, miss Chouette, you are dismissed."
Taylor gave a curt nod before heading to the elevator with JNPR.
The door had barely shut before Weiss started talking. "Sir, what is she doing here! Surely you can't-"
"Enough." Ozpin's voice was firm. "Miss Schnee, your behavior just now was unacceptable."
Weiss squawked. "My behavior?! But she's-"
"I am well aware of her history, miss Schnee. Though I'm beginning to think you are only familiar with what others made of her actions, and not the actions themselves." Ozpin said with a slight frown. "In the future, you would do well to think before you speak, and make sure that you are in possession of all the facts. Now, you are all dismissed."
{}{}{}{}
"Weiss, what the was that about?!" Ruby shouted. "You made us all look bad in front of professor Ozpin! And you were totally rude to Taylor!"
"She's a murder!" Weiss shouted. "She's the one who inspired the filthy white fang to start attacking people!"
Before Ruby could even begin to respond Blake had moved across the room and slapped Weiss across the face. The smaller girl was knocked off her feet and stared up stunned and angry.
"Don't." Blake hissed. "Don't. You. Dare. That girl was a victim who had to fight for her life! So, don't you dare call her a murderer for what she did!"
"Enough!" Ruby shouted, rose petals flying off of her. Things had been going so well towards the end of initiation, and already they were falling apart. "We'll talk about this tomorrow, after class. For now, everyone just go to bed. It's been a long day and we need to be up early tomorrow." Blake and Weiss moved to beds on opposite sides of the room glowering at each other the whole way. Ruby visibly deflated once the two girls crawled into bed.
She had not expected to have to deal with this kind of thing when Ozpin made her team leader.
The little red reaper squeaked as her big sister gave her a hug from behind before relaxing into the calming embrace. She would work it out. She had too.
{}{}{}{}
"So, Taylor, why was Weiss so umm" Jaune trailed off searching for the right word.
"Bitchy?" Norra chirped, making Jaune palm his face and Taylor snort.
"It's a long story, and not something I like talking about." Taylor said dully. "Could we talk about this some other time." She asked looking away from the group.
Ren reached out and rested a hand on her shoulder. Taylor looked up at the boy in surprise. "You can tell us when you're ready." With a grateful nod, Taylor and the others turned in for the night.
{}{}{}{}
Classes for the two teams started off with an atmosphere of restrained tension. Weiss glared constantly at Blake, at Taylor, and even at Ruby. Blake was doing an admirable impersonation of a glacier and ignoring the fact that Weiss existed. Ruby was too distracted by thoughts of her team to pay any attention to professor Port's rambling. Instead she spent the class frowning and tapping at her notebook.
Team JNPR on the other hand could not help but shoot nervous glances back and forth between Taylor and Weiss. Taylor had chosen to simply ignore the heiress and was instead focused on a back corner of the room with a puzzled look on her face.
"Now then," Professor Port said as he wrapped up his story. "Normally I would ask for a volunteer. However, this year there is something I'm rather excited to see in person. Miss Chouette, I've heard a great deal about your semblance and I would greatly appreciate the chance to see it firsthand. Would you be willing to give us a small demonstration?"
Taylor gave an anxious look around the room at the now curious faces. Taylor did not want to show off her semblance. The usual response to her semblance was… Well fear, paranoia, disgust… Some people thought it was amazing, just not most. Still, she had been singled out in the middle of class. To back down would only make her classmates more curious. Better to get it out of the way now with a teacher on hand to spin how people thought about it.
With a resigned sigh, Taylor nodded and pulled her knife from her bag. The blade is ten inches long with a line of yellow dust running up both sides. Several students are surprised when she forgoes leaving to change into her combat clothes but keep the speculation down to low muttering.
Excitedly Port pulled out a cage from a back closet and with a swing from his axe/blunderbuss hybrid broke off the lock. A boarbatusk leapt from the cage with an indignant snort before locking its eyes on Taylor who stood there completely relaxed, bored even. After all she had already known what was in the cage. Her semblance let her sense the grimm, and what it was, now there was only one thing left for her to do.
Taylor's eyes took on a bloody red glow to match the grimms before both sets of red eyes flashed back to brown. The grim dropped to one of its front knees and lowered its head as if bowing. The classroom exploded into hushed conversations.
"My semblance lets me sense and control grimm." Taylor said loudly getting the classes attention and putting an end to the muttered debates. "Numbers aren't an issue. I've controlled whole hives of rapier wasps before, but there is a mass and distance limit, those have been growing the more practice I get with my semblance."
Around the classroom reactions were vastly varied. Most saw the combat potential of such a semblance, it would be a huge asset against the grimm. But following on the heels of that revelation was the question, what kind of damage could someone do with a semblance like that? A few even went so far as to question what it said about the girl as a person if the representation of her soul is to control evil and hate incarnate. Those asking the last question did not come to very charitable conclusions.
Back at the front of the classroom the grimm rolled onto its back, offering up its soft underbelly. Taylor drove her knife in and with a quick sure motion cut the grim from neck to tail. It did not so much as flinch or groan as it died.
"Stupendous! Wonderful!" Professor Port shouted as he clapped excitedly. "Miss Chouette, I sincerely hope that when you select a combat mission in the future you will keep me in mind as your teacher chaperone. I do believe the sight of grimm being used to kill other grimm would make for a magnificent story!"
With a small grin and a "Yes professor" Taylor rejoined her temporary team as the bell rang dismissing the class.
"Ren, this is fantastic! Do you realize what this means?!"
"...No?"
"Our team has two queens now! The queen of pancakes and grimm!" Nora shouted. The rest of her rant was lost to the wind as they rounded the corner.
Yang groaned theatrically and banged her head against her desk. "We could have had grimm fight each other in a pit or something, and sold tickets! Think of all the lien we could have made." She bemoaned. "I'll bet we could have gotten a pay per view deal! Imagine how many people would pay to see grimm kill each other! Not to mention setting up a betting pool!"
Ruby and Blake chuckled lightly at the blonde's antics. Weiss on the other hand scowled.
"Are you insane! This just proves she's evil! The representation of her soul is the ability to control monsters!"
Blake glanced at the disintegrating Boarbatusk before glancing back at Weiss. "I'm sorry for your loss, Weiss. I didn't realize your father was a literal pig." Her three teammates eyes went wide at the catty comment. Blake for her part sashayed out of the room ignoring the seething, and sputtering, heiress.
A moment later Weiss stormed from the classroom and Ruby slammed her forehead into her desk mumbling incoherently as her sister patted her on the back reassuringly.
{}{}{}{}
The first combat class was held an hour after lunch. Taylor looked out of her depth as she talked with Nora… well, listened to Nora talk. The rest of JNPR watched with varying levels of amusement.
Team RWBY by contrast were spread halfway across a bench with Weiss and Blake as far apart as they could get. Ruby was seriously considering locking the two in adjacent cages and leaving them there until they worked it out.
"Right then." Goodwitch wrapped up her explanation of the class and the various safety features and protocols. "We have just enough time for a match so"
"I challenge, Taylor Chouette!" Weiss shouted standing in her seat. Blake scoffed, Yang palmed her face, and Ruby put her head in her hands.
"Miss Schnee, while I admire your enthusiasm,"
"It's fine with me, professor." Taylor called out, surprising everyone.
Professor Goodwitch fixed Taylor with a small frown before finally nodding. Taylor left her sniper rifle with Ren. She didn't really trust Nora not to play with it, and headed for the arena floor.
Weiss stood in the perfect fencer's pose. Taylor had dabbled in fencing when she was learning to knife fight, and she had a hunch she knew exactly what the girl was about to do. Taylor matched Weiss, also getting into a fencing stance causing the heiress to grit her teeth assuming that Taylor was mocking her. Taylor remained impassive watching her opponent for any tells.
"Begin!"
The moment the word was uttered a glyph appeared underneath Weiss and launched her forward. Taylor expected something like this though and put her plan into action. She relaxed her leading leg and kicked her back foot back and to the side. Without any support gravity took hold and dragged her towards the floor even as she leaned forward and extended her knife arm. Slapping down the hand not holding her knife and re-tensing the muscles in her leg stopped her drop with her chest only a couple of feet off the floor.
A picture perfect passat asotto; a body displacement move. Weiss, not expecting it, hit nothing but air; her rapier flying through space previously occupied by Taylor's chest. Her headlong charge was uncontrolled thanks to the propulsion from her glyph and her abdomen slammed into Taylor's outstretched knife. Weiss's own momentum worked against her as she was almost bent over the knife blade and a significant chunk of her aura disappeared with the counter attack.
Taylor wasn't finished though. With a burst of aura, a lightning bolt launched from her knife and into Weiss causing the girl to scream and spasm from the electricity. Taylor took full advantage of the opportunity to get her feet back under her and slash away at Weiss. Her aura fell into the red before she regained control of her muscles.
When Professor Goodwitch called the match most of the class was stunned into silence with the notable exception of a wildly cheering Nora. Taking in the stunned looks Taylor just sighed before making her way back to her seat.
{}{}{}{}
"That was amazing!" Nora cheered as the group headed for the dorms. "She was all 'grr' and you were like 'meh' and then she went 'whoosh' and you just went 'nooope~' and then you were like 'bzzzzzzz!' And she was all 'hrrk' and you were all slice and dice!" Nora enthused, acting out the motions as she went.
Taylor chuckled weakly. "Really, it's not such a big deal. I'm familiar with her fighting style, and she really does not like me. Going into the fight pissed like that made her predictable. I'd bet she's a lot tougher to beat when she keeps a level head."
"Perhaps," Phyrra cut in. "But she challenged you. To challenge someone without being able to face them rationally shows poor judgment which is a serious flaw she needs to address."
"You!" Weiss shouted jumping in front of team JNPR and pointing dramatically at Taylor who just groaned.
"There is no way I can accept a loss like that!"
"Weiss, enough already!" Ruby shouted. Storming up to the heiress scowling adorably. "She won fair and square. You're just mad that you lost."
"That wasn't a fight! She got in one good hit then disabled me, that is not a fight!"
"Well then you probably won't ever get a 'fight' from me." Taylor deadpanned. "My whole style revolves around one hit kills and debilitating strikes like I used against you. Drawing out a fight is stupid and likely to get you killed."
"Sounds like the perfect style for a killer like you!"
For a long moment, no one moved as the accusation hung in the air. Then Taylor snatched the hand Weiss was using to point at her and held it tight. Lightning arced off the girl's ring and from it to the Schnee heiress. Taylor kept it up until Weiss passed out. Throwing the smaller girl over her shoulder Taylor turned to address team RWBY and JNPR.
"My last school I tried ignoring everything and just let the rumor mill go nuts. That, did not work out so well… I promised JNPR an explanation at some point, princess here isn't going to lay off until she hears the truth… If the rest of you want, I'll tell you too. But I'm going to ask that if people start talking you set the record straight for me. Because I don't like talking about this. That sound fair?"
Hesitantly both groups nodded and followed Taylor back to the dorms.
{}{}{}{}
Weiss woke up duct taped to a chair in JNPR's dorm room. Thankfully for everyone's ears, her mouth was also sealed by the wonderful silver tape.
"Oh finally, I thought she would never wake up!" Yang said. "Now we can have our story time!"
"It's a pretty crappy bedtime story, Yang. More like something to give kids nightmares." Taylor said. The blonde boxer only shrugged.
"Right, well, it all starts about three years was a string of murders out in Vacuo. Only pattern the police could find is all the victims are faunus, and all of victims had their animal trait cut off." Everyone even Weiss seems disgusted.
"Basically, the murderer considered herself a big game hunter, and it was open season on faunus, and she liked keeping trophies. So, one night I'm at home, in bed, and I hear a fight downstairs. I haven't made my own weapon yet so we have three in the house; Mom's old punch dagger was with me in my room, Dad kept his rifle close by, and my ring." Taylor says reverently rubbing at her ring. "The ring was something Dad gave me when I started going on runs early in the morning, to keep me safe."
"So, I get downstairs and Dad's fending of a hatchet with the body of his rifle. Only he's fighting a second-year huntress trainee and Dad's rifle was a piece of crap… She broke right through it. Next swing caught Dad in the neck."
Taylor stopped talking. For a good minute or two she simply stared at the floor as she tried to recompose herself. Ruby is crying silently in Yang's lap as the older girl hugs her sister close. Blake has her eyes closed and her head bowed. Pyrrha and Jaune are both horrified. Nora is uncharacteristically quiet with a look just as serious as her partners. Weiss is wide eyed and unable to look away from Taylor.
"That's when I jumped in. We fought, she kicked my ass. Broke Mom's dagger and had me pinned to the floor. I managed to grab the barrel of Dad's rifle and took a swing at her. That was the first time all night she used her semblance. She turned into some kind of mist. Blow went right through her. I was scared, angry, and desperate. I converted all of the yellow dust in my ring into electricity and sent it right through the gun barrel and into her chest. It knocked her out of her shadow state, with the gun barrel still going through her lung, and me still channeling electricity straight into her. Stopped her heart and cooked her right lung." Taylor relaid with a sort of detachment as she looked out the dorm window at nothing. No one said a word.
"Once the story got out my name, my story, became a rallying point for the extremists in the white fang. Little faunus girl fighting back against a bigger more skilled human, avenging the murder of her own father and more than twenty other faunus? I was better than a martyr I was a living symbol of defiance. Then Vacuo tightened up their psych evaluations for hunter trainees to prevent similar incidents. Twenty-six faunus and one human death. That's all it took for a real change to happen." Taylor spat bitterly.
"That was the tipping point, the extremists had real tangible proof that violence can force a change in the government. Suddenly their arguments are legitimized, they won more faunus over to their way of thinking, they had momentum. And before you know it a group of peaceful protestors became freedom fighters and terrorists. Had recruiters after me for years, always told them the same thing; 'I'm only interested in killing monsters.'" Taylor shook her head.
"Semblance showed up maybe a year later. Best the shrinks can tell is I was sick of being afraid, I wanted to control my fear. So, my semblance gave me a way to literally control something I was afraid off. Course most people just assume it's because I'm some kind of monster and the grimm are just acknowledging my superiority." Taylor scoffed before getting up out of the chair she had been sitting in. All eyes followed her every nervous twitch.
"Like I said before, I don't like talking about this, so if you hear any rumors popping up do me a favor and set the record straight… It got, real lonely at my last school… I'm going to hit the rifle range for a while." Taylor stood and left the room letting the door close with a quiet click.
Minutes passed in silence as the group digested what had been said. Finally Blake went over and ripped the tape off Weiss's mouth.
"Ow!" Weiss took a moment to stretch her jaw. "You knew." The words were directed at Blake, not as an accusation, just as a statement of fact.
"... Not any of the details of the fight but the rest, yeah I did."
"How?"
Blake hesitated for a moment before pulling off her ribbon getting surprised exclamations from the rest of the group.
"I grew up as a member of the white fang. The first Rally I remember attending was when I was eight." Blake's lips twitched up slightly at the fond memories of better days. "Then after years of slow progress, we hear about a girl, my age, who fought and killed a huntress trainee that had been murdering faunus for sport. They told us how because of her actions Vacuo was making a real change. They made her out to be a hero, she was my hero… And at first the violence was, not so bad. Destroying or stealing from companies that mistreated faunus workers, selling what we stole to help faunus that were down on their luck, orphanages that took in faunus children, things like that. Then time went on and the violence got more extreme. Buildings burned to the ground people responsible for our mistreatment abducted for ransom, funds used to get better weapons and gear rather than to help people. There was always a justification, and it was a slow shift. It was so easy to get caught up in it all." Blake shook her head.
"But then that wasn't enough. It wasn't about targets that would make a difference, or helping people. It was just about making humans hurt, making them pay, and then I realized that's all it had ever been about… So, I got out, deserted and took the Beacon entrance exam, said I trained outside the kingdoms, wasn't a lie anyway."
Blake plopped back down onto a bed and rubbed at her eyes with the palms of her hand.
"Don't know if it helps but I've never been to Atlas. I never tried to kill anyone. Though I know I hurt a few people pretty badly before I got out..."
Blake shook her head once more before retying her ribbon. "I need some air." She said before she left.
With that final revelation, out of the way the group lapsed into silence, all lost in their thoughts.
{}{}{}{} Ch. 2
Beacon's indoor shooting range was impressive. Twenty firing lines and a maximum range of a thousand yards.
Taylor's sniper rifle was capable of longer shots, but this was about maintaining her skill, not pushing her limits. At the end of Taylor's firing line was a life-sized paper cut out of a beowulf. Taylor was laid out on a mat, her sniper rifle, Thunder, was supported at the front by a tripod. With a well-practiced motion, Taylor slid back the bolt chambering her first round.
Thump thump.
Thump Thump.
Thump Thump.
Thump Pull Thump.
The rifle barked as the .408 round broke the sound barrier. A moments delay and the paper shifted slightly as the bullet tore through it.
Immediately Taylor ejected the spent shell casing and minutely adjusted her aim.
Another bullet flew down range, and another, and another. Seven rounds punched through the target. With a flip of a switch the target returned to her.
"You're a remarkably good shot." Blake said from behind Taylor, startling the sniper. Taylor spared a glance over her shoulder before unclipping the paper target and pointing to two holes, one in each of the targets red eyes.
"You see how the holes nick the white of the bone armor? I'd never try a shot like that on a real grimm. At least not yet, not at this range. The shot nicked it with no wind or movement to compensate for. Normally my .408 rounds can punch through light bone armor and a glancing scrape like that wouldn't even slow them down. Though if my shot is off by a bit more and taken from the side, it might glance off the forehead where the armor is thickest…" She gestured with her hand at the picture to demonstrate the hypothetical trajectory. "Something like that's rare, but it can happen. Much better to aim for the neck or heart."
"Grimm have hearts? I mean, I didn't know anyone had managed to dissect one, they fade so fast and the internal stuff goes first…"
"Ahh, bit of something my semblance helped me figure out. It gives me a feel for where everything is, what makes them tick, what they're capable of. It's, not like a human heart. They don't have blood, just that mist they give off when you kill them…" Taylor grimaced slightly. "I think, anyway. Dissected a lot of rapier wasps while I kept them under my power, but it's not a perfect test. They really do decay quickly, and rapier wasps are so small. I'm hoping to get a beowolf into an x-ray or an MRI one day to confirm some of my theories."
Blake nodded thoughtfully. "That's what these shots were for, right?" She asked pointing to the four holes almost dead center of the chest. Taylor hummed a confirmation as she placed a paper target depicting an ursa in the old one's place before sending it back down to the end of the range.
The two lapsed into silence as Taylor slotted in a fresh magazine and took aim at her new target. Seven shots later the target was on its way back to the girls.
"So, what are you here for Blake?" Taylor asked with forced calm. She didn't like talking about her past. Predicting people's reaction to the fact she had killed someone, even in self-defense, was difficult. Blake seeking her out so soon after had her on edge.
Blake for her part kept her silence for a long moment before moving into the girls view and picking up an edge of her bow to show off one of her cat ears for just a moment.
"... I was one of the ones they hooked with your story. I left them about six months back when I finally woke up to reality." Taylor said nothing. This was new ground for the girl. She had met recruiters before, but never defectors.
"I, said some things to Weiss over the past couple of days. She had an easy time realizing that I already knew part of your story. She wanted to know how I knew. I, came clean to them." Blake winced slightly. "I don't know why I did it. They might have figured it out eventually, and that could have been worse, but…" Blake trailed off.
Taylor waited awhile to see if the girl would say any more before speaking. "After everything happened I got sent to a psychologist. Took me awhile to really start talking, but once I did it was hard to stop." Taylor worked as she spoke, this time setting up a normal bullseye. "It's a, cleansing feeling, talking about stuff. Maybe you just needed it." Taylor offered, before chambering a round. "Though you still haven't answered my question."
Another silence as Taylor emptied the clip into her target. Rather than reeling it back in she shifted to a kneeling position and fired seven more rounds.
Nodding happily, she pulled the target back in still waiting for Blake's response.
"Why didn't you join?" Blake asked rather than answering. "I knew people with almost no reason at all who joined, you had more reason than most. That you didn't… I always wondered why."
Taylor smirked lightly.
"I'm only interested in killing monster." It was almost a joke to the feathered girl judging by her tone, but from Blake's confused look it's obvious she was missing the punch line. "And as far as I'm concerned, I've only ever killed monsters."
Taylor sent another target down range but did not get into a firing position. Instead she leaned against a wall and looked at Blake fully. "It's not the healthiest mindset… I make a point not to apply that label to any other people, but it helps me sleep at night. Keeps the nightmares away. Compared to her? Weiss's father, and some ignorant racist shits? They might be bastards, but monsters? No." She shook her head, feathers swaying more stiffly than hair would, before the corner of her lip twitched upwards. "Having a shrink to talk to might have helped too."
Blake was silent for a moment before nodding. Taylor shifted back into a kneeling firing stance. The two shared a companionable silence for a time as Taylor put holes in paper. Eventually though Blake broke the silence.
"We should see if we can get Ruby into a shooting match with you sometime. Be interesting to see who's the better shot."
Taylor blinked at the other girl for a moment before giggling lightly at the comment so out of place with their earlier discussion. The noise pulled a small chuckle from Blake, which in turn lead Taylor to outright laughing. As the mirth subsided and Blake waved goodbye both girls felt as if their burdens were slightly lighter than they were before.
{}{}{}{}
Weiss wandered beacon's halls with no destination in mind, and a great deal to think about.
She had heard her father curse Taylor's name on many an occasion for inciting some terrorist act or another. In the Schnee household her name had been synonymous with the White Fang.
And now she didn't know what to think. She had pulled up old news reports and even a police report by pulling a few strings. All of it seemed to confirm Taylor's story. She wasn't, and never had been, a member of the White Fang.
But Blake had been. Her teammate had admitted to committing crimes as part of the White Fang. She swore she had left the group because they had become too violent, too cruel. Blake seemed to feel genuinely guilty for what she had done. But did that make it acceptable for her to get away with her crimes?
Weiss growled at the thought of any member of the White Fang not being punished to the full extent of the law.
Still, Blake had not just run and hid in some backwater town. She had instead signed up to become a huntress. She had signed up to put her life on the line protecting the kingdoms! Was it her form of penance? Was it just a job for which she possessed the required skills? Was it some sort of deterrent to her former compatriots in case they wanted revenge?
With a hiss of frustration Weiss spun on her heel and began to pace.
Her options were limited. She could not leave Beacon. To do so for any reason would be a disgrace. That kind of stain on her records would make it extremely difficult to get into one of the other hunter academies, or to re-enter Beacon at a later date. An apprenticeship under a qualified huntsman was possible, but exceedingly difficult to obtain. Leaving Beacon would not impress any prospective instructors. So, leaving Beacon to get away from the two was not an acceptable option… It also would feel a great deal like running, something that she could not stand the thought of.
Shaking her head as if to clear it Weiss tried to approach the problem from a different angle.
Taylor was not guilty of anything, but Blake had admitted to being a terrorist. Could she be thrown out of Beacon, arrested? Oddly enough, that idea also felt like running. Blake had never wronged her, and… And if it was so easy for Weiss to be led to believe that Taylor was a cold-blooded killer who incited violence… How easy would it be to paint the same girl as a hero who fought for a cause, someone to be emulated, instead of hated?
Weiss hated thinking this way. It went against everything she knew. It went against her very upbringing! But she had been taught to think things through from all angles. True the lessons were meant to be applied to business and politics, but they were serving her well in this too. Except that so far rather than make things simpler they had only made them more complicated and confusing.
Getting Blake removed from Beacon was her first instinct… But after being so utterly wrong about Taylor, who just yesterday she was ready to declare had no business being a student at Beacon… What if she was wrong again, and all her actions did was hurt Blake? Did the girl really deserve to have her best chance to do something positive with her life taken from her?
What would happen if she did get Blake thrown out or arrested? There would be an empty space on the team… Which Taylor would then fill.
Weiss winced at the very idea. After today, awkward and tense would be putting things mildly. Ruby and Yang would, probably, not be happy with her either if she was responsible for anything bad happening to Blake. She would be alone, again. Even on a team with three other girls she would be all alone.
No! That was unacceptable! She was tired of being alone!
Unbidden Weiss's mind went back to Taylor and Blake. She wondered if maybe they were lonely too?
{}{}{}{}
Ruby idly poked a strawberry back and forth across the plate in front of her. She had ditched Yang for some time alone to think. That had not been easy, Yang hadn't wanted to let Ruby out of her sight. But Ruby didn't need mothering right now, she also did not want it. She needed to figure out how to bring her team together.
Dropping the berry and her head Ruby let her mind wander.
Maybe a game of truth or dare? That would-be team bonding, right? Right! … Until Weiss asked Blake how many dust shipments she had stolen… Or Blake dared Weiss to kiss a faunus.
The image of a fuming Weiss kissing a smirking Blake just to shut her up, and leaving both girls blushing drew a small snort from Ruby.
It would be pretty romantic, it would certainly solve at least some of her problems… Maybe as a last resort. though she would need Yang's help to pull it off. Hmm it would need a catchy name… Monochrome? Maybe but what was the word for the black and white cats where the white is all over their chest, like a furry little tuxedo? A quick scroll search proved the answer to be Felix…. that sounded stupid … Snow leopard! Yeah, that worked.
Buuuut its still wasn't a very good plan for fixing the team, mostly because it probably wouldn't work. Ruby didn't even know if either of her teammates liked girls. Ruby deflated further resting her head on the table. Oh well, it was a stupid plan anyway.
Unbidden Ruby's mind turned to a different topic. One she might hopefully make more headway on.
Taylor had killed someone.
Most of the time the girl seemed shy and nervous, but the second someone started pushing at her she pushed back, hard. She'd given Weiss three strikes. In Ozpin's office, she had snubbed Weiss, in combat class she'd beaten Weiss and made it look easy. When Weiss called her a killer? Taylor knocked Weiss unconscious and duct taped her to a chair.
Taylor had killed someone. Yes, it was in self-defense, and yes the person she killed was a mass murderer! So why did the idea of Taylor killing still feel wrong? Why did Ruby still feel like she should be saying there had to be some other way?
And the girl Taylor killed was a huntress trainee! Were there others like that? Maybe even full-fledged hunters? Would she ever have to do the same thing Taylor had?
That was a bad thought for Ruby. Beating up bad guys and throwing them in jail? All over that. Killing enough grimm to fill all of Beacon? Where's the ammo? But to actively try and kill someone?
For the first time in a long time Ruby wondered if she had what it took to be a huntress. And for what felt like the hundredth time in less than twenty-four hours she wondered if she could actually lead her team.
"Problems, miss Rose?"
"Professor Ozpin!" Ruby sat straight up. "No! No problems here! No sir!" Ozpin simply arched a single eyebrow as he stood across from the young girl. It only took a moment for her to slump. "Well, maybe a few." Nodding the professor took the seat across from the young girl.
"Perhaps I can be of assistance?"
"I, maybe? I'm just-" she sighed. "I don't know if I'm ready to be here, or lead a team." Ruby's voice was small and vulnerable.
"I see, and what brought this on?"
"Taylor, and my teammates… Weiss was, is, angry. First at Taylor, then Blake and Taylor, now maybe just at Blake. I don't know if I can actually lead them… And Taylor! She, she had to, to kill someone. If she had to, t-then maybe I'll have to-" Ruby choked on the word not able to get it out, not wanting to admit out loud she might one day have to kill someone. A small irrational part of her mind telling her as long as she did not admit it, it would not be real. "She seems so normal, but she…" Ruby shakes her head in a futile attempt to clear it, or at least restore some kind of equilibrium.
Ozpin favored the young girl with a sad smile.
"Tell me, miss Rose, how do you keep someone with super strength, speed, or the ability to teleport, or any number of other abilities, in jail?"
Ruby's nose scrunched up at the seeming non-sequitur. Before understanding started to dawn on her. "You, can't. Or at least not all of them… Not the same way. You'd need different security for everyone."
Professor Ozpin only nodded. "It is extremely difficult, verging on impossible, to keep trained huntsmen and huntresses locked up, especially in groups. It is done, but infrequently. Often times small slip ups earn the hunter a harsh warning and some sort of sanction. Hunters who become unstable though, such as the woman miss Chouette encountered, are almost always, put down."
"You mean killed." Ruby muttered staring desolately at her plate.
"Yes. There is little else we can do in such cases. It is not often necessary, but when it does happen we act as quickly as possible, before the public catches wind of it. Miss Chouette's case is one of the few instances where news of a rogue huntress made it to the public. It incites panic which draws the grimm. In the following three months grimm activity increased by five percent around Vacua. And the girl responsible was only a trainee." Ozpin lectured before adopting a lighter more reassuring tone.
"Miss Rose, incidents like that are extremely rare, and they are only handled by the most experienced huntsmen and huntresses. You are a more than a decade away from even being considered for such a mission. And even then, you would likely be able to refuse it."
Ruby nodded somewhat calmer, though still worried about the possibility.
"As for your team and your abilities as a leader. It has only been two days. Give your teammates, and yourself, time to adjust to your new situation and roles. The only other advice I can offer is that as a leader you must strive to hold yourself to a higher standard. It encourages your team to be the best they can be, and it inspires confidence in yourself. Your team needs to know that you are working hard, not just for your benefit, but for theirs as well."
Ruby took her time to digest that bit of advice before slowly nodding. And for the first time all night the beginnings of an actual plan started to take shape in her mind.
"Thank you, professor. I, I think I need to go find my team." Ozpin favored Ruby with a small understanding smile.
"Of course, miss Rose."
{}{}{}{}
Yang was the last to arrive at the dorm room. She had been working out her anger and confusion the way she normally did, with a punching bag.
The exercise had left her sweaty and had taken the edge of her emotions, but there was still a lot going on that she had difficulty with. Things had just gotten so, complicated. It was a lot to process. The text from Ruby saying they were having a mandatory team meeting in the dorm had been a surprise. She loved her little sister but hadn't been expecting Ruby to tackle the tension in the team head on like this. She was also not sure if she expected this to fix things, or backfire spectacularly… Ruby was not the best with people after all.
The scene in the room was… Honestly not what Yang had expected. Blake and Weiss sat on their respective beds at opposite ends of the room… But Blake wasn't wearing the aloof, 'you are the dirt beneath my feet' look she had sported earlier as part of her cold shoulder treatment. Instead the faunus looked tired.
Weiss still looked angry, but she wasn't glaring at anyone either. She also seemed, nervous? She kept fidgeting which was completely at odds with how she had sat in class.
Ruby was pacing back and forth in front of the door. "Yang, take a seat." It was not the tone Yang was used to hearing from her baby sister. It was an order, and Ruby seemed to expect her to follow it. More bemused than anything else Yang listened and sat cross legged in the middle of her bed next to Blake's. Ruby paced the length of the room a few more times before coming to a stop and facing them.
"OK… This has been, not a great few days." Ruby began letting more emotion into her voice. "I, I learned a lot today though. I learned that sometimes Hunters have to kill other Hunters, because it's almost impossible to keep us locked up if we go crazy, and because we can't let the civilians lose faith in us. Because if they do, they get scared and that, that draws in the grimm." Ruby let out a long shaky breath. Her voice had cracked once or twice during her explanation.
Everyone digested that information in silence.
"Professor Ozpin explained that to me just before I called the meeting. He also said we needed time to adjust to, everything. And that if I'm going to be a leader I have to always try and be at my best." Ruby sighed and rubbed at her eyes.
"Well, I got into beacon two years early. I'm missing two years of classroom lectures. Blake, I'm not even sure you've been in a classroom?" The faunus shook her head in the negative. "Weiss, have you ever been out in the field?"
"... Not before initiation, no." She looked embarrassed.
"I've got two years of classroom lectures up on Blake, and I've got a fair amount of field experience against grimm under my belt. So, I'm somewhere in the middle of you two. Out of all of us Yang has the most well rounded training." Yang preened slightly at that.
"We all have things we need to learn to succeed here. And I'll bet between the four of us we know most of it already." Weiss and Blake looked confused, but Yang was starting to grin madly. Her baby sister might just be onto something.
"Weiss, you have a week to find or create a comprehensive test on the academic essentials. Blake, you have the same amount of time to set up a test on things like map reading and wilderness survival. Yang," the blonde boxer looked up wondering what job her sister had in mind for her. "Personalized workouts based around our builds and fighting styles. The one you made up for me has worked wonders, and I want to make sure we are all at our best." Yang nodded happily. She knew her fitness and she could definitely help the team that way.
"Once that's done we start teaching each other." Weiss and Blake both tried to protest but Ruby just talked over them. "We are a team! That means we have to trust each other. So, all four of us are going to work together, to do our class assignments, to catch each other up on what we don't know, to get in shape, and to deal with any issues." Ruby glared at the two before dropping it for a concerned look.
"I'm still trying to learn how to be a team leader." She admitted. "But it won't matter if I become the best leader ever, if I don't have a team to lead. I need you, we all need each other. We have to make this work. Can, can you at least try?"
Yang and Ruby seemed to hold their breath as Blake and Weiss shared a cautious glance then slowly looked back to their leader before nodding hesitantly. The sisters let out shared sighs.
"Oh, thank Oum. I didn't know what I was going to do if that didn't work!" Ruby moaned before flopping face first into her bed. Yang only just caught the slight twitch of Blake's lips, and Weiss's tiny amused snort. Yang actually laughed lightly; both at her sister, and her teammates. Maybe, just maybe, this would work out after all.
{}{}{}{} Ch 3
More than a hundred rounds, and a long walk around the campus later Taylor finally re-entered the dorm room she shared with team JNPR. She wasn't avoiding her roommates, really, she wasn't! She was just... Giving them time to adjust to the new information. She would electrocute anyone who said otherwise.
She slipped the door open the bare minimum to slip inside and kept her head down only glancing up out of the corner of her eye as she entered. Ultimately the attempt at a subtle entrance was pointless as team JNPR had zeroed in on her as soon as the door opened. Taylor cringed at the attention.
Ren and Nora displayed impressively impassive masks. Phyrra showed a great deal of concern, and Jaune fidgeted awkwardly. For a moment no one moved or spoke than Nora stood and moved towards Taylor with purposeful steps. Taylor expecting the worst cringed and looked away from the girl. She then immediately squeaked in surprise as Nora swept her up into a hug.
"It's OK." The orange haired girl said, her voice uncharacteristically firm and serious. "This doesn't change anything."
Taylor snorted a in a mix of amusement and relief. "Liar, it made you serious, if that's not a change nothing is." The sarcastic quality of the words was lost as her voice almost broke from relief. Nora pulled back to give Taylor a stunningly bright grin. "Thank you." Taylor said sincerely. The others simply nodded to show their support and the room descended into companionable silence.
It was everything Taylor could have hoped for. It was a relief. Right then and there she decided that these were people she wanted to know, wanted to keep close. They had her back, and she fully intended to have theirs if and when they needed her.
{}{}{}{}
Breakfast was as it had been the day before; Ren silent and methodical as he ate, Nora chattering bubbly away as she devoured her meal, Pyrrha and Jaune quietly discussing class as they picked at their food. Taylor watched it all, smiling over a cup of black tea, reveling in the feeling of being accepted.
That feeling of serenity shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces when the members of team RWBY took the seats around her and her temporary team, especially because Weiss had decided to sit directly across from her. Taylor's scowl made her opinion perfectly apparent to everyone, and had JNPR sitting stiffly, waiting to see how things played out.
"I'm sorry." Weiss said, miserably, her head bowed. "My father, he uses your name interchangeably with the White Fang… I, listened to him, and didn't even think to check my facts. I'm sorry for what I said, and how I've been acting towards you."
Taylor's mouth hung slightly open and her eyes were wide as she tried to process just what kind of parallel universe she may have slipped into. Ruby fairly beamed with happiness and pride for her partner.
"I, um wow. I just, wasn't expecting that. Umm, apology accepted, I guess." She said looking thoroughly out of her depth.
Weiss gave a firm nod before focusing on her breakfast to the exclusion of anything else.
Ruby's squeal of delight was followed by her glomping Weiss and babbling about being proud of her. The young leader still had to worry about the relationship between Blake and Weiss, but this was a good start after yesterday.
Weiss spluttered for a moment before shoving Ruby off. Ruby not put out in the slightest shifted focus to Taylor, a wide grin on the young leader's face.
"What's your farthest Grim kill shot?" Taylor's grin slowly grew to match the young leader's.
"Mile and a quarter." She said radiating smug. "You?" Ruby's jaw dropped open just a little before she wined lowly.
"Four fifths of a mile." She pouted. "How did you manage a shot that far?" Several of the other teens were paying attention too now. Taylor grinned cheekily.
"Because Thunder is a sniper rifle, and only a sniper rifle."
"Wait, no mechashift?!" Ruby shouted sounding aghast.
"Mmhmm. Well, that and .408 rounds are made almost exclusively for sniping whereas .50 cal is more likely to come out of a machine gun, so the rounds I'm using are held to higher quality control standards." Ruby gaped before shaking her head.
"Ok, I knew about the differences in the ammo, but I use the recoil from the .50 cal rounds to boost my speed. A smaller round wouldn't work as well for that, but what does the mechashift have to do with anything?" Ruby pouted.
"Ahh, well the mecha shift itself, not a lot. The issue is that because it's also a melee weapon you spend a lot of time swinging it around and slamming it into things. No matter how well made it's always going to cause something to come a bit loose. That's fine if you're some machine gunner hosing things down at a couple hundred yards, but for those long shots? Every little bit counts. Though I'd bet you can eek out a full mile if you tuned everything and didn't swing it around before making the shot." The feathered girl advised kindly. Ruby was now thoroughly pouting as she nibbled at a strawberry. Pyrrha hummed thoughtfully before asking her own question.
"Does that mean your only weapon for close combat is your knife? That doesn't seem like enough."
"I can personally assure you that it is plenty." Weiss deadpanned. Taylor, Yang, and Nora chuckled a little at that.
"My knife, and my semblance. I don't want to carry less ammo for Thunder, and a second gun would mean carrying at least double the ammo, or making do with less ammo for sniping. I've thought about making a second knife, or maybe even a short sword to use with my knife, but I've never been able to decide quite what I want." Taylor admitted with a shrug.
Ruby stared at the feathered teen before pulling out a pad and pen to start sketching while mumbling to herself as she worked.
"Oh, oh! Ooooor you could use a Grimm to carry all the ammo you could ever want! We could get you an Ursa, and make it saddlebags! And a saddle! Then you could ride it!"
Taylor just blinked. "Why the hell didn't I think of that." She said, frowning.
"It would slow you down though. Ursa aren't exactly known for being distance runners." Blake reminded.
"Yeah but think how much ammo one could carry. It'd be like a walking armory! Maybe even enough for two teams!" Taylor hummed thoughtfully. "If my range was better it might make for a decent suicide bomber against hordes too."
"Have you considered using a different kind of dust? I know lightning dust is hard to control for distance attacks. It's why I mostly stick to ice and fire dust." Weiss asked. Taylor nodded thoughtfully.
"Lightning dust, makes me feel safe." She hedged. "It's saved me more than once. Honestly, I never really tried to branch out. Though I guess it couldn't hurt to try using other types."
From there the conversation moved on to classes and the group of teens truly began to relax around each other. Blake and Weiss kept their distance from each other, but Ruby's request that they make an effort hung over both. For now, at least they could be civil while they evaluated each other. Taylor still wasn't sold on being friendly with Weiss, but figured the apology earned her a second chance.
"Hey, Taylor, umm?" Ruby fidgeted looking a bit nervous about whatever she was going to say.
Taylor had to fight hard not to give in to the sinking sensation in her stomach as she wondered if Ruby was going to turn on her now. She had seemed alright before, but maybe she was just putting on a brave front? She was after all the youngest in the group. It made sense Ruby would have the most trouble accepting that Taylor had killed someone. "Yes, Ruby?" She asked, trying not to let her rising fear into her voice.
"I umm, I've only met a few people who, you know, aren't named for colors." Instantly all the tension bled out of Taylor and a bemused, if exasperated look slid onto her face.
"So, you're wondering where my name comes from then?"
"Yes?" Taylor gave a fond sigh followed by a light chuckle.
"My Mom never really liked painting or drawing. She appreciated it, but she always said the only art that moved her was the written word. She taught literature, she loved the classics, the old dramas and romances. She studied the novels from before the war as much as she could. Always digging through old shelters and refugee tunnels, always hitting estate sales and rummage sales looking for lost works." Taylor smiled fondly lost in old memories.
"She would do her best to restore them, copy them so that they would still be there for future generations. Letting those stories die, even the ones she hated, was unthinkable. About a year before I was born she stumbled across a story that was written right before the war kicked off. Right before they started burning the books and the paintings. She thinks most copies were destroyed before they could be sold, it's a miracle the one she found survived at all, though the cover was badly damaged and she never found the title or author of the book. She worked on copying it all through her pregnancy, and she fell in love with the story and its characters."
"What was it about?" Blake cut it. As a book lover Taylor's story was really catching her interest.
Taylor smiled wryly. "It's about a world where semblances exist, but the Grimm don't. Not like we know them. Humanity has spread across the whole map, there are hundreds of cities and billions of people." The idea of so many people, of a world without Grimm gets smiles from everyone.
"But it's not perfect." Taylor continued on not wanting them to get the wrong idea. "Instead people use their semblances to stop or commit crimes. Sometimes whole cities are practically controlled by gangs. There was even mentions of a small country ruled by just one person with a really powerful semblance." Taylor's words destroyed the idyllic image the others had been developing. "There are also three monsters. Creatures with powers of their own and seemingly impossible to kill that can destroy whole cities and sink islands. The governments are ineffective and there are people all over manipulating things to suit themselves. It's a mess of a world that's slowly falling apart, with a few people trying to cover up the cracks."
That brought the mood right back down.
"That doesn't seem like a very nice story." Ruby mumbled.
"Yeah, it sounds really dark." Jaune agreed. Taylor only shrugged. The two weren't wrong, but the story was all about the darker sides of humanity, about how even against things that threaten humanity like the 'Endbringers', or the endless Grimm they represented, humanity could not put aside their differences to fight a common enemy. Or at least not for very long. The message might not be pleasant, but that did not make it any less accurate.
"The main character is this fifteen year old, idealistic girl named Taylor. She dreams of being a hero. She gets sucked into things way over her head and has to fight her way out. She grows from this awkward, naive girl with no confidence into a level headed tactician, a vicious fighter, and a real survivor. Mom wanted me to be strong, just like the Taylor from the story."
Taylor smiled warmly down at her tray, lost in memories of happier times when her mother was still alive.
Blake hummed thoughtfully. "I'd love to read it sometime. It sounds like an excellent book."
Taylor smiled warmly back. "I don't think it ever made it into reprint, but there is a website my Mom and some of her colleagues set up for it, and all their other finds on the net. I'll send you a link."
Before conversation could shift to another topic Phyrra pointed out the time and the group choked down the last of their breakfasts before heading off to class.