RWBY: MRRN
VOLUME 1, CHAPTER 10: Forever Fall
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. All rights go to Rooster Teeth.
A week had passed since Math told Pyrrha about his condition and he had become happier. When he relayed the news to Robin, he too felt happiness for his cousin, but was surprised that Math told her everything. Regardless, it was great for both of them.
During the week, despite some difficultly, Robin had not flirted with any girls other than Coco. Over time, he had become drawn to her for her confidence, her beauty, and her overall personality, probably feeling the same way for her as Math did for the redhaired beauty of Team JNPR. The week was up and Robin had kept his word.
He was on his way to Team CFVY's dorm when he walked past Math.
"Hey, Math," he greeted.
"What's up, man?" Math replied. Robin stopped after seeing a scowl of worry over his cousin's face.
"Is everything alright?" he asked.
"Have you noticed Pyrrha acting a bit…differently?" the swordsman questioned his cousin.
Robin had noticed something was up with Pyrrha Nikos; since a few days ago, she seemed a bit cold and not as open from before. He believed it had something to do with her team leader, Jaune. He had started hanging out with team CRDL, acting as their errand boy, their punching bag, and other things that degraded him.
"I have," he answered. "Maybe it has something to do with Jaune."
"Well, he has started hanging out with Cardin," he brought up. "I hope everything's alright."
"Jaune's a big boy, just like the rest of us," Robin replied. "He has to make his own decisions. If he wants to screw his team over for that prick, then let him. It'll be his fault alone."
"I hope he doesn't," Math expressed concern.
"Me too," the archer agreed. "Now, I need to go and see Coco. She's got a promise to keep…and I've got a date to arrange."
"Have fun, man," Math departed with a fist bump. Robin continued onto Team CFVY's dorm, enjoying that he had upheld his end of the deal; now it was Coco's turn.
When he arrived, he confidently knocked on the door and waited for a few moments. The door opened up and Velvet poked her head out.
"Hello," she greeted. "How are you doing?"
"I'm doing fine," Robin replied. "Is Coco here? I was hoping to talk to her."
"She went out to Vale to get some new clothes," Velvet replied. "She may not be back for a while."
"Why's that?" the archer asked.
"Coco, as much I care about her, tends to be…quite the shopaholic, especially when it comes to clothes."
"Aren't I allowed to have my interests?" Coco spoke from behind Robin, with two bags in her hands.
"Coco!" Velvet shrieked. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-"
"Hey, come on, Velv," Coco interrupted, not losing her signature smile. "You don't need to be sorry. I do enjoy shopping for clothes." She then turned to Robin, remembering that she had a promise to keep.
"I'll be with you in a minute," she told Robin. She walked into her dorm, closed the door behind her and started putting clothes away in the closet and drawers.
"Is that the guy who asked you out?" Velvet asked.
"He is," Coco replied, hanging up a new blouse she had gotten. "I told him that if he went a week without flirting, I'd go on a date with him."
"I don't know, Coco," the bunny Faunus responded. "He seems like the cocky type to me."
"He is the cocky type," Coco replied. "But from what I've seen, he's gone the week without flirting with other girls. He's kept his end of the deal, so now it's my turn." After she was done putting her clothes away, she walked back to the door and opened to see Robin leaning against the wall.
"How'd shopping go?" he asked.
"Found what I wanted," she responded. "Well, I have to admit, I'm impressed, Mr. Kendrick. You kept your word."
"Like I said before," Robin started. "I found a woman I'm really attracted to." Coco smiled at the archer of Team MRRN.
"Alright, so when are you available?" she asked. "And two, do you have a car?"
"I do," Robin answered. "I actually put in the Beacon parking garage a few weeks back. Second, I'm available whenever you are."
"Very well, then," Coco replied. "Do you have any suggestions about where'd you like to go for our date?" Robin cockily smiled. While he wasn't showing it, he was dancing with joy on the inside knowing that he was going to take Coco Adel on a date.
"Have you ever heard of a place called Monty's?" Robin asked. The leader of Team CFVY thought for a moment, but her eyes popped open when it came back to her.
"Yeah, it's a restaurant in the commercial district," she remembered. "I've been there once. I liked it."
"Then does that sound good for the date?" Robin asked. "Friday night, day after we come back from Forever Fall Forest, I drive us there?" She nodded her head.
"Pick me up at 7," Coco replied as she went inside her dorm. Before she completely closed the door, she winked at the redhaired archer. Just as she closed the door, she heard a loud "WHOOO!". She giggled at the one who would be taking her on a date soon.
"Well?" Velvet asked, her eyes glued on a book.
"I have a date on Friday at 7," she explained. The bunny Faunus looked up at her leader and smiled.
-0-
The day of the Forever Fall field trip had arrived. Several teams, including MRRN, JNPR, RWBY and CRDL had gone with Professor Goodwitch. Much to their dislike, Jaune was still hanging around Cardin and his teammates, carrying jars and a rather large case, making Math curious as to what was in it. When he wasn't focused on that, he was admiring the beauty of the forest.
"Man, coming back to this place never gets old," he commented, having been to the forest several times already during his training years with Glaucus and Forest.
"You've been here before?" Ruo asked his team leader.
"Yeah," he answered. "I sometimes came here with family during my training years."
"It is indeed very beautiful, Mr. Kendrick," Goodwitch agreed. "However, we are not here to sight-see. Professor Peaches has asked you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest and I'm here to make sure none of you die while we're here."
"We'll be fine," Nasser replied arrogantly. "What can possibly go wrong?"
"Plenty can go wrong, Mr. Achdarr," Goodwitch scolded. "Now, each of you are to collect one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so make sure to stay close to your teammates. We will rendezvous here at four o'clock. Have fun."
"Will do," Math replied, still enjoying the scenery. He was about to walk off with his team until he looked back and saw Pyrrha with a saddened look on her face.
"You okay?" he asked walking over to her. She looked at him and smiled weakly.
"I'll be fine," she replied. However, Math could easily tell that something was bothering her.
"It's Jaune, isn't it?" he asked quietly. Pyrrha's scowl soured a little after hearing that name. The swordsman looked in the opposite direction to see Jaune walking off with Team CRDL, still carrying their belongings like a pack mule.
"I don't get why he's hanging around with them," he spoke.
"I don't care," Pyrrha replied rather coldly, taking Math by surprise.
"What?" he asked. "Pyrrha, what are you-"
"If Jaune wants to hang around Cardin, then so be it," she stated, pretending not to care.
"Have you even talked to him?" Math asked. "You and I both-"
"It's not your business!" she nearly snapped at him. This took him by surprise; Pyrrha had never acted like this before.
"I'm sorry, Pyrrha, I didn't mean-"
"Just leave me alone." With that, she walked off with her own teammates. As she did, the sour scowl softened into one of regret; Math was only trying to show concern for her and Jaune, after all. She turned around, but the sword-wielding leader of Team MRRN was already gone.
"It's good to be back here," Math spoke to his teammates.
"It is indeed beautiful," Ruo agreed. "Too bad there are Grimm here otherwise this place would be even better."
"Oh, come on," Nasser replied to this. "It would be boring without some Grimm to beat up."
"Do you ever think of anything other than fighting?" the White Tiger Faunus asked his prideful teammate.
"Only when I'm in a place where Grimm are," the knife wielder replied. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but-"
"Don't think about it," Math sternly told him. "Goodwitch told us to stay with our teams, so that's what we're going to do."
"Oh, right, I forgot I need to take orders from teacher's pet," Nasser insulted. This earned him a glare from his team leader.
"If you get hurt here because you're too reckless to think straight, then I'm not coming to your rescue," Math warned. "Remember that time I had save you when you got pinned by the Raptors?"
"Or when I had to save you from a King Taijitu?" Robin brought up. Nasser rolled his eyes.
"Look, those two got the drop on me, but it won't happen again," he assured. The stares from his teammates showed a complete lack of being convinced by the knife wielder. He sighed.
"Fine, I'll stick around with you," he gave in. The four of them met up with Teams RWBY and JNPR, again with the exclusion of Jaune.
"Hey, Ruo, why don't you give Yang a hand?" Robin asked his Faunus teammate. Unknown to Ruo, Robin had started picking up hints that his teammate was developing feelings for the blonde brawler.
"She's fine on her own," Ruo replied with a stoic tone, giving away no hint of nervousness.
"You sure?" the archer asked with a teasing grin on his face. Ruo sighed as he pushed Robin away from him.
"Let's get the sap we need," Math reminded as he got took one of the jars and walked over to the trees.
"Whatever," Nasser replied as he climbed up a tree and started looking into the distance. He was hoping to see some Grimm and get into a fight, but so far, there was no movement to be seen.
Down below, he watched as the others talked and gathered the tree sap needed for Professor Peaches. Of course, he wasn't going to get any; he felt it had nothing to do with being a Huntsman, so he was ignoring it.
"Mr. Achdarr," Goodwitch called from below. He looked down; at first, he couldn't see her, but looked at a part of the forest not covered by the trees and saw her. Sighing, he got off the branch and leapt down in front of her.
"What is it?" he asked.
"May I ask why you're not collecting tree sap like the others?" she questioned. "I told you what you needed to do, remember?"
"To be honest, I don't see how this has anything to do with being a Huntsman," Nasser replied.
"It may not be directly involved with training, but that doesn't mean you get to disregard it," Goodwitch pointed out.
"Huntsmen are warriors," Nasser replied. "Warriors that are trained to go and fight Grimm, not collect sap for a teacher too lazy to get them herself."
"They are also trained to be defenders of the kingdoms," Goodwitch brought up, her voice becoming stern. "To defend those who cannot defend themselves, that is the purpose of Huntsmen. Even after all these weeks, how can you still not understand that?"
"Because just being a defender is boring," the knife wielder replied. "When you get to go out there and fight loads of Grimm, that's when being a Huntsman becomes fun."
"Is that the only reason why you want to become a Huntsman?" the strict teacher questioned. "To have fun slaying Grimm?"
"To live by my own rules," Nasser answered. Goodwitch raised an eyebrow at the knife wielder of Team MRRN.
"To live by your own rules?" she asked. "What exactly are your 'own rules'? To only care about how much fun you can have slaying Grimm while ignoring criticism and facts because of your pride?" Nasser's brows lowered in response to what Goodwitch had just asked him.
He had never been one to enjoy being bossed around by others nor admit when he was wrong. He didn't care about history, duty or learning anything that didn't involve his skills with his knives. Just like he said, he wanted to live by no one's rules by his own.
"Don't paint me as being selfish," he replied, trying to keep his temper in check. "I'm not going to disregard innocent people just so I can have fun. I'm not heartless."
"I never said you were," Goodwitch clarified. "However, you need to realize that there is more to being a Huntsman than just fighting Grimm. If you think that you can disregard anything that doesn't involve fighting, then you will not stay at Beacon for long. You're already close to failing some of your classes."
"My grades aren't that bad," Nasser denied. Goodwitch sighed in response with frustration. She was getting very tired of telling Nasser of how to improve his fighting skills, his work ethics and other things, yet get the same pride-filled response again and again.
"Nasser Achdarr," Goodwitch sternly replied, showing small hints of anger. "If you do not improve, then you will not stay at Beacon. Now please go and collect the sap as needed." Nasser sighed and walked back over to his teammates, who had all collected the sap needed.
"Hey, Yang!" Robin called out, immediately grabbing the fist-fighter's attention. "Ruo said he really likes your hair!"
"Thank you!" Yang called out to the White Tiger Faunus, still hiding any hint of nervousness with his stoicism.
"Come on," Robin teased his teammate. "Yang's over there alone~"
"Knock it off," Ruo demanded, hints of annoyance in his tone. Robin looked down at his hands, where he was wearing Huzhao and presenting the razor-sharp claws on the tips of his fingers, warning him to stop. Robin backed off and left his teammate alone.
Math was sitting on the bottom of a tree trunk, having collected his jar's worth of sap, and continuing to admire the beauty of the Forever Fall forest. He was about to pull out his scroll and start listening to music until he heard a flock of birds fly away.
"What was that?" he wondered. He got up and looked around, remaining quiet so he could pick up any noise around him.
"NORA!" Pyrrha shouted, almost making Math reach for his sword. He relaxed when he saw what had happened; Nora had eaten the tree sap that Pyrrha had collected. She giggled and shrugged in response.
"Sorry," she apologized. "That stuff is very sweet."
"Then please eat your own," Pyrrha demanded with a stern tone. "You do realize this is for an assignment, right?"
"But there's plenty of sap around," Nora brought up. Pyrrha sighed and walked over to a tree to refill her jar.
This prompted Math to take out his scroll, go to texting and message his teammates "Nora loves sap. Keep your eyes on your jars and don't let her near you.".
Nasser filled up his jar with tree sap and decided to head back up to the same branch where he had been sitting before being called by Goodwitch. His scroll buzzed; he opened it and read the message sent by his team leader "Nora loves sap. Keep your eyes on your jars and don't let her near you."
"Sure," he replied, putting his hands behind his head to relax. He felt himself start to doze off a little. Before he knew it, he was asleep, his breath now a steady snore.
"You selfish bastard!" Nasser called over his scroll. "How could you do this to us? To your family!?"
"I simply took my share of father's inheritance," a very familiar yet unwelcome voice on the other end of the scroll replied.
"That money wasn't meant for just you!" Nasser shouted. "It was meant for all of us! Also, you didn't just 'take your share', you stole it all!"
"Because the money is mine!" the voice replied. "Father entrusted me with it!"
"It was meant to help US, not help just YOU!" the knife wielder shot back. "You had no right to take it all for yourself!"
"Come on," the voice responded. "Don't ruin our relationship because of money. That's selfish." Nasser couldn't believe what he just heard; this person had taken most of his father's inheritance money for himself and then had the gall to call him selfish.
"You are such a hypocrite for saying that," he called out. "The one being selfish is you! You took that money so you could live in luxury while leaving us in the dirt, you son of a bitch!"
"I don't have to hear this," the voice denied. "Father entrusted the money to me and I can do with it however I want. If you don't like that, too bad."
"How many times do I have to say this!?" Nasser shouted, not bothering to control his temper. "THAT! MONEY! IS! NOT! JUST! YOURS!"
"It is MINE!" the voice shouted back. "It is mine and no one else's!" The scroll then hung up. Nasser felt his blood boil and he threw his scroll against the wall, almost breaking into many pieces.
The dream caused Nasser to wake up. He hated reliving that part of his life, the part where a family member took his father's inheritance for himself and leaving Nasser and his family to live in poverty.
"That selfish piece of ass thinks we can't live without him and his money…which was actually OUR money," he growled. "When I graduate here, I'll show him! I'll show him just how much-!" Screaming was heard in the distance, prompting Nasser to leap down from the branch and witness Russel, Dove and Sky of Team CRDL running away like cowards.
"What's going on?" Yang demanded after Russel bumped into her.
"There's a Grimm!" he answered in a panic. "It's got Cardin!"
"You mean you abandoned him?" Math called out.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha gasped, remembering that Jaune was with him.
"How many are there?" the swordsman of Team MRRN questioned.
"It's a big one!" Russel replied. "It's an Ursa, but bigger!" Math unsheathed Claiomh Solais and activated Dionach.
"All of you, go and get Professor Goodwitch!" Pyrrha ordered as she readied her weapons along with Ruby and Weiss. "There could be more!"
"Let's go!" Math insisted. "If it's an Ursa Major, then they're in serious danger!" He didn't wait for a response as he immediately took off, followed by Nasser.
Pyrrha, Ruby and Weiss caught up with them and they made their way through the forest to find Cardin and Jaune.
"Did they say it was an Ursa Major?" Nasser asked his team leader as they were hurrying to find the two missing students.
"It has to be," Math responded. Nasser cheered as a smile came across his face.
"This'll be fun," he replied. To his surprise, he felt a hard, blunt force hit the back of his head. He looked back at Math, who had a scolding look on his face, who had hit him with the pommel of his sword.
"Jaune and Cardin are in danger, you idiot!" he replied in an annoyed tone. "Stop thinking about fun and consider the fact-!"
"There they are!" Ruby called as she pointed in their direction. Cardin was crawling away from the Ursa Major, scared for his life as he was without a weapon to defend himself. The Grimm brought its claw down on him, only to be blocked and deflected by Jaune's shield.
Math and Nasser prepared their weapons to charge, but Pyrrha held out her arm and stopped them.
"Wait," she insisted. The swordsman and knife wielder looked at each other and then Pyrrha. While Nasser was impatient to get into the fray and help fight, Math lowered his weapons and told his teammate to do the same.
"Alright," he agreed. "But if it's too much for Jaune, we're going in." Pyrrha nodded her head in agreement.
Jaune landed several strikes on the Ursa Major, but the tables seemed to turn and the Grimm started to overpower him. On the side, Math was doing his best to stop himself and Nasser from getting involved as Pyrrha wanted, but Jaune getting beaten by the Ursa made the impulse to fight much harder to control.
"That's it," Math said. "We have to-"
"Wait," Pyrrha insisted again. As Jaune charged the Ursa Major, the amazon warrior reached out her hand and a black outline appeared. To everyone's surprise, Jaune's shield blocked the attack from the Grimm, allowing him to cut off its head with one strike.
"What?" the brown swordsman wondered.
"How did you-?" Weiss tried to ask.
"Well, Ruby has her speed, Mathdon has his Aura Swords, you have your glyphs…my Semblance is polarity," Pyrrha replied.
"Wow, you can control poles," Ruby responded.
"No, Ruby," Math corrected. "Polarity means 'magnetism'. She can basically control any magnetized metal." Pyrrha started to walk away from the battle sit.
"Where are you going?" Weiss asked. "Shouldn't we tell them what happened?" Pyrrha smirked in reply.
"We could," she responded. "Or perhaps…we could keep it our little secret?" She then continued walking away.
"Well, that was a waste," Nasser commented as the rest of them started to walk away as well. "That would've been awesome to fight!"
"Oh, shut up," Math demanded. "Do you ever think about anything other than having fun fighting Grimm?"
"I don't need that," Nasser shot at his leader and walked further away. The swordsman growled in frustration at his green-themed teammate.
When they got back with the others, Goodwitch had already arrived. Math and Pyrrha explained the situation to her and this made her glare over at the three present members of Team CRDL. After talking with Math and Pyrrha, the strict professor walked over to them and scolded them for abandoning their team leader without a second thought.
"Is everyone alright?" Ruo asked Math.
"Jaune and Cardin are fine," the swordsman assured. "I don't know about Russel, Dove and Sky, though. I think they're in for quite the earful."
"Well, they DID abandon Cardin and Jaune," Ruo brought up. "Of course Goodwitch would be mad at them." The swordsman nodded his head in agreement.
"By the way, what was Robin teasing you about earlier?" Math asked. "He said you complimented Yang's hair?"
"I didn't," Ruo told.
"He did," Robin teased, putting his hand on Ruo's shoulder. The White Tiger Faunus grabbed the archer's index finger and bent it, making him let out a yelp of pain. Math chuckled at this until he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. He turned around to see Pyrrha with a look of regret in her eyes.
"Math, can I talk to you really quick?" she asked.
"Sure," he responded and turned around to make eye contact with her.
"I…thought eye contact was something people with Asperger's had trouble with," she brought up quietly to make sure no one heard her.
"We usually do," he replied quietly. "But I manage, thanks to Glaucus and Forest." She smiled at him, but it quickly disappeared as she looked away from him.
"Earlier…when you were…I'm sorry for snapping at you like that," she apologized to him. "I was so mad about Jaune being around Cardin…because…"
"Thanks," Math accepted. "I didn't mean to…bear down on you like I did earlier-"
"You were just concerned," Pyrrha interrupted. "I appreciate that. Still, I'm sorry for earlier." She felt two arms hug her, causing her to blush as red as her hair.
"Thanks," Math said. "I want things to be good between you and Jaune and between us. I'm glad they are." When he let her go, she turned her face away, trying to hide the bright red blush and smile on her face.
"Pyrrha?" he asked, trying to look at her, but she kept turning away. Finally, he sighed and said "Well, I'll talk to you later then." He then walked away to join up with his teammates, not catching the blush on Pyrrha's face at all, which she hoped he wouldn't.
Author's Notes: I hope you are enjoying this fanfic so far. If any of you have constructive criticism on what I could do to improve it, then I'll appreciate it.