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Cover Art: Jack Wayne
Chapter 98
"The tattoo worked?"
Jaune drew himself and the scroll into a nearby café, standing in the shade of its veranda away from most of the passers-by. On the other end he could see Emerald and his younger self in what looked to the CCT Tower. He could only trust them to be using the necessary caution. Looks like my younger self figured out who I was. Not too surprising. Raven wasn't exactly trying to be subtle.
Not important. The tattoo was still present, or so his younger self said.
"Is it still clear?" he asked. "Has it faded, shifted or changed in any way?"
"It's as clear as day, Mr Ashari. No matter how much I scrub it."
"He showed me," Emerald added. "It's bold, dad. Not faded like Uncle Taiyang's sometimes are."
Before re-applying the ink anyway. Jaune didn't envy the big guy that, though Taiyang always took it with a grin and never complained. It hadn't been long enough for Jaune's to go through that – not by a year or more – but then, Jaune's wasn't inked into his skin either. It was painted on top. Given that the smudges of the ink he'd used had washed off his own fingers easily, it didn't make sense the tattoo wouldn't have.
Unless, of course, it worked.
"I need to take another look at it. I know you've no reason to trust me, but-"
"I trust you." The younger Jaune said instantly.
Jaune sucked in a breath. There was a temptation to tell the idiot he shouldn't, not that he was untrustworthy but that such blind faith in a stranger with little evidence to support it was just dense. The kid was fine this time, but he could just as easily have been after worse. "Why?" he asked, genuinely curious. "I'm grateful, but why?"
"Well, Raven trusts you and I trust her, and you already had me alone in a forest the other day. If you wanted to do anything to me, you could have. And since Raven can open portals to me wherever I go, it's not like it would matter if I didn't trust you…"
Huh. Maybe he wasn't naïve at all. Just morbid. And correct. How had Raven twisted his young mind this efficiently? He wasn't sure if he should be upset it happened or offended at the suggestion of how easy it was.
I wasn't that malleable, was I?
To be fair, he'd been a kid… a kid who instantly bonded with and was willing to give his life for his teammates within the space of a year. Okay, maybe that did make him seem a little easy to manipulate. Then again, wasn't that what school was for? Teaching you to be a productive member of society whether you liked it or not.
"What should we do for now?" Emerald asked. "Or will you come back tonight?"
"Not tonight. I have to help Ozpin and Qrow over here, but I'm hoping we'll be back soon. I need you to both keep it secret for now."
"Sun already saw."
"I mean keep how it happened secret. You can say you always had it to them, or that you got it a week ago. I don't know. Just don't parade it around outside your team. There… There might be people looking for it."
"Cinder?"
Emerald could read between the lines if he gave her enough clues. He was proud of that, if a little nervous at what lengths she might go to if left unchecked. "I don't know. That's why I wanted you to find out if she has a similar tattoo. Whether she does or doesn't, please don't do anything untoward to her. I've no proof it means anything yet. Jaune…"
His younger self jumped. "Yes sir?"
Sir? Him? Heh. "I want you to be in charge of this." The boy looked surprised but nodded. Emerald… well, it was an understatement to say she wasn't pleased. "That's not a slight against you, Em. I just know you're the kind to act if you think there's an opening. Cinder may be innocent, and I don't want you harming her `just in case` she's not. It's your job to make sure that doesn't happen, Jaune."
"Yes sir. I'm on it. Um… If I can ask, what does this tattoo do?"
Jaune grinned. "No idea."
"Whaaaat!? You put something on me and you don't even know what it does?"
"Nope. Sorry. I'm sure Raven did say you were a guinea pig. Have you noticed anything different?"
"No…"
"Then I don't know what to say. Keep an eye out. Make a note of anything odd that happens and let me know when I get there. If it makes you more powerful, gives you more aura or causes other strange effects. Anything, no matter how small."
"O-Okay…"
"Will I get one?" Emerald asked predictably.
"If you want one, sweetie, but not until we know it's safe." Jaune ignored the outright offended look from his younger self. Yes, putting one on him had been different to dabbling around with his daughter's wellbeing. Fair? No. No, it wasn't. Though technically, they'd had consent. Both from the younger self and the man he'd become.
Would that stand up in a court of law? Who could tell?
"I'm not risking it until then, but yes, I haven't forgotten you and I won't ignore you."
Emerald nodded, pleased.
"We were going to ask Vernal to look at Cinder," Jaune chimed in. "Is that okay?"
"Sure. Vernal is on her team, right? If it helps, let her know I'll owe her a favour for helping. That might make her a little more willing to listen to you." It would mean one on one training or similar for him, nothing he wouldn't offer her if she put her pride away and just asked nicely. "Just make sure Vernal knows to keep it secret from Cinder. I doubt team loyalty is a thing you need to worry about from her, but you never know."
"Vernal is a bitch," Emerald spat. "She'd stab her teammates in the back if it helped her."
"True, but that helps us, doesn't it? Don't complain – and for the love of everything, don't call her a bitch when you ask her for help. I'll put Jaune in charge of this again, Em. Don't test me."
Emerald's face drew down even further, until she was pouting adorably at him. Well, adorable was subjective. Most people would have called it murderously glum. He'd long since accepted he was compromised when it came to his little girl.
Oh hell, I've become Taiyang…
/-/
"I'm not following your orders."
Jaune laughed nervously as he stepped away from the CCT. "I haven't made any…"
"I'm just saying."
Sheesh. That was Emerald in a nutshell as Yang would say. It was probably a sign of how used to her he was getting that he didn't feel any offense at it. He had a feeling only Yang and Mr Ashari himself could give her an order and expect it to be followed, and maybe Mrs Rose as well. He'd been faced with more adults than students this week. First Raven and Mrs Rose, now Mr Ashari. So much for homework being the biggest issue.
Mr Ashari was a strange one, though. It was hard not to think of his dad when talking to him – the two looked that much alike. Sure, Yang and Sun may have said he looked the most like Mr Ashari, but Jaune could only see Nicholas in the man's face.
Beyond appearances, he was… strange? That felt like the best way to describe him. Friendly and straightforward, not caring about age or treating them like idiots. He hadn't asked how Jaune knew he was involved or threatened him to silence, he'd just taken it with a shrug and carried on. There hadn't been any effort to lie `for their own good` either. He trusted Mr Ashari when he said he didn't know how the tattoo worked, and other than that he'd been forward with everything he said.
He's kind of intense though. Like every other word is something big…
"I guess we should find Vernal, then?"
"Hm." Emerald nodded. "Away from her team."
"Will she be?" He was slowly starting to realise that the best way to handle Emerald wasn't to push but to subtly direct her, then let her come up with the idea herself. Less likely to blow up in his face that way. "I know she's anti-social, but wouldn't she spend most of her time in the gym or her room?"
"Velvet will avoid her. Everyone avoids her." Emerald scratched her cheek. "I'm not sure about Cinder."
"Maybe we can ask Velvet. You know her from the gym, right?"
"Hm." Emerald nodded. "Let's go."
At that time of the day it wasn't hard to find Coco and Velvet. The cafeteria was heaving, and they arrived in time to see the two leaving, Velvet's tall ears making her stand out among and above the crowd.
"Velvet! Velvet!"
"Friends of yours?" Coco asked her partner as they hurried up.
"Emerald is the daughter of the man who taught me how to fight," Velvet replied with a smile. Coco nodded and relaxed, seemingly content with them talking. "Hello Emerald. Is this your partner?"
"No."
"Yes."
Emerald glared at him.
"It's complicated?" Jaune tried.
Coco laughed. "Sounds like it. But hey, it's cool to despair at your teammates sometimes. I do that several times a day."
"Vernal?" Emerald asked.
"You know her?"
"Also trained at the gym. Rude, nasty and stupid."
"Aww. You're melting my heart, freshman."
"Not that I also don't enjoy insulting our team leader until I run out of breath," Velvet drawled, rolling her eyes. "But was there something you needed with me? We've got to get to the library. Homework to do."
Emerald nodded. "We need to find Vernal."
"Why-?"
"Our room, gym or sparring rings." Coco shrugged when they looked her way. "What? Those are the only places she'll be. The only time she leaves is to haul her ass to the cafeteria so she can have enough food to go back and train some more. You can usually find her insulting older students until they lose their temper and try fighting her." Under her breath, Coco grumbled, "And then she wins. Arrogant cow bag just had to have the skills to back it up, didn't she?"
"Coco didn't take Vernal's leadership well last year," Velvet explained. "She assumed Vernal was all talk and challenged her to a fight. It didn't go well."
"Oi! Oi! Don't be telling that to everyone we meet!"
Wow. It was just like Emerald said - Vernal didn't get on with a lot of people. To be fair, he'd kind of guessed she was like that when they met, but she hadn't been that bad with him. Annoyed when he said he was trained by Raven, but okay after that. No ruder than Emerald on a bad day. Was he the exception because of who trained him?
"Does she not hang out with the team?" he asked.
"Vernal!? Ha. There's no `I` in team, kid, and no `Vernal` either."
"What about your final member?"
"Cinder? She's alright." Coco shrugged. "Polite, works together when it's best to and she rocks her dress. I can appreciate that. I think she's already in the library doing private study. Why, you wanted to talk to her as well?"
"No. No. We were just curious." And they needed to catch Vernal alone. This sounded like the perfect chance, but he couldn't resist a final question. "Does she get on with Vernal?"
"That's… That's a complicated one."
"Vernal likes Cinder about as much as she likes anyone," Velvet explained, "And I think Cinder finds Vernal just as annoying as everyone else does. She respects her strength, though, and Vernal likes that."
"She's a glutton for punishment, too. Cinder has fought her more than anyone, on and off the ring, and even though she gets her ass kicked every time, she isn't afraid to keep trying. I think Vernal likes that."
"Helps that she gets a little better every time."
"Hm. It's more respect than getting on." Coco chuckled. "Outside of that, Cinder isn't afraid to call Vernal a violent piece of human trash. Probably annoys her because she's the one running around picking up the pieces. How she's kept our team from getting in more trouble than we have, I don't know. It's like every time someone is about to report us for some shit Vernal pulled, Cinder takes them aside and suddenly all those problems go away."
"I worry it's blackmail at times," Velvet sighed.
"Hey. It keeps us out of trouble. I'm not complaining."
Jaune wasn't sure if it was the warning from Mr Ashari that made that sound so suspicious or not. Had it been anyone else, he might have paid attention, but with Mr Ashari literally saying Cinder might be someone bad, he was digging into every word. I can't do that. Innocent until proven guilty.
Whatever the case, Team VCVC sounded like a hot mess worse than their own.
"Thanks for talking to us," Jaune said. "We'll check the sparring rings for Vernal and maybe ask Cinder if we can't find her."
"We could pass a message on if you like…"
"It's okay," Emerald said quickly. "It's about the ASH Gym." Because Velvet looked interested, she deflected with, "Dad is coming back in a week or so, so it's going to be opening up again. He wanted to ask Vernal to help with heavy lifting."
"Oh, that's good. Will there be an announcement when it's open?"
"Dad will send out a newsletter. Check your scroll."
"Will do. I've been looking forward to a little more training." Velvet and Coco bid them farewell after, walking away with Velvet waving back until both started chatting and joined the crowd of students on their way back to the dorms.
Emerald tugged him in the direction of the sparring rings. It was actually the same room Miss Goodwitch used for her combat class, open to everyone outside of class hours. It was always monitored by cameras to make sure no one did anything stupid and was usually a lot busier in the afternoons when school ended. Around midday, it was quiet. Too quiet. Vernal wasn't there.
"Should we check the gym?" Jaune asked. "Maybe she's lifting weights."
"We could ask Cinder…"
Confront Cinder, she meant. "I thought we said we'd do this the safe way and ask Vernal to look in the changing rooms. There's no reason for us to risk dealing with her ourselves."
"It can't hurt to try."
"It absolutely can – and your dad put me in charge of this. I say we check everywhere Vernal could be and if that fails, we try again tomorrow. This isn't on a time limit. You dad is gonna take a week or more to get back either way."
He knew Emerald wouldn't like hearing that, but when she crossed her arms, he knew it was about to get worse. Talk about defiant. Or just stubborn. Yang would know how to deal with her, but he didn't want to bring her into this.
"Why the rush? We can afford to take our time…"
"It's no risk."
"It's all the risk," he argued. "There is literally no good reason for us to confront her. My mind is made. We'll check the gym." When Emerald made to argue, he pulled out the big guns. "Or I'll tell your dad."
Her lips clicked shut. Her eyes narrowed to slits.
"Snitch…"
"I do what I must, Emerald. I do what I must."
/-/
Vernal was nowhere to be found. They checked the gym, Team VCVC's room, the cafeteria again, the roof and then the sparring rings a second time, just to be sure. No matter how many circles they ran in, she was missing.
"We could try the library."
"Emerald…" Jaune groaned. "You've said time and time again that she wouldn't be found dead around books. Tell me you're not just saying the library because Cinder is there."
"Cinder might know where she is."
"Alternatively, we can wait until classes tomorrow and then we'll know where she is too. In class."
Emerald frowned. "I'll kiss you."
"What?"
"A kiss," she said. "I'll give you a kiss if you do this."
Jaune stared at her, his cheeks heating up. "Why would I want that…?"
"I don't know. I just thought it would work on Sun or Whitley."
Yeah, obviously. They were head over heels for her. Jaune rolled his eyes and turned away, wiping off his blush. Emerald was pretty, he could freely admit, but several weeks of the coldest shoulder of his life had dampened that. Honestly, Yang was a lot better looking and then there was Weiss, who was really beautiful.
And Nora, he thought, touching his lips.
"I don't want a kiss."
"Okay. Then I'll kiss you unless you do this."
"Emerald!" He rounded on her, face bright red. "That makes no sense! Just because I don't want to, doesn't mean I'm going to melt and die if you do. What kind of threat is that?"
"A good threat."
"A bad threat," he mumbled. "I'd take a kiss from you if it meant not doing this."
"Even if Sun and Whitley found out?"
Jaune's feet came to a stop. Ah, shit. That was her plan. Sun was a bro and he doubted his best guy friend would take it wrong, but it'd hurt him, wouldn't it? Emerald was playing with fire here. He didn't know Whitley quite as well, but Yang was friends with him, so hurting him was likely to make her upset. Probably Ruby too.
"You can be kind of a bitch when you want to be…"
"Yes. Yang has told me." Emerald tugged on his arm, and for once he didn't resist. "Come on. Let's go talk to Cinder."
"And you won't kiss me?"
"I won't kiss you."
What world was he living in where that was considered a bribe? A strange world. A strange world indeed. Sighing the sigh of the damned, he let Emerald drag him to the library. Velvet and Coco were already there, reading some books together on a table with some paper and pens set out in front of them. It didn't take long to find Cinder.
Dressed in her school uniform, the woman was beautiful – pale skin, golden eyes and long black hair that reminded him of Raven's and yet was much more tamed. She had a red book in hand, the title of which read `Advanced Dust Theory Vol.3`. Licking her finger, she turned a single page and continued reading.
"Is that her?" he whispered to Emerald.
"Hm. She trains in the ASH Gym."
"Wait. Can't you just look at her back then?"
"Not for a week and she might hide it." Emerald sighed. "Let me do the talking."
As if he had any idea what to do anyway! Mr Ashari was going to have his head.
Cinder didn't react to their approach. The library was busy enough that people walking up and by wouldn't have been unusual, but she finally looked up when they stopped by her table. Her eyes flicked over him briefly.
"Oh. Emerald? Hello there."
"Hm." Emerald nodded. "Hey."
"And this is…?" Cinder's attention turned back to him and she paused. Her eyes widened briefly, tracking up and down his face in a way that made Jaune feel uncertain. His feet shifted on the floor. The action didn't go unnoticed. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm staring. Has anyone ever told you how remarkably similar to a certain someone you look?"
"He knows," Emerald said. "He looks like dad but younger."
"Curious resemblance. Are they related?"
"I – we – don't know. Might be distant family but Jaune doesn't know dad."
"Jaune? The same name as well…?"
"It's a coincidence," Jaune said nervously.
"Is it? At some point, coincidences stop being enough to explain- ah, never mind me. Was there something you wanted, or did you just come over to say hello?"
"We're looking for Vernal," Emerald replied. "We've tried the sparring rings and the gym…"
What was he supposed to do? Jaune stood in place while Emerald and Cinder spoke, wondering what it was his partner expected of him. Cinder had her full uniform on, and they were both stood in front of her so getting around to her back would be suspicious even before he suddenly yanked her blouse up. Not much hope of explaining that one, was there? Cinder even had the school jacket on over her blouse so he couldn't hope for black ink to show through a white shirt.
His own tattoo itched faintly. He resisted the urge to scratch it and rolled his shoulder instead, wincing as the muscles tightened and creased. Apart from the constant itching – which he was sure was just the newness and uncomfortable feeling of it – there wasn't anything to speak of.
Mr Ashari acted like I'd be stronger. I don't feel anything.
There didn't appear to be anything unusual about Cinder either. Polite enough, friendly enough – not overly so, but that would have been weird anyway given that he was a stranger. She looked a little distracted, but then she'd been reading so why wouldn't she? By all metrics, she was a normal girl in the library trying to get back to a book she wanted to read.
"I'm not really Vernal's minder," Cinder eventually said. "Nor do I really care to be. If she isn't looking for a fight, training for a fight or eating to store energy for a fight… then I suppose she would be somewhere that enabled her to fight better. She only cares about two things in life, fighting and her precious `Jaune`."
"W-What!?"
"Oh. Sorry. I don't think she was referring to you."
"What?" Emerald demanded, twice as cold.
Cinder chuckled. "I guess there's no pleasing both of you, is there? Yes, Emerald, your father. Don't ask me what it is my partner wants with him – I have the feeling I'll be happier not knowing. If she isn't where she normally is, I'd guess she's either in the Emerald Forest or the forge."
"Fighting Grimm or upgrading her weapon," Jaune finished.
"Exactly." Cinder picked her book back up and crossed one leg over the other. "I can't guarantee either but that's where I'd start. Of course, if she's in the forest I'd give up and wait until she returns. I can always tell her you're looking for her if you wish."
"Okay. Thank you." Emerald then gave the same message she had to Velvet about the ASH Gym opening again soon. Cinder listened for a few moments and then nodded.
"Thank you for letting me know. Good luck with Vernal."
Once they were outside the library, Jaune rounded on Emerald. "Well that was pointless. We didn't learn anything. Or is this the part where you tell me you read her eyes or emotions in how she answered, all to figure out some tiny clue?"
Emerald shot him a weird look. "No. Why? Did you?"
"Of course I didn't!"
"Well we got a new lead for Vernal so that's okay…"
Hopeless. She was completely hopeless! "Let's just go find her and get this over with."
/-/
"So, let me get this straight. You want me to perv on my partner in search of some mystical tattoo and then report back to the old man? Is that what you're asking for?"
Emerald scowled at her like she always did. Weakling. "Yes."
Vernal snorted. The whole thing sounded stupid to her, but if it came from Jaune then it was deadly serious. He wouldn't waste their time on anything else. He could have come to me instead of the brat, though. Making me this angry. What a bastard.
Worse, the brat and the knock off Jaune had tried to keep things secret from her too. Hah! What a fucking laugh. As if she'd be dumb enough to believe they were `curious` but too shy to ask Cinder. Yeah, right. Emerald was too dense to understand what `shy` meant. And once they'd told her it was an order from Jaune, she dug deeper, holding out on helping until they coughed up the full story.
And what an interesting story it was.
Vernal pointed to Jaune. "Strip."
"W-What?"
"Did I stutter? Get your top off and let me see it."
"Oh, the tattoo. Y-Yeah. You need to know what it looks like…"
He took off his jacket and undid two buttons, then immediately realised he was about to get topless in front of two girls and froze up. Vernal was about two seconds from walking over and ripping his clothes off when he regained his confidence and went the rest of the way. He had a nice chest - she'd give him that. A little muscle toning showing up in the right places, but nothing she hadn't seen better of before. Rotating a finger, she had him turn.
There it was. Vernal leaned in, eyes narrowed. "Hmmm."
Judging from how Emerald peeked, it was her first time seeing it as well. The boy jumped when she laid her hand on his back, but she ignored it and peeled his skin taut so she could get a proper look. No stranger to tats, she could instantly see the differences. Instead of his skin being inked, it was more like a lacquer over the top.
Get close enough to any tattoo and you'd see the little lines that human skin naturally formed, the creases between a lighter colour depending on skin tone. A tattoo wasn't really a solid thing, but a series of small dots connected. This looked solid. It had weight. It was matte black and didn't look likely to fade any time soon.
"Well…?" Jaune asked nervously.
"Looks like something a twelve-year-old girl would have…"
"Hey! I didn't get to pick it out of a catalogue, you know."
"Yeah, yeah, I get that. It's basic though. All one colour, block shapes and even. No shading to speak of. Honestly, it's pretty fucking boring. Potential of being something more aside, I mean." Hers was better. Vernal was fairly sure anyone with a working brain would agree on that. "You said it was painted on?"
"Yeah."
"Sheesh. You don't even get the experience. It's not a real tatt unless someone needles it into you. Oh fuck me, are you really shivering? Man up. It's just a needle."
"I don't like needles…"
"And I thought you couldn't be any more disappointing than you already are." Not his fault, she supposed. Looking like a younger version of Jaune meant she was judging him against the man himself, and anyone was going to come out looking pathetic in comparison. "Well, it's enough for me to remember when I have a look at Cinder."
"You'll do it, then?" Emerald asked.
"Course I will. I'd have done it anyway if he asked me to." Heh. Vernal took great pleasure in watching the bitch's face contort into a possessive scowl. "Guess this is just proof he needs me more than he does you."
"He doesn't need me," Emerald said. "He loves me."
Something hot and ugly ripped through Vernal's stomach. "Tch. Watch it, bitch."
"Can we not have this fight over my back?" Discount Jaune asked. "And can I get dressed now?"
"Sure." She let him go and stepped back, sitting on her bed. "I'll cash in my favour from the old man when he gets back. Ha. I think I already know what it'll be." She watched Emerald's eyes narrow. "You want to know?"
"No."
"Not even if I asked him to make me a woman?"
"He's engaged!" Emerald spat. "A-And he'd never do that with you!"
Too easy. Vernal burst into laughter. "Lucky for you I don't intend to ask for that anyway. But I'll be his first in another way. He's going to put that," she pointed to Jaune's back, "On me. If it makes him stronger, I want it as well."
"Is that all you want?" Emerald asked. "Power?"
"Nope. Because I said I was going to be his first, so he's going to tattoo me before he does you."
Emerald growled at her.
"In the meantime, I think we should test this spunky new upgrade of yours, discount."
"What did you call me?" Jaune asked. "Wait, and test…?"
"Yep." Vernal stood and cracked her knuckles. "You, me and a ring. How can you know if that thing makes a difference or not if you don't test your aura, strength and reflexes? Seems to me you've not been testing it in the one theatre it counts – battle."
Jaune backed away nervously.
"Sounds like a good idea," Emerald said, still unhappy, but more than willing to let her partner be beaten up in the name of science.
"D-Don't I get a say in this?"
"Can you beat me in a fight?" Vernal asked.
"N-No?"
"Are you stronger than me?"
"No…"
"Then do you think you get a say?"
He sighed. "No."
"You're learning, discount. I'm proud. Now, let's go bleed on one another."
/-/
"You know, I was going to say well done on surviving a whole day without getting beaten up by someone. But now, I don't know. I'm not even surprised. Just… disappointed."
"Sorry mom…"
Yang grinned, dabbing a bruise on his forehead as he lay on his bed.
"What convinced you to get into a fight with Vernal anyway?"
"Emerald threatened to kiss me."
Yang blinked. "You mean to kill you?"
"No. Kiss."
Yang looked down at him, then back to Emerald and finally back again. With a long and heavy sigh, she cupped her face with one hand. "That somehow both makes no sense and all the sense in the world. What did I do to deserve such a stupid team? Something evil, probably. No more fighting Vernal. I shouldn't have to say that to anyone, but no fighting Vernal."
"P-Preaching to the choir…"
I've had a light flu for about two weeks now and with the news all talking about the Coronavirus, it's a scary thing. Hoping it's just flu, since I do tend to catch it almost every year. Still, it's rough to cough into my hand in public and have everyone suddenly stare at me and create distance.
It shouldn't affect my uploads really. If I have to self-quarantine, that just means more time to write, assuming I feel well enough to.
Next Chapter: 14th March
P a treon . com (slash) Coeur
