Ravensdagger_Princess

Chapter Forty

She stepped, then stepped again, and again, and again, then she twirled on the spot, arms reaching out to keep her balance before dipping her knees down into a crouch and stepping again.Akelarre frowned. That hadn’t worked as she wished. She would try again!She took a deep breath, stood taller, then stepped, stepped, stepped, started to twirl, tripped over her own feet, then regained her balance while also trying to crouch. Once she was done wobbling, she stepped again.Turning with her arms still in the proper position, she looked over to see Neo stuffed in a cushion-covered sofa, a hand over her face with only one eye peeking out from between her fingers. “At least I’m getting better?” Akelarre said. “I am getting better, right?”Neo raised the hand not covering her face, then wobbled it around in a so-so gesture.“Do you think I’ll be ready for the ball?” she asked.Neo’s smile was wooden as she nodded.The pair were tucked in a corner of Junior’s Club, occupying part of the dance floor that was quite empty as early in the day as it was. Neo had stolen all the cushions from the other couches and built a fluffy mound on which she plopped herself to watch Akelarre flop around like a particularly energetic fish that had been yanked out of its comforting waters. The tiny girl was only partially visible from within the pile.“Well, how about you show me again, then?” Akelarre asked.Neo rolled her eyes and wiggled off of her cushion throne. She bounced over to the dancefloor, then wiggled on the spot to unlimber her limbs.Akelarre watched as Neo raised her arms then started waltzing around with the grace and lithe motions of someone with years of practice under their belt. She was at the level of skill where she made all the moves look easy, every twirl and dip and motion of the arms completely natural.Akelarre wouldn’t admit it to anyone that asked, but watching Neo dance was a whole lot of fun, because when Neo danced, she danced.With a final twirl and step, Neo let her arms drop to her hips and tilted her head to the side. She perked an eyebrow.Akelarre sighed. “Okay, fine.”She raised her arms again, then stepped, stepped, then started ringing.She paused, then patted her cargo pant’s pockets until she found her scroll. “Hello, Akelarre, benevolent-ish Princess of Grimm speaking.”“Hey Akelarre!” Ruby’s chirpy voice shouted into the scroll. “It’s me! I’m calling because me and the girls, and I guess Jaune too, were sort of worried about you after yesterday. There was supposed to be a big fight in the middle of Vale and they’re saying it was your fault but I don’t believe them. Also your posters look nothing like you at all it’s really silly.”Akelarre blinked. “Posters?” she asked.“Oh yeah, Goodwitch put up all these posters of someone that kinda sorta looks like you, if you squint. They’re asking for information and telling people not to approach you because you’re a big scary criminal. But Yang said it’s okay, you’re not really an actual big scary criminal so we can totally still hang out because if anyone can convince you not to sink us under a grimm tsunami it’s going to be me.” She giggled. “At least, that’s what Yang said.”“Huh, I hope that won’t be a problem with the dance?”“What? Pfft, no. Never,” Ruby said. “Nothing’s bad’s going to happen, I’m sure of it!”Akelarre hummed in agreement. “I’m sure. I was actually just about to head out with Neo to buy a proper dress. It’s that or head back home to get one but mom is kinda old fashioned and she’d want to take pictures.”“Oh, dad wants us to send pictures too. Well, he asked for mugshots of any boys we bring with us, but you’re a girl, so it’s probably okay.” Ruby paused for a breath. “Hey, I need to go dress shopping too. Did you want to go together?”“I wouldn-”“Oh, and now Yang wants to come. And Weiss is ranting about how we couldn’t pick out something pretty if we tried. And Blake... Okay, I think Blake wants to stay here, she’s hissing at me.”Akelarre held back a giggle. “Alright. I’m at the Club. You know the one. If you guys hurry we can meet up in a bit before heading out. Oh, and bring one of those posters.”“Okay! See you soon!”And just like that, the line went dead. Akelarre looked away from her scroll to see Neo watching her with one eyebrow perked. “Ah, I hope you don’t mind the others coming along?” she asked.Neo made a so-so gesture with one hand, then tapped at her cheek while looking out of the corner of her eye. She raised one finger.“On one condition?” Akelarre guessed.Neo nodded, then made a show of licking the air and wiggling her tongue out of her mouth..“You... want ice cream?”The shorter girl blinked, then shrugged as if to say ‘sure, or that’“I-I’m sure we can work something out.”

* * *

Ruby vibrated. It wasn’t a figure of speech to describe how excited she was. Not that she wasn’t plenty excited. She was, quite literally, vibrating on the spot.Across from her, Yang was wearing the smile of an indulgent older sibling as she sat squeezed up next to Blake who was focusing very hard on her book. That meant, of course, that the last member of team RWBY was plopped right next to a Ruby who was vibrating so fast that she was scattering flower petals all over them both.“I swear, if the Bullhead falls apart because you couldn’t sit still for three whole minutes I will use you for my landing strategy. As a cushion,” Weiss said.Ruby shut her mouth with a click and kept the wobbles locked in tight against her chest.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.That lasted all of thirty seconds before, red faced, the wiggles escaped as a burst of excited giggles and even more vibrating, like a puppy on a sugar rush.Weiss’s brows were twitching and she looked ready to smack some calm into her partner when Yang intervened. “Oh, let her go, Weiss. She’s just nervous about meeting her girlfriend.” The last word was spoken with so much meaning and inflection that even someone as thick as Jaune might have caught on to it. “And here I thought you weren’t supposed to see the dress until the big night.”“We’re not getting married!” Ruby shouted.The bullhead dipped a little as the pilot looked over their shoulder.“We’re not,” Ruby protested. “It’s just a big dance with all of my friends and Akelarre. And if Akelarre’s my girlfriend, does that mean Blake’s yours?”“I’m not,” Blake replied with the speed of an arrow going through someone’s heart.Yang clutched at her chest. “Blake, my heart’s not a ball of yarn. You can’t claw at it like that. Are you just going to play with me before leaving me in the litter box?”The cat faunus looked up from her book for just long enough to lock eyes with Yang. “Please die.”“My other two dysfunctional teammates besides,” Weiss said as she looked away from Blake and Yang as if ignoring a lost cause. “What are you hoping to accomplish by visiting Akelarre today?”“Accomplish?” Ruby repeated. “We’re going dress shopping. I thought you knew.”“Yes, that much is obvious, but there must be a purpose behind that.”“...fun?”“Fun is not a purpose,” Weiss sniffed.“Oh boy. Don’t take dating advice from the Schnee,” Yang said. “She wouldn’t know how to date someone if her daddy didn’t arrange it and a contract wasn’t signed in triplicate beforehand.”“I’ll have you know that I am perfectly aware of how dating works,” Weiss huffed.All three girls looked at her. And the pilot.“Theoretically,” she added.“Right,” Ruby said. “So, this isn’t even a date. It’s just us buying the cutest dresses and getting Akelarre to pay for them.”Weiss squawked as if someone had stepped on her toes. “Ruby Rose! You can’t get her to pay. Don’t you have your own money? Or are you turning into some… some sort of gold digging hussy?!”“I’m not!” Ruby shot back, her face reddening as she did. “But Akelarre wouldn’t mind. And I need every lien I have to make Crescent Rose better. She’s been asking for even more modifications lately.”“So, is getting more toys for your weapon more important than the ball for you? Important enough that you’d beg for lien from the very girl you’re going to dance with?” Weiss said. “How is that fair?”“Well, it’s not Akelarre’s lien, it’s her mom’s, and her mom is literally the queen of all that is evil. So by spending it on pretty dresses and weapon mods, I’m actually helping Remnant.”Weiss opened her mouth, then closed it. She looked away for a moment as if deep in thought, then tried to speak only to fail. Then, with a cough to clear her throat, she looked across the aisle towards Blake. “How would you like a Schnee credit card?”Blake perked one eyebrow up. “Are you trying to bribe your way out of all the guilt your family has accrued over decades of malpractice?”“No,” Weiss said. “I’m telling you that my card is linked to the same account as Jacques Schnee and that we could buy the prettiest dresses on credit then make him pay interest on them.”Blake blinked. “Well, when you put it that way. It’s like doing Faunuskind a favour really.”The Bullhead shifted a little, then landed with a thump. “We’ve arrived, ladies,” the pilot called back over their shoulder.Team RWBY thanked the pilot and shuffled out of the craft and onto one of the landing pads near the city centre. Vale was busy, people zipping to and fro under the early afternoon sun, many of them with a sense of urgency but others taking their time and enjoying the day.Ruby started to move when someone tugged at her cape and stopped her short. “Oh no,” Yang said, “if you think we’ll let you run ahead of us to spend more alone time with Akelarre you have another thing coming, lovely little sister of mine.”“But Yang,” Ruby started.“No butts,” Yang said. “No boobs either, dad said so. Not even any kissing.”Ruby cringed in time with her other teammates. “That was bad, Yang.”“That’s how you know it was a good pun,” Yang said as she visibly revelled in their pain. “Now let’s get going. If we allow you to get there early enough to start on the puppy dog treatment, no butts might become a little butts.”“No Yang. Just no.”Team RWBY started moving as a group towards the docks and the seedier parts of town, none of them all that concerned about the shady people eyeing them or the way some people got greedy glints in their eyes at the sight of four well dressed young ladies. The truth of the matter was that they were huntsmen, and that made them as invincible as their youth made them think they were.Ruby took the lead, of course, because she was the leader and she wanted to get there the most. That’s why she was the first one to see the person blocking their path.The girl stood in the middle of the sidewalks, arms crossed and a scowl firmly in place as she eyed them all. Her long coat moved despite the lack of wind, and her fedora, which was squished atop orange hair, sat at an angle that cast a deep shadow over her eyes.“Penny?”“Hello, potential enemy Ruby, potential enemy Blake, potential enemy Yang and... and onetime potential-marriage-material Weiss. I have been betrayed and I think it is high time we talk about it.”

Chapter Forty-One

Penny was expecting certain responses to her accusation, but the one she received defied every line of her predictive algorithms.“How dare you! I... I am so marriable!” Weiss said into the silence.Ruby, Blake, Yang and even Penny all turned to stare at the red-faced young woman. It was Penny who finally broke the silence. She pointed a finger right into the middle of team RWBY, and with a straight back and eyes that sparkled with determination, declared, “Team RWBY, you are consorting with the enemy of mankind.”“And that makes me ineligible for marriage?” Weiss asked.Penny blinked slowly as her processors churned over that. “I was not ready for that conversation. Can we please discuss the evil Grimm in your midst?”“I’d marry Weiss,” Ruby said.Now everyone was looking at Ruby.“I mean, if Weiss was that way. Not that I’m saying she isn’t, what with how she wants to marry Penny. But if I wasn’t... totally not going after Akelarre, then I’d be okay with Weiss.”Weiss’ mouth opened a few times before she settled on a glare. “You mean I’d be second fiddle? And, and I never said I wanted to marry Penny! Or that I was gay!”“I am not marriage ready,” Penny added. “But I am willing to try if it would please my friends. Not that you are in the friend category any longer.”There was a long suffering sigh from the back of the group, and with the aplomb of someone walking into the line of fire, Yang stepped up with hands on hips and head shaking. “Okay, okay, everyone shut up. Big sister Yang’s going to fix all of this up in a jiffy. Penny, love, give us just a minute and we’ll get back to you. Weiss, I don’t think Penny was looking down at your marriageability, she’s just a little angry. She’ll get over it in no time, and then you two can get back to planning your extravagant Atlesian wedding. Ruby, I love you. Please stop trying to help. You’re making things worse. Blake... stop enjoying this so much.”Yang took a deep breath, then turned to face Penny head on. “And now you. Explain. You’re tossing accusations in the faces of four huntswomen in training in the middle of a quiet street while wearing a trenchcoat. This is saturday-morning cartoon levels of suspicious.”Penny watched as the girls all shifted, their faces all various shades of red. “I can do that. I am explanation ready.” She took a deep breath. “I have recently begun a very gratifying relationship with Akelarre. During our initial intercourse I told her that I was looking for a suspicious individual that might have ties to the Grimm.”She blinked when Ruby’s face lit up. But that didn’t matter, she was asked to explain, so she would.“After our initial meet-up and intercourse, we continued spending some time together, culminating in a threesome gathering with Akelarre and Neo Politan some nights ago.” She paused to let Ruby finish clearing her throat. “After much discussion, sleeping together, and the ritualistic consumption of frozen treats, I thought I could consider Akelarre a friend, one that brought me many benefits, and one that I could benefit in turn.”“I’m sure that all sounded better in your head,” Yang said. “But I have to say that I approve.”“I too, approved. Until I discovered through my uncle that Akelarre was none other than the Grimm Girl. She was the enemy all along!”“Hey,” Ruby shouted. “Akelarre isn’t the enemy. She’s a good friend.”“If you’re the friend of an enemy, then perhaps you are an enemy as well,” Penny said.Ruby growled, eyes narrowed and fists closed by her sides. “I’m not,” she muttered.“I want you to bring me to Akelarre so that I may denounce her as an enemy of mankind and then eradicate her as I was initially ordered to.”“As hot as that sounds, could we not eradicate me just yet?”Penny whipped around, sensors coming online and fixing on the source of the call.Akelarre, the Grimm Girl herself, was walking towards them, a new, unfamiliar jacket on and a smile on her face. Neo was half a step behind her, skipping to keep up with Akelarre’s longer stride. “You!”“Me!” Akelarre said. “A little bug told me you guys were close, so we decided to head out. Hello team RWBY, hello, Penny.”“Do not presume to say hello to me, Grimm Girl!” Penny declared. She unlatched her primary offensive systems. Floating Array took to the air around her, Dust-infused string keeping all twelve gun-swords afloat.“So cool!” Ruby said. “Hey Penny, can I please check out your swords?”“Stay back, enemy-Ruby. Once I have eliminated the Grimm threat, I will proceed to arrest you and allow you to inspect my weaponry.”Akelarre raised a hand as if to ask a question. “I feel like I’m missing a whole lot of context.”“The context is that you are a duplicitous mean person that has betrayed me and will therefore be arrested and charged to the full extent of Vale law.”Akelarre lowered her hand, her smiled slowly fading away. “I see. You think I betrayed you?” she asked. “Is it because I didn’t tell you what I am?”“You were fully aware that I was on a hunt to find the evil Grimm Girl, and yet you pretended to be someone else,” Penny said. She pushed her swords a little farther from her body then shifted them into their more compact gun forms. Ruby ‘ooohed’ behind her. “Prepare to be detained.”Akelarre met her eyes, then looked around at all the others. “Guys, how about you all head out? Penny and I need to chat a little. I’ll meet you at that little cafe two streets down? Neo knows the place.”“I shouldn’t allow anyone to leave the premises,” Penny said. “It goes against protocol.”“Is it protocol to allow people to potentially get hurt in a crossfire? And if it isn’t protocol, could you really live with yourself? You know that the girls are probably innocent. Well, not Neo, she’s definitely guilty of something, but the others are all sweet.”Neo winked at Penny, but the others didn’t disagree or otherwise voice an opinion. Penny was torn. On the one hand, it went against protocol, on the other, she didn’t have any real evidence that Team RWBY were hardened criminals. “Very well,” she said.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.The girls hesitated some more, but when Neo skipped by them they chose to break off, all except for Ruby who had to be dragged away by her sister while complaining about wanting to see Penny’s Floating Array.“Okay. So did you want to sit down or are we going to talk while standing off?” Akelarre asked. “There are other cafes in the city, we could chat over hot chocolate?”“I would rather not have to lower my weapons in the face of a threat.”Akelarre tilted her head to one side. “Is that what I am? A threat?”“You are a Grimm. The Grimm are mankind’s enemy.”She frowned at that. “And because I’m different, I'm the enemy? That’s rich, coming from a girl that’s not even half-human.”Penny didn’t flinch. She had enough processing power to prevent the involuntary motion, still, maybe something escaped her iron-clad control because Akelarre seemed to notice.“I’m sorry, that came out... worse then I intended.”“You knew?” Penny asked.Akelarre nodded slowly. “I did. Does it matter? You’re still my friend. Even now. You’re not even my first AI friend at that. Just because you’re a little different doesn’t mean you can’t be my friend. I would have thought you would understand that. Though, I guess you do still feel betrayed that I didn’t tell you what I am. I didn’t want you to react... well, like this.” She gestured at Floating Array.“My... my feelings on the matter shouldn’t contribute to my final decision to arrest you,” Penny said. “You are a Grimm, and that’s a crime.”“I doubt it’s literally illegal to be a Grimm,” Akelarre said.Penny blinked. “It is illegal to be a Grimm,” she confirmed. “It’s part of Vale’s constitution, as written by one of the last Kings of Vale. It is why I must arrest you.”“Oh,” Akelarre said. “That’s unfortunate. I didn’t think you had that kind of restriction on your programming. Are you unable to not follow the law?”“I have no such restrictions,” Penny said. “I am merely doing as I am told because I want to be a dutiful niece.”“So you would arrest me, even if it’s the wrong thing, because you want to please Ironwood?”Penny felt Floating Array waver a little. It shouldn’t have done that, the dust-infused wires were controlled by her aura which should have been as strong as ever, but she could detect minor anomalies and fluctuations in it. “I... yes?”“Penny,” Akelarre said with a note of desperation in her voice. “I... I don’t have a choice, you know? I’m part Grimm. It’s who I am. I’m not going to let you hurt me or my friends because of that. It wouldn’t be fair.”“But,” Penny began. She paused and wetted her lips. “The same argument could be made about all the other Grimm,” she said.“The other Grimm are following orders. They’re as autonomous as those robots your Uncle has with him. Smart, but no more so than any animal. More like programs than you or me.”“I think I see,” she said. “So you would be willing to renounce your evil ways?” Penny asked.“You’re assuming that I’m evil to begin with,” Akelarre said. “That’s kinda rude. Would you want people to assume you’re evil just because you’re not human?”“I would not,” she admitted.Akelarre moved a little closer, hands still visible in what she could easily categorize as a sign that she didn’t wish to fight. “How about this. You’re smart enough to think for yourself, to make up your own mind. Come with me. Spend the day with me and team RWBY. Judge for yourself whether I’m some evil threat to humanity.”“Are you saying that you’re not a threat at all?” Penny asked. She tensed the wires controlling Floating Array.Akelarre laughed. “I’m a huge threat, Penny. I could swarm Vale with more Grimm than there are people living here in under an hour, twice that number in half a day. There are enough elder Grimm around the city that I could have the walls cracked and the sun blotted out with flying Grimm with only a few commands.”“This is the opposite of reassuring.”Akelarre smiled. “Look around you. Are the skies darkened by Grimm? Are there amphibious Grimmsects pouring out of the docks? Are the walls collapsing from termite Grimm eating away at the supports? Yeah, I could be a threat, but I chose not to be. Just as you chose not to hurt people just because they’re not the same as you.”“I...” Penny hesitated. She had just recorded Akelarre admitting to being able to carry out capital crimes. In fact, everything Akelarre had just said her uncle would love to hear. It would give him enough just cause to hunt Akelarre down, to call in more reinforcements, to have the council of Vale bend to what he asked.And it would still all be for nothing if what Akelarre said was true.“I’ve been where you are, you know,” Akelarre said. There was a strange pitch to her voice, a slower cadence than usual as if what she was saying had more weight. At least, that’s what her elocution programs suspected. “You want to do the right thing. Believe it or not, I've been there. Like, right there. This whole turning in your new super-powered besties to the authorities thing? It's spookily spot on."Penny took a small step back, pulling Floating Array along with her.“I guess I should cut to the chase, yeah? I know that you probably felt betrayed, but I’m happy that I tricked you. We would never have become friends otherwise. Like how you hide who you are a little. But those were all lies. We can stop that, if you want, go right to the truth. Yeah, I’m the Grimm Girl, I’m a monster, I could destroy Vale. But I don’t want to, so I won’t.” Akelarre fidgeted on the spot. "So, I guess what I’m trying to say is, how about you hang out with me to make sure I'm not gonna wipe out humanity?"Penny looked down, then back up to Akelarre. She was an android, with more computing power than any human at her disposal. It meant that she could come to a decision faster than most.She made up her mind.Floating Array clicked back into its holster at the small of her back.“I will observe you to ensure that you act in accordance with Vale’s laws,” she said. “And if we have fun, then I will consider that an unplanned additional victory.