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*hears whip cracking*

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And onto tonight's wonderful tale…~Voltegeist

Ignore him, I haven't given him a sock yet ~ Twisted

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Brief Announcement :

had an incident at the end of last month involving people using fake cards and information, and trying to access other people's accounts and banks. They have sorted the issue but many cards across the site were declined. Everything ought be fine going forward. But please check with your banks to ensure nothing untowards has happened and when safe, check your pledge for any errors related to the incident.

No Supporter list changes will be made in response to these declinations due to this issue. I apologize for any inconveniences that result from it.

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Ruby was shocked, to say the least, but several small hands grabbed her skirt and pulled her away before she could do more than sputter a few more incoherent words. The small creatures from before swarmed around her and Jaune, tearing his armor away and throwing it aside, exposing a thick shirt underneath. Several of the creatures, armed with long-axes and wearing haphazardly crafted conical helmets lined in fur, grabbed her skirt and belt, pulling her away from them.

When Jaune's arms hung limply at his side and his head lolled on his shoulders, she felt her heart hammering in her chest, pounding against her ribs like a jackhammer just like when she'd lost him before, and she kicked at one of them, "Let me go, I have to help Jaune, and I don't want to hurt you, so let me go, I have to-!"

"Get in our way?" A snide voice accused, the oldest looking one shuffling away from the throne - she couldn't call that kind of seat anything else - towards her, waving a hand at the guards. They let her go, but stayed beside her while the creature spoke, "Listen, young Mistress, he will be fine. He just needs to," he turned his head, raising his voice for the other creatures to hear, and continued in that louder voice, "get out of his armor and be taken to his bed, to rest, so the Tower Heart can heal him!"

"He has bullets in him, you, you little... Whatever the frick frack you are." She flailed weakly, looking away from the creature's beady eyes back towards Jaune, pulled from his throne while the creatures continued to strip him, exposing his upper body to the air. "T-That's a lot of blood, he needs a hospital or-"

"Young Mistress, if he leaves this Tower, his wounds will kill him." The creature shouted at her, grabbing the front of her corset and yanking her down to meet his eyes. She blinked, silver eyes meeting harsh yellow, and the creature snarled the question, "Is that what you want, young Mistress? For him to die? For him to bleed out on the snows outside, dying them red, from wounds he took saving your worthless little life?"

"I-I, no, I just- D-Did you say snow?" She squeaked, the words running over each other rose petals coming off her cloak as her anxiety spiked ever higher, "Y-You did, didn't you? You s-said snow, but Mountain Glenn didn't have any snow, and what was that weird thing Jaune did with his axe?" A realization struck, and she stammered, "O-Oh gods, Jaune killed that man! A-And he lit those other ones on fire, too! H-How did he even do that? I didn't see a flamethrower, s-so was that his Semblance? But the how did he move so fast, a-and-"

"In the name of Evil itself, do you always talk this fast, young Mistress?" The creature sighed when she just shrugged and made a face, shaking his head and turning back to the throne as a third of the axe-wielding creatures came up to him, "Get him upstairs to his room, disrobe him, and get one of our scouts to the work-camp. Tell them to see if anyone there has thread, needles, and any other assorted medical crap to help Master."

"B-But we no have way to get there and back, no, no, too far and we to slow." One stammered anxiously, hands rubbing together. "What we gonna-"

"Do you think they can help?" Ruby asked suddenly, the two creatures turning to her as another couple dozen carried Jaune away, posed like he was crowd-surfing at one of those concerts Yang loved to go to all the time. Swallowing, she explained, "The, uh, you know. The work-camp you mentioned. Do you think they can help Jaune?"

"Yes, young Mistress." The creature made a face, which she couldn't discern but looked caught between aggravation, acceptance, and fatigue with a mix of a few other emotions she didn't recognize on its foreign features. "I am Gnarl, by the by, I don't recall if I mentioned that yet or not. Apologies for my rudeness, but with have a slight problem with our Overlord. He appears to have sprung a few leaks, you see."

"I… Yeah." Ruby blinked, confused, "He, uh… he got shot a whole bunch."

"Yes, because he did something stupid, against what I would have so wisely suggested he do in the situation, and got hurt because of it like the foolish creature he is." Gnarl chuckled, giving her a meaningful glance. "That tends to happen when my sage advice is ignored like so much inane prattling. You tend to… Spring leaks, because of poor decisions and pointy objects."

"H-Hey, I'm the stupid thing he did, Gnarl." He smirked amusedly, and she looked at him in confusion for a before she realized what she'd said, flushing brightly and stammering, "N-Not like that! Fricking… Messing with me right now, really? Jaune is in danger!"

"No, Master is not in any danger. He is simply grievously wounded, and unconscious due to blood loss, both of which come from something like a dozen bullets which have nestled themselves in his torso." Gnarl explained, giving a roll of his eyes when she made a face of confusion and waved her arms in the air like he'd contradicted himself. "His wounds will heal in time. Removing the bullets, stitching him up, all that oh-so-tender loving care? Just speeds up the process. A couple months of healing without these things, reduced to a week at most. Perks of the job, you understand."

"Perks of… What job?" She asked, Gnarl opening his small mouth to answer before she held up a hand, waving it to shoo away the question and drawing a raised eyebrow from the creature. Or she thought that was his eyebrow, at least, it was kind of hard to tell. "Just, the people at that camp you were talking about, Gnarl. Can they-"

"Probably, yes." Gnarl nodded, shuffling past her towards the pool at the end of the hallway and beckoning for Ruby to follow. Which, after a nervous glance towards the path the creatures had carried Jaune through, she hesitantly did. "It's a remote location, with heavy labor involved. And the Overlord did say that someone was bandaged once when he went to visit the place. Something about the idiot smacking something and it blowing up in his face, but if they could treat that then they must have supplies and people who know how to use them. Yes?"

"I… Guess, yeah." Ruby nodded, taking a deep breath, "Okay, where are they, and how far away?"

"Several miles away, north I believe. I can show you, sort of, young Mistress." He answered, pushing through heavy, fur-lined and leathery curtains onto a balcony outside. Ruby shivered, struck suddenly by the cold air so abruptly her head ached, but ignored it as best she could to listen to the small creature, "We have scouts who know the way better than I do, and I must confess I paid them little attention when they explained it to his Lordship. Why do you ask, though?"

"I'm… Fast." She tried to explain, curling in on herself and rubbing her shoulders to stave off the shivering. Which didn't work, obviously, and she sounded like her words were being put through a fan almost, mixed with her chattering teeth. "I c-can run really, really fast, with my Semblance. Like, I mean, super, duper, extra lots faster than anyone else I know. B-but it wears me down, is the thing. A-And I can't do it for long, so I need to k-know exactly where to go, and- Gods, it's cold out here, can we go back inside? I can't think straight o-out here, it's s-so cold."

"Oh, very well, come along then." She nodded, following him back into the tower itself. And then he turned, heading down a staircase, and she swallowed anxiously. Going down there felt all too like descending into some kind of evil dungeon… "Come along, young Mistress, since you wish to help the Overlord. You'll need warm clothes to go out there, you know. And I know someone who can stitch them for you, unless you feel like freezing those tiny excuses for breasts right off."

"My- Hey! I am fifteen! Fifteen! They'll get bigger, first of all. Second of all, they are just fine like they are, because big boobs make you top heavy and slow you down! And third, Gnarl, why are you talking about my boobs!" She crossed her arms under the small- Perfectly normal, she amended herself, she crossed her arms under her perfectly normal sized breasts and stomped a foot at the base of a staircase, looking around at what had to be a forge of some kind. "Also, this is, uh, kind of really cool."

"Giblet!" Gnarl called, walking towards what looked like an armory off to the right side. He huffed and called again, "Giblet, get out here, or your name becomes Jester from this point forward, you understand me? And bring your measuring tapes! We have work to do, and not much time."

"W-What are you getting measuring tape for?" Ruby asked, swallowing nervously as a small creature came running out of the armory sleepily, tapes held aloft in its hands.

"If you are going to run to the work-camp to get what the Overlord needs, then you'll need better clothing, more fitting for the harsh temperatures of Atlas' north." Ruby murmured the name, 'Atlas', in shock while he explained further, "We have fur, leather, and thick cloth to use for you. If you try and run there without the proper attire, you will freeze and die. And I doubt the Overlord would like that too terribly much. Don't you agree?"

"Y-yeah, freezing to death, bad idea." Ruby nodded, a thought suddenly coming to mind, "I-Is there a way to get a message home for me, though? I mean, to Beacon. I have to let them know I'm okay, and-"

"Young Mistress, if you do that then do you know what happens?" Gnarl interrupted, voice dangerously low. Threatening, almost, bordering on a low growl in the back of his throat, thet rumbled there and seemed to echo menace at her. "This place, we Minions, and our Overlord will be exposed to the world. While we are small, and weak, and can't defend ourselves. And we will be destroyed."

"Why?" Ruby asked quietly.

"We are three foot tall, hideous looking creatures, ruled by a dark Overlord who wields magic and can teleport anywhere on this planet." Gnarl explained simply, raising a thin eyebrow, "Not to mention that we dwell on a continent that is already claimed in its entirety. In what version of this world would someone not decide to destroy this place? And if the Tower is destroyed, its Overlord dies. Jaune will return to how he was when he came here, so long ago. A broken, shattered, corpse."

"And I would assume that is not something you would enjoy, per se." Gnarl finished, giving her a small, almost imperceptibly pleased smile, or at least she thought as much. It vanished quickly, though. "My Master, he bled for you. Leapt into the fray without a second's thought, and took bullets for you. I like to think that you would value him, in turn."

"I do!" Ruby shouted suddenly, the Minion flinching at the rise in volume. Coughing awkwardly, she repeated, "I-I do. Value him, I mean. I cried for days when we had his funeral. I don't want to lose him again. He was my first ever real friend, and that makes him… So important."

"Then you must stay here, until we are strong enough to protect him." Gnarl coached, reaching up to grasp her forearm gently and reassuringly. "My Master made the same sacrifice I ask of you, when I told him these things. One day, you will return to your friends, and they will know what has happened. But if you value Mas- Jaune, then you can't return to them."

"I-I…" She closed her eyes, grimacing, and took a deep breath. "Okay."

"Okay?" Gnarl asked, raising an eyebrow and releasing her arm while Giblet watched anxiously.

"Okay." She repeated, nodding slowly and letting out a long, steady breath, "I won't leave. I can't stab Jaune in the back, after what he did for me, like that. It wouldn't be right. My sister will… She'll understand, even if it makes her angry enough to want to kill me when she finds out."

"Thank you, young Mistress." Gnarl murmured tiredly, himself taking a deep breath and letting it out before turning to Giblet. "Now then, Giblet get her measurements taken and stitch together something light but warm. Something she can run in. We have an Overlord to get sewn up. Preferably before he ruins his sheets."

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The Minion - that's what Gnarl explained his race were called, which Ruby found kind of adorably on the nose, if she were honest - who ran the forge area was named Giblet, and he knew how to make things faster than Ruby could even believe. Faster than she would have believed, actually, if she hadn't been there the whole time. He looked small, wiry and clumsy, and even if she was too nice to say it, when he spoke he sounded kind of dumb. His words slurred together sometimes, his grammar would have given Weiss a stroke, and he didn't seem to know any more technical terms for… Anything, really, when Ruby started talking about Crescent Rose.

But when the smithing Minion started stitching, cutting and sewing - a very different profession and skill-set, she wanted to point out, and she kind of thought it was unfair to only call someone who could do all that a smith - his hands flew through the motions faster almost than even she could follow. His fingers nipped, tucked and pulled, cut and sewed, and rolled fur and leather together faster than Ruby was fairly certain was possible in Atlas' best factories.

The newly sewn outfit was simplistic, probably thanks to the time constraints, made of simple, thick leather pants with fur lining along the waist where it hugged against her and thick, soft cloth on the insides. For comfort as much as function, the leather could and would protect her from water, but the thick cotton was needed to keep her actually warm and with the tighter fit on her legs it would chafe horribly if it was just the leather. He also made her heavier, thicker boots, lined in the same fur, as well as thick cotton socks again lined in the same fur.

Over her old top, she wore a thick leather jacket that fit snug to her arms, and that she stitched in the front like her own corset. Her hands were protected by thick cloth gloves, that went under the jacket up past her elbow, and a wool scarf wrapped around her face under her cloak's hood. She'd want to at least decorate the jacket a bit, later, but it kept her warm enough that inside the Tower she… Actually felt really, really hot.

And not the Yang kind of hot, either, the 'sweating a little' kind.

"Thank you, Giblet, I… I really like the outfit, and I can't wait to decorate it, but I have got to get going." She turned to leave, heading towards the door, and Giblet rushed around in front of her.

"No, no, not leave yet! Not ready yet, please, wait." He croaked at her anxiously, Ruby taking an anxious step away but nodding. Giblet returned the gesture and turned, rushing over to the armory where Jaune's heavy armor sat on a pedestal beside his axe now, after several Minions brought it in, blood still staining the metal. Giblet rushed back a moment later, holding up a long, thin knife to her, "Safety!"

"Oh. Uh, thanks." She said, taking the stiletto from the creature, still sheathed and with a small strap alongside it and a leather belt as well. She tied the belt on, talking as she did, "Can you get Gnarl for me? I need directions or a map, or something, to get there. Socan you go get him?"

The creature nodded and ran off, and Ruby was left to simply wait, until it was time to do the thing she loved the most. Run.

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The map she was given twenty minutes later, before she was guided outside, was little more than a very rough drawing of the area and an arrow pointing vaguely towards the direction she was meant to go, with a red line that was labeled 'scout lines end here' to the South-East of the Tower. Beyond that line, impossibly far to make it on her own, she knew she'd eventually see Atlas. But neither she or Gnarl really knew exactly what lay between them and Atlas, aside from snow.

Which had been a helpful answer when Gnarl snarked it, of course. He could have also included that there were trees in that direction, and Grimm too, while he was giving her such important information.

But she didn't run that way, rose petals trailing along behind her and scattering to the wind and across the snow as she went. She paused as she flew up a tall hill, leaning against a tree and looking back the way she came, smiling at the sight of the snowy forest stretching out around her with her rose petals scattering to the wind and mixing in with the snow. Her face felt cold, and she could see her breath come out in front of her, but aside from that she was… Actually fairly comfortable.

And gods, it was so pretty out here, and she was able to turn back towards her goal and just run. No Grimm, no people, just her and the view flashing by her beautifully as she went. By the time she reached the camp, she was panting and sweating from the exertion over such a long time and an hour had passed. She was exhausted, sweaty, and tired from being up for too long, but she kept on as she stumbled through the little gateway into the camp itself.

She had a job to do, and Jaune needed her to do it. He was her friend, and she would not let him down. Plus, she needed to hit him for disappearing the way he had, and for kidnapping her - on accident, yes, but still - and taking her to Atlas with him. Even if he'd kind of, sort of, saved her from an execution by firing squad and gotten shot repeatedly to do so, and he kinda couldn't help that part.

Still, though, that wasn't the point.

She'd boop him furiously, right on his noggin.

Nora would be proud of the bopping she was going to levy on his forehead, Ruby was pretty sure of that much.

The camp was in full swing of a work day, the stone of steel striking stone and foreman calling orders above that, when Ruby arrived in a flurry of rose petals and snow tossed into the air and ahead of herself. Several Minions spotted her quickly, exchanging surprised glances at her sudden arrival, and she looked at them while she doubled over and sucked in ai before saying, "Jau- Overlord, he's hurt. They sent me to run here for help. Get… Someone for me to talk to, please?"

"Go get scary lady!" One shouted at another, a third Minion grabbing him and yanking him to the side to throw him in that direction. As the creature ran off, the first explained, "Scary lady is smart. She help you, yes-yes, she help you."

"Scary… lady?" She mouthed, straightening and looking towards the only solid building as a door swung open and a large man and a smaller woman approaching. He looked tired and sported bandages on his arm, and she had bruises along the side of her head, and Ruby swallowed anxiously as they reached her, "U-Uh, hi, I'm Ruby, R-Ruby Rose I mean, a-and I'm, you know, uh…. Here, and-"

"What happened to the Overlord, and who the hell are you?" The woman snapped, sighing after a second and rubbing a hand along her jaw, grimacing, "Sorry, sorry, still… Kind of sore after an… Accident we suffered, here. And the news that he's hurt doesn't come well, everyone here needs him."

"W-What happened?" Ruby asked, curious for a moment. What was Jaune to these people, after such a short time? "Are you okay?"

"I'm perfectly fine. We just had… It's fine, and it doesn't matter, the Overlord gave us a hand regardless. No one died, and all injuries suffered by parties involved were minor or we don't care." She gave Ruby a once over, eyes narrowing suspiciously as the thorough inspection wen on, "I don't know you, though, and the Minions didn't give your name either. Are you new? And again, what has happened to the Overlord?"

"Uh, so this is a long story-" The woman's eyes narrowed and Ruby squeaked at it, rapidly spitting, "H-He saved me from a bunch of terrorists, and got shot really bad, and Gnarl sent me running for sewing stuff and medicine to treat his injuries, and please don't glare at me, I've had a really bad day…"

"Shaun, fetch a backpack and two of our First-Aid kits, along with something to drink and a couple protein bars and hurry up. She looks to have run all this way, so time is almost certainly short on supply for him." She ordered quickly, the man snapping a nod and turning to sprint full tilt back the way they'd come. The woman turned back to her, eyes softening, "Saved you from terrorists, huh? That man just can't stay out of trouble, it would seem, can he?"

"No, he's a good guy. And he got shot for it." Ruby added the last in a whisper, making a sour face. That he'd gotten shot for her wasn't something she was quite okay with. The woman seemed to grow worried, and Ruby rushed to add, "H-He'll live, Gnarl said so, the medicine and stuff just… Helps. I just, you know, kinda feel bad, cus it's kinda my fault, you know?"

"Can you make it back on your own?" She asked as the man in the distance slammed out through the door, caught himself on the railing and almost fell down the stairs. Ruby nodded, unsure herself at least a bit, and the woman returned the gesture, "Take a breath, shove a protein bar down your throat, and get going then. If he's as alright as you say, you have that much time."

She turned as the man reached them, snarling, "And you, don't think I don't know you almost fell down the stairs again. Gods, you did it once and lied to the Overlord about it. You need to learn some damn contro before you kill yourself, Shaun."

Ruby snatched the pack from him while he stammered excuses, digging around in the top of the simple cloth thing and yanking out a large bar. It tasted like oatmeal, and was annoying to chew, but she knew better than to not eat it. Her dad and Yang both had drilled that into her when she was little, a Huntress needed energy to fight and she especially needed it to run like she did.

"Gottagothanksforthefoodandstuffguysbye!" She rushed out, turning and sucking in a cold breath before she launched a foot off the ground, body lost in a swirl of petals so that she appeared as a bullet, soaring off the ground to the entry-way into the camp once again. She slammed a boot down on the ground just outside the gate, grit her teeth, and kicked off as she hurtled forward back the way she'd come.

Luckily, she had a nice red trail to follow back, so she didn't need to stop and check the map again like she had on the way.

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Yang's fist slammed towards another White Fang grunt and missed, slamming instead into a wall next to him and smashing through it, shrapnel flying through the air from the might of the blow and intermingling with her flaming hair. Her eyes, glowing bright and red, rounded on the scrambling man and repeated her demand, "Where is my god damn sister, you dub mother fuckers?"

One, a suicidal one she thought privately, lunged with his sword and cried, "Die, you blonde bit-"

"Not smart!" She screamed, grabbing his wrist past the sword and yanking it back, a loud snap echoing almost lost in his pained cry as his arm was made toofold in half. Tired of his screaming, she slammed him facefirst into the remnants of the wall next to him and let him fall limp on the ground. Stepping over the groaning body, she spread her arms wide, "WHo the fuck is next, boys and girls? I'll crack every one of you through these- Hrk!"

She stumbled to the side as small legs wrapped around her back from behind and yanked her to the side, towards Weiss, Blake and Oobleck who were fighting in the wider, open area. She caught sight of multicolored hair and a smirk, before she felt the small woman yank to the side, off-balancing her and rolling them across the ground, kicking her into the air when Yang saw the ceiling above her and throwing her away.

She fired a shot from Ember Celica at the highest point of her arc, shooting back towards Neo with a yell and slamming her fist down towards her face. Her fist punched into concrete instead, the woman sidestepping and putting herself between Yang and the train, and Yang snapped, "The fuck is my sister, you mute little skank?"

Neo raised an eyebrow and smiled, stepping to the side slightly and looking over her shoulder. Yang followed her eyes, and her own widened when she saw what Neo was looking at.

A red smear on the wall, next to the train, and burns across the ground a few feet away from that.

"No… Not Ruby, no..." Yang turned wide, tear-filled eyes on Neo, and the girl smirked, drawing her blade in one hand and opening her parasol with the other almost like a sword and shield. Yang stared at her, eyes wide, and Neo lunged for a stab.

Blake intercepted her, spinning through the air and catching Neo's stab, pushing it aside and slamming a foot into the girl's parasol to shove her back. The smaller woman landed a foot away, smiling, and Blake called back, "Yang? What's wrong? Are you-"

"You fucking animal!" Yang shrieked, slamming her gauntlets together with a snarl as fire burst out around her. Every eye, friendly and otherwise, turned to her as she continued, "I'll smear you all across the fucking walls you sorry, pathetic, evil little monsters! And then I'll feed you to my fucking dog!" Said dog whined worriedly nearby and Yang sneered a smile, "They killed Ruby… Zwei, kill."

Neo's smirk finally vanished, for once, when Yang shot forward and slammed her fist into her parasol so hard that they both heard the metal crack in protest. Yang gave her no time, reeling back and slamming another fist into it, and Neo blinked white eyes and rolled tododge the next attack. Yang followed, never letting her breathe and Aura burning so bright Neo could feel the heat, and Neo flipped backwards, slamming a kick into her jaw.

Yang just smiled, grabbing the leg and hauling her back, wrapping a hand around her throat and growing, "And you? Pretty flexible. I wonder how many knots I can tie you into. Let's find the fuck out, shall we?"

When her fist met Neo's face, she shattered into a thousand pieces, and a Grunt rushed her from behind. Yang spun, without a word, and caught his slashing sword arm, cracking it back and slamming her foot into his knee so that that folded back to, and he cried out. His cries were cut short as, still wordless, Yang slammed her fist into his throat, his body dropping with a wet choking noise as she turned and smiled at Neo.

"Neopolitan." And Neo registered something deep in her mind as she heard that voice snarling at her, something new to the small woman… Fear, and regret. "Come back here, so I can rip your fucking tongue out, since you don't seem to fucking use it!"

Yeah, that was definitely fear, she thought, as the now quite close to literal blonde bombshell shot towards her.

Around her, the others started to mirror her ferocity and rage, even if none but the hound seemed to match it. Their hits struck harder, breaking masks, skin and bone, and tossing enemies aside with far less concern for gentleness. Zwei leapt, slamming into a Grunt's back and then snapping jaws around the downed Faunus' neck, muzzle coming back red and snarling, and the professor with them wrapped an arm around a fighters neck, snapping it as he stepped by in one fell move.

Neo realized as Yang swung for her face, the small woman ducking under it and then flipping back and away when her knee came up, that she had maybe caused a shift in this fight that she did not want.

But fight she would, and gods damn her if it wasn't so much more fun now, as fighters cried out in pain and shock at the wounds they took and Yang shrieked murder at her. Neo stood in front of her, casting aside her damaged parasol, and the smaller of the two ducked under her right hook once again, spinning around to stand beside her and lashing out at her back. The cut was shallow, but bled, and turned Yang's skin a pretty shade of red for a few seconds before it seemed to boil under the heat of the blonde's rage and Aura.

Rather than turn, Yang fired a shot of her gauntlet and slammed a shoulder into Neo's chest suddenly, throwing her back suddenly. Neo, surprised, let out a small gasp and flailed as the two fell. Yang landed on top of her, her side pressed into Neo's stomach, and turned on to of her while Neo kicked and clawed at her chest, face, anything she could reach. An animalistic struggle, matched against Yang herself clawing at Neo's clothes and skin for a grip.

A hand closed around Neo's throat, and then a fist raised and slammed into her chin, and with Yang on top of her she couldn't teleport away. The blow stunned her, even through her Aura, from the strength of the strike, and so the next when it landed on her cheek split skin and busted her lip, blood flying across the floor next to her.

Breathing heavily, Yang sat up, straddling the small woman. Neo blinked, and Yang grabbed her by the chin, forcing her to meet her eyes and snarling, "I don't know what you did to my sister, but I'm going to make you pay for it." Neo glared silently, and Yang pinched her lips together, "Maybe starting with some teeth."

Yang brought back her other fist, and an explosion knocked her aside, Roman shouting, "Neo, on the train, we are getting the hell out of here!" The small woman rolled onto her side and scrambled away from Yang, rising in a run towards the man while she shrieked behind her. The train was already moving when she reached it and leapt, grabbing Roman's hand, and he asked, "What the hell did you do to piss off the firecracker that much?"

Neo just wiped the blood away and smiled, heart racing and face aching, while she turned to look at Yang pummeling a man into the dirt, whispering, "Something fun."

Hearing her speak, Roman looked surprised and shocked, and swore, "Son of a fucking Ursa… What did you do?"

This time, she didn't answer. Simply raising her blood stained hand and looking at the blood there. Her own blood, for once, and that fact set her heart fluttering like a maiden in youth, fawning over a young prince of a man. She'd been in plenty of fights, and rivalries, and this… This was special, now.

Yang had spilled her blood, and Neo had spilt hers, and Yang wanted nothing more than to rip her to pieces, to hurt her and relish in Neo screaming in pain and for mercy. And that meant something to her. Something Neo couldn't place.

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Elite Shadow :

Glad you're enjoying yourself.

Grape Fanta :

Part of both. Learning new things, and working with my beta and on my own skills. I may, at some point, go back and redo those chapters to fix that issue.

Dirt Revor :

Yup.

Lohamigos :

A nerf. Jaune wielding all the magic under the sun and having more Aura than your average continent? Too op, needs nerf, otherwise Jaune would run a train on… Every single thing, and that is generally bad and boring.

Dragon Blaze-X :

Your name is very appropriate to this chapter…

BukkakeNoJutsu :

Glad you enjoyed it~!

Eren Jaeger 17 :

Jaune is always awkward even when he is being a badass, Gnarl always has ideas, and canon will start changing relatively dramatically in some ways soonish.

Xager the Chaos King :

Maybe I will. I enjoy exploring him as a person and character, and might like a more pragmatic, self-interested version of him with an actual, genuinely cruel and outward about it, Neo at his side.

I did feature them heavily in Knight and Mind Games, though.

The Impossible Muffin :

Honestly? Had this particular scene planed out - mostly - a long, long time ago.

Artanis Rose :

See Xager's response for the Roman bit. And yes, once he's not ruining his nice sheets,Jaune having Ruby around will be interesting as all hell.