Penny Polendina (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
in4apounding) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
mewsbawks2016-10-06 04:44 pm
in4apounding) wrote in mewsbawks2016-10-06 04:44 pm
The Songs We'll Sing - Soul Eater AU
[’As a weapon, the most important decision you’ll ever make is choosing a meister.’]
[Penny didn't know how many times she'd heard that. Too many to count, for as long as she could remember. Certainly more than any half-remembered nursery rhymes or bedtime stories. Before any of that had come her preparation for this.]
[’A weapon’s first duty is to their meister.’]
[’The right partnership is the one that brings out the strongest in both members.’]
[’A weapon is always prepared to lay down their life for that of their meister.’]
[The choice felt like it had both been years in the future and come barreling out of nowhere; but now she was here, at the legendary DWMA, facing that choice and her first potential partner - Ruby Rose.]
[A chance meeting in their first days at the academy, weapon and meister literally running into each other in the halls, nothing like the fateful first meetings she'd read about.]
[And yet. Ruby called her a friend.]
Are you ready to start?
[Her heart skipped a nervous beat in the dimmed after-hours light of the combat classroom.]
[’A weapon must partner with whoever they synchronize best, without preference or ego.’]
[Chance meetings and friendship were one thing, but in terms of partnership they meant effectively nothing if a weapon and meister couldn't properly resonate.]
[Penny wanted this to work. Wanted it to be Ruby, the first person to call her ‘friend’. But there was only one way to be sure.]
[Penny didn't know how many times she'd heard that. Too many to count, for as long as she could remember. Certainly more than any half-remembered nursery rhymes or bedtime stories. Before any of that had come her preparation for this.]
[’A weapon’s first duty is to their meister.’]
[’The right partnership is the one that brings out the strongest in both members.’]
[’A weapon is always prepared to lay down their life for that of their meister.’]
[The choice felt like it had both been years in the future and come barreling out of nowhere; but now she was here, at the legendary DWMA, facing that choice and her first potential partner - Ruby Rose.]
[A chance meeting in their first days at the academy, weapon and meister literally running into each other in the halls, nothing like the fateful first meetings she'd read about.]
[And yet. Ruby called her a friend.]
Are you ready to start?
[Her heart skipped a nervous beat in the dimmed after-hours light of the combat classroom.]
[’A weapon must partner with whoever they synchronize best, without preference or ego.’]
[Chance meetings and friendship were one thing, but in terms of partnership they meant effectively nothing if a weapon and meister couldn't properly resonate.]
[Penny wanted this to work. Wanted it to be Ruby, the first person to call her ‘friend’. But there was only one way to be sure.]
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Wrong!
Part of her is excited, yes, because hey, she found a partner! And she managed to make friends with that partner! But since their classes got to the bits about soul resonance, she realized how... well. Close it is. And Ruby's always been a little awkward with people, so she's worried that that awkwardness will transfer over to their bond.]
Ready when you are!
[Still, she tries to keep a smile up for Penny. Even if she can't deal with her own awkwardness, she'll do her best to try and sooth her friend's...!]
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[The chipper tone is just a little forced, for once. Her emotions flipping back and forth between excitement and nerves with each heartbeat.]
[She's been transforming all her life, since she was old enough to understand the concept. This was what she was born to do; it shouldn't be a big deal. Except, the gnawing little worry in her stomach pointed out, this was the first time she'd really tried to synch with someone. There was no real shame in failure. Or there shouldn't have been.]
[Resonance wasn't really something that could be taught, it was all down to soul wavelengths. But she could still feel the possibility, what her father would say if this didn't work, or pointedly not say - in either case, there would be disappointment in his voice. For both of them, really, if for different reasons.]
Okay, just-
[Penny took a deep, practiced breath, turning her focus inward to her other form; the blade that slept in her soul, the family had always called it.]
[With a flash of light, Penny let her flesh and blood body evaporate and reform in an instant into cool metal of her scythe form.]
-be sure not to drop me, okay?
[Seriously, even a regular scythe is pretty heavy. She could break a foot like this.]
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[It isn't right to say that Ruby falls into a sort of trance when Penny's weapon form appears, but something about her just kind of... shifts. She's always been better practicing fighting with (non-sentient) weapons than she was at dealing with people, so practicing with a weapon partner isn't all that different. In one fluid motion she reaches out just as the scythe begins dipping towards the ground, using its momentum to spin it in an arc once before resting the long blade against the ground.
Okay... so far, so good. She's heard stories about how meisters incompatible with their weapon partners couldn't even lift them, so... this is a good sign! Right?]
You may be the weapon, but I gotta look out for you too!
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[This is a very good sign, as far as Penny's concerned. It's by no means a sure thing, but at the very least it means they're not IN-compatible. Probably. The soul could be a finicky thing. Regardless, it's enough to let some relief flow through her.]
[She lets Ruby spin her, subtly shifting the flow of energies through her to make the arc swing easier than any normal weapon could. That was another good, if incredibly minor sign, she thought. Helping a meister physically wield oneself in battle was almost as important as being able to transform at all.]
Ruby-
[’A weapon is always prepared to lay down their life for that of their meister.’]
You don't need to worry about me. I'm the one who'll be made of metal whenever we're fighting, right?
[But still, in a quieter voice-]
...Do you mean that, though?
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So she hefts Penny's scythe form up, turning it over so she can some face-to-blade with the weapon's head. It may look a little funny like that, but Ruby pays it no mind.]
'Course I mean that. Why wouldn't I?
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[Hic.]
[Maybe she shouldn't have said anything. She wanted Ruby to worry about her less, not more; to be able to focus on the for-now-hypothetical battle without concern for anything else. That was her duty, right?]
It's just- I don't want you to worry about me. The weapon's supposed to protect the meister. That's what we're for.
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Well yeah, but... being partners is kind of a two-way street, isn't it? I gotta do whatever you do too, when it comes to protecting! If not, then it's just like you're... I dunno. A servant or something.
[And imagining someone as sweet as Penny in such a role... it makes her stomach roll uncomfortably.]
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[It's kind of like that.]
I mean, you would be protecting me too. Just in a different way than I'd be protecting you.
[It made a lot more sense the way her father had explained things.]
But it means a lot that you want to, really. ...No one's ever really said that kind of thing to me before.
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Well, that's just dumb. Sure you're a super awesome weapon and all, but you're still a person! A really nice person. People should be telling you stuff like that all the time!
[Biased? Totally not! It's just the truth! A truth that kinda makes ruby feel funny inside... but not in a bad way.]
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That's- I'm just-
[Penny goes on for a few seconds in half-formed sentences before trailing off into a semi-coherent mumble that sounds something like 'not that awesome' and possibly 'just my duty'.]
[She has to clear her nonexistent throat before actually speaking again.]
Thanks. ...You're nice. Too. A lot. And super sensational. But I mean as a meister, not a weapon. Obviously. Um.
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H-Hey, are you sure you're okay???
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[Just that Ruby's known her for maybe a week why is she so concerned about Penny's wellbeing already she can't handle this]
[There's another embarrassed little tremble.]
You're- I'm just really glad I met you. I. Um. Haven't had very many friends before.
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[Sure, she's a little awkward like Ruby herself, but it's not really a bad thing...!]
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[That's normal, right? She doesn't have a lot of basis for comparison.]
But because of all that, I got to come here and meet you! And- anyone else I might make friends with!
[Not that weapons who can't transform perfectly are turned away, but details.]
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[Ruby knows how hard it can be to make friends, especially in the mess of school cliques. But again, Penny's just so nice that it's hard to see her having trouble...]
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[Reading, writing, math, history, basic military tactics. Normal things, question mark?]
It was pretty much just my family, though.
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[There's a pause, then it's like something clicks, and Ruby flashes Penny another bright smile.]
Well, I'll be sure to introduce you to a bunch of my friends, and my sister too!! We can do anything you wanna do that you've missed out on so far!
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[Still, her tone brightens remarkably at Ruby's suggestion.]
Really? That sounds absolutely sen-SATIONAL! Oh! Do you think we could have one of those big sleepovers, like in the movies?
[Her voice drops to an uncertain, almost conspiratorial whisper.]
Do you- do you think we could prank call someone.