Pearls on a String

Volume 1

Chapter 9: Stomp

Vytal Festival

Both of Teams PERL and TRQS wandered through the festival grounds, the colorful tents hawking wares of both food and souvenirs. Beryl was with them, though she was hobbling gamely along on crutches with an attentive Sunny at her side.

Rufus wrapped an arm around Pip's shoulders and leaned in to give her a quick peck on the cheek. "Hey, we should grab a bite to eat before we head back over," he commented.

"Ugh, not me," Evie waved him off cheerfully. "I don't like fighting on a full stomach."

"I do not mind," Lustre interjected. "I could indeed use some food."

Pip snorted humorously, flicking her long blonde ponytail over her shoulder. "That's because you use that face-searing spice to power your semblance."

While Lustre shot her a mock glare, the others chuckled at her expense.

"Hey, how about here?" Tara asked, indicating a noodle stand. "I've been to their shop in downtown Vacuo, pretty sure he has stuff to Lustre's tastes."

"Very well then," Lustre replied loftily. "Thank you, Tara."

"You're welcome, Lustre," the purple-haired girl replied solemnly. "I do want you fully powered for your fight, after all."

Lustre sighed melodramatically. "Pip, you have become a bad influence on our friends."

"Too true," the blonde snickered as they made their way over to the stall that had a long counter with tall stools lining across the face of it. "Too true."

They spread out along the counter while the proprietor, a friendly-looking old man by the name of Eabhair, took their orders. He spent a few minutes in front of Lustre while she quizzed him regarding the spices he used.

"That girl really takes her food seriously," Tara murmured from in between Pip and Q.

The blonde nodded amicably. "She's usually pretty particular, but it's gotten worse since we got to Vacuo. I think she feels like she's in heaven with all the spicy stuff they have here."

Rufus laughed from the other side of Pip. "I also think she's on a quest to find the hottest she possibly can. Did you hear what she ordered?"

The other three shook their head. "Well," he chuckled. "Let's just say not everyone can even prepare those kinds of peppers without special precautions."

"Listen to you, mister knowledgeable chef," Pip quipped. "How do you know all about this?"

"My mom's a chef," the tall and muscular boy explained genially. "Picked up a few things."

"Oh, really?" she grinned, propping her elbow on the counter and resting her chin on her hand. "Anything you might be able to cook up for lil' ole me?"

"Um," he replied, blushing slightly. "It's nothing fancy, but I can do a few dishes…"

"Sounds like the start to an intimate evening," Pip grinned, batting her eyelashes at him.

Rufus grinned back somewhat foolishly. "Okay, then, it's a date. Tomorrow night? I got a buddy who lives in town, he's not a student. Bet I could convince him to let us use his place while he's at work."

The blonde nodded slowly. "I like the sound of that," she purred.

"You two," Tara laughed.

Their food quickly arrived, Pip's noodles being coated in a peanut sauce that smelled heavenly. The group turned to face Lustre curiously, who had not yet received her food. The silver-haired girl, however, sat unconcernedly with a serene look on her face.

"Special preparation, remember?" Rufus murmured.

And then the proprietor emerged from the rear of the shop, a bandana wrapped around his mouth and nose while carrying the bubbling bowl gingerly with gloved hands.

As he set the dish in front of Lustre, the others leaned away from her in concern.

"Lustre, I think the fumes from that is melting my cast," Beryl complained humorously.

The spice-loving girl in question inhaled over her dish and a happy smile spread across her face as she ignored the others. "Oh, yes," she murmured. She accepted her chopsticks, which were steel unlike the bamboo ones her teammates were given, and began to eat.

"Oh, wow," Rufus murmured as he listened to Lustre's pleased sounds while she ate. "That's… Wow."

Pip smacked him lightly on the arm. "Stop ogling my teammate," she snickered.

"I'm not ogling!" he protested.

"Well, whatever you call it when you ogle with your ears, stop it."

"Is there even a word for that?" Tara asked curiously before slurping down a noodle coated in a creamy white sauce.

"What, audibly ogle?" Q asked.

"How about augle?" Pip opined.

Rufus chuckled. "That can't be a word."

"It is if I make it up."

"Don't let her name things!" Evie piped in from across the stall.

"We're not talking about call-outs, this is legit!" Pip snarked back.

"Speaking of which, I had a question for you," Tara broke in. "How do you guys handle call-outs? I mean, sometimes I've noticed you shout out the maneuvers, sometimes I hear Beryl, and every so often it's Evie. How do you guys figure out who's in charge?"

Pip laughed, taking another bite of her noodles before answering. "It's kinda complicated, but it works out for us. See, Beryl's our little tactical genius, so for the most part she calls stuff out."

Beryl nodded agreeably. "But I'm sometimes occupied in the middle and can't always see the big picture."

"So that's when I call out something if I can see it," Pip continued.

Tara nodded thoughtfully. "And Evie?"

"She's sorta my backup and can pick things up. Usually only if Beryl or I are out of the fight."

"Yep, I'll be doing the call-outs during tonight's bout with Lustre," the Cat Faunus chimed in.

"So what about Lustre, then?" Q interjected.

Pip grinned as she leaned back on her stool. "Lustre is, hands-down, the best fighter of the four of us. But she's not the most tactically-minded when it comes to group combat. Doesn't matter when she's such a wildcat with that staff of hers."

"Flattery will get you everywhere," Lustre mumbled around her mouthful of noodles.

Pip snorted a laugh. "You know she's enjoying it if she'll talk with her mouth full."

The silver-haired girl swallowed the bite quickly. "Hush," she chided before taking another.

Laughing, the blonde finished up her meal before continuing. "So yeah, like I said, it's convoluted but it works for us in the end. We've been fighting and training together for so long that it's almost second nature by now."

"Especially now that we renamed our call-outs," Evie murmured just loud enough to carry.

"Heard that," Pip snarked.

"Wasn't trying to be all that quiet, really."

"Smartass."

"Dork."

"Ahh, sisterly love," Beryl chuckled, pushing her bowl away from her.

"So are you guys gonna be up in the stands with us?" Sunny asked eagerly. "I can go save really good seats for us, right up front!"

"Yeah, sure, that sounds good," the blue-haired girl smiled. "Thanks, Sunny."

"You betcha! C'mon, Team Turquoise, let's go grab some primo seating and fight off any contenders!"

Sunny raced around and grabbed ahold of Tara, yanking her partner off of her stool.

"Ow, dammit Sunny, I'm coming! Stop yanking my arm off!"

Rufus and Q got to their feet with a chuckle, both of them leaving enough lien to cover their meals as well as their girlfriends.

"Aww, thanks babe," Pip grinned at him. "I got the next one, okay?"

"You bet, darlin'," the tall russet-haired boy grinned back. "We better go make sure Sunny doesn't challenge anyone for a duel over the seats that she sets her sights on."

"And that Tara doesn't kill her," Q sighed humorously. He looked at Beryl suspiciously. "Sunny didn't get any sugar today, did she?"

"No, of course not!" the blue-haired girl replied innocently, though perhaps a bit too quickly.

The pair of boys shared a rueful chuckle as they headed off after their other teammates.

"We should head over as well," Lustre commented after slurping up the sauce from her bowl.

"Right," Evie agreed. "Well, wish us luck, guys."

The four of them shared hugs. "No luck needed," Pip assured them. "You guys got this, go kick some ass."

The blonde remained behind with Beryl to help her move through the crowds, as she was still limited in her mobility while on crutches. Her aura had been able to heal most of the damage from a few days ago in their team bout, but the rest still needed a bit of time.

"Sooo," Pip drawled as she walked slightly in front of her friend to push passersby out of the way. "How's it going with you and Sunny?"

"It's… going," Beryl replied slowly. "The thing is… I'm not sure I feel anything other than friendship for her. I mean, yeah I'm attracted to her, but only physically. Does that make sense?"

Pip shrugged. "So you don't think you're all that compatible for, say, a relationship?"

"I guess. What do you think?"

"Well, it can be hard with people that are really different…" Pip turned to glance over at her petite friend. "I mean, I know the old saying goes 'opposites attract', but sometimes that just means it's incompatible. It's how you feel about it that's important."

Beryl shook her head as she maneuvered around a corner. "Not like I really need to rush anything," she commented. "We've still got over a month here."

"Yeah, about that…" The blonde grimaced. "I didn't want to tell the others before their fight… But Professor Lazuli let me know that the kingdoms are recalling their visiting teams after the tournament is over."

"What?" Beryl almost shouted as she tried not to trip. Pip's hand shot forward to steady her which earned her a grateful smile. "So how come?"

"It's all these missing teams, got everyone on edge. Not enough just to forbid the foreign teams from going out on missions, the Headmasters all decided it was for the best to just have everyone head home."

"Oh," Beryl sighed glumly.

"But we still have the dance!" the blonde said, trying to cheer her friend up. "It's the night after the final scheduled singles fight! We'll have to leave the day after, but still…"

"Okay," Beryl nodded, though her glum look didn't change much.

Pip sighed. "What, you feeling rushed now?"

"It's not just that…" Beryl looked up at her morosely. "I'm gonna have to wear a dress for the dance, aren't I?"

The blonde team leader threw her head back and barked out a laugh, earning her stares from those walking nearby. "Yes, my dear Beryl, you're gonna have to wear a dress. We're all going out shopping for dresses together, remember?" She eyed her teammate humorously. "So did Sunny ask to take you to the dance?"

Beryl nodded, a slight smile easing some of her morose expression. "Yeah, she did. I accepted."

"That's awesome, babe!" Pip cheered.

"Kinda surprised myself, actually."

"Well, I think it's great. It'll be fun, you'll see."

"Pip?"

"Yeah, babe?"

"You gonna make me wear heels, too?"

The blonde laughed again. "It won't kill you," she assured her.

"Don't be so sure," Beryl grumbled.

Vytal Tournament

Pip settled into her seat in between Rufus and Tara as was her usual. Out in the center of the arena, Lustre and Evie stood calmly and faced their opponents from Team DNDL.

"So, you guys already worked out their strategy beforehand, right?" Tara asked, leaning over to include Beryl in the conversation where she sat next to Sunny. The Fox Faunus was holding the blue-haired girl's hand excitedly.

"Pretty much," Beryl agreed. "The biggest problem is Nave's semblance, so they're going to work on taking her out hard and fast."

Pip nodded, picking up the narrative. "Her semblance causes vertigo, but it's fairly short-ranged. If they can take her down then they can work on Lilly, who will be a handful as well."

"She fights with twin swords, right?" Q commented.

Pip nodded once more. "Yep, and she's really good, so they're gonna have to save some energy for her."

"Ladies and gentlemen!" the announcer rang out. "Tonight we have a much-anticipated doubles match for you! On the one side are Evelyn Black and Lustre Bijou of Team Pearl from Beacon. On the other, we have Nave Quinn and Lilly Azure of Team Dandelion from Haven. Both teams were exciting to watch in their battles last week, and we're hoping for another thrilling match tonight!"

The screens surrounding the central portion of the battlefield began to scroll through. Eventually they settled onto a savannah, forest, lava, and finally desert.

"Go get 'em, girls!" Pip shouted as the terrain rose into place.

"Ready… Three… Two… One… Fight!"

Immediately both Lustre and Evie split up to opposite sides, the former towards the lava while the Cat Faunus sped off into the savannah.

"Why are they splitting up?" Tara asked anxiously.

Beryl, however, had a wide grin on her face. "Watch," she said smugly.

Lilly raced off after Luster, her twin swords out and held to the side as she wore an eager grin on her face. Soon enough those swords flashed in a defensive pattern as the silver-haired girl opened fire with Winter Contus while her opponent closed with her. A few shots got through, dipping Lilly's aura slightly, but soon enough their battle was joined.

Over on the other side, Evie was blinking back and forth to keep Nave off-balance. Each time the Mistral native would try to use her semblance to try and cause the nimble girl to stumble, Evie would blink away again to strike from an unexpected side. Still, it quickly wore on her as her scimitar had to deflect the strikes from Nave's large mace. She caught the edge of Nave's semblance once and barely managed to teleport away to avoid the follow-up strike.

As the Cat Faunus stumbled to her feet she glanced about to check on her teammate's position. Seeing she had a clear line of sight, she gave a tight grin and yelled out, "Cat Pounce!"

As she did so, she blinked back behind Nave once more and crouched low. Nave spun with her mace held high but was unexpectedly hit from behind as Lustre arrived in a blur of white, her staff slamming into the other girl's back while Evie swept her feet out from under her. Nave landed on her face, hard, but still managed to knock Evie back as well with her weapon. Lustre stepped to the side and brought her staff down on the back of the Mistral native's head, taking her out of the fight.

"A successful sneak attack on Nave Quinn takes her out of the fight! But don't go counting Dandelion out just yet, folks!" the announcer said.

Evie staggered to her feet just in time to see Lilly charging at her. She blinked back into the center of the arena at the last minute and stood there, swaying slightly. Lilly reversed course and headed back for her but slowed when she saw Lustre circling from the other side.

The three of them eyed each other warily. Both Lilly and Evie were in the red but still in the fight, while Lustre had only just dipped into the yellow.

"Evie?" the silver-haired girl called out, the overhead speakers picking up on their conversation and adding it to the broadcast. "Are you well?"

"Well enough," the Faunus replied, now circling Lilly warily opposite from Lustre. "Running on empty, though."

"Yeah, she's only got one more teleport left in her," Pip murmured worriedly.

"Still, they can take her out, right?" Rufus asked.

"It's not a sure thing," Beryl interjected while chewing on her bottom lip. "We were hoping both Evie and Lustre would be closer to green still."

"Evie, I know I do not usually call these things," the silver-haired girl stated loudly. "But perhaps you might still have enough for a Blink Kick?"

"Ugh, fine," Evie groaned in reply. Lilly glanced between the two of them, poised to repel an attack from either direction. "You're gonna owe me for this, though."

"I have heard of a very nice sushi place downtown called Liam's Bistro," Lustre mentioned nonchalantly.

The Cat Faunus nodded in acceptance. "Fine, I'll hold you to that."

Sunny snickered. "You guys have the strangest combats," she commented.

"Normal is boring," Beryl agreed.

And then Lustre was off, her warstaff spinning about her torso in a whirlwind as she rushed at Lilly. The other girl had her swords flashing in the stadium lighting, countering each blow and keeping Lustre focused on her own swordsmanship. Pip sucked in a quick breath at the speed of the pair.

"Oum, Lilly really is good," the blonde said softly.

Once their remaining opponent was fully engaged with Lustre, Evie made her move. She sprang straight upwards, spinning about in a circle before blinking right next to the sword-wielder at the apex of her spin-kick. It took Lilly in the side of her head, staggering her enough that Lustre was able to land a quick combo of strikes that took her out of the fight.

Dual buzzers sounded to declare the elimination of the two combatants. "Oh, how very exciting! Evelyn Black sacrifices herself in one last attack to take out Lilly Azure! And that's the match, as Lustre Bijou is the last combatant standing!"

Pip jumped to her feet and gave Beryl a grin. "I'm gonna go check on them, okay babe?"

"Go on," Beryl waved to her. "I'll be down there eventually with Sunny and the others."

The blonde smirked to herself as she hurtled through the crowds and towards the arena entrance. With Sunny, eh? Maybe you just might be able to make something happen before we leave…

She flashed her scroll to the guards at the gate, who then allowed her onto the arena floor. She raced across the floor, arriving at where Lustre was supporting Evie where she sat, panting heavily.

"Nice job, guys!" Pip beamed. She flung herself forward and enveloped her two teammates in a hug. "That was seriously awesome! And look at you, Lustre, making with the call-outs!"

"I promise not to let it happen again," her friend replied humorously.

"That was well played, you two," a voice called out from behind them.

Lilly and Nave were there, supporting each other as they walked forward slowly. Pip stood, offering Evie a hand up and flashing the others an easy grin.

"Hey there, you definitely got some moves, Lilly, really impressive," the blonde stated.

The dark-haired Mistral native laughed ruefully. "Well, I got nothing on Lustre. I mean, damn."

"Thank you," Lustre nodded with a friendly smile. "It was a good fight."

"That it was," Nave commented, brushing her auburn locks out of her sweaty face. "And you, Evie. I'd watched the video of your fights, but that didn't prepare me at all for in person!"

The Cat Faunus laughed lightly. "Believe me, I was pushing myself to my limits to keep ahead of you. Well fought, you two."

"Hey," Pip commented as they turned to leave. "You and your team wanna meet up with us at that sushi place? Our treat."

"Free sushi? How can I refuse!" Lilly grinned. "Say an hour from now?"

The blonde team leader nodded amicably. "Yep, see you there!"

Between Pip and Lustre, they managed to help Evie off of the arena floor towards the gate where Beryl and Team TRQS waited.

"Well, made some new friends," Pip said cheerfully.

"An offer of free food can do that," Lustre commented wryly.

"Pfft. It's just my winning personality."

"Yes, you go ahead and tell yourself that."

"Dust, look at you, gettin' all snarky with your team leader."

"Someone must ensure your ego does not become oversized."

"Oh," Evie chuckled wearily. "I think we all have a handle on that…"

Vacuo Wilderness

"Did you hear that?" Mai asked softly as she crouched behind a large boulder. Her spiky blond hair waved gently in the breeze as she cocked her head to the side.

"Hear what?" her partner Cherry murmured back. The lanky redhead shouldered her rifle, gazing out at the convoy they were escorting. "Only thing I hear is Martin complaining about our pace. I swear to Oum, if he doesn't-"

"Shhh!" Mai hissed, holding her hand out. The stocky girl had a firm grip on her two-handed sword and her aqua eyes probed the darkness around them intently. "I swear, there's something… Oh, Dust," she finally breathed.

"What?" Cherry asked, finally getting concerned. She brought her rifle around, holding it up to her shoulder but pointed at the ground still. "What are you hearing?"

Her partner turned back to her in concern. "Gryffons."

"That's not… What are they doing so far north?"

"I dunno, but we better get them moving, now!"

Cherry nodded firmly. "Right." She headed off, her long strides quickly taking her to the cluster of trucks idling. The four boxy vehicles had stopped to give the drivers a break as they still had another hour to go before they reached the outskirts of Vacuo.

"Martin!" she called out as quietly as she could. "We got incoming, get your people moving!"

The teamster bit back a curse and ran around, snarling and kicking those into action who were a bit too slow.

Cherry turned again, her rifle now up and pointing at the sky as she probed the darkness with her own brilliant emerald irises. "Mai, you taking lead vehicle again?"

"Yeah, I got it," her partner called back as she hurried by, pausing briefly to clasp forearms with her. "Be safe," she murmured.

"You too," the redhead replied with a nod.

As Mai headed forward to join Martin in the lead vehicle, she ran back to the last one in the line, hopping up onto the side of the cab.

"Augie, you set?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, Huntress, we're ready to go!" the excitable teen replied.

Cherry shook her head in amusement. "Augie, I keep telling you, Cherry is fine."

"Yes, Hun-, er, I mean Cherry. Ma'am."

The redhead snorted again, hefting her rifle in one hand as she saw the lead vehicle get underway.

"So, what kind of Grimm are we facing?" Augie asked after a few moments.

Cherry opened her mouth to reply, but what she saw made the words catch in her throat.

Soaring in from the left was a large Gryffon, though it wasn't like one she'd ever seen. Granted, in her two years of being a full-fledged huntress she'd only spied one of the rare and reclusive creatures, but still. She was pretty damn sure it should not have been glowing green.

As it flew by, it opened its mouth and bellowed, only the sound that was emitted was far more powerful than any Grimm should have been able to produce. The shockwave from the beast's roar knocked the second truck in line on its side, leaving the dust-powered wheels spinning in the air.

"Damn!" Augie yelled, swinging the wheel to the left to avoid the truck in front of him which had slammed on its brakes.

"Keep moving!" Cherry shouted, clinging to the side of the truck for all she was worth. "We have to keep moving!"

Augie gunned the engine, sending the box truck hurtling down the side of the rough road and past the stalled truck. Cherry stood up and yelled over the top of her truck that they needed to get moving as well, but her eyes widened as she saw the Gryffon coming back to make another pass.

"Go, go, go!" she screamed. The teen driver wasted no time in accelerating away from the other trucks. A small explosion lit up the rear area as the Gryffon attacked the pair of vehicles left behind, sending the upright one tumbling into the other and setting them aflame from the damage done to the dust-powered engines.

Cherry peered ahead and saw Mai hanging off the side of the lead truck, her eyes wild and concerned as she looked back. The redhead waved her rifle at her, encouraging her to keep going.

There was a loud crunch of metal, and she looked up, startled, to see the green-glowing Gryffon with its talons sunk into the top of the truck, tearing long furrows into the vehicle. It shot its beak forward, trying to impale Cherry, but she nimbly leapt off of the truck's runner and rolled to the ground.

She heard Augie let out a scream of fear. The truck slowed as he opened the driver's side door and flung himself outside.

The Gryffon immediately took note of his new prey, and launched itself forward, talons spread out to strike.

Cherry gave a defiant shout and brought her rifle up to send dust-infused shells into the chest of the winged Grimm, her semblance lending her an uncanny accuracy, but it seemed to shrug it off to pounce on the hapless teen driver. Augie's scream cut off with a wet noise.

The redheaded huntress circled the green-glowing monster, firing rapidly at its hide and head. It finally seemed to stagger a bit, and she thought that perhaps she might be able to take it down after all.

And that was when the second Grimm dropped from the night sky.

It was almost upon her when it roared, the sonic blast sending her tumbling helplessly and ripping her rifle from her grasp. She climbed shakily to her feet a few moments later, blood streaming from her ears and nose, but neither Grimm had stayed. Instead they pounced on the first truck, ripping into it and starting another fire.

Cherry shook her head to clear the fog from the earlier attack, searching around for her weapon. A scream of rage, barely heard over the ringing in her ears came from up ahead, causing her head to snap back up again.

Her partner was sillouetted by the flames licking up the side of the truck, her greatsword swinging. One Gryffon staggered back, its wing sheared off, while the other drove in from the other side. Mai spun, her sword out low to slice through the second Gryffon's neck, killing it.

Before she could turn again, the first Gryffon darted forward with its beak, snapping the blonde woman in half.

Biting back a scream of her own, Cherry fell to her knees. Dust damn it all, where is my rifle? She had a little bit of time, if the other Gryffon couldn't fly it would have to walk towards her, but she still couldn't find it…

And then she heard a loud thud behind her, shaking the dusty ground. The redheaded huntress slowly turned to view another Gryffon, similar to the rest with pulsing, sickening-green veins glowing under its sparse feathers.

"Of course," she sighed resignedly. "There's a third one."

She didn't really even have the chance to scream as it lunged to clamp its beak over her head.

A/N: Doubles round is over! A word on timelines here, I'm really not all that clear on exactly how long the Vytal Festival lasts or for how long the visiting students stay. My estimate here is at least two months during the semester, though in any case as this is forty years after the current RWBY events we could just say they changed things slightly if it should be otherwise. But yes this means that, as their trip has been cut short, the team will only have about six weeks in Vacuo before they return to Vale and its dubious safety.

Also, we have a third enhanced Grimm. How they are related to our mysterious bad guy in the shadows will become clear in time… Also note I did change the type of Grimm, I was originally going to make them Ursae but after watching Season 3 Chapter 10 today, I really dig the Gryffons. And they worked better in this scenario anyways.

So, thanks for reading, and also for those who have favorited, followed, or reviewed so far!

DustGremlin: (From review of chapter 5) I do try to stick within the rules for OC's in the RWBY-verse, even for the secondary or filler characters. Glad to hear you liked the impromptu 'team meeting', I had a lot of fun writing it. Team PERL is a little unorthodox with many things… And as I mentioned, thanks again for pointing out the reference to Remnant's Reclaimer that I forgot to attribute, went back and fixed it. Hope you enjoy the rest of the story as well!

Stay shiny!