Hello everybody! I am The Burning Ruler and I am back with another chapter of RWBY: A Silent Temper! I really wanted to finish A Beast's Tamer before the next chapter of anything came out, but I just got this rush of inspiration for this story. Sorry to fans of that story and I promise it WILL be finished soon, I just need to get motivated/inspired so that the end is strong and not utter garbage. No new reviews to respond to so let's just get right into the chapter! You guys know who owns who, right? Let's go!
Chapter 12: New Year's
Just as the sun began to rise Ryan noticed Yang waking up.
"Morning Yang." Said Ryan.
"Yeah." Said Yang, harshness in her voice.
"Woah, where did that come from?" asked Ryan.
"Where did what come from?" asked Yang, harness still evident in her voice.
"What are you so mad about?" asked Ryan.
"I'm not mad." Said Yang, trying and failing to hide the harshness.
"Yeah you are. Is this about Neo and me?" asked Ryan.
"A little bit, but mostly about the lie you told last night." Said Yang.
"What do you mean lie?" asked Ryan.
"Saying that you and Neo aren't together." Said Yang.
"We aren't together." Said Ryan.
"So when you and her were having sex last night was what? A prank?" asked Yang.
"What? You were eavesdropping on us?" asked Ryan, faking surprise.
"Yeah I was. But we both know that you are only going to end up making her care about you, which will only lead to her being hurt." said Yang.
"Fine. So we had sex, but last time I checked, you didn't want to do it, why shouldn't I?" said Ryan.
"Well… I mean…" Yang couldn't find the words to respond.
"Anyways if you need more convincing, if you didn't care about her feelings when you were together, why would you care about them now that you broke up with her?" asked Ryan, shutting Yang up instantly.
"That's what I thought. I'm going for a cigar." Said Ryan, grabbing a cigar and heading to the roof.
Ryan sat down and was joined by Neo shortly afterwards.
"Hey Ryan. Glad I caught you. I wanted to talk about this plan of ours." Said Neo.
"Oh. It's working. Yang is so jealous." Said Ryan.
"Not that. I actually want to put a stop to it. I started thinking about it last night, and realized that rather than making her jealous, I should just tell her how I feel." Said Neo.
"Oh. Ok, just straight up tell her or what?" asked Ryan.
"That's what I'm not sure about. I don't think I can just say it. But maybe…" Neo started to think.
"Maybe?" asked Ryan.
"You know a lot of songs right?" asked Neo.
"Yeah, why?" asked Ryan.
"Do you know a song that I could sing to tell her how I'm feeling?" asked Neo.
"Um, yeah I got a couple. Just for clarification, are you angry at her, or do you just miss her?" asked Ryan.
"Honestly, I just miss her." Said Neo.
"Alright, how about this song?" asked Ryan, pulling up a song on his scroll and handing it to Neo.
After it ended, Neo smiled. "It's perfect. Thank you." Said Neo.
Back in the room
Weiss and Blake woke up when Ryan left.
"Well, he really told you off huh Yang?" asked Blake.
"How did you know about that?" asked Yang.
"We were awake the whole time." Said Weiss.
"Of course you were." Said Yang, hanging her head down.
"You're upset about him and Neo aren't you? You miss her." Said Blake.
"What? No I'm not." Said Yang.
"Are you sure?" asked Blake.
"Yes I'm sure." Said Yang, with an almost unnoticeable shake of her head.
"Now see that was a lie." Said Blake.
"No it wasn't." said Yang.
"Yes it was. See, when you repeat the question you were asked, it makes it more likely that you're lying, and when you add that to the fact that you shook your head no when you said yes, you are clearly lying." Said Blake.
Ruby then woke up. "Oh yeah. She misses Neo big time." Said Ruby.
Yang just sighed. "Alright fine. I might miss her a bit. But she's likes Ryan now. I won't get another chance. I'm actually curious about you Weiss. How are you taking this? Knowing that your ex has moved on in just over a week?" asked Yang.
Ryan walked in just before Weiss answered. "Well, I'm actually very happy for them." Said Weiss, pushing her chin out, and clenching her fist.
"Woah! What was she just asked?" asked Ryan, shocked.
"So you saw it too then? It wasn't just me?" asked Blake.
"Yeah I saw it." Said Ryan.
"Saw what?" asked Weiss, looking to Blake.
"Yang asked her how she felt knowing that you moved on in just over a week." Said Blake.
"Well then. Didn't know you would be that angry about it." Said Ryan.
Ruby turned to look at Ryan. "How did you know she was angry about it?" asked Ruby.
"She thrusted her chin out, clenched her fist, her eyebrows furrowed and her teeth clenched. She's, you can't even classify this as mad. She is pissed that I moved on so fast." Said Ryan.
Weiss turned to look at Ryan and put her head in one of her hands before looking down.
"Hmm… interesting…" said Ryan.
"What?" asked Weiss.
"Do me a favour, look away for a few seconds and then look back at me." Said Ryan.
"Why?" asked Weiss.
"Just want to check something." Said Ryan.
Weiss did so and put her head in her hand before looking down again, causing Ryan to chuckle. "Unbelievable." Said Ryan.
"What is so funny Ryan?" asked Ruby.
"When she looked at me, her pupils dilated and she hung her head in shame." Said Ryan, about to leave.
"Why is that funny?" asked Yang.
"Well, when someone's pupils dilate it can mean quite a few things." Said Ryan.
"Such as?" asked Ruby.
"Let's see. It can mean that she's thinking hard, she's interested in what's being said, she's in pain. It could also mean she's on drugs." Said Ryan.
"Is she on drugs? Is that what the shame was about?" asked Yang.
"Possibly. But there is a much more likely reason for her shame and dilated pupils. See if she was on drugs, her pupils would be dilated all the time, but they were only dilated when she looked at me." Said Ryan.
"So it has something to do with you?" asked Yang.
"Yeah. I'm pretty sure I know what it is as well." said Ryan.
"What might that be?" asked Yang.
"It's probably… how to put this… sexual arousal." Said Ryan.
"Oh really?" asked Yang, smirking at Weiss as she let out a pitiful noise.
"Why is she ashamed about being aroused by you?" asked Ruby.
"Well, she thinks that I'm with Neo, and she is ashamed about feeling sexual arousal towards another girl's man." Said Ryan.
"Can you check to be sure?" asked Blake.
"If that's what it is, the shame will disappear after I say this. One second." Whispered Ryan, so Weiss couldn't hear what he said.
"Weiss? I'm not with Neo." Said Ryan, causing Weiss to look up and take her head out of her hand.
"See?" asked Ryan.
"Yeah…" said Yang.
"Well, you just read her like a book." Said Ruby.
"She was easy. She doesn't know how to hide emotions." Said Ryan, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
All the girls turned to look at Weiss.
Weiss sighed. "Wish he didn't know that." Said Weiss.
"So you are aroused by him. After all this time." Said Yang.
Weiss just nodded.
"It seems that she is." Said Blake.
"I don't think I ever stopped. Thinking back, even when I thought he was a part of the White Fang I still felt aroused by him." Said Weiss.
"Really?" asked Ruby.
"Yeah. I just wish he was still attracted to me." Said Weiss.
"If you want, I can find out." Said Blake.
"How?" asked Weiss.
"He can read people, but he also taught me to read people. Also, just because he can read people, doesn't mean he can't be read. Meet us in the cafeteria." Said Blake, leaving. "Hey! Ryan!" yelled Blake when she saw him.
Blake caught up with Ryan quickly. "What's up sis?" asked Ryan.
"Three things. First, was the whole dating Neo thing a plan to make Yang jealous?" asked Blake.
"It was her idea." Said Ryan.
"So in other words, yes. Second, just because you can read people easily, doesn't mean you can't be read." Said Blake, smiling.
"So you saw that then?" asked Ryan with a sigh.
"Yep. I did. So… did I see that right?" asked Blake.
"Depends on what you saw." Said Ryan.
"I saw two fully dilated pupils. Indicating sexual arousal." Said Blake.
"Well, then, yes. You did see it right." Said Ryan.
"Good to know." Said Blake.
"I seriously regret teaching you to read people's faces." Said Ryan.
"Thought you would. Lastly…" Blake wrapped her arms around Ryan.
"Thank you for coming back. I missed you during New Year's." Said Blake.
"Ah crap that's right. I missed New Year's." said Ryan.
Ryan and Blake found that they were outside the cafeteria. When they walked in, they were called over by team JNPR. Ryan and Blake walked over and sat down next to them.
"That's right, New Year's is your favourite holiday right?" asked Blake.
"Yeah. It's the only one I can find only one negative about." Said Ryan.
"What really? You can find more than one negative about Christmas?" asked Nora.
"Yeah." Said Ryan.
"Ok. Name two." Said Jaune.
"Having to lie and pretend to like gifts you don't. I hate lying. There's number one. Second, others lying saying they like what I got them when I can tell they didn't. I can read faces and tell when people are lying to me. There's number two." Said Ryan.
"Alright." Said Ren.
"Well, if you want, we could throw a new year's party." Said Pyrrha.
Team RWBY walked in at this point.
"Why are we throwing a New Year's party?" Asked Yang.
"New Year's is apparently the only holiday Ryan can only find one negative about." Said Jaune.
"You know, it's strange. I can't think of a negative." Said Nora.
Ryan replied immediately, his voice getting louder the longer he spoke. "That's easy for you to say. You have Jaune. You don't have to face the horrible pressures of this holiday. The desperate scramble to find anything with lips just so you can have somebody to kiss when the ball drops! Man I'm talking loud!"
"You say that as if you never had somebody to kiss." Said Ruby.
"Probably because I never did." Said Ryan.
"Ever?" asked Ruby.
"Never. Not even once." Said Ryan.
"Wow. Now I feel bad for you." Said Yang.
"Don't. It was my choice not to kiss anybody. I had someone that I could've kissed, but I never acted on it." Said Ryan.
"Why not?" asked Nora.
"No reason in particular." Said Ryan, rubbing the back of his neck, which nobody seemed to pick up on.
"So when are we going to throw it?" asked Pyrrha.
Ryan got a call on his scroll at this point. "Just a sec." said Ryan, leaving the cafeteria.
"It needs to be this week. Ryan might not be here next week." Said Blake.
"Does tonight work?" asked Ren.
Ryan walked back in at this, an indescribable look on his face.
"What's wrong Ryan?" asked Blake.
Ryan just handed his scroll to Blake.
Blake took his scroll and put it up to her ear.
"Hello?" asked Blake.
There was chatter on the other line. "Yeah, it's Blake. What's going on? Ryan just showed up and I can't fond words to describe what his expression is." said Blake. There was some more chatter before Blake took on a shocked face. "What? No, that… that's not possible. She can't be… are you sure?" asked Blake. There was more chatter before Blake responded. "Ok. I need to ask Ryan first."
Blake turned to Ryan, who just shook his head before speaking. "It would just be too hard." Said Ryan.
"Sorry, it would just be too hard for him to see her in that state." Said Blake.
After a few seconds Blake said goodbye and hung up before giving the scroll back to Ryan.
"What was that?" asked Weiss.
"One of our friends from back home just killed herself." Said Blake, shocking everyone in the group.
"Oh my god. Are you two Ok?" asked Yang.
"As Ok as we can be." Said Ryan.
"We're gonna go for a walk around the school. See you around." Said Blake, leaving with Ryan.
"Wow. That seemed to hit Ryan really hard." Said Ruby.
"Do you think it was maybe more than just a friend of Ryan's?" asked Weiss.
"Maybe." Said Pyrrha.
"It was either that or a really good friend. I can say that without a shadow of a doubt." Said Yang.
"That little bit about it being too hard on Ryan to see her "in that state" leads me to believe that may have been someone who Ryan may have had feelings for at one point or another." Said Pyrrha.
"Think one of us should go after them?" asked Jaune.
"I don't think so. We should just let them come to terms with it for a while." Said Ruby.
"Yeah. Good idea." Said Ren.
After talking in the cafeteria for a few more minutes they heard a female voice screaming "RYAN, PLEASE STOP! YOU DON'T NEED TO CONTINUE!" in a frightened tone.
Everyone took off to where they heard the voice to see a terrified team CRDL, aside from Cardin who was unconscious with a long bruise around his neck, Blake had a red mark on her cheek and Neo was blocking the path between Ryan and the rest of Team CRDL.
Ryan approached the unconscious Cardin and checked for a pulse. "He's alive." He said, dragging the unconscious body of Cardin over to the rest of his team and pushing him towards them. "She managed to stop me this time, but if you EVER come anywhere NEAR my sister again, only DEATH will stop the pain!" yelled Ryan, angrily.
Russel, Dove and Sky picked up Cardin and ran away.
"What did we miss?" asked Yang.
"Right. Here's what happened." Started Blake.
Earlier
Ryan and Blake were wandering around the school.
"I can't believe Kat's gone." Said Blake.
"Yeah. I mean, after… the incident… we stayed with her family for years. She was always so happy." Said Ryan, reminiscing.
"Yeah. You were always fond of her." Said Blake.
"Heh. Yeah, I guess I was." Said Ryan.
They kept walking but after a few seconds, Ryan noticed that Blake wasn't next to him. He turned around to see that Cardin and his gang had cornered her, seeing that she didn't have her bow on. He started to walk towards them slowly. However, this was when Cardin reached back, and knocked Blake over with a hard slap. Ryan was behind Cardin in half a second, with his arms wrapped tightly around Cardin's neck, chocking every last ounce of air out of his lungs.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" yelled Ryan.
Russel, Dove and Sky heard this and turned towards Ryan to see their leader in a choke hold. They took a step towards Ryan before he put one hand on either side of Cardin's head, not releasing the choke hold, and yelling "If you take one more step towards me I will snap his neck in half!"
Cardin's face started to turn blue as he wasn't able to breathe at all.
"Come on Cardin! Where's your tough guy act now huh?" asked Ryan.
This was when Blake saw what Ryan was doing.
"Ryan? What are you doing?" asked Blake.
Ryan still didn't lessen the pressure on Cardin's neck at all.
Neo showed up in shock at what was happening. "What is he doing?" asked Neo.
Cardin began foaming at the mouth before Blake yelled again.
"RYAN, PLEASE STOP! YOU DON'T NEED TO CONTINUE!" yelled Blake, almost mortified.
Ryan turned to his sister and let Cardin go before taking a step towards the rest of his team, before Neo stood between them with her arms outstretched and saying "It's not worth it Ryan!"
This was when everyone else arrived.
Back to present
"Oh my god. Was the slap really enough to start all that?" asked Weiss.
"No. The slap was just the trigger. It just set off all the pent up anger and frustration from recent events that I've been keeping inside. The anger at the whole White Fang fiasco with you, my friend dying. Pair that with everything that happened over the years, both to me and Blake, and that slap just sent me over the edge." Explained Ryan, wiping the sweat from his brow. It was clear from his breathing how much effort he was putting into the choke hold.
"So if nothing had ever happened to you guys, would the slap have set you off at all?" asked Weiss.
Rather than responding, Ryan seemed to be in thought. "You know, I'm not sure." Said Ryan.
"What do you mean?" asked Yang.
"Well, do you believe in fate? That your life has already been planned, and there isn't anything that can be done to change it?" asked Ryan.
"Sometimes I do." Said Neo, with everyone else slightly agreeing shortly afterwards.
"I see. Well, I do. Big time, so I never really thought about a different path that our lives could've taken." Said Ryan. "I believe that everything that happens will happen no matter what is done in an attempt to change it."
"Well, I guess that's one way to look at life." Said Weiss.
"Anyways, that helped me let go of all the anger so I'm up for a New Year's party tonight." Said Ryan.
"Great. See you tonight." Said Team JNPR, leaving.
"Hey Ryan? Can you come with me for a sec?" asked Neo.
"Um, yeah. Sure." Said Ryan, following Neo to the roof.
On the roof
Once they arrived at the roof, Neo began talking.
"So, I think I have the song down, but I would like your opinion on it. I just want to know if I can sing it well enough." Said Neo.
Ryan looked around, as if he heard something but stopped quickly before answering. "Alright. Sure thing Neo. Just let me get the instrumental up." Said Ryan, pulling up the beat on his scroll.
"Ready?" asked Ryan.
Neo nodded, as Ryan started the beat.
(Cue Dreaming by Matthias) (AN- I had to change one instance of the word "his" to "her" because, well, Neo is the one singing it, and she is most certainly not a man. That doesn't mean I own anything about the song, as I'm sure you know. All credit goes to Matthias. Anyways. Start the song!)
I know we said we would take it slow,
And I know we said we wouldn't fall in love,
But I was weak,
And she was strong.
She said it's not that you weren't enough,
It's just that, I don't even think I can fall in love.
So please, keep in touch.
O-o-oh
They say if you love her, let her go,
But they have never felt this way before.
'Cause I, didn't even get a choice.
O-o-oh
And I'm staring up,
At the clouds,
My vision is turning
round and round.
Is this what they call
A breakdown?
And I'm bleedin'
When I should be healin'
All because I'm dreaming
Of when we were together.
And I'm bleedin'
When I should be healin'
All because I'm feelin'
A way I shouldn't feel.
We agreed that we
Would still be friends,
So the pain I feel
will never end.
Yet you say that you're fine.
And now the smile
That used to heal me,
Cuts me deep with regret and envy.
'Cause I can't say that you're mine.
They say move on and you learn the truth,
But they aren't dealing with this open wound.
This fool gave her heart
much too soon.
And I'm staring up,
At the clouds.
My vision is turning
round and round.
Is this what they call
A breakdown?
And I'm bleedin'
When I should be healin'
All because I'm dreamin'
Of when we were together.
And I'm bleedin'
When I should be healin'
All because I'm feelin'
A way I shouldn't feel.
As Neo finished, she looked at Ryan, as if looking for confirmation.
Ryan's face remained expressionless for a few seconds, before he gave Neo a smile and clapped a few times.
"So, you think that would be good enough to tell Yang?" asked Neo.
"Yeah. I think so." Said Ryan.
"So, I'm going to use this to tell her that I still have feelings for her, but do you think it will be enough for me to get back together with her?" asked Neo.
"You know, I'm not exactly sure about that, but, I mean, she'll know." Commented Ryan.
"Yeah, I guess that's true." Said Neo.
"Right. So, why don't you just ask her?" asked Ryan, smirking and looking to the doorway that led from the dorm building to the roof. "Don't bother pretending you aren't there Yang."
After a few seconds, Yang stepped out of the shadows, looking uncharacteristically shy.
Neo looked shocked, realizing that Yang had heard everything that she had just said. "Did you know she followed you?" asked Neo, looking to Ryan.
"Actually no I didn't. But I am so beyond happy she did. That made you sound more confident than how you would've sounded if you knew she was listening, and for a song like that one, confidence is definitely something that is needed if you want to get your point across." Said Ryan.
"Well, I mean, I guess that makes sense…" said Neo, pausing.
"Right. Anyways, I imagine you two have quite a bit to talk about. I'll leave you to it." Said Ryan, leaving.
In the training room
Ryan walked in to see Ruby training alone. Rather than starting to train on his own, he resorted to sitting in the stands to try and figure out what Ruby was doing. Ruby seemed to be trying to fight more defensively rather than practicing her offense.
After a while, Ruby stopped and took a break. She looked into the stands to a somewhat confused Ryan.
"Hey Ryan!" said Ruby, going into the stands.
"Hey Red." Said Ryan.
"Red?" asked Ruby.
"Sorry. Random nickname." Said Ryan, shaking his head.
"I'm not complaining. Just a little shocked." Said Ruby.
Ryan smiled. "I got a question for you." Said Ryan.
"Alright. Is it about Blake?" asked Ruby.
"No. Just curious. I wanted to know why you seemed to be fighting more defensively." Said Ryan.
"Oh, well. See, It doesn't' seem fair that you are the only one capable of defending Blake. I thought since she's my girlfriend, I should be able to give you a hand protecting her." Said Ruby.
Ryan smiled slightly. "Huh. You know, I'm glad I decided to give you a chance with her. It's nice to see how much you care about my sister." Said Ryan.
"Oh. Well, thanks." Said Ruby.
"Come to think of it, that reminds me. I wanted to have a little talk with you about that." Said Ryan, adopting a more serious face.
"Ok." Said Ruby.
"Now, I want you to know, this isn't just about you, I just… I'm overprotective of my little sister." Said Ryan.
"Yeah. I know." Said Ruby.
"Ok. Well, as I'm sure you're well aware of, Blake is the most important person in my life. She's the only family I have left. I want her to be happy. I don't really care who it's with, just so long as she's happy. Having said that, if you ever think about hurting her, there is something I want you to remember. I've gotten away with murder three times. What's a fourth?" asked Ryan.
"Right. I understand." Said Ruby, just as serious.
Ryan seemed a little perplexed.
"What is it?" asked Ruby.
"You haven't ran away to break up with Blake yet." said Ryan.
"Of course. I'm not going to." Said Ruby.
Ryan smirked. "Huh. Maybe you are the right person for my sister. Everyone else I gave this talk to ran away and we never saw them again." Said Ryan.
"So they were cowards." Said Ruby.
"Right. I want my sister's partner to be someone I can't scare away just with a simple threat." Said Ryan.
"I see. So there's no danger to me if I do hurt her?" asked Ruby.
Ryan turned towards her menacingly.
"It's just a joke Ryan." Said Ruby.
Ryan just shook his head and smiled.
This was when Ren walked into the training room. "New Year's party is about to start you two. You may want to wrap whatever this is up quick." Said Ren, leaving.
"Yeah. He's right, let's go Red." Said Ryan, leaving with Ruby.
There we go. Chapter 12 down. I don't know about you guys, but I feel really happy about how this chapter turned out. I really want to hear your opinions on this chapter, so remember to leave me a review. I really wish I could've fit the party into this chapter as well, but I kept getting more and more ideas for scenes I wanted in this chapter and, well, it got too long, too quick. Anyways, hope you enjoyed, and I hope to see you all in the next chapter! Goodbye!