Fusilier

If Man Were Meant To Fly, He'd Have Wings

(A/N I get the feeling I'm not showing the fact that Donnie is Irish enough.)
A few days later Donnie strolled into the courtyard. The weekend had just started and he intended on relaxing.
Cigarette smoke drifted lazily from his mouth. He looked up at the clear, blue sky and smiled. He wore a white t-shirt with the bottom tucked into the pair of jeans he wore. Although his purpose was to relax he still kept his bayonet strapped to his belt. The dark wooden handle of the blade and its leather scabbard contrasted the light clothes he wore.
He stopped to glance up at the clear sky and smirked. If only Irish weather was like this most of the time. He thought as he tapped a few ashes into the grass. Donnie returned to walking. The breeze carried the smells of the flowers to his nostrils. Donnie kept moving until he reached the docks.
After checking the watch hanging from his wrist he boarded the soon to be departing airship. He admired sighed loudly once he sat, hands tightly gripping the railing. Donnie was not a fan of flight.
"Heya Donnie!" Someone shouted from directly behind him. Donnie jumped and shot around to face the person. It was Nora. Behind the energetic girl she dragged Ren. Donnie released a sigh of relief and seemed to sag slightly. "H-Hi guys w-whatcha going to V-Vale for?" He attempted a grin but it turned into a pained grimace.
Nora saw his grimace and frowned. "What's wrong? You seem a little... pale." She asked noting his ,paler than usual, face. "N-Nothing, nothing at all!" This response earned unconvinced looks from Nora and Ren. He sighed, "Fine you got me. I-I'm terrified of flying." The two teens stared at him for a second. Then Nora broke into a large grin. "Don't worry Donnie you'll be fine." Donnie's mouth curved into a small smile. He shook his head ever so slightly. "L-Listen guys... let's j-just be quiet for the d-duration of the f-flight ok?" He said this as his face went from pale to slightly green. Ren and Nora remained silent for the rest of the flight. They watched as he jammed his eyes shut and gripped the railing tightly.
When the airship touched down Donnie rushed to leave machine. He stopped a few feet away from the airship to catch his breath. Nora moved over to him.
"Where are you heading Donnie? Me and Ren could come along and help." Donnie raised his finger, taking a moment to breathe before standing up straight. "I was only heading to get some groceries. You could... come with me." He jammed his thumb in the direction he was heading. Nora shouted her acceptance and they started moving.
A few minutes later they reached the store. Once inside Donnie started moving directly to the aisle named Baking.
"What are we doing in this aisle Donnie," Nora asked. "We..." he pulled a small list from his pocket,"are looking  the ingredients to make sugar cookies." Ren looked over his shoulder at the list. "I did not know you were interested in baking Donnie," he commented as Donnie inspected a package of sugar.
He nodded,"Always wanted to become a baker, even when I joined the military." Donnie placed the item in basket he had grabbed. "But, why did you join the military?" Donnie chuckled at the question. He placed a few items into the basket before answering. "A friend of mine named Liam had joined just before me. Someone needed to watch his arse in France." Donnie grew quiet after mentioning France. Everyone he had mentioned it to in Beacon wondered how such a name could carry this much weight with someone so young.
His small smile returned as he beckoned them towards the check-out line. "But let's not dwell on such things eh?" He placed the ingredients down to pay for them. They could hear him humming. It sounded like what you would hear during a parade.
When he moved through the doors of the store Donnie looked back at them. "Sorry for the humming if it bothered you." Ren shook his head,"It's fine, what was that song? If you don't mind me asking." Donnie smiled again and scratched his chin. "It's the music the band played when the army had us parade through through Dublin."
"What's Dublin?" Nora asked after his explanation. "The capital of my homeland, Ireland." Although he wished to ask, Ren waited until they were back on the airship to Beacon to ask the young soldier what the parade was for. Believing that it would distract him from the flight.
When asked about the parade at last Donnie raised his eyebrows. "Oh that business. Well... when we finished our time in boot camp I, and nearly everyone else there, joined the ranks of the Royal Irish Fusiliers. Well Parliament decided that as a method of instilling hope in its citizens that we would paraded through the streets." He gained the distant look of those lost in a daydream.
Nora interrupted his daydream by asking why the citizens would need hope. His face fell at the question. "Well Nora, by the time I joined the military the war had been going on for about three years already, millions had been killed, and there was no end in sight." Nora grimly nodded, a confirmation that she was listening. He continued,"What the people needed was some sort hero per-say. So Parliament chose to parade the fresh soldiers as an example that one day, we could walk home, with the bright faces we left in."
By this time the airship had landed and its doors opened once again. Donnie rushed to leave the machine and stand on solid ground again. When Ren and Nora caught up with him he waved promising to get them when the cookies were ready.
As he walked away Donnie brought out a cigarette and lit it, careful not drop any ashes in the bag. He smiled to himself.
A few minutes later Donnie stepped into the dorm. The only other person there was Yang. Weiss and Blake had gone to the library and Ruby had gone hang out with Jaune.
"Hey Donnie, whatcha got there?" She asked, hanging off of the top bunk to see the contents of the bag. He moved over to the small stove in the corner. Once the ingredients were on the counter he turned to Yang and explained them. "Cool, need any help?" Donnie shook his head and waved her off.
When she was gone he started mixing the ingredients. He stirred them with an odd kind of expertise. When certain of the mixture he scooped the dough into small piles on a tray. The tray he then placed in the oven.
While waiting for the cookies to bake he sat and brought out a book from Blake's bookshelf. After half an hour he stood and silently moved to the oven, taking out the tray of now baked cookies.
Yang hopped down and snuck over to the tray. As her hand reached out to grab a cookie Donnie smacked it out of the way, finger wagging all the while. They needed to wait until they were cool first.
After an hour or so Donnie deemed them ready to eat and went to team JNPR's dorm to deliver the news.
Nora burst through the door, rushing to the plate containing the cookies. Following her was the rest of team JNPR. They moved over to the plate each taking one. Donnie stood to the side, a content smile covered his face as he watched.
"These are pretty good Donnie!" Jaune exclaimed after taking a bite. Pyrrah nodded in agreement before swallowing a bite. "Where did you learn to bake," she asked. "Back home when I was a kid my mother, God rest her soul, would always spend her time baking for me and my sister. So, one day I asked if she could show me how to bake. It just came naturally to me."
After his explanation they all sat in a content silence, each munching on the sweet treats.
At this moment Ruby came bursting through the door rose petals trailing behind her. "COOKIES!" She gasped as she stopped to catch her breath from the run there. Her smile turned instantly into a frown as she noticed that all the cookies on the plate had been eaten.
Donnie tapped her on the shoulder. When Ruby turned around he produced a small paper bag from behind his back, on it he had written her name. She took the bag from him and peered inside. When she saw its contents she squealed and hugged Donnie tightly.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
The soldier laughed and watched as she stuffed one into her mouth. She let out a small moan of pleasure and began on another one.
Donnie motioned Yang over. When she reached him he leaned in to whisper into her ear. "Hey until Blake and Weiss get back can you help me defend the other two bags?" Yang looked at the bags in question one paper bag had Weiss's name written on it while the second had Blake's. Both containing cookies snuck away from the plate.
Yang gave a mock salute. Her acceptance of defending the cookies from the insatiable hunger of Ruby.

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Hi guys! Sorry for the SUPER late update. I got sidetracked with vacation and everything. For a fair warning I'm about to go back and give all my other chapters names. So if you get a bunch of notifications from this story that's why.