Outcasts and Outlaws
Chapter 10
Birthday Celebrations
All right so this is the first of many chapters in a two or three a day spree that I'm going to do in order to catch up to where I've currently written up to. Just a thing before it starts. Please keep in mind whilst reading that I wrote this volume three years ago, so not only have my writing skills improved, I've also gotten better with backstories and what not. That said, I love using tragic backstories even though it's cliche, just because I like my characters to have something like that happen to them as a reality check. People die, in this AU it can happen fairly regularly as Remnant is a dangerous place. Also, I write this CASUALLY, not proffesionally. I have fun writing it and worrying too much about whether it's cliche or not takes that fun away from it. This is a hobby. Anyway, enough serious talk, onto the chapter!
Opening Music: RWBY OP 1
(Music starts, shows Connor in a red shirt kneeling behind a tall figure in a green cloak in front of him) (Connor raises his hand, a depressed look in his eye)
THEY SEE YOU AS SMALL AND HELPLESS!
(The figure's green cloak flaps in the wind)
THEY SEE YOU AS JUST A CHILD!
(Dark clouds start to form in Connor's eye, it being zoomed in on until he evaporated into dark clouds)
SURPRISE WHEN THEY FIND OUT THAT A WARRIOR WILL SOON RUN WILD!
[OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS]
PREPARE FOR YOUR GREATEST MOMENT!
(Shows Ruby in a training room with her scythe)
PREPARE FOR YOUR FINEST HOUR!
(Shows Connor standing in a tree wearing a long black coat)
THE DREAM THAT YOU'VE ALWAYS DREAMED
(Shows Yang on her bike)
IS SUDDENLY ABOUT TO FLOWER!
(Shows a horde of Grimm advancing)
WE ARE LIGHTNING!
(Shows Damien with Brook standing on one side of him, a shadowy figure on the other)
STRAYING FROM THE THUNDER!
(Connor looks behind him as a Grimm drops down and charges, but slashes past it)
MIRACLES OF ANCIENT WONDER!
(Shows Connor, Yang and Ruby charge in)
THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE WAITED FOR!
(Shows Connor standing in front of Beacon looking apprehensive)
THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE OPEN UP THE DOOR.
(Connor starts to fall forward)
I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOUR ABSOLUTION!
(Ozpin catches him and pulls him back up, then Team JNPR come to stand with him)
HOPE YOUR'E READY FOR A REVOLUTION!
(Shows Ozpin walking away from Connor with his Kane over his shoulder)
WELCOME TO A WORLD OF NEW SOLUTIONS!
(Zooms in on Ozpin's eye as a gold gear spins around in it)
WELCOME TO A WORLD OF BLOODY EVOLUTION!
(Shows Ruby, then Yang, then Ozpin, then a shadowy figure)
IN TIME, YOUR HEART WILL OPEN MINDS!
(Connor steps through the shadowy figure and draws his arm blades)
A STORY WILL BE TOLD!
(He does an epic pose)
AND VICTORY IS IN A SIMPLE SOUL!
[END]
A few weeks passed after the incident in Vale. Connor didn't speak to Yang or Ruby during that time, although his sources (Team JNPR) told him that Ruby wanted to speak to him. He never found the right moment though, Yang was always right there with her, like a sentinel. When he wasn't in class or trying to get a chance to speak with Ruby, he was spending time with Team JNPR. Since they didn't blame him for the incident in the village, he took it as a chance to make some friends. He grew especially close to Jaune and Ren, the two boys of the group, and spent a lot of his time hanging out with them. Nora seemed to grow very friendly towards him. Ren had said she'd confided in him that she 'kinda likes' Connor, but he wasn't interested and so he just ignored her. Kane had grown quiet recently, barely ever speaking, but when he did, Connor replied to him out loud. Now that everyone knew about him and Kane, there wasn't any reason to hide it.
On one of these days, Connor was on his way to the hall for his usual lunch with Team JNPR. Lost in thought, he didn't notice Ruby walking up the corridor towards him until she spoke.
"Connor?"
Connor awoke from his thoughts and noticed Ruby standing next to, looking up at him hopefully. He was lost for words, the perfect opportunity has arisen. Yang was nowhere to be seen.
"I...spoke to Pryhaa about the thing..." Ruby said nervously, twiddling her fingers and hoping that Connor wouldn't be mad. "She said that it wasn't your fault." She continued.
Connor looked right into her eyes, waiting for what she was going to say next. The tension was unbelievable. Would she trust him? Or was his chance to get back his first true friend ruined?
Ruby looked at him, right into his eyes and said, "I believed her."
Connor's eyes sparkled as he looked into Ruby. Before he knew what he was doing, he had embraced in a tight hug and was getting teary eyed.
"That means so much to me." He told her. "It means so much that you trust me."
Still in the embrace, Ruby blushed and smiled whilst Connor let out some tears. Ruby rested her head on his shoulder and asked, "Why am I so important to you, Connor?"
Feeling her head on his shoulder, Connor felt slightly unnerved and replied, "You're the first person who was really like a friend to me."
Hearing that, Ruby smiled and held Connor closer, closing her eyes.
"Well, look at you two lovebirds." Came a voice from somewhere. Connor recognised it immediately, Ozpin.
Ruby and Connor parted and saw Ozpin standing next to them in the corridor, smirking slightly. It was a rare occasion to see Ozpin let out a smile, and it unnerved Connor even more.
"I should go." Ruby quietly announced, "Yang's waiting for me."
Ruby slunk off silently, holding her blushing face in her hands, which were also red. When she was gone, Ozpin spoke.
"So...you two, huh?" He said playfully, causing Connor to turn a little red and scowling at the headmaster.
"Whatever. I'm going to lunch." He announced, walking away from Ozpin, changing his facial expression to a smile as he went.
"That boy really is progressing well." Ozpin thought to himself, before taking another sip of his coffee and saying, "Happy Birthday, Mr. Kodomo."
After having lunch with Team JNPR, telling them about his encounter with Ruby in the corridor and thanking Pyrhaa for talking to her, Connor headed for the library to study up on Grimm hunting strategies. When he arrived there, he instantly lay eyes on Blake and Weiss sitting at a table reading. They saw him too, but ignored him. Blake and Weiss had accepted that it wasn't Connors fault, but after a talking to by Yang, hadn't spoken to Connor since. Connor sat down with a book and began his studying session.
Connor awoke many hours later, his face in the middle of an open book.
"Wake up, you're going to miss your birthday party."
Connor lifted up his head groggily, still half asleep, his face numb from sitting in the book for many hours.
"What birthday party?" Connor asked Kane. He hadn't told anyone it was his birthday today, so who was throwing him a party?
"Ozpin told Team JNPR it's your birthday, they're in your room." Kane explained, making Connor groan. He hated having people in his room, he'd grown used to it being a private space.
Connor got up, left the book open on the table and walked out of the library to his room. When he reached the door, he put his ear to it and heard nothing.
"I don't hear them." He told Kane, who replied, "Trust me, they're in there."
Connor put a hand on the door handle, and braced himself for whatever was beyond the wooden barrier in between him and his supposedly private space. When he opened the door he was greeted with the sound of the happy birthday song sung by Team JNPR and Ruby. He was immediately grabbed by Nora, who attempted to steal a kiss, but much to her disappointment and to Ruby's relief, was pulled off by Ren.
Everyone in the room was sat in a circle on the carpet, and so Connor joined the circle, sitting in between Ruby and Jaune. He looked to his left and smiled at Ruby, her face beaming back at him. He felt so happy that everyone had gone out of their way to prepare a surprise for him, he finally felt like he had a home with people he could call friends.
Noticing Ruby and Connor smiling at each other, growing jealous, Nora stood up and announced that it was time to exchange presents. She handed over here to Connor first, bubbling with joy. When he unwrapped it, he saw that it was a small silver bear pendant. He thanked Nora and slung it around his neck.
After Nora's pendant, Connor received a book on bird keeping from Ren as well as a related present from Jaune, a parrot. Pyrhaa had been the one to buy him a cage for it as well as some starting materials for it such as food. Connor carefully placed the parrot in its cage and vowed to look after it well, then named it Mars, after his old mentor.
While Mars the parrot chirped away in its new home, Ruby handed Connor a small box, which he unwrapped and opened quickly. He put his hand inside it and pulled out a black eyepatch.
"I thought it would look better than those bandages." Ruby explained, hoping he would like it. "Plus, it goes with the parrot."
Connor unwrapped his bandages, revealing for a short moment his scarred left eye, and put on the black eyepatch. Everyone observed his new look in awe.
"That looks pretty cool." Jaune commented, warranting a smile from Connor and a squawk from Mars the parrot. Connor looked over to Ruby, he held up a small mirror and admired the eyepatch.
"Thanks a lot, Rubes." He said, not noticing that he had just used the nickname that only Yang usually called Ruby by. Ruby didn't seem to mind though, she simply smiled back at Connor, making Nora green with envy.
"We were going to take a trip into town as well," Ren announced, "But it's much too dark now."
Nora chirped up and exclaimed, "Let's go anyway, it'll be fun!"
Ren was about to explain to Nora the dangers of walking around in Vale in the middle of the night, but Connor suggested that that they all take their weapons along, and that seemed to calm him down.
Team JNPR and Ruby all went back to their rooms to get ready, and left Connor to contemplate. "All around, not a bad first birthday party." He thought. He then got up and adjusted his gauntlets, making sure he could activate them at a moment s notice and set out into the corridor thinking about how great it was to be able to hang out with Ruby once again.
I haven't looked at the actual word count, but I feel like this is kinda short. Still, I like to have a shorter one every so often to vary it up a bit, takes less time too. Anyway, it hardly matters since I'm gonna be uploading so many of these a day. Until the next one!