Chapter Text
The first semester ended with far less of a bang with it started. The second quarter had little to do with criminals at large, super emotional breakthroughs, or the Fang rearing up their heads again. RWBY had come a miraculously far way once they started to fight together as a real team. Rumi’s training helped mold them into fighters so strong they stopped being allowed to fight any first or second years besides JNPR or CFVY after one poor kid broke his hand just from punching Weiss in the jaw.
This lead into Summer Vacation. One full month, four times longer than Spring Vacation, half the length of Winter Vacation. It was fun to get out and enjoy the sun, especially for many lustful men who got to see Huntrix, RWBY, Pyrrha Nikos, and even the still very lovely Celine sunbathing and playing on the sands of Patch. Jaune, Nora and Ren all went to visit his family for the break since their leader wanted to demonstrate how much he grown since arriving at Beacon.
Celine fulfilled her promise to spend a personal week with Ruby, and they even recorded another single after Ruby was fully trained to sing soprano and a little tenor. It blew up thanks to Celine’s notoriety, so for once Ruby was free to purchase all the junk food she’d work off later without having to pester her father. The second week of break the girls plus Tai drove out to enjoy the summer heat and breeze.
Pyrrha was received well by Celine who marveled at the girl’s latent abilities. She agreed that each member of Huntrix should train an additional student who was to be vetted by herself. That resulted in Rumi training Ruby and Weiss, Zoey coaching Velvet and Blake, then Celine guiding Yang and Pyrrha. Mira was still undecided on who she trusted besides Jaune to learn her style but had heard from a recent call that his sister Jade was hounding him to show off more moves learned from Mira.
On the beach Tai rubbed lotion into Celine’s skin while Mira and Yang suntanned. Weiss tried to hide under an oversized umbrella until Ruby and Zoey snuck up and dump water on her. She chased them around for almost twenty minutes. Once she was out she decided to play volleyball with Mira and Rumi on one team with Blake joining Ruby and Zoey. They attracted a sizable crowd with Rumi’s heaving chest and the bare strips of cloth that hardly passed as Mira’s bikini being burned into so many minds.
Once Rumi hit the game winning spike Pyrrha finished her grilling and cooking she’d picked up from Ren. She and Mira still tended to but heads but could happily eat and shove food down their gullets together. At a long table Ruby pilled hushpuppies into her maw as Rumi deepthroated a jalapeno cheese sausage. Swallowing whole she got a kick out of one poor sod needing to rush to the outhouse desperately with his hands over the front of his swim trunks.
Dinner ended with Huntrix putting on a brief live performance for the two hundred people at the beach, then everyone big the crowd farewell and headed home. Ruby snoozed with her head in Celine’s lap as she delicately stroked her step-daughter’s hair in the living room. Rumi stared at them quietly then left the group watching a movie to go get something to drink. Preferably a little on the harder side.
“Just my luck Tai got the last beer.” Rumi sighed looking in the fridge. Yang poked her head as she entered.
“The wines up in the upper pantry. Be careful pulling it down cause if it spills, Dad will make you eventually pay for it.”
“I could buy him stuff that only the top ten percent could afford, but thanks. You allowed to drink?”
“Only on my birthdays, and I for real don’t like how alcohol tastes. Also Qrow kind of ruined the idea of getting drunk for me.”
“You should thank him for that. I’m just trying to take the edge off.”
Yang tilted her head to the side watching Rumi pull down several bottle of various states of empty. Pouring them into a blender she accidentally poured some cough syrup in the blender. After checking the contents Rumi shrugged and tossed the empty bottle away.
“You sure you want to drink that?” Yang muttered seeing the mix turn purple.
“Eh, long as it takes my mind of every year from six to seventeen I’m good.”
Rumi downed the first glass and thankfully…she didn’t go blind. Yang sampled a shot but said it lacked something to give it punch. Taking the mix out to the living room Tai also sampled a drink but did something strange. He snapped his finger over it and set it on fire.
“Woah, lightshow.” Zoey yelped.
“Careful dear. Are you sure that’s safe to drink?” Celine worried as Tai blew his drink out.
“Saw someone do this to their drink down in Vacuo seven years back. Let’s see…”
Tai downed his glass, and his eyes sparked open. He gave a thumbs up to Rumi who ignited hers with a spare fire dust shard. It tasted heavenly with the right amount of spark and smooth flavor.
“Oh hell yes. There’s the punch. You girls gotta try this.”
Most of the party agreed that the flavor was enhanced a dozen times fold. Weiss abstained as did Celine, who took Weiss and the sleeping Ruby upstairs to turn in for the night, reminding the rest to not party past midnight. Watching Celine cradle Ruby so lovingly had her sink into the armchair with a depressed moan.
“Hey kid, you good?” Tai placed a hand on her arm.
“I’m good. It’s nice that Celine clearly adores Ruby.”
“Yeah she’s an easy person to love. Celine on the other hand, she does got her issues.”
“Well it’s not like I’ve ever gotten to know them. ‘You faults and fears must never be seen’.” Rumi hissed sucking down another drink.
“That was the culture we grew up in. Our fathers were the ones who were born from the children of those who fought in the Great War. They taught their kids to always hold it together, then that passed down from one gen to the next. To be a hunter meant being an untouchable bastion of pride, until Summer came along.”
“What was she like? Celine mentioned her but never went in that much detail.”
“Summer was…wise. I know that’s an odd way to put it, but there was this awareness she had about everyone. She could tell what somebody was dealing with from a glance and always took her time to reach out when she saw a friend hurting. She all but shattered the old way of hunting Grimm, even Ozpin changed his tune from the first time we met him.”
“She sounds incredible. Yang did describe her as a supermom.”
“She sure tried to be but that kinda became the problem. We all thought she was perfect, infallible. Summer was the center of our world, then she was gone. Qrow came back covered in blood and only said she was never coming back after a routine round of the countryside.”
“Haechi?”
“No idea, but it wouldn’t change much. I was…shattered. The center of my universe was gone, and while I sank into depression Qrow was off on missions. Yang was forced to grow up at the age of four to look after a toddler and then learned about Raven.”
Rumi remained silent listening to Tai. She tried not to judge, but that didn’t sound too far off from what happened with Celine. She was always distant to Rumi, less of a mother and more a trainer that only got invested in what she did if it meant someone was ready to fight the Millenium Grimm if needed. Huntrix had defeated Adam Tauros, but to Celine that was a drop in the bucket compared to the bigger threats.
“I’m not gonna judge. Yang and Ruby are wonderful, clearly they came out of that well enough.”
“That’s sweet of you but you still don’t quite know them. Yang doesn’t allow herself to show it, but after Summer left, I shut down, and she discovered who Raven was I can tell it put a distance between us. We’ve gotten to a better place than before, but I get why it’s hard to forgive a parent when they’ve let you down. Celine may be the woman I get along the best with, but she’s clearly messed up, hasn’t she?”
Rumi squeezed her drink as her childhood came rushing back. Peacefull at first, then she was training in the Honmoon style when she was eight. Pushing her limits, surpassing them, always hiding herself to fit the mold her mother left for Rumi. Never enough, always desperately attempting to improve. For all the good in her life, Rumi had still known crushing loneliness in her own home.
“I just want everyone to be happy. I can accept what Celine wasn’t for the fans sake.”
“That’s what the old guard believed. Personally I think you being one of the most giving and loyal fighters I’ve seen has it’s weight in gold. Celine can see that; she just has difficulty putting aside how she was raised. When she first mentioned you, it was like she was describing the greatest hero that ever lived.”
Rumi snerked slightly, not convinced nor in the mood to debate. She leaned in and let Tai wrap his arm around her shoulder. Regardless if Celine truly cared for her or not, it was clear Tai and his…that Rumi’s family did. That was more than enough for the night.
Summer break ended and Pyrrha progressed to where she could illuminate her weapon with her aura. She fought Mira to a standstill until Celine called it off, not wanting the spar to escalate into a grudge match. Ruby and Yang both held their own against Rumi and Blake surprised them all. She created an interesting kind of shadow clone that remained perpetually engaged in combat and could cover many weak points. Weiss’ glyphs were stronger than ever, and she even briefly pushed Zoey back by fighting with Blake.
Rumi decided to ramp up their training regimen by switching out their fifty ton weighted vests with one hundred and fifty ton ones. The girls complained but gave in when Mira reminded them that Huntrix would be competing in the tournament, so they only way they’d last a round against a member would be too push their limits twenty-four seven. They all bade Tai and Celine farewell than caught a Bullhead back to Beacon.
For the first day back RWBY at last finished making the parking lot after six months of working on it, with the awning being the last piece as Yang screwed in the final bolts. Rumi passed out water as she noticed a new team approaching. They were lead by Sun the Stowaway and three other fashionably dressed boys behind him.
The first drawing Rumi’s attention was easily the prettiest. He had short scarlet hair over one eye. His face well defined with sharp cheekbones and a defined jawline, blue eyes and an extravagant red coat hanging off one shoulder. His did have an obviously snooty attitude and tendency to look at anything he passed with a judgmental stare, so Rumi hardly felt like he was date potential.
The next was also rather fashionable but sent up a few more red flags. Also in a red jacket, this one had blue hair with a spiky lift, a smile designed to be dashing instead of sincere, and a stride attempting to sell swagger over substance. Maybe not a bad guy, but far from anyone trying to take his education seriously.
The last one was right up Mira and Zoey’s alley. His dark skin paired well with short spiky green hair, a built chest with interesting marks on them, towering over a good chunk of the other students. It didn’t look like their was much going on behind his hazel eyes though. Boy was hot and here to cut Grimm done, and nothing more. Not unlikable, nor that interesting.
“Yo Rumi, come meet my boys.” Sun called.
The red head frowned at Sun like a parent ready to scold a petulant child, and that rubbed Rumi the wrong way. She jogged over and put a quick peck on Sun’s cheek. Not in any way to lead him on, but so he could throw a smug look at his team.
“Like I said, Rumi and I are tight.”
“Whatever man. Name’s Neptune, super cool to meet you Songbird.”
“Rumi, just Rumi.” Rumi repeated. Neptune shrugged it off but did step back.
“Scarlet David, pleasure to meet quite the competent team leader.”
“Hmm, you should meet my sister Ruby. Spontaneity and ingenuity outweigh generic competency thinking any day of the week.”
Scarlet blinked like Rumi was speaking like she came from the Moon. Sage simply waved as Sun introduced him. At least he didn’t sound like a putz/dick like his other teammates. Not the strongest introduction, but Rumi had other business. Leaving RWBY to guide SSSN around the campus, she had a meeting with Professor Ozpin to attend with Huntrix. Something about discussing a mission he wanted them to work on.
Arriving at the office elevator, Glynda gathered Huntrix together and they road up. Zoey couldn’t get Glynda to drop a hint about the mission, only that it was not to be spoken of outside the confines of Oz’s office unless strictly necessary. They reached the top floor and filtered out, resulting in Zoey sucking a gasp back.
Standing in the oval room was the Atlesian General. James Ironwood, leading of the Atlesian Military and Zoey’s father. Not something they were banking on, or eager to see. Ironwood turned back to them to look at Zoey with his eyes widening, then his expression seemed torn between wanting to smile vs maintaining a professional attitude.
“This is certainly a surprise. I wasn’t aware you transferred to Beacon Zoey.”
“It’s not like I was keeping it a secret. Or that I was supposed to inform anybody.”
Zoey spoke with a controlled but uncharacteristically stoic tone of voice. Rumi shuffled her feet while Mira took an intense interest in the movement of the cogs overhead. Anything to ignore the uncomfortable atmosphere.
“Right…if it’s all the same, I am happy to see your doing well. I hear you defeated Adam Tauros last semester. Something some of my best men had difficulty with.”
“Thanks, are you taking him into custody?”
“Yes, alongside Roman Torchwick. Best to keep two formidable criminals looked away at the Seal. You won’t have to worry about them breaking out.”
“Not like I was since I literally helped beat him.” Zoey mumbled with a huff. Ozpin cleared his throat to try and get attention back to the meeting.
“Now we’re all caught up, let’s discuss the reason why I called you three here. Celine trained you three to be the next generation of hunters to specialize in the Honmoon Style. As the only masters in your prime, I believe it’s best if you saw this.”
Ozpin placed his scroll on his desk, summoning up an image. Immediately Huntrix felt their stomachs plummet to their feet at what they saw. Haechi, the Demon of Glut. A wolflike monstrosity with the head of a lion and ten thirty times bigger than a Goliath. It was at the peak of a mountain side, swiping down air ships with a single strike, not an ounce of ammo doing any damage to its hide.
“Holy shit, it’s happening. One of the ancient Grimm are coming for Vale.” Rumi said her hands becoming sweaty.
“Yes, Haechi is on his way and not even three teams of licensed huntsmen made it out with their lives intact. We’ve been struggling to keep it’s existence under wraps, but soon that will be impossible. There’s no other path than for Huntrix to fulfill the purpose of the training and defeat Haechi.”
Ironwood spun to face Oz with his jaw loose. His eyes narrowed in at the beast and his face darkened considerably.
“You just said this creature is far beyond what professional huntsmen can face. You seriously expect me to_”
“The Honmoon Style is far greater than you realize my friend. I can say with upmost confidence these could defeat Fria at their full potential.”
Ironwood leaned back taking that last one in. He turned to Huntrix, eyes landing on Zoey. War stretched over his features, until his daughter spoke up.
“Call the Ace-Ops. Have them fight us so we can show you what we can really do.”
That got a variety of reactions. Glynda mulled over the idea and gave her agreement. Mira was instantly down with it and Rumi admitted it would help get their abilities across. Ozpin did mention that it might even help push Huntrix to further reaches of power, but it still rested with Ironwood on what to do.
“Very well, I’ll set this up on one condition. I want a team of hunters from Atlas to still accompany Huntrix on the mission, should they win.”
“If this is someone who’s going to shout stupid orders then no deal.” Zoey shot back.
“I wish you would put you personal feelings aside, but I do have another team in mind. It’s the one Penny Polendina is attached to.”
“The scientist from Mantle? Didn’t know he had a kid. What happened to her after we beat Adam?”
“You must understand, it’s for her protection that she needs to be accompanied at most times outside_”
“Of course James, I’m sure there are so many villains who can fight someone who shoots lasers with a state of the art backpack.” Zoey countered.
“Have you ever seen her this sassy?” Mira whispered.
“Not really. Talk about bad blood.” Rumi responded.
Zoey and her father traded barbs until Ozpin suggested a compromise. Huntrix would look over Penny and make sure she kept to her schedule while also engaging with the other students. Ironwood was resistant but lacked a valid argument, and Ozpin reminded him that it was Ozpin’s decision which huntsmen were on Valean missions. Once the deal was struck Zoey spun on her heels and marched right back out the office.
“We’re so sorry for her. Normally Zoey isn’t so_” Rumi started but Ironwood waved her apologies aside.
“No, I understand. She gets that stubbornness from her mother. At least she’s healthy and thriving with an impressive team behind her.”
Rumi and Mira bowed slightly then chased after Zoey, who went back to their room. Their friend was lying on her bed with the blinds down, shoveling expensive chocolates in her mouth with one hand over here eyes. Mira knelt beside her bed and brushed Zoey’s bangs back. Their Maknae paused, then lowered her hand to reveal watery eyes.
“Sorry. I know I screwed up that meeting.” She admitted yet Mira smirked confidently.
“A chance to fight the best Atlas has to offer and finally see if we can do what hunters have been training centuries for. I think this is gonna be a sick semester.” Mira objected.
Rumi busted out the ramyeon and fried snack cakes as Mira put on a new documentary about turtles. They didn’t love them but did love Zoey enough to watch her favorite animals on screen do barely anything for an hour and a half. Ruby and Weiss visited to get an update on their personal training. Rumi tossed the cup with her face on it away as she lead the two to the arena.
“Now let’s recap what you two have achieved so far. Extend your auras.”
Ruby and Weiss focused up and their auras flared considerably, a much more bright energy flowing from them.
“Fuel your weapons.”
Their auras coursed into Crescent Rose and Myrtenaster. Ruby’s scythe was remodeled at Celine’s behest to remove some of the bulkier mecha and extend the blade which glowed silver. Weiss’ rapier had it’s blade extend at her own will and had pieced the skull of a Goliath towards the end of her first semester.
“Infuse dust into the blade.”
Ruby pulled out a fire crystal, tapping it to the scythe and it infused in slower than Weiss’ ice crystal. Her sword turned icy blue with a frostlike effect flickering off, whereas the scythe blade only glowed red for a minute before burning out.
“Hmm, dust infusion may not be your thing Ruby but keep practicing. At this point I’m going to bump you two up to the next stage of training. Manifesting your own aura weapons, like this.”
Rumi summoned her blade to her side like so. Weiss frowned and scrunched her nose up like she did when thinking heavily.
“But how does that work? If it’s not your semblance then what are the principles at work here? How can you materialize energy into matter?”
“No idea. It’s kinda like this one time I was making drinks and accidentally added kid’s cough syrup to a bunch of liquor. I don’t know the scientific explanation, but once Tai and I set the drinks on fire, that made it taste good. This is about how you can do this, not why it’s possible.”
Weiss hardly seemed willing to accept Rumi’s answer but shoved her consternation down as Rumi explained the process in three parts.
“First you need to grok up what your weapon looks like, and make it as clear in your mind as possible.”
“Grok?” Ruby asked.
“Vaguely understand in its entirety. Like…knowing what a book is all about even if you don’t remember every specific line of text.”
“Oh I can get that. I picture what weapons can and could look like all the time!”
“Good but remember to focus on what your true weapon looks like. For now the less details the better. Maybe a simple contraption to extend the blade will do.”
Ruby puffed her cheeks out indignantly but went thought back to her weapon’s seventh alpha design.
“Got the image in your heads?”
“Yes.” Rumi’s students answered.
“Cool, second focus your extended auras into a single point. Like the energy core of a star, condensed down as tightly as possible while keeping the designs in your mind.”
Ruby and Weiss both held out a hand and pooled their auras into their palms. Ruby’s aura fluttered through her body like a storm of rose petals. Erratic, which was easy for her semblance but made focusing her aura to narrow down difficult. Weiss’ aura had a chilling effect that was glacial and frail. She had the lowest aura reserves out of the top ten and were paltry compared to Winter’s when she started at Atlas Academy.
They did their damndest but not materialization came about form after three minutes. Both nearly collapsed to their knees, but Weiss got an idea. She instead envisioned the sword of the Arma Gigas she fought to get out of Atlas. Away from her dreary home. Using a summoning glyph, she felt her aura waver but heard Rumi’s voice piercing the fog.
“Not bad Weiss. Keep your thoughts steady. Don’t focus on what might happen, but the result of what has. You’ve made it this far, you can go farther.”
Weiss followed Rumi’s instructions as she let all doubt and hesitation fade from her mind. She forgot all of it. Her father’s ambitions, brother’s manipulations, sister’s expectations. All that mattered was proving to herself she was doing better.
“Step Three. Mold the focused aura into something that you can grip. Like touching a screen of hard light. Tighten your grip and condense the aura into your true weapon.”
Weiss breathed out a sigh, then squeezed her palm. She nearly dropped whatever she was holding when she felt the hilt of a blade she had not drawn.
“Well it’s not an original aura weapon, but this is still a smart way to get started. Great job Weiss.” Rumi congratulated.
Weiss opened her eyes to see a sight she had feared to never behold. The sword of her grandfather, which served as the model for the weapon the Arma Gigas used in training was firmly in her grasp. It wasn’t at its full size obviously but was there right in her hand. It felt perfectly balanced and had the exact right weight.
“I did it…I finally managed to summon, after all this time!” Weiss spoke, her voice laden with excitement.
Ruby was a good sport and at first thought Weiss had in fact succeeded at their training, but Weiss and Rumi clarified what had properly happened. It was a summoning of an aspect of the Grimm Weiss had defeated, materialized though the Honmoon Style. Something that had never been achieved before, meaning Weiss could redevelop her fighting style to blend summoning and aura weapons into something uniquely her own.
“Congrats Weiss, this is a big breakthrough. Ruby, I’m willing to bet the biggest issue was keeping your aura focused, considering how erratic it acts all the time.”
“I’ve been trying to get it to relax, but it just never wants to settle. I guess that’s because my dumb brain also can’t sit still.” Ruby figured, making Rumi lift her sister’s eyes to her own.
“Do not talk that way about yourself again. Your one of the most brilliant hunters I know, with a mind that’s unstoppable when its focused. You need some more practice meditating on experience manipulating aura. Don’t ever talk yourself down again, okay?”
“Rumi_”
“Okay, Ruby?” Rumi added firmly.
“Alright whatever. I’ll go bully Blake into helping me sit down and do nothing for twenty-five minutes.” Ruby joked with a defeated tone. Annoying but Rumi did think Blake would be direct in her instructions.
“That’s better. Now I’ve got to meet up with Huntrix so we can get Penny introduced to her new schedule. Before you ask yes she’s okay and I’ll figure out why she dipped while we fought Adam. Weiss try and keep that blade at your side as long as you can. Dismissed.”
Rumi handed in her assignments for History and attended Stealth, nearly sneaking up on Miss Greene but slipping up thanks to a stupid stick she missed. That said stealth was hardly something an idol bothered with, but it was still a little bit extra to practice on for the grade.
Huntrix met up after lunch and received Penny at the docks. She was looking rather chipper and took to Zoey instantaneously, and vice versa. Once they shared common ground on overbearing father’s they declared one another sisters and shared a tight hug.
“Oh my back.” Zoey cried as Penny squeezed her.
“So where will my lodging be? I must prepare to absorb as much information from my upcoming tests, so study time is needed posthaste.” Penny piped up making Mira gag.
“We need to get you a hobby. I’m not even being funny by the way. What does Ironwood or your dad allow you to do for free time?”
“In my personal time I mainly take in what the outside world is engaged in. That’s how I discovered Huntrix, watching the live recording of your Make a Wish livestream for charity. It was the most inspiring show I’ve ever seen.” Penny rambled getting Mira to pop her right brow.
“Hey, you really know your stuff. Sounds like you need to touch some grass through, let’s go out after school.”
“Oh, but my last assigned chaperon was adamant I_” Mira held a finger over Penny’s lips.
“Nope, fuck that. We look after you, you get to have a life. Fuck Ironwood in his stupid steel ass, you need to know what the good things in life are, so you’ll be motivated to give a damn when their threatened.” Mira lectured with Zoey nodding in agreement.
“Bingo Bango. When your with us, your one of the girls, not a hunter. Let’s do regular girl shit like get school supplies, do our nails, and talk about cute boys.”
“Sensational! You are ninety-six point seven percent as wonderful as I imagined. Lead the way new fiends!!” Penny said as she picked Zoey up with one arm and hulled ass out of campus. Mira chuckled for a sec then looked back to Rumi.
“Her aura…”
“I sense it too. Something tells me that Ironwood’s not fully on the level with Ozpin. Not that I think Penny’s dangerous but_”
“She’s got an aura but no heartbeat, she doesn’t breathe like normal people and her footsteps are insanely heavy. Like her she alive but also…”
“I know. It’s like she alive, but also somehow completely mechanical inside.”