"Its morning!" Nora Valkyrie cheered. Used to the cheery alarm clock, Pyrrha Nikos of team JNPR rubbed her eyes, slowly blinking out of her deep sleep. Jaune Arc, leader of the team and Pyrrha's partner woke with a start, sitting bolt upright and crying (obviously having been dreaming), "Ah! It's the iguana!"
The last member of team JNPR and Nora's partner, Lie Ren, was the last one awake. He had grown up with Nora and was more used to the happy wake up call that happened every morning.
"Good morning Jaune!" Nora said, bubbly as ever, hugging the stunned blonde boy around his shoulders.
Ren smiled sleepily. He opened his mouth in a yawn.
There was no sound.
For a moment, a flicker of worry flashed in the Huntsman's mind, but he shrugged it off, assuming he just didn't hear himself over the sound of Nora's pleasant singing.
"Good morning Pyrrha!" Nora piped as she bounced from Jaune's bed against the wall of the dorm, over Ren's bed, over her own, and plopping down on Pyrrha's at the opposite wall.
Pyrrha smiled, hesitant but sincere, as Nora hugged her tightly. "Good morning, Nora."
Nora bounded back to Ren, grinning brightly. "Good morning Ren!" she chirped. Ren smiled as she touched her finger to his nose. "Boop!"
"Good morning Nora," he said in his low, mild voice.
Or, he would have.
Ren had opened his mouth. He had formed the words. Yet just like with his yawn, there was no noise.
Nora's turquoise eyes narrowed. "Ren?" she asked, drawing out his name suspiciously.
"Yes?" he tried to reply, but once more failed.
"Why aren't you talking?"
"What's wrong?" Jaune asked curiously. He and Pyrrha watched the best friends.
"Ren's voice was stolen by..." Nora paused for spooky emphasis, "...a Ningen Grimm!"
"Uh... What?" Jaune asked.
"Nora..." Pyrrha started. "I do not think there is such thing as a Ningen Grimm..."
"Yes there are!" Nora insisted. "And they're the most dangerous, deadliest, most evil, creepy, and terrifying Grimm to ever walk Remnant!" she growled in the low voice she used for storytelling, especially horror stories.
Judging by the look on Ren's face, he'd heard this story before.
"What's a Ningen Grimm?" Jaune asked worriedly. He had never liked horror stories. Ever.
Ren shook his head fiercely. "No don't get her started on this again!" he cried, but his please fell silent.
"They look just like humans," Nora explained, "but all black. Their bone masks cover their entire face and they have three eyes, two normal ones and one...right...there!" she cried, poking Jaune in the forehead. The team leader squeaked and jumped in surprise. Pyrrha shot him a sympathetic look. Nora continued on. "They have four arms," she described quietly, waving her arms and looking suspiciously like an octopus.
Ren hung his head.
"They have bone plates covering their backs and instead of fingernails... they have claws! The Pandora have no natural voice, and the only way for them to communicate is to..." she jumped at Jaune, shouting the last few words. "...steal the voices of Hunters!" Jaune jumped in shock (yes, shock, definitely not fear). She grinned pleasantly, voice returning to normal. "They're pretty cool and really funny to talk to. You know," she added casually, shrugging as if it were common knowledge, "when they're not trying to steal your voice or your friends' voices or something sneaky like that."
Ren facepalmed.
"Nora," Pyrrha started reluctantly. "I do not think..." she sighed. "Maybe it was not a Grimm."
Nora gasped. She pointed an accusing finger at her teammate, who recoiled in surprise at the finger now currently dangerously close to her nose. Pyrrha's green eyes crossed as she tried to keep her focus on Nora's finger. "Are you saying you stole Ren's voice?" Nora demanded.
Pyrrha held her hands up defensively. "No no!" she assured the ginger hurriedly. "I was just saying, maybe he is giving us the silent treatment," Pyrrha suggested, scrambling for a reason, knowing Nora would accept it (the hammer-wielder came up with more ridiculous ideas than that every five minutes).
Ren's heart dropped. "No!"
"The silent treatment, eh?" Nora asked, locking the distressed Huntsman in a narrow gaze. "Well, we know how to fix that!" she announced brightly.
"You do?" Pyrrha asked.
"Of course!" The ginger stood and happily bounced out the door and to the showers.
Pyrrha and Jaune exchanged worried looks as Ren hung his head. Today was going to be a very long day...
"So. Ren."
Ren gave a silent sigh and looked at his best friend. Nora had her elbows propped up on the table, her chin resting on her palms, a wide grin on her face.
"Don't say anything if..."
Ren gave a noiseless sob.
"...I can dye your entire hair pink."
"No!" he cried.
Nora grinned. "You didn't say anything! I get to dye your hair!"
"What's up with them?" Yang asked Pyrrha across the breakfast table.
"Ren's giving us the silent treatment-"
"No I'm not!" Ren insisted soundlessly.
"-and Nora's trying to break him," Jaune explained.
"Why's he giving you guys silent treatment?" Ruby asked.
"Dunno." Jaune shrugged.
"Perhaps we upset him," Pyrrha suggested.
"How?" Blake asked.
"I am... not sure," Pyrrha admitted.
"I'm not giving you the silent treatment..." Ren tried to say.
The clock tower struck, and Blake checked the time. "We have ten minutes till class starts."
"I have to get to Professor Falu's class early," Nora announced sadly. "I owe him my essay..." Professor Falu was the red-haired English teacher at Beacon Academy.
Ren stood. "I'll come too."
Silence.
Nora smiled brightly. "Come on, Ren!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the cafeteria behind her.
Ruby snorted and rolled her eyes as they left. "Not together-together, my cloak."
"...naturally wary of light?" Professor Peach asked.
It was fifth period, Grimm Behavior Class Course One. Ren had his head in his hand, leaning his elbow on the desk.
"Mister Lie?" Peach asked.
Ren looked up inattentively. "Creeps."
"Pardon?" Peach asked.
His heart dropped. No voice! "Creeps," he repeated in vain.
"Mister Lie, is this some sort of joke?" Peach asked, narrowing her eye sand raising an eyebrow.
Ren shook his head and Nora raised her hand.
"Nora," Ren said , his tone of voice meant to be a warning yet it came out without any tone at all.
"Miss Valkyrie?"
"Ren hasn't been talking at all today," Nor aexplained and Ren hung his head. "A Ningen stole his voice."
"A... A ninja?" Peach asked in surprise.
"No, Professor, a Ningen," Nora replied. "Really., Professor, I thought you'd understand."
Realization dawned on Peach and she began to chuckle. "A Ningen? I haven't heardthat name in a while."
"What's a Ningen?" someone asked.
"It's a mythological Grimm," Peach laughed. "It was used it to explain why some people lost their voice when they got sick."
"So Ren's sick?" Jaune whispered to Nora.
"I'm not sick..." Ren muttered.
Nora gasped happily. "Ren's sick!"
"Is... this a good thing?" Jaune asked in confusion.
"No..." Ren muttered.
"Yes!" Nora cried. "It means I get to baby him!"
"Come on, Ren, just eat the soup."
"I don't want soup."
"Ren, I don't read lips."
"No. Soup."
"I saw 'soup'. Here."
"No soup."
"Yes soup."
"Nora."
"Ren."
Nora touched the silver spoon to his lips. The broth from the chicken noodle soup it held dripped onto his lips. Ren's magenta eyes crossed as he tried to keep it in his sight.
They were in the Team JNPR dorm room, with Ren sitting in Nora's bed leaning against the wall. He had Nora's pink blanket pulled up to his waist and a ginger in his lap with a bowl of soup in one hand.
Ren soundlessly cleared his throat, trying to ignore how compromising he and Nora looked. "Nora, mo-"
Nora pushed the spoon into his mouth, smiling triumphantly.
Ren swallowed the warm soup. Nora's smile softened and she tapped him on the nose. "Boop," she breathed. Ren allowed a small smile.
"Perhaps," Pyrrha suggested, "we should take him to the nurse."
Nora scoffed. "Nobody knows Ren like I do. I'll take way better care of him," she announced, casting him a tiny, careful smile.
Ren shook his head, yet a small smile played kn his lips. "I need the nurse," he silently told her.
"I don't read lips," Nora repeated in a sing-song voice.
"Nora," he sighed. His eyes widened.
"Ren! You can talk!" Jaune said happily. Pyrrha gave a bright, relieved smile.
Nora, still perched on Ren's lap, didn't share in her teammates' excitement. Her bright eyes narrowed, studying Ren closely.
"What's wrong?" Ren asked.
"You sound... different," she told him in a suspicious yet confused voice.
"Does he?" Pyrrha asked.
Nora nodded slowly.
Ren touched his throat warily. Do I?
There was a pause. "Puberty?" Jaune suggested.
Nora began to laugh as Ren closed his eyes in embarrassment.
"No," Nora giggled. "Ren went through that years ago." She grinned at the dark-haired boy. "Remember that, Ren?" she asked in a voice that made the other two people in the dorm room wonder if there was a story behind that.
"Yes, Nora, I remember," Ren replied, eyes still closed.
Nora sighed. "You sound different," she announced again.
"Maybe it's an aftereffect of being sick," Pyrrha suggested.
"Maybe," Nora agreed, but the look on her face told Ren that she wasn't completely convinced.
So Nora dropped the subject. Pyrrha, Jaune, and the rest of their friends never noticed the difference, nor did they realize that his voice never returned to normal, but Nora did. She stopped bringing it up, since it never did any good, but she couldn't help but feel that something... was not quite right.
And things weren't right...
...but how were they to know?
A/N: It's been months, but I'm considering this my tribute to the great Monty Oum. I honestly don't know much about him, and when I first heard he had passed away, it... it just seemed like something a little upsetting. "Oh, that sucks." I started watching RWBY barely a week after Monty passed away, and I didn't know until I read a bunch of YouTube comments. Not too long afterward, I finished RWBY and I realized... this man was incredible! Then it seemed to sting a little more. My boyfriend told me they were debating over whether or not they were going to finish RWBY without Monty, and I'll admit it, I panicked. It was around that time I wrote my first ever oneshot, Irrational. I did some research afterward. I learned Monty was young when he died. I learned how he died. I learned how hard he worked. I learned he was funny, he was constantly working, he liked to animate Yang very late at night, he was Lie Ren's voice actor, and he was allergic to juniper. I learned that the day Monty passed, we lost out on a great man. So this is my tribute to him. Keep moving forward.