RWBY||Defender of Remnant

Chapter 7: Players

3rd Person POV

Beacon Library

"Hmmmm..." Ruby mused as she, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Sincline sat around a wooden table made of smooth mahogany, a set of cards in each of their hands. The mech-turned-human had returned just in time for lunch, and the group quickly made their way to the library shortly afterward. They had been playing for a few hours now, and Ruby had finally made her decision. "Alright!" she announced, raising a fist to point at her sister. "Yang Xiao Long, prepare your kingdom for battle!"

"Bring it on!" Yang challenged, raising her hand and beckoning her tauntingly. "Hit me with your best shot, little Sis!"

"I deploy... the Atlesian Air Fleet!" Ruby shouted, raising her card into the air with a victorious smile on her face.

Yang gasped, horrified.

"Looks like I get to fly right over your Ursai and attack your walls directly!" Ruby declared, reading the instructions off the back with the finality of fate itself.

"You fiend!"

"And since Atlas is part of Mantle, my repair time only lasts... One. Turn," Ruby added smugly. Complete and utter victory was assured... or so she thought.

A slow grin spreading across her lips, Yang laughed. "Pretty sneaky, sis." She held up a card, causing Ruby's eyes to widen in horror. "But you've just activated my Trap Card!"

Ruby gulped. Uh oh.

"Giant Nevermore!" Yang announced, slamming the card on the table and causing Sincline, who had been checking what cards he had left to use, to nearly fall off his chair in surprise. "If I roll a seven or higher, Fatal Feathers will slice your fleet in two!"

"Ha! But if you roll a six or lower, the Nevermore will turn on your own forces," Ruby retorted, smirking. "You'll be utterly... annihilated."

"Then that's just a chance I'm willing to take," Yang shot back, and the two sisters faced off, eyes narrowing.

Shaking his head, Sincline glanced at Blake, who was staring off into the distance. "So... what are we doing again?" he asked, still trying to figure out the reason for the game they were playing. Then again, isn't 'fun' supposed to be just that? Fun? he wondered.

"Remnant: The Game," Blake replied absentmindedly, her gaze unfocused.

"So, why did Ozpin call you to his office?" Weiss asked curiously as Yang prepared her dice roll while Ruby watched, fingers crossed hopefully.

"He wanted to introduce me to the General," Sincline replied, tearing his gaze from Blake and examining his cards, missing the shocked look on Weiss's face. Looks like this game is about strategy, he thought, and a slow smile crept across his face. Oh yeah, I definitely like this game.

"Wait..." Weiss said slowly as she stared at Sincline. "You met with the General of Atlas?! Head of one of the four most prestigious academies on Remnant?!" While she may have been able to keep her composure most of the time, hearing that Sincline spoke with James Ironwood, of all people, and was now treating it like an everyday occurrence...

Sincline shrugged. "He wanted to know more about my origins. I told him what I told you and gave him some plans to help improve the Kingdom's defenses," he explained.

Weiss stared at him for a long moment, mouth opening and closing several times... and facepalmed, seeing no other way to explain to Sincline how momentous and lifechanging his statement was while Yang rolled her dice, ending up with... a seven.