[ → Bumblebee ← ]

  "The Vytal Festival"

09

For quite a while, Team TIJR had unofficially been slurred to sound like "Eager". This new name was created with various reasonings and connections.

Since Tiffany's departure, teachers began to feel uneasy calling the Team Tiger. Teams were an important aspect of Beacon Academy.

Teams were in the same class together ; same dorm room regardless of gender. Though all teams consisted of two pairs of partners, the grimm proved Hunters and Huntresses that two was not enough. Keeping your teammate's back in check was one thing, but it was far more of an advantage to have two other people check your left and right.

You entered the school with a team and you left it altogether.

All teams are assigned a team color and name in which four letters were taken from each member. For Team TIJR, unsurprisingly, their color combination was black and orange.

To call a team would be calling all four members without a question.

But what if one member was gone?

The team would be misrepresented.

That's what happened to Team Tiger.

It was in a history class when the issue began. Instead of the old fashioned "calling-each-person's-name-individually", teachers would call the team names and by tradition, the leader would answer present. When the teacher said Team Tiger out loud, the room feel into an eerie silence.

Ice stood up, hesitantly embarrassed, and answered the teacher. "Our leader...my partner.." She fumbled with her words. "Tiffany is...not here."

Professor Port, an old chunky man, whom many students question about his ability, coughed and raised his thick eyebrows in question. "I'm sorry?"

"Tiffany isn't here." Ice repeated. Her voice cracked and she started to get annoyed. Professor Port asked, "And for what reason is she absent?" and once again, the room fell silent.

The team couldn't think of an excuse. Ice was too busy trying to stay calm, Jessica was far too busy worrying about Tiffany's condition, and Rosie was in quiet distress. Then he said with a sigh, "Guessing from the silence, I suppose you girls don't know.." He mumbled but just loud enough for Ice to capture his words. He marched over to the board, his big belly front and center, and he wrote the letters T I J R in bold letters.

Then, much to the rest of the team's disapproval, crossed out the letter T. On the board read : T I J R

"Without your leader, your team is incomplete and does not deserve to be called Team Tiger." He placed his marker down and stared at the three upset members. "Team Tiger does not exist unless Tiffany is present. Taking the rest of your names, you're left with IJR." He pronounced it as it would have sounded : eye-jer. Then with a moment, snapped his fingers. "Eager."

"Until your leader comes back, you shall be Team Eager. Eager to bring back your leader, hopefully." He said with finality closing the discussion. Fixing his collar, he began his lecture. "Class, today we'll be learning about beowulfs..."

With Tiffany noticeably gone, the team nickname stuck.

At first, Ice hated it. She knew Tiffany was missing and she didn't need everyone else reminding her of that. With her name in front, by default she was the Team's current leader. And after a while, everyone came to an agreement that Ice was a terrible leader.

She was blunt. Too easy to read. Her fists found it's way before her mind did and often times she came to regret those decisions. Instead of hearing Rosie and Jessica's suggestions, she blocked them off and paved her own way. Often times, she lead her team to failure.

But she was just scared. During battles, Ice found herself thinking, What would Tiffany do? Instead of brainstorming for answers, the question brought back horrid memories she imagined as she slept. Nightmares that truly haunted her and caused her to pause despite everything else going on.

The disappearance also scarred Jessica and Rosie's relationship. With Ice out of the equation, without anyone keeping them in check they began to argue more often. Even the slightest conversations could lead to a heavy discussion and inevitably, a fight.

Since Yang became Taeyeon's instructor, her visits to Beacon lessened and so did her relationship with Team IJR. Most often, the team would drop by Bumblebee and chat with Taeyeon. But they too, lessened their visits.

Weiss and Ruby stayed in Vale for a while. According to Yang, the two had been traveling all of Remnant in search of inspiration for Weiss's Dust Company. When news of the Vytal Festival began to creep up, Weiss decided to sponsor the event becoming the #1 sponsor. This gave most power over the event and luckily for Taeyeon, this was a discreet advantage.

It was October when the Vytal Festival was confirmed to be December 31st. Combat schools everywhere began to prepare their students for the tournament. Other than the golden trophy you received, it was the fame everyone joined the festival for. Afterall, to survive an arena against vicious grimm and hunters would be nothing but a legendary feat. Schools in return sent as many students as they could to represent.

This was a problem that hit Taeyeon in the head. She was not a student and wasn't properly labeled as a Huntress in training. The only requirement for this specific event of the tournament was to be a student of a combat school. She had tried to look for other schools to join, seeing how Beacon was too much for her level, but it was difficult this time of year as most schools had already been in session.

Out of the blue. Taeyeon asked Weiss if she could do anything.

"Of course I can help you, you dolt." Taeyeon stepped back, suddenly remembering Jessica due to the similar personalities. "Who do you think I am? I was waiting for you to ask. I've been watching you train with Yang. She isn't the best teacher, but it's better than Ruby here.." She grumbled and grinned playfully. "I understand you're not a student. But keep up the training and you should be able to apply as an exception."

Taeyeon smiled brightly, delighted about the news. "Wow! You really think I'm that good?"

Weiss laughed. "Ha! Child. Don't get me started on your fighting style." She continued to laugh as she pointed out the obvious. "You don't even have any armor yet." Taeyeon's smile turned into a frown when she realized Weiss was correct.

"Armor huh.." She mindlessly mumbled. Taeyeon hadn't really thought about armor, quite possibly because Yang had always gone easy on her. She wouldn't lie. Everyday Taeyeon would wake up crazy sore. Taeyeon's left side wasn't particularly well either. Taeyeon's left arm was a lot weaker than her right one mainly due to the rare side-effect the aura shot gave her. Her entire life arm had lost feeling. She could move it regularly as she had always done, but unlike her right arm, any physical harm would not be felt. At first, Taeyeon felt special for this side effect, but it proved to be more dangerous than she thought.

Because she had lost her physical sense of danger, she wouldn't notice any damage. One time, Taeyeon visited Rosie at their dorm. As she waited for Rosie to come out of the restroom, Taeyeon played with a spiky mace she found laying around. Ice playfully surprised her and she didn't realize as she jolted in panic, she accidentally hit herself. It wasn't until she began to feel faint did she notice the blood dripping down her left arm.

Weiss agreed to help Taeyeon design an armor to help protect herself from battle. Taeyeon explained her left arm and all the other difficulties she had. A week later, Ruby called Taeyeon over to fit her armor.

"I hope you don't mind the color." smiled Ruby. "We were trying to think of a color scheme for you. We thought maybe yellow to represent electricity but we realized it would be too bright..well..then again this isn't any better.." She mumbled in quiet distress. "Maybe we should have gone with something else..?"

"No it's fine..this is.." She couldn't continue her sentence.

Her armor was laid across the large table connected together as if someone was wearing it. Taeyeon agreed for a moment that the color wasn't any better. The color was a deep ocean blue with the bright light her taser emitted patched as lines all around. Though when she realized it represented her semblance, electricity, she grew to like it.

Just as she preferred, the left arm piece of the armor was the thickest defense her entire body had. It beared a five-layer sode with gauntlets covering the entire base of her elbow. At the end were knuckle protectors and spikes resembling a demon sitting at the edge of her shoulder. Her pants were wrapped in belts to tighten onto her body to allow fluid movement without baggy clothing. Her shoes were also thickly defensive, just like her arm, it was five-layered but of a brown color.

"A knight in shining armor is a knight whos never had his armor tested." Ruby said nodding at Taeyeon's fashion. "It looks good on you. Move around, get comfortable."

With the obvious layers of heavy material, Taeyeon thought walking around would create a clanking sound like Yatsuhasi's armor would from Team CFVY. To her pleasant surprise, she was as quiet as a ninja. The only problem was, she couldn't bend down to reach her toes.

"The centerpiece is a bit restrictive.." Taeyeon commented banging on the center. She took it off and pulled her pants up just a little higher to cover her stomach. She folded a part of her clothing and tightened it around a belt. Feeling a little too warm in her pants, she took one sleeve and rolled it up to her knee, liking the contrasting feeling on both her legs.

Taeyeon's right arm was completely bare as she requested. Rosie and Taeyeon had talked about it before and came to the conclusion Taeyeon needed an upgrade. Remembering Tiffany, she had her sword attached to a black robe wrapped around her arm. It was tied to the trigger of her gunblade so when she tossed it and pulled back, if it was at the correct angle and calculation of combat, the recoil would slice through the enemy with no problem.

Although Ruby had tossed the idea of double wielding both a sword and a gun, Taeyeon refused the offer. She had a bad experience with guns she wasn't sure how to explain just yet. So instead, they tied a long conductable chain around Taeyeon's right arm, just like Tiffany, and connected it to the hilt of her taser sword. For a test run, Taeyeon threw her sword out like a javelin, waited for the right moment, and pulled on her chain with a force that pulled it back instanteously. It increased her range by 20 meters at least, but she would still prove to have a harder time with ranged fighters.

"Nevermores are going to be a problem too.." Ruby rubbed her chin, remembering the class of grimm called Nevermore that soared the sky. "And almost everyone has a combination of gun and melee somehow. It's rare to find someone who sticks to one thing."

"I'll be fine." Taeyeon said reassuring herself.

"Maybe. But still, you'll be at a disadvantage. Until of course, you get close enough for combat. Then it's your victory. Or just close enough for your chain to hit them. Everyone will be wearing their armor but as soon as you get close enough you can use your semblance to electrocute them. Or even water. Get them in a field of water and just stick your sword in."

"What's the arena like?"

"Hmm..it's like a compacted verison of Forever Fall. Just more grimm and more people. Dominately forest, but there are some lakes and mountains here and there. It covers a whole variety of environment. The arena changes yearly, but the foundation should be the same."

"When you get vaporized, what happens?"

Ruby scratched her head and gave a nervous chuckle. "Well, I've never been vaporized..but according to my friends you get teleported out of the arena and become an observer. Front row seats and all. But the rest of the people won't be able to see you or hear you."

"I see..any advice?"

"Find some allies. I know it contradicts with trying to destroy everything you see, but you'll need them to survive. If you all make it to the last ten, well, that's when it's every man for himself. Oh and," Ruby gave a grim smile. "Beware of Half-Time."

"Half-Time?"

Ruby then explained everything she knew about the Vytal Festival.

The Vytal Festival would take place in a large dome, much like a coliseum, where people are then allowed to watch. Though you can't see the observers, you can definitely hear their roaring screams from the arena. Other than physically being there, of course, you can watch at the comfort of your home.

The Festival begins at 7:00PM with the event starting at 9:00PM. Typically, they were 2-3 hours long with the longest ever being 5 hours. It was the year Ruby won that it took 5 hours for the festival to end. It starts off with all 100 fighters selected to fight in the tournament. People had a large range of tactics to choose. While some formed teams to get rid of solo players, others simply hid and waited for everyone to get each other. Of course, waiting would also cause you to be vulnerable to Grimm attacks, so each tactic was dangerous in it's own way.

Every ten persons vaporized, an announcer's voice would boom throughout the stadium saying the remaining number of people left in intervals of ten. This was so if the announcer were to say, "70 people remaining." you would never know when the next 9 would be vaporized until the 60th interval came. This was to make it tricky during the last twenty people in which they hunted for people they weren't sure exactly existed anymore.

After Ruby's helpful advice, Taeyeon called up Team IJR to share her information. But she also wanted to share one thing she had kept from the team.

"She's what?" They all said in unison. Rosie nearly dropped her scythe and the randomly blurted out sentence of truth Taeyeon told them. She repeated again, "She's going to be in the tournament fighting in the Vytal Festival." She clutched her skirt tightly. "It's a long story, but you have to believe me."

"Tiffany? Our Tiffany?" Ice said, still in complete disbelief. "But..why?"

"She plans on winning it..All this time she's been gone, she's been training for the festival. On her mindset, she believes if she were to win, her status of being a faunus won't matter anymore."

"Ugh, that stupid dolt! I can't believe it. We have to tell her that regardless of her victory over the festival means nothing to us. We have to tell her that we don't care if she's a faunus! To hell with racism! I'll break anyone's legs who dare try to insult her in front of me!" Jessica's chest rose up and down in anger. Although they weren't in particularly good terms, Rosie hugged Jessica anyway to calm her down. "We have to enter that stupid festival and if nature plans it to be -- I'll tell her myself on the battlefield!"

Ice expressed her disappointment in Taeyeon that she hadn't told them sooner. But after a soft punch on the arm, thanked her and encouragely said, "Let's get Tiffany back home."

Although Taeyeon wasn't a natural born fighter, with the help of Team RWBY, she was incredibly skilled at combat by the time December came about. Team IJR and herself had intensely trained to be able to qualify for the tournaments and when the day of the results came, they were happy to see their names on the list. It read:

# _Fighter // School

# 23_Dakota // Mistral Academy

# 24_Coco // Wales Institution

# 25_Rosie // Beacon Academy

# 26_Ice // Beacon Academy

# 27_Taeyeon // EXCEPTION

# 28_Jessica // Beacon Academy

# 29_Velvet // Signal Academy

The rest of the team burst into happiness as they squealed and pointed at their names on the 100 Fighter List. But there was one name in particular Taeyeon desperately needed to see. 

# 75_Zwei // Signal Academy

# 76_Zekken // Wales Institution

# 77_Tiffany // Beacon Academy

# 78_Mercury // EXCEPTION

# 79_Cinder // Mistral Academy

Though the possiblity that this could be a different Tiffany lingered, Taeyeon liked to believe it was her Tiffany. With her back straight and head high, she searched the crowd of optimistic students searching for their name.

But there were too many people.

The tournament was a week from now and that's the only time you would be able to see the rest of the fighters all in the same room before they were transported into the arena. Taeyeon had waited 4 months for this and she forced herself to keep calm for another week.

Then, the week passed by.

Just as the military launched their celebration with no expense spared, fireworks and light filled the dark evening sky. The streets were crowded with people from all over the world. As much as the fighters would have liked to enjoy the festival for themselves, they weren't allowed to. Even if they were, the terror and fear building up in their stomachs weren't helpful.

All fighters were required to show up two hours before the start of the Vytal Festival Tournament. It was to allow the hunters to ready themselves. Check over armor, revise any last minute thoughts, maintenance of their weapons, to eat and finish any necessary business. Ruby had adviced Taeyeon not to use her semblance or show any of her skills during the preparation hall. Other than taking care of their equipment, the smarter ones would take a good look on all the fighters and analyze them properly. Without electricity pouring through her blade, it looked like a shatterable glass sword as weak as a toothpick.

Taeyeon walked around and scanned the preparation room. The hall they were kept in was just under the arena itself. She could hear the crowd above fiddling in excitement as thousands of people moved about. Only fighters and officials were allowed in the room, so Taeyeon walked around wasting the remaining time in hopes to find Tiffany.

Once again, she failed to do so.

Ten minutes before showtime, the announcer and director of the event came by and assembled all the fighters for a speech. It was an encouraging one, but it did nothing to aid the petrifying fear that consumed everyone inside out. Five minutes before showtime, Weiss stood on the stage.

She looked as elegant as ever, but there was something about her aura Taeyeon didn't like.

"Before you go, I would like to clarify something about the vaporization process. I'm sure you are all curious of to what it is. When I was in the Vytal Festival myself, I saw nothing but cocky, arrogant knuckleheads who fought like this event was a game." Weiss didn't bother to hid her insulting tone of voice as she continued on with a straight face. "Not taking it seriously, getting hit and laughing as they watch themselves vaporize. Strolling along the dangerous forest like this was just a board game. But starting this year, this will no longer be a game."

Various mumblings spread throughout the confused crowd.

Weiss continued, her hands loosely behind her back with her posture as straight as a cadet. "You are all in the top 100 for a reason, and I want the best out of all of you. Therefore, this Vytal Festival shall be the mark of a new era. This game shall no longer be a game. Once you get vaporized, you are out. And if I must put that in simpler terms...When you die in the arena, you die for real." Weiss smirked and the incredible fear evolved into vicious panic throughout all the fighters. She ended, "Perhaps then shall you take this festival seriously. That is all, best of luck to all of you."

All respectable fighters broke into an uproar, screaming and yelling at Weiss who was walking away. Before anyone could properly grasp what she had just said, everyone began to glow light blue. It was the start of the festival.

"Oh, and if you don't believe me, wait and find out." Weiss grinned again. The last thing everyone saw was the malicious smile Weiss bravely showed. Then within a moment, their sight were surrounded by trees.

The roaring of the spectators were amazingly deafening, but the thoughts everyone had blocked the sound. Taeyeon panickingly searched the skies trying to pinpoint the voices of the people. But all she saw was a holographic sky with a timer counting down.

31...30..29...28...

Taeyeon decided that waiting to find out whether or not Weiss was lying was the stupidest idea ever. She ran to the closest tree and climbed it as rapidly as she could.

20...19...18...17..

She climbed the very top of the tree she saw before hopping on to a much taller tree and continuing her quest.

10...9...8..

Finally, she managed to reach the very top. She reasoned that standing directly on the tip would be dangerous as everyone would be able to see her. So she peeked through the leaves and with a shocking scenary in front of her, learned that she was at the edge of the arena.

From her tree, she saw the entire arena. 75% was covered in trees and jungle-like forests. In the very center was a large lake with a smaller island in the middle. Just from a second of looking, she had already spotted three people.

3....2...1...The Annual Vytal Festival Tournament begins now!!

A large horn erupted through the dome and within a second, Grimm spawned from the center of the map on the island at incredible speed and numbers. They ran and spread all throughout the dome in massive packs as all kinds of shapes and sizes began to run into the forest where Taeyeon assumed everyone else was.

A different timer began on the sky, this time, counting up.

Just as she saw the first Grimm enter the forest, she heard a dreadful scream launch simultaneously as Taeyeon watched a horde of Grimm overwhelm a solo hunter.

Within a second, he was gone.

Taeyeon looked up again. It had only been 45 seconds yet--

There are 90 people remaining.

"N-No way.." Taeyeon couldn't breathe. Stark terror charged through the girl. Unable to vent her fear and anger, she dug her hands deeply into the trunk of the tree, crushing it with her hands.

Then a question.

What am I doing here..? Taeyeon asked herself. She recalled how it all began. Memories of her first day at work came flashing back. The innocent look Tiffany once had..

Why am I here? I don't belong here.

Taeyeon remembered Tiffany's long neck, her graceful jawline, full mouth, straight narrow nose. Her golden eyes. The black little bow.

Once again, Taeyeon began to hate herself.

Liking Tiffany wasn't heaven like Taeyeon imagined it to be.

With the sight of an entire mob gnarling a hunter to death, reality struck her heavily.

Tiffany wasn't a piece of heaven.

It was hell itself.

An absolute nightmare.

An absolute nightmare Taeyeon couldn't help but still love.

She answered her own questions. She had brought destruction to the peaceful Team Tiger and she was here to bring it back.

Spotting a grimm who had seen her in the tree, Taeyeon stood up to her full height, her long hair breezing with the artifical wind. Reaching for her weapon on her back, she pulled it out in front of her and angerily activated her semblance.

The grimm roared his frustration at the bright color Taeyeon's sword glowed and leaped with languid ease.

Angry, scared, and in love, Taeyeon gripped her sword tighter than before and lunged forward with a scream.

(Author's Note) **As usual // heavy language ahead

Haha remember when you thought this was going to be a fluffy story? Yeah me too. I can't write fluffy stories IT ALWAYS GETS REALLY DARK.

Well anyways, the long awaited Vytal Festival is finally here!! And it's here with a TWIST. WEISS YOU EVIL MOTHERFCKER

this got intense fast. Next update might take a while since most of it is going to be action. It's 2:28AM as I write this. once I get in the mood I don't stop lol

Before anything, thank you so much to deaNeko and pakunHwang for drawing out Taeyeon's concept art. It's proudly displayed as this chapter's main image :)

I know you guys are probably complaining -- WHERE'S TIFFANY?

Don't worry..she'll be in the next chapter..hue..hue..hue..hHUEhUHEUHEUE

Now a lot of you have been asking, "Why is it such a big deal that Tiffany is a faunus?" Now i didnt really talk about it yet but just a heads up, Humans are extremely racist to faunus and its only been so long that Humans and Faunus have tried to live together.  Sun, the monkey boy, does not get bullied because he has a high ranking within the student population. But faunus get bullied everyday and Tiffany will explain why she ran away in the next coupled chapters.

I'm glad to see I've influenced a number of you to watch RWBY. I'm happy! That anime deserves more attention honestly. I just got my RWBY Volume 2 Blu-Ray DVD in the mail today and hopefully my Team RWBY plushies come in tomorrow LOL //heavy breathing once they come in i'll post a picture of them or something if u guys care or not

Taeyeon's armor was influenced by Yatsuhashi, an original character from RWBY.

anyways i apologize for any errors. Hope you enjoyed! It saddens me how I have 300+ subscribers yet I only get like 10 comments per chapter. Come on I write for free and really hard. please comment and upvote! I don't care if you're a silent reader or your english is bad. I just want a comment <3

prepare your feels. is going through the roof next chapter.

Hope you liked it. Comment and upvote ^_^

- Weiss_Knight