Chapter 15: Under the Stars

"That'll be five hundred Lien, please," said the cashier sleepily, holding out her hand. An expensive-looking dress lay on the counter.

Under most circumstances, those words would have given Summer about ten heart attacks. She'd never cared for fashion trends, and the absurd prices of those extravagant outfits was proof to her that people of rich aristocrat families were insane. Mercifully, she had a bit of help today.

She'd spent the whole weekend training with Heather. Determined to improve her aiming speed with her bow, she'd gotten herself shot about fifty-seven times trying to stop the gunner Huntsman's bullets in midair. Once she'd gotten over the stinging pains, she'd noticed a considerable improvement…probably.

Afterward, Regal and Harriet had joined them and began discussing tomorrow's dance.

"So what are you wearing to the dance, Summer?" Regal had asked. Summer had responded that she didn't have any fancy dresses.

"Whoa, now that will NOT do!" the young man had replied, in comical shock. "Hey, here, take this-it's on me!" He'd handed her a two-thousand Lien card.

"I-I really can't…" she'd protested.

"No excuses! Not wearing something fancy to a dance is one of the worst crimes you can commit! Harriet's getting one this afternoon, too, so why not go with her?" Reluctantly, Summer had accepted. And that was how she'd ended up in a stuffy, crowded fashion store on a Sunday afternoon.

"That's a good choice," Harriet said quietly. "I guess," Summer muttered as she paid for her purchase.

Even with her non-existent fashion knowledge, the dress' beauty was undeniable. It was a sleeveless white gown, with a silver tint. Bright red jewels decorated its sides. Still, would it really fit her? She'd only picked it since it seemed less extravagant (and cheaper!) than the others.

Harriet laid out her dress-a light red piece with brown lacing-on the counter. The cashier looked up. "Seven hundred Lien," she murmured, still half-asleep. Harriet paid the amount.

"Wait," Summer frowned, examining the price tag on the dress. "Isn't this dress only six hundred?"

"O-oh! R-right, of course!" the cashier stammered. "I…I didn't notice!" they claimed, with all the authenticity of a street magician. "H-here, miss, take your change."

I knew it. She tried to rip Harriet off since she's a Faunus, Summer thought, disgusted. Not on my watch.

A minute later, the two Huntresses walked out of the store, and Summer took a deep gulp of the wondrous, perfume-free air.

"Umm, you didn't have to do that, you know," Harriet stammered. "I don't really care if…"

Summer shook her head. "Don't say that," she said gently. "It's a duty for a Huntress to fight injustice, remember? And to help your friend save some money!"

Harriet laughed. "Haha, fair point." She paused for a moment. "So, um…you ready for the Vytal Tournament?"

"I'm not sure," Summer admitted. "I'm definitely getting better, and I'll have my teammates to back me up, but I don't know if we'll actually win. I think you guys have a good chance, though."

"Really? I mean, Heather's pretty much a genius, and Regal and Torrence aren't half-bad, either, but….I don't know if I can…"

Summer laughed. "Don't sell yourself short. You beat me once, remember? You're fast, you can use Aura Capsules, and you have that intangibility thing, right?"

"Hmmm?" Harriet looked confused. "Oh, you mean my Semblance. Yeah, that lets me avoid attacks, but it's kinda hard to pull off, so I don't use it that much. By the way, what's your Semblance, Summer?"

"Well…" Summer looked down. "I don't use one."

"Huh? Doesn't every Huntsman have a Semblance?"

"No, no, I'm sure I HAVE one, I just haven't…figured out what it is yet." She sighed. "It makes me feel a bit pathetic, being around everyone who already knows what theirs is."

"…Oh." Harriet murmured. "W-well, when the right time comes, it'll come to you!" she said reassuringly. "Remember, you Semblance depends on your personality, so maybe that's a clue to what it is…?"

"Maybe." Summer was still skeptical. I really don't want to talk about this. "Hey, it's still early afternoon, want to get some ice cream?"

"Oh, sure!" Harriet smiled. "I know a good place on-"

Smack. Something hit her in the back of the head. "Ow!" she muttered. The projectile was a small rock.

Summer turned around sharply, looking for her friend's attacker. Another person discriminating her? Once she saw who it was, however, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sorry, miss!" The little girl stammered, running over to them. "I didn't mean to hit y-" She saw Summer. "Oh! Hi, Mrs. Rose!"

"Hey, Autumn!" said Summer cheerfully. "What are you doing out here?"

"Practicing." Autumn showed her the small slingshot in her hands. "I made this myself. I've decided to train and be a Huntress like you!"

"That's…great." She laughed. Uh oh. I hope I'm not being a bad influence on her. "But…don't shoot at random passerby, okay? That's not how Huntsmen work."

"I-it was an accident!" The girl pouted. Suddenly, she noticed the dress Summer was holding. "Ooooh, that's so pretty!" she squealed. "What is that?"

"Just a dress," Summer said with a smile, showing her the gown.

"Woooow!" Autumn looked delighted as she fondled it. "It looks so soft and comfortable…."

"Well, try not to steal it," Summer said chidingly. Suddenly, she thought of something. "Hey, Autumn, you might be able to see me on TV in a few days."

"Huh? Really?"

"Really. My team's participating in the Vytal Tournament this year. I don't know how well we'll do, but cheer for us, okay?"

"That sounds amazing!" Autumn laughed in excitement. "Umm, and Mrs Rose? Can I ask something?"

"Hmm? Sure."

"Well…" the girl looked hesitant. "Can I…live with you?"

"Huh?!" Well, I wasn't expecting that.

"Th-the place where I normally live is being…" she paused. "Ren-Vaded. I…don't really have anywhere to stay."

"Oh…" Summer was filled with sympathy. "…I'm sorry, but non-academy personnel aren't allowed inside the Academy. I do have a rented place in Vale that I stay when school's off, though," she said. "When the semester ends, I can take you there."

"Really?! Yay!" Autumn jumped up and down in joy. "Okay, I'm gonna go now, Mrs Rose! I can't wait to see you win the tournament!" With that, she took off down the street.

"You know her?" Harriet asked.

Summer nodded. "Yeah. Her name's Autumn. She's a street girl I met once. She's really cute, isn't she?"

"She really is," Harriet laughed. "Anyways…do you want to go for that ice cream?"

"Sounds good to me."

Chatting cheerfully, the two of them made their way to the ice cream store.

It was the following night.

Nervously, Summer stepped into the dance room. "Whoa…" she murmured.

It was like stepping into another world. Beautiful ribbons of an infinite number of colours were hung all around the room. A large disco ball hung from the ceiling, casting bright lights onto the dance floor in perfect sync with the music blaring from the speakers. The entire scene was decorated with a wallpaper depicting an intricate night-sky settings. The constellations and nebulae looked shockingly realistic. It actually gave the feeling you were floating around in space.

Most of the guests were already there. Summer looked around for her friends while trying to look insignificant.

"Heeeeeeeeeeey, Summer!" Tai called out to her, waving from within the mass of bodies. "Over here!"

"Coming!" Nervously, Summer made her away over to him. Upon seeing Tai, she noticed he'd straightened his normally messy blond hair. He was wearing a simple but charming black tuxedo with a rose on the lapel. She could smell the scent of perfume on him. Whoa…I never realized how handsome he is, Summer thought, trying to hide her blushing.

"You look great!" He laughed, flashing his perfect white teeth. "Now, then…shall we" He held out his hand.

"Huh? What?"

"Let's dance." Tai grinned. "Let me show you my expertly-honed tango skills, Xiao Long-style!"

"Ummm…" she stammered. How do I get out of this one?! "I…really can't dance, so…"

"Don't gimme that! You just have to try!" he grabbed her hand. "Look, if Birdy can do it, so can you!"

"Eh?" Summer looked where he was pointing. Sure enough, Qrow was dancing with Raven. The elder Branwen twin was as graceful as ever, but Qrow looked as comfortable as an Ursa in a taxidermy shop. His "dancing" consisted mostly of stepping awkwardly from side to side, his shoulders looking uncomfortably stiff. Even better/worse, he wasn't even dressed formally-he was still wearing his usual messy grey jacket.

The sight made Summer feel a lot better about herself.

"Fair enough," she sighed with a nervous chuckle. "I don't have much choice, do I?" She took his other hand.

"Not at all," Tai smiled at her. "Come on, the night's still young!"

The two of them danced to the music. It was a surprisingly pleasant experience. Tai wasn't exaggerating, he really was good at dancing, and he certainly made up for her complete incompetence at the activity. Slowly, her nervousness faded like mist on a sunny day.

"You're getting better! Keep it up!" He encouraged her.

"Y-you think so?" she laughed. "I don't really feel like I've improved. I'm surprised that you're actually this good."

"Hey, I said I was good, you know! When did I ever lie to you?"

Summer smirked. "We could START with the time you claimed you won the Signal Tournament four years in a row, but you actually never made it past the preliminaries."

"Ouch! An arrow to my heart AND my pride!" Tai gave an exaggerated sigh. "You sure know how to hit a man where it hurts, Summer."

"Please don't say that," she muttered. "You know," she changed the subject. "That tux of yours looks nice. Is it yours?"

"This? Nah, I just bought it yesterday," Tai laughed. "Same as yours, and dang, do you look stunning in that thing! You've got great taste in dresses!"

"I, um, wouldn't say that." Do not blush, do NOT blush, Summer thought furiously. "It was just the cheapest thing I saw." She looked down at her gown. "It IS nice, I guess. The red gems are a nice touch."

"They really are. They're called…rubies, I think." Tai mused. "Hey, is one of them missing?'

"Huh?" Summer had barely looked at the thing before putting it on, but sure enough, there was a conspicuous gap between two rubies on the sleeves. "Where'd it…" She didn't think she'd dropped it.

She recalled the other day, when Autumn had lovingly fondled the dress. Did she…why that sneaky little…

"Ahaha, a friend of mine, um, took it," she laughed.

"I see," Tai smiled, before looking away with a strange look on his face.

Suddenly, a thought popped into Summer's head. "Hey, Tai…why did you want to study at Beacon?"

"Huh? That came out of nowhere."

"Well, you asked me that the day we met." Summer explained. "When I said it was because I wanted to…not have to rely on others all the time, you got this really weird look on your face. I've kind of wanted to ask you the same question all this time, but never got the chance."

"Oh, I see." Tai grinned awkwardly. "Alright, I'll talk." He put his hands around her waist as the number changed to a slow dance.

"It's really not some tragic drama or anything," he began. "I really just came to Beacon because I…wanted to make more friends. I heard it was the biggest of the four Academies, so…"

Tai sighed. "I never had any friends growing up in Vale, which leaves a handsome young man like me without much in the way of confidence. I always felt like I needed other people to confirm to me that I was worth anything. That's probably why my Semblance is what it is."

Summer nodded. "Yeah…I can see how you feel." I can't imagine someone as nice as Tai not having any friends though…

"And, well…" Tai hesitated. "When you gave me your answer that day, I, uh…misunderstood. When you said you didn't want to "rely" on others, I thought that meant you just didn't want anything to do with other people. Period. That you liked to be left alone. And that bothered me, cuz' that's the exact opposite of how I felt."

"But…" he shrugged. "Now I know that's not the case. And I got to make some great friends-you, Birdy, Rae, Team HTHR…and now I know that that's what you really wanted, too."

"Th-that's not the case!" she protested. "I was shy, and I really DID want to just be alone back then…"

"Ah, nonsense. Once you started interacting with people, like me and the team, or even with that asshole Jin…it became obvious, y'know?" Tai grinned at her. "You're not shy, Summer! You just didn't have enough experience with talking to people! And now look at you-Don't say you're not a million times more talkative than you used to be!"

Summer laughed. "I guess…you're right. I'm surprised you could see through me like that…" She felt a new sense of appreciation for the blonde Huntsman.

"That's just my manly charm! Works every time!" Tai said cheerfully. He stepped back and stretched out his arms. "Whooo, that felt great! Think I'll take a breather and-" His eyes widened. "Hey-hey, looks like Rae's free! This must be my lucky day!" He ran off towards her.

Summer rolled her eyes. Still a player, though.

"Ughhh…" Qrow walked over to her, groaning. "That was friggin' painful. I'm NEVER dancin' again."

"I'm not sure whatever you did could be called "dancing", you know," Summer joked.

"Oh, har har," he grumbled, scratching his back. "Like you're one to talk. You're not gonna look for someone else to drag down with you?"

"Funny." Summer brushed aside the insult. "No, I'm pretty tired myself. I think I'll go get some punch. Want to come with me?"

Qrow shook his head. 'Nah. I'm headin' back to my dorm. This party shit is gonna give me a goddamn coronary, and the latest update for Kingdom of Warfare just came out. I'm outta here." Waving goodbye, he walked away, still grumbling under his breath. Well, he's as cheerful as ever.

Summer wandered over to the punch table and poured herself a glass of People Like Grapes.

"Enjoying yourself, Miss Rose?" A familiar voice came from beside her. It was Ozpin.

"Yeah." Summer smiled. "I didn't think I'd have this much fun, honestly. Dancing isn't my thing."

"I wonder about that," said the headmaster conversationally, sipping his coffee like always. "We all like to claim we are incapable of certain things, when the truth is we simply never attempt it. And if we never attempt it, we will always remain incapable. The tortoise that pushes itself forward, bit by bit, runs faster than the rabbit that thinks it is too slow and thus refuses to move."

"I...don't really understand, but it sounds wise," she laughed. "I really did try to dance, though. I guess it's just not for me."

"Perhaps. But there was also a time when you thought you'd never make it to this point, wasn't there?" Ozpin pointed out.

"That's true," Summer admitted. "I guess my hard work paid off, huh?"

"Mmmm." The old man closed his eyes for a moment. "I am glad to see you are as calm as you are, Miss Rose. Are you not worried about the syndicate's activities?"

"It IS worrying," she said quietly as that sensitive topic was brought up again. "But I don't want to rush in like we did with Pandora. If we do, we'll just fall for another trap. Besides, we know too little about what they have planned with that Promethian Ore thing."

"Wise thinking." Ozpin nodded approvingly. "I can assure you, Miss Rose, that they will not attempt anything for now. When they make their move, I will inform you, if that is what you wish."

"It is." Summer said immediately. "Er, professor…how can you be so sure that they won't attack us?"

Ozpin chuckled. "Every man has his secrets. I simply have…more than most, you might say." With that enigmatic statement, he began to walk away. Without turning around, he said: "Continue to strive for excellence, Miss Rose. I expect great things from you."

Alone, Summer sat down in a chair and relaxed. Her worries weren't entirely gone, but she'd decided to enjoy this peace and quiet while she could. She looked around the dance hall.

Heather and Regal were chatting near the snack bar. Raven was being asked to dance by about five different guys. Tai was breakdancing to thunderous applause.

Summer smiled. Under the night sky, all her troubles were forgotten for the moment.

And? How did it go? The voice rang out from within the portal.

"Everything is progressing smoothly, Grandmaster," R bowed. "Operation 'Yin' has entered its final phase."

Excellent. All that remains is to see the plan unfold to its conclusion. I very much look forward to it.

"…Are you sure allying ourselves with them is necessary, though? If you wished, I could have claimed what we have sought long ag-"

Patience, R. It is vital to never discard a potential pawn. Did I not teach you to be resourceful? To use every possible asset to your advantage?

"…Of course."

…You are, I hope, not faltering in your allegiance. It would be understandable, of course, given your role, to-

"That is not a concern. I have dedicated myself to this cause, and nothing will sway me from the path I have chosen."

Good. Well then, R…enjoy your night.

With that, the disembodied, otherworldly voice faded away, and the portal faded away into nothingness.

We're getting close to the end of "Volume 1!"

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