Hello everyone, my name is J. Van A and this is the most recent chapter of The Princess and the Rose, and I think this is the third chapter I've posted this week. Tired Van is still apparently a decent writer when it comes to writing chapters that don't exactly tie into the plot.

Anyway, we get to have some interesting fights with the characters.

Still, as much as I'd like to do my continual monologue, I'm still tired.

Onto reviews.

KibaPT: Ha, I used to have cats when I was younger, but then they ran off because they were outside cats and could easily survive on their own.

Mossblomma: Not happening. We're sticking to the story of Jaune punching the dude in the face. Drugging him might've worked, but we're past that.

Yaksher: Yeah, it jumped up a notch. It did, didn't it? Nobody got stabbed in the heart though.

(Sassy) Guest: I know you're not always trying to start a fight. Still, you are one of the few reviewers who are constructively critical with me, which is why I like to jokingly say don't fight me.

Enjoy


"Gah!" Ren shouted as he right shoulder started to spark. Similarly Nora's back started to spark, but she didn't seem to react.

"What's going on?" Ruby asked surprised at Ren's sudden shout.

"Well, something is happening," Ren said as he started clutching his shoulder. "Something is going on in the big tent. Balo wants people to go to the big tent to beat someone up and others to fight the oncoming grimm."

"Seriously?"

"So, it seems like someone acted out our plan without us," Ren cringed as he started clawing at his boot. "Damn, J'vana."

"What are you going to do about your mark?" Weiss asked as she walked over to the cage, pulled out her dagger, and started to try and pry the lock open.

"I have a plan," he said as he pulled a long green dagger from his boot. He then stabbed his shoulder cutting through the mark, severing the connection causing the lightning to immediately stop. "And that really hurts."

"Yeah," Ruby said running over to Weiss. "Move over." Weiss took a step to the left and Ruby grabbed the handle of her dagger. With one movement, Ruby twisted the blade breaking the lock.

"How did you do that?" Ren asked walking over to the girls while pressing a rag to his bleeding shoulder.

"She's crazy strong," Weiss answered him as they entered the cage. He gave her a quizzical look as they walked over to Nora. "If you saw her weapon, you'd understand."

"How can we help her?" Ruby asked as she kneeled besides Nora. "Her mark seems to be near the bottom of her spine, so stabbing her there would probably cause some permanent damage."

"I'm not going to hurt her," he said pulling up the back end of her tunic to expose the mark on her back surrounded by several burn scars. "She's my childhood friend." He placed his hand over the mark, and then his palm started to glow.

"I thought you said you couldn't do magic," Ruby said as she watched Ren focus.

"This isn't magic," Ren muttered as he fully pressed his hand down on her back causing the light to be blinding for a second before it stopped. He then removed his hand from her back to reveal the mark had been removed and any burn marks that were under his hands had been healed. "It's chi. Completely different from magic."

"That looks an awful lot like healing magic," Weiss said Ren helped Nora to her feet despite her initial resistance.

"It's not magic," he repeated as he and Nora exited the cage. "Now, we need to get going before anyone comes here."

"You know, for a carnival with so many workers, there are none around," Weiss noted as she and Ruby exited the cage.

"That's probably because they are all going to the big tent," Ren said as they walked near his tent. "The obedience spell is really hard to oppose. The only reason I was able to resist it long enough to break the sigil was through constant meditation."

"I guess I feel bad for the person in the big tent," Ruby said as there was a loud metallic snap behind them. As they turned, they saw the white beowolf pried open the metal bars and exited the cage. "Damn, J'vana!"


"I was not prepared for this!" Jaune shouted as he ducked backwards to avoid a high kick aimed at his face. An uppercut to his back caused him to straighten back up just in time to avoid an axe kick aimed where his head was previous. "Blake, I need some help!"

Just as a knife thrower from the side of the room whipped at knife directed at his chest, a weighted dagger connected to a chain from the tent's center pole intercepted the knife throwing it to the ground. The dagger was then pulled back up to the shadows before the kusarigama shot from the same area and hooked itself around Jaune's chest. Jaune was then pulled from the crowd towards the central pole.

"Jaune, do you have any kind of blade on you?" Blake asked him as she swung him away from the crowd of workers.

"Blake, it's me," Jaune replied looking up at the cat faunus. "The only blade I have is my sword, and why would I bring it to a carnival? I originally thought we were going to have a fun time here today!"

"Fine then," she said reaching to her belt and pulled off a wakizashi short sword to toss at him. "You just need to find the sigil on the person and cut it. After they are free from the spell, they should not attack you."

"You make it sound easy!"

"Good luck!" Blake shouted at him as she unhooked the kusarigama dropping Jaune onto the bleachers where half the workers split off to go after Jaune, and the other half went after Blake.

"So, you two seem to have a problem about how I conduct my business," Balo Kane said as he walked into the middle of the middle of the performance area. "And you seem to have cost me a night of business. A rather big mistake on your part, because it now frees me up to kill you."

"Great, now we have to deal with these guys, and him," Blake muttered as she landed on the ground. Then she used her dagger to cut through a nearby worker's shirt. Once his back had been revealed, she quickly found the sigil and cut through it. The man quickly fell to the ground for a second before standing back up and shooting Blake a grateful smile before running out of the big tent.

Jaune kicked a man in the chest throwing him backwards down the bleachers hitting several other workers on the way down. He turned to his left and used Blake's short sword to cut through a nearby worker's shirt revealing the sigil on his abdomen. He then quickly cut through the sigil causing the man to fall for a second before picking himself back up and running away.


"Ren, take Nora and get far away from here," Weiss said drawing her dagger and getting into a fighting stance. Her right palm started to glow slightly and form frost on her hand and the dagger's blade.

"No, Ruby, come here and take Nora. You two are at a disadvantage without your main weapons," Ren said handing Nora off to Ruby before pulling out two long green daggers and getting into a fighting stance. "Now, get her away from here."

"Got it," Ruby said as she quickly jogged off carrying Nora.

"So, does your magic help out during a fight?" Weiss asked as the white beowolf looked directly at the two of them.

"It is not magic, it's chi, and it doesn't exactly go well in a fight," Ren groaned as the white beowolf started its charge. "That's why I have these." Just as the white beowolf was about to attack him, Ren stabbed it in the arm and pulled himself up avoiding the attack while riding its arm. Then he pulled out both daggers as he kicked the animal in its large head.

Weiss quickly stabbed the ground causing a sheet of ice to form from her all the way to the beowolf's feet. It then slipped on the ice causing it to fall, but as it fell the grimm pivoted its body and struck the ground shattering the ice.


After Ruby carried Nora past Ren's tent and to the hammer in stone. She let her down next to the hammer's handle.

"Alright, Nora, I just need you to stay here while I go help out the others," Ruby said only getting a nod from the redhead as she sat down in the fetal position against the hammer. "Alright, if any grimm come this way you need to run. Just follow the path and you should make it to the town." Nora nodded again as Ruby drew her dagger from her boot and got into a running stance. She then bolted back towards the two currently in combat.

Ruby charged at the white beowolf just as it started to pick itself back up. She then tackled the beast throwing it back to the ground before stabbing her own dagger into its shoulder. The grimm then hit her on the side throwing the girl off to the side. Weiss ran in and stabbed the grimm in the foot causing ice to pin it to the ground, but she was standing too close to the ice ending in her freezing her own foot to the ground.

"Damn magic," Weiss cursed as she started tugging on her leg.

The beowolf was about to claw Weiss in the side, but before it could stab her, Ruby bolted in front of Weiss taking the blow. The claws managed to make three deep claw marks in her side throwing her into Weiss. The force from the impact between the two girls caused Weiss to break free from the ice throwing them both off to the side of the road.

The white beowolf smashed his claws on the remaining ice breaking itself free. Then it picked itself up and began walking towards Weiss and an injured Ruby. Ren ran forward forward and slid on the ground between the white beowolf's legs. He slashed the back of the beowolf's legs causing the beast to howl in pain. Ren got up from his slide and launched himself at the white beowolf managing to kick it in the head.

"Weiss, get Ruby out of here," Ren said to the girls. "I'll take care of this."

"Be careful," Weiss told him as she dragged Ruby away.

"Always am," Ren said as he quickly made several slashed to the white beowolf's chest. He quickly ducked under the beowolf's large claws then jumped backwards getting closer to Nora. Sure it may have slightly risked Nora, but it was Weiss and Ruby's only chance of getting away.

The white beowolf then started charging at Ren on all fours. Just before it reached him, the white beowolf lunged forward and went for an uppercut slashing his chest. The blood from Ren's chest flew through the air travelling backwards towards Nora having several splatters of blood land on her face. Her eyes remained expressionless as she reached over wiping some blood from her cheek and began to look at it.


"Blake, did I ever tell you that this was a bad idea?!" Jaune shouted as he cut open another nearby worker's shirt to find and stab the sigil on his shoulder. "Because this was a really bad idea!"

"To be fair, it was your plan!" Blake shouted as she quickly drew her katana cutting through three people's sigils in nearly a second.

The workers' numbers had started to get much smaller as Blake and Jaune kept cutting through sigils, which Balo Kane started to notice and begin to panic. He was about to run out of the tent until he was blocked at the exit by the freed workers. A couple of them grabbed him while the rest picked up sharp weapons and charged into the tent to help get rid of sigils.

The rest of the altercation lasted just a few minutes where the other workers cut through the others' sigils. After that the workers brought Balo Kane to the center of the stage area where they had restrained him.

"So, you filthy degenerates finally escaped your bondage," Balo chuckled as all the workers started surrounding him. "Now, what will you do, kill me?"

"No, nothing like that," one of the workers said then turned to Jaune and Blake. "You two should probably go. Thank you for all you did, but I don't think anyone else would want to see this."


"Damn white beowolf," Ren muttered under his breath as he dodged another slash from the white beowolf. He dodged another strike from the beowolf and slashed its arm.

The beowolf slashed causing him to duck slightly and stab the beowolf in its elbow severing the tendons. The beowolf roared in pain as it moved its arm away from Ren. Then it used its free hand to slash Ren's chest again splattering blood on the ground nearby.

"Ren!" a hoarse voice shouted from behind him as a large object hurled through the air blindsiding the grimm. Ren then saw as the large object landed on the ground revealing an old looking metal hammer. He turned around and saw Nora standing on top of the rock breathing heavy, just where the hammer had just been.

The grimm then snarled at Nora and charged at her. Nora charged straight back at it, ducking between its legs before they collided. She then reached the warhammer and grabbed the handle. Just as the white beowolf turned to begin an attack again, Nora lifted up the hammer and smacked it in the head throwing the beowolf to the side and to the ground. Nora then jumped in the air with the hammer above her head before slamming it on the grimm's head crushing its skull, killing it.


And bam, all of you guys saw that coming a mile away. Of course Nora would pick up the hammer. She picks up the hammer in the show.

Anyway, we have completed both of the side stories, which means that next chapter will be the aftermath. Which is also going to focus a lot on Ren and Nora.

If anyone is going to argue with me in the comments about how Ruby was a badass fighter beforehand in the dungeon, but still lost to a regular beowolf. First, white beowolf, obviously a mini-boss. Next, Ruby is skilled with Crescent Rose, which she doesn't have. As the show has shown in a couple situations, Ruby is not that great of a fighter without her weapon.

Now then, I'm still pretty tired, and my D&D campaign starts in 13 hours, so I should probably get some sleep soon.

I'm going to go to bed.

Have a nice day,

-J. Van A