Chapter 53
- Location
- Cebu City, Philippines
+++
Beacon was no stranger to history, whether it passed by or took place in its halls.
Even before the ancient redoubt was made into a school for Huntsmen - and later the site of Vale's CCT tower - it had seen the course of empires, and the rivers of blood spilt upon it and for it. One particularly legendary battle had the combatants forever etched into legendary glory.
When Weiss had first set foot past its gates, some old intuition made her feel that the martial history was almost tangible. An idle thought suggested to her that perhaps if one drank deep from a mug of chai, they could pretend they saw the life, and the passion, and the valiance of all the heroes like a haze that settled down around the shoulders. Whether their bodies were retrieved or not, it was a hearty shot of morale to know here lay honored rest for all those unknown soldiers.
She had known how her own course would go on, though. As soon as she saw all the young warriors, she understood that such events simply were not for her. She was here for nothing more, nothing less and nothing other than becoming an excellent Huntress. Power-playing and influencing world events seemed simply to have no place in what she would accomplish.
But then one sunny morning, she woke up to find two Atlesian navy ships, sleek hull and all, in the skies outside her dorm.
She did not scream per se. Screaming wasn't something she, Weiss Schnee, did. She wouldn't deny however the feeling of surprise coursing through her veins. Having cannons seemingly aimed at you would startle anyone, even someone like her. Still, she must have been very very surprised that it had even woken someone like Ruby Rose from sleep and the girl slept like a log.
The last time a foreign force was inside Vale, it was to conquer it. Was her country abandoning it's alliance with Vale and was now intent for revenge after its losses during the Great War? She had heard of certain circles that disapproved of the friendly relations Atlas shared with Vale. Perhaps they had launched a military coup overnight and had hijacked control of the Navy?
No. That was preposterous. If Atlas had wanted to conquer Vale, it would have sent more than two battleships to do the deed. Atlas's navy was the premier force in Remnant and just by looking at the ships outside, it was rightfully considered so. However, two navy ships and its crew would find conquering Vale a Sisyphean task. The logistics to consider and the fact that Vale would fight like a caged Grimm would make invasion a death sentence for any invading army.
"WEISS! Look at its GUNS! Those are Huge! Wait, are they auto-loaded and gyrostabilized? How many guns per battery?"
Well. At least someone was having happy thoughts.
Ruby had woken up and all but squealed at the sight of the battleships. Only Ruby Rose would be the one to wake up in the morning and be excited at the sight of an army showing up outside her window. Weiss didn't know if she should feel sorry or envy at the Ruby's innocence. She was still unsure whether she would consider the girl as a friend. The girl that had also been selected as their Team Leader was immature, childish, and easier to distract than a baby. Furthermore, she was way too obsessed with weapons in a way that one could consider healthy.
However...
"Say Yang, what are our chances of capturing that battleship?" Ruby truly squeaked, sounding all the world like a squeezed toy, while the soles of her shoes made weeki-weeki sounds as Ruby led their brisk pace almost walking on air to the first class of the day - History, taught by a professor fond of moving fast enough to tickle lightspeed.
"You aren't seriously considering that are you?" asked Belle, tone exasperated but knowing their team leader was just that happy to entertain this grand fantasy. Or was it Blake? Alexander's...secretary had a fondness for changing her names if the opportunity presented itself. Weiss spared a curious look in the direction of the brawler, still putting in effort to keep up with their speedy leader, and beheld the rare sight of Yang focused deep in thought.
"Well. I say we have a good chance. There's me after all." The look on her face settled into something like, surprise surprise, a lioness coyly confident that she could take on the world and come out standing. It was as clear as day that Yang was imagining herself 'kicking ass and taking names' if Weiss had to use the language Yang spoke.
Upon hearing her sister's input, Ruby all but beamed. "We WILL take that ship!" she all but declared. "Alright team. We'll get to the battleship by using Beacon's rocket locker system and fight our way to the bridge!" Ruby looked at them with a fire in her eyes.
"Yang!" The blonde brawler glanced at her sister, amusement in her lilac eyes.
"Yeah?"
"Use your fists and pummel anyone who's going to come in our way." The silver-eyed girl ordered. Yang smirked, clearly relishing the thought of smashing anyone daring to come her way.
Ruby turned her attention towards her next target, Blake, who shrunk under Ruby's gaze. "Belle, Use your ninja powers and watch our backs. They'll never see you coming!" Blake stared at Ruby as if she lost a head. The black-haired catgirl then shared a glance with Weiss in which Weiss replied with shrug. Blake, seeing that Weiss wasn't going to rescue her, sighed.
"If you say so Ruby."
Anticipating her being next made bearing Ruby's joy no less of a pain. The whole thing would have been endearing if it was some kind of resolute sincerity spoken in true-hearted confidence of the other, but this kind of childishness was honestly irritating. Sickening, considering that leaders should lead, not simply be the loudest among the team.
"Let me guess. Freeze high-priority targets and engage to disable with Myrtlenaster." Weiss stated with an invisible snark, deadpan like a parent blearily making coffee in the early hours of the morning to prepare for the day while the kid watched morning cartoons with their breakfast. It would seem that she took the word's out of Ruby's mouth as the girl nodded up and down so fast that Weiss wouldn't be surprised if the girl began hovering from the amount of lift her head generated.
Seeming to feel mightily pleased with herself, their leader walloped the air and struck a dramatic pose.
"Go Team RYWB!" she cheered. Quick to follow was an enthusiastically, playfully forceful wallop to the back of Ruby's head by a Yang who shared her sister's passions and was amused by them. These were followed by lighter dope-thwacks by Weiss and Blake respectively, who didn't want to rain on parades and neither embarass themselves for Ruby's entertainment.
Quick to follow was an enthusiastically, playfully forceful wallop to the back of Ruby's head by a Yang who shared her sister's passions and was amused by them. These were followed by lighter dope-thwacks by Weiss and Blake respectively, who didn't want to rain on parades and neither embarass themselves for Ruby's entertainment.
A sigh exited a Weiss that had her eyes closed and silently counted down from ten, bearing this kind of childish immaturity from a leader who with a reason to do otherwise could utilize her sharp mind to calculate strategies at breakneck speed, with the martial prowess to make breakneck speed a literal possibility. Blake watched on, neutrally amused but not passing up the opportunity to not make this game worse.
"Yeah!" followed another voice, a female one.
Team RYWB snapped around to see the speaker - bright turquoise eyes and orange hair and soft pink and white clothes, striking Ruby's dramatic pose with a finger raised to the sky. Three figures approached behind her.
"We don't know her." deadpanned Lie Ren, his voice laying thick with exasperation. Weiss couldn't help but smile at finding a kindred soul surrounded by insanity.
"Renny! How could you? After everything I have done for you!" gasped Nora Valkyrie, the cause of Ren's nightmares. She marched up to her partner, a distraught expression on her face. Despite this, Ren remained nonplussed and repeated his earlier statement, only adding in extra dryness.
"We don't?" asked Jaune Arc, confusion writ up and down and on every angle of him. The blonde stiffened up once he caught clearer sight of her. Chances were that she was a hearty helping of the cause for his awkwardness.
Weiss had some amount of guilt for that. Arc had attempted to chat her up with that horrendous pick-up line. Weiss's retort...
"I have a fiancee!"
She was stressed, from the long travel from Atlas. And the near accident with Ruby and her dust supply. She could have been kinder, and had not been.
But alas, the damage had been done and she was able to witness a boy getting crushed in but a span of two seconds. At least she apologized. It probably wasn't enough. Perhaps she should offer him compensation?
Her thoughts were thrown into disarray as Nora wailed.
"Oh Ren, why have thou forsaken me?" cried Nora dramatically as she laid her hands on Ren's shoulders, and physically shook the teen back and forth, seemingly ignoring silly things like inertia and momentum. The subject seemed to refuse to be ruffled or even riled by her mannerisms.
"Oh hey Pyrrha!" sounded out their leader's exclamation. "Hello!" the gladiator girl greeted warmly in kind. Ruby then promptly crossed the barrier and brought the redhead into a hug. The unexpected act merited the appropriate reaction. Indignation flared within Weiss, horrified at the sudden breach of etiquette Ruby had just committed.
"Ruby!" she cried. "What did I say about etiquette! You just can't randomly...hug people!"
"But it's Pyrrha!" brilliantly argued Ruby. "She likes hugs! Right Pyrrha?" Ruby asked as she turned towards the redhead who looked lost.
"Um. Yes?" she blurted. It was clear as day that Pyrrha was lost for words and had given her reply under pressure. This didn't matter towards Ruby who took it as consent. She then craned her head towards Weiss and stuck out her tongue.
"Ruby!"
+++
While the reunion with team JNPR had allowed them to catch up, they still had classes to attend. As both teams had the same class, it was decided that the two would walk together. Weiss could honestly say that it was a pleasant experience if only it wasn't for the two massive battleships hovering above their heads.. It seemed that was the only hot topic of late. Battleship this. Battleship that. They walked the halls of Beacon and the lips of each and every student was battleship. They attended classes and while Professor Oobleck carried class normally, well, by his standard of normal anyway, it was pretty clear that not everyone was comfortable with the Navy ships.
Well. Except for Ruby. And maybe Nora.
"-and then, we'll blast them into Oblivion!" loudly exclaimed Ruby, her tone taking on the grandiose. "Get ready to fire, Captain Nora!"
"Aye aye, Admiral!" eagerly saluted Nora as she held her hand out and made explosion noises.
They were in the Mess Hall, in their own little corner that Nora regally dubbed "The Kingdom of RWYB and JNPR" While she ate her lunch in silence, Ruby had conscripted her teammates and Team JNPR into an impromptu acting skit. She at first thought that the her fellow teens were merely humoring Ruby. She later found out that they weren't just humoring her. They were downright into it.
"Um. Admiral?" nervously asked Jaune, who was given the role of a helmsman by Ruby. The girl, who stood on the table struck a impressive figure as she had a foot on a watermelon, her hands crossed and her red cape flowing in the wind, glanced at the blonde boy.
"What is it, Helmsman Arc?" she asked. Jaune's mouth moved to speak but suddenly, he stopped. This alarmed Ruby who dropped her pose.
"What is it man?" she demanded. Ruby got her answer as Jaune all but screamed. "Incoming!"
Arc's fateful word would forever be remembered as the last sound before a pie hit Ruby square on the face.
Weiss choked.
The pie slid down from Ruby's face and onto the wooden table. Righteous fury, written in raspberry jam and pure vigor was on Ruby's face as she turned to face the source of her troubles. A blonde bombshell who happened to be her sister.
"How dare you, Yang!" she gritted. Weiss faced the blonde brawler and found her smirking, a tomato on her hand.
"Captain Yang, dear sister of mine!" Yang proclaimed. "And my crew and I are going to plunder your little miserable ship! Right guys?"
"Aye aye Captain!" Pyrrha said enthusiastically. The redhead and Yang then turned to their last remaining member which was Ren. He glanced at them both and sighed.
"Aye, Captain." Ren let out. Weiss felt nothing but pity for him.
The table shook as Nora slammed the table with a closed fist. "Ren! I have never forgiven you for what you did earlier! Prepare to face the Queen's wrath!"
"I'm so-"
"Fire!" Ruby yelled. At that, the two sides went into battle. Using an assortment of weapons that ranged from tomatoes to pies and even turkeys, the Battle of Beacon's Mess Hall began.
Weiss had seen this coming ever since Ruby began talking about being an admiral. And so, she politely excused herself and had sat at a corner which she knew she would be safe. When the battle began, the other students that had also been dining in the Hall quickly fled. Weiss took the opportunity to catch any food that flew and added them to her plate. Having quick reflexes helped her in that regard.
"Beacon is insane. Everyone is insane." a voice said aloud next to her. She turned and nodded sympathetically.
Belle Belladonna. (Or was it Blake?) had felt a shift in the wind and had also bolted when Ruby began talking about how great it was to be a admiral. Weiss was gracious enough to allow the faunus to join her and together, they watched the insanity play out.
"Well. At least its entertaining." Weiss quipped as she turned her attention towards the fight. Yang had secured herself two turkeys and had began using them as gauntlets. Her opponent was Ruby who donned a tray. it wasn't a scythe but she was suing it skillfully. Yang threw a right hook that Ruby intercepted with the tray. The girl then reached for a nearby baguette and swung it at Yang. Before the sword of gluten could strike Yang, it had been cut into two by Pyrrha who held a...swordfish?
Pyrrha's assistance was short lived as Nora struck her with a Warhammer she fashioned out of a pole and a watermelon. The redhead was sent flying but was quickly caught by Ren.
"Helmsman Jaune! Now!' yelled Nora. Weiss's eyes darted towards a corner of the room where the blonde teen had somehow weaponized the vending machines. He struck the one nearest to him that sent a chain reaction in the machines who then began to rapidly fire their cans at Ren, who expertly batted the carbonated projectiles away with two hefty leeks rather than be caught flat-footed.
While it was entertaining, Weiss could only scoff at such a display. Firstly, she was a Schnee. Schnee's don't food fight. Secondly, she was seventeen years old, not four! And so, she sat back on her chair and be entertained by the sight.
At least no one thought of using their semblances. That would be disastrous.
Belle didn't enjoy the scene nearly as much. Amber eyes crinkled with indignation, paired with a mournful growl.
"What are they doing." Her tone was low, and ordinately slow, said in the way of one aware of the work behind keeping things where they had to be. Had the faunus a tail, it would be flicking to and fro, but for the meantime she simply clenched her fists and disapproved heavily. "Don't they know how much in expenses moving all of this produce takes? Or all the sheets needing signed just for security?"
That reminded Weiss something. "I imagine you had done similar work for Alex when you were his secretary?"
Blake nodded. A series of questions formulated in Weiss's mind. While she already had undergone training to be the next in line to inherit the SDC, Alexander had beaten her in sheer experience in running a company. He had also started his training when he was five, an impressive number, while she had started much later. Before, Winter was supposed to inherit but her sister had renounced her claim as she favored a career in the military. These considerations shaped the stance of Weiss's position as she surveyed Blake - her partner could be presumed to be moulded by her fiancee's way of thinking. She was certainly no dogsbody, that type of office-dweller carried themselves worse than Arc; he at least earnestly willed to do all he did, and didn't seem to be the type to drag his feet when asked to do his job.
"Tell me. What is it like working for Alexander?" questioned Weiss. She didn't blurt out an answer right away, actually putting effort into planning her response. Something which Weiss approved.
"Alex is..." Weiss inwardly winced at her causal address of her fiancee but didn't let her feelings known towards the faunus. "...well. He was a great boss. Kind, caring, understanding. He demanded excellence and rewarded those who were excellent. He didn't treat any of us differently. He treated us all the same whether we were human or faunus, custodian to boardmember."
Silently, Weiss took mental notes.
"Was he ever hard on you?"
Belle's quiet chuckle was heard far more clearly than the chaos not far away from them... a disproportionate happenstance. "I didn't worry about much when he was in the office. He would either be typing away at his computer, dealing with paperwork or wracking his brain trying to come up with new ideas or fix some problem he would spot ahead of time. When he left the office was the headache."
The two winced as they heard soda cans exploding. But as they were safe in their corner, Weiss bade the faunus to continue.
"It's difficult to think of him as someone really important. He talks to anyone, from anywhere, with no worries and wouldn't be overbearing trying to get to know them and their story." Belle seemed a touch wistful... Weiss quietly filed that away. "He doesn't set barriers. He doesn't turn away people wanting to talk to him, and he would spend time hearing them out."
"You have no idea how stressful it was to watch over him." The distant, almost sweet deference turned to the claggy custard of the put-upon and weary, and Belle's voice turned to a drone to match.
"I do think," Weiss said, shifting to seat herself more comfortably, "despite this, you have done great work. He's still alive, after all." Weiss quipped after the praise, to which the brunette ninja gained a sheepish smile.
"I...I guess I do."
At that moment, Weiss heard the distinct buzz of a device set to vibrate silently... from within the folds of Belle's blazer. Weiss was jolted back into the chaos of the present by this - she was still engines-ahead-full in interview mode. Blake seemed almost to shrink in on herself in the way of someone caught doing something they very much were not supposed to. Belle's hands shook slightly- was she perspirating? The gulp out of her partner was nearly audible, and how still she seemed despite moving quickly to bring out a small device, concealing it under the folds of the tablecloth.
A small hologram of Alexander popped up. Quite the surprise, to be sure.
"Alex-dono." Blake spoke with reverence, bowing as much as she could, which turned out to be just a bit more than a nod in order for her to remain inconspicuous. Their own scene well concealed by the havoc of the ongoing food-fight around them. Weiss narrowed her eyes in suspicion. That honorific again. And why did she have an instant communicator with her fiancee?
Alexander rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"For the umpeenth time, stop that Blake. Your my secretary, not my ninja."
Blake remained nonplussed. "Of course, Alex-dono."
The holographic form of her fiancee sighed in exasperation. "You're a real piece of work, Blake." Another sigh followed. "Oh well. We'll discuss your other issues later. Listen." Weiss leaned closer to hear. "I've just finished having a wonderful discussion with Headmaster Ozpin. You might be interested to know that your team might be working with me sooner or later. I imagine that some fresh air would be good for your team."
Away from Beacon's insanity? She would take that chance in a heartbeat. Her feelings of elation quickly evaporated as she realized that Alexander had technically informed Blake first before her. And the faunus was his secretary! Why hadn't he told her first? He had her number!
"Very good, Alex-dono. Do you have anything else to say?" Blake said, holding her device as if it were a holy artifact.
"Yes. Tell Weiss that I love her and I miss her with all my heart and soul."
A blush crept to Weiss's face upon hearing her fiancee's frank...confession. Alarm filled her as she saw Blake staring at her, perhaps considering on informing Alex that the girl he wanted to flatter was right next to her. Weiss quickly brought a finger up, all but begging Blake to not reveal that she was there. Blake blinked at the sight of Weiss eyeballing her and keeping a gimlet stare affixed while she shook her head from side to side. Her finger made motions of wagging side to side, funnily enough.
Relief flooded Weiss as the faunus nodded and returned her attention towards her device. "I'll ensure that Weiss-sama knows." Blake said earnestly.
Alexander nodded and the connection was cut, leaving the two teens to stew in their thoughts.
Weiss was giddy. Who wouldn't be when the one she loved expressed his feelings towards her? While she was still quite suspicious of the nature of the relationship between her fiancee and his secretary, she allowed herself to at least feel giddy for awhile. There was nothing on Remnant that could ruin this mo-
A pie. A blueberry pie sailed in the air and landed square on her face, covering her with filling and crust. She stood from her hiding place and found that the fight had stopped as all combatants was staring at her. Rage filled Weiss as filling dripped down her face.
"Who threw that pie!?" she yelled. She glanced at Ruby who quickly pointed her finger at Yang.
"Yang threw it! Pinky swear!" squeaked the diminutive admiral in which Yang protested.
"Hey! I did not-" Her protests were cut off as Weiss unleashed a loud and enraged cry.
"YAAAAANGGGGG!"
+++
A/N: It's update time.
Alright. A few more interludes and we will finally, finally, get to the main story. Alex has built himself an army and by god, he will use it.
Edited by my mate, Krasnogvardiech!
Beacon was no stranger to history, whether it passed by or took place in its halls.
Even before the ancient redoubt was made into a school for Huntsmen - and later the site of Vale's CCT tower - it had seen the course of empires, and the rivers of blood spilt upon it and for it. One particularly legendary battle had the combatants forever etched into legendary glory.
When Weiss had first set foot past its gates, some old intuition made her feel that the martial history was almost tangible. An idle thought suggested to her that perhaps if one drank deep from a mug of chai, they could pretend they saw the life, and the passion, and the valiance of all the heroes like a haze that settled down around the shoulders. Whether their bodies were retrieved or not, it was a hearty shot of morale to know here lay honored rest for all those unknown soldiers.
She had known how her own course would go on, though. As soon as she saw all the young warriors, she understood that such events simply were not for her. She was here for nothing more, nothing less and nothing other than becoming an excellent Huntress. Power-playing and influencing world events seemed simply to have no place in what she would accomplish.
But then one sunny morning, she woke up to find two Atlesian navy ships, sleek hull and all, in the skies outside her dorm.
She did not scream per se. Screaming wasn't something she, Weiss Schnee, did. She wouldn't deny however the feeling of surprise coursing through her veins. Having cannons seemingly aimed at you would startle anyone, even someone like her. Still, she must have been very very surprised that it had even woken someone like Ruby Rose from sleep and the girl slept like a log.
The last time a foreign force was inside Vale, it was to conquer it. Was her country abandoning it's alliance with Vale and was now intent for revenge after its losses during the Great War? She had heard of certain circles that disapproved of the friendly relations Atlas shared with Vale. Perhaps they had launched a military coup overnight and had hijacked control of the Navy?
No. That was preposterous. If Atlas had wanted to conquer Vale, it would have sent more than two battleships to do the deed. Atlas's navy was the premier force in Remnant and just by looking at the ships outside, it was rightfully considered so. However, two navy ships and its crew would find conquering Vale a Sisyphean task. The logistics to consider and the fact that Vale would fight like a caged Grimm would make invasion a death sentence for any invading army.
"WEISS! Look at its GUNS! Those are Huge! Wait, are they auto-loaded and gyrostabilized? How many guns per battery?"
Well. At least someone was having happy thoughts.
Ruby had woken up and all but squealed at the sight of the battleships. Only Ruby Rose would be the one to wake up in the morning and be excited at the sight of an army showing up outside her window. Weiss didn't know if she should feel sorry or envy at the Ruby's innocence. She was still unsure whether she would consider the girl as a friend. The girl that had also been selected as their Team Leader was immature, childish, and easier to distract than a baby. Furthermore, she was way too obsessed with weapons in a way that one could consider healthy.
However...
"Say Yang, what are our chances of capturing that battleship?" Ruby truly squeaked, sounding all the world like a squeezed toy, while the soles of her shoes made weeki-weeki sounds as Ruby led their brisk pace almost walking on air to the first class of the day - History, taught by a professor fond of moving fast enough to tickle lightspeed.
"You aren't seriously considering that are you?" asked Belle, tone exasperated but knowing their team leader was just that happy to entertain this grand fantasy. Or was it Blake? Alexander's...secretary had a fondness for changing her names if the opportunity presented itself. Weiss spared a curious look in the direction of the brawler, still putting in effort to keep up with their speedy leader, and beheld the rare sight of Yang focused deep in thought.
"Well. I say we have a good chance. There's me after all." The look on her face settled into something like, surprise surprise, a lioness coyly confident that she could take on the world and come out standing. It was as clear as day that Yang was imagining herself 'kicking ass and taking names' if Weiss had to use the language Yang spoke.
Upon hearing her sister's input, Ruby all but beamed. "We WILL take that ship!" she all but declared. "Alright team. We'll get to the battleship by using Beacon's rocket locker system and fight our way to the bridge!" Ruby looked at them with a fire in her eyes.
"Yang!" The blonde brawler glanced at her sister, amusement in her lilac eyes.
"Yeah?"
"Use your fists and pummel anyone who's going to come in our way." The silver-eyed girl ordered. Yang smirked, clearly relishing the thought of smashing anyone daring to come her way.
Ruby turned her attention towards her next target, Blake, who shrunk under Ruby's gaze. "Belle, Use your ninja powers and watch our backs. They'll never see you coming!" Blake stared at Ruby as if she lost a head. The black-haired catgirl then shared a glance with Weiss in which Weiss replied with shrug. Blake, seeing that Weiss wasn't going to rescue her, sighed.
"If you say so Ruby."
Anticipating her being next made bearing Ruby's joy no less of a pain. The whole thing would have been endearing if it was some kind of resolute sincerity spoken in true-hearted confidence of the other, but this kind of childishness was honestly irritating. Sickening, considering that leaders should lead, not simply be the loudest among the team.
"Let me guess. Freeze high-priority targets and engage to disable with Myrtlenaster." Weiss stated with an invisible snark, deadpan like a parent blearily making coffee in the early hours of the morning to prepare for the day while the kid watched morning cartoons with their breakfast. It would seem that she took the word's out of Ruby's mouth as the girl nodded up and down so fast that Weiss wouldn't be surprised if the girl began hovering from the amount of lift her head generated.
Seeming to feel mightily pleased with herself, their leader walloped the air and struck a dramatic pose.
"Go Team RYWB!" she cheered. Quick to follow was an enthusiastically, playfully forceful wallop to the back of Ruby's head by a Yang who shared her sister's passions and was amused by them. These were followed by lighter dope-thwacks by Weiss and Blake respectively, who didn't want to rain on parades and neither embarass themselves for Ruby's entertainment.
Quick to follow was an enthusiastically, playfully forceful wallop to the back of Ruby's head by a Yang who shared her sister's passions and was amused by them. These were followed by lighter dope-thwacks by Weiss and Blake respectively, who didn't want to rain on parades and neither embarass themselves for Ruby's entertainment.
A sigh exited a Weiss that had her eyes closed and silently counted down from ten, bearing this kind of childish immaturity from a leader who with a reason to do otherwise could utilize her sharp mind to calculate strategies at breakneck speed, with the martial prowess to make breakneck speed a literal possibility. Blake watched on, neutrally amused but not passing up the opportunity to not make this game worse.
"Yeah!" followed another voice, a female one.
Team RYWB snapped around to see the speaker - bright turquoise eyes and orange hair and soft pink and white clothes, striking Ruby's dramatic pose with a finger raised to the sky. Three figures approached behind her.
"We don't know her." deadpanned Lie Ren, his voice laying thick with exasperation. Weiss couldn't help but smile at finding a kindred soul surrounded by insanity.
"Renny! How could you? After everything I have done for you!" gasped Nora Valkyrie, the cause of Ren's nightmares. She marched up to her partner, a distraught expression on her face. Despite this, Ren remained nonplussed and repeated his earlier statement, only adding in extra dryness.
"We don't?" asked Jaune Arc, confusion writ up and down and on every angle of him. The blonde stiffened up once he caught clearer sight of her. Chances were that she was a hearty helping of the cause for his awkwardness.
Weiss had some amount of guilt for that. Arc had attempted to chat her up with that horrendous pick-up line. Weiss's retort...
"I have a fiancee!"
She was stressed, from the long travel from Atlas. And the near accident with Ruby and her dust supply. She could have been kinder, and had not been.
But alas, the damage had been done and she was able to witness a boy getting crushed in but a span of two seconds. At least she apologized. It probably wasn't enough. Perhaps she should offer him compensation?
Her thoughts were thrown into disarray as Nora wailed.
"Oh Ren, why have thou forsaken me?" cried Nora dramatically as she laid her hands on Ren's shoulders, and physically shook the teen back and forth, seemingly ignoring silly things like inertia and momentum. The subject seemed to refuse to be ruffled or even riled by her mannerisms.
"Oh hey Pyrrha!" sounded out their leader's exclamation. "Hello!" the gladiator girl greeted warmly in kind. Ruby then promptly crossed the barrier and brought the redhead into a hug. The unexpected act merited the appropriate reaction. Indignation flared within Weiss, horrified at the sudden breach of etiquette Ruby had just committed.
"Ruby!" she cried. "What did I say about etiquette! You just can't randomly...hug people!"
"But it's Pyrrha!" brilliantly argued Ruby. "She likes hugs! Right Pyrrha?" Ruby asked as she turned towards the redhead who looked lost.
"Um. Yes?" she blurted. It was clear as day that Pyrrha was lost for words and had given her reply under pressure. This didn't matter towards Ruby who took it as consent. She then craned her head towards Weiss and stuck out her tongue.
"Ruby!"
+++
While the reunion with team JNPR had allowed them to catch up, they still had classes to attend. As both teams had the same class, it was decided that the two would walk together. Weiss could honestly say that it was a pleasant experience if only it wasn't for the two massive battleships hovering above their heads.. It seemed that was the only hot topic of late. Battleship this. Battleship that. They walked the halls of Beacon and the lips of each and every student was battleship. They attended classes and while Professor Oobleck carried class normally, well, by his standard of normal anyway, it was pretty clear that not everyone was comfortable with the Navy ships.
Well. Except for Ruby. And maybe Nora.
"-and then, we'll blast them into Oblivion!" loudly exclaimed Ruby, her tone taking on the grandiose. "Get ready to fire, Captain Nora!"
"Aye aye, Admiral!" eagerly saluted Nora as she held her hand out and made explosion noises.
They were in the Mess Hall, in their own little corner that Nora regally dubbed "The Kingdom of RWYB and JNPR" While she ate her lunch in silence, Ruby had conscripted her teammates and Team JNPR into an impromptu acting skit. She at first thought that the her fellow teens were merely humoring Ruby. She later found out that they weren't just humoring her. They were downright into it.
"Um. Admiral?" nervously asked Jaune, who was given the role of a helmsman by Ruby. The girl, who stood on the table struck a impressive figure as she had a foot on a watermelon, her hands crossed and her red cape flowing in the wind, glanced at the blonde boy.
"What is it, Helmsman Arc?" she asked. Jaune's mouth moved to speak but suddenly, he stopped. This alarmed Ruby who dropped her pose.
"What is it man?" she demanded. Ruby got her answer as Jaune all but screamed. "Incoming!"
Arc's fateful word would forever be remembered as the last sound before a pie hit Ruby square on the face.
Weiss choked.
The pie slid down from Ruby's face and onto the wooden table. Righteous fury, written in raspberry jam and pure vigor was on Ruby's face as she turned to face the source of her troubles. A blonde bombshell who happened to be her sister.
"How dare you, Yang!" she gritted. Weiss faced the blonde brawler and found her smirking, a tomato on her hand.
"Captain Yang, dear sister of mine!" Yang proclaimed. "And my crew and I are going to plunder your little miserable ship! Right guys?"
"Aye aye Captain!" Pyrrha said enthusiastically. The redhead and Yang then turned to their last remaining member which was Ren. He glanced at them both and sighed.
"Aye, Captain." Ren let out. Weiss felt nothing but pity for him.
The table shook as Nora slammed the table with a closed fist. "Ren! I have never forgiven you for what you did earlier! Prepare to face the Queen's wrath!"
"I'm so-"
"Fire!" Ruby yelled. At that, the two sides went into battle. Using an assortment of weapons that ranged from tomatoes to pies and even turkeys, the Battle of Beacon's Mess Hall began.
Weiss had seen this coming ever since Ruby began talking about being an admiral. And so, she politely excused herself and had sat at a corner which she knew she would be safe. When the battle began, the other students that had also been dining in the Hall quickly fled. Weiss took the opportunity to catch any food that flew and added them to her plate. Having quick reflexes helped her in that regard.
"Beacon is insane. Everyone is insane." a voice said aloud next to her. She turned and nodded sympathetically.
Belle Belladonna. (Or was it Blake?) had felt a shift in the wind and had also bolted when Ruby began talking about how great it was to be a admiral. Weiss was gracious enough to allow the faunus to join her and together, they watched the insanity play out.
"Well. At least its entertaining." Weiss quipped as she turned her attention towards the fight. Yang had secured herself two turkeys and had began using them as gauntlets. Her opponent was Ruby who donned a tray. it wasn't a scythe but she was suing it skillfully. Yang threw a right hook that Ruby intercepted with the tray. The girl then reached for a nearby baguette and swung it at Yang. Before the sword of gluten could strike Yang, it had been cut into two by Pyrrha who held a...swordfish?
Pyrrha's assistance was short lived as Nora struck her with a Warhammer she fashioned out of a pole and a watermelon. The redhead was sent flying but was quickly caught by Ren.
"Helmsman Jaune! Now!' yelled Nora. Weiss's eyes darted towards a corner of the room where the blonde teen had somehow weaponized the vending machines. He struck the one nearest to him that sent a chain reaction in the machines who then began to rapidly fire their cans at Ren, who expertly batted the carbonated projectiles away with two hefty leeks rather than be caught flat-footed.
While it was entertaining, Weiss could only scoff at such a display. Firstly, she was a Schnee. Schnee's don't food fight. Secondly, she was seventeen years old, not four! And so, she sat back on her chair and be entertained by the sight.
At least no one thought of using their semblances. That would be disastrous.
Belle didn't enjoy the scene nearly as much. Amber eyes crinkled with indignation, paired with a mournful growl.
"What are they doing." Her tone was low, and ordinately slow, said in the way of one aware of the work behind keeping things where they had to be. Had the faunus a tail, it would be flicking to and fro, but for the meantime she simply clenched her fists and disapproved heavily. "Don't they know how much in expenses moving all of this produce takes? Or all the sheets needing signed just for security?"
That reminded Weiss something. "I imagine you had done similar work for Alex when you were his secretary?"
Blake nodded. A series of questions formulated in Weiss's mind. While she already had undergone training to be the next in line to inherit the SDC, Alexander had beaten her in sheer experience in running a company. He had also started his training when he was five, an impressive number, while she had started much later. Before, Winter was supposed to inherit but her sister had renounced her claim as she favored a career in the military. These considerations shaped the stance of Weiss's position as she surveyed Blake - her partner could be presumed to be moulded by her fiancee's way of thinking. She was certainly no dogsbody, that type of office-dweller carried themselves worse than Arc; he at least earnestly willed to do all he did, and didn't seem to be the type to drag his feet when asked to do his job.
"Tell me. What is it like working for Alexander?" questioned Weiss. She didn't blurt out an answer right away, actually putting effort into planning her response. Something which Weiss approved.
"Alex is..." Weiss inwardly winced at her causal address of her fiancee but didn't let her feelings known towards the faunus. "...well. He was a great boss. Kind, caring, understanding. He demanded excellence and rewarded those who were excellent. He didn't treat any of us differently. He treated us all the same whether we were human or faunus, custodian to boardmember."
Silently, Weiss took mental notes.
"Was he ever hard on you?"
Belle's quiet chuckle was heard far more clearly than the chaos not far away from them... a disproportionate happenstance. "I didn't worry about much when he was in the office. He would either be typing away at his computer, dealing with paperwork or wracking his brain trying to come up with new ideas or fix some problem he would spot ahead of time. When he left the office was the headache."
The two winced as they heard soda cans exploding. But as they were safe in their corner, Weiss bade the faunus to continue.
"It's difficult to think of him as someone really important. He talks to anyone, from anywhere, with no worries and wouldn't be overbearing trying to get to know them and their story." Belle seemed a touch wistful... Weiss quietly filed that away. "He doesn't set barriers. He doesn't turn away people wanting to talk to him, and he would spend time hearing them out."
"You have no idea how stressful it was to watch over him." The distant, almost sweet deference turned to the claggy custard of the put-upon and weary, and Belle's voice turned to a drone to match.
"I do think," Weiss said, shifting to seat herself more comfortably, "despite this, you have done great work. He's still alive, after all." Weiss quipped after the praise, to which the brunette ninja gained a sheepish smile.
"I...I guess I do."
At that moment, Weiss heard the distinct buzz of a device set to vibrate silently... from within the folds of Belle's blazer. Weiss was jolted back into the chaos of the present by this - she was still engines-ahead-full in interview mode. Blake seemed almost to shrink in on herself in the way of someone caught doing something they very much were not supposed to. Belle's hands shook slightly- was she perspirating? The gulp out of her partner was nearly audible, and how still she seemed despite moving quickly to bring out a small device, concealing it under the folds of the tablecloth.
A small hologram of Alexander popped up. Quite the surprise, to be sure.
"Alex-dono." Blake spoke with reverence, bowing as much as she could, which turned out to be just a bit more than a nod in order for her to remain inconspicuous. Their own scene well concealed by the havoc of the ongoing food-fight around them. Weiss narrowed her eyes in suspicion. That honorific again. And why did she have an instant communicator with her fiancee?
Alexander rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"For the umpeenth time, stop that Blake. Your my secretary, not my ninja."
Blake remained nonplussed. "Of course, Alex-dono."
The holographic form of her fiancee sighed in exasperation. "You're a real piece of work, Blake." Another sigh followed. "Oh well. We'll discuss your other issues later. Listen." Weiss leaned closer to hear. "I've just finished having a wonderful discussion with Headmaster Ozpin. You might be interested to know that your team might be working with me sooner or later. I imagine that some fresh air would be good for your team."
Away from Beacon's insanity? She would take that chance in a heartbeat. Her feelings of elation quickly evaporated as she realized that Alexander had technically informed Blake first before her. And the faunus was his secretary! Why hadn't he told her first? He had her number!
"Very good, Alex-dono. Do you have anything else to say?" Blake said, holding her device as if it were a holy artifact.
"Yes. Tell Weiss that I love her and I miss her with all my heart and soul."
A blush crept to Weiss's face upon hearing her fiancee's frank...confession. Alarm filled her as she saw Blake staring at her, perhaps considering on informing Alex that the girl he wanted to flatter was right next to her. Weiss quickly brought a finger up, all but begging Blake to not reveal that she was there. Blake blinked at the sight of Weiss eyeballing her and keeping a gimlet stare affixed while she shook her head from side to side. Her finger made motions of wagging side to side, funnily enough.
Relief flooded Weiss as the faunus nodded and returned her attention towards her device. "I'll ensure that Weiss-sama knows." Blake said earnestly.
Alexander nodded and the connection was cut, leaving the two teens to stew in their thoughts.
Weiss was giddy. Who wouldn't be when the one she loved expressed his feelings towards her? While she was still quite suspicious of the nature of the relationship between her fiancee and his secretary, she allowed herself to at least feel giddy for awhile. There was nothing on Remnant that could ruin this mo-
A pie. A blueberry pie sailed in the air and landed square on her face, covering her with filling and crust. She stood from her hiding place and found that the fight had stopped as all combatants was staring at her. Rage filled Weiss as filling dripped down her face.
"Who threw that pie!?" she yelled. She glanced at Ruby who quickly pointed her finger at Yang.
"Yang threw it! Pinky swear!" squeaked the diminutive admiral in which Yang protested.
"Hey! I did not-" Her protests were cut off as Weiss unleashed a loud and enraged cry.
"YAAAAANGGGGG!"
+++
A/N: It's update time.
Alright. A few more interludes and we will finally, finally, get to the main story. Alex has built himself an army and by god, he will use it.
Edited by my mate, Krasnogvardiech!
