Much apologies for not updating yesterday. Real world stuff got in the way.

Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. Would boarbatusks fly if I did?

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Scandalous Support 4

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Jaune and Ruby go to the Faunus Quarter the next day, with Ruby leading Jaune to where he needs to go. Jaune is once again out in Vale in disguise- only this time the hodded cloak he wears isn't Ruby's. It's a new cloak, one Ruby made for him, a pure and noble white that can cover his armor as cape or cloak as needed. For now, it hides his arms and armor, and leaving Jaune a hooded figure in white, and one unaware of just what that means to Ruby.

Ruby's in a good mood. Going with Jaune on an important mission like this is… thrilling. Despite the uncertainty and hint of danger- or maybe because of it- Ruby is excited. Not careless- she's on guard- and not reckless- any trouble looking for Jaune will be sure to find her first- but excited. There's a flush to her cheeks that isn't just about Jaune, and Ruby's enthusiasm is contagious and puts Jaune at ease. Despite the signs that her feelings are still there- her holding the door for him, or insisting on him sitting first in the bullhead, and standing as a shield between him and would-be gawkers when he's airsick- Ruby is on her best behavior, and Jaune isn't off-put at all.

Jaune and Ruby arrive at the designated location, only to find… no one, really, and nothing but a ramshackle old inn. It's a mess- painfully so- with just a sole old faunus woman working it, and not the mousey crone Ruby's looking. She knows nothing of what's going on, but invites them to sit and stay and wait awhile, while she tends to the housework. As she does, she talks about how she took over the inn from her recently late husband.

Ruby and Jaune wait, thinking they just got early, but time passes without any sign of anybody. All the while, the old faunus tries to clean, but her joints are old and giving her pain. For lack of anything better to do, Jaune and Ruby volunteer to help the old lady with her chores… and find, amongst the rubbish, a letter addressed to Jaune.

The letter commends Jaune for passing the first test- not simply sitting around filth while others struggle to clean it- and compliments him for being willing to 'get his hands dirty.' It then sets out his next challenge- to recover a horse from a certain stable.

When Jaune and Ruby arrive, they find that the horse in question, which belonged to the late innkeeper, is lame. The stablemaster curses the late innkeeper as a horse thief, but honors a promise to take care of the horse. So they're tasked to get a replacement horse, which entails going to a different stable, whose stablemaster will only give up his if they clear the stables…

Jaune and Ruby are given a series of tasks, with each task leading to another. Each task is low-brow, humbling, and definitely gets Jaune's pure white cloak dirty with the common filth. And yet each task helps some faunus in some small way. Each time both Jaune and Ruby pitch in to help, despite the filth. Cleaning stables leads to finding a banner leads to finding someone in jail and so on.

Despite the mundanity of the tasks, there's no danger involved, and no hint of threat. Though the pair are watched, and Ruby can feel hidden watchers as well, there's no hostile intent. Ruby keeps her guard, and maybe guards Jaune a bit too closely at times from imagined threats, but it's increasingly clear that these trials are testing something other than martial prowess.

As they complete the tasks, a narrative starts to form, centered around the late innkeeper. Every task is tied to someone tied to the innkeeper, who had a mixed past. Though the backstory starts well- a loving husband, an honest innkeeper, a pillar of the community- it takes a turn for the worse the further back it goes. Before he was an innkeeper, he was worse. A thief, a mercenary, a bandit-king in the wilds. Someone who did bad things, and lived a worse life, and who's reputation was so blackened that the last quest giver spits rather than say the name of a traitor and oath-breaker who renounced past companions.

The last labor is the recovery of the late innkeeper's sword, which was thrown into a pond after he came to Vale and settled down. The pond is in the 'park' of the faunus quarter, a squalid little patch of weeds around a former cistern that- despite the muck- is remarkably clearly a center of the community, as faunus pass by all around. At first, faunus watched them with interest, but as the two labored throughout the day and Jaune's clean cloak got dirty, by the end they're as muddied and unexceptional as the rest of them.

Jaune's task to find thesword involves drudging through the muck. Ruby, already disappointed at the mess made of her gift-cloak, is willing to do it for him. But in suitability- and modesty if Ruby's shirt were to get soaked- Jaune insists. Jaune strips his armor and most of his clothes so that he can swim. Ruby watches from the banks, and tries not to be too embarrassed while guarding his clothes. Jaune's half-dressed state is… distracting, to be sure, but Ruby averts her eyes and doesn't peek.

Really.

Not until Jaune bursts out of the water infront of her, surprising her and making her kick him back in on reflex. Jaune finished, and made a playful surprise taking advantage of her distraction. Jaune managed to find and recover the sword- lifting the sword out of the lake by his hand before emerging- and returns to re-don his armor while Ruby is caught off guard and flustered by how… interesting the water is on him. The water is surprisingly clean despite the muck at the bottom, and the way it dribbles...

Jaune dressing and Ruby's fluster distracts them enough that their prize is stolen by a diminutive thief. A small child sprints by and steals the sword, leaving it up to Ruby to chase after while Jaune is still putting back on his pants. Ruby obviously has the speed advantage, but the child darts amongst the crowd once Ruby cries out 'thief!' It's a chase through the alleys until the kid turns a corner… and bounces off Jaune, who seems to have a special ability to catch thieves around blind corners. Thanks to the day of tasks around this part of town, Jaune was able to figure out where the thief was likely to go and head them off.

From there it's an easy capture and a sob story. The child, a scrappy boyish looking thing, claims to be the grandson of the innkeeper, and thus claims that the sword belongs to them. Demands to be let go with it are less than obliged, even as the kid takes more and more accurate verbal potshots at Jaune over the nobility crisis. Things like Jaune palling around with ex-terrorists, and getting into Beacon due to catching Roman by luck. Jaune doesn't deny these things, and him keeping his temper is what helps Ruby restrain her inclination to jump in on his behalf. The culminating point, though, is the child's arrogant expectation that he'll be let go scott-free. After all, everyone knows Jaune's trying to win the favor of the faunus, so letting one go is what it means to be pro-faunus, right?

Jaune's irritation is clear in his rejection. If wanting a fair deal for the faunus makes him 'pro-faunus' then sure, he won't deny that, but it doesn't mean he's going to ignore faunus wrongdoing either. He'll protect anyone and everyone from the Grimm, but he's not going to pick sides on any dispute on race alone. He fought the White Fang, for Vale's sake. He's not going to let someone get away with something wrong just because of the number of ears.

And if they're a friend, like Blake?

The kid's insinuation of nepotism at the public scandal makes Jaune and Ruby both draw in a short breath. But after a pause, Jaune has an answer. Blake is… Blake made mistakes, in joining the White Fang and going along with it as long as she did. But Blake stopped once she realized it was a mistake, and has tried to make up for it ever since. She's fought them, she's stopped them, she's told everything she knows to the Headmaster at Beacon. No one's more opposed to the White Fang and what it's doing than Blake, and Blake has done more to try and stop the White Fang than almost anyone in this city, Council and Mordred included. She's done more to stop the White Fang than even him, and he fought Adam Tauros on the highway for dust's sake.

So don't talk like you know anything about her when you don't, because Blake's nothing like the faunus kid- she came to Vale to make up for her mistakes, not to try and avoid responsibility for them. She's earned her chance at redemption, and he's not just saying that because she earned his trust. Jaune doesn't side with friends just because they're friends, he'd oppose her if he thought she was in the wrong, and if you don't believe him just ask Ruby.

Ruby's breathless witness gets a tinge of discomfort at the reminder, but she stands by what Jaune says. She can definitely attest to Jaune not turning a blind eye to a friend's misbehavior, even if he forgives them once they try to make up for it. The faunus kid goes silent, and Jaune ends the conversation there to get back with the sword, and to take the kid back to the inn as well. Ruby notices that while the kid is silent as he goes along without resistance, he isn't cowed. If anything, he's… smirking?

Ruby and Jaune return to the inn, and find it packed with people, a huge change from earlier that day. The very room they'd cleaned earlier in the day has been rearranged with chairs and tables, and nearly everyone they've seen and helped today is there. Though they quickly hand off the child to the innkeeper's wife, the child is received with not even a scold, and Jaune and Ruby are hurried upstairs to freshen up and clean up, to the point that they're practically hustled into a communal cleaning room to shower, with the promise that their clothes will be restored by the time they done cleaning. They have to get ready.

Ready for what?

The funeral, of course.

It quickly becomes apparent that everything the two did today was in service of the funeral of the late innkeeper. From cleaning out the room to finding a horse to pull the funeral carriage, the seemingly random tasks had the greater purpose of getting things ready. That's… suspiciously convenient, and neither Ruby and Jaune are sure what's going on, but as they clean up they resolve to stick around to find Malik, who's obviously pulling the strings here.

After that resolution, Ruby at last realizes that she's having a discussion with Jaune as he cleans up. In the shower. On the other side of a privacy screen.

The realization- and the memory from the pond from earlier- shuts her up with an eep. The temptation to look is there… it'd be easy… but once again Ruby resists the temptation to peek... at least until she doesn't have a choice. A faunus maid arrives, bringing back their clothes- clothes that have already been cleaned, all the muck and grime somehow washed away. But when they bring Ruby's clothes, they also bring her Jaune's... and it's up to Ruby to hand them to him.

In a shower room. When he's clad only in a towel.

(Okay, she peeks once. On accident.)

Jaune doesn't quite understand Ruby's hangup until he sees her blushing, and realizes the context. And, of course, that he's more comfortable around her right now than she is around him because Reasons They Both Know. Jaune apologizes, retreats to change, and emerges fully clothed with an apology… and a request for help to strap back on all his armor, which he can't quite do himself.

Ruby helps Jaune back into his armor, and Jaune apologizes for his lack of consideration. Because, you know… the crush-that's-not-a-crush. He didn't mean to tease her, or anything else. It just slipped his mind.

On one hand that's good for Ruby, because that means he's truly comfortable around her, but on the other it might be bad. Maybe he doesn't see her as a girl that way? After all, he has seven sisters. Maybe to him she's just…

Jaune sighs, and reaches back and rubs her head in his familiar way. He's not sure what to make of her at times, but he definitely doesn't see her as a sister. Ruby's soft thanks, as she helps buckle his straps and prepare his armor, are the last words spoken between them.

As Jaune finishes, Ruby can't help but appreciate not only the fresh clothes the faunus gave, but the sight of her gift-cape on his shoulders. Instead of a cape, it now sits on his shoulders like a cloak. Jaune looks regal, and she likes it. Once again, Ruby averts her eyes with a blush, even though he's fully clothed.

Jaune and Ruby emerge downstairs for the funeral. The kid they turned over is nowhere to be seen, but they finally see the old mouse man faunus who invited them in the first place. The old man greets them, invites them over, and signals for the funeral ceremony to begin.

There ceremony is about what you'd expect- the late innkeepers wife cries, friends reminisce on how he stood by them and was a pillar of the community. There is recognition that he wasn't always so, but…

The key comes towards the end, when the old mouse faunus calls on Jaune to give remarks. It's a sudden and unexpected invitation, one Jaune didn't prepare for, and some of the guests are as surprised as Ruby. Jaune didn't know the late innkeeper, so what does Jaune have to reflect on. The old mouser disagrees, though, and with a curious glint in her eye tells Jaune to reflect anyway. She specifically asks for Jaune's thoughts on the late innkeeper's mixedpast.

Ruby senses something is amiss as the crowd doesn't bat an eye at the request, but Jaune whispers for her to not worry and tells her to hit him instead. Anywhere but the face. It's odd, but Ruby hits him above the heart, and when she does Jaune starts to glow, just a little. Ruby realizes Jaune is going to try to take advantage of part of his semblance, even as he shakes off his nerves.

Jaune stumbles into a speech based not on personal experience with the late faunus, but on what he's heard and experienced today. Jaune was asked to talk about the man who lived a long life- and must address that the man did good and ill in life. Jaune decides that it's alright to focus on the good, and not just the ill, because despite earlier mistakes the man redeemed himself over the course of his life by turning a new leaf and starting again. Mixing in elements of Jaune's earlier thoughts on Blake, Jaune once again hits his stride with the idea of earning redemption. Redemption, to Jaune, comes through living a life of good actions, and not just enduring punishment. Though maybe the man did do bad things- he doesn't know, he never saw them or saw proof beyond hearsay- at some point he stopped doing ill and started going good, long enough and often enough to be remembered fondly by his new community.

Not just some point, though- when he came to Vale. And that sparks something in Jaune, as sympathetic platitudes give way to something more sincere and tightly held. To Jaune, Vale isn't just a place where people live- it's a kingdom of fresh starts and new opportunities. It's a place for people to leave their pasts behind and re-invent themselves for the better. Take himself. Caught in the moment, Jaune admits that he came to Vale with nothing but a dream of being a Huntsman. He had no training, no pedigree, not even transcripts. Jaune even admits that he'd been considering resorting to bribery to get some- something that doesn't feel right to Ruby- but that he didn't, because he ran into a fated friend and then Roman Torchwick ran into him. That chance encounter gave him the chance of a lifetime. An opportunity for a life where he didn't have to cheat, or steal, or do anything else wrong in order to pursue his dream and live a good life.

To Jaune, that's what Vale is- can be- should be. A kingdom for people to turn their lives around, even if they've made mistakes in their past.

Some people don't try to change. The late Roman Torchwick could have been so much more than a petty thief, for example, if he'd used his knack for money for something, like, creative accounting. But some people come to Vale to try and make the best of it, and themselves, in a way that can better Vale as a whole. That's what has happened to him. Even if he lucked his way into Beacon, he earned the recognition that came from standing up to defend his village. That's what is happening for Blake, his friend- someone who's turned a page in her life and done everything she can to make up for it.

And that's what Jaune bets happened to the late innkeeper too.

Bringing it back to the subject of the funeral, Jaune bets that the late innkeeper would have understood him, and his decision to stand by Blake in this hour of scandal. That he was a man who turned his life around, who threw away a bloody sword into a muddy pond and lived a better life for it. Certainly he lived one good enough that the city guard or police never took him away, and that his community never turned him over. That's worth respecting, and that's why Jaune feels it's alright for everyone to remember the old innkeeper fondly. Because he wasn't just what he was before- he was what he became after, and that was something worth respecting.

Jaune never met the man in life, but having come to learn about him too late, he wishes he'd had a chance to.

After all, like his mother always told him, strangers are just friends you haven't met yet. Coming to Vale was like finding an entire city of strangers he hadn't met yet, including some of the best friends a man could have, but today taught him that there was still an entire quarter he hadn't met yet. Jaune wishes he'd come here earlier, lamenting the missed opportunity with the old inn-keeper... but he looks forward to returning some day soon, and take the man's old friends as his own.

That way, at least, he can honor the old inn-keepers life in the best way possible.

Jaune's finish- almost glowing as he stands in a dusty beam of light coming from a skylight window- leads to a stunned silence. The faunus audience- who are clearly in on something that Ruby and Jaune aren't catching- none the less break into sincere applause. (Literal) wolf-wistles, cheers, and 'well said!' echoe, and Jaune is buffeted by hand-shakes and pounds on the back as he leaves the podium and tries to make it back to Ruby. Each time he's hit his aura shines a bit brighter, and by the time he returns Jaune is visibly glowing (and not just in pride).

Ah… so that's how he did it…

The mouse faunus's remarks are the first reminder of herpresence, and when Ruby looks she sees her… smiling? It's a smile, but almost wistful, and despite the hint of understanding there's no sign of displeasure. The mouse faunus says little else as the funeral finishes, until it truly is over and the faunus stands up and claps her hands.

Instantly there's a silence. And with just a few words- that the reception will be outside- the hall immediately empties out.

Except for the three of them. Jaune and Ruby are on guard, but before she speaks again or provides any answers the mouse faunus goes to the casket to touch it tenderly. Jaune and Ruby press for answers, about things feeling staged, and the mouse faunus says it's truer than they know. The mouse faunus congratulates Jaune on his speech- very noble, really- but then corrects herself to congratulate Jaune on two speeches. No doubt word is already spreading, even before the footage is leaked.

Footage? Jaune and Ruby are alarmed, and press for the truth. What is going on? Where is Malik?

The old mouse faunus laughs. Haven't they figured it out yet? She pats the coffin once more.

Here is Malik. Malik was the old innkeeper... and Malik is dead.

No…

Ruby is dispirited, almost falling to her knees, thinking they were too late, while Jaune realizes they were lied to. Jaune, upset, wonders if they just wasted their time on a wild goose chase.

Not so, says the mouse faunus. They may have thought they were pursuing an audience with the living Malik to gain faunus support, but what they got was still considerable. Sir Jaune's scythe maiden, so often at his side, standing up to defend the faunus quarter as surely as she'd defend him? (Jaune looks at Ruby, surprised, for he hadn't heard about it yesterday. Ruby brushes it off, looking embarrassed. It hadn't seemed important at the time.)

But it was, and it was only the first step. Sir Jaune willing to see the faunus quarter, the faunus conditions, with his own eyes rather than rely on intermediaries? The noble Arc coming not to publicly pander or call on faunus to fall in line, but spending time helping the community in word and deed? Prince Jaune himself coming to speak at the funeral of Old Malik, giving good words and nothing so trite as a self-serving appeal at such an occasion?

Oh, trust me, it wasn't a waste at all.

The Malik they found may not have been who they were expecting, but they still won plenty of faunus favor all the same. They may have even won human favor as well- not just for the Malik speech, which hit at things that transcend race, but for the encounter with the child earlier. Some racists prefer a racial partisan, but regular people will respect someone who will hold both sides to the same standards. Not turning a blind eye to one's would-be allies is a good mark of character. Humans especially are more likely to accept temperance and mercy if they believe it is even-handed, and that they aren't being sold out in favor of some other minority's interests.

A certain video of a child-thief being taken into custody will speak for itself.

It was a setup. The whole thing- even the stealing of the sword to corner the child and force a confrontation- it was all a setup. And all for his benefit, Jaune realizes, because there was no way it was by chance or malice. It's a stunning realization, which only leads to… why?

The mouse woman smiles, old and wrinkled and in on a little secret. Is it so hard to believe that there are some people who would give others the chance to fail? That's what true tests are, after all.

Jaune had an opportunity, but the set-up wasn't rigged in his favor. No one made him say what he said, or agree to help out, or lower himself to mundane tasks like cleaning. Jaune's willingness, ability, and just plain luck to carry himself as he did was all his own.

It could have backfired. The Jaune that the faunus will be talking about and trading whispers of their encounters with today could have been vain, self-serving, uninspiring. He could have condemned someone for the sins a lifetime ago, or ignored the thievery of a faunus child, or admitted impure motives and cynical reasons. He could have ruined any hint of empathy.

But he didn't. Jaune came, in a way Mordred refused to, and that made all the difference. People's true character comes when they don't think they're being watched- or at least don't think they're being recorded.

Jaune is surprised, and coping with the revelations. Ruby, though…

Ruby calls out the old mouse for still lying to them. She's still hiding something, and there are still things that don't add up. Ruby and Jaune were promised an audience, not a meeting with a corpse. But more importantly, that can't really be Malik in there. The real Malik was a member of the White Fang before he came to Vale, not a bandit. Blake told them Malik was pacifist who left before the White Fang radicalized, so the stories of being a villainous bandit don't add it. The mouse is misleading them.

Who is the mouse faunus, and where is the real Malik?

The old mouse looks at Ruby… and laughs. What a clever girl. Keep this one close, she advises Jaune, before answering her questions. Ruby is half-right to spot the discrepancy, but also half wrong. That is Malik in the coffin there. And Malik was a pacifist before he left the White Fang to come to Vale… but that wasn't the first time Malik came to Vale. The first time the 'real' Malik came to Vale and turned his life around was during the Great War, when he was a bandit-king spared by a human soldier who gave him a mercy he didn't deserve.

A human who wore a sword at his waist, inside a sheath-shield emblazoned with the crest of a crescent-moon arc.

Jaune's eyes widen with a whisper of 'grandfather' even as the old mouse asks if she can see Crocea Mors. Jaune hands it over, and the old faunus opens it to look at the sigil. With a whispered 'it's just as you told me,' she soon closes it and thanks Jaune for bringing it as he asked.

Ruby is uncomfortable in messing with the moment, but can't help herself. The old faunus is still trying to mislead them. The Great War was in their grandparents time- Malik's departure from the White Fang was almost contemporary. The timeline still doesn't match up. And now the old mouse is differentiating between the 'real' Malik and another. Who is it? And who is he?

The old mouse chuckles again, calling Ruby too clever by far, and begs their forgiveness. It's simply been a long time since They've had cause to exposed Themselves to humans, and They admit to having enjoyed himself too much. But, since this is the Arc seeking him, the truth is…

The old faunus woman begins to twitch, and change, and then transforms from a mere old mouse into a lion faunus with a mighty roar, mane blazing with visible light. Her voice, no longer old and wizened, is deep and powerful and indisputably male.

We too are Malik.

The now-lion faunus- who Ruby realizes is glowing with the same sort of aura Jaune did- speaks in a royal third-person as he introduces himself as Malik the Second, son of Malik the First, the the late innkeeper. Malik is the name the bandit-king took after he came to Vale, and one each generation of th family has kept. They've already met Malik the Third, his daughter- the scrappy boyish faunus they confronted earlier.

The Maliks are a line of faunus all identified by Malik- hence the confusion when Ruby had been asking around. Especially since their family semblance, a proof of their lineage, revolves around shape-shifting.

Malik the First, bandit-king turned innkeeper, came to Vale after he was dethroned but spared during the war by an Arc. The encounter, which likely included an entire adventure behind it at the time, turned the faunus's life around as he gave up old hatreds after the human's mercy. Malik the First renounced his violent ways when he came to Vale, and passed that along with the stories of his transformation to his children. He became the pillar of the community, and is the one whose funeral they just attended.

Malik the Second, the one they're speaking to now, is the one they were looking for in the first place. He took his father's pacifism to heart when he helped start the White Fang, and he kept his father's reformation alive when he left the White Fang rather than follow it in its path to violence. He (appears to be) a Lion Faunus in truth, but can change to any faunus form, giving him the perspective of any faunus who chooses. He inherited his father's place in the community and then some, and could well be called the uncrowned King of the Faunus Quarter. He has a bold and confidant way of speaking, but also oddly speaks in the Royal Third person.

And Malik the Third, his daughter…

…who gets called out for having spied on them all this time…

Malik the Third, who'd appeared as a scrappy boyish faunus earlier, emerges as a clean, properly dressed... and indisputably human girl. The very image of her late mother, a diamond in the rough, or maybe the flower of the faunus quarter. Except, Malik the Third isn't a human- or is she?- because Malik the Third's shape-shifting shows a potential beyond even her father's.

Malik the Third can become human or faunus, giving Malik a different sort of personal stake in human-faunus harmony. But more than that, as Malike the Third flits between forms, Ruby realizes that she may well have seen Malik the Third before in the background across the story to date. One of the 'help' at the night of the White Fang attack- somewhere in the audience in some of Jaune's public appearances- even one of the curious onlookers that Ruby had kept out of the team leader lounge to preserve Jaune's privacy. Malik the Second confirms it soon enough- this isn't the first time Malik the Third has seen Ruby and Jaune, even if it's the first time Malik the Second and Jaune have been properly introduced.

Malik the Second- from now on just called Malik- reveals all without any other deception. Yes, this was all a test of character for Jaune- which he passed. But it was also the realization of Malik the First's promise to one day pay back the humans- and the Arc family in particular- for showing him mercy and letting him turn his life around. Today's 'set up' was both a way for Jaune to prove himself, but also the reciprocation of a favor long long ago. Even if it wasn't public, Jaune has Malik's personal favor from the start.

Malik the First, before he'd died, had apparently followed Jaune's rise to prominence with some interest, and talked endlessly on Jaune's behalf from within the community. But he'd also been too ashamed of his past, and then too ill, to approach Jaune directly. He eventually sent a letter after Jaune saved the faunus village, after seeing Jaune defend the nobility on TV no less, but it was never answered…

Jaune and Ruby trade looks, suspecting why. That was the night Jaune had been locked away in the tower, and put into the security lockdown. Then there was the huge, mostly unanswered, mail piles. They try to explain, but Malik brushes aside their apologies. He understands. He'd been upset, but Malik the First insisted on believing in Jaune, and when Ruby came by looking on Jaune's behalf, saying he just wanted to meet Malik…

So perhaps he didn't come just to speak to an old man who sent a letter. Malik knows that before Jaune and Ruby can admit the truth. But he still came, and without knowing the who or the why still spoke at the old man's funeral. He forgave an old man's regretted sins, and took inspiration from a better life. And what Jaune said at the end… about wishing he could have met Malik…

The current Malik smiles softly at that. Malik the First wanted to meet him too. And it would be Malik's privilege- as a son and as a matter of family honor- to renew and carry on that family friendship that was sure to have sparked.

Jaune has Malik's support for the throne- and through his own actions already, much of the faunus quarter's support as well. They'd needed reassurance before throwing their lot in with Jaune. Fear of Mordred is a real thing, and they had to believe Jaune is worth it. But after today, they'll stand by him so long as he stands by them. Not exclusively, not as a pro-faunus partisan, but as partner and equal part of the Kingdom of Vale.

Malik the Second, despite being a regal and intimidating figure as a lion faunus, is also amiable and approachable once the formalities of support are over. He even has a sense of humor. Malik offers to cement the new political alliance with a marriage of his daughter to Jaune, claiming she has a crush on him anyways. Maybe she does- she certainly blushes hard enough when he claims she has a collection of Jaune's media appearances in her room, and that she's hidden in the crowd in many of Jaune's appearances to date- but it's immediately apparent that Malik is just teasing her, down to the crocodile tears of how his baby girl is growing up so fast ever since her mother passed away awhile ago. Even if she's an accomplished little changling, his little cub is still young… and, with a glance at Ruby, probably couldn't stand up to the competition either. Malik the Third kicks her father once again, and calls him out for picking a big and imposing form for good measure. And knock it off with the glowing already.

Which is true- a shape shifter can choose any form he wants- and Malik even recognizes that he and Jaune have a similar trick with releasing aura to put others at ease. Malik's glowing lion's mane is the same sort as Jaune's aura of reassurance, something they have in common even if Malik's conveys a lion's pride and strength while Jaune's reflects his inner feelings. Malik calls it a noble aura, and reveals that it's as much an innate ability of Jaune's semblance as it is a reflection of how others view him. People who are trusted give an impression of trust, people who are feared can give off a palpable terror, and people who are cared for can have their caring felt by others.

The noble aura is reserved for those who shoulder position of high esteem, not always by choice, and can only be found in those with truly noble souls. Only a person of lordly caliber can access such a gift, born of both inherent character and the trust of others. Even if they don't know it, anyone exposed can feel the difference between Jaune and Mordred.

It does bring up the question of Malik- what does he consider himself if he has such a soul himself- but Malik simply smiles. His true form is as a lion faunus, and he isn't the leader of the faunus quarter on account of his late father. Malik would be King of the Faunus if there was such a thing, and a leader regardless, because that's just what he is. Some things are fated- and that might be something else he and Jaune have in common.

The audience ends there, with Malik promising to visit Jaune at Belle's place tomorrow. Even if Malik the First's funeral was an event of celebrating his life, not mourning his death, there remains much to do… and Malik himself has more to do thereafter. Malik may be a pacifist when it comes to human-faunus relations, but he wasn't a leader of the White Fang or his community because of inspiring auras or noble ideals. He's an effective, if hidden, political force, and one who brings a greater understanding of public opinion than the Council and all it's control of the media.

Already the videos of Jaune at the funeral and catching Malik the Third are being prepared for circulation. By this time tomorrow faunus will see Jaune honoring one of their own, humans will see Jaune bringing a faunus thief to account, and everyone will see a candidate who stands for both justice and mercy. Someone who can represent the highest ideals of what Vale can stand for.

It won't work on everyone- racist hardliners want racialpartisans, and those who have been most recently hurt want punishment rather than justice- but Malik promises that within a week Jaune's reputation will turn around. And so, as a matter of fact, will Blake's- the cause of the scandal that forced them to seek him out in the first place. As people understand Jaune, they'll understand his decision to stand by her, and in doing so start to understand Blake herself. So take care of Ghira's daughter until then, alright? Ghira was one of the good ones, if a little slow moving at times, and he's glad that they helped the daughter of an old friend find her way again.

Jaune and Ruby leave with the promise of Malik's support, the prospect of faunus support as a whole, and a lot of revelations and plot twists for just one day. It's a lot to take in, and too tired to walk Jaune and Ruby call for a cab- and get a faunus-driven horse-drawn carriage instead. Jaune collapses inside, and tries to take stock of the day.

It's an unmitigated success, no doubt. Faunus support. Malik as an ally. All for helping people and doing the right thing in a way that felt natural. But most of all… Malik's father, and his grandfather.

When he came to Vale with Crocea Mors, Jaune didn't have a clue. He just thought he'd try to live up to his family legacy, without knowing anything about royalty or faunus honor-debts. It keeps feeling like things his family did long ago- saving a faunus, being tied to the nobility- are coming back to help him now, on top of everything he could possibly do.

This is… when did his life become such a fairy tale? Princes and Thrones and the wellbeing of the Kingdom, and a life where doing good has only helped him do more good for more. It just doesn't feel real, and he keeps waiting for the other shoe to drop. He reminds himself the real world isn't a fairy tale.

Maybe, Ruby agrees, but maybe fairy tales were based on the real world too. And besides, isn't that why they're here? To make things better, and more like fairy tales in turn? It shouldn't be surprising when the world becomes better for them too along the way. That people grateful for the good things they've done, do good things for them in turn. It makes sense.

Ruby's words are meant to reassure Jaune about his fears of being overly successful, but they're a bit melancholic too. They're here to do good things, and make reality a bit more like a fairy tale…

But not everyone's fairy tale will get a happy ending. She's looking outside the carriage as she says it, not at Jaune, and Jaune knows exactly what she means.

An uncomfortable silence falls, until Jaune makes a confession. She knows he considered sneaking into Beacon, right? That he considered lying just to get in the door. Ruby does, having gasped when he admitted it before. Jaune asks her if that- if he- disappointed her with that. That he wasn't so innocent in intent as she might have believed, that he would have cheated to get in. Would she have still liked him if she'd known that from the start?

Ruby pauses, considering it, and says she probably would have. On some level, part of her might of suspected- it was certainly no secret that he was weak at the start, and transcripts wouldn't change that. But she thinks she would have forgiven him that, just like she didn't mind that he used to be weak, so long as his heart was in the right place. If it was just the start of him turning a new page in a new life in Vale, then to her it wouldn't have been much different than Blake's own attempt to grow from her past.

She's glad it didn't come to that, though.

It would have. Jaune insists he would have. He was serious. The only reason he didn't- the only reason he hadn't- was because he ran into her first. Running into Ruby- and then being run into by Roman- was the best day of his life. It gave him that opportunity. It gave him a friend. It even gave him a way to help, in some small way, the city as a whole. But it- and everything else since- wouldn't have happened without Ruby. He's glad it didn't come to that too, because if it had it would have meant he wouldn't have met Ruby, who without even meaning to helped protect his virtue and integrity…

Jaune groans and hides his face in his hands. He didn't mean to- he doesn't know where he was going with that. Just that Ruby was the reason he didn't sully himself by cheating, and it makes her important to him in a way no one else ever will be. She's important to him for a lot of other reasons too, but she's the one who put him on this fairy tale path, so to hear her talk about her own fairy tale like that- to see her looking out of the carriage like that rather than smiling like she usually does with him- it's not-

Ruby reaches over and puts her hand on the top of Jaune's own, telling him it's alright. It's not his fault, and she's not unhappy. She even gives Jaune a smile that helps him relax, reminding him that he didn't do anything wrong. He's honored her request, and letting her do what she wants, and whatever the ending she's sure it will be a good one. One she won't regret, she promises.

Jaune holds her too it, saying she can't go back on her word now. He also apologizes for ruining the mood. He's must be tired, and- yawn- yeah, he's a little tired after the long day. A bout of drowsiness comes over him, making him blink.

Ruby tells Jaune to sleep if he can, and promises to watch and wake him up after the carriage arrives at the shuttle port. Jaune's already tired, so it doesn't take long, but before he drifts off he groggily has a final thought.

He wants her to be happy, in the end. He likes it when she's happy.

It's debatable he realizes what he just said as he drifts off, but Ruby agrees all the same. She promises to try her best.

But as Ruby watches Jaune as he falls asleep… she smiles, but knows what she didn't say.

Not everyone's fairy tale will come true.

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End Scandalous Support

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Author Note:

Well, an apology first. Real world stuff interfered with yesterday's update. This chapter was longer than I realized, and needed more time to scrub through it, and even so I think it's a bit rougher at the start than I'd like. This entire faunus quarter segment was actually a lot of ideas fighting for space, and I think it shows in just how many allusions there are. Labors, a sword in a pond, tests of character... plus, trying to convey the whole Malik concept, which is a mix of tropes, some internally-driven and some references to outside. Malik is actually partly inspired by Mr. Shine from the Discworld series, if you know that- the idea of a natural King-figure.

(Also, just to drive it in- guess what 'Malik' translates into?)

Still, I think the later half shines, and for the record that's what a lot of the story will be like going forward- a lot more indirect dialogue than summaries. As we enter the end-game, the story's 'pace' is going to slow down in favor of more depth of conversation and character moments. People who remember An Affair or Something can probably remember the transition between 'summarizing events' to 'summarizing conversations.'

Which, personally, I think works well with the better moments, as we've seen already, and the best are yet to come.