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The once mighty Vale culture festival stadium lied on the outskirts of Beacon academy as little more than a gigantic pile of rubble. It, much like the rest of Vale, was destroyed during The Fall, and its remains stood as a grim reminder of the tragedy that had occurred on that fateful night. Winter Schnee could not help but feel a sense of melancholy wash over her as she recalled watching her sister fight so perfectly at the stadium but a few months ago. She hadn't wanted to do this mission, to go back to Vale, but Ironwood had selected her by name for it, and she wasn't about to tarnish her family name any more than it already had been by disobeying a direct command.
The mission had been classified as “Search and Recovery”, but Winter thought of it more as a “Search and Rescue.” It was an odd one, to say the least. As her gunship touched down next to the giant tunnel the stadium had been reduced to when it fell, lopsided, from the Vale skies, Winter used her scroll's GPS function to locate her target's signal. After an uncomfortable amount of loading time, which her support squadron used to fully depart from the gunship, the objective location had been successfully traced. Winter signalled her men, and they advanced into the cavernous, shadowy depths of the ruins.
While manageable at first, the darkness that enveloped the party as they progressed further into the stadium soon became near-total, with only the barest sliver of moonlight slipping in through holes in the ceiling. Winter's men switched on the flashlights mounted to their guns, and began frantically scanning the darkness, navigating through a maze of rubble while trying to maintain a degree of composure at the very real possibility of there being monsters lurking somewhere in the dark. Winter, for her part, kept calm, holding her scroll with one hand while resting the other on the hilt of her sword, just in case.
Suddenly, a muzzle flash cast a brilliant light through the shadows, the eerie silence that permeated the haunted ruin pierced by the biting report of the rifle. Winter and her men all turned to where the shot had been fired, staring into the abyss, and the abyss, sporting two crimson eyes filled with naught but hate, stared back. The party's flashlights had been cast upon a Beowulf, a Plutonian creature whose presence seemed to swallow the light around it, a wispy black essence radiating off its fur like a mist as the combined luminosity of the torches graced its form.
For the briefest of moments, the creature roared, defiant and mighty, until the combined power of roughly twenty Atlesian assault rifles began firing at full force. The bullets tore through its Stygian form, ripping gaping holes in its flesh as they tore clean through the beast to impact in the rubble behind it. After mere seconds of combined fire, the damage it had sustained became too much to bear, and it died. Its midnight form dissipated into a cloud of smoke, leaving no trace save for the marks of the bullets that had missed it when it died.
Satisfied, Winter continued to trod through the abandoned stadium with her troops, until, after climbing a rather large hill formed out of debris, her Scroll finally indicated they were at the right spot. She ordered her men to use their shovels to move the rubble until they found the target, and within a few minutes, one of the soldiers unearthed a dusty, tangled mess of bright orange hair. He then dug to find the rest of his quarry underneath, pulled her out from beneath the rubble, and showed it to his superior, a slight smile of pride plastered across his face from beneath his helmet.
Winter examined her with faint unease. Her synthetic skin had torn in places, exposing the metallic skeleton underneath and leaving the remaining skin, particularly around the face, deformed and lumpy. Her joints were bent at odd angles, no doubt additional damage from the plummet of the stadium, and her eyes, once as bright and beaming as any other girl's, were now little more than burnt-out lightbulbs. Still, even after all that she had been through, it was still her.
Winter placed her hand on the android's shoulder. “You're coming home, Penny. You're coming back.”
General James Ironwood sat as casually as he could in the folding chair he had brought into the disaster area that was Dr.Polendina's laboratory. His feet were resting on the ground at odd angles to avoid stepping on the mess of cables he had been assured were “absolutely sensitive” and “not to be touched under any circumstances”, and his head had to be constantly tilted in order to watch the doctor work. Due to the aforementioned cables, repositioning the chair to be more comfortable was impossible unless he wanted to be staring at a back wall. He supposed it would be easier to stand, but that would be a defeatist endeavour. He didn't lug this chair all the way from the Atlas Academy Storage Closet© for nothing.
The doctor, a short, baldy-headed man dressed in a green sweater vest and khaki pants, was busy transferring the last bits of his daughter's consciousness from its hibernation in her ruined body to a more active state on his laboratory computer. The process of recovering and relocating countless gigabytes of data had been taxing on both the doctor and his hardware, an issue that was only exacerbated by the doctor's personal investment in the project. Ironwood sympathized. His superiors had gone over the standard spiel of not getting attached to a weapon, but that bullshit had been pushed out the door from the get go. Penny was, for all intents and purposes, a human being, and moreover, one who had been placed in his charge. He had mourned her death at Beacon, and had jumped at the nearest opportunity he got to recover her once the doctor informed him of the possibility that her consciousness had survived the rigged duel, lying dormant in the backup storage units of her robotic brain, waiting to be recovered.
After some final check-ups, the doctor turned to face James. “She's all ready to go,” he said, “She'll have her sight hooked up to the surveillance cameras in here, but I have to warn you; her last memory should be just before getting stabbed at Beacon, so the sudden shift in scenery might be a bit shocking.”
James nodded, giving the doctor the queue to walk up to the central computer to activate Penny. After typing in a few activation codes, the monitor that occupied most of the lab's far wall went black, save for a hollow green circle at the center.
“Penny? Are you there?” Asked the general.
“What? General, is that you?” Asked Penny, the size of the circle on the screen fluctuating with the volume of her voice. “What happened? Why am I back in the lab?”
“Oh, Penny!” Exclaimed the doctor, “It's so good to hear your voice again!”
“Father? I mean, I'm glad to see you too, but... what happened? Why do you sound so relieved?”
“Penny, what was the last thing you remember?” Asked James.
“Well,” began Penny, “I was at Beacon, dueling against Pyrrha in the finals, when she used her Semblance to reflect some of my swords back at me. They were about to hit me, but just as they did, I felt an immense pain in my midsection. Then, I seem to have teleported here.”
“And you don't remember anything in between the duel and now? Anything at all?”
“No. It's as if no time had passed between then and now.”
James and Dr.Polendina exchanged knowing looks with one another, before the doctor turned back to Penny.
“Penny, dearest, I hate to have to tell you this, but you... died at Beacon. The duel you were in was rigged by agents of an evil woman called Salem, and because of this the swords Pyrrha Nikos reflected back at you destroyed your body, forcing your consciousness into a state of hibernation inside your head. It's why we've had to reinstall you to the lab computer here in Atlas.”
“That's... well, that's terrible!” Penny yelled. “Did you catch the people who manipulated the duel?”
“No, dear, I'm terribly sorry, but they escaped. Worse still, your death was only the beginning of the tragedy that occurred that night.”
Dr.Polendina and general Ironwood proceeded to tell Penny of all the bloody horror that occurred at the Fall of Beacon. They told of the deaths of Professor Ozpin and Pyrrha, of the fall of Vale and the separation of team RWBY, and even of the true nature of Ozpin and the Grimm. When they were done, Penny paused for a long while to process all the information.
“These... things you've spoken of, these terrible things, how long ago did they occur?”
“Roughly three months ago.” Said Ironwood, “Beacon only just calmed down enough for us to send in a team to recover your body.”
“I see... and does anyone else know that I'm alive? Anyone at all?” Penny asked
“Sadly not, but they will soon.” Replied Ironwood, “I've recently gotten a call from Qrow Branwen. He and the recently re-unified team RWBY have successfully repulsed an attack on Haven academy, and recovered the relic that was being stored there. They're now en route to Atlas and should be here in a matter of days.”
“So I'll get to see them again?” She said excitedly.
“Yes,” replied the doctor, “but it will be... complicated.”
“How so?”
“Well, your body was severely damaged, so it will take a bit of a while to repair it. However, there is a way that you can walk about freely, to a limited extent.”
“Well, father, I'm sure that whatever you came up with will prove to be genius!”
“Oh, certainly, dearest.” Replied the doctor, “after all, I came up with you, didn't I?”
The airship ride from Haven had been far too uneventful. For nearly a week, a massive Mistrali cruiser carrying both the Spring Relic and some of Salem's most hated enemies had flown over hundreds of miles of wilderness and ocean completely unmolested. Nora had put forth the idea that joy over the salvation of Haven had left the Grimm without much negative energy to feed on, but it hadn't done anything to placate Ruby's nerves. She'd spent most of the trip training, occasionally breaking to beat everyone on the ship at cards, as well as taking some time to sit in her cabin and stare out the window, taking in the scenery of these distant parts of remnant as they sprawled out before her.
It was during one of these latter times that Yang walked in and sat on the bed besides her.
“Hey, sis.” Said Ruby.
“Hey.” Replied Yang. “We're almost at Atlas. We should be there in about half an hour.”
“Cool. How've you been with Blake?”
“Oh, uh, well we've been good. Great, even.”
“Good.”
“Right. Yeah... Hey, are you alright?”
Ruby glanced towards her. “What do you mean?”
“Well, me and the others have noticed that you seemed... distant for most of the trip. You were always training above decks, and even when you were just relaxing with the rest of the team, you didn't really seem eager to converse. What's up?”
Ruby sighed. “Yeah. You're right. It's just... we're going to Atlas, and Penny was from there. When we go there, we could meet people she knew, people who were involved in making her. We could meet her dad!”
Almost instinctively, Yang wrapped her arm around Ruby's shoulder to hug her. “Hey, I get it. You were closer to Penny than the rest of us were.”
Ruby sniffled, her tears staining Yang's tank top. “Yeah! It's just... Why did it have to be her? She was so innocent! She never wanted to hurt anyone!”
The two sat in silence for a few minutes, Yang running her fingers through Ruby's hair until she eventually calmed down.
Ruby broke off from the hug. “Sorry. I didn't mean to get all worked up like that.”
Yang held her hand. “You don't need to apologize, sis. This fight's been hard on all of us. It's good to vent those negative emotions from time to time.”
“Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Yang.”
“Don't mention it. And hey, look at it this way. Going to Atlas might help you get some closure on Penny's death. You'll get to bond about it with people who knew her like you did.”
“Yeah, maybe-”
The sisters were cut off by the entire ship shuddering. The floor began to tilt on an angle, and when they looked out the window, the icy ground of Atlas began to draw closer.
Nora kicked the door open, holding her hammer and Yang's guns. “We're gonna crash!”
Ruby, trying not to panic, looked for something to brace herself on, before glancing over at the window.
“Hey guys,” she said, “remember our first test, where we got launched by those pressure plates?”
Yang and Nora nodded, looks of understanding creeping onto their faces.
“Well, I think that it was training us for this exact moment”
Quick as lighting, Ruby grabbed Crescent Rose from her closet and shot the window of her cabin out, filling it with howling gales of wind before dashing outside, leaving a trail of red petals in her wake. Yang turned to Nora, who tossed Ember Cecilia towards her before following Ruby out the window.
“Welp, I guess we're back in action, girls.” Yang said to her weapons as she slipped them on. She walked over to the window, taking a moment to look down at the frozen wasteland before her. Then she jumped.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Ruby broke her fall with a few well timed blasts from Crescent Rose, hitting the ground with only a light thud. She looked up just in time to see Nora, Yang, and the tiny specks she assumed to be the rest of her companions plummet from the airship. The airship itself was a ruin, massive chunks of debris blowing off of it as its engines and dust stores detonated. The source of all that carnage, though distant, was unmistakable: a trio of Nevermores, their gargantuan wings casting massive shadows across the barren wasteland of the Atlesian ice fields.
Nora hit the ground next to you, using Magnhild's hammer form to slam down on the ground, launching her up another 20 feet to do some sick flips before hitting the floor with the utmost grace. She looked up to the airship with Ruby.“Got a plan?” She asked.
“I dunno.” Ruby replied, “I'd try using the slingshot technique we used on these things back at Beacon, but that isn't really possible with this terrain. Hm... I got it!” She pointed towards the airship. “When the airship crashes, we can use the wreckage for cover, and we can climb on it to get some vertical advantage on the birds.”
Yang landed fists first, discharging a pair of shots from her gauntlets before cartwheeling into an upright position next to Ruby. She patted her younger sister on the shoulder.
“Great thinking, Rubes! Let's chase that ship!”
The trio started sprinting towards the airship. The rest of their team joined them at various points throughout the pursuit, all the while firing pot shots from their weapons at the Grimm circling overhead. Sadly, their bullets had little effect. These Nevermores were built of sterner stuff than the birds of yesteryear, and their bodies were covered in a tough, yet flexible armor plating that shielded them from the worst of the damages. This aversion to damage gave the Grimm plenty of opportunities to make swooping attacks at the party, leading to several close calls as one or more people were forced to leap out of the way of a pair of razor-sharp talons mid-trek.
Finally, the group reached the wreckage of the airship. During the crash, the ship's engines and wings had completely detached from the main hull, leaving a wide array of smaller bits of debris scattered adjacent to the main hull, which poked out of the icy tundra at a deft angle. Under Ruby's orders, the team split up into groups of two or three, with each individual pair leading the Grimm in a futile chase throughout the maze of the wreck. Yang, Ruby, and Qrow ran over to the main hull, leaping into cover to survey the battlefield.
“Alright, anyone got any ideas?” Asked Yang.
“I was able to call support in from Ironwood before I had to bail.” Said Qrow, “but I don't know how long we have until they get here.”
“Well we have to do something! We can't just run from these things all day.”
“Look, their armor is too thick to be pierced by normal attacks. We're gonna need lots more kinetic energy if we want to break these things.”
“That we will, Uncle Qrow!” Exclaimed Ruby. “And I know just how we're gonna get it. Yang, get outside and lure one of the birds over here. Uncle, you'll be joining me on the roof of this fair vessel.”
As Ruby and Qrow clambered on top of the ship, Yang hopped out and began firing at the nearest of the birds, which had been busying itself with trying to fit its beak under an engine turbine sheltering an absolutely terrified Jaune. Yang's barrage, while hardly more than a nuisance, was enough to distract the Grimm from its current target. It turned to face the blonde, and charged her, using its freakishly long legs to get up to shocking speeds. Just as it was about to snap her into its beak, Yang backflipped out of the way and into the ship. The Nevermore's neck followed her in, but it was too large to fit entirely into the wreckage, so it was left stuck, uselessly snapping at prey it could never hope to reach.
Almost instantly, Qrow and Ruby leapt from the top of the wreckage. They spun with their weapons outstretched in mid-air, forming an aerial ballet of destruction as they plummeted towards their target. However, instead of impacting on its neck, both of their weapons whacked the bony protrusions on the Grimm's back mid-spin. Due to the extra-strong nature of these protrusions, Qrow and Ruby rebounded off of them, flying forwards and crashing on the ground behind the Nevermore.
The bird wrenched itself free of the ship wreckage and faced the duo, uttering a terrifying shriek of rage at its opponents. It recoiled its neck to snap them up, but before the final blow could be struck, a loud boom was heard in the distance.
Both hunter and Grimm alike turned towards the East, from whence the boom was heard, and laid eyes on a massive, jet black Atlesian battleship flying towards the battle at supersonic speeds. Its bottom cargo hull had been opened, releasing a massive grey box that plummeted towards the tundra below. The Nevermore had become utterly distracted by this new arrival, which gave Ruby just enough time to fire a well placed shot into its eye. It screeched in utter pain, but its suffering did not last long. The crate, easily fifteen meters tall, slammed into it with a devastating amount of force, killing it instantly.
After a few moments, the dust cleared, and the box opened. From inside the crater it had left, a massive humanoid robot emerged, with two massive blades protruding out of its wrists. It was obviously some kind of variant on the Paladin mechs fielded by the Atlesians, but with a few key differences. It was leaner, taller, and painted an eerily familiar shade of mint green. Its head was little more than a white sphere with a series red LEDs for a face, and it had no visible cockpit.
The two remaining Grimm turned to face the new arrival, which had assumed a combat stance. They began to take off, but before it could leave the ground, the metal warrior fired one of its clawed hands towards the closest bird. It latched onto it in a death grip, and used its in-built grappling hook to reel the Grimm towards itself with blinding speed. As soon as it was in range, the robot stabbed at the beast's neck with its free hand, the massive blade cleaving through armor and whatever Grimm had in place of flesh like it was air.
By the time the automaton had discarded the fading corpse of its sibling, the final Nevermore had taken to the air, circling around for a final, last ditch attack on its deadly new foe. The robot turned its head towards it, and its chest opened up to reveal a rack of deadly blades. They fired forth from its chest, each one propelled by a small Dust engine on its back, careening towards the Grimm in a deadly swarm. In less than a second, the first blade pierced its target, running it through alongside eleven more of its clones. The monster, sporting twelve new holes in its chest, evaporated into smoke as plummeted towards the ground. Only its skeletal beak remained when it hit the floor.
Ruby jumped up and down, clapping. “YEAH! GO ROBOT!” The rest of the party joined her, emerging from their cover to applaud their mechanical savior. The robot, well aware of its new fans, took a bow, producing an even greater applause from the grateful hunters.
“Your thanks are greatly appreciated.” It said in a robotic, yet distinctly feminine, voice. “And I must say, it is truly a pleasure to see all of you again.”
“Wait... again?” Ruby's eyes went wide. The green coat of paint and the swarm of blades had made her suspect it, but it was too good to be real.
“Penny?”
Penny turned to face her friend. “Yes, Ruby?”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The Atlesian airship was consistent of a single, long cargo bay, with a series of cushioned seats lining either wall. It was painted dark grey, dimly lit by lights built into the floor and ceiling. Penny sat in the center, since the ceiling was too low to let her stand, while a pair of engineers inspected her for any damage she may have sustained during the battle.
Ruby sat next to Blake and Yang along the wall. Further down towards the cockpit, Qrow and Ozcar were busy chatting up general Ironwood, while Ilia, Weiss, Ren, and Nora sat on the other wall. Jaune had died on the ground to no fanfare.Yang seemed particularly fussed about a small gash Blake had gotten on her forehead during the fight, but Ruby knew enough about battlefield medicine to know it was nothing major.
She tapped Yang on the shoulder to get her attention. “Hey, could I talk to you about something?” She whispered.
The blonde tilted her head a bit. “Sure thing sis, what's up?”
Ruby glanced back and forth before speaking. “So, uh, Penny, huh?”
“Yeah! Isn't it great that she's back? And she saved us from those Nevermores! It was awesome!”
“Aw, thank you, Yang!” Said Penny from her seat in the center of the group.
“Don't mention it!” Yang replied.
Ruby leaned in closer to her sister. “Yeah, uh, about that. Could I have like a private word with you about her in, like, the corner?”
“Sure thing, Rubes.”
“Wait, could I come too?” Asked Blake.
Yang looked to her sister to confirm. Ruby nodded yes, and the three of them nonchalantly walked over to the far end of the plane, near the rear cargo ramp.
“So what's up?” Asked Yang.
“Well... Penny's back, and I'm thankful for that and I'm super happy and everything, but I'm also kind of... I dunno, like, anxious.”
“Okay... Why?” Asked Blake.
“Well, she's happy to see us now, but I'm worried that if she learns more about what happened that night, she'll blame us, blame me, for not being able to save her.”
Yang put her hand on Ruby's shoulder. “Rubes, I don't know how to put this any other way, but you're being to hard on yourself. I know feel a sense of guilt for not being able to prevent what happened that night from happening, but you gotta understand that it wasn't your fault. It was Salem's fault, her and her goons.”
“Totally.” Agreed Blake, “plus, and this might seem a bit... utilitarian, I guess, but why beat yourself up over it if she's okay now? Even if you did do something wrong, which you didn't, it's all water under the bridge now.”
“Yeah, I dunno, I just...” Ruby sighed.
Yang looked towards Blake, who shrugged, before looking back to Ruby. “Look, sis, if you're still nervous about it, we aren't really the ones to talk to. The one to talk to is sitting over there.” She pointed towards Penny, who now appeared to be having some sort of conversation with Ilia.
“Well, yeah, but... how?”
Blake rolled her eyes. “It's simple. Go over to Penny, and tell her your side of the story of what happened at Beacon. Then... let her judge you.”
“But Blaaaaaake,” Moaned Ruby, “That's hard, and scary.”
“I know it is, but it's also the healthiest way to go about things. You can't be anxious about how Penny
might
feel for the rest of your life. You have know how she actually feels, then live with it.”
Ruby sighed again. “I know that. It's just... I'm really nervous because I like Penny, like a lot, and I really want her to like me back.”
Yang perked an eyebrow. “Like her... how?” She asked.
Ruby began to blush. “W-Whaddya mean, how?”
“Ruby... Do you have a crush?”
Ruby looked down at the floor, her face as red as her hood. The answer to the question was obvious, even before she mumbled “Yes.”
After a brief pause, Blake and Yang squealed, prompting everyone else on board to give them weird looks before returning to whatever conversations they were engaged in previously.
“Oh my Gods that's adorable!” Said Yang in a voice with the sound of a whisper but the volume of a shout.
“I know!” Concurred Blake, “Okay we can't just have the feelings jam
here
of course, it's gonna have to be something more substantial than that, plus it's gonna be a more private thing.”
“OOOOH, how about a candlelight dinner?” Interjected Yang, “it'll be so romantic, and I'll get a chance to show off my cooking skills!”
“Yeah, but I don't know how well that would work with the mecha body-”
Ruby, who'd been standing there looking utterly miserable for the duration of this conversation, suddenly fell on the floor, cutting Blake off.
“You guys have done it.” She moaned, “You've killed me. I am dead now.”
“Oh, Gods.” Said Yang, “look, Rubles, I'm sorry. It's just that me and Blake are really, really gay and we're proud of you for being gay too.”
“Though I must admit, we may have gone a bit overboard back there” Added Blake.
Ruby turned her head slightly, glancing up at the couple from the floor.
“You guys really mean that?” She asked.
“Totally.”
Ruby got up and dusted herself off.
“That's really sweet of you guys! Plus, that dinner date idea isn't half bad, even if you were completely embarrassing about it.”
“You know it.” Said Yang as she pointed two finger guns at Ruby.
“So... you wanna ask Penny out now?” Asked Blake.
Ruby turned back towards Penny.
“Yeah. I think I do.”
Meanwhile, the two engineers had finished their diagnostics on Penny and had returned to their seats. Penny was sitting idly in the center of the cargo bay when Ilia walked up and tapped her on one of her massive steel legs. She turned her head to face the newcomer.
“Oh, hello!” Said Penny, the lights on her face flashing as she spoke, “I don't believe we've met before. What's your name?”
“Uh, hi. I'm Ilia Amitola, one of Blake's old friends. I joined up with the others during Haven. I was talking about you with Weiss, and I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself.”
“Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Ilia!” Penny held out one of her clawed hands, as if expecting Ilia to shake it. She did, hesitantly, although it was really Penny who did most of the work since her arm was practically impossible for a normal person to lift.
“So,” Penny said after breaking off the shake, “what were you guys talking about?”
“Oh, you know, Weiss was just talking about how great it was that you were back and that you saved us and all that jazz. Thanks again for that, by the way.”
“Oh, you're very much welcome! I'm just happy to help out.”
“Yeah. So anyway-”
Ilia was cut off by Blake and Yang squealing out of apparent delight, prompting her to look at the two of them as if they'd just fallen from the sky.
“I wonder what they're so worked up about.” Said Ilia.
“I would imagine it to be something about Ruby,” Replied Penny, “Which reminds me, I've been meaning to ask something. During the time that you've known Ruby, how has she... behaved?”
Ilia gave her a confused look.“Oh, well, I only really knew her during the ride over here from Mistral, and she seemed kind of... distant. She mostly just trained or kept to herself, though she was just lively whenever she spent time with the rest of us over meals and such.”
“Huh, that's strange. She seemed pretty outgoing when I knew her at Beacon.”
“Well, I can hardly blame her for that. From what I've heard, she's been through some tough times since then.”
“Oh, definitely, but shouldn't we... do something about it?”
“Well, we should, of course, but she can't completely rely on us for it. Ruby is coping with lots of trauma, and I can tell you from firsthand experience that she isn't the only one, but one of the most important things I've learned about coping, and really just life in general, is that you can't rely on other people for happiness. You can, and should, give other people happiness, and extract happiness from them, but only when you and them have both found your own happiness internally, or are in the process of doing that, at least. Does that make sense?”
“Surprisingly, yes. I think it does make sense. Thank you, Ilia.”
Suddenly, Ruby walked up to Penny's other leg. Penny turned to face the young huntress.
“Hey, uh, Penny,” she began, scratching the back of her head with her left arm as she spoke, “I was wondering if you'd be... interested... in joining me for dinner once we got to Atlas?”
“Oh, why certainly!” Replied Penny. “What time?”
“Oh, uh, I hadn't really thought of that. Does tomorrow night work well?”
“Of course! See you then!”
“Cool.”
Penny waved her hand as Ruby returned to her original seat next to Blake and Yang, who took it in turns to hi-five her once she got back to her seat. Ilia looked up at Penny again.
“Dude!” She exclaimed, “You just got asked out!”
“Asked out?” Asked Penny, “You mean, romantically?”
“Yeah! Didn't you notice the way Ruby was blushing? She was totally inviting you on a date.”
“Oh. O-Okay.”
Ilia raised her eyebrow. “Something wrong?”
“Oh, not at all, it's just that... well, I suppose I'm a bit nervous now that I know it's... romantic.”
“Nervous as in you don't want it to be like that?”
“No, actually. Nervous as in I don't wanna mess it up.”
“Awww. That's cute.”
“Thank you!”
“No problem. And hey, thank you for letting me like, vent my life advice shit at you. I've been like, learning stuff, as a person, and I guess I just wanted to process that into words.”
“Oh, it wasn't that big a deal. In fact, it was actually very informative! Thanks, Ilia.”
Gradually, there was a sudden shift in the sense of gravity inside the ship, indicating that they were descending.
“I think we're here.” Said Penny.
“Yeah. Anyway, I'm gonna go and try not to freeze. It was nice talking to you, Penny. Good luck on your date!”
With that, the ship touched down, and the cargo bay door opened to the frigid tundra air of Atlas. Ilia helped Weiss out of her chair, and everyone walked outside, with exception to Penny, who had to awkwardly scoot her way out of the ship due to her new body's immense size.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Atlas Academy was the largest hunter academy on Remnant, but calling it just a hunter academy undermined the sheer scale of the collective facility. It was the epicenter of Remnant's technological research, with hundreds of laboratories testing out new varieties of weapons, vehicles, and other sorted innovations. It was the Atlesian Military's largest base of operations, and had a college devoted specifically for the training of the officers who would one day go on to become the Army's top brass. It had dozens of sub colleges, spread throughout the entirety of Atlas, which trained its citizens for any occupation imaginable. In short, the academy was Atlas, and it made the isolated grandeur of Beacon seem quaint by comparison.
When Ruby had first stepped off the airship, she had come face to face with the sheer immensity of the academy firsthand. She stood in the center of a massive military airbase, with nearly a dozen hangars lining a set of airstrips that ran parallel to one another. The skies were filled with every variety of military aircraft imaginable, with multitudes of tinier fighters and troop transports darting between the ground and a fleet of massive battleships that were anchored above the base, too large to land on the surface. Directly in front of her, a convoy of gray armored cars, each one sporting an unmanned machine gun turret on its roof, lay in wait to take them over to their apartments at the academy proper.
Ruby turned to Penny, who had just emerged from the airship.
“Where will you be staying?” She asked.
“Over there.” Penny replied, pointing towards a nearby hangar. “They converted the interior into a living space of sorts while my other body is getting repaired. Hey, do you still have your old scroll number?”
“I got a new one after the Vale signal tower went down. It's 334-245-2254.What about you?”
“I also got a new one. My old scroll was built into my head, and they had to give me a different one for my new body. I'll text you once you get to your apartment. Deal?”
“Deal. See you later!”
Penny waved goodbye as Ruby got into the back of one of the armored cars with Yang and Ironwood. Ruby waved back to her from the window once she was inside. Then she turned to Yang.
“You get her number?” The older sister asked.
“You betcha!” Exclaimed Ruby as the driver started out towards the academy proper.
Ironwood turned towards them, a look of cautious curiosity on his face. “If you don't mind me asking, who's number might you be referring to?”
“Oh yeah, Jimmy,” began Yang, “I forgot to tell ya that Rubes here is fucking your kill bot.”
“Yang!” Yelled Ruby as Ironwood burst out laughing, “why do you have to phrase it like that?”
“Because it's
hilarious
, Ruby. Jimmy here agrees, don'tcha Jimmy?”
Ironwood, struggling to calm down, coughed a bit before speaking. “I'm terribly sorry for that, truly I am, but... Gods, that was funny. Might you, uh, elaborate on that statement.”
Ruby rolled her eyes. “I might have... planned a date with Penny.”
“Oh. Well, she was quite fond of you, so I can't say I'm surprised, but might I ask where you plan on taking her when she's currently occupying the body of a prototype Ultra-Knight Ranger?”
Ruby looked embarrassed. “Well, uh, I hadn't really thought of that, now that you mention it...”
Ironwood waved his hand. “Look, it's fine. I'll have some of my men go over to Penny's room on the base and set up some dinner and movies for you two. Does that sound good?”
“It certainly does. Thanks, general!”
“Don't mention it. It's the least I can do after how royally I fucked up at Vale, if you'll pardon my language.”
“It's no prob bob, Jimmy.” Said Yang, “though I gotta ask, about Beacon and Ozpin and all that, is there anything you know about Salem and the maidens that that we might not be aware of?”
Ironwood began blushing. “Uhh, well, actually... Hey look we're here!”
After passing through a security checkpoint, the convoy of cars had arrived at the eastern hunter school, one of the oldest parts of the academy. They parked outside a large brick building that was opposite a small park. Ironwood threw his door open and stepped out onto the sidewalk, and the sisters scooted out of the car after him. They were immediately joined by the other cars in the convoy, which deposited the rest of the party alongside them, and they all walked inside.
They stepped into a rather bog standard dorm lobby, with a variety of school banners and bulletin boards hanging over a series of cushioned seats and coffee tables. The only real notable thing in the room was the fact that Winter Schnee was sitting in one of those cushioned seats, idly sipping her coffee while reading a trashy celebrity tabloid she had picked up off the table. When the door opened, Winter looked up from her reading with interest, barely having time to react before Weiss tackled her into a bear hug with all the forceful sisterly affection her 4'11” frame could muster.
As the Schnee sisters reunited, everyone just sort of stood around awkwardly adjacent to a moment of deep familial affection. The exception to this rule was Qrow, who, not being in the mood for another life-or-death sword fight with his hated rival, simply tiptoed past them to his room.
After a little white, Weiss broke off from her sister and stood up adjacent to the couch.
“I missed you so much!” She exclaimed.
“I missed
you
so much! I was so worried! First there was Beacon, then you get kidnapped by fucking Jaque, then you up and vanish for gods know how long until you show up at Haven nearly getting speared to death!”
“Well, the good thing is that I'm here now, and I get to see you again. Speaking of, how have things been going with fucking Jaque since I've been gone?”
“Well, now that you mention it-”
“Ahem-” Ruby piped up from amid the group. “I hate to interrupt, but, uh, where are our rooms?”
“OH!” Winter said, “Yes, uh, they're at the end of the hall on the second floor. I'll show you now. General, I can take it from here. You're free to go, sir.”
With that, Ironwood departed to his car with a casual salute, and everyone headed upstairs to their rooms. When they arrived at the far end of the hall, they found two undecorated rooms each sporting a trio of bunk beds, each with a small bureau on either side. One room, which already had Qrow in it desperately trying to act casual, would be claimed for the boys, while the other, vacant one, would be for the girls. Ruby, Blake, and Ilia used their semblances and superior acrobatic skills to claim the top bunks almost immediately, while Yang, Weiss, and Ilia were relegated to the bottom bunks. Winter leaned against the wall as the others got settled
Yang flopped herself on the bunk and yawned. “I'm beat. What time is it, anyway?”
Winter checked her scroll. “It's roughly 10:30 PM, though I can't blame you for not being able to tell. It's not like we ever see the sun in this miserable grey hellscape.”
“Definitely.” Ilia said, “must be why you guys have such an acute interest in foreign affairs, if you catch my drift.”
Weiss shot Ilia a nervous look, but Winter waved her off. “Relax, kid. I'm fully aware of how shitty Atlas and the SDC have been, I'm just working this job because it lets me escape from my dad, plus it pays well. Sorry for all the personal and cultural travesties I helped prop up along the way.”
Ilia nodded, satisfied. “Thanks. You're fine, by the way, I just wanted to make sure you were critical of all the nasty stuff that's been going on, because I'm not gonna lie, I've been lowkey shitting my pants ever since I got off the ship.”
“Understandable.”
“Anyway,” began Yang, “we should probably go to bed. Rubes has got herself a big day tomorrow.”
“Is this about that thing with Penny?” Asked Ilia
Yang nodded her head yes, while Nora raised her eyebrow. “What thing with Penny?” She asked.
Ruby rolled her eyes. “I'm going on a date with her tomorrow.”
“Neato!” Exclaimed Nora.
“Neato indeed.” Said Winter. “Penny's a wonderful girl. I'm sure it'll go perfectly.”
Ruby smiled. “Thanks, Winter.”
Winter smirked. “Don't mention it. Anyway, now that you're all sorted out, I'm gonna head back to my apartment. If you girls need anything, you know who to call.”
Everyone proceeded to wave goodbye to Winter from their bunks as she walked out the door. Some small talk between bunkmates went on for a little while, but after about a half hour, most of the members of the party had fallen asleep, all except Ruby, who peaked out from under her covers one final time before opening her scroll to a message from an unknown number.
‘Hey, Penny here.’ It said. Ruby added it to her contacts list. Then she called Penny.
Her date picked up almost immediately. “Hi, Ruby! How are you doing?”
“Hey Penny! I'm alright. If you're wondering why I'm whispering, it's because I'm sharing a room with five other people and they're all asleep.”
“Cool.”
“Yeah. So anyway... you excited for tomorrow?”
“Certainly! Some of the general's men came in a few minutes ago and set some things up for us. I don't wanna spoil the surprise, but it looks like lots of fun.”
“Sounds great, and it'll be all the greater when we're doing it together?” Ruby awkwardly twisted it into a question at the end, not wanting to come off as too flirty while paradoxically saying some inherently flirty shit.
“Of course!” Concurred Penny, to Ruby's relief. “It is going to be amazing.”
“Oh yeah totally. Anyway, I'm gonna go to sleep now. Just wanted to check in with ya about all that stuff.”
“Alright. See you tomorrow, Ruby! Love you!”
Ruby's eyes, which had been mostly half shut for most of the conversation, suddenly jolted open. Before the significance of what Penny had said could even be fully processed, she rushed out “Iloveyoutoo” before rapidly hanging up the phone.
She laid awake, facing the ceiling as thoughts raced through her head. Penny had said she loved her.
Did she mean it like I thought she meant it?
, Ruby thought,
Did she even mean it at all? Most importantly, did I actually love her back? I do really like Penny, and the time we had spent together in Vale had been magical, plus there was that time she saved us from Roman, and that other time when she pushed me out of the way of a truck before confessing that she was a robot to her in that alley because she trusted me That Much, and... wow, okay, maybe I
do
love Penny. Yeah. Yeah, I think I do.
It was this thought that sent Ruby into a dreamless sleep, with a smile on her face and love on her brain.
Penny sat immobile in the middle of her makeshift room, feeling absolutely giddy. Her saying 'I love you' to Ruby had been a risk, albeit a calculated one, that had filled her with no small amount of fear. However, the risk had payed off, because that was definitely an 'I love you too' she had heard come across the other end of the phone line. Ruby loved her! In a way that was probably romantic! And she loved her too! It was so amazing that she could cry if she had tear ducts to cry with.
Not wanting to wait a moment more than she had too for their date, Penny activated something of a superpower she'd been granted as part of her robot physiology. She mentally determined the time she wanted to wake up in the morning, which for her purposes would be around 8:30, and on command, she entered a sleep mode, falling into a silent slumber until the exact time she needed to wake up. Then, her date would begin.