Infiltration

Chapter 1

          Neapolitan woke up on the first day of the year, ready to play out her mission. She got dressed and looked at herself in the mirror. As always she was dressed to a specific pink, white and brown color scheme, mostly due to the irony of her name Neapolitan. She wore a long-sleeved top with a V neck and slits at her hips. The top half was white and the bottom was black and of a lighter material. Multiple chain link necklaces rested around her neck. She also wore black skinny jeans that matched her stern demeanor well.

Looking into the mirror she willed away her current outfit and it was replaced with something skimpier and more gothic. Even her eyes changed color from the standard pink and brown to a vivid green. Replacing her business-like attire was a sleeveless black blouse with frills on the chest and a black bow on the collar. It exposes her waist and her white gloves changed to black. Her pants were replaced by a knee-length black skirt fastened with a white belt. Her hair changed from its usual pink, white and black combination to black and put into a twin tail style. In short, she looked nothing like her usual self.

Exiting the restroom, she was happy to see her teammate Mercury sitting on his bed across the room. He was fully dressed in his uniform for the school; one that resembled that of Haven Academy with the dark gray and black color scheme. He was just pulling on his fingerless gloves when he looked up to greet Neo.

"How you doin', squirt?" he said jokingly. Neo rolled her eyes at him. If only she had a dollar for every height joke he made, she thought to herself. He stood up to give her a friendly hug but was pushed away as he approached her. Feeling shot down, he was relieved when he saw an unusual smirk on her face. This wasn't her usual sassy smirk that she would often display in bouts of combat; this was more on the playful side, and it was enough to keep Mercury happy.

She headed to the door but stopped to look disdainfully at her pink umbrella resting on her bed. She longed to take it with her but for her mission it was necessary that she leave it. She dared not be recognized by the children from team RWBY. Should they report it she'd be forced to flee campus and the mission would be toast. Taking a deep sigh she turned away and prepared to leave.

"I'll see you around, Merc," she said, turning her head back towards him. She heard a gentle sigh com from her partner.

"I still can't believe you won't talk around anybody else." He responded. It was true; Neo was known for never talking and nobody even knew she was anything other than a mute. "I ought to tell Cinder about this." She giggled at the statement.

"Remember: nobody will believe you," she said matter-of-factly before walking into the hallway, adding extra flair to the way she moved her hips as an outlet for her innate sass. Behind her, Mercury shook his head, grinning as he continued to get ready for the day.

Tray in hand, she took her seat across a table from team RWBY. Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang were very important to Neo and her colleagues. In fact, she could remember a distinct time where they were capable of shutting down a rebellion-based operation that would have released countless Grimm into the kingdom of Vale. Her job as an infiltrator was to fit in and discover what she could about the workings of the academy, and this included the four second-years who proved able to stop her and her team from wreaking havoc all over the kingdom.

Her presence was enough to distract the team from their conversation, and they immediately became indulged in meeting the "new girl", bombarding her with random questions designed to further acquaint themselves. The one in white was particularly quiet during this exchange. Weiss, Neo remembered her being called. Finally, she perked up and said something.

"Why aren't you talking?" she asked the new girl. It was a fair question as Neo didn't seem the least bit unsettled by the verbal assault from the other three, nor did she seem compliant and ready to answer all of them. She seemed to Weiss, as disturbingly calm. To further throw her off, Neo tossed her a sly little smirk that rattled the Schnee heiress. The other three continued on, refusing to stop until one of Neo's teammates showed up. Emerald sat down beside Neo in her Haven Academy uniform, cutting off the current "discussion" going on.

"Oh hey guys, I see you met my teammate, um..." she blanked for a moment, obviously forgetting Neo's fake persona. Team RWBY seemed skeptical at first but the overall innocence of the group let it go as soon as Emerald finished her statement with "Neo". This should have completely destroyed the mission, and the other four caught on to something. Eager to fix things, Emerald continued.

"She doesn't talk so you'll have a hard time getting answers from her." That statement was enough to distract team RWBY's thoughts and they shifted their attention to Emerald.

"Is that so? That's really interesting!" Ruby exclaimed. "How have you been, Em?" And with that, Ruby, Weiss and Blake got into a friendly conversation with Emerald, while Yang had other things on her mind. Neo had brought a mixture of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream to the dining hall, and only that. She picked at it, eating it slowly, and Yang was still convinced something was wrong. Neo looked up and locked eyes with Yang. Using her semblance of illusions, she willed her eyes back to the normal pink and brown before immediately changing it back, adding her trademark smirk.

Yang's thoughts flashed back to the second semester of her first year and her fight on a train with those same eyes. Suddenly the pieces of this puzzle were put together and she knew exactly who she was. Activating her gauntlets she lunged, fist on course to connect with the new girl's face.

Before it connected, however, her fist was interrupted by someone else's hand. Mercury stood in between the two, both hands holding Yang's as a way to buffer the attack. He held it until RWBY's teammates pulled her back.

"What's wrong with you?" he exclaimed, putting on a false innocent attitude. Neo had yet to budge at this, and continued to pick at her ice cream, smirk still on her face. Yang stammered a bit, but couldn't find the words to explain what was happening. Thinking she had just been seeing things, she cupped her face in her hands and hyperventilated for a short while.

"I'm really sorry for that. I'm not sure what got into her." Blake stepped up and tried to make amends for the opposing team. Emerald waved her hand at the gesture and laughed aloud.

"It's no problem, Yang. Really." Her affable nature made her words sound pure and sincere and slowly the tension defused in the room, although team RWBY went to eating and talking amongst themselves. Emerald, Mercury and Neo remained mostly silent for the duration of their meal until another person walked up to the table behind the current three. Also in her Haven Academy uniform, her black hair covered one eye while the other one shone deep amber in color.

"Come on team," she said gently, her voice calm and collected. "I'd hate to be late to class." As team RWBY paid no notice to the newcomer, they hardly noticed the other three get up and leave the dining hall, walking as silently as they ate to their lecture.