//------------------------------//
// Chapter 12 
// Story: Compass Rose 
// by enigmaMystere 
//------------------------------//

Before long the bell rings to signal most students' favorite time of the day: lunch. Throngs of students of all grades meander towards the large cafeteria the school boasts, a variety to choose from in each line for those who didn't bring their own food.

Three who did, however, move together to find a table. Daring, slightly embarrassed, looks up at her older sister. "I could carry my own lunch box..."

"I know, but then you couldn't talk or you'd have to walk slow." Yang smiles down at her. "You know I don't mind taking care of my sisters."

She points a hoof at their other sister. "Then why didn't you carry hers?"

"Because Ruby can get grabby with her food if you try and take it." The blonde nods at Ruby.

She pouts, hugging her box to her chest. "I don't want you to take my cookies..."

"I have been known to do that." Yang admits.

"And that's why I'm holding onto mine." She sticks her tongue out, not noticing how her younger sister is staring up at her lunchbox nervously.

"Anyway, how about that table?" The oldest sibling points to one near the wall.

The other two nod in agreement, Daring dashing over to make sure no one else claimed it.

As they walk over, Yang looks to Ruby. "So, are you two having fun so far?"

Ruby nods as the filly clambers up onto a bench. "Yep! The teachers are really nice!" She frowns, rubbing her forehead gently. "One hit me with some chalk, though..."

The big sister narrows her eyes. "What? Oh, wait, was it Miss Night Song?"

Her eyes widen in surprise. "How did you know?"

"I have her, too." She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a pink piece of chalk. "I kept it as a souvenir."

Ruby throws her hands up. "But mine exploded! I can't keep a souvenir of dust!"

"But you can of Dust!" Yang points out, grinning.

She opens her mouth to respond, then stops, looking at Yang in confusion. "Was that supposed to be a joke?"

"Yeah, cause you know, Dust like huntsmen use in their weapons." Her smiles becomes a bit more sheepish. "Dad said jokes like that are called puns."

"Jokes that need to be explained aren't very pun-ny," Daring speaks up, smirking playfully. "The punchline needs a good amount of punch to it."

"So... I should wear my boxing gloves?" She asks with a smirk.

The filly frowns a bit. "Too much punch, sis."

"No such thing." She replies, rubbing her head as they sit down.

As the three of them prepare to eat, someone approaches their table, a tray held in their unsteady hands and her ears twitching nervously. She stands there a few seconds, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth, before she gently pokes Yang with the corner of her tray. "E-excuse me..."

"Huh?" Yang turns to look at her. "Hey, what's up?"

She flinches a bit as all three of them turn to look at her, but she gives her best smile, even if it looks like a grimace. "H-hey, can I... join you?"

The oldest sister looks over her a moment before smiling. "Sure, we've got room."

She relaxes almost immediately, bowing in thanks before turning and sitting next to Daring, reaching over and petting her head gleefully.

Ruby leans close to Yang, whispering in her ear. "So... is she a pony Faunus, too?"

She shrugs, humming in thought. "I think so... her ears look like Daring's."

They sit in silence for a moment, watching as the new girl starts scratching the filly behind the ear, before Ruby mutters, just loud enough for Yang to hear. "Pretty touchy... wish I thought to start charging, already..."

"What do you mean?" The blonde asks, looking down at the muttering girl. "Do people keep scratching her ears a lot?"

She just nods. "Our whole class was interested. Two almost squished her."

Yang makes a small o with her mouth. "Wow... she's pretty popular, then."

"Yep. Thinking of charging one lien per hug." She smirks a bit. "What do you think?"

"Is there a family and friends discount?" She asks.

"Family gets hugs free. Friends only pay half."

"Wait," the girl across from them speaks up, confused, "how does one pay half a lien?"

Yang hums in thought. "Two for one deal?"

She scrunches her nose a bit, but sighs and shrugs. "That works, I guess."

Ruby blinks then turns to look at her sister. "Hey, do you know her name?"

Yang shakes her head. "No, I think I saw her in one of my classes, but I didn't get her name."

"Sky Riverdale." They turn to see the girl hugging Daring to her chest, blushing in embarrassment. "S-sorry I didn't introduce myself, earlier."

Yang smiles as she opens her lunchbox. "It's cool, nice to meet you."

The filly pokes the girl's cheek, drawing her attention to her. "I'm Daring Do."

Ruby quietly mutters, just loud enough for Yang to hear. "Still wish we called her Compass Rose..."

The blonde leans down, whispering. "But then unless we said her full name, we'd just be calling her Compass."

She turns, then sticks her tongue out at her. "Still an awesome name."

Yang laughs, putting a hand on Ruby's head and mussing with her hair. "Alright, it is. Make sure you eat your lunch."

As she turns to do so, the filly speaks up, her hoof raised. "Hey, you didn't introduce yourselves to her!"

"Oh, whoops." Yang rubs the back of her head, laughing. "I'm Yang Xiao Long and these two are my sisters."

Ruby, a cookie in hand, smiles as well. "I'm Ruby Rose." She then starts eating, not really noticing the confusion on Sky's face.

"...wait, what?" She tilts her head to one side, absently picking up an apple as she looks at each of them in turn. "Why do you all have different last names?"

"Different moms." Yang replies casually, taking a sip of her drink. "Same dad."

"Well, except for Daring, anyways," Ruby points out.

"Nah, our dad is still her dad." The older says, nodding at her own logic.

Sky blinks, looking down at the filly eagerly eating her lunch. "...then who's her mother?"

Yang shrugs, taking a bite of her sandwich. "Whoever dad ends up liking, I guess."

"...how did you get a sister without a mother?" She scratches her head in confusion.

"Dad found her." The oldest sister answers once more as another shape approaches the table, one that they had met on the way to school.

"So... does that mean she's ad-"

"Puppy!" Daring suddenly jumps up, knocking her head against Sky's chin, both of them wincing and holding their sore spots.

"Oh, it's you!" Argent smiles at them. "Do you have room for one more?"

"Sure." The filly weakly smiles at him, still in a bit of pain.

Sitting down on her other side, he looks at the two in pain curiously before digging into his lunchbox and pulling out two cold packs. "You want to borrow these? I don't need them since it's time to eat."

They gratefully accept them, though Ruby does have to give him a confused stare in response. "Why do you have two ice packs? Wouldn't one be enough?"

"One's specially for my drink," he replies, pulling out his lunch which includes some kind of cooked animal leg.

She blinks, then holds up her red container of milk. "You don't use a thermos?"

He shakes his head, pulling out a large cup with a lid on it. "I can fit more drink in this."

A golden hoof reaches over to poke it. "What's in there?"

He smiles, cracking it open and taking a sip. "Strawberry, banana, and pineapple juice." His tongue slides out to lick his lips afterwards.

Daring blankly stares at him. "...that actually tastes good?"

The brunette girl giggles off to the side. "Not as good as milk."

Pouring a little into his lid to serve as a cup, he offers it to the filly. "You'd be surprised."

She looks at him questioningly, then leans forward, grips the lid in her teeth and tilts it up to drink.

The berry and banana blend nicely together to form a smooth satisfying flavor while the pineapple provides a sharp end and aftertaste.

The wolf faunus watches her with anticipation, ears pricked forward.

She nods, sighing blissfully as she flips the lid perfectly onto his cup. "Yeah, that's pretty good. You should try this, though!" She offers her own thermos to him.

His tongue lightly flicks out as he sips, humming afterward. "That is nice... I usually just drink milk with cereal."

"It's my go-to drink!" Ruby grins eagerly, throwing her arms wide and nearly smacking her sister in the face.

"Hey, watch it!" Yang says, laughing.

"So both of you drink this at lunch?" The boy looks to the filly and the brunette.

"Yep!" They glance at Yang, tilting their heads to the side cutely, in unison, asking the same silent question.

"I mean... I like milk, but sometimes I drink other stuff." She smiles sheepishly.

The younger girl bops her on the nose with her spoon, pouting a bit. "Traitor."

The only boy at the table bites off a chunk of his lunch, watching curious as the siblings interact. After he swallows, he looks to Skye. "What about you? What do you drink?"

She furrows her brows, slowly lifting up a bottle of clear liquid. "Water?"

He tilts his head. "Do you not drink anything else?"

"No." She scrunches up her nose. "There's too much sugar in other drinks."

He looks down at his juice mix curiously before shrugging. "If you say so. As long as you like it, that's fine."

Sky nods, then starts to drink, humming happily to herself. She then hacks a bit from the water going down the wrong pipe, getting water and spittle all over Daring's mane.

Yang winces. "Eww... hold on." Digging into her backpack, she pulls out a small towel and drapes it over Daring's head. "Dad gave me this for gym, but it's still clean right now."

The filly's muzzle scrunches up a bit. "...think daddy can help clean me up a bit?" She looks around at everyone. "Is there a shower?"

Yang nods. "There are showers in the gym. We have that class right after this. You could probably just dry off and shower after class."

She nods, then quietly pouts. "...wish I had my hat..."

"Yeah... probably would have helped there." Yang agees.

"...wait... is her hat some kind of tan color? A pith helmet?" Sky, no longer choking, points at her own head questioningly.

"Yeah, that's it!" The blonde nods. "How did you know?"

She flinches, then points somewhere across the cafeteria. "The... school bully... has it..."

Yang's eyes narrow as she turns her head to see where she's pointed.

She sees a mountain of a girl, laughing with her group at one of the larger tables. The two things she can tell, since her back is facing them, is that she has a lion's tail, long red hair... and Daring's hat on her head.

The filly blinks at this, surprised. "...I thought we couldn't wear hats in school?"

"I never asked, but if we can't..." She gets a sly smile. "Dad wouldn't want us getting in trouble for fighting, but if he sees her in that hat, I bet he'd confiscate it."

Ruby looks around, then frowns softly. "...but dad's not here..."

"Yeah... maybe we can call that plan B." She hums in thought. "She might have gym after this, most kids do. They have us change during then, so we might be abel to swipe it in the locker room."

Sky raises the hand that had been soothingly rubbing Daring's belly. "What if she never lets it out of her sight?"

"Well... she has to if we really can't wear hats, especially in gym, right?" The blonde seems like she's running out of ideas.

"Yeah, I guess... so... where is she going?" The pony-eared girl points to the golden pony, who is currently trotting over to the much larger - compared to her - girl.

"Uh oh..." Yang quickly slides out of her seat and follows.

She stops right behind the girl, puffing her cheeks out and spreading her wings, trying to be intimidating. Of course, since she does this, she can't exactly speak.

As Yang walks up behind Daring, Argent shows up at her side, looking curious at how the exchange will go.

The large girl finally notices, turning to look at them and raising an eyebrow. "What? You need help finding something?" When Daring opens her mouth, she just holds up a hand and smirks. "Oh? If you're looking for the point to your lives, I think it's down a well, somewhere."

Argent narrows his eyes, a quiet growl coming from him while Yang bristles and speaks up. "Better than being locked up like you'll be!"

"For what?" She shrugs, smiling wickedly at her. "I did nothing wrong. Just told her somewhere to look."

"You also took her hat." Yang counters.

"Says who?" She smirks, running her finger along the brim. "I say this is my hat, and you can't prove otherwise."

Daring's eyes light up, and she turns to Yang, smiling happily as they recall something only they know.

"Yes, we can. The kind of proof any teacher would believe if we told them." Yang says with a smirk.

The bully rolls her eyes, turning and waving her off. "We both know you're bluffing."

Argent leans down to the filly. "Should I actually go get a teacher or do you have this handled?"

She nods, looking up at him with a smile. "Let's do this the right way. Maybe humble her while we're at it."

Nodding, the boy heads off, going to one of the teachers just standing against the wall on the other side of the cafeteria to make sure no fights break out.

The taller girl blinks, staring at the boy in confusion. "...what is he doing? Why are you two suddenly smiling?"

The boy returns quickly with the soft smiling Miss River Song. When she spots Daring, she speaks. "Everything going okay over here?"

She pouts and points a hoof at the bully. "She stole my hat!"

She growls, pointing a finger back at her. "She's lying!"

Miss Song looks between the two thoughtfully, trying to gauge their faces.

After a moment, Yang holds up a finger. "Daring's name is on the inside."

River raises an eyebrow at that and holds out a hand for the hat. "Let me check."

The tall girl huffs, crossing her arms defiantly. "I don't have to show anyone anything."

River's voice goes straight to stern. "Do it, or you'll have detention on the first day of school and every time I ask it will only get worse."

Everyone is shocked by this, and the girl simply takes the hat off and hands it to her.

"Thank you." She goes right back to smiling as she flips it over and looks inside. "This definitely seems like yours, Daring." She sets it on the filly's head. "You can keep it with you, but you might have to put it in your bag at times, alright?"

She nods, beaming brightly and moving to happily hug her.

She pats her head softly. "You're welcome. Now, you probably want to make sure you finish your food. Gym class is coming up and you'll need your energy."

She nods and hurries to her seat. The older girl watches her, frowning deeply all the while.

As the other two follow the pony, River heads back to her spot.

When they sit down, Daring takes a seat in Argent's lap and looks around, fighting to keep the frown off her face. "...I thought there'd be cheering..."

"Well, maybe they don't want to draw attention?" The wolf boy point her head towards a nearby table where there are a few smiles directed at her. "A change of leader usually isn't that simple. She might try something else."

She frowns, nodding a little bit. "Yeah, I guess I can see that." The filly smiles and tips her hat at the other group.

They give her a few waves and thumbs up.

Yang smiles as she watches. "Looks like you might get admirers at this rate."

Daring looks up at her, curious. "...what's an admire-rer?"

She grins as she eats. "A word dad taught me that means people look up to you."

"Really?" Sky can't help but speak up, frowning a bit. "I thought it was someone who wanted to be your boyfriend..." She glances at Argent. "...or, uh... girlfriend?"

The boy looks behind him before returning the look at Sky while Yang responds. "I think I've heard it used like that, but not much, so maybe you're right."

Ruby speaks up. "We could always ask dad or Uncle Qrow."

Yang nods. "Yeah we should. Maybe we'll have one of them for a class later."

Sky mutters to herself, resting her head on her open palm. "Isn't one of them one of the gym teachers?"

"Uncle Qrow is, but he sometimes goes off on missions." Yang explains.

She just furrows her brow in response. "Missions? I thought he was just drunk... or hungover."

"I think dad's said that he's good about not drinking when he's teaching..." The blonde looks up as she thinks before shrugging. "Guess we'll see."

Daring and Ruby look at the two of them in turn, bafflement clear on their faces.

Argent, who is absentmindedly chewing the last bit of meat off his bone from lunch, comments. "How long do we get for lunch anyway?"

The bell rings right after he finishes his question.

Ruby raises her hand. "That long."

Nodding as the mass of students start to get up and chatter, the boy holds his hand out to Sky and Daring. "Can I have those ice packs back?"

They nod and hand them back, though the filly has to do so with her mouth. She pauses to briefly nuzzle his hand before hurrying after her sisters.

Sky watches them go, smirking a bit at the boy. "She's pretty cute, huh?"

He smiles and clenches his hand a bit. "Yeah... cute and brave."

The horse girl giggles, bumping his hip with hers. "I bet you think more than that." Then she starts cleaning up her tray, getting a last few quick bites in before she has to leave for her class.

Argent pauses after he picks his lunchbox, looking at her curiously. "What do you mean?"

"If you have to ask, you aren't ready!" She calls back at him as she races out of the cafeteria, pausing just long enough to throw her trash away.

Tilting his head in confusion, the wolf boy is soon off to his own class.