Shadows of War (RWBY X TITANFALL) Act 2: A Phantom Adversary

Chapter XII: Burning the Candle

Nathan POV - February 27, 2219

Reyes: "The feed's coming through. The equipment seems functional. Nathan - quick mic test, please?"

Me: *grabs mic* "Testing testing one two three."

My voice came through the speaker.

Reyes: "Good. Carsen - electric guitar check?"

He strums a few cords as we go through the rest of our equipment since we've been setting them up all morning. I don't know why Beacon didn't think to start setting up the dance earlier in the week, but the fact they waited until the day before the dance gave me slight concern. We've been setting the ballroom up for tomorrow night since nine in the morning. Thank anyone divine that the school had the supplies in the ballroom.

Now that the equipment was okay, I grabbed my guitar from the rack and adjusted the strings. Making sure I don't readjust them during the show. Carsen had walked off the stage and started helping Weiss put the finishing touches on the tables. Andi was at her drums, banging on them and readjusting the stands. Matt and Reyes were at the soundboard and keyboard. Just fiddling with them, Yang walked up to the stage holding the last speaker that somehow got lost.

Yang: "Hey Matt! Where should I put this?"

Matt: *points to the right side of the stage* "You can put it there."

She does as Matt grabs a few cords and plugs them in.

Yang: "Matt, do you have a second? I want to ask you something."

Matt: "What's up?"

Yang: "I know there's an irony here because of my personality, so keep your mouth shut, but I was wondering if I could take you to the dance."

Matt: "I thought that you had a date already."

Yang: "I don't, since I have to operate the podium you see at the front door. But once that's over, I'm on my own for the night and wanted to share it with someone. You were the first one I thought of. So what do you say? Care to share the experience with me?"

Matt: "I don't know... You place a strong argument on the table, Yang Xiao Long. I can't say no to a fun time either... so why not? I'll join you."

I slightly smiled at the sight and started to play my guitar a bit... mainly Spanish guitar, to take the piss out of Matt. He turns to me with an annoyed glare fused with some amusement. I see him staring at me, and I stop.

Matt: "You're three seconds away from having that smacked over your head if you don't stop."

I looked him dead in the eyes as I continued playing the guitar. We stood up and gave each other an intense staredown, which didn't last long as we started cracking up. I placed my guitar down and walked off the stage. I scanned the room, watching a few volunteers put the final touches on the walls. I turned to a table and saw Ruby sitting there looking down. I walked up to the table.

Me: "Hey, Ruby."

Ruby: "Hmm? Oh, hey, Nate. How're you doing?"

Me: "Can't complain. You?"

She raises her hand and shakes it, keeping it in the middle.

Me: "Had a long morning, then? Didn't sleep well?"

Ruby: "No, just worried about Blake."

Me: "What has our mutual cat got herself into this time?"

Ruby: "I don't know if anyone's told you or you saw how she's doing, but she's getting worse every day."

Me: "I saw she was more irate than usual, but I thought that was a lack of sleep."

Ruby: "That and the lack of eating anything. We tried to get her to see the reason more times than we can count, but it's not working. Can you try talking to her?"