(Here we go baby! Volume 2....BEGINS!!! I. AM. SO. HYPED FOR THIS! In my personal opinion, volume 2 is where things finally get interesting, and we finally delve into the nitty gritty. That and I get to KICK SOME ASS. Let's get started! Also, let me know what you think of the song I've chosen for volume 2! And let me know if you have any suggestions! The song will not be set in stone until v2 ch3, so you've got time. Now! Let's get...messy.)
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Team RWBY Dorm, Noon
3rd Person Pov
Weiss and Blake sat across from eachother in Team RWBYs dorm. They were still awaiting the return of their three other teammates, although they were expected back today.
Currently however, they sat on the floor across from eachother, staring at eachother with icy concentration, and competitive air. They were currently locked in an hour long battle of wit and intellect, as a chess board lay between them.
Weiss was in a tough spot. She had nothing but her king, and a knight left to her name, while Blake still sported a bishop and her queen. Weiss's king was backed into a corner, and Blake was trying her hardest to secure a checkmate, but Weiss's defense seemed impenetrable, as her lone knight had already claimed many brave pieces. These last few turns would decide the fate of the game...
Weiss moved her knight to a more defensive position...
Blake saw an opening...
She went to make her move...
And then the door burst open in a tempest of shadows and rose petals, startling the poor cat faunas into misplacing her queen, a fatal mistake. The storm that burst into the room settled in front of the window to reveal none other than beacons resident enigma, and the red reaper herself, who was riding on the boys shoulders, Y/n L/n and Ruby Rose, who had finally returned from their week long outing to Patch over the semester break. The ever energetic Ruby greeted her black and white teammates with enthusiasm from her perch on Y/n's shoulders.
Ruby: "We're baaaaaaack!!" She loudly proclaimed, throwing her arms up in a small self celebration of their return. However her greeting was almost ignored as Blake watched in despair while Weiss seized her mistake and locked down her king, securing a checkmate and winning the last game of their set.
Y/n was much less flashy in his greeting, simply standing there with a relaxed grin.
Y/n: "Yo."
Blake's short depression over the lost game of chess disappeared as she stood up to welcome back her teammates with her usual, nonchalant attitude. Most people would think Blake hates people the way that she tends to interact, but this isnt the case. She simply prefers to stay quiet.
Blake: "Welcome back." She looked around in temporary confusion. "Where is Yang?"
She didnt have to wonder for long as Yang walked through the door looking her normal self.
Yang: "Oh I'm just Yangin around. Nothin special. What about you two? Get up to anything special while we were gone?"
Blake: "No, nothing really."
Blake watched with some interest as Y/n playfully tossed Ruby off his shoulders up onto her bunk, eliciting some amused giggles from the team leader. In fact, all three of them seem in rather high spirits. Weiss took notice as well, standing up beside her felinid companion.
Weiss: "What about you three? You all seem rather cheerful. Things go well?"
Y/n hopped up and sat next to Ruby with his legs dangling over the edge of the bed as he turned to and addressed his teammates.
Y/n: "All in all things went great. Got to hang out, relax at home and I got to say my goodbyes. Things were a little dicey at first though..."
Ruby sat up as well, chiming in.
Ruby: " 'Dicey' is probably an understatement."
Yang: "Definitely an understatement."
Blake and Weiss looked between their teammates in confusion.
Blake: "What happened?"
Ruby: "We met a god."
Y/n: "Well, I mean technically they're the incarnation of death but I think the word 'god' counts for them as well."
Blake and Weiss exchanged skeptical looks before turning to Yang for a better idea of what happened. Yang just shrugged.
Yang: "Yeah that's pretty much how it went down."
Weiss: "...how..?"
Y/n went on to recount to his teammates a out his a d Ruby's encounter with The Kindred and their interest in how he was alive, going as far as to travel across worlds to see him.
Y/n: "It was a bit of a scare. But it was also pretty cool."
Ruby pouted slightly.
Ruby: "Maybe for you! I was scared they were gonna try and kill you!"
Weiss: "I have to agree. It certainly was no laughing matter."
Y/n playfully rolled his eyes as he ruffled Ruby's hair.
Y/n: "Oh calm down rosebud, everything worked out fine. Besides, they may be death personified but that doesnt mean they're evil."
Blake rolled her head around Y/ns story and put forth a question.
Blake: "Y/n? You said that they weren't from your world, but a different one, right?"
Y/n: "Yup. It's called Runeterra. Literally means magic earth."
Blake: "Right right...but if they weren't of your world...how did you know about them and their story."
Y/n gained a rather nervous look at that and smiled awkwardly as he wandered.
Y/n: "O-oh uh...W-well that's because on earth...runeterra is a place in a video game..."
The room was silent for a moment at how ridiculous the statement sounded.
Ruby: "So you...recognized them from a video game..?"
Y/n: "Y-yeah pretty much. Probably shouldn't go telling a bunch of people a out all this though, they might not take it well for whatever reason."
Silence settled again over the room before several stomachs growled in hunger. Y/n laughed shortly as he checked the time.
Y/n: "Well, lunch should be serving about now. How about we go get some grub and see of we catch team JNPR in there?"
The rest of the team was pretty quick to agree, and most began to leave towards the cafeteria, but Ruby forced Y/n to hang back for a moment as she fished around the dorm closet for something. Whatever she was looking for, it took her a minute to find it, and when she did, she hid the object from view, not allowing Y/n to see, much to his confusion. He thought nothing of it and followed her out of the dorm and towards the cafeteria.
Y/n had spent a lot of time during their vacation to analyze more dust ammunition, and was now capable of using practically any dust rounds he desired, for pretty much and weapon. Save of course a rocket launcher or something of the like, but he had his own toys for that. He was distracting himself on the walk by rolling a rifle round back and forth across his knuckles. He chuckled as he recalled that when Ruby first saw him do this, she immediately wanted to know how and begged him to teach her. He showed her how to do it and she failed miserably when she tried, but has been practicing ever since and has actually improved. Just another one of the infinite things he loved about her. Her stubborn and excitable nature, as well as her eagerness to learn new tricks and techniques.
He shook himself out of his trance and saw that they were now approaching the table where the rest of their team was mingling, team JNPR being one table over. Y/n watched in confusion as Ruby had somehow produce a massive binder absolutely stuffed with paper. As they reached the table, Ruby heaved as she slammed the massive binder onto the end of the table next to Weiss, gaining the attention of her team. Y/n shrugged and decided to sit across from Weiss, still rolling the bullet across his knuckles.
On the cover of the binder were the neatly printed words, "Vytal Festival Activities, property of Weiss Schnee." This had been messily scribbled out with a red marker, and underneath was renamed, "Best Day Ever Activities". Y/n couldnt help much but smile at Ruby's eagerness to spend time with her whole team before the semester started. She cleared her throat loudly to gain her teams attention.
Ruby: "Ahem! Sisters...friends..." she gestured to her three female teammates. "Handsome~..." she gestured to Y/n with a playful smirk. Y/n returned the look and held his head on one hand as he continued his bullet trick, leaning forward a bit. Ruby made one final gesture towards Weiss. "Weiss."
Weiss: "Hey!"
Ruby ignored her teammates plight as she continued.
Ruby: "Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream."
Y/n was taken aback slightly at the staggering similarity that one sentence had to a certain speech. He shrugged it off and listened. Yang continued to catch food in her mouth that Nora was throwing at her from across the way.
Yang: "This ought to be good."
Ruby: "A dream that one day, the five of us would come together, as a team, and have the best day anyone has ever had...ever!"
Weiss leaned over to examine the binder slightly before giving Ruby a questioning look.
Weiss: "Did you steal my binder?"
Ruby slouched slightly as she made two peace signs and responded.
Ruby: "I am not a crook."
Y/n: "Presidents are rolling in their graves right now...its awesome."
Blake looked to Ruby.
Blake: "What are you talking about?"
Ruby points an exaggerated finger at Blake as she responds.
Ruby: "I'm talking about kicking the semester off with a bang!!"
Y/n rubbed his hands together with a mischievous look.
Y/n: "This can be arranged..."
Ruby playfully smacked the back of his head eliciting a dark chuckle from the boy. Oh look at that its yang-o-clock.
Yang: "I always kick my semester's off with a Yang! Eh? Guys? Am I right?"
She was stuck in the face by a wayward apple thrown by Nora, who voiced her disapproval from the other table.
Nora: "Boooooo!
Y/n: "And Bob's your uncle, it's got ya good."
Ruby resumed her pitch.
Ruby: "Look guys it's been a good two weeks and between more exchange students showing up and the tournament at the end of the year, our second semester is going to be great! But classes start back up tommorow! Which is why I have taken the time to schedule a series of wonderful events for us today!"
Y/n: "I'm not even gonna ask when you had the time to come up with all of this."
Weiss: "Personally, I dont know whether to be scared or proud of what you have in store."
Y/n: "Both would be a good option."
Yang picks up an apple and attempts to throw it at Nora, bit ends up missing and hitting some random student.
Blake: "I dont know. I think I might sit this one out."
Weiss: "Sit out or not, I think however we spend today we should do it as a team!"
Nora shouts positively in the background.
Nora: "I got it!"
Weiss stands up holding up a finger to propose an idea.
Weiss: "I for one think that-"
Weiss is, unfortunately for her, interrupted when a pie sails right over Y/and head and hits Weiss directly in the face, silencing her. Y/n saw where this was going a mile away, and smirked devilishly as he prepared himself.
He lowered his voice to a deep, almost growl like state and spoke ravenously.
Y/n: "Chaos will follow."
And follow it did.
The cafeteria rapidly declined into a state of total mayhem, as food was thrown and splattered all over the large room in a comically colorful display. Y/n for the most part had been carefully observing beside Ruby, as both teams RWBY and JNPR ended up dominating the cafeteria, causing all the other students to rush for the exit. Somehow faster that he could see, JNPR had amassed a mountain of tables on the other end of the cafeteria. Nora stood on top taunting them while the rest of her team stood ready.
Nora: "I'm the queen of the castle~! I'm the queen of the castle~!"
Y/n and Ruby stood tall on top of a table as they shared a confident look and turned back to face the mighty team JNPR. Ruby held a milk carton as she dramatically pointed at the other team.
Ruby: "Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful! It will be...!"
She dramatically crushed the carton in her hand as the rest of her team gathered behind her.
"DELICIOUS!"
The rest of team RWBY threw a fist up in a mighty warcry. The battle had begun.
Nora: "Off with their heads!" She shouted as she leaped down from atop the table for and team JNPR began to send a bombardment of full size watermelons at the group.
Ruby: "Yang! Turkey!"
Yang was quick to leap into action, wielding cooked turkeys in place of her gauntlets, she smashed to pieces most watermelons that came her way and Blake grabbed a couple long pieces of bread to help her friend battle. The room was absolute chaos of watermelons, turkey gauntlets, bread swords/spears and leek kamas. JNPR however was starting to get the upper hand when Nora managed to grab a small flagpole and stuck a watermelon on the end of it to substitute her giant hammer. Yang was sent flying through the roof, and Pyrrha used her semblance on a bunch of soda cans to send Blake into a wall. Nora even batted Weiss across the room and into a pillar, causing it to crack and start to fall. Ruby dashed by and caught the "unconcious" Weiss and moved her out of the way of the falling pillar.
Ruby: "Weiss! Stay with me! Nooooo!" She dramatically called. Ruby set Weiss down and was ready to avenge her team, but Y/n stopped her for a moment. He spoke to her with a face and tone that oozed excitement and confidence.
Y/n: "Wait for my signal."
She smiled back and nodded. Team JNPR watched in puzzlement as the 5th member of team RWBY approached them alone, with Ruby staying just in range sk they didnt hurt eachother. JNPR readied their weapons for a fight, something was up. Y/n stood before his four friends with an excited look. They stared eachother down for a moment before Y/n kicked up two breadsticks for him to dual wield. Pyrrha stepped forward with her bread sword in hand, and pointed it at him, speaking in a warning tone.
Pyrrha: "We wont go easy just because theres one of you."
Y/n only seemed to smile wider however, and took a deep breath. He dropped into an almost crouched stance with both his weapons at his side.
Y/n: "Good."
Team JNPR charged at him together, planning to overwhelm him on all sides. Y/n blocked an initial overhead from Pyrrha and spun on his heels to deliver a kick to Jaune who tried to strike him from behind, sending the boy flying. Pyrrha and Ren rushed him together, attacking him from both sides forcing him onto the defensive. He attempted to counter Pyrrha, but she was more experienced and hit him in the chest, pushing him back a bit.
He threw away his defences and went on the attack, surprising his two opponents as dashed all around them, almost too fast to see and delivered fast but heavy strikes. He eventually concluded his onslaught when he dashed behind Ren and struck him hard, sending the boy towards Pyrrha. Pyrrha dodged her flying teammate, causing him to be sent into a still recovering Jaune, knocking both boys into a large pile of tables.
Pyrrha and Y/n rushed eachother, quickly locking blades in a bout of strength. Pyrrha spoke first.
Pyrrha: "Your doing well! I didnt know you were so skilled with blades!"
Y/n: "Not so bad yourself Ornstein! Question is though, wheres Smough?"
Pyrrha gave him a confused look, but didnt have anytime to think about it as Y/n suddenly left the blade lock to dodge out of the way of a hammer wielding Nora trying to hit him from behind. Pyrrha was too caught off guard, and failed to move put of the way in time as she instead was hit by Nora's heavy blow sending her flying to land next to her two male teammates, who continued to watch the fight. Jaune was in awe, Ren was definitely impressed and Pyrrha sat up on the floor and watched as he and Nora stared eachother down.
Pyrrha: 'I'll definitely want to spar with him sometime...' she thought as she watched the remaining member of her team prepare to face the shadow. Y/n taunted her.
Y/n: "You know that's probably a disqualifier in most tournaments. Sure you dont wanna give up now?"
Nora: "No way! I'm gonna knock you into the dirt!"
Y/n: "Oh really? Lets see if you bite is as big as your bark!"
The two fighters charged at eachother to begin their combat. Nora was unable to land a solid hit due to Y/n's speed, but he also found himself struggling, as Nora seemed to just shrug off any his he landed. He did some quick math. He was faster, but she could take more punishment. They were fairly even on strength, so his only option was to send her airborne. He had a plan.
Y/n dashed in again at speeds fast enough to make the wind pick up near him as he began to land harder blows on Nora, causing her to stagger slightly. She cried out as she gave a mighty swing of her hammer. Y/n attempted to block, but the force of the blow snapped his bread in half and sent him back about 15 feet. He got his footing and charged back towards Nora. Thinking she had won, she gave another heavy swing, but was surprised when he suddenly dropped below the swing, and swept her legs out from under her. Before she hit the floor he was on his feet again and delivered a heavy roundhouse kick, sending Nora crashing into her three recovering teammates. Y/n dashed over to where Ruby was waiting and spoke as he lowered himself into a running stance.
Y/n: "Ready?"
Ruby smirked and nodded as she mimicked his stance. Y/n watched as the dazed members of team JNPR began to pick themselves up off the floor.
Y/n: "NOW!"
And on his mark they took off like bullet, cracking the wall behind them and creating a burst of wind that followed them. As they trailed through the giant cafeteria, the maelstrom behind them was picking up all sorts of food and debris. Halfway through they locked arms and turned into a practical bullet of shadows and rose petals as they dashed past JNPR, picking them up in the storm they created. They came to a sudden stop just in front of the cafeteria wall, opposite of where they had started. The sheer force created by their movement was enough to deny and crack the wall in front of them. Before the storm of food and friends they created could catch up to them, they both flipped up into the air and over the small cyclone, landing dramatically as team JNPR was pinned against the wall and bombarded with food, soda and all sorts of mess, eventually leaving a rainbow colored splatter all over the wall as their friends slowly peeled off and fell to the floor.
They stood up and admired their handiwork sharing a quick fist bump. They didnt have super long to celebrate however, as soon after, Professor Glynda Goodwitch stormed through the cafeteria door growling in frustration. With a flick of her riding crop, the cafeteria began to repair itself as walls were fixed, food was thrown away and tables were rearranged. As the last table bounded into place, the students regrouped at one of the tables. Glynda pushed up her glasses as she glared at the students.
Glynda: "Children, please! Do not play with your food!"
Nora let out an extremely loud belch, which caused the students to quickly lose their composure and begin laughing. Just as Y/n was beginning to wonder, Yang, screaming, came crashing down through the ceiling and into the table that had just been fixed, sitting up on her hands just a second later as they all lost their shit even further. Glynda was a out ready to snap, but Ozpin came up behind her, coffee in one hand, and placed his free hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her. Y/n noticed the angry Glynda and leaned down to whisper to Ruby.
Ozpin: "Let it go."
Glynda sighed in exasperation and pinched the bridge of her nose.
Glynda: "They're supposed to be the defenders of the world..."
Ozpin: "And they will be. But for now they are still children. So why not let them play the part. It isnt a role they'll have forever."
Y/n: "Philosophical as always I see profesor."
The headmaster and teacher looked to the right to see that Y/n and Ruby had slipped away from the other for a quick moment to speak to the two. Ozpin went to take a sip from his coffee, only to discover that it was empty. He gave the mug a disappointed look as he responded.
Ozpin: "I suppose. If only coffee was as infinite as our ability to contemplate life."
Y/n chuckled slightly.
Y/n: "Well I cant fix that, but I can do this instead."
Ozpin refocused on Y/n to see that the shadow of a boy was holding out two decently sized glass bottles that were placed in cloth sleeves, tied securely around the bottle necks with small ribbons. He held one of the shadowy vessels out to Ozpin, and one to Glynda.
Y/n: "And before you ask Mrs. Goodwitch, no, it isn't alchohol."
Glynda rolled her eyes, but accepted her gift and held it in her free hand as she observed it for a moment, it was chilled slightly. Ozpin took his as well, and noticed his was fairly warm, but not quite hot.
Glynda: "May we ask what the occasion is?"
Both Y/n and Ruby smiled genuinely as they both responded.
Ruby: "Consider it a thanks."
Y/n: "For everything."
Glynda raised a questioning eyebrow at this, but before she had a chance to ask, the two disappeared in a flashed of shadow and rose petals, appearing next to their friends. She spoke to the headmaster by her side.
Glynda: "That boy continues to perplex me, but I suppose it was wrong of me to judge him based off his...unique, circumstance."
Ozpin turned his bottle in his hand before he looked back towards the group of students, who were beginning to leave through another door of the cafeteria.
Ozpin: "There is more to him than meets the eye. Strange as he may be, he is a good man."
Ozpin watched them leave, and raised a brow in interest as he observed Y/n's uniforms blazer seem to...flicker, for a moment, from a shadowy black to the regular uniforms darker brown, before it instantly switched back. It was very fast, too fast for most to notice, but Ozpin saw it. Even more interesting is Y/n, like his friends, didnt seem to notice either.
"Hmmm..."
Ozpin decided to return to his office. He had received a quick report from Qrow about the recent events in Patch that he must review. He had a feeling something was coming, and Y/n would play a role in it for certain.
Timeskip, early evening, Beacon Library.
Y/n Pov
After the whole mess in the cafeteria we all decided to go to the library and hang out. The library at Beacon was unsurprisingly huge, and had isles of gigantic bookshelves that housed too many books to even try and count.
Ruby had dragged us back to the dorm quickly so we could grab a board game and set it up in the library. I was sat next to Ruby at the small table we set up. Currently her and Yang were deeply focused on the game, Weiss had no idea what was going on and Blake seemed a little...out of it...she probably just has a few things on her mind. I'll try and talk to her later.
Team JNPR had decided to follow along with us and were at a table not far away doing various things, mostly reading...mostly...Nora was sleeping on the book Ren was reading, but he didnt seem to care as he just flipped the page over on top of her. Jaune was reading a comic book beside Pyrrha, who was reading a textbook, but once she noticed what he was reading, she reached over and swapped their books, much to Jaunes dismay.
Ruby dramatically pointed at her sister as she readied to make her move.
Ruby: "Yang Xiao Long, prepare your kingdom for battle!"
Yang: "Bring it on!"
Ruby reached for a card in her hand, but I stopped her. She looked at me confused but I leaned in to whisper to her while I moved cards around in her hand.
Y/n: "Here, play your Speedy Tactician first so that you get a bonus roll on any trap cards she has. It might save you, and since it's a trap card too, she cant see it ahead of time."
Ruby quietly gasped in realization and thanked me before she made her move. She placed her trap card, and then in a total tone shift, SLAMMED another card onto the table causing all the pieces to jump.
Ruby: "I deploy the Atlesian Air Fleet! Looks like I get to fly right over your Ursai and attack your walls directly!"
Ruby proceeds to make airplane and bombing noises as she makes a bird with her hands. Yang gasps in fake shock as she responds.
Yang: "You fiend!"
Ruby: "And since Atlas is a part of Mantle, my repair time is only 1 turn!"
Ruby was a out to relish in her victory, but is surprised when Yang starts to arrogantly laugh.
Yang: "Pretty sneaky sis! But you just activated my trap card! GIANT NEVERMORE!!!" she shouts as she slams the card onto the table.
"If I roll a 7 or higher, fatal feathers will slice your fleet in two!"
Ruby however is unfazed, but decides to play along.
Ruby: "But! If you roll a six or lower, the Nevermore will turn on your own forces!"
Y/n: "That's a d12 Yang. Dangerous move."
Yang smirks confidently as she prepares to roll the dice.
Yang: "Thats just a chance I'm willing to take!"
She let's the dice roll, and watches with joy as it lands on a seven exactly. She whoops in celebration, but loses her confidence when she sees Ruby, completely unfazed and smiling arrogantly.
Ruby: "Pretty sneaky sis..." she mocked as she flipped over her own trap card dramatically.
"But you just activated MY trap card! Speedy Tactician! I get to force any player to reroll any trap ability no matter the result!"
Yang gulped nervously as she picked the dice back up, and gave it one last roll, watching in horror this time as she rolled a flat 1.
Yang: "Noooooo!" She cried out dramatically as her entire army was destroyed. Having decided that my work here was done, I ruffled Ruby's hair a bit before i leaned back in my chair and decided to zone out for a bit as Jaune made his way over and started asking to play or something.
We had only just got back to Beacon today and already things were going pretty good. Having that week away from everything to just spend with Ruby and settle things was a huge weight off my shoulders. I should probably tell Ozpin about the encounter we had with The Kindred...but if Qrow works as closely to him as he said, then Ozzy boy probably knows already. Hmm...I hope he and Glynda like their gifts. Ozpin is obviously a big coffee guy so I think he'll enjoy it, but I'm not sure about Glynda. She strikes me as a green tea type though so I think she'll like it.
I think I heard something about a dance coming up not to far from now...I should find a song for Ruby. Maybe even one we can do together. Yeah thatd be good. Which one should it be though? Hmm...
???: "sup losers"
I was cut out of my train of thought when Sun approached our little grouping with someone in tow, appearing behind Blake giving us a peace sign. Oh right! Sun is the monkey faunas that Blake was at the docks with when we fought off the White Fang. Ruby and I didnt get a chance to meet him till later because of that nights events. He was dressed up in his casual attire, that being a unbuttoned white shirt and blue jeans, along with some admittedly nice gloves.
And in some awesome twist of fate, yes, his full name is in fact Sun Wukong. Ruby was the first person to greet him while I just threw him a sorta rock sign.
Ruby: "Hey Sun!"
He decided to name us off for his friend he had brought.
Sun: "Ruby, Y/n, Yang, Blake...Ice Queen."
Weiss: "Why does everyone keep calling me that?"
Sun ignored her plight as he gestured towards his buddy.
Sun: "I never got a chance to formally introduce you to my old friend."
His friend stepped forward slightly.
???: "Arent library's meant for reading?"
Ren threw his hands up and shouted from the background, causing Nora to wake with a start.
Ren: "Thank you!"
Nora: "Pancakes!"
Sun lightly smacked his friends shoulder.
Sun: "Shut up. Dont be a nerd."
???: "geh geh geh geh geh! Intellectual. Okay? Thank you. I'm Neptune."
Neptune was dressed in a grim red jacket that had a large standing collar with a white dress undershirt and a tucked away black tie. His hair was obviously styled and a bright real. He also wore a pair of goggles with yellow lenses and some black fingerless gloves, and dark blue jeans with some sort of harness on them.
Weiss in an out of character display, showed some actual interest.
Weiss: "So Neptune, where are you from?"
Neptune spoke with confidence and arrogance as he responded.
Neptune: "Haven." He walked up beside Weiss and leaned towards her slightly.
"I dont believe I caught your name, snow angel."
Weiss stammered surprisingly, and almost shyly responded. Frustrating Jaune.
Weiss: "Um, I'm Weiss."
Jaune: "Are you kidding me?!"
Sun approached Blake further, intent on starting a conversation.
Sun: "I never took you for the board game playing type."
Blake suddenly stood up and turned away as she spoke, practically shoving Sun out of the way. That's definitely not like her...
Blake: "Actually, I think I'm done playing. I'll see you guys later."
And then she stormed out of the library. Everyone just kinda watched her go and then Nora spoke up.
Nora: "Women."
Sun raised an eyebrow and stuck a thumb in the direction Blake stormed away.
Sun: "Is she alright?"
Y/n: "Shes got somethin on her mind. Well have a talk with her tonight. For now it's best we give her a bit of space."
Sun seemed a little unsure, probably thinking he did something wrong.
Y/n: "Your fine Sun, shes just having a bit of a moment. I think I know what's bugging her but we'll have to see later. Tell ya what, why dont you an-"
I lost my words as I caught a glimpse of something very, very familiar behind the large wall of books behind Yang. Just as quick as I saw it it dipped behind the shelf, but I could tell it was still there. I took a quick look around the library, noticing that it was mostly empty save for our group because of how late it was getting. I stood up for a moment.
Ruby: "Y/n?"
Y/n: "Hold down the fort for a moment rosebud. I've gotta take a peek at somethin. I'll be close, obviously."
I shifted into intangibility, confusing the hell out of Sun and Neptune while the others didnt seem to care. Ruby could still see and hear me however, and followed me with a puzzled expression as I moved towards the bookshelf I saw it go behind. She told Jaune he could take her spot in the game and asked Yang to give Sun and Neptune the basics on what the fuck was going on as she caught up to me.
Ruby: "What is it though?"
Y/n: "Just something I need to check. Hopefully not too important. You can stay with the others if you want."
She raised an eyebrow at me before she started to walk a little more confidently beside me.
Ruby: "I'll follow. If its potentially important then we should both see to it."
As we were turning into turn into the isle it retreated behind, she threw out the question of the hour.
"What is it though?"
I stopped as we stood at the end of the empty isle. Empty all except for two very distinct, and very familiar figures. Ruby didnt see them at first because she was looking up at me. I pointed them out and spoke.
Y/n: "Them."
There was no point in hiding myself so I became tangible again.
3rd Person Pov
Ruby turned her head to look down the isle, and immediately went wide eyed with a gasp as she gripped Y/ns hand tightly. Sitting in a relaxed position across the large windowsill at the other end of the isle was the incredibly familiar figure of the Lamb, gazing out the window watching the sunset as she slowly stroked the disembodied head of Wolf, who was resting in her lap, also looking out. Lambs bow was strung across her back the the string. The Kindred were here in Beacon.
Lamb turned her head to face the other duo, shaking Wolf slightly once she did, causing the floating creature to, with a yawn, rise from her lap and turn to face the two. Something was different this time. Ruby noticed that the glow from their masks eyes wasnt as intense as last time. Instead of a bright gradient from red to blue, it was a calm almost teal. Wolf looked much less monstrous, having a much more solid and defined form, whole his previous form made him look like disfigured melting wax. Lamb also seemed much more lax and laid back, in comparison to the last time they met where Lamb was always upright, bow in hand, ready to strike. This did little to ease Rubys worry however, she was still afraid they were going to try and take Y/n. Although she had to admit, that with the light of the sunset streaming in from behind them, they looked quite elegant.
There was a small silence between the two parties, before Wolf of all people broke it simply.
Wolf: "Hello, Y/n L/n. Ruby Rose."
Even Wolfs voice was different. Instead of ravenous and savage like last time, it was more refined and civil, although still gravely and rough. Y/n responded.
Y/n: "Hello. I have to say I wasnt expecting to see you here. You said you were leaving."
Neither of The Kindred gave a visible reaction. Lamb responded however. Her normally empty and apathetic tone, suddenly held life and emotion within it. Y/n had a feeling this was a side of them that nobody had seen before.
Lamb: "That was our intention, at first. But we have something in mind, and wish to stay a short while. This world is after all, quite beautiful."
The Kindred both fell silent for a moment as Lamb gazed out the window once more. Ruby was slightly eased by Lambs words, but still very on edge. Wolf floated over to them, but did so slowly and low to the ground, as if in some sign of peace.
Wolf: "Relax, little flower. We wish no harm to either of you. We are hardly evil. You are safe. It is not time for either of you to meet us in death."
Ruby tried to search Wolfs eyes for some sign of malice of deception, but found none. If anything she saw kindness. She allowed herself to relax more, but still held onto her partners hand. She decided to finally contribute to the conversation.
Ruby: "Uhm, not to sound rude, but why exactly are you here."
Lamb turned to face them again, beginning their response.
Lamb: "We came to ask something of you."
Wolf: "You interest us. We wish to know you, and stay in this place with you."
Lamb: "For a short while at least."
Y/n looked down to Ruby, who looked up at him and just shrugged. She was still a little sketched out, bit they definitely didnt seem like liars. They actually seemed like fairly nice people, for being the incarnation of death and whatnot. He turned to them with a response and a question.
Y/n: "Well, I dont see the harn in you sticking around for a while. But what about other people? If others see you, it will cause unrest and fear like on Patch. Grimm will become a bigger issue wherever you go. And dont you have a job to do? To help the dead move on?"
The Kindred didnt hesitate in their response. It was clear they had thought of this. Wolf was even so relaxed that he floated back to Lamb and rested in her lap again, still facing the two.
Lamb: "As of now, only you two can perceive us."
Wolf: "We do not exist to others. Only you. As for our work..."
Lamb: "We are not restricted by time. The worlds will continue to turn as normal. We do feel time pass however..."
Wolf: "We have not rested like this since we were created. Even we need a break from time to time."
Lamb: "With your permission, we will stay near you for a short while. Nobody would tell the difference."
Y/n threw the choice around in his head for a short moment before he looked to Ruby.
Y/n: "This one is your call rosebud."
Ruby lowered her head in thoughg as she weighed her choice in her mind for a moment, trying to think of whether or not to let The Kindred follow them around. After a few minutes of thinking however, she had an awnser, and looked up at the masks of death.
Beacon tower, Ozpins office, same time
Ozpin Pov
I sat at my desk in my office watching camera footage of the library on a tablet. Glynda stood behind me, watching as well. Y/n and Ruby had split away from their group suddenly, and were now standing at the end of the next isle, seemingly having a conversation with the window, although given the context clues dropped from their side of the conversation, I believe I know what is happening.
Glynda: "What are they doing?"
I watched a little longer as they finished their conversation, saying something about needing to meet the team, and walking off. I turned off the tablet and put my hands together in thought as I responded.
Ozpin: "I believe Beacon Academy has become a temporary host to an old friend."
Glynda: "Pardon? Who?"
Ozpin: "I dont believe it should concern us as of now. They will not cause unnecessary trouble."
I stood up and went over to a large drink cabinet behind my desk, opening it and pausing as I saw the bottle that Mr. L/n had given me in the cafeteria. I picked it up off the rack and noticed that despite the time the bottle had remained warm. Well, no time like the present. I closed the cabinet a d went back to my desk where an empty mug was waiting.
Ozpin: "Did you try yours?"
Glynda: "Hmm? Oh. Yeas I gave it a try about an hour ago. It was tea, but I had never had anything like it. It was quite good however."
With a hum of acknowledgement i popped off the cork on the bottle and smelled the contents. The very familiar scent of coffee hit me. I poured some of the contents into the mug and set the bottle down. Picking up the mug I gave one last smell before I took a sip of the coffee. Much like Glynda described, the taste was very unique. It was like nothing I had ever tasted, but it was also the best coffee I had ever had. I looked out the office window down at the campus as the sun was finishing its descent on the horizon.
'I believe Mr. L/n is more than prepared for whatever is coming.'
I took another sip of the wonderful drink
Ah.
Perfection.
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(Here we are folks, the first chapter of vol. 2. How many people were surprised to see The Kindred come back? Cameos such as this will be a slightly reoccurring theme for a while, especially of The Kindred. I cant believe that this story has over 13 THOUSAND reads now. It does mean a lot I assure you, and I'm sorry about the slowing down of production. I'm just kind of emotionally drained as of late. More so than normal at least. I wont stop writing though, so while things are slowing down a bit, they are not stopping. Now let's see here...)
(As always, until next time.)
(About 6950 words in chapter)