I hate writer's block more than anything on earth, I swear to God... It only becomes worse since I'm also in the middle of writing an essay that can easily make or break my grades. These past few weeks haven't exactly been the best for me XD Oh well, these little author's notes help, even if you don't read them. It's just a nice way to let loose a little steam...
Anyway, uh... No one pointed out any bad grammar during the last chapter, so at least there's that plus? :P I'm just trying to find the positives in life, guys! Don't judge meeee!
*cough* Watching RWBY Volume 2 as I'm writing this. Hopefully some background noise will actually help me concentrate a little, because God knows everything else hasn't been working.
...
The Atlesian Paladin didn't stand a remote chance against Yang Xiao Long's gauntlets, it shattered upon impact, and Roman Torchwick flew out and landed painfully on his back. Dazed and groaning, the master thief slowly picked himself up, wincing as a sharp stab of pain crossed through him. 'Shit, fuck...' he hissed internally.
Sighing and trying to recollect himself, he began the task of dusting off his stylish suit, a frown forming. "Just got this thing cleaned..." he growled, turning to the four girls who had become quite the pain in his ass. He was about to hit them with a wise-ass remark, but he froze when he saw the red eyed glare of murderous intent that the blonde sent his way. She then reloaded her gauntlets, a wicked grin crossing her beautiful features.
Roman began to back away, his eyes shifting left and right. 'Neo, now would be a good time to do something!' he complained, and just then Yang charged at him, her fist raised.
"Oh for fuck's-"
That was all Roman had time to get out before his world went black.
...
Neo was not happy as she and Jaune teleported back to the living space within the warehouse. Yes, the day had started out good, great even. Jaune had proven to be genuinely nice company. But what had happened at Junior's club... UGH! Neo rarely made a sound, but that groan had managed to escape her throat, causing the blonde next to her to jump a bit, then frown.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Neo didn't pull out her scroll, she only shook her head. "Nothing," she mouthed, collapsing on the couch. Stupid Junior. Stupid bimbo bitch. Stupid blue-haired fuck boy. Jaune's friends certainly seemed dead set on ruining her plans... She wanted to punch something, anything! This wasn't how things were supposed to go...
Neo forced herself to calm down as Jaune took a cautious seat next to her. "You can't lie to me," he told her. "Seven sisters, remember? I've dealt with a lot worse than this, trust me."
Neo rolled her eyes but reluctantly pulled out her scroll. Fine, fine... She was the one who wanted to get in the stupid kid's pants anyway, might as well humor him too...
Neo flinched at her harsh thought, though she refused to acknowledge it. Typing a message on her scroll, she tossed the device carelessly at Jaune, who caught it awkwardly. Just something Junior said before we left, it's private business.
Jaune nodded, not pushing the question further. Now that was something Neo could appreciate, a guy who acted the opposite of Roman.
Speaking of Roman... The guy should have been back by now, it's not like the warehouse he was delivering his speech at was that far away from the one they used as a living quarters. A simple speech, right? Twenty minutes at most? Maybe?
Neo frowned. Oh God, if that idiot got arrested then so help her-
"Neo, you're frowning again." Jaune pointed out.
Neo sighed and stood up, stomping towards the kitchen and leaving the former knight behind. 'Screw this, I need some more ice cream,' she decided.
Obviously, she had only told Jaune part of the truth. Yes, Junior's 'friendly' talk hadn't helped her mood, but Yang was also partially responsible. And Jaune, she had to admit... The boy had just straight up told his tragic tale to the buxom brawler, and now she was probably gonna blab it out to everyone else they knew. No doubt, they would want to start visiting their friend.
Neo could see the benefits. Jaune might be happy to be with his friends once more, and that might help lighten the mood a bit. Make him more willing... But on the other hand, her jealous side wanted the former Beacon student to herself. Silly and immature, most would say, but Neo would have just stabbed anyone who tried.
She grabbed herself the largest spoon she could find, then reached into the freezer and pulled out... Plain vanilla. Neo gritted her teeth. Damn Roman and his lack of taste! Reluctantly deciding to eat it anyway, she settled down at the kitchen table and yanked the lid off the tub, digging her spoon into the frozen dessert. Despite its...plain flavor, she still sighed in content as it made contact with her taste buds. Instantly, her stressed melted away. Truly ice cream was the best medicine.
She still wanted to kick Yang's ass, though. Hopefully she'd get her chance someday.
But that wasn't important right now. Neo had other things to think about, such as her next move on Jaune. She took a peek at the boy, who had settled down onto the couch, apparently trying to get some sleep. Ugh... Why couldn't he just be like every other guy she had laid and just jumped at the chance? Neo had briefly considered ditching her campaign for the former knight, but decided against it. As much as she hated the guy right now, she did make Junior a promise... Neo was many things... A thief, a murderer, a thug, a liar, a partial sex addict, but she still kept her promises.
No one had ever broken the ones they had made to her so far, after all.
Tomorrow... Tomorrow was a new day, she told herself. And even if Jaune's 'buddies' decided to get involve, she wouldn't let that stop her. But... If they got too close...
Neo grinned wickedly. Well, maybe she could teach them a lesson or two.
The light snores coming from the couch indicated that Jaune had fallen asleep, and Neo took a peek at her scroll to check the time. Oh wow, it was pretty late... Sighing, Neo finally realized the fatigue that had settled over her, and she figured she might as well get some sleep. Putting the ice cream back in the freezer and tossing the spoon into the sink, she made her way towards her own room.
It was rather plain, just one bed and a drawer. That, and due to the whole warehouse thing it was less of a room and more of a private space with various large crates acting as walls. Stripping herself of her clothing, the girl crawled into her and finally undid her hair, letting the loose ponytail free. She completed the before-bed act by sending a quick message to Roman's scroll. What's taking so long?
With a final sigh, Neo closed her eyes and allowed sleep to take her over.
...
When she awoke, the first thing Neo did was check her scroll to see if Roman had answered. Unfortunately, he hadn't, and Neo began to wonder if the thief actually had been arrested. That... Would not be good. After all, Neo still needed her paycheck, and she'd be damned if she was caught working clean. Nah, Neo liked the criminal life too much.
Her scroll then vibrated, catching the girl's attention. She reached for it and opened it, noticing it was a message from one of Cinder's lackeys... Murphy or something like that.
Have some bad news for ya. it read. Right under it was a link to an article, and Neo clicked on it curiously. She frowned as she read the title, the words confirming her suspicions.
Roman Torchwick had been arrested last night.
Roman Torchwick, infamous thief throughout the Kingdom of Vale, was arrested last night by authorities after having stolen one of the recently developed Atlesian Paladins and used it to wreak havoc. Torchwick was followed by a young team of huntresses from Beacon, Team RWBY, and was reportedly defeated in combat by them. While citizens of Vale dub the four girls as heroes, General James Ironwood from Atlas has expressed his disappointment. "I simply can't understand how a lowlife like Torchwick could get his hands on such precious military technology," says Ironwood. "But I can assure you that my men are doing their very best to discover the answers, and we have reasons to suspect possible connections with the White Fang. What Torchwick could have been doing with them is still unanswered, but we will get results."
Neo wanted to scream out of pure annoyance. This was just fucking great! First that bimbo had to waltz in on the ice cream girl's scheme, then she said she would get everyone else involved, then Junior decided to run his fat mouth, and now her partner for the past...what, five, six years? Whatever. Now, he had been arrested last night while she was too busy spending time at the club!
Neo couldn't help but blame herself partially. After all, Roman had expressed his concerns yesterday morning, but Neo had simply brushed it off.
It was official. Today was not going to be Neo's day.
As she got dressed, Neo tried to force thoughts of Roman out of her mind. 'You'll have to deal with later,' she told herself. 'Since he's gone, you'll be answering to that Cinder chick now...' Normally, Neo would simply attempt to break Roman out, or possibly even go rogue, but there was one thing stopping her. Neo was no coward, and she certainly had more balls than most huntsmen, but even Cinder was a woman she knew she should never cross.
She was fucking terrifying...
And speak of the devil... Another text from Murphy (she was sure that was his name) appeared on the screen of her scroll. Rolling her eyes and picking it up, she skimmed over it. Cinder wants us to meet ASAP, we're coming to the warehouse now.
So was this about the 'phase two' thing Roman and Cinder had been talking about? Neo frowned again, typing a quick message in reply. How fast will you be here?
Murphy's response came almost instantly. About ten minutes.
Neo didn't answer back, instead pocketing her scroll and walking towards the living room where Jaune slept.
Wait...
Wait a second...
'Shit fuck!' Neo's mind hissed. It was bad enough when Roman had discovered Jaune, but Cinder?! Oh God, that would be like sending the poor boy to the gallows. She burst into the living room, and noticed Jaune wasn't on his couch. 'Where is he?' Neo wondered, teleporting to the kitchen. A quick glance revealed that Jaune wasn't there either. 'Bathroom, maybe?' Suddenly, her scroll received another text message, and she opened it to see it was from the former knight.
I went to town to turn in my job application, I'll be back later. ~Jaune
Well, at least he'd be out of the way...
...
After sending his message to Neo, Jaune took a deep breath and mustered up what little dignity he could. The sign for Little Penguin's Ice Cream Shoppe seemed to be taunting him, that stupid, adorable penguin and its silly grin...
Jaune sighed and entered the shop, walking up to the old man who ran the cashier. He slowly handed his application to the old man, who smiled and accepted it graciously. The old man looked it over with squinted eyes, while the blonde shuffled his feet awkwardly. Finally, after a few minutes of silence, the old man nodded and extended his hand at Jaune.
"If you want, you could start tomorrow." he said.
Jaune was shocked. He was hired?! Granted, it was probably just the old man being desperate for more workers, but he barely had anything good or noteworthy on his application! Shaking himself out of his initial shock, Jaune cracked a small grin and shook the man's hand. "Thank you, sir," he said. "You have no idea how much this means to me."
The old man chuckled. "You might be surprised," he laughed. "Come by at opening time tomorrow, I'll teach you the basics then."
Jaune nodded eagerly, joy and relief washing over him at the thought of an actual job, not some slum garbage just to scrap up some lien. Okay, the job was part time and it was at a sort of lame place, but Jaune was willing to set aside his pride right now. He waved goodbye to the old shop-keep and exited the shop with a bit of a spring to his step.
Whistling a tune, he pulled out his scroll and sent a quick text to Neo. I got the job! he typed. I'm coming back now.
He didn't have to wait long for the criminal's reply. Um, actually why don't you hang around town a bit longer? I'm dealing with some private business at the moment. And that's great to hear!
Jaune raised an eyebrow at the words 'private business', but he decided he wouldn't pry. Alright. he responded, before pocketing his scroll. Well... Apparently he had some free time on his hands, although he had no idea how to spend it.
'I can't remember the last time I was in such a good mood,' he thought. 'I only tried to kill myself just a few days ago, it was Neo who-'
Jaune paused his thoughts, then sighed. Neo... He had only met the girl a few days ago, and yet already so much has happened. He appreciated what Neo was doing, he was admittedly being pretty stupid, and Yang had brought up a few good points at Junior's club. But... He still wasn't sure what he was supposed to think about her. On one hand, she saved his life, took him in when no one else would, helped him just find a job... But on the other hand, she was a criminal, and she was just lusting after him.
Lust. What a horrid emotion. Jaune had experienced a lot of lust from people, namely from that bitch Melody. It wasn't something he liked being on the receiving end of, hell, he wasn't sure he could look at someone sexually again.
A part of him wanted to say Neo was just like any other guy or girl who wanted to get in bed with him, but another part of him told him that despite that, she could be trusted. Gah! It was all so confusing! Jaune rubbed his temples. 'You're losing it, Jaune,' he told himself. 'Get a grip, don't let Neo get to you.'
He had been thinking too much lately. It was probably time he stopped dwelling in the shitty part of being a teenager...
He began walking down the streets of Vale, trying to distract himself from thoughts of the criminal who lusted for him. He glanced up, and only then began noticing the various decorations and banners that covered the city. Oh, wow... The boy had been depressed so long he had actually forgotten that the Vytal Festival was arriving. Jaune chuckled lightly as he began to take in all the festive activity from around him, and decided that this would be the distraction he needed.
But it seemed like fate never favored the former Beacon student, as he soon caught sight of three figures walking just in front of him. Ren, Nora, and...Pyrrha.
They had their backs turned, so they had not seen him. They appeared to be in conversation, Pyrrha giggling slightly at something Nora had just said. Jaune gulped, and reached towards them, but stopped himself and sunk into a corner. Wait, no... Why was he hiding? After that heartfelt speech he had given Yang last night...
'I'm still afraid,' he thought. 'Even though I know they won't, I'm still afraid they'd reject me.'
It sort of made sense, he reasoned. Even if he knew it wasn't true, a simple worry could stop a man in his tracks if he allowed it. Taking a deep breath and trying to push the thought of rejection out of his mind, he willed himself to take a step forward.
It didn't work.
Jaune glared down at his feet. "C'mon, move!" he ordered under his breath, but he stood as still as a pole.
'Come on, come on, come on!' Jaune's head hissed. 'Stop being afraid and just move to them. Please, just prove yourself!'
He couldn't, though. He fucking couldn't! Frustration and anger formed inside his chest, and after hitting himself in the face he rushed forward towards his former team...
...only to realize they were already gone.
"Fuck," Jaune growled, his good mood having completely disappeared. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!"
He stared at the spot where his former team had just been standing, then his eyes went back to his feet. Why did he still have to be scared? He thought he could've been brave, so why had he acted like a deer in headlights?
Grumbling disappointingly to himself, the former knight turned away and dragged his feet away, his shoulders slouching and his hands buried in his jean pockets. He needed a long walk if he was going to calm down... Hopefully Neo wouldn't be too worried if he was gone for a bit longer than she was probably expecting.
Goddammit, he was thinking about her again...
...
You planned Roman's arrest, didn't you?
The amused smirk Cinder let show only confirmed Neo's suspicions. The mute girl had only thought of the possibility a few minutes ago, but knowing Cinder it was probably pretty darn likely.
"Yes and no," the seductive villain answered, leaning back on Neo's sofa a bit. "I admit, the plan did involve his arrest, but I hadn't expected it to happen so soon." Her smirk grew, and Neo barely suppressed a shiver. "It should have been easy for you to rescue him from the four huntresses, but instead you had simply disappeared and left him to his fate. So tell me, Neo, what was so important that you had to leave your partner behind?"
Neo stiffened. 'Shit,' she thought. 'I can't let her find out about Jaune.' She typed another message and hit the send button, and Cinder's own scroll vibrated soon after.
That's my own private business, thank you very much.
She could tell Cinder was putting some of the pieces together, but to her relief the woman decided to drop it. "No matter," she said with a wave of her hand. "Because of Roman's early capture, our plans have been slightly altered. The White Fang has moved our operation to Mountain Glenn, and you are to join them in just a few days."
Neo raised an eyebrow, and motioned for Cinder to get it over with.
"You will be working with the White Fang's leader," Cinder continued. "After the mission down there is done, then we will move on to our third phase." She gave a strange smile. "It will involve setting Roman free, so don't you worry about it."
Well that was a brief relief, at least Neo would be getting her paycheck. Okay, okay, maybe she was being too sarcastic. In truth she owed a great deal to Roman, she would probably be dead without his guidance. He taught her the ways of the streets, how life really worked, and how to overcome it. So yes, she was a little worried about him.
But now wasn't the time for that, thanks to Cinder she would be operating in Mountain Glenn in a few days, and she wasn't even sure what it was for. Despite this, she gave a curt nod in response, and Cinder chuckled in satisfaction. The woman then stood up, as did her lackeys on either side of her.
"Well, that will be all," she said. "We'll let you know when you'll be leaving." They began to walk away, when Cinder stopped and turned back to Neo with an eerily knowing look in her fiery eyes. "Oh, and good luck with whatever toy you've managed to snag."
Neo froze, and she glared at Cinder in confusion. Did... Did Cinder know about Jaune?! No, no... There was no way, only Roman and Junior knew. But if one of them snitched... No, they wouldn't do that. Both knew that would be a death wish, there was no way they would rat out the ice cream themed girl.
"She's just teasing you," a low voice assured, and Neo realized it came from Emerald, who appeared to have noticed Neo's confusion and annoyance. Neo forced a small smile on her face and gave another nod. Emerald nodded back, then followed her two fellow criminals out of the warehouse, leaving the mute alone in the living room.
As soon as they were gone, Neo collapsed on the sofa. 'Okay,' she thought. 'Not the best meeting ever, but it could have gone worse.'
She shuddered at the thought of Jaune getting involved. There was no way a kid with such a fragile psyche (as far as she could tell) would be able to survive Cinder's wrath. So now, she felt like he was going to eventually get involved, whether she liked it or not. It certainly made her plans more difficult...
"Jaune," she mouthed, the feeling of his name rolling from her tongue.
She was thinking too hard to realize her heartbeat had increased.
...
Took much longer than I was hoping :P Actually passed out halfway through this at one point, and no, that did not result in an endless amount of Z's appearing on my screen. ANYWAY! Neo's *ahem* lifestyle is getting in the way of her plans for Jaune, while the blonde knight himself is still trying to grow a decently sized pair. One day, Jaune... One day, I promise.
Also, thanks for literally making this my... "most" story. Most views, most favorites, most follows, most reviews, most praise, most criticism... IT'S BEAUTIFUL! ...maybe not the criticism part, but whatever. *shrug* Can't please everybody, no sense letting something like that bring you down. If someone doesn't like the story then that's fine, as long as there ARE people who like it then it's never a failure. And yeah... I think there is actually a fair amount of people who enjoy my work...surprisingly enough. (Yeesh, some level of self confidence I have XD)
Don't forget to review! And remember, stay wykkyd!
(Also, be one the lookout for upcoming RWBY stories by me, as well as the second chapter of "The Azure Knight", which I SWEAR will be uploaded tomorrow!)
NEXT TIME: Neo and Jaune go on their second "date", and hopefully Jaune might learn some much needed confidence!