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Jaune and the Beanstalk
chpt.3: Enchanted
The path leading towards the Silver Castle shakes every few seconds from the impact tremors caused by one Nora Valkyrie, the infamous giant of Beacon Land. She was skipping along happily while singing to herself. Every few seconds, she'd stop long enough to make some sort of silly pose before continuing on her merry way.
Pancakes and Syrup,
both are so tasty,
when I put them both together
makes my mind go all crazy
Oh..O, I love my pancakes so...
Sitting on Nora's right shoulder was Ruby Rose, weaving her head from side to side as she listen to Nora's singing, getting into the beat. After Nora had taken her and Jaune hostage, the giant girl had learned Ruby had very similar taste and likes as her, thus leading the two girls to becoming fast friends. So much so that Ruby was getting the easy ride and was even singing along with her own little diddy.
Both cookies and cookie dough,
oh how I love you so,
Both are so sweet
and always an amazing treat
Oh, my beloved cookies, I love you so
Nora and Ruby look at each other, both winking before blending their songs together, praising their love for cookies, pancakes, and even donuts and other such sweet things as they drew closer and closer to the castle. But something, or should I say, someone, was missing.
Jaune was with them as well though he wasn't joining in with the singing, mainly because of his current predicament. You see, unlike Ruby, Jaune wasn't getting to sit of Nora's shoulder. Instead, he found himself locked up inside the lantern Nora had stuffed him in after he had failed to answer her questions in a way that pleased her. He was now sitting, his legs crossed, and his arms crossed over his chest while the lantern swayed back and forth due to how Nora was walking. He also had a very annoyed look on his face. And he was also wondering why Nora needed a lantern in the middle of the day too?
"Not that anyone can hear me right now but I want to make it clear that I am very PEEVED over MY current situation" he said to himself.
The lantern he was locked in was hanging at the end of a long staff Nora was holding with one hand, resting it against her free shoulder. Jaune gazes down, seeing Ruby's back. He wonders if she even remembered he was still here right now or if she had become to lost in that dumb song she and Nora were singing together to even ask for his freedom.
They finally arrive at the castle and once inside, Ruby's eyes go wide as she looks at everything before her. "WOW, Nora. This place is so amazing...and really, REALLY BIG."
Nora chuckles, then says "It really needs to be seeing how big I am. Of course, I'm the sort of girl who does it all big. Now then, what do you say we get some food to eat."
"YES" cheered Ruby, rubbing her stomach. "Do you have cookies by any chance?"
"Of course" cheers Nora as they reach a large, giant table. She places Ruby gently down on it, then places the staff with the lantern along the wall. Nora then heads into the kitchen to grab some lunch for them.
"Hey, Ruby? Can you hear me?" yelled Jaune, his voice muffled because of the glass on the lantern. Sadly, Ruby fails to hear him as her eyes keep looking around the massive room. He even bangs his fist into the glass, still failing to get her attention.
Nora soon comes skipping back into the room with a plate in each hand. On one plate was an assortment of cookies, a baker's dozen worth of them and each a different type. On the other plate was a pile of donuts and other pastries Nora had tossed on as well. She places the plate of cookies down in front of Ruby, making little red's eyes go WIDE as drool falls from her open mouth.
"Dig in" says Nora as she places her own plate down then goes to sit down before her ears hear the sound of Jaune trying to get Ruby's attention. "Oh yes, I almost forgot. Be right back" said Nora, moving over to attend to Jaune.
Ruby hops onto the giant plate, looking at the monster sized cookies. Just one of them alone was WAY bigger than her and there were thirteen of them awaiting her grubby hands. After a quick inspection of each one, Ruby decides which order she'll be eating them in and begins her feasting. As she bites into the first one, stars explode in her eyes as she gasp, her cheeks going super pink.
"OH MY GOD, THESE ARE THE BEST COOKIES I'VE EVER HAD!"
She then begins eating like a mad man, not worrying about finishing to quickly as with cookies the size these were, it would take even her a while to finish them all off. So focused on eating them was she, Ruby failed to hear Jaune's yells for help as Nora did whatever it was she was doing to him. After another few moments, Nora comes back over to the table and takes a seat.
"OK, now that we have that little matter out of the way...LUNCH TIME" she cheers before digging into her own meal, her eyes and reaction mirroring those had by Ruby with her lunch.
Soon enough, both girls had finished their meals and were now leaning back, letting out loud and long burps of satisfactions. "That was great" said Ruby, rubbing her pleased tummy. "Thanks for the meal, Nora."
Nora just giggles, a reaction to her own filled feeling. "OH YEAH, THAT HIT THE SPOT." Her brain then takes noticed of Ruby's words. "Sure thing, sweets buddy. Now, what should we do next? Oh, I know...just wait right here."
Nora gets up and runs from the room, leaving Ruby again by herself. As she looks around, she realizes that something was missing though she was having trouble figuring out what it could possibly be. Soon enough, Nora returns holding, two people in her hands. She then places them down before Ruby. The first was a boy, dressed in a green top and white pants with what appeared to be a harp growing out of his back. The other was a girl dressed in black, wearing a black ribbon in her hair.
"Ruby, my sweets buddy, say hi to my two fellow tenants that live here in the castle, Ren-harp and Blakey-cat" said Nora proudly.
"Ren, actually" said the boy. "Salutations and greetings."
"Blake" said the girl, giving her a simple nod.
"Pleasure to meet you both. I'm Ruby Rose." Ruby then does a little curtsy for them.
"OK, now that we're all friends, lets show them what you can do. Renny, you can go first" said Nora.
Ren lets out a sigh before stepping forward, turning sideways to let her better see the harp growing from his back. He closes his eyes and after a moment, the strings on the harp begin to be strummed by some sort of invisible force, playing beautiful sounding music. Ruby stands there, awestruck by the sight and sound she was experiencing. After a few moments, the song ends and Ren opens his eyes.
"Whoa, that was amazing. How do you do that?" asked Ruby.
"Time and effort, mostly" admits Ren.
"Hey Renny, tell her how you became a man-harp" says Nora excitedly. She knew the story, having heard it many times yet she always enjoyed the tale each time.
Ren sighs again, then says "You've heard the fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast, right?"
"Yeah, I love that story" says Ruby. It was in her top ten favorite fairy tales. "Wait, are you saying you're the beast?"
Ren shakes his head. "No, I'm not connected to either title character myself. You see, the enchantress from that story, the one who turned the prince into the beast, showed up in my home town one day. She wanted to try out for Remnant's Got Talent and they were holding auditions for the upcoming season and this was happening in my home town. Apparently, she fancied herself a top class singer."
"Anyways, I was one of the judges for the auditions and after she performed, I gave her some advice as I found her performance to be highly pretensions and lacking. She...didn't take my criticism of her performance well and she placed an enchantment on me, turning me into what you see before you now. A walking, talking man-harp. From that day forth, I couldn't go anywhere without people staring at me and asking me to play them a tune."
"Wow, that's harsh" says Ruby. Hearing that made her wonder if the prince from Beauty and the Beast had really deserved his curse or if maybe the enchantress had just been a bitch?
Guessing her thoughts, Ren adds "I heard off on the grapevine that the prince had actually been a nice guy, even inviting the enchantress inside his home to escape from the rain but she was a terrible guest and when the prince pointed that out, she cursed him and all his servants. It was because of that event that led the prince to become a mean spirited, heartless dick until Beauty came and melted his heart."
"Oh, that's such a romantic story" says Nora with hearts in her eyes.
"No, Nora, it really isn't" says Ren, deadpanned.
After a moment, Nora shakes her head then looks at Blake. "OK, Blakey-cat, your up."
"I'd rather not" said Blake, her voice monotone though their was a hint of nervousness to it.
"Don't be a scaredy cat, do it" says Nora.
"Please no, don't make me...it really hurts" pleaded Blake, her voice clearly shaking.
Nora's response is to reach out with her hands, forcing Blake to get down on all fours before petting her back. "Now then, pretty kitty, hack away. Cough it up for momma."
A collar Blake had around her neck begins to glow, making her eyes go wide as her body begins to shake. Ruby watches as Blake begins to try to hack something out of her mouth. After a few moments, her throat bulges as she coughs up a hair ball, a weird looking hair ball at that. Blake then collapses onto the ground, her eyes becoming swirls as saliva drips from her open mouth. "Oh god, I feel sick..." she groaned out.
"BEHOLD" yells Nora. "My little Blakey-cat is a special little kitty as she has the power to cough up twenty four karat gold hair balls."
"...kill me..." whimpers Blake.
"WOW, THAT'S INCREDIBLE?" says Ruby. "How does she do that?"
"RING, RING, RING-A-DING-DING" came the sound of a clock bell, hanging from the wall.
"YAY, NAP TIME" yells Nora, jumping from her chair and running out of the room.
Ren watches her leave, then looks back at Ruby. "Nora just loves her nap times. Anyways, Blake is in a similar position as I am. She was cursed by some old witch, a punishment for being greedy and wanting money."
Blake, by now, had recovered and was now getting back on her feet. "I wasn't wanting the money for just ME, but for the orphanage I was living in at the time. That witch instead turned me into a cat-girl and gave me the gift to cough up gold hair balls...which REALLY hurts to hack up. Worse yet, she placed this collar on me to make me cough up the gold hair balls whenever ordered to."
"Cat-girl?" asked Ruby. She gave Blake a hard look, not seeing anything cat like about her, apart from the hair ball thing anyways.
Blake sighs as she reaches up and undoes her ribbon, revealing cat ears hidden beneath. She then blushes as Ruby stares at her, making her look away. "Please don't stare. I'm very...selfconscious about...?"
Her words are stopped as she feels her cat ears being touched, making her look back to see Ruby had closed the gap between them, now reaching out to pet and caress her ears. "Hey, stop...what are you doing? I don't like that..."
"OOO, they feel so soft and fluffy" says Ruby, ignoring her. Blake responds by clawing at her while hissing, making Ruby jump back in surprise.
"Sorry, but my...EXTRA ears are a no touch zone for me" says Blake.
"Oh, sorry" says Ruby, now feeling embarrassed.
"Anyways, you should really make your escape while you can" says Ren. He then looks to the direction Nora had ran off towards, saying "Nora usually naps for about three hours in order to recover all that energy she spends during the morning. It would be wise to leave while you can as Nora...well, lets just say your treatment previously won't last forever. Eventually, she'll want to do something 'fun' with you, like make you run around on a hamster wheel or something."
"Oh, that sounds scary...and strangely fun at the same time. But I guess you're right. I need to be getting home before my sister starts to get worried about me." Ruby then takes on a thinking pose, saying to herself "Weird, why do I feel like I'm forgetting something important? What do you think, Jaune?"
Getting no reply, Ruby looks around, only now noticing her BFF wasn't by her side. "Jaune?"
"Who's Jaune?" asked Ren.
"My BFF, of course. You know, tall guy with blonde hair, wearing a black hoodie. Nora introduced us to you guys" says Ruby.
"She introduced us to YOU. I don't recall there being any guy around when that happened" says Ren.
"Wait, is that him?" asked Blake, her eyes looking off to the side which makes Ruby and Ren look as well. Ruby's eyes go wide when she sees where Jaune was. He was tied to the middle of a rotating bar, suspended over and open fire with his eyes now looking like swirls.
"JAUNE?" cried Ruby, already running over to save him.
"Looks like we're having 'chicken' tonight" joked Blake which gets Ren to look at her like she was crazy. She looks back, saying "What? Am I not allowed to make a joke or two every now an then?" Ren shrugs before they both follow after Ruby who was now climbing up one of the support bars holding the bar Jaune had been tied to.
Once at the top, Ruby perfectly balances along the beam till she had reached Jaune and quickly unties the knot on the rope, something she was rather good at. Unfortunately, she forgot one little detail. There wasn't anything to stop Jaune from falling once he was no longer being tied down and fall he did, right into the fire, making Ruby shriek. Luckily, the sudden presence of actual fire against his skin snaps Jaune out of his stupor, making him scream in pain as he leaps from the fire onto the floor, rolling like mad to out out the flames on his clothes.
Once he had succeeded, he rolls onto his back and begins to cry from the pain. "...ahh, what did I do to deserve this? Why oh lord...?" he whimpers out as Ruby jumps down beside him.
"Jaune, I'm so sorry. I...I forgot all about you when Nora started making nice with me, talking about cookies, donuts, and all the other sweets she had back here at the castle. Please forgive me" cried Ruby, crocodile tears falling from her eyes.
Jaune sits up, a bit of smoke still rising from a singed part of his hair. He just sighs and says "Yeah, sure. No problem..."
He didn't get to finish as Ruby throws him into a tight hug, crying "Thank you, thank you, thank you." She also promises she'd never forget him like that again.
'I've heard that one before' he thinks, recalling that incident from a few months ago when they, along with Penny and Yang, had visited that cookie making factory in the city of Veiled and Jaune had fallen into the vat of cookie chocolate, crying for help as he was having trouble staying afloat and Ruby being the only one in earshot of his cries but she had been to busy eating cookies to hear him. He still couldn't believe he had survived that one. Still, if he could forgive her for that, and all the other little incidents he had been caught in due to her, he could forgive her for this too.
Ren and Blake arrive, introducing themselves to him. "I'm Jaune, nice to meet...why do you have a harp in your back? And why do you have cat ears?" he asked them.
"We already had our stories told to your friend here. She can tell you...once she stops hugging you and crying that is" says Blake which snaps Ruby back to reality, breaking the hug. She and Jaune then stand as Ren adds "Now you both need to escape while you can, before Nora wakes up and reverts to her usual mentality."
"You won't hear me argue" says Jaune. "You guys should come with us. We can all escape together."
Ren shakes his head, saying "We can't...for different reasons. I'm choosing to stay here as I'd be seen as a freak down below and everyone would want me to play them music as well."
"Like Nora doesn't make you do that up here?" said Ruby.
"True, but at least I can deal with it if it's just Nora" said Ren.
"And I can't go either as I would also be seen as a freak below not to mention people would use me to get rich by coughing up 24k hairballs over and over, every hour on the hour, each and every day. So much so that the process would kill me...well, it would kill my throat anyways" says Blake.
"I understand" says Jaune. "Well, you guys could stay with me and my sister if you wanted. We would keep you safe." Ruby nods, adding "Me and my sister would help you too."
Ren and Blake look at each other, then back at them. "Thank you, but we'll stay here all the same."
"If you both are sure, I guess we'll..." Jaune stops as he recalls something else of importance. "By the way, do you know what Nora did with the other two human girls? A fairy named Coco told us she had heard Nora had found them and brought them back here."
"Oh, you mean the princess and her warrior friend?" says Ren, who then looks towards the kitchen. "I think she left them inside a storage closet. Not sure why to be honest?"
"Probably put them down inside while digging around for Syrup and then forgot to take them out afterwords. You know how forgetful she can be" said Blake.
"Can you show us" asked Jaune. "If nothing else, we should at least get them out of here with us."
"Alright. Follow me" says Ren, turning and running as fast as he could with a harp growing from his back into the kitchen. Jaune and Ruby followed him as did Blake though she chose to walk rather than run.
Once they had reached the door, they realized they had a little problem. Seeing as the castle was giant sized, fit for Nora's height, the door was also giant with the door knob well outside their reach and ability to turn. Luckily, Blake, once she had joined them, offered to handle this little problem. She then uses her cat like agility jumps onto a nearby counter then over to the door knob and somehow manages to turn it enough to make the door slide open. Jaune and Ruby help Ren further push the door open, seeing several rows of shelves, filled with various food items within.
"Hey, princess Weiss, champion Pyrrha? Are either of you still in here?" yelled Jaune.
There was a shuffling sound before a girl with red hair poked her head out from behind a box of cereal who takes a moment to look around before spotting Jaune, Ruby, Ren, and Blake. Seeing that they weren't Nora, her head pulls back behind the cereal box then she fully steps out a second later.
"Who are you?" asked the girl.
"We're the ones who are getting out of here while the getting's good. You want to come with or do you prefer living inside this closet for the rest of your lives?" asked Jaune.
"ABSOLUTELU NOT" comes the yell of another girl who finally emerges in front of them, her hair being white as snow. "This place is hardly fitting for royalty such as myself or my friend here who has won more tournaments than you can count."
"I take it then you must be princess Weiss and you her friend, the champion Pyrrha?" asked Jaune.
"Yes, you heard of us?" asked Pyrrha.
"Wait, tell us who you four are first?" commands Weiss.
Jaune does a bow before them, saying "I'm Jaune. Name's short, sweet, and rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it." This makes Ruby giggle, having heard his corny fake pick up lines before. Blake just rolls her eyes while Ren remains neutral in his expressions.
Ruby does a little curtsy, saying "Ruby Rose, his BFF for life."
"Blake" says the cat girl simply followed by Ren introducing himself.
Weiss gives them a long, hard stare. "By the looks of you lot, you appear to be nothing more than common rabble from the countryside. Well, I suppose this is better than nothing I guess."
"Don't be mean, Weiss. They've come all this way to save us after all. We should be thanking them" says Pyrrha. She then leans in close and whispers "Besides, you have to admit the blonde boy is rather cute."
Weiss roles her eyes, saying "I'll admit no such thing, thank you." She then turns her attention back to the group. "Anyways, how is it you four came here to this...unusual place? And how do you know about us anyways? …..And why does that one boy have a harp growing from his back and the black haired girl have cat ears?"
Ruby answers, saying "In a nut shell, Blake and Ren were cursed and enchanted respectively and..."
Jaune takes over, saying "I was robbed by some old drunk...wait, now I remember. That was your damn pervert of an uncle, Ruby, who sold me those magic beans."
"You mean uncle Qrow?" asked Ruby, getting a yes from Jaune. Ruby then recalls the description Jaune had given her of the guy then smiles. "Oh, you're right. It had to have been him. Only uncle Qrow would do something like that."
"Then I hope you don't mind me killing him the next time I see him. He owes me some money" says Jaune.
"What the HELL are you lot talking about? Just finish the damn explanation already" yells Weiss.
"Huh? Oh, right" says Jaune as he and Ruby account everything that had happened with Ren and Blake adding a few details when it was needed. "...and anyways, here we are. Now, we should really be getting ourselves out of here."
"I agree. Please, escort us out of this place at once and, when we're safely returned to the surface, I shall see to it you are all handsomely rewarded for your efforts" says Weiss.
"Plus, we should really be getting back before any more rumors are spread about us...having run off together" adds Pyrrha.
"That as well" says Weiss as the two girls jump down onto the ground and the now six member party begin running towards the main doors. "So, tell me, Jaune. How is it you were able to best the giant, Nora. I mean no offense but I find it hard to believe you and your party were able to slay her."
"Huh? Oh, right. We didn't slay her per say. She ran off into another room to take a nap" says Jaune, his words making Weiss come to a dead stop.
"Wait, you're telling me that brute...ISN'T dead yet?" asked Weiss, now sounding a lot less royal.
Ruby answers her, saying "Well, it's like you just said. None of us are exactly prepared for such a task. Besides, Ren and Blake live here with her and truth be told, Nora isn't THAT bad. Weird, yes, but in a fun way, ya know?" Jaune shakes his head to that comment for obvious reasons.
Weiss just stands there, blinks a few times, then immediately turns and begins walking back to the closet, taking only a moment to grab hold of Pyrrha's hand as she goes. "Then we're not going anywhere, you here me. You want to get us out of here, you have to go deal with that brute right now."
"Are you serious? We have a chance to escape and you won't leave until she's dead? What's wrong with you?" asked Jaune, almost yelling.
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" retorts Weiss. "Everyone knows you don't try to escape when you could have a bloodthirsty savage at your back. I thank you for coming all this way for us but I'm sorry, I simply cannot allow either myself or my best and closest friend take a risk of being captured and eaten by that monster...AGAIN!"
"But Nora isn't a monster...in the traditional sense anyways. She's just a bit...off her rocker" says Blake.
"Besides, I know her well enough to know she won't be waking up for at least another two hours unless I call for her. That should be plenty of time for you all to have made it a good ways down the beanstalk. Besides, she probably will have forgotten about you all by then, knowing how her mind works."
"Perhaps we should trust them" says Pyrrha. "I can't sense any deception coming from them."
"Don't trust them, trust ME. When have I ever been wrong before, Pyrrha?" asked Weiss, continuing to lead them back to the giant closet. Pyrrha begins listing off a lot of different times Weiss had been wrong though Weiss ignores her. Once she reaches the closet, she pushes Pyrrha back in before following her though Weiss sticks her head back out after a moment.
"Look, I really do appreciate you all coming this way for us. I really do but I'm sorry. Until this...Nora girl has been properly dealt, I will neither allow Pyrrha or myself to...come out of the closet."
"Wait, so let me get this straight" says Jaune, a grin forming on his face. "You're saying that if we defeat Nora in a more permanent way, you'll...'come out of the closet?' Pyrrha as well?"
Weiss nods, saying "That's right. If you want us to come out of closet, then you'll have to do that for us."
"That's a pretty tall order, princess. One I doubt we can handle though I guess we can head back down the beanstalk without you, then contact your respective kingdoms. I'm sure they'll send rescue for you both. Until then, you sure you'll be fine till they can get here and you can 'come out of the closet'?"
"We'll be fine" says Weiss before reaching into her pocket and pulling out some medal which she tosses to Jaune. "Show that to my father. He'll then know you speak the truth. Now, you better get going."
Pyrrha sticks her head out as well, saying "Be careful with your escape. And thank you for the help." And with that, they both disappear back into the closet.
Once they we gone, Jaune breaks out laughing while Ruby just cocks her head to the side, clearly confused. "What's so funny, Jaune? Why are you laughing?"
Blake just walks up to her, placing a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "You'll understand one day. Perhaps that princess and her friend will one day understand as well about what those words could be mistaken for."
"Hahaha, closet..." comes Jaune, still laughing. After everything that had happened over the last few days, he REALLY needed a good laugh.
"Never mind that right now. We should get you two out of here at least before Nora really does wake up" says Ren before running towards the door. The others following a few moments later.
(scene change)
Yang yawned as she lay back against the beanstalk, her eye lids drooping ever few seconds while she awaited Penny's return from making the calls to Farmer Port and Mr. Oobleck so that they could come examine their giant friend here. Of course, she still needed to find her sister and Jaune but had decided to wait till after Penny had returned to let her know if old Blecky had seen either of them today.
Fearing that she would nod off, Yang gets herself up and walks around a bit before her eyes drift back to the beanstalk. Looking up, she had to admit that the sight was rather impressive. The thing had to be MAD strong in order to stay upright like it was, reaching so high into the sky one would think it went straight to Heaven.
"Hm?" she says, a wicked smile forming on her face as she gets an equally wicked idea. If the stalk was as strong as she thought it was, then surely it could handle one of HER punches, right? Cracking her knuckles, she walks over to the beanstalk and finds a nice exposed part to target. She then balls her right hand into a fist and pulls back. She holds for just a second before sending her fist flying fast and hard into the green.
And then just stops a good half inch from contact. She then laughs, saying "Yeah, like I'm THAT stupid. I know if I hit it, I would probably send it flying all the way to Witchcraft or something. I'll wait till after the experts have had their look then I'll give it the old one-two."
She then simply flicks the stalk with her index finger before turning and walking away. But as she takes her fifth step, she stops as she hears the sound of cracking, making her look back and become wide eyed in shock as she sees cracks quickly racing cross the beanstalk, starting from the spot she had flicked. "Ah...hahaha...oh no..."
Oh no was right as the cracks continue to race up the beanstalk till she couldn't even see them no more. There followed was a few tense moments of pause before...SHATTER, the whole thing just started falling apart with rather sizable chunks began falling from the sky like meteors. She sees some come flying past, heading in the direction of Patchwork followed by the impact sounds.
She races to the opposite side of the house, seeing smoke and fire in the distance, coming from where the main sections of the town was located. She could also make out the sound of people screaming as more pieces of the beanstalk fell to the ground.
"Ah, so NOT my fault" she said to herself alone. After a moments thought, she adds "I wonder if this will cause the 'stalk' market to crash? I mean, it has 'bean' rather low as of late" said Yang, cracking a grin. That's right, even in a situation like this, Yang was still capable of pulling out a few bad puns.
The ground beneath her shakes as a loud crashing sound is heard very close by, to close by. Yang turns her head and deadpans, seeing the Arc family home was now laying crushed under a piece of the beanstalk. "Penny? Are you alright?" she yelled.
After a few moments, the beanstalk piece rises up and goes flying off to the side as Penny rises from the rubble. "Indeed, friend Yang. But may I ask what just happened? One minute I was talking to employer Port then the house came crashing down on me." Penny then turns her head to the side, seeing the destruction of Patchwork off in the distance, then turns her head the other way and sees that the beanstalk was now missing. She then looks back at Yang and ask "What has happened?"
Yang laughs nervously, saying "I...don't really know. One minute, the beanstalk is just sitting there and the next, it starts cracking then falls apart and comes crashing down across the countryside."
"My, how peculiar" said Penny. "I hope brother Jaune and friend Ruby are OK."
'And I hope no one finds out I destroyed Patchwork' thinks Yang.
(scene change)
Once they had made it to the castle entrance, Ren had opted to stay behind as he couldn't run over long distances due to having a harp growing out of his back. So it was going to be Blake who escorted Jaune and Ruby back to the beanstalk. As they ran through the South Cardinal Forest, Ruby spots some clouds sticking up out of the ground.
"Say, why are the clouds leaking through?" she asked Blake.
"Those are cloud ponds; basically holes that drop into the sky below. Make sure you avoid stepping into them unless you're wanting to go falling to your deaths" said Blake.
"That's interesting...and very curious sounding too. Like a forewarning to something that will become important later, right Jaune?" asked Ruby, turning to look at her BFF.
"Ruby, quit trying to act like you're breaking some sort of fourth wall. It doesn't mean anything other than telling us where NOT to step. Nothing more" says Jaune, though he also couldn't help but feel that this little detail would become relevant here soon.
Soon, they reached the cliff's and begin to head down to the waiting beanstalk. "Blake, you sure you and Ren don't wanna join us?" asked Jaune.
"Sure, there's nothing for us down there now. Isolated though this place may be, at least we're safe from ridicule and abuse from those who would look at us like we're freaks. Besides, you get use to living with Nora after a while" said Blake.
Just as they reach the end of the path, they all finally notice something they had failed to notice before. "Um...is it just me or is the beanstalk missing?" asked Ruby.
Jaune runs forward, peeking over the edge and sees nothing but clouds below. Off to the side, Blake ask "You guys sure this was the spot?"
Ruby gives her a nod as Jaune lets out a sigh. "GREAT, this day just keeps getting better and better."
Little could any of them realize that things were just about to get even worse for them as VERY dark clouds were beginning to form directly over Beacon Land. Something GRIMM was coming their way...
next time: a fairy tale ending...RWBY style of course.
