(Update: Hey guys, apparently the subscription alert system on Fanfictionnet is not working and the notifications haven't been getting sent out since the beginning of may. So, for those who rely on the notification system to know when the next chapter is out, I will continue to write my weekly chapters, but I'm going to keep a little reminder in the AN of which chapters didn't get a notification sent out so you guys don't miss anything.)
Hello everyone, this J. Van A with the newest chapter of The Princess and the Rose. I'M BACK! Finally! Also, we've hit the 400 follower mark, so thank you guys for following this story.
I'm sorry I didn't post last week, but I had finals to do and needed to focus on that before even thinking of writing. So, I'm done with my first year of college, and now I'm back to searching for a job, but first I need to figure out where I'm living this summer because the house we were supposed to get was sold by the landlord and now we're searching and we think we have found a place.
So, I'm sure by the title, you guys know exactly what is going to happen and are more than likely skipping directly to the story. Since Pyrrha doesn't have her semblance, the fight will be more even. So I'll make this brief.
Reviews:
GrnDrgnzrd: Cat-Blake is relatively prominent in this chapter, but I think I may have made her a bit too much like a cat... it'll be fine. Qrow is going to have several more comedic moments in later chapters. Of course Jaune would, I need to set up that romance at some point before I kill- I mean, nothing. Everyone, except Sun, actually knows about Blake's night in the tavern from the Assassin Fight chapter. You can't tell me what to do, it's only midnight, I've only been going to sleep at 3 in the morning for the past two weeks waking up at 7. I'm totally fine. See ya.
(I'm going to say (Sassy)?) Guest: I actually foreshadowed three things i that chapter tied to the moment you're probably imagining. Well, Weiss is still the better fencer not matter what. I've been saying Ruby is a quick study, and since she has been having a series of training sessions with Weiss, she'll be decent when she actually uses the knowledge in a real fight.
TheHuntress77: Well, Pyrrha hates him for many reasons, one of them because he's a thief. I mentioned the reason above. Qrow finding out was easy, now Yang on the other hand is going to be interesting.
iamking: It's funny to write them.
Kayda-Starr: Yep.
Enjoy
It had been a day since the fight with the nevermore and the group was spending their evening under the deck in the quarters. Ruby and Yang were sleeping in their hammocks with Yang's being suspended above her sister's. The elder sister's hand was hanging off the side occasionally brushing Ruby's causing her to stir in her sleep each time the ship rocked. Blake had not returned yet after she ran off with her tuna, and the group did spend a couple hours searching for her, but eventually they figured she didn't want to be found.
Everyone else was sitting around a large crate they were using as a table while playing a game of Wicked Grace. Nora was sitting on the head of her hammer that was resting on a small crate and Ren was balanced on the shaft since he couldn't move it anyway. Pyrrha and Sun were sitting on barrels across from each other and each time Sun would try to cheat Pyrrha would shoot him a glare. Jaune was sitting between Pyrrha and Weiss on a small crate with a small bucket next to himself in case he vomited. Weiss was sitting on a barrel that was tall enough to have her feet dangle off the edge.
"I'm a bit confused," Weiss said as she drew another card. "How can someone win this game if they are drawing nothing but cards from different suits." She sighed before placing another card into the discard pile.
"Well, first of all, you don't tell anyone what you're drawing," Sun said as he drew a card trying to avoid the watchful gaze of Pyrrha. "It also is a game of chance. So you should just figure out what kinds of cards you've been drawing and just pick a suit and stay with it unless every time you draw a card, it's from the suit you had just discarded, then you're just unlucky."
"So," Ren said getting everyone's attention as Sun finished his turn. He then drew a card before discarding one from his hand, "I know Nora and I haven't spent much time with you guys for the past day and a half, but who is this guy?" He stuck out his thumb pointing it at Sun as Nora took her turn. During this time, Jaune took a peek at his cards before his foot started tapping.
"He's-" Pyrrha began before Sun suddenly cut her off.
"The name's Sun Wukong," he greeted giving Ren a cheeky grim. "I'm a fellow chi user."
"Huh, neat," Ren said then looked down to his cards stopping the conversation from going any further into chi.
"He's also an adventurer from Mistral, and a thief," Pyrrha said as she drew her card.
"Oh, you're not still mad about-"
"You stole my sword and spear before my spar with your friend, Sage," Pyrrha interrupted him causing the faunus to jump in his seat a little. "Thanks to you, I had to fight against him with only a shield."
"But you still beat him," Sun said as Pyrrha was about to discard her card before putting it back into her hand causing Jaune's foot tapping to increase. "If anything, I did you a favor so you could be more creative with your fighting style and learn to use your shield as a weapon."
"Before that spar, I went on a mission where I decapitated two ursai by throwing my shield at them," she said as she tilted her head to the side causing her neck to crack. Sun quickly turned his head to make sure her weapons were still with everyone else's. "Either way," she removed her card from her hand placing it in the discard pile, "Jaune, it's your turn."
He nervously reached to the deck before drawing a card. As soon as he looked at the card, he jumped off his seat. "Yes! Finally! Angel of Death!" Jaune exclaimed as he slammed his hand down on the crate. "Angel of Life, Truth, Charity, Hope, and Death! There is not a better hand than that!"
"Damn," Ren remarked as laid down his bad hand.
"Ha! I finally win a game!" Jaune nearly shouted as he pointed at Ren.
"I wouldn't be so sure," Weiss said with a smirk as she laid down her hand. "Knight of Dusk, Dawn, Day, Night, and Twilight. Five knights of the daily cycle beats your pair of Life and Death, and your three other cards."
"What? No-hrk!" Jaune suddenly said as he had to crouch over and dry heave into his bucket due to the ship rocking slightly.
"I thought you weren't drawing any good cards?" Sun asked as he looked at Weiss's hand to make sure she wasn't lying.
"My butler always said that when you're playing Wicked Grace, always deceive your opponents by making them think it's your first game. That way they perceive you as less of a threat," Weiss said as she began gathering the cards and shuffling them. "Jaune, you didn't wake up Yang and Ruby with your shouting, did you?" She then looked over to Ruby and saw she was still sleeping peacefully.
"No, they're staying asleep," he said sitting back down on his crate. "If Ruby can withstand Yang's snoring, she won't be woken up by a little shouting. Though, if she was anything like her sister, I would not want to be on the receiving end of Ruby's tired rage."
"Not to mention, the back end of that scythe must hurt," Nora said as she and Ren hopped off her hammer before she placed it against the wall. "I mean you saw how she knocked out that assassin with one hit."
"Says the girl who can destroy a person in a single swing," he replied leaning back against a support beam from behind the crate. "I know Ruby's a pretty good fighter, but I think you could beat her."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Pyrrha said getting everyone's attention. "I've seen your friend in only a few fights, but she is perfectly capable of beating opponents much more dangerous than simple assassins or creatures of grimm. If she would turn her weapon around and use the blade, she could be a proficient knight on par with the elite knights."
"She wouldn't do that," Weiss almost immediately said. "Ruby may be a good fighter, but she doesn't kill. She's not that kind of person."
"Interesting," Pyrrha said as she looked over the girl in question seeing her swat away Yang's hand.
"So, you don't think Blake fell overboard?" Yang asked Ruby as they each cast a line into the ocean as Weiss looked up from the book on demons she borrowed from Blake's pack. "We haven't seen her for a day, and we're nearing two."
"Well, I'm sure she'll turn up," Ruby said as she pulled on her fishing pole pulling out a mackerel. Before she could retrieve the fish, a black blur swung from the mast to the fishing line. When the black blur retreated back up the mast, Ruby and Yang saw the fish was gone. "Ok, so she's definitely not overboard."
"Where is she hiding? We've searched the boat several times," Yang asked as she looked for the black blur only to find nothing.
"Well, the only place that would even be a good hiding spot would be the crow's nest, but Jaune already searched that place and didn't find anything," Weiss said as she turned the page. "Maybe she's going to different parts of the ship to avoid everyone."
"But she does have to sleep at some point," Pyrrha said as she approached the three. "Though, it is a bit disconcerting not knowing where someone is."
"So, where are the others at?" Yang asked as she began pulling out her line.
"Ren and Sun are meditating, Jaune is somewhere throwing up, and Nora is looking at birds," Pyrrha said looking to the bow of the ship seeing Nora cashing after Qrow in bird form before he squawked directly in her ear before flying away. "But I did also come here for another reason. Ruby," she paused as she watched Ruby turn towards her, "Go get your weapon and armor. I want to spar with you."
"What?" the three girls asked as they looked at her.
"I wish to test your skill," she explained. "I've only seen you fight a few times, and while I am impressed with what I have seen, I believe there is more I haven't."
"So, you just want to fight me?" Ruby asked her setting down her pole.
"I wish to test your skill, there is a difference," Pyrrha said leaning against a nearby mast. "While I was put in charge of protecting Weiss, you seem to be around her the most. So I just want to know if you are fully capable of protecting her."
"I am," she said standing up.
"Then prove it."
Ruby was silent for a bit before she started heading to the stairs. "I'll get my things."
'How can one person eat that much?' Crow thought to himself as he watched Blake eating a mackerel next to a pile of fish bones. As she was gnawing on the fish, Qrow swore he could hear growling coming from the ninja as she looked at him. 'Maybe I should go see what the others are doing before she attacks me."
Qrow hopped over to the edge of the crow's nest before jumping up onto the railing. He looked down and saw the curious sight of Ruby wearing her armor and wielding Crescent Rose. 'Ok, something is going on.' He jumped out of the crow's nest before flying off.
Moments later he landed next to Yang who was leaning against the railing. Ren and Sun were both leaning against the opposing railing with Jaune hanging half over it threatening to vomit each time the ship rocked. Qrow saw Weiss standing next to Ruby who was standing fifteen feet away from Pyrrha. He was about to relax, but he suddenly felt a tingling going down his spine before turning his head off to the right coming face to face with the giant smile of Nora.
"Hey birdie," Nora said as she reached up to catch Qrow.
He quickly reacted by flapping his wings at her and squawking before flying briefly to land in Yang's hair. 'Yang, save me,' Qrow pleaded with a series of caws.
"What are you doing, crazy bird?" Yang asked as she quickly swatted him out of her hair.
'You useless niece!' he squawked as he began hopping away from Nora who was now chasing him. He quickly made his way over to Weiss and Ruby before flying up landing on Weiss's shoulder. 'Save me princess, this girl chased me for nearly an hour before I managed to get away to the crow's nest.' As soon as he stopped cawing, Nora suddenly tripped for no reason causing her to land on her face. 'Great, now my magic is acting up. I need to calm down, otherwise this might end up bad for everyone else.'
"Nora, calm down, you're scaring Crow. Ruby and Pyrrha are about to spar, so quit running around, otherwise you might get caught in the middle," Weiss said scolding her.
'So they're fighting,' Qrow thought as he looked at the two fighters. 'An elite knight from Mistral versus my Ruby.' He began chuckling slightly at the thought. 'This will be interesting.'
"So, you know the rules," Pyrrha said as she pulled her spear from her back getting into a fighting stance. "This is a fight to test all your skill, so you need to come at me as if I was trying to kill you. I won't be holding back, so neither should you."
"Got it," Ruby said getting into a fighting stance having the blade of Crescent Rose pointed behind herself. Weiss and Nora quickly took a couple steps back towards the railing as a couple crew members and the captain neared the area to watch what was happening.
Ruby was about to bolt at Pyrrha, but she quickly threw her spear having it impale the deck in front of the reaper. As soon as she moved, she tripped on the weapon causing her to fall onto the deck as Pyrrha drew both her sword and shield. Ruby rolled onto her back before jumping off the ground landing on her feet, but before she could recover, Pyrrha threw her shield hitting Ruby in the small of her back just under where her armor ended so the most damage could be done.
Pyrrha caught her shield in a second as Ruby turned around swinging the back end of her scythe at her. She managed to block the large weapon in time before pushing her shield forward throwing Ruby's scythe back. She then spun around for a kick catching Ruby's cheek with the heel of her foot causing the reaper to bend over slightly as Pyrrha planted her feet back on the ground. She then shot her knee up hitting Ruby in the forehead before kicking her in the chest throwing her back several feet.
Ruby recovered then bolted back into the fight. She ran partway towards Pyrrha, but suddenly changed her direction and jumping up landing on the side of the nearby mast for a second before pushing off aimed at the knight. She then swung Crescent Rose as Pyrrha raised her shield to block it. Ruby landed on the ground before she spun around hitting the shield again. Then she spun around a second time swinging the weapon, but changed the direction at the last second hitting her in the shin knocking her off the ground.
She quickly swung her scythe upwards hitting her in the abdomen throwing her directly onto the quarterdeck. Pyrrha jumped back to her feet before jumping over the railing and throwing her shield at Ruby. The reaper quickly spun around in the opposite direction hooking the shield with her scythe's blade before whipping the shield to the ground. The shield bounced off the deck as Pyrrha landed catching her shield and swinging her sword downwards at Ruby.
She blocked the sword with her scythe's shaft causing sparks to fly as the weapons collided. Ruby pushed forward redirecting Pyrrha's sword down before she thrusted forward hitting her with the dull edge of the scythe's blade pushing the knight back a couple feet. She closed the distance in a second thrusting her scythe hitting Pyrrha with the dull edge knocking the air out of the knight's lungs before she uppercutted with the end of her scythe catching Pyrrha under the jaw throwing her onto her back.
Ruby jumped in the air swinging the back end of her scythe downward, but Pyrrha quickly rolled out of the way as Crescent Rose slammed into the deck. She then kept rolling as the reaper dragged her scythe at her before pulling the weapon up. As soon as she reached her spear, Pyrrha dropped her sword before pulling the spear out of the deck and throwing it at Ruby who used her scythe to redirect the spear high into the mast of the ship imbedding it there. The knight grabbed her sword before curling back and jumping landing on her feet getting back into her fighting stance.
"Impressive, so far," Pyrrha said taking some deep breaths as Ruby got into her fighting stance while also taking in some deep breaths. "Though, you do realize you would have a better chance of beating me if you turn your blade around."
"Yeah, I do, but it's not my style," Ruby said between breaths before wiping some blood off her cheek. "I personally don't enjoy killing."
"Well, you do know that if you're protecting Weiss, there are going to be situations where there are no other options."
"There's always another option," Ruby said as she ran forward swinging her scythe at Pyrrha who raised her shield and blocked the blunt side of the weapon.
Pyrrha quickly slashed at Ruby, but she raised the end of her scythe blocking the sword. Pyrrha then kicked Ruby's shin knocking her off balance. The reaper then pivoted her body rolling on the dull end of her scythe for a second to plant her feet back on the ground. She then ran at her opponent swinging her scythe, but Pyrrha ducked under the weapon before headbutting the bottom of Ruby's jaw. After she was dazed, Pyrrha slashed at her catching the younger girl's side before she slammed the pommel of her sword into her abdomen.
While she was in close proximity to her opponent, Ruby quickly bolted forward headbutting Pyrrha's nose breaking it. Then the knight slashed with her sword catching Ruby's side scraping against the chainmail. Pyrrha spun around and slammed her shield into Ruby's face causing her to drop her scythe and fall backwards.
Pyrrha then took a couple steps forward taking several deep breaths as she reached up wiping blood from her nose. She pointed the tip of her sword at Ruby's chest causing the younger girl to stop trying to get up. "I win," she said between breaths before sheathing her sword and offering her opponent a hand. "You fight well, and would make a good knight with some practice. Though, there are going to be situations that are kill or be killed, and you will have to make a tough decision."
"You are a good fighter," Ruby said as she took Pyrrha's hand and stood up, "but you're wrong. There is always a third option where nobody needs to die, it's just not going to be the easiest decision."
"Well, I truly hope you're right then," Pyrrha said then kicking up Crescent Rose and catching it before handing the weapon to its owner. "Well then, I'm going to go get my spear back."
"Hold it," Weiss said as she approached the knight. "Stand still for a second." She reached upward and began casting healing magic on Pyrrha's nose fixing it in a couple seconds stopping the bleeding. "Ok, you should be fine for now, but come to me later if you're still hurting."
"Thanks, I will," she said then began climbing up the nearby mast to retrieve her spear.
"Are you ok?" Weiss asked as she turned to Ruby and placed her hand on her cheek beginning to heal the cut. "You took some bad hits."
"I'm fine," Ruby said reaching up to hold Weiss's hand.
"Whoo! That's my little sister!" Yang exclaimed as she walked over patting Ruby on the back causing both her and Weiss to jump back in surprise and Ruby put her hands down at her sides. "You kicked her butt!"
"But I lost," she said looking to her older sister.
"So, you still did a good job," Sun said giving her a thumbs up. "I've never seen her lose a fight, but you had a pretty good shot at it. Have you considered fighting with a bo staff? You wouldn't have to worry about using your weapon's blade against people, also it'd be lighter so you can strike your opponent more."
"No, I'd never get rid of Crescent Rose," she said giving her scythe a hug before securing it to her back.
"And you haven't seen her use her weapon against grimm yet," Yang said resting an arm on Ruby's shoulder. "I've seen her handle a pack of beowolves single-handedly. She doesn't use the blade against people, but she does against monsters."
"Yang, I told you to stop bragging about that," Ruby whined as she looked at her sister while puffing out her cheeks slightly.
'Even if you lost, it was a good fight,' Qrow shrugged while nodding, 'To go toe-to-toe with an elite knight is still a good feat. Then again, you were trained by me so…'
"Impressive fight," the captain said as he and several of his crew members neared the group. "While I don't exactly like the damage done to my ship, it was an entertaining fight." He paused as he looked over to Weiss and saw she was healing Ruby's cut cheek. "You never told me you were a mage."
"Well, I didn't think it was that important," Weiss said as she raised an eyebrow. "If you saw the fight the other day, you would know that she's also a mage." She pointed at Yang who did a quick wave before snapping her fingers creating a small fireball in her hand she let roll around for a second before extinguishing it. "It's not a problem, is it?"
"No, no, not at all," the captain said as he raised his hands in front of himself. "It was just a surprise. Not many mages actively travel to Atlas."
"Why is that?"
"Magic isn't exactly the most well liked thing in Atlas," Jaune interjected turning away from the railing. "Sure it is pretty useful, but some non-mages in Atlas don't like being around mages due to some incidents with demonic possessions resulting in a lot of deaths. Mages born in Atlas either travel to schools to learn how to better control their magic, or they even repress their power in order to hide it, but that can be dangerous too."
"And you never bothered to mention it earlier?"
"I've been a bit preoccupied lately," he said then turned around before retching over the railing causing everyone nearby to step back and cringe from the sound. He turned around and wiped his mouth with his sleeve before continuing. "Anyway, common people don't like mages, and in rare cases there are witch hunts if there is a mage in an area who practices dark magic like Necromancy or Blood Magic. Also a mage's connection to the Fade does make them more susceptible to demonic possession despite the fact that anyone can be possessed."
"You seem rather knowledgeable about mages, Mr. Bard," the captain remarked looking at Jaune.
"When I travelled with a group of knights from Vale, we did travel with a fast talking scribe who was also a pyromancer. He explained a lot of things about magic to me, but since I was the only one who would listen to him, he talked with me every waking moment for three days before he left," Jaune explained shivering slightly at the memory.
"Just how high did Ruby throw my spear?" Pyrrha asked herself as she kept climbing. She looked up and saw the spear embedded in the mast near the top. Shortly after retrieving her spear and securing it to her back, Pyrrha could hear breathing and a slight growling coming from the crow's nest on the main mast a short distance away.
Figuring she had nothing better to do, Pyrrha jumped from the mast she was on landing on the rope ladder connected to the crow's nest before climbing up. When she made it to the top, she looked into the crow's nest seeing Blake asleep laying on her back in the sunlight.
"Ok, well, I found Blake, but Jaune said… right, motion sickness," Pyrrha said to herself then saw the pile of fish bones. "Ok, I'm just going to go." She then began her descent back to the deck to inform the others of Blake's location.
And nobody is shocked with the outcome. Of course I was going to make Pyrrha win, she's an Elite Knight, and while Ruby is a prodigy who is good at fighting with her scythe, she's better at fighting monsters than people.
So, this was the third day of travelling, which means next chapter the group will land in South Atlas. I'm sure Jaune will appreciate that so he's not constantly vomiting.
I have one, maybe two chapters before the group makes it to Fort Mantle. That's right, we get a breather chapter before things go to shit, and what's a better breather chapter location than a relaxing hot springs. No, there is not going to be lewd stuff going on at the hot springs, get your minds out of the gutter.
I should probably get some sleep soon. On the bright side guys, I can start writing chapters earlier, which means they can be longer. See you guys on Mother's Day.
Have a nice day,
-J. Van A
