3rd Person POV
John walked around the crumbled town. It looked like it was once quite peaceful.
Now it was nothing but smoldering ruins.
John continued looking around at the landscape. Next to him was a shallow river, which had concrete barrier built around it. There were also plenty of walls left standing.
All was quiet... but John knew better than to trust the quiet. He could easily be ambushed here. He wasn't looking around to take in the sights. He was looking around for places to take cover should he be ambushed.
He didn't like being here alone, but he had no other choice. He had a partner with him, but he was unfortunately killed. The memory flashed in John's mind briefly, but he shook it off. He didn't grieve when it happened, there wasn't time. And he couldn't grieve now. He had a mission, and thousands of lives were at stake.
John carried on through the ruined town.
*POW*
A bullet missed John by inches. He immediately took cover in the river, narrowly avoiding another bullet. John peeked out from the river to see if he could spot the attacker.
Another gunshot sounded, and the bullet pegged the ground right in front of John's face, the debris from the gunshot hitting his face.
John didn't see the attacker, but he did see the muzzle flash from the attacker's gun on the second story of a building that still stood.
John pulled back the bolt of his rifle, then hopped out from the river, narrowly avoiding another bullet.
John rushed to a wall, where he took cover. Another bullet tore through the wall right next to his face. John swiftly exited his cover, then shot at the attacker. He pulled the bolt back, then fired again. He pulled the bolt back again, then fired again. He repeated this process to keep the attacker pinned down until he reached another wall. John could now see the silhouette of the attacker in the window said attacker was firing from.
John noticed that the clip in his gun was empty, so he loaded another clip, pulled the bolt back, and took a brief deep breath. He peeked out from behind his cover to coax his attacker into firing. When a bullet just missed John's chest, John popped out of his cover and shot at the attacker.
John saw the attacker stumble back, but pulled the bolt back and kept his gun trained on the window.
John reached the door to the building. He opened the door and went inside. When inside, John could here the groaning of the ambusher. John walked up the stairs, then kept his rifle trained on the door of the room the attacker was in.
John finally reached the door. He took a deep breath.
He then opened the door.
The second he opened the door, he and the attacker fired at almost the same time.
???: John!
John snapped out of his memory from the war and looked at the source of the voice, which was his employer. A certain shop owner.
Whiley: Are you alright, young man?
John: Yes sir. I was just... thinking.
Whiley: About your world?
John: Yes... sorry, sir. I'll get back to work.
Whiley: There's no need to apologize.
Mr. Whiley smiled, then left to get the customers' orders. John took a breath and continued making noodles.
He then looked up at the small TV and watched Team RWBY fight Team ABRN from Haven in a half-ice half-lava arena.
Port: Hoho! It seems we have another astonishing bout ahead of us! Wouldn't you agree, Professor?
Oobleck: Doctor. And yes, Peter, I think it's safe to say this match may be the closest we've seen in the tournament.
John rolled his eyes, knowing exactly who was going to win. He couldn't help but smile as he watched Ruby wield her scythe expertly.
John wondered what it feels like to participate in a tournament like this. Since Ironwood deployed Alex, Arthur, and Richard, Team WAAR obviously couldn't participate. Besides, given that explosions sometimes triggered John's PTSD, they hadn't planned on participating anyway. They, especially John, did not want to repeat what happened at the docks in front of thousands of spectators.
Timeskip
The battle was over. As John expected, Team RWBY won. Now they were in the middle of the Fair Grounds looking for a place to eat. After Emerald gave Ruby back her wallet, they decided to eat at a certain noodle stand.
They saw someone working at the stand, however their back was turned to them. Ruby decided to grab their attention.
Ruby: Hello.
???: Top o' the mornin' to ya. Now, what can I-
The person turns around, revealing that it's John.
John: Oh. Hello, girls.
Ruby: John?
Yang: When did you start working at the noodle stand.
John: Started today, actually. Been here all day.
Ruby: Oh, so that's why you weren't in the stands. But, why didn't you tell me? I was looking for you.
John: Sorry to have made you unhappy Ruby. But I have to ask, what do you mean I didn't tell you? Did you not get the message I sent to your Scroll?
Ruby suddenly goes wide eyed and starts checking her pockets. She then looks back to John with a sheepish smile.
Weiss: You left it in our room, didn't you?
John chuckled, then shook his head.
John: Anyway, what'll it be?
Yang: The owner should have my regular written down somewhere.
John: Is that what this sticky note is? I guess that makes sense. I couldn't tell what the bloody hell it was supposed to be.
Ruby: I'll take the same.
Weiss: I'll have anything with low salt.
John turned his attention to Blake, who only nodded once. Thankfully, John knew exactly what that meant.
John then quickly went to the back of the stand and put together everyone's orders.
He slid Yang her bowl of noodles, then Ruby hers, then Weiss', and finally, he slid a giant bowl of fish to Blake. He couldn't help but laugh when Blake began drooling at the sight of the fish.
John: Alright, then. So, who's gonna pay?
Weiss handed her card to John. John then took it and proceeded to finalize the transaction.
Yang: Aw, Weiss! What's the occasion?
Weiss: Consider it thanks for sending me to the doubles round.
John: Uh, Weiss? Bit of a problem.
Team RWBY then looked at John, who pointed at the register which was blaring the words DECLINED.
Weiss: What?! How can my card be declined?!
John: I don't know! I have no bloody idea how Lien works! Is it similar to £?
Weiss: To what?!
John: £. British Currency.
Weiss: Very unlikely.
John noticed that Blake looked worried. And of course, he broke when he saw his girlfriend staring sadly at her noodles.
He sighed and hoped he wouldn't get in trouble with Mr. Whiley for this.
John: Right. I probably shouldn't do this... but, since you're my friends and all, I'll tell you what, the first round's on me. But I can't just give you free food willy-nilly. If you want seconds, someone's gonna have to pay.
???: Maybe I could help?
Team RWBY and John turn to see Team JNPR walking up to the stand.
Ruby: Pyrrha!
Yang: Aw, you don't have to.
Blake: But she could!
Pyrrha: Well, you all earned it after that battle.
Jaune: Mind if we join you?
Timeskip
Teams RWBY and JNPR all sat at the stand groaning with hands on their stomachs. John stood there impressed by the amount of food the two teams ate.
John: You know, I once spent three days in the trenches without anything to eat. And when the food arrived... I ate a fifth of what you lot just consumed.
Ren then spoke up.
Ren: Are you sure it was wise to have eaten before a fight?
Pyrrha: Of course! It will give us energy.
John: If that were true, then the majority of the British Army would have been eating and the war would have been very different.
Before anyone could say anything about that statement, Nora released a burp louder than the artillery barrages on the Western Front.
Jaune's head then slammed onto the table.
Jaune: Ugh, if I barf, I'm blaming you.
Nora: Ooh! Aim it at the enemy!
Ren: Nora, that's disgusting... but if you feel the urge...
Jaune: Got it.
Pyrrha then stands up.
Pyrrha: Well, we should be off.
Ruby: Think you guys are ready?
Nora: Of course! We have a world renowned fighter on our team, what's basically a ninja, I can bench a lot, and... Jaune. We've trained all year, our weapons are awesome, Glynda barely yells at us anymore, and... uh... Jaune!
John: Wow, way to through your mate under the bus.
Jaune: She's not wrong.
Nora: I'm kidding! He knows I'm kidding. Don't be so nervous! The worst that could happen is we lose! Then it's just another few years of walking around school alone all year, and our friends will slowly abandon us for social status, we won't be able to show our faces in class, no one will sit with us in the cafeteria, Ren and I have no friends and no home to go to, we'll be officially renamed Team Loser, hahahaha, aaahaaa...
John could only stand there and look very concerned.
John: Well... she's been thinking about this a lot.
Ren: So... yeah. We're feeling pretty good.
Pyrrha: Don't fret. If anything, we should be looking forward to a fight with actual guidelines and not... well, murderers.
John knew that Pyrrha was being literal with the murderers comment, but despite the fact that he was at war, he never felt like he was justified in taking the lives he was forced to.
Yang: Yeah! Don't sweat it! We've all faced way worse than this before.
Blake: Let's see: invasions, violent extremists, a destructive sociopath.
John: Fighting a war.
Then the PA system crackled to life.
Port: Would Team JNPR please report to the battlegrounds immediately.
Oobleck: Yes! Like they were scheduled to several minutes ago.
Pyrrha: Well, it looks like this is it.
Team JNPR then walks off to the arena.
John: Good luck!
Meanwhile...
Emerald and Mercury got back to their room, where Cinder, Neo, and a third person was waiting.
Cinder: So, how did you get along with your new friends?
Emerald: I hate them. I just-... how can they be so happy all the time?
Cinder: Have a little patience, Emerald. We won't have to deal with them much longer. Did you at least get what we want?
Mercury: The Heiress and The Bimbo.
Cinder: At least we know who we're working with.
Emeral: What about the alien, Fish?
The third person then speaks up.
???: You leave him to me.