27

Chapter 27

"AAAH! Why can't it just work!" Weiss screamed as the summoning glyph fell apart for a dozenth time.

"You are being too emotional and nice about it. You need to be firm. You already defeated those things so it is now your right to command them."

Weiss tried to do it one more time. For the last half hour she had been struggling with her summoning while Yang and Pyrrha had been warming up. Or at least they called it a warm up. So far it looked like a mix between a monstrous weightlifting routine, questionable stretching and a small spar that would turn Glynda gray.

Then Ruby arrived, carrying long straps of metal, a chain and… muskets.

"Let me take over and follow the flow of aura and intent. Those are the most important."

But Winter said that having the mental image right is the most important…

"Do you struggle with making it look authentic or with bringing it out?"

Admitting defeat she let Ivory take over while Ruby went after Pyrrha. And wasn't that a surprise for Weiss when Pyrrha came clean about how broken her semblance was when it came to fighting people. Only thing that made it worse was that she barely needed to use it, due to being good enough of a fighter on her own.

"Ruby… what are all those things?" Pyrrha asked Ruby when she ran up to her and Yang and dropped a lot of, presumably, weapons.

"That's for your semblance training! The chain is self-explanatory, the scraps are like swords or, you know, you can put them around people to keep them in place and the guns are… guns!" Ruby explained with stars in her eyes. "What do you want to start with?"

Pyrrha awkwardly looked over the pile of equipment presented to her and picked up one of the guns(?). "How do these even work? They aren't like any gun I've seen."

"Well, I figured that if you are going to use them in conjunction with your semblance then you don't need a handle, or sights, or some other things. These are pretty much training only. Only the essential parts are out of metal, the rest is cheap wood or plastic. I just want you to focus on getting down the precision."

"Then why did you bring so many of them?"

"Spares. Well, I want you to try wielding more later but for now focus on just one."

Pyrrha reached out with her semblance and the musket started to comfortably float five feet above the floor. It was really much easier than levitating Ruby's pistol.

"How do I aim it?" If she was to keep them at a distance then the accuracy would be non-existent.

"Just focus on the control. I'm already working on something to help you aim." Ruby assured her.

Pyrrha continued to levitate the weapon while focusing on its inner structure, carefully trying to identify the firing mechanism. "Ruby, did you use different metals?"

Ruby beamed at her, confirming her findings. "Yep! I used the most ferromagnetic metal I could find for the trigger so it would be easier for you to deal with. At least I hope so… I don't know how exactly your semblance works." She gave her another short lecture.

In the meantime Yang decided to check on Weiss. Ruby and Pyrrha would call her if necessary. When she came closer, she noticed that they had once again switched and Ivory was playing around with glyphs. While she was definitely Weiss' better when it came to aura and semblance mastery, the awkward way she held her rapier told a different story.

"Does the muscle memory go away when you switch?" Yang asked as she approached.

It took Ivory a moment to understand what she was referring to, then she glanced at the hand she held Myrtenaster in. "No, the muscle memory stays. It's more about me having barely any experience with it."

"Can't you like, share the control?" Yang fumbled slightly, she was used to her own brand of weird but Weiss and Ivory brought a different kind to the table and she was pretty much giving ideas at random. "Like, Weiss would be in charge of physical aspects while you handle the aura and semblance usage."

Small disturbance in her aura later and they switched again. "We were working on something different but I suppose we could try it out." Weiss answered.

She took a proper stance and performed a few thrust to get into the motions.

She took the initial stance again and after a small pause, which Yang assumed was the two of them talking to each other, She dashed forward.

One glyph as a platform. Another platform. Velocity glyph… and she flew of course and landed into a heap on the floor.

Yang snickered a bit at the obvious shouting match held inside Weiss' head. She may have stayed silent but the violent fluctuations of aura as well as the clear anger in her eyes were quite telling.

-BBW-

Junior once again lamented the lax attitude and subpar skills of his subordinates. What else could he do when they were acting like a bunch of scared rats when a eight feet giant of a man walked into his club with a frown on his face.

Thankfully none of them did anything stupid and despite his aparent readiness for violence he wasn't going to start anything himself. Instead he immediately started walking towards him.

"What will it be, pleasure or business?" Junior greeted the man.

"You have been looking for someone." He had a gruff voice but it didn't seem to hold any anger, at least not right now.

He signed. "Business it is." He put away the glassware. "You have to be more specific. I look for things and people all the time."

"Arthur Watts." Now the impatience seeped into his features.

"Yes, I've been looking for him. Are you a bodyguard or something?" Junior admitted easily. He was the middle man, if things went down he would just tell the guy to go after the customer.

The man did not answer his question, instead he asked one himself. "Who was looking for him?"

"It's our policy not to disclose the clients identity but…" It was a complete bull but he had to make money somehow. His guest seemed to get the message and put several Lien cards on the pult.

"A blonde chick, don't know the name. She is a messenger for someone else and has been around for some time." That was the only information he was willing to part with for now.

"Who does she work for?"

Tense silence stretched over a second before the man relented and offered more.

"From what I know she is running with mercenaries. Also has a thing for buying some high-end weapons and tech. If I had to guess, her boss is probably looking for recruitment or some deal with Watts." He spilled out the rest of what he knew. "I have the number, knowing her she will meet you without any problems."

He gave Junior a nod and left to book a room at a motel, intent on coming back later to meet the girl in question. Hopefully they would accept the fact that Watts already had a different employer.

-BBW-

"What do you think about this placement?" Ruby whispered to Blake and showed her a small map of a 'training settlement'. It was a spur of a moment thing that they decided to sit down in the remote section of the library and do their leadership homework together.

Blake took a look over the image and lightly hummed. "The defenses seem fine but you are making the supplies too centralized. Why not make several smaller piles here, here and here." She pointed at the rectangles that represented different buildings in the settlement.

They continued to work for some time before Blake broke the silence.

"Have you decided who will be your second-in-command?" Blake asked in a normal voice.

"I don't really know." She whispered back. "I'm thinking Weiss, but she is a bit too much of a hardliner. You can't always go for the perfect outcome. Most of the time something will go wrong and she isn't that adaptable."

"Not Pyrrha or Yang?"

"Pff, Yang would just name somebody 'third-in-command' and go on a punching spree. Pyrrha… I don't know, maybe? I'm currently torn between her and Weiss actually." She answered with barely suppressed giggling.

"Ruby… why do you keep whispering?" Blake decided to ask. "I know we are in a library but there is nobody around. You can speak normally if you want." It was quite late anyway. Those who wanted to study during the evening took their books out already.

"Are you okay with it?" Ruby continued to whisper.

Blake became puzzled, not noticing the glances Ruby was sending towards her bow. "Why would I have a problem with that?"

"Isn't that why you are wearing the bow? To dampen the sound?" She innocently asked.

WHAT?!

Blake broke out into cold sweat.

Shitshitshit! Play it cool and run!

"I-I don't know what you are talking about…" She completely failed at sounding composed.

"You are using the bow to cover your ears because they are too sensitive, right?" Finally, Ruby noticed that something was wrong. "Blake, are you okay? Was it somethingIsaid?!I'msorry!"

Okay… plan A didn't work. Blake had some time to calm down a bit and think of her options while Ruby was blaming herself for… whatever reason. But… It's Ruby, she wouldn't hurt a fly… unless it's a grimm fly, but she would be able to keep it down.

"Calm down Ruby. It's not your fault." Blake, who was struggling to stay calm herself, tried to make Ruby stop apologizing and listen to her. "But I want you to keep it a secret, okay?"

Ruby was a bit confused what exactly was this sudden secret stuff but if it helped Blake she would stay quiet. She quickly nodded and waited for Blake to start talking.

Blake looked around, making sure that nobody was watching them or eavesdropping and carefully removed her bow. She moved her feline ears a bit to deal with the cramps after keeping them in one position for the whole day. She also noted that Ruby wasn't at all surprised to see the extra ears.

"I'm sorry." Blake said quietly.

"Huh?" Ruby was just even more confused.

"For lying. I've been hiding who I am from the very beginning."

"Oooh… okay."

"... what do you mean okay? I've been lying to you for almost two weeks and you can only say okay?!" Blake was scared, embarrassed, confused and a bit angry. She honestly thought that her and Ruby were talking about two absolutely different things.

"Well… I kinda noticed it during the initiation…" Ruby meekly answered.

"How? I've been making sure that nobody notices!"

"I'm a sniper Blake. I may not have good eyes like you but picking out details is kinda my thing."

"And you didn't say anything?" She just couldn't understand it, if she knew this entire time then why did she keep playing along?

"I should have?" Yep, she clearly had no idea what her problem was.

"Did you tell anybody that I'm faunus?" Blake decided to check for any loose ends she might have to convince not to out her.

"No, why would I? Well, Yang knows. She thinks the bow is like a fashion thing, eh, I dunno, it looks nice but wouldn't your ears get too hot in there?"

"Nobody else knows, right? You didn't tell Weiss, did you." That could end very badly. It wasn't like she was friends with the girl but she seemed much less… Schnee than she imagined. Maybe if she could push her in the right direction, there would be some significant improvement for faunus.

"No, Blake, did Weiss do some- Oh, is it because of the bullying?" At last Ruby understood why exactly Blake was hiding her ears. "Please, Weiss wouldn't do anything. She actually thought Yang was a faunus for a few days after school began!"

This was the second time someone thought Yang was a faunus. She was certain that she wasn't, at least she didn't notice anything even when she saw her in the gym shower one evening. Was she missing something?

"Really?" Maybe Ruby would finally shed some light onto it.

"Yep! She saw Yang's shampoo, for sensitive fur or something like that, and she thought Yang was a faunus." Ruby started retelling the story while almost laughing at the memory. "When she asked her about it, Yang sat both her and Pyrrha down and gave them a lecture about proper selfcare, especially hair." The dam finally broke and Ruby descended into a giggling fit.

Blake couldn't help but also softly laugh at the sheer absurdity. "How did she even come up with it?" She managed to ask.

Ruby rolled her eyes, remembering the full details of Yang's 'trials'. "Half a year of different shampoos, gels and what not. I don't know how she chose this one but it makes her hair really fluffy!"

Blake realized that for all of Ruby's occasional awkwardness, she was surprisingly good with people. She was about to run away from Beacon, picking up Ilia on her way out but instead Ruby calmed her down with just one really dumb story. She wondered why she was still hiding. She was atop the combat class, RPY excluding because they were all bloody monsters, and nobody would mess with her. The staff didn't have any prejudices and… damn it, Goodwitch and Ozpin probably knows too…

"Thanks, Ruby. I think I needed that laugh." Blake gave Ruby a warm smile, one that she immediately returned. "But… Can you keep it to yourself? And tell Yang? I'm going to tell them myself when I'm ready."

"Sure." Ruby gave her another smile before refocusing on the forgotten homework. "Let's finish this already, I have more important things to do!"

"Some large plans for the weekend?"

"Nah. Just working on a new project. Do you guys plan to do something?"

"Not really, we - Ruby, I know you are a good tactician but please, stop screwing up supply lines! - will probably continue training and studying. Ilia is still a bit behind on combat and Nora needs all the help she can get with grimm studies. I also have a good book waiting for me."

"Really? What is it?"

"Man with two souls, heard about it?"

"No. Sounds interesting." Ruby said with a strange smile, that made Blake feel like she was a part of a joke she knew nothing about. "Can I borrow it after you are done?"

"I can give you the first part of the series right now if you want it. Just be careful with it."

"Thanks. You wouldn't mind if I let someone else from my team read it too?"

/

"Achoo" Weiss sneezed so hard she almost dropped her scroll.

"Bless you!" Came from the upper bunk.

/

"Just make sure Yang doesn't set it on fire." Blake joked. "Any other plans?"

"Hmm… Well, I'm working on something with Pyrrha and Weiss already told us that she intends to spend the entire weekend in the city. Yang said she also had something and already left for the night."

"Oh-ho! Something I should know about?" The big scary Yang breaking free of Beacons constraints to enjoy Vale's nightlife…

"You should really stop reading those things, Blake."

They finished their session an hour later, mostly because they kept pausing and just talking instead of doing their homework. Blake left with a small smile, greatly enjoying the time with Ruby, and seeing that everyone was already in their dorms anyway, she put her bow back only when she reached her room.

-BBW-

This time nobody tried to even get close to her and except a few worried looks everything went smoothly.

"Spill." She ignored whatever dumb greeting Junior came up with this time, instead prompting him to get to work.

He rolled his eyes at the rudeness but considering that he was already on thin ice with her didn't push the issue. "See the big guy at the fourth table?"

Yang looked behind and noticed the man looking straight at her. She gave Junior a nod and started walking to the person in question. He clearly wasn't the one she was looking for but she wasn't surprised. As long as her message was delivered she didn't care.

"If you start trouble, take it outside!" Junior shouted at her before losing sight of her in the crowd.

-BBW-

Maybe he was overly paranoid. When Watts noticed someone from Vale looking for him, they immediately expected that it was someone from Ozpin's inner circle. Instead it was just a teenager. Neither did he notice any increased police or huntsmen activity around the place.

He saw the girl enter. She moved with great confidence and she clearly had enough strength to back it up if necessary. At least compared to the rest of the people in the club.

She approached the bartender and after a short greeting he pointed in his direction. Without delay the girl started walking towards him. She didn't sit down at his table but that was fine. Both of them were slowly studying each other.

"You are not the one I expected." She offhandedly commented. "But I suppose I should have expected a messenger."

She pulled out a book and carefully put it on the table. "The message for your boss is on the paper inside."

"He is not my boss, merely an associate." He gruffly replied. He was an enforcer but not his. And why did she look so familiar…

She just shrugged. "It hardly matters to me. Take the message and get going, I need the reply as soon as possible."

"What do you want? We won't waste our time on something asinine."

"That's not your problem." She was clearly getting annoyed, good, maybe she would give up and go away. "Just deliver the message to your friend and I'm sure he would be more than capable of doing me this favor."

He only crossed his arms and continued to wait, maybe she would attack and he would be able to quickly knock her out and leave.

"Very well, I need a gift for a person very dear to me and said gift can only be provided by Arthur Watts. Does that sate your curiosity?" She glared at him. It would be much more intimidating if he wasn't as tall as her despite being seated.

"What a waste of time." He was about to get up when the table cracked and his face felt like he was facing a bonfire.

"I won't be taking the lip from some hairless gorilla." Crimson eyes glared at him. He felt like he was dealing with angry Salem again.

No.

It was different. Salem was like a force of nature. A goddess who did not care for a kingdom or two, much less a single man.

Those weren't the eyes of an all-powerful goddess. Those were the eyes of a predator, ready to tear him apart and then turn his body to ash.

He finally remembered why the girl looked so familiar. Long time ago, his dearest sister had dragged him to the wedding of some of her friends from Beacon. It wasn't that bad, even though he didn't remember the last few hours of it.

What he did remember, was that he managed to piss off the wife by accident and received the same red-eyed deathglare that stayed in his mind for years to come.

Raven Branwen was one of Ozpin's strongest pieces until she finally saw through his lies and left Ozpin behind. And now he was meeting her daughter in a shady club in Vale.

How utterly moronic.

Yang Xiao Long, the eldest daughter of Taiyang and half-sister of Summer's child

His eyes softened.

He knew what was making her so angry. It was a sibling thing. And given that her entire family got screwed over by Ozpin he should be a bit nicer.

"Fine." He grabbed the book and left the club, leaving a very confused teenager standing near the table. When he was outside he took a look at the request she wanted of Watts. He promptly threw away the piece of paper that was inside the book.

Utterly moronic indeed.

/

/

/

On Salem's group:

To be honest, the only person who is truly loyal to Salem is Tyrion.

Cinder is in it for the promise of power.

Watts is in it because Salem is the only person who can provide him with resources for research on par with a kingdom while not needing to care about things like ethics.

Hazel just wants Ozpin dead and Salem is the best bet.

/

Replies

To ReDestrobo: About Cardin, yes he is wasted potential. I've read some fics where they did something good with him and I can see that he could easily be a thug with a golden heart but I won't be doing that. I already have way too many characters, about a dozen of Chekhov's guns hanging around and I think that if I tried to get even more people involved, the story would collapse under its own weight while any story progression would come to a halt. I'm already having troubles with moving the story forward tbh, there are simply too many things I need to set up during Beacon that the pacing is really going down.

To Kyunin9: No. Frankly, Ivory came around only because I really liked the Queendom trailer. The in-story explanation is that during the WF assasination attempt, Weiss' soul broke into two to cope with the trauma. Larger part being Weiss while Ivory needed several months for her soul to grow and truly become aware.