White and Black

It had been about a week now since Darkness disappeared, and things were…. going. Jaune really wasn't sure if they were going well or bad, but they were going. Fortunately, even though Darkness still wasn't around, Jaune had found out that his blessing hadn't gone away. Perhaps that meant that Darkness was still around, just that Jaune couldn't see him. There was a disturbing thought.

Jaune was now passing the time trying to think of the dance, and who he could take. He figured had to ask one of the three girls who was in his team, though he supposed there was nothing stopping him from asking Blake and Weiss (Nora was probably waiting for Ren to ask her). He wasn't sure at all what they would say, considering that neither of them seemed that interested him; when the teams were together, neither of them really talked to Jaune much. Though Jaune didn't think they disliked him, maybe they just didn't think that much of him.

There really wasn't much for Jaune to do today. Ruby had gone down to the workshop to get Crescent Rose a tune up, while Yang and Pyrrha were in the gym training with each other. And figuring that there was no harm in at least approaching them, Jaune set out to find the two.

(in the Beacon courtyard)

"And when father came home, he was so angry he slapped Winter clean across the face," Weiss said, as she stared at the ground, "I probably would've gotten it instead if she didn't get in front of me."

"I'm sorry," Blake said, putting her hand on her teammate's shoulder. Weiss sighed, as she looked at Blake and smiled.

"Thank you for listening to all this," she said.

"Its what I'm here for," Blake answered, returning the smile. The two savored the moment, before Weiss took a breath.

"I've talked enough at this point," she said, "I feel like you deserve to be heard now."

"Well," Blake said, after thinking for a moment, "I guess there's not much more to tell at this point. For me, it was a matter of helping the Faunus. To save them from slavery."

"They are paid, for what its worth," Weiss said, "Same amount as the human workers. But…" She didn't need to finish, as if anything, it proved Blake's point.

"I won't lie," she said, "My father's treatment of his workers is… lacking." Weiss knew that was an understatement, but for some reason couldn't really bring herself to say the real words. The two were silent for a time, before Blake stood up.

"I'm heading back to the room," she said, "I just got some new books. Are you coming?"

"In a moment," Weiss answered, sitting back, "I'm going to enjoy the sun some more. Its always so cold in Atlas." Blake nodded, before heading out. Weiss sighed as she looked up into the sky, enjoying the warmth. Despite the occasional rough patches, she was enjoying Beacon more than not. Unfortunately, her peaceful solitude was cut short when she heard someone approaching. Looking up, she saw a familiar blonde coming up.

"Hey, Weiss," Jaune said with a slight wave. Weiss let out another sigh.

"Hello Jaune," she answered. If someone were to ask an opinion on Jaune, she honestly would not have been able to give an answer. All things considered, she never had much real interaction with him, save for when their teams sat together during class or during meals. Weiss didn't really have an opinion on Jaune she supposed.

"Just want to ask how things are going?"

"I suppose things are going as well as they could," Weiss answered.

"Can I sit down?" Jaune, said, gesturing to the other end of the bench. If she was being really honest, Weiss wanted to say "no". But she also figured that she had been raised to be more polite than that, and Jaune hadn't really done anything wrong.

"Go ahead," Weiss answered, with a gesture. After Jaune sat down, an awkward silence quickly set down over the bench. Noticing that the girl in white was looking towards the sky, Jaune decided to the test the waters.

"Nice day, huh?" he said. Weiss just affirmed it slightly.

"What's the weather like it Atlas?"

"Cold," Weiss answered, "Being that high up and that far North, it snows most of the time."

"Sure glad I'm not from Atlas," Jaune said with a smile. It took him two seconds to realize that was probably not the best response, as Weiss just eyed him slightly, before looking back towards the sky. Once again, Jaune was very thankful Darkness was not present. Wait… Darkness… There was a topic that might go somewhere.

"I'm sorry, but can I ask you something kind of personal?" he asked. Weiss eyed him again, but this was more of a curious eye than anything else.

"Depends on the question," she answered.

"Do you believe in the gods?" Jaune asked. Weiss blinked at that; that was a strange question to say the least. Where did it even come from?

"Well, I suppose I do," she said, "I'm not really religious if that's what you're asking."

"I'm not either," Jaune said, "Well, at least I don't think I am." Sure, he had talked with a god quite a bit in the past, but he wasn't sure if that qualified as being religious.

"Honestly, I think if there are any gods in this world, they certainly aren't very good ones," Weiss said, "The world is so screwed up, they either don't exist, don't care, or can't do anything." Jaune fully expected Darkness to materialize then and there to counter what she was saying, but once again, nothing happened.

"Maybe they want us to make do with the world on our own?" Jaune suggested, "Letting us make our own achievements and mistakes?" He wasn't sure if that was what Darkness believed, though. He could never really tell what Darkness wanted at any point, unless the god told him overtly.

"That's… an interesting outlook," Weiss said, actually looking interested in the conversation now, "Maybe there's something to that." There was then a ringing sound, as Weiss noticed it was her scroll.

"Sorry, but I've got to take this," Weiss said, "It's Nora."

"Don't worry about it," Jaune said before Weiss got up, "Talk to you later?" Weiss stopped walking, and turned back, smiling slightly.

"Perhaps," she said, before answering her scroll, "What is it Nora? No, I don't know where your stuffed hammer is. Why are you so upset? You always said you'd rather cuddle with Ren?" As she walked away, Jaune sighed. He hadn't even gotten a chance to ask her to the dance this time. Maybe he'd try again soon.

As he sat staring into space, he noticed the statue of the King of Vale that sat in the square. It made him think about the past, which got him thinking about the divine again. What were things like when Darkness and his brother were still on Remnant? What did the world look like?

(in the dorms)

After returning to the dormitory, he entered the common room, and noticed Blake sitting on the couch, her nose buried in a book. Deciding to take this as an opportunity to engage with Blake now, Jaune eventually approached her.

"Hey Blake," he greeted. Blake looked up in surprise.

"Oh, hey," she said.

"How's it going?" Jaune asked, mimicking what he said to Weiss, hoping it would bear fruit.

"Alright, I suppose," Blake said, as she turned her attention back to her book, "This book is pretty enjoyable." If Jaune were a different guy, he'd have taken the hint. But… this was Jaune we were talking about.

"How many books do you have?" Jaune asked. Okay, that was another awkward question. But maybe it was better than what he said to Weiss.

"A lot," Blake said simply, before adding, "Including this one. Which I intend to complete, hopefully today." Jaune was starting to take the hint, and got ready to leave, before he noticed the book she was reading.

"Is that… Ninjas of Love?" Jaune asked, looking close. Blake was silent, as she glanced at the cover. Her eyes widened.

"Oh," she said. She could've sworn she put a false cover on it.

"Um…" How did a girl answer to this?

"Hey, no judging," Jaune said, as he rubbed the back of his head, "I… actually may have sort kinda read it too."

"Really?" Blake said, "No offense, but I never pegged you as a guy with interests like that."

"Actually, it was my sisters'," Jaune admitted, "But… I won't lie, I…" He didn't finish, but the point was made. Upon hearing that, Blake smiled as she sat up slightly.

"Well, its always good to hear someone shares my interests," she said. Jaune returned the smile.

"You know, if you'd like, I can show you some of the other books I have," the Faunus then offered.

"Thanks," Jaune said with a smile. As the warm moment sat in the air, Jaune decided to test his luck.

"Can I ask a weird question?" he asked.

"Uh, sure, why not?"

"Do you believe in the gods? Specifically the Brothers?" Blake did indeed look surprised by the question.

"Well," she said, "I do believe in gods, though not the Brothers."

"Really?" Jaune asked, sitting across from her.

"I'm from Menagerie," Blake explained, "We worship the High Spirits there."

"High Spirits?"

"Basically nature spirits," Blake said, "Not much really to tell. What about you?"

"Well, I guess you could say I believe the Brothers," Jaune said. Technically not true; he didn't believe in the Brothers, he knew one of the Brothers.

"Never thought you of all people would be religious," Blake said, "No offense."

"None taken," Jaune said, "I'm really not actually, I've just been asking everyone lately."

The two kept talking, before Blake excused herself to get something to eat. Jaune considered making a joke about fish, but figured that probably would've been offensive. So he just returned to his team's room, seeing the girls were still all gone, after which he collapsed onto his bed with a slight groan. As he did, he remembered he still hadn't asked anyone to the dance. Absolutely no real progress to that had been gained.

It was then that he decided that there was probably nothing he could do that would help him choose, Jaune just went for broke. After scribbling down the names of the five candidates on a piece of paper, Jaune torn the paper accordingly, and put them all in a paper bag. After shaking the bag slightly, Jaune closed his eyes, reached in, and pulled out a name.

"Alright then," he said, as he looked at the name taking a breath. He then stood up, and set out to find her. Soon enough, he found her. With that, facing the girl he'd selected (completely at random, what was his life coming to?), he took a deep breath.

"Will you go to the dance with me?" he asked.

RYPJ Chibi: the Sacred Scripture

"Ugh!" Ruby groaned as she and Jaune entered their room, "This day was a killer!"

"No one should have that many tests in one day," Jaune agreed. They then saw a strange glowing book on the desk. Curious, Jaune approached it. On it was writing that said "Read this, and I turn you into a lizard".

"What is it?" Ruby asked.

"Its Darkness' diary," Jaune said.

"He's got a diary? That's kinda weird." Jaune didn't answer as he kept staring at the book.

"Jaune?"

"I don't know, but I've suddenly got a strange urge to start preaching the things in this book," Jaune said, "Take a look." Ruby took the book in her hands.

"I now really want to start thumping this without reason over books about science," Ruby said, "But we really shouldn't read it, right?"

"No, we shouldn't." The two were silent for a second, staring the book Ruby was holding. It took the two about three seconds before they gave into temptation, and opened the book. It didn't take long before a very imposing, dark presence suddenly fell over them.

"Can I at least be a chameleon or something?" Ruby groaned.

Note: Not much to this chapter really, focusing mostly on focusing Jaune establishing something with Weiss and Blake (for the record, the fact that Ren got a full hug from Yang while Jaune got an awkward half hug from Blake rubs me the wrong way).

Something I surprised more haven't brought up was how I never had Jaune really try and pine after Weiss in this. I omitted it because it mostly doesn't amount to anything. It mostly served to be another stumbling block in Jaune and Pyrrha's building romance. You could cut it, and the story wouldn't ultimately lose that much.

No way was I going to reveal who Jaune was going to the dance with like this. I am completely not sorry. By the way, I did it the same way. There

I debated long and hard about including the food fight scene. Mostly because at the time I was for it, I was planning on Darkness be back for the food fight, since I thought his powers could make it a lot more… exciting (that's one way of putting it). But I figured that just one chapter without him was insufficient; it needed more time to sit. At any rate, I also realized that with only two out of eight people knowing about Darkness wasn't going to be enough in order to fully appreciate the potential comedy. To that end, there wouldn't have been enough to set it apart from canon to make it stand out.

We're getting close to the dance at this point. You can be sure that'll a chapter in of itself.

Be sure to review.

I'll briefly take this as a time to answer a question some might be wondering, and say which RWBY ship my favorite is (because these are the questions humanity is pondering these days). Being honest, if someone held a gun to my head and asked, I would first ask why they cared, and then I'd say it would be Jaune x Ruby; Jaune x Pyrrha isn't even in my Top 5. I'm neutral to female pairings like WhiteRose and Bumblebee. Don't take this to mean the pairing will be Lancaster, it can go anyway.