Beacon ballroom
The dance had begun an hour ago, and most people were enjoying it. Kat and Kropp were fooling around, drinking whatever they could find. Tjaden was dancing with a girl he just met 15 minutes ago, as for Paul, he was outside contemplating the stars that decorated the night sky. He didn't have anyone to dance with, not that it bothered him, but he was a bit jealous of Tjaden. Ever since he entered Beacon, girls have been going crazy over him. Most girls saw him as "classy" and a "gentleman". Having known Tjaden for over 10 years now, those would be the last 2 adjectives he'd use to describe him.
All 4 of them were dressed in cheap suits that they bought for 50 dollars at some off brand store. It wasn't even comparable to the ones in Germany, and it felt awful to wear, but at first glance it looked like any other suit.
Paul stared at the stars for some more time before taking out his scroll. He was looking at his most recent pictures, when he saw a couple of them that looked strange. It was him smiling to the camera and in the background team RWBY was fighting a giant robot. To say he was impressed would be an understatement. He was amazed that such a weapon could exist in this world. If they would've had this, it would've definitely change the tide of the war, like how tanks were supposed to do. He was also surprised at the fact that he took pictures with it. If he wasn't drunk he would've ran away at the first sight of that robot.
While looking at the pictures from last night, Paul didn't notice someone had sneaked up on him.
Himelstoss: Haben Sie Spaß? (Are you having fun)
Paul: Hallo Himelstoss (Hello Himelstoss) Paul replied clearly not excited to see him
Himelstoss: Was hast du in letzter Zeit gemacht, junger Mann? (What have you been doing recently, young man) he said while taking out 2 cigarettes from his breast pocket
Paul: Sie wissen, dass das Rauchen hier verboten ist? (You know smoking is prohibited here right?) He told Himelstoss as he took one of the cigarettes
Himelstoss: Nun, niemand schaut zu (well, no one is watching) Himelstoss replied as he lit both cigarettes
Both, smoked for some minutes before Paul decided to answer Himelstoss's original question
Paul: Ich habe mich in letzter Zeit auf mein Studium konzentriert, ich muss mich an diese neue Welt anpassen (I have been focusing on my studies lately, I need to adapt to this new world)
Himelstoss: Nun, meine Techniken werden Ihnen auf jeden Fall bei Ihrem Training helfen (Well, my techniques will definitely help you in your training) He said proudly
Paul: Nein, das werden sie nicht, Ihre Lehrmethoden sind unbrauchbar und jeder hier hasst Sie. (No they won't, your teaching methods are useless and everyone here hates you.) Paul responded annoyed
Himelstoss: Sie wissen einfach nicht, wie sie die glorreichen kaiserlichen Methoden, die ihnen in Zukunft dienen werden, zu schätzen wissen. (They simply do not know how to appreciate the glorious imperial methods that will serve them in the future.)
Paul: Sie dienten eindeutig nicht Kimmerich (They clearly didn't serve Kimmerich)
Himelstoss: Wer? (Who?) he asked confused
Paul: Herrgott, du erinnerst dich ja nicht einmal an ihn, oder? (Christ, you don't even remember him do you!?) Paul said angrily
Himelstoss stared at him with a blank expression. At that time what Paul wanted most was to punch him square in the nose.
Paul: Die kleine, blonde mit grünen Augen ( The small blonde one with green eyes)
Himelstoss: Ummm nein, was ist mit ihm passiert? (Ummm no, what happened to him)
Paul: Er starb (He died) he said in a cold tone
Himelstoss: Offensichtlich hat er mein Training nicht verfolgt. (Obviously, he didn't follow my training.)
Paul had never been this infuriated before. Right now he wanted choke Himelstoss to death or at the very least say something back to him, but he didn't. He took a deep breath before he could do anything stupid. He was still pissed off at Himelstoss, but at least he didn't do anything that would get him in trouble.
Paul: Und was hast du gemacht, Himelstoss? (And what have you been doing, Himelstoss?) said Paul trying to change the subject
Himelstoss: Nun, abgesehen vom Unterrichten habe ich eine reizende Frau kennen gelernt (Well, apart from teaching I met a lovely woman)
Paul: Verdammt, sie muss sich den Kopf ziemlich angeschlagen haben. (Damn, she must've hit her head pretty hard) Paul said while chuckling to himself.
Himelstoss: Wie können Sie es wagen! (How dare you!) Exclaimed Himelstoss
Paul: Wie ist sie denn so? (What's she like) he said after he finished laughing
Himelstoss: Oh, sie ist eine Blume (Oh, she's a flower)
Himelstoss: Braune Haare, blaue Augen, charmantes Lächeln, feste Brüste (Brown hair, blue eyes, a charming smile, firm breasts)
Paul: In Ordnung, das reicht jetzt. (Alright that's enough) Paul said quickly before Himelstoss could continue
Paul: Ich gehe jetzt rein, vielleicht können wir unser Gespräch später fortsetzen. (I'm going in now, maybe we can continue our conversation later.)
With that he stomped on the cigarette and went inside the ballroom leaving Himelstoss outside.
Once inside he made his way over to the punch bowl, he was craving something sweet at that moment. He arrived at the punch bowl and saw that both Ruby and Jaune were there.
Jaune complained about not having anyone to dance with since Weiss had rejected him. After some time Jaune left and Ruby went outside. He stood by the punch bowl for 20 minutes. He was thinking about walking back to the dorms, but his thoughts were interrupted by laughter. Looking up from his glass of water, he saw Jaune now dressed in a dress similar to Weiss.
Paul couldn't help but laugh as Jaune and the rest of his team danced. He decided to go to sleep now, he really needed it as he hadn't been sleeping well for the last few days. Ever since leaving the front he had been dreaming with the horrors of war. He understood he needed to sleep but at the same time, he was afraid. Afraid of going to sleep, afraid to going back into the trenches. Outside he met once more with Ruby. They talked for a while until Ruby suddenly went quiet. When Paul asked her if she was alright all she did was point to the roofs behind the in the distance. Paul didn't see anything there but Ruby swore she saw someone running on the rooftops. Ruby had decided to investigate. Paul debated with himself. He didn't know if to return home or go with his friend. In the end he went to investigate with Ruby.
When he saw Ruby call her rocket powered locker, he did the same, now with his weapons on him he could properly investigate whatever Ruby had seen. The night was quiet. The music coming from the ballroom was slowly fading as they walked. The only thing interrupting the silence was the constant clank, Paul's gas mask made when it hit its container.
Ruby: What is that. She asked Paul
Paul: What is what?
Ruby: That can you always carry on your waist. Ruby said while pointing at it
Paul: That's my gas mask
Ruby: Gas mask? She asked confused
Paul: It protects me from enemy gas attacks. Paul explained
Ruby: Like in your war?
Paul: Yes
Ruby: What are gas attacks?
"Wait you don't know!?" Paul asked shocked while Ruby shook her head
Paul: The enemy used poisonous gas against us in the war, the gas mask protected me against it.
Ruby: We've never had those types of weapons in Remnant
Paul: Then consider yourself lucky you don't have to witness the horrors of chemical warfare
Ruby: But you're not in a war anymore, why do you still have it?
Paul: I don't feel safe without it.
Paul: I saw over 100 men perish due to gas attacks, I was lucky to have brought mine at that moment. Up until then I had been using the container to carry sandwiches.
Paul: Ever since that day, I promised never to go out without it again.
They continued the walk in silence until they reached the beacon tower. There, Ruby spotted an unconscious guard hidden behind some bushes by the entrance. As they went inside they readied their weapons. More guards laid unconscious throughout the lobby. When they approached the elevator, they saw that the most recent stop was at floor 27. When the elevator doors opened, 2 more guards laid unconscious inside.
Once they reached floor 27, it seems like nobody was there. It was quiet, but that didn't stop them from raising their guard and their weapons.
"Hello" Ruby said
Shortly after those words left her mouth, she almost fell to the ground due to her high heels.
"Hello" Ruby repeated
It seemed like no one was in the room, but then a woman with black hair, clothes and a mask covering her eyes arose from behind one of the desks.
Ruby: Excuse me, you know it not a masquerade party so why don't you take off that-
Before Ruby could finish, the woman created dust spikes and threw them at both Ruby and Paul. Ruby was able to deflect all of them with her scythe. Once she finished both her and Paul began shooting at the unknown woman. The woman was able to block all of Ruby's rounds but not Paul's. His bullet went right through her palm leaving behind a hole. The woman screamed in pain while holding her injured hand.
The ding of the elevator was heard. When Ruby and Paul turned to see who wad entered, they saw none other than general Ironwood himself. When they turned back to the woman she was gone, all that remained were a couple drops of blood.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————-
Hey everyone
I know I said I would drop the 1 chapter per week and that still stands, but this was supposed to be part of the last chapter so that's why I decided to finish it this week.
That's also the reason this chapter is shorter than the other ones
One thing I'd like to mention is that all of the Germans are speaking with their native accents, I'm just too lazy to write them.
Nothing much to say see y'all in chapter 7