by E. C. Myers
“Shoot,” Coco said.
“Can you really see with those shades on?” Ruby waved a hand in front of Coco’s face. “We’re indoors! Isn’t it too dark?”
Coco laughed.
As Yatsuhashi and Fox rounded a corner in the hallway, someone crashed into Yatsuhashi at full speed and went sprawling backward.
“Are you all right?” Yatsuhashi leaned over and offered the girl a hand up. She shoved it aside and scrambled to her feet. “What happened? Is that blood?” He pointed to the red stain on the side of her white dress. “I can’t stand the sight of blood.”
“No, it was Ruby,” she said.
Yatsuhashi’s brow furrowed in confusion. Then his eyes lit up. “Team RWBY?”
“Apparently,” she said.
“Right, we saw you guys in action. Initiation can be wild, but you were great.”
“Thanks, but I’m still waiting for an apology,” Weiss said.
“Wow,” Fox sent to Yatsuhashi.
“Wait—from me? But I didn’t do anything wrong,” Yatsuhashi said.
“You’re saying it was my fault I bumped into you?” Weiss asked.
“We were just walking, you were the one running without paying attention to where you were going.”
“But you … take up so much space!” Weiss said.
Fox shook his head.
“And you act like you own the place.” Yatsuhashi started to get angry. He closed his eyes, went to his happy place, and took a deep breath. He opened his eyes.
“It’s really not a big deal. Let’s start again. I’m Yatsuhashi Daichi, and this is Fox Alistair.” Fox held up a hand in a half-hearted wave.
“So?” Weiss said.
“Someone needs to learn a few manners,” Fox sent to Yatsuhashi.
Yatsuhashi laughed. “This looks like a job for Team CFVY,” he sent back.
The laughing only made Weiss angrier.
“Am I missing something?” She hated being left out. “What’s so funny?” She scowled at Fox. “And what are you looking at, Red?”
“Nothing,” he said mildly.
“Excuse me?” Weiss’s hand went to the hilt of her weapon, a wicked-looking rapier.
Yatsuhashi held up a hand. “Hold on. He means ‘nothing’ literally. Fox is blind.”
“Oh.” Weiss studied Fox’s face. “I see.”
“Go on, rub it in.” Fox smirked.
Her face turned pink. Yatsuhashi noticed a scar over her left eye. She wasn’t so perfect as she liked to think, he figured, and maybe that was why she had such a huge chip on her shoulder.
“Well, it was nice running into you, but I have to get out of this dress. Uh.” Her face reddened. She slipped between Yatsuhashi and Fox and hurried down the hall. Then she stopped and turned.
“Sorry, what team did you say you were with, again?” she asked.
“Team CFVY,” Yatsuhashi said.
“Team CFVY?!” They were kind of a big deal at Beacon. Weiss should have recognized the big guy and the skinny guy in red, but she had been so annoyed with Ruby. Weiss had been planning to join the best team of first-year students at Beacon, and have Pyrrha Nikos as her partner. Weiss would have been leader of the group, of course, and she was gonna become besties with Coco Adel and get pointers on being the best Huntress she could be—and then blow all of Team CFVY’s records out of the water.
Instead, none of that had happened. None of it would happen, unless she could convince Professor Ozpin to change his mind and put Weiss in charge of Team RWBY. She wondered what they would name the group. Team WRBY. Team Warby? That didn’t have the same ring to it.
“Oh, you’ve heard of us?” Yatsuhashi asked casually.
“Now you’re just being mean,” Fox sent to him. “This party is more fun than I thought it would be. Thanks for making me stick around.”
Weiss covered her eyes with a hand. “I am such an idiot.”
Velvet tried to ignore the boys following her as she hurried away from the party in the amphitheater.
“Hey, where are you going?” one boy asked.
“Not much of a party animal?” They both laughed.
Velvet walked faster.
“I don’t know; she looks like she knows how to have fun,” his friend said.
“Yeah, you know what they say about bunny girls.”
Velvet hurried up so she didn’t have to hear that one again.
“Uh-oh. I think we’re making her hopping mad,” his friend said.
Blake Belladonna looked up from the book she was reading as Velvet passed her table. She had been deeply engrossed in The Boy Who Fell from the Sky, but she couldn’t tune out the abusive behavior of the boys following the Faunus girl. As a Faunus herself—albeit one in hiding, with a bow covering her cat ears—and as a Beacon student and a Huntress in training, she was disgusted by the ugliness her fellow classmates were showing.
When the boys approached, she put out a foot and casually tripped one of them. He went down hard, face-first. Blake calmly resumed reading as his friend balled up his fists and turned on her.
“What was that for?” he yelled.
Up ahead, Velvet stopped and turned around, instantly taking in what had happened. She hesitated, wondering if she should go help the black-haired girl or take this opportunity to slip away.
There wasn’t really a choice. Velvet went back.
Blake sighed and put down her book again. She stood up.
“I don’t like your blatant racism,” she said.
“What’s it to you?” the boy asked.
“You had something to say to me?” Velvet asked.
The boy clamped his mouth shut.
“No more big words, huh?” Blake asked. “Typical cowards.”
“Who do you think you are?” he said.
“Blake Belladonna,” she replied. Then she smiled. “Team RWBY.”
The boy’s face paled. “The ones from …” He turned and looked at the big screen on the wall, which was playing highlights from the initiation earlier that day. His mouth fell open as he watched Blake swing on her ribbon through the Emerald Forest ruins, land on a giant Nevermore, and bury her blade ferociously in its back, her eyes gleaming.
“Uh, sorry to bother you.” The boy started backing away.
“Not so fast.” Blake’s ribbon wrapped around the boy, holding him in place.
“Hey.” He squirmed. “I don’t want to fight you.”
“Good. That wouldn’t be much of a fight,” Blake said. “What should we do with him?” She looked at Velvet.
Velvet looked surprised. She stared at the boy. “Um. Let him go?”
“Thank you!” the boy said.
Blake pulled him toward her with her ribbon, then kicked him in the back, sending him spinning away into his friend and releasing him from her ribbon.
Blake calmly sat down and opened her book. Velvet watched her quietly for a moment. She approached, one hand on an elbow. “Um. Thanks.”
“Sure.” Blake kept reading.
“Okay.” Velvet started walking away.
“Why did you let him off so easy?” Blake asked.
Velvet looked back. “What?”
“You let someone like that go with a slap on the wrist—not even that much—and they’ll just keep repeating the same behavior.”
“I don’t believe in fighting prejudice with violence,” Velvet said.
Blake wrinkled her nose. “You don’t like fighting?”
“I’m here, aren’t I? I like fighting Grimm fine, but not other people.”
“Even when those other people don’t treat you like a person?”
Velvet shook her head. “Roughing him up wouldn’t have changed his mind. It would have only made him angrier. Maybe next time he would try to hurt me with more than words. Or worse, he might just go pick on someone else. Maybe if I treat him with respect, he’ll learn to treat me with respect.”
Blake shook her head. “That’s not how we deal with people like
him where I come from.”
“Where’s that?”
Blake closed her book and smiled. “Hi, I’m Blake. And you’re Velvet Scarlatina.”
“That’s right.” Velvet didn’t hide her surprise as she sat down across from the girl. “Have we met?”
“Just now,” Blake said. “Let me ask my question another way. Why is a member of the legendary Team CFVY running away from two losers who were barely able to pass initiation?”
Velvet’s eyes darted to the floor. “I didn’t want to attract attention.”
“They don’t belong here. You do,” Blake said. “People like that need to be shut down, or they’ll go on harassing other people. We should at least report them to Professor Ozpin.”
“He has more important things to worry about,” Velvet said.
“Professor Goodwitch, then. She’d teach them a lesson.”
“It really isn’t worth my time. That’s the best way to fight back—by not letting them get to me.”
“It’s your call, but I think you should stick up for yourself. Those guys aren’t even a fraction as scary as Grimm, and I know you can handle yourself in the field.” Blake pushed her book over to Velvet. “Here, I think you’ll enjoy this.”
Velvet flipped through the book. “Really?”
“Just don’t fold the pages over. I hate dog ears,” Blake said.
Suddenly someone deposited three glasses on the table between Blake and Velvet.
“Hey, did I miss anything?” Yang asked. “Hi! I’m Yang Xiao Long.”
“Velvet Scarlatina,” Velvet said, looking up at an extremely badass blonde. She had seen her fight Grimm with amazing gauntlets that really packed a punch. Velvet couldn’t wait to try them out for herself. She had to leave tonight with pictures of these two girls and their weapons. “Three drinks?”
“Always carry an extra,” Yang said. “But since you’re sitting with us, you can have it. I’m telling you, Blake, you’re gonna love this Strawberry Sunrise.”
Blake sniffed it. “Nonalcoholic, right?”
“Do I look like someone who breaks the rules?” Yang sat down. “Don’t answer that.” She sipped her drink. “Speaking of breaking bones—”
“Rules?” Velvet asked.
“Rules, bones, sometimes they’re the same thing.” Yang shrugged. Coco was going to like her, Velvet thought. “Anyway, these two idiots pushed past me on my way over here, made me drop my drinks. That’s why I’m late.”
“They had to get you new ones?” Velvet asked.
“No, I had to beat them up.” Yang laughed and held up her glass. “Banzai! I love it here!”
Blake and Velvet clinked glasses with Yang.
“Here’s to a great year,” Blake said.
Velvet sipped her drink. Surprisingly, it tasted exactly like strawberries and sunshine. She raised her glass in another toast. “To new friendships.”
Back inside the Caspians’ shed, Velvet sat next to Gus, hoping it would help him relax. He seemed to trust her, and he was clearly nervous with all the Huntsmen plus Slate watching, waiting for him to explain himself.
“How can it be all your fault, Gus?” Coco asked.
“Give him some space, Coco,” Velvet snapped.
Coco crossed her arms. “We don’t have time to coddle anyone, Velvet.”
“What do you mean by that?” Velvet said.
“Guys,” Fox sent. “Can … not … fighting?”
Velvet and Yatsu glanced at each other. Yatsu tapped Fox on the shoulder. “Didn’t get all that. You okay?” he whispered.
Fox’s shoulders slumped. It looked like his Semblance was still malfunctioning.
“Well, get on with it, boy,” Bertilak barked.
Gus flinched.
Velvet hated bullies. She put her hand on Gus’s shoulder.
“You can do this,” she said.
He took her hand and squeezed it. Velvet felt a blip of happiness, a feeling she’d almost forgotten ever since they’d lost Beacon and come to Vacuo.
Gus took a deep, shaky breath. Then he sat up straight. “It’s my Semblance. I’m able to …” He glanced at Edward. “I’m able to block other people’s Semblances.”
The group was silent for a moment.
Then Fox whooped. “That’s what’s wrong with me! You’ve been blocking my Semblance!”
Gus’s eyes went wide. “I’m sorry! I can’t control it very well. It’s kind of all or nothing.”
“That kind of Semblance would be a big advantage in a fight,” Coco said. “If you know how to use it. Have you thought about training to be a Huntsman?” Coco asked.
“No way,” Gus said.
“Now’s really not the time to be discussing the kid’s life goals,” Bertilak said.
“Hold on,” Slate said. “I still don’t get how blocking Semblances is linked to unleashing emotions.”
Gus nodded and swallowed. “I’ve been using my Semblance to keep my grandfather’s Semblance in check. His ability is to manipulate other people’s emotions.”
“What?!” Bertilak jumped up. “You’re the reason the Grimm keep attacking us?”
“Bertilak,” Carmine said in a warning tone.
“You should have said something,” he went on. “It’s important to share this kind of information with the people you hired to keep you alive!”
“Sit down, Bertilak,” Slate said.
“You aren’t the boss of me,” he said.
“No, but I’m in charge here,” Slate said. “You can leave anytime.”
“You’d be in charge of corpses and empty homes if it weren’t for us. Sand and ash, you get me?”
Carmine grabbed Bertilak’s arm. “Sit down.”
Sweat trickled down Velvet’s forehead and stung at the corner of her left eye. She squinted. It felt like it had gotten five degrees warmer in here in the last minute; dawn must be breaking outside.
He yanked his arm away from his partner and sat. “You aren’t the boss of me, either, Carmine,” Bertilak said in a warning voice.
“But you did sit down.” She smirked. “Now, Slate makes a good point. Maybe we should leave. Now that we know Edward is drawing the Grimm, we should take him away from here as soon as possible.”
Velvet looked at Edward to see what he thought of all this, but he didn’t seem to even be aware that they were talking about him. She leaned forward and talked to Gus.
“So, your grandfather is no longer able to control his ability?” she asked.
“He can’t even stop himself from wandering around the desert in his pajamas.” Bertilak gestured at Edward. “See what we’re dealing with here?”
“Bertilak,” Carmine said.
“As he’s gotten older, he’s been losing control of it,” Gus said. “Now he just magnifies whatever emotions people already have. Not all the time, but when he’s agitated or distracted. When he’s sleeping sometimes. It’s unpredictable, and it’s getting worse. Um, harder for me to block. I’m not strong enough.”
Carmine stared at Edward. “It’s been you all along. No wonder you wanted to avoid other people.”
Fox leaned forward, a puzzled expression on his face.
“Do they seem suspicious to you?” he sent. Then he smiled because his Semblance was working again. Slate looked at Fox curiously but then turned her attention back to Bertilak, Carmine, and the Caspians.
The other Huntsmen had always seemed suspicious, but now that Fox mentioned it, their reactions to Gus’s confession didn’t seem genuine.
“Their behavior does seem odd,” Velvet sent. “Like they’re acting?”
“You should have mentioned this when you hired us, Edward,” Bertilak growled. “You’ve put countless lives in jeopardy.”
“Bertilak is overdoing it a little. If I had to bet, I’d say they already knew Edward was causing the mood bombs. Probably even before he hired them. But if that’s the case, why did they keep that info to themselves?” Coco sent.
“Maybe they�
��re just trying to avoid getting in trouble?” Yatsuhashi sent. “Because we’d be angry at them, too, if we knew they knew all along?”
“Let’s settle down,” Slate said.
“I told you, it isn’t Grandpa’s fault,” Gus said. “It’s mine.”
“It’s no more your fault for not being strong enough to block him than it is Edward’s fault for losing control,” Coco said.
“Definitely,” Velvet said.
“Running someplace you could avoid other people is very noble of you, Edward,” Carmine said.
“But why Vacuo?” Fox asked.
Velvet realized she and Yatsu hadn’t briefed Coco and Fox yet, and it seemed they hadn’t discussed this with Bertilak and Carmine, either.
“We’re heading to the western shore,” Gus said.
“It’s remote, on the edge of CCT range, when the system was working. Guess it’s moot now. But for a couple of people who don’t want to be bothered? Bliss,” Carmine said.
“But it isn’t much safer there than in the desert,” Fox said. “There’s a reason more people haven’t settled there.”
“And that’s a long, dangerous journey through Vacuo.” Slate shook her head. “Damn tourists.”
“Well, you know what? It’s none of your business where we’re taking them.” Bertilak sneered.
“Guys,” Yatsu said. “We have to calm down.”
Velvet had rarely seen Yatsu like this. Sweat beaded his face and he looked pale and wobbly. He must be struggling to keep his emotions in check. Poor Yatsu, she thought.
Velvet looked at Gus. “Can you try harder to block Edward’s Semblance now? This has to be another mood bomb. We aren’t acting like ourselves.”
“It’s hard. Sometimes, when I’m upset …” Gus bent over and placed his face in his hands. Velvet patted his back.
“We need to get out there and check on everyone else. We’ll sort out what to do later,” Slate said.
“We need to leave the settlement, now,” Carmine said.
Carmine, Bertilak, and Slate started arguing.
“Isolating Edward isn’t the answer. We may as well kill him ourselves and be done with it,” Fox sent.
“Fox!” Coco sent.
“I’m just making a point. The Caspians will die on their own. I think they’d be better off in civilization—but not a small, defenseless settlement like this one.”