[RWBY/The Gamer] The Games We Play, Disk Five

Ryuugi · May 25, 2015

The Games We Play
Recess

A thought made the doors open wide as I approached and I entered the grand hall with a confident stride. I didn’t make a fuss, I didn’t say a word, I didn’t even make a display of it—but voice by voice, the cafeteria fell silent around me as eyes turned my way.

Quirking my lips up minutely, I cast my glance once from side to side, wondering if anyone would try and start something ahead of schedule. When no one did, I walked down the aisle between the middle tables, passing by the other students without another glance. My eyes drifted for a moment to the staff that sat at the head of the room, meeting the gazes of those I’d already met—Himmel, Toxotes, and my sister Olivia. I gave a slight nod to each and the first two returned it, but my sister rolled her eyes at me, though she was unable to keep the smile off her face. I didn’t so much as glance at anyone else as I walked down the length of the underground hall and took a seat near the center of the hall, allowing myself to be surrounded.

The entire room watched my every move and that was part of why I walked as far as I did—to give them all a chance to gawk. The rest of my team followed a step behind me, Adam keeping his eyes forward while Emerald and Mercury looked around a touch more wearily. Even after I seated myself, they remained standing and waited for a moment, if for different reasons.

“Go ahead and get some food,” I told them, putting an elbow on the table and placing my chin on a hand.

“What do you want?” Adam asked for the sake of appearances, knowing I didn’t need to eat.

“Anything’s fine,” I answered with a shrug, not even looking behind me as I spoke. Adam left immediately, already aware of what was happening, and after a moment’s pause, Emerald and Mercury followed, conveniently leaving the seats all around me empty even as it separated me from my allies—a fact that drew attention as well as any invitation.

The silence my entrance had caused soon gave way to quiet murmurs and the sounds of motion as the gathered factions truly saw me for the first time and, more importantly, saw their chance. This was an opportunity to approach me, to speak to me, and to confront me, and it wasn’t something any of them could afford to pass up. They were watching me even as they discussed what to do, how to approach me, and who should go first. Not all of it was blatantly spoken, but looks were exchanged and students stood and exchanged seats, offering their positions up so others could get closer or at least have a better view. Several of the smaller factions sent members to each other—envoys, really—to compare notes and determine a course of actions and I felt displeasure spread like a virus when it came to light that each group had different intentions for me.

That was part of why I was doing this—why I was forcing everyone to act quickly before anyone could compromise or come to true agreements on how they would handle me. Right now, each group had very different intentions because they also had very limited information; they were uncertain and each saw different ways to handle the situation. If I drew this out, built things up over weeks or months, they’d change their minds as they learned more, find common ground, and eventually put up a united front, but with the fight having occurred less than an hour ago?

There was no way a bunch of people who probably didn’t get along at the best of times were going to come to an agreement now. The larger groups didn’t even bother trying.

So in the pause created by their indecision, I took the chance to look them over and fill in the gaps in my own knowledge. Lunch was a special time and it gathered students from every year and every group into one place, allowing me to get a good look at them and pick out both patterns and trends, and I took advantage of the opportunity to confirm several of my own suspicions. On average, freshmen seemed to have levels in the twenties to thirties, sophomores in the thirties to forties, juniors in the forties to fifties, and seniors in the fifties to sixties. Those were just averages and there were outliers who I assumed were the stars of their years, but most of the people I saw fell into those categories. Because of that fact, it was easy to pick out those who stood out and give them the attention they deserved as the leaders of their peers.

After all, it was only natural for the factions to build themselves around those with power. The different groups simultaneously crossed years and built themselves around them—while there were factions amongst the sophomores, juniors, and seniors, the underclassmen groups seemed to exist with the support of the upperclassmen, based on the complicated web of emotions that surrounded them all. It was easy to imagine why; the weaker factions served as proxies for the stronger ones, ways for them to strict at their enemies while remaining several steps removed. The politicking amongst students was unlikely to ever go too far with the teachers there to keep the peace, but Haven fostered competition and this reeked of Mistrals style. Just as the Families competed through proxy organizations that supported students, so too did the students divide and control those beneath them as best they could. The loyalties they made here would play into their lived beyond the school as they graduated and became Hunters.

It was all about connections, I thought absently as I began to trace the lives with what I saw and heard. For all that Haven was a school, it was a school for Mistral’s future and a place to raise their strongest warriors. The way things were arranged encouraged people to fall in line and form groups, to bond with people they’d later be able to contact for support—and, most importantly, built loyalties both among groups and to their supporters. Each of the senior most factions probably had ties back to at least one of the Families and they’d likely be recruited as soon as they graduated. Though everyone was here to become a Hunter, the friends they made here could still decide their future.

And this was the first time this year that those groups truly came together, edged on by the variable I’d added to their equations. Not everyone was gathered yet, both because several classes hadn’t let out and because there were some that were lying in wait, but everyone could feel that things were about to change. Perhaps before, things had been balanced and both dreams and grudges set aside, but they were bubbling up to the surface as people saw their chances to change things—or rather, as I saw mine.

Now that everyone together, it was easy to see where the lines were drawn. The strongest, and largest, faction present seemed focused around a team of juniors that were watching me closely. Two of them—a pair of brothers—were both frowning severely, while one of their teammates whispered plans to them. Though the brothers seemed to want to approach, they held back at his command and waited, while their forth teammate looked on passively. Around them was a gathering of other upperclassmen, weaker groups that helped prop up their power in return for support of their own.

The Wide-Ruling
LV66
Skoyro Atreus

The Resounding War Cry
LV65
Foteino Atreus

The Man of Twists and Turns
LV62
Halkino Ithacan

The Spear That Throws From Life
LV68
Erythro Argos

Looking them over with the back of my neck, I marked Halkino down as their strategist and possibly their biggest threat. Erythro seemed to be their strongest warrior with a Semblance designed to pierce defenses, but frankly, I wasn’t worried about anyone in this room when it came to battle—whereas someone smart enough to hold back and try to subvert me in other ways might be annoying. Skoyro seemed to be the leader of their team and fairly intelligent in his own right, but what made him dangerous was that he seemed to be willing to heed Halkino’s advice. Even so, I doubted any of them could afford to standby as their positions were besieged and Foteino seemed to wish for a fight already. I’d need to keep an eye on them and how they chose to approach, but with things as they were now, they could hardly hold back.

Besides, the advantage of facing upperclassmen was that they’d been around for a while—and had already had time to make enemies. From their biographies, the way they were sitting, and how their emotions flared when eyes met, I’d say they had a hard time getting along with a second, far smaller group of juniors.

The Judge of Light
LV59
Porfyro Alexandria

The Cruel Eyes of Fate
LV55
Asimi Alexandria

The Man Loved by the Stars
LV64
Aspro Victrix

The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships
LV53
Helen Laconic

Two Alexandrians, I noted. If Kyanos is the heir, they can’t be siblings, so…cousins, perhaps? Or perhaps there’s more to it; I suppose I’d find out soon enough or else I’d just ask Kyanos himself. Regardless, there seemed to be some bad blood between the groups and given their smaller size and relative weakness, I doubt that rivalry had been going very well for them. Given the way Porfyro was looking between Foteino and I, I suspected it wouldn’t take much to get him to approach me and ask for my support—and from there, it would be simple to make them subordinates, which might be enough to incite a conflict with the Aetreus in and of itself.

But would the grudge between them be more trouble than it was worth? From the whispers in the room and the murmurs between envoys, Foteino seemed to loathe Porfyro with a passion and something like that was unlikely to go away any time soon. While I couldn’t say I really cared if everyone got along or not, this seemed like something that ran deep—presumably because of the rather stunning Helen that seemed central to the conflict. Worse, while their enemies seemed united, Porfyro’s team hardly seemed as such, as neither Helen nor Asimi seemed close to each other or the rest of their team. Porfyro and Aspro seemed the closest and even then they barely looked at one another; if there was anything tying them together, it looked like it was the fact that they couldn’t survive apart. It seemed that Haven’s teambuilding had backfired in this case, because while such friction wouldn’t have been out of place amongst freshmen, it was rather alarming between juniors. And…while undoubtedly sad, I couldn’t help but think that I had more important things to do with my life.

On the other hand…it was hard to deny that they were interesting in other ways. Asimi’s Semblance seemed to give her a form of precognition. Given the bags under her eyes, how she stared off into space with glazed eyes, and the way she’d suddenly started shaking—a fact that I suspected I might have been at fault for—I doubt that what she saw particularly pleasant, but talents like that were exceptionally rare and undeniably useful, even with the limitations to what she could see. With my healing abilities and other powers, I might be able to curb some of the side effects of that and make her ability a touch more pleasant and I’d happily brush aside whatever drama lay between the teams to have a power like that on my side. With the close ties between the Alexandria and the Roma, as well as my own friendship with Kyanos, it should be simple enough to arrange. Added to Porfyro’s ocular abilities, Helen’s unconscious influence, and Aspro’s odd talent…they were interesting. It just might be worth sorting out their issues, given their abilities.

But there was still something missing. Porfyro’s group wasn’t powerful or united enough to truly oppose their enemies. Did the Atreus’ brothers rule the junior year unopposed? It was possible if they really were the strongest, but even then I’d expect someone to try to oppose them, if only because power was richly rewarded.

I pondered that as I looked around, not moving a muscle. I’d already noticed the gaps—the seats that were being saved, the groups that were incomplete. I’d already seen the faces of everyone in school that’s to the breadth of my senses, but it was easiest to get a feel for the connections between people when I could see them together. Still, with most of the already classes let out, it was easy to fill in the blanks and, reaching out, I rifled through the juniors still outside the lunch hall, already pretty sure I knew who I was looking for. A crowd was already making their way towards us, accompanied by a large number of other juniors, but the one with the highest level was…

For Every One, Fifteen
LV70
Roland White

I’d see who he was closest to when he arrived, though I was pretty sure his cousin Charles was one. Still, what mattered was that that accounted for the junior factions, though the most important groups were still unaccounted for. Most of the seniors seemed to be waiting for something, but none of the factions seemed to be out in force yet. Although…there was one student that seemed to have gathered people around himself and who was looking at me passively. Even so, there was an intensity to his interest that told me he was merely waiting before making his move and that his current calm had nothing to do with uncertainty. When the rest of the students arrived, he’d be one of the first to act, I was sure—I just wasn’t certain how. But with a title like his…well, he didn’t seem like one for meekness.

The Worker of Despair
LV74
Desher Ozymandias

But still nothing happened. I almost wanted to laugh at how quiet the room remained even as a few minutes ticked by, but I supposed everyone here was waiting for the same thing before we got this party started. Well, but…they’d been here from the beginning, waiting to make an entrance, though I suppose I couldn’t fault them for that.

Moments after the rest of the student body tickled in, the doors to the hall opened again and a group of seniors made their way inside in neat little rows and the entire room seemed to take a collective breath at the sight of them. Several silent glances were exchanged and, almost as one, several students stood from their chairs and made their way towards me. Tilting my head slightly, I meet Adam’s eyes and we both smiled as he made his way back to the table with a tray in hand.

The last of the seniors in three rows, their leaders at their heads. In the center, Cinder walked with a quiet clicking of glass on stone, but to the sides.

The Once and Future King
LV84
Albus Arcturus

The Giant’s Causeway
LV81
Fionn Fiamma

Here was gathered what was supposedly the strongest generation Haven had seen in decades, with dozens of plans forced to come to a head.

It was time to have some fun.

XxXXxX

alethiophile · May 25, 2015

Heh. Of course, Jaune is as overpowered in social combat as he is in...everything else.

Small and petty as it is compared to the fates of nations, I can't but admit that seeing Jaune plus schoolyard drama brings a warm smile to my heart. If only to see the ridiculous overkill with which he will undoubtedly blast it.

Rylth · May 25, 2015

Whooo, glad to see this! I hope that you were able to relax some during this break and after graduating.

Tons of new characters, we have estimated strengths for where Hunters-in-training 'should' be (thanks for having him point this out, it helps put things into perspective!), and several very interesting titles. All while Jaune forces hands to be played while he waits.

ARGH! I can't wait for the next update already! Ryuugi, you've thrown water to the masses dehydrating in this mod imposed drought!
... Hopefully we won't get too rowdy... Actually we better not get rowdy past being excited that we're getting our fix back.

Yzarc · May 25, 2015

glad to see this back. So the average levels are around 65 then?

Edit:

I apologise if my post was short, so let me expand on it. It was posted that it was a gathering of the strongest of the younger generation and while the new guys are expected to be "low leveled", it still seems a bit odd that the average is around 65-70(?) for an elite hunter Academy/University(?). Especially since the new guys come in at around 55-60. That means that the average levels don't increase much other than 10 or so per year. At higher levels it becomes difficult to raise it more but I was expecting the general levels of the students, all of them to be higher.

Jans · May 25, 2015

Huzzah! Welcome back.

Any canon information in this one or are these entirely OCs? I see a couple of evocative names, (ie, Fionn is the name of the giant who supposedly created the giant's causeway) but I'm rather bad at picking up references. Anyone have any clues or ideas?

Kenhikaru · May 25, 2015

Ryuugi said:
So Disk Four was kind of big! I swear, we're packing more stuff into those things every day with all this newfangled technology, but after a short reprieve, let's continue. I suppose this is a fairly good place to start things up again, anyway; kind of ironic, even, given that the chapter was Recces.

Ryuugi said:
The Games We Play
Recces

Recess, not Recces.

Also: yay, it's back! The long wait is finally over. Feels like it's been a month

RoseKnight · May 25, 2015

Jaques Arc - Jacques d'Arc
Isabella Arc - Isabelle Romee
Jeanne Roma - Jeanne Hatchette, Big Bad Wolf

Ozpin- Wizard of Oz
Glynda Goodwitch- Glinda the Good Witch
Ruby Rose- Red Riding Hood
Yang - Goldilocks
Weiss- Snow White
Blake - Belle
Jaune- Jeanne d'Arc, Metatron
Pyhrra- Achilles
Nora- Thor
Ren- Mulan
Adam Taurus- The Beast
Cinder Fall- Cinderella, Rhodopis (earliest cinderella)
Raven Branwen- Muninn

Cynosarges Alexandria -Heracles
Theits Nikos - Thetis
Peleus Nikos - Peleus

Jeanne Roma - Jeanne Hatchette, Big Bad Wolf

Himmel- ???
Kaus Toxotes- Chiron

Toril Gronn- Troll
Ethan Bruise- First Billygoat
Aaron Bruise- Second Billygoat
Laurence Bruise- Third Billygoat

Ulaan Khagan - Genghis Khan
Kyanos Alexandria- Hector
Melania Delphos - Melaine
Itri Barca - Hannibal

Skoyro Atreus- Agamemnon
Foteino Atreus- Menelaus
Halkino Ithacan- Odysseus
Erythro Argos- Diomedes

Porfyro Alexandria - Paris
Asimi Alexandria- Cassandra
Aspro Victrix - Aeneas
Helen Laconic- Helen

Roland White - Roland

Desher Ozymandias -Ramesses II

Albus Arcturus- King Arthur
Delwyn Emrys- Merlin

Fionn Fiamma - Fionn mac Cumhaill
Lonan Dermot - Diarmuid Uo Duibhne

This list is subject to change as New Info comes out

Theburper · May 25, 2015

I have to say, I'm curious how this Trojan war subplot will turn out.

Lazurman · May 25, 2015

AND THERE WAS MUCH REJOICING!

Please let next chapter be a confrontation between Jaune and Cinder! I've been looking forward to this all fic!

vel10 · May 25, 2015

Ryuugi said:
to strict at their enemies while remaining several steps removed. The

Strike.

Ryuugi said:
The loyalties they made here would play into their lived

Lives.

Ryuugi said:
command and waited, while their forth teammate looked on passively.

Fourth.

Ryuugi said:
I doubt that what she saw particularly pleasant,

Missing a 'was.'

GodOfPixies · May 25, 2015

Glad to see the mods approved a new thread! I hope people take the warning to heart this time.

Interesting social dynamics. I think I'm going to need a flowchart to keep track of all this.

MissWindu422 said:
Skoyro Atreus- Agamemnon
Foteino Atreus- Menelaus
Halkino Ithacan- Odysseus
Erythro Argos- Ajax

Porfyro Alexandria - Paris
Asimi Alexandria- Cassandra
Aspro Victrix - Not sure who. Maybe Aeneas?
Helen Laconic- Helen

Roland White - Roland

Desher Ozymandias -Ramesses II

Albus Arcturus- King Arthur

Fionn Fiamma - Fionn mac Cumhaill

This is just my guess as to who these people are. I might have to correct them if I get them wrong.

The google-fu is strong with this one. To spot the new thread, read the update, hunt down possible allusions, and post links within 24 minutes of the first post? I'm impressed.

zorro99 · May 25, 2015

While we were on hiatus, I was bored and made an FAQ for the story on the fan thread with some help. Please give it a read and let me know if you have any suggestions for questions to answer.

So Cinder is posing as a senior and is the highest level in the school. Albus Arcturus and Fionn Fiomma seem to be the next strongest among the Seniors as well as the school in general aside from Jaune and Adam. I wonder if we'll get to see the rest of Cinder's team, and whether or not they're more White Fang agents or just normal students.

Lalzparty · May 25, 2015

I was struck with a sudden revelation of how long the index is. Holy...

Pax_Empyrean · May 25, 2015

We have repeated explicit warnings not to spam at the end of the last thread, and there's still a bunch of one-liner responses after the chapter update. For the love of God, people, come on.

For those posting spelling/grammar corrections, it helps if you put them in a spoilers. Makes them easier to find for Ryuugi, easier to skip for the rest of us, and reduces thread clutter in general. It's just a good habit to get into.

GodOfPixies said:
The google-fu is strong with this one. To spot he new thread, read the update, hunt down possible allusions, and post links within 24 minutes of the first post? I'm impressed.

This is a double-post and not story relevant anyway. Just edit it into your last one.

As for the chapter itself...

Ryuugi said:
The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships
LV53
Helen Laconic

This one's trouble, I can tell. On the other hand, Jaune could just use Delusory to make himself prettier than she is and disrupt whatever petty squabbles are currently ongoing around her without even troying very hard.

Smart people in the room probably notice when the precog sees Jaune and gets twitchy. Bonus points to Jaune if he nods confirmation at her and smiles really big-like. "Yeah, I'm going to make shit blow up just as big as you think I am. Really."

NegativeHorizon · May 25, 2015

Kinda sad the old thread's gone (seriously nearly 2000 pages!) but I'd rather have more of Ryuugi's writing regardless of thread length.

Ehrrm, what level was Jaune again? The hiatus took some of my memory of it away. Regardless, seems like connections have more of a big deal than I thought. Compare something like this to Beacon's cafeteria, where I doubt people were scheming their asses off.

Darchiasq · May 25, 2015

Nice to see you returned Ryuugi, and certainly keeping up your reputation of excellence.

RoseKnight · May 25, 2015

GodOfPixies said:
The google-fu is strong with this one. To spot the new thread, read the update, hunt down possible allusions, and post links within 24 minutes of the first post? I'm impressed.

Oh I knew most of these from mythology immediatly, so all I had to do was go to wikipedia. I love ancient myths. There is only one I am uncertain about, and I am still pretty sure he is Aeneas.

Pulsor93 · May 25, 2015

HOLY SHIT, IT'S BACK!

Alright, I've been out of the loop for a while, so can anyone tell me if there's anything important I missed? (Canon or Omake-wise?)

Jans · May 25, 2015

MissWindu422 said:
This is just my guess as to who these people are. I might have to correct them if I get them wrong.

Interesting. The Illiad/Greek part certainly illustrates that conflict, and the English and Egyptian ones make good also-rans (for the moment)... but now I'm curious about how Arthur, Fionn, and Cinder match up. There are some... serious witches/casters in both legends.

Requiem_Jeer · May 25, 2015

Pax_Empyrean said:
We have repeated explicit warnings not to spam at the end of the last thread, and there's still a bunch of one-liner responses after the chapter update. For the love of God, people, come on.

Pax is unfortunately correct. As draconian as the policy is, y'all need to put more thought into your posts and refrain from posting just normal reactions. It's only a problem due to the immense popularity of the thread, but the point stands that posts that are only a single expressed thought are insufficient to meet this thread's enhanced standards.

Emerald Oracle · May 25, 2015

I am entertained that Cinderella's two Senior Peers are apparently the leader of the Fianna and Arthur, King of the Britons. I wonder if that's a subtle royalty reference too? As with everyone else, I'm glad the thread's back!

xSieg · May 25, 2015

Ryuugi said:
and the way she’d suddenly started shaking—a fact that I suspected I might have been at fault for

Poor precog, having to see the insane shit Jaune does two times.

Ryuugi said:
For Every One, Fifteen

I'm pretty sure it's Roland just by the name, but what's up with his title?
I mean, in the end 30 relatives of the G dude were killed, but only Roland died in the poem (that was important anyway), so shouldn't it be 'for every one, thirty'? Or am I missing someone?

Ryuugi said:
Even so, there was an intensity to his interest that told me he was merely waiting before making his move and that his current calm had nothing to do with uncertainty. When the rest of the students arrived, he’d be one of the first to act, I was sure—I just wasn’t certain how.

Ominous, but fitting that the pharaoh that has a poem dedicated to the ravages of time doesn't spend too much time fucking around. It's limited, after all!

Ryuugi said:
The Worker of Despair
LV74
Desher Ozymandias

The Worker of Despair, huh.
Does he have some Time-related Semblance? Because that would explain his title.

Pax_Empyrean · May 25, 2015

Requiem_Jeer said:
Pax is unfortunately correct. As draconian as the policy is, y'all need to put more thought into your posts and refrain from posting just normal reactions. It's only a problem due to the immense popularity of the thread, but the point stands that posts that are only a single expressed thought are insufficient to meet this thread's enhanced standards.

"Unfortunately correct" even beats out "technically correct" for being the best kind of correct.

Hopefully people can keep the "Yay, new thread, I like this story" posts to a minimum. And by minimum I mean "don't do it at all." Express your enthusiasm in a post that actually adds something, okay?

Emerald Oracle said:
I am entertained that Cinderella's two Senior Peers are apparently the leader of the Fianna and Arthur, King of the Britons.

King of the who?

As for the other students, it's amusing how utterly outclassed they are at basically everything. They react to Jaune in a big way because he's obviously strong, but they don't seem to understand how strong yet. Squashing the King Arthur and Fionn mac Cumhaill expies would probably go a long way toward establishing the pecking order, which looks something like "Jaune is in charge, and it doesn't matter what the rest of you peasants do." Jaune really is an out of context problem for their schoolyard schemes.

King Arthur is about to witness the violence inherent in the system.

L. Bozar · May 25, 2015

Ryuugi said:
On average, freshmen seemed to have levels in the twenties to thirties, sophomores in the thirties to forties, juniors in the forties to fifties, and seniors in the fifties to sixties. Those were just averages and there were outliers who I assumed were the stars of their years, but most of the people I saw fell into those categories.

And we've got average levels, nice.

Ryuugi said:
The politicking amongst students was unlikely to ever go too far with the teachers there to keep the peace, but Haven fostered competition and this reeked of Mistral's style.

Missing an apostrophe

Ryuugi said:
The loyalties they made here would play into their lived beyond the school as they graduated and became Hunters.

Should be lives

Ryuugi said:
Though the brothers seemed to want to approach, they held back at his command and waited, while their forth teammate looked on passively.

Should be fourth

Ryuugi said:
The Man of Twists and Turns
LV62
Halkino Ithacan

There was a crooked man who walked a crooked mile...

Ryuugi said:
Given the way Porfyro was looking between Foteino and I, I suspected it wouldn’t take much to get him to approach me and ask for my support—and from there, it would be simple to make them subordinates, which might be enough to incite a conflict with the Aetreus in and of itself.

Should be Atreus.

Nice to be back!

Ahem, so we've got a few potential plot bunnies *waves at Velvet's cousins* and some definite candidates for minion-hood. Like that he's going to try and nab the Alexandria team and make them his own, and it certainly doesn't hurt that he's a few belts above them when it comes to social-fu.

I'm hoping we at least get a mention of him hitting the entire room with Psychometry come next snippet. Should be a feast of Skills given the sheer number of Hunters (in-training or otherwise) present.

Next time on TGWP, real politik, Mistral style!

DoWnEr · May 25, 2015

Ever since you touched upon the politics of Jaune and the white fang I've been looking forward to something more in depth of his politicking skills.

Glad you're back and hope people didn't bother you on your break.

[RWBY/The Gamer] The Games We Play, Disk Five

I got 99 stories but I've finished three!

Shadowed Philosopher

The Spark of madness

Insight

Red mage(not the FF kind)

has actually been a snek all along!

Seriously?

I'm not drunk enough.

sosig

Remove the Q...

Insight

The Most High

Nova Centurion #2814

What Power? What Responsibility?

Laziest Panda