I had something meaningful to say about Monty's passing and how much of an impact his work had on my life, but like most times when I want to say something meaningful I can't put it into words.
This is something I've been trying to write for a while now between bashing my skull in with a hammer trying to finish the next chapters of Promises and bashing my head against the wall trying to finish the next chapter of Road Trip. But since today marked the second year of Monty's passing I decided to buckle down and at least try and finish this.
I can't guarantee it's quality but hopefully it's not too terrible.
Ruby Rose had never been good with crowds, and never would be. So why, do you ask, was she at a hobby store where a decent sized crowd had come to play in a card game tournament?
The answer was simple; she was the only one with a driver's license. Well, that wasn't necessarily true. Her sister Yang had a driver's license, but it had been pulled by their father when Yang had wrecked the motorcycle she had wanted so badly.
So of course that left Ruby as her sisters' chauffer to this card tournament at an out of the way hobby store.
As Yang sat across from the opponent she'd been assigned by the staff running the tournament, Ruby shoved her hands into the pocket of her red hoodie and decided to wander to the back of the store, away from the noise.
The back shelves had a bunch of books and card sets and dice for the various tabletop games. Most of it was for whatever Warhammer was, and her interest piqued at the Star Wars ones, but she found herself picking up a hardcover book with what looked like a giant wearing a skull for a helmet on the front cover.
"Players handbook, huh." She muttered, flipping it open and thumbing through the pages. As she was perusing the book she noticed something out of her peripheral vision that caught her attention.
It was another table full of people, but unlike her sister and her friends they weren't playing a card game, they had a giant mat laid out with drawings of what looked like hallways and big open rooms and several small plastic figures battling it out in one of those big open rooms.
The man at the head of the table was clad in green and obviously the oldest if his grey hair and spectacles were anything to go by, sat behind a screen and seemed to be orchestrating what was going on. To his left was a young blonde man wearing a black hoodie that had the words 'Crittles, taste the painbow.'written on it along with several dragons and different colored dice underneath the words.
To that young man's left was another young man in a green jacket with black hair tied in a ponytail and a pink streak in it that matched his eyes. A girl with bright orange hair sat in his lap, and while it may have looked awkward to everyone else, the man seemed to be comfortable with it.
She inched closer, hoping she was being subtle, and listened in on their conversation.
"Okay, back to the top, the ogre is going to take a swing at our paladin friend. What's your AC(1) again Jaune?" the older man said as he rolled a die.
"Gotta beat an eighteen." The blonde boy, Jaune, said as he leaned forward and scooped up one of the dice lying in front of him.
The older man smirked. "Unfortunately for you, I did just that. With a mighty bellow the ogre swings his club, catching you in the chest and flinging you into the wall. You take," he paused and rolled some dice several times. "I'm throwing in an extra d4 for when you hit the wall totaling . . . twenty-two damage." He said, chuckling as Jaune let out a frustrated groan and wrote something down on the sheet in front of him.
"Alright Ren, Nora, you're up, then it will be the orcs turn, then Jaune." He said, gesturing to the other two at the table.
The red haired girl, Nora, grinned and said rather loudly "I rage(2) and swing my maul at the orc in front of me." She scooped up a die and rolled it, letting out a loud cheer when it landed on twenty. "Booyah, critical hit!" she exclaimed, planting a kiss on Ren's lips.
"Oh yeah, she opened up a pack of crittles and it's time for him to taste the painbow!" the blonde man exclaimed, changing his voice to sound like the late, great, Randy Savage as he pointed at the miniature Nora's character was fighting. This was immediately followed by a hoarse cough. "Ugh, no matter how many times I tell myself not to do that I do it every time." He said, taking a sip of his drink.
"It's certainly entertaining though." Ren said as he sipped his own drink.
"Indeed, roll your damage Nora." The old man said with a smile as Nora scooped up her dice and practically threw them across the table, cheering when they came up high.
"That'll do it. With a scream to rival the war cry of an army the first swing of your maul takes the orcs legs out from under him, the follow up strike turning his head to paste." The grey haired man said as he took a sip from his coffee mug.
Ruby had given up all pretense of subtlety as she watched Ren declare his attack and roll his die, only to miss. He lucked out though, since the orc missed as well.
"Okay Jaune, it's your turn, what is Tariel's next move?" the older man said with a grin.
Jaune rubbed the back of his head as he weighed his options. "Okay I'm going to use my bonus action to lay on hands(3) myself for ten points, and then attack the ogre with my greatsword." He said, marking something on his sheet before scooping up his die and rolling it, shouting when he too apparently rolled a critical hit.
"Oh yeah, I'm opening up a pack of crittles and its time for you, Ozpin, to taste the painbow!" he exclaimed before descending into a coughing fit. "I'm also gonna pop a smite(4) using a second level spell slot.(5)" He added as he scooped up some extra dice and rolling them. "It takes twenty seven damage." He followed up after looking over his dice.
"Your sword, glowing with divine radiance, bites deep into the ogres hide, opening a deep gash. This ogre can't take much more."
"Would you say that it's all ogre now?" Ruby found herself saying before she could stop herself, her hand clapping over her mouth as the four people at the table turned to look at her, the book she was hiding behind falling to the floor with a thud.
"She speaks, oh speak again bright angel." Jaune said, and Ruby felt her cheeks heat up as she tried to pull her hood up and over her face.
Before anyone could say anything else Yang practically bowled her over in her rush to give her a hug. "I'm so proud of my little sister! Look at you making awesome puns." Yang cooed as she pinched her little sisters cheeks.
"Yaaaaaaaang stoooooop." Ruby whined as her sister fawned over her. "Okay okay, have fun nerding out with the dungeon crawlers." Yang said before returning to her table and very confused looking opponent.
That of course left Ruby to stand awkwardly in front of the group of dungeon crawlers, who were all looking at her expectantly.
"Um, hi there." She said lamely with a hesitant wave.
"Hey. Guessing you're not here to play Magic?" Jaune said, gesturing to the tables on the other side of the room.
Ruby shook her head. "Nope, sister wanted to and I'm the only one able to drive right now. Not really a fan since the person who spends the most money wins more often than not." She said as she rocked on her feet.
"Well you're welcome to sit with us and observe our game." Ozpin said, gesturing to the empty seat across from Jaune.
Ruby glanced at the floor, obviously unsure. "You sure it's okay?" she asked. Ozpin merely nodded and gestured at the empty seat again.
"Come on little red, it'll be lotsa fun!" Nora said exuberantly, wiggling in Rens lap before the man in question made her settle down.
Ruby smiled nervously and took a seat across from Jaune, who offered a smile of his own.
"Alright, now that we've got that settled, it's now top of the order and the ogre isn't very happy with you Jaune." Ozpin said with a wicked gleam in his eye. Jaune grinned and winked at Ruby, and she felt her cheeks heat up. "Bring it on old man." Jaune countered.
Ozpin smiled at the boy challenging smile. "The ogre takes up its club and swings at you again." He said, the sound of dice rolling on the table following his statement.
Ruby felt herself tense up as Ozpin stared at the die before, surprisingly, he frowned. "It would seem your attack did more to the beast then it realized as its club swings harmlessly over your head, though it does create a refreshing breeze as it goes by." The older man said. "Nora, there's still one orc left, and it's actively afraid of you considering what you did. You get advantage(6) on your next attack roll."
Nora nodded. "Okie doke, I'm gonna use my second rage and attack!" she said, once again practically throwing her dice across the table.
Blake Belladonna was annoyed, if the twitching in her cat ears was any indicator.
Annoyed at Sun and Neptune for dragging her out here in order to 'Get her out of her apartment for once.' (Their words, not hers). Annoyed that they'd brought her here while they fucked off and played Magic. And annoyed at the crowd for being so noisy considering the game was supposedly about tactics and quick thinking (which should have been a quiet affair).
What annoyed her most was the fact that though she'd chosen an unoccupied table as far away from them as possible she hadn't been able to escape the noise, or drown it out.
With a heavy sigh she shut her book and stood up, walking over to the glass refrigerator by the front counter and grabbing a soda, making sure to pay for it.
Just as she was about to head back to the table she'd been at she saw the blonde girl race past her to a table she hadn't noticed before and hug a girl with black and red hair.
Arching an eyebrow she watched in silence as the girl walked over to the table full of people playing Dungeons and Dragons, apparently having a very hard time talking to them before sitting across from the blonde player.
Letting out a soft sigh she moved over to the table as well, drawing the attention of the elderly man who appeared to be running the game. "May I help you young lady?" he asked, which diverted everyone's attention to her.
Blake found herself coming up short. "Uh, I was wondering if it was okay for me to sit here and read, it's really noisy at the other tables." She said quickly. The older man smiled and nodded, gesturing to the empty seat across from the dark haired man and his girlfriend. "Of course you may. It's always nice to have another observer of our little game. It's nice to meet you miss . . .?" the older man said, letting the question hang.
"Blake, Blake Belladonna." She responded, opening her book and finding the page she was on last. A soft chuckle preempted the old man's response. "It's a pleasure to have you here Miss Belladonna."
Blake nodded and took her seat, stealing a look at the blonde man sitting diagonally across from her, who much like the duo sitting across from her had his attention focused on the game. Every few minutes she would look up to watch events unfold on the table.
From what she'd been told the three adventurers were looking for a powerful magical item that was hidden in the abandoned ruins of a once proud Dwarven city, now overrun by the monsters that protected what they sought.
Despite the way the characters personalities seemed to clash, they operated with surprising efficiency. Jaunes paladin Tariel would make sure he absorbed as much damage as he dealt out while Noras' barbarian Nora Valkyerian did nothing but laugh maniacally and swing her greathammer, leaving Rens monk Lee Sin to finish them off. And while the monk didn't seem to be as strong as the paladin or barbarian, but he still managed to clean up any enemies he faced swiftly.
She was actually impressed with the older man narrating the adventure; Ozpin was apparently his name, and he was quite the storyteller. He narrated the fight scenes rather well, making it seem like he was reading the fight scenes out of a book rather than describing actions being taken by inanimate figurines.
"Ugh these fights are taking a lot out of us. Wish we had a cleric with us." Jaune said as he stared at his character sheet. Ozpin had suggested they take a break after Nora made it very clear that she was hungry and that Ren should go get her snacks.
Ruby tilted her head in confusion. "What's a cleric and what do they do?" she asked.
Before Jaune could answer Blake spoke up, not even looking up from her book. "Clerics are a lot like paladins but with access to more magic depending on their domain(7). They usually pull double duty as tank and healer, which Jaunes been trying to do, but not as effectively." She said.
Jaune and Ruby blinked at her in shock and surprise. "That actually pretty much hit the nail on the head. I'm doing what I can, but I can only heal so much with Lay on Hands and it doesn't recharge until our next long rest." Jaune said as he fiddled with his pencil. "Have you played before?" he asked Blake as she turned the page of her book.
"No, but my dad was pretty big into it when he was young and I read all his old handbooks." She responded, giving him a smile before rising from the table. "I'm going to go get a drink, anybody else want anything?" she asked. Ruby and Jaune both asked for drinks and provided money, thanking her when she returned alongside Ren, who passed out snacks for everyone.
"Are we ready to resume?" Ozpin asked as he took his place behind the DM(8) screen. He smiled when everyone voiced an affirmative, Ruby seeming to vibrate in her seat in anticipation. Blake even closed her book and set it aside to give Ozpin attention.
"Very well. As you come to the end of the corridor you find a set of ancient wooden doors, somehow still standing after all this time. You push them open and you Jaune, as a paladin, can feel the thousands of prayers uttered in this chapel for hundreds of years to gods that are as old as time itself." He said. Jaune raised his hand, and Ozpin gave him a questioning look.
"Religion check to see if I can figure out which god it is?" he asked. Ozpin nodded and Jaune rolled. "Nineteen." He said. Ozpin nodded. "As you look at the markings on the door you recognize them as Dwarven runes, something the Dwarven blacksmith of your village taught you when you were apprenticing with him. One of these runes stands out as the symbol of Moradin, keeper of secrets under the mountain." The older man said. Jaune nodded and relayed the information to Nora and Ren while in character.
"And there upon the altar, the gold letters on the worn leather cover still shining brightly despite its age, the tome you seek.", Ozpin said, pausing a moment to take a sip of his coffee.
"As you take tentative steps inside a voice calls out to you, echoing off the stone walls. 'You have done well to make it this far. Truly you are heroes worthy of song and legend.'" Ozpin said, his voice changing to that of a much younger man.
"You see him emerge from a door you didn't notice at first that most likely leads into a storage room or the priests' quarters. His robe is stained and fraying, his face sunken and gaunt. In his left hand he holds a book, a rather ominous looking one to be precise what with its leather binding that resembles human skin and the weird ancient letters etched in what would appear to be blood." He continues, a wicked smile growing on his face. "You're also sure if you took a few steps closer you'd be able to smell him."
"'Come for the book have you? Well we I can't really let you do that. The power within that book has made me far more than I was when I found it.' He says, opening his book and beginning to chant in a dead language." Ozpin said.
"I pull a dart from my belt and throw it at him. Hopefully it can buy us time." Ren said, picking up his d20.
"Make an attack roll." Ozpin said, and Ren rolled. "Shit, eleven." He said, his hand coming down on the table in frustration.
Ozpin smiled. "Your hand is swift but you didn't take quite enough time plotting the path your dart would take, it whizzes past his ear and bounces of the stone behind him, and he manages to finish his incantation. Jaune, you feel the energy before anyone else does, a creeping sense of entropy and wrongness that ghosts past you and into the ruins." He said ominously.
"That can't bode well." Ren said. Jaune and Nora nodded, turning their attention back to Ozpin, who was still smiling.
Ruby and Blake shared look, the worry shared between the players infecting them as well. "This isn't good." Blake said as she leaned forward, resting her arms on the table. "Why's that?" Ruby asked.
Blake stared at the robe clad miniature Ozpin had placed on the table in front of the heroes' minis. "He's a necromancer." she said, laying her head on the table.
"Aren't those the ones that bring stuff back from the dead?" Ruby asked before her face fell, realizing what was about to happen.
"From outside you hear it; soft gurgling noises and the shifting of bodies, followed by a loud bellow and thunderous footsteps. The doors crash open, and the ogre you killed steps in, and he isn't particularly happy with any of you, especially you Jaune." Ozpin narrated. Jaune slammed his head on the table several times, and Ruby couldn't help but giggle at the display.
"The necromancer laughs maniacally as he thrusts an outstretched hand at you all. 'A shame your journey ends here adventurers. At least you'll make a fine addition to my growing army.' The necromancer says as he continues to laugh, the zombie monsters closing in around you." Ozpin narrated before he closed one of the books behind his screen.
"But unfortunately that is all the time we have for tonight. Will our heroes be able to face the onslaught of undead monsters, will they be able to retrieve the tome of unknown power, and kill the necromancer who intends to lead this army? All these things and more will be revealed in our next session." He said as he began to put his dice away.
His words caught Blake off guard. Glancing at her watch she realized it was indeed ten o'clock and most of the tournament players were either gone or packing up.
How time flew.
Ruby stared at him in shock, "What, no! I want to see them fight!" she said as she threw her arms into the air. Ozpin chuckled "Then come by next week to see the thrilling conclusion. We begin at six o'clock and go until ten." He said as he folded up his screen.
Ruby nodded and practically jumped out of her chair as everyone began to pack up. "That was so cool! I can't wait to see what happens next." She said excitedly as she rushed over to Jaune, who laughed at her enthusiasm.
"Well, if you like you could join us, we could always use more people." He said, gesturing to the book she'd been looking at before.
Ruby smiled shyly. "You really think I could help?" she asked, going over to the book and picking it up. Jaune nodded and joined her when he'd finished packing his stuff up.
"Are you serious about wanting to play?" he asked, giving her a stern look. Ruby nodded, a serious look on her face.
Jaunes stern look was replaced with a smile and he took the book from Ruby's hands. "Okay, give me just a sec." he said as he walked over to the register, book in hand. Ruby watched as he picked up what looked like a set of dice before paying for everything.
He walked back over and handed Ruby the book and dice. "There you go, thumb through it and get an idea of what class you want to be and I'll help you get set up next week. Sound good?" he asked.
Ruby could only nod as she stared at the set of dice he'd bought her in addition to the book. They were bright red and clear, the numbers standing out in stark white.
"Ruby dice for the girl named Ruby." Jaune said with a chuckle as he adjusted his backpack. "Be sure to put that to good use okay?" he continued as he walked over to the selection of miniatures next to the various rule books, looking them over and seeing if they had anything worth picking up.
He was nearly bowled over when Ruby hugged him. "Thank you thank you thank you!" she exclaimed as she tried to break all his ribs. Or at least that's what Jaune thought she was trying to do.
"You're welcome." He said in a strained voice as the air was forced from his lungs. Ruby let him go and Jaune tried not to sigh in relief as he was able to breathe again.
"Thanks again Jaune." Ruby said, a light blush coloring her cheeks, though that went unnoticed by Jaune. They stood there awkwardly until a voice called out; "Ruby come on, you have to drive remember?"
Both of them glanced over to see Ruby's sister Yang standing by the door with an impatient look on her face. Ruby cringed a bit in embarrassment and rushed to her sister, waving to Jaune as they walked out the door.
"She's certainly chipper." A voice behind Jaune said, making him jump as he spun around. It was their other guest Blake, who was doing her best to hide her laughter.
"You make a habit of sneaking up on people?" he asked with a smile as Blake moved past him to grab a player's handbook from the shelf.
"I try not to, but it's so fun to watch people's reactions." She said with a mischievous smile on her face as she began to flip through the book.
"You thinking about joining our game as well? Like I told Ruby we could always use more people." He said. Blake nodded and tucked the book under her arm. "It seems fun, and I'm sure my dad will like that I'm picking up one of his old hobbies." She responded as she walked with Jaune to the front counter, where she waved over a blonde monkey faunus and a blue haired young man.
"Hey Blake, what's up?" the monkey faunus said as he glanced at the book in her hands. "Oh cool, gonna buy a D&D book and hang out with the rest of the nerds?" he asked playfully, his monkey tail twitching.
His smile quickly disappeared when Blake shoved the book and a set of black and purple dice into his hands. "Nope, you're gonna buy them for me. You wanted me to get out more Sun, this is the price." She said, her tone making it clear that she would accept no arguments.
Sun just looked between the book, dice, and Blake for several moments before sighing and placing them on the counter and digging out his wallet while Neptune laughed at his friend.
"You're absolutely evil." Jaune said with a chuckle. "But I'm evil in all the best ways." she said in a sultry voice, winking at Jaune and taking a certain pleasure in seeing him blush.
Jaune just shook his head and tried to steer the conversation to something a little less awkward. "So I'll see you next week?" he asked. Blake nodded as she accepted her items from Sun, who looked none too pleased about having to pay for it.
"I'll see you then." Blake said as she and her friends left, deciding to put a little extra sway in her hips as she did so to tease Jaune. She could practically feel his eyes boring into her.
Jaune let out a sigh as the door shut behind them. He grabbed himself a Red Bull from the fridge and set it on the counter as Ren and Nora joined him, holding their drinks of their own and some new sets of dice.
"I'm glad we'll be getting some new players. It'll certainly take some of the strain off of you so you can focus on tanking." Ren said.
"And it helps that they're cute girls huh Jaune?" Nora asked as she nudged the blonde with her elbow. Jaune just waved her off. "Little too soon for anything like that guys." Jaune said as he paid for his drink and popped it open, downing in quickly and throwing the can away. Ren and Nora shared a look as they paid for their things.
"Nora and I were going to go see the new Star Wars movie at the cheap theatre this weekend. You wanna come with?" Ren asked as all three walked out of the store. Jaune tapped his chin in thought before finally nodding. "Sure. I could use some more time out of the apartment." He said as they reached their cars.
"We miss her too Jaune." Ren said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Jaune nodded, moving in and hugging both his friends. "I know you do." He said as he threw his backpack into his car. "Let me know what time you guys are gonna go to the movies." He said as he got in and started his car.
Ren and Nora watched as Jaune drove off, still worried for their friend.
"So did you have fun dungeon crawling?" Yang said as Ruby drove them home. She'd noticed her sister was clutching the book that guy had bought her pretty tightly as they walked to the car.
"All I did was watch them Yang, but I do intend to start dungeon crawling next week." Ruby said, doing her best to focus on the road.
Yang grinned wickedly. "I bet you want that cute blonde guy to go crawling in your dungeon." She said, laughing as her sister stammered and blushed.
"Yaaaaaang!" Ruby exclaimed as she swatted at her still laughing sister, then immediately corrected the car when she realized she'd been drifting into the next lane.
"Come on, it's so obvious you like him. Why not use this as a way to get to know him, then ask him out. It can't hurt." Yang said as she calmed down. She looked at her now pouting sister and shook her head.
"So what was up with you and the blonde guy? You seemed to really hit it off." Neptune said from the passenger seat as Sun drove them home.
Blake simply rolled her eyes and glared at him from the back seat. "He's nice, a bit goofy, but nice. Not exactly sure he's boyfriend material." She said, settling back and continuing to thumb through her new book by the light of her phone.
"Can't hurt to find out." Sun said as he pulled into Blake's' apartment complex.
She bid her friends farewell and went up to her apartment, changing into her pajamas and settled down on the couch, opening her players handbook to the page she'd left off at and resumed reading.
If she was going to do this, she was going to be prepared.
Jaune smiled as he was greeted by his cats Milo and Akouo, making sure they didn't try and get out as he was walking in.
He set his backpack by the door and went about feeding them their dinner before making something for himself.
"Missed you at the game tonight, everyone did. We really could have used you there tanking alongside me." He said as he moved to the living room and sat down with his dinner, the cats hopping up to sniff at his food.
"We might even have some new players joining us next week, so it should make the fights a little easier." He continued before taking a bite of his food.
He set his food on the table in front of him and picked up the picture he'd been talking to. The person the photo was a beautiful young woman with emerald green eyes and dark red hair. He'd taken the picture on their first anniversary when he'd taken her to her favorite spot to watch the ocean.
He didn't know he'd started crying until the first tear hit the glass covering the picture. He set it down and buried his face in his hands, sobbing uncontrollably.
When he managed to get control of himself he looked at the clock, not surprised that he'd spent half an hour crying.
He sighed and pushed himself to his feet. "'You should talk to her picture.' They said, 'It'll help you cope.' They said. What a load of shit." He said to himself as he filled a glass with water and downed it.
He sighed as he pulled the glass away from his lips. Even after ten months it still felt like it had happened yesterday. His grief still hadn't subsided or gone away, though he hadn't expected it to.
He shook his head and went back to his meal, finishing it quickly and getting ready for bed.
As he lay there he thought about the girls that intended to join them next week. Ruby seemed very much into being part of the party, and Blake seemed smart and would hopefully make a good character to help them out.
With those thoughts, and hopes of greater adventures to come next week, he finally managed to fall asleep.
Well that's chapter 1, hopefully you enjoyed it. Now for those who aren't familiar with Dungeons and Dragons I made note of terms that might have been confusing by putting the numbers in parentheses next to them, this is where I'll explain those terms straight from the 5th Edition player's handbook.
A/N: Noticed I numbered things incorrectly and that actually led to me leaving out something. The list has been updated.
(1) AC stands for Armor Class and is the number the DM has to roll for one of his creatures to hit you or for you to hit them. It can be modified by various things like carrying a shield or wearing heavy armor.
(2) Rage is a skill unique to the Barbarian class that gives them advantage on strength checks and saves, which means if they have to do something involving the Strength stat they get to roll an extra 20 sided die and take the higher number. They also do extra damage when they attack with a melee weapon that increases as they level up. They also gain resistance to all physical types of damage.
(3) Lay on Hands is a special Paladin ability that lets them heal points equal to 5 times the Paladins level. It can only be used once per long rest.
(4) Smite is another ability unique to Paladins and Clerics, allowing the player to add two 8 sided die to their normal damage die.
(5) Spell Slots are the amount of times you can use spells at a certain level. In the case of Jaunes paladin it allows him to add an extra 8 sided die to his smite attack at the expense of being able to cast a spell of that level.
(6) This one is a little redundant since I explained it while I was talking about Rage but Advantage is when you get to roll an extra 20 sided die during a check, save, or attack and take the higher number. There's also DISadvantage where you roll two 20 sided die and take the lower number.
(7) At character creation a Cleric chooses a domain based on what deity the follow, though all deities have multiple domains to choose from. They are Knowledge, Life, Light, Nature, Tempest, Trickery, and War. Each domain offers unique spells that the Cleric can cast without having to prepare it.
(8) This one is probably obvious but DM stands for Dungeon Master and is the person that runs the game from behind a screen that has some basic info about monsters and keeps the DMs notes and rolls hidden from the players.
Okay hopefully that cleared up any confusion involving the terminology used by the players.
I'm sure some of you already picked up on this but I'm trying something new. By the end of this I'm going to try and have Blake and Ruby both be in a relationship with Jaune. But given my track record when it comes to attempting romance of any kind it will be so poorly done I'll probably just put it to a vote and whoever wins will be his love interest by the end.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed and see you next chapter!
P.S. As I was getting ready to upload the story I forgot that I wanted to clarify something important. They are not the same age in this as they are in the show. Jaune and the rest of the party will be in their mid twenties with the exception of Ruby who will be in her early twenties.