Author' Notes
Pushing this chapters fast so we can conclude Volume 1. After this and the letter next chapter, only one more chapter before I officially call the Volume 1 arc over.
Wooot, submitted a support ticket to update the Gunvolt character list in FFnet. This fic is now properly tagged with Mytyl (who if I have to call one character the protagonist, it would be her) rather than Copen.
I also accidentally duplicated the entries for Desna/Nike, Milas/Nimrod, and Quinn/Ouka, since they were on the list already… with their Japanese name. Like, why? Why those and not, say, Copen/Acura?
EDIT: Fixed some errors and added a bit of exposition. Nothing major or worth rereading the chapter over.
Chapter 26: Vale is Smoldering
To whichever god would listen, please let her sleep until whatever apocalypse was fit for Remnant.
Blake was exhausted. Jaune provided her with a bit of his aura as a pick-me-up; whatever he could spare after GV's… that. She was not in a state to figure out what word best described what GV did, so 'that' was as good as any. She just wanted to sleep. Alas, nothing was ever that easy. Their little outing ended up with a good portion of the dockyard on fire, a stopped robbery, multiple White Fang's members arrested (it was a small miracle GV hadn't killed anyone. Turns out bullheads are sturdy things and Aura was one hell of a drug), and eight Beacon students, one Haven student, and one Atlas student in the middle of all of it. That meant this was Hunters' business AND a potential international incident.
To say the Vale's Police Department had questions was selling it short.
"Why is it that the first semester of your first year is not even over and whenever there's trouble, your three teams are involved?"
Oh. Miss Goodwitch is here. Maybe she could whisk them away to Beacon where they could embrace the cold, comforting arms of oblivion.
"Hrng."
GV agreed with her. Blake knew she could count on him having her back.
"This is not by any means over." Miss Goodwitch warned them. Blake almost cried right there and then. Almost. "You're lucky Torchwick and the White Fang were involved. And ONLY Torchwick and the White Fang"
Wait. Having a Huntsman-level threat and a terrorist organization involved was considered lucky!?
"Otherwise, we couldn't spin this to be a case of 'doing your duty' and instead would be a cut-and-dried case of flagrant vigilantism and rampant property damage."
"That makes sense," GV yawned, resting his head on her shoulder in an attempt to catch some sleep. Blake knew what such an action looked like, but looks be damned! She didn't object. It provided a convenient, if spiky, head she herself could lean against.
"Does it?" she asked. She didn't think so, but, then again, she had been for all intents and purposes a mook in the White Fang. An elite mook that slept with the boss, but a mook. What did she know about Valean laws when it came to terrorism? This wasn't Atlas, where 'we don't negotiate with terrorists' was the extent of their laws.
"You don't light a house on fire to kill a mouse. You don't send Hunters and burn down an entire district of Vale to hunt down petty criminals," GV explained.
So it was a case of not using excessive force? Sounded arbitrary, but Blake grumbled something resembling an agreement, nonetheless. She barely registered Copen returning to the group, having left to send off that weird Penny girl to wherever she came from.
"Is everything in order, Mr. Kamizono?" Goodwitch asked. Copen nodded.
"Very well. We will be returning to Beacon. You're expected to provide a debriefing to the Headmaster immediately upon arrival."
Blake turned to hide her emerging tears in GV's head. The gods abandoned Remnant to its own device, and she was sure the folly of men was to blame.
"Miss Goodwitch?" Copen said. "Can we stop by a 24/7 convenience store?"
-o-
Mytyl paced nervously alongside Ruby. What else could one do when you receive an emergency message from your partner, get grounded in Beacon before they could even react, on direct orders of the Headmaster, and all you can do is watch your sibling's Aura slowly deplete. Or in her case, go from almost full to nearly empty in a matter of seconds.
It was nerve-wracking. Pyrrha tried her best to reassure both her and Ruby, but there was only so much she could do. Weiss, in typical Schnee fashion, reigned her emotions much better and cordially accepted the Headmaster's offer for some coffee, with a well-manufactured neutral expression on her face.
Mytyl still noticed the few tells suggesting that Weiss wasn't as calm as she led people to believe. She wasn't ignorant to how to put on a mask and act in control. She shared Weiss's absurdly high social strata. It wasn't unusual for kids in their position to have at least some basic training on acting properly in public.
If there was a silver lining to her childhood ailments, it was that she hadn't suffered the public eye like Weiss or Copen. She didn't breathe the lifestyle like the Schnee heiress, but she was well aware of its intricacies. Her aunt made sure of that. And she could see the cracks in Weiss's carefully sculpted mask. In truth, the only one in the room that seemed to maintain perfect, perhaps even genuine, calm was Ozpin himself.
When the call came that everyone was alive and fine, the relief in the room was palpable. She's been watching Copen's and GV's aura slowly, but steadily, rise back to healthy levels. Ruby was doing the same for Yang. Now they were just waiting for their errant family and friends to come back.
An alarm, barely audible, rang from the Headmaster's console, alerting them that someone just requested access from the elevator. Ozpin's nod towards them confirmed the requesters' identity.
Upon its arrival, the elevator's door slid open, revealing their missing friends and Miss Goodwitch. There was no time for anyone to react before Ruby crashed into Yang, sending them both sprawling to the floor a few feet back.
"Yang, you're fine! I was so worried. We received that message, then we tried to leave but they wouldn't let us, then time passed, and GV and Kohaku's Aura started to fall, then GV's hit zero, then it rose, and yours fell, and Copen's also fell, then it shot up, but Copen's fell even more, the GV's hit zero, again, and‑"
"Calm down, Rubes," Yang tried to pry her sister off herself. To no avail. Ruby's hug was not to be denied by something as petty as the raw strength of a Huntress specialized in brawling.
For her part, Mytyl was not as explosive as Ruby and approached Copen at her own pace. Facing her brother, she debated whether to smack him in the head or take a page out of Ruby's rules of engagement and hug him.
She wrapped her arms around him and hid her face in his chest, letting a sob of relief escape.
"You. Big. Stupid. Dummy!" she mumbled into his chest, her voice a cracked whisper barely hanging to a modicum of composure.
Copen petted her on the head. "It's ok, sis. Nothing happened. I'm ok."
"Don't!" Copen was taken aback by Mytyl's sudden and fierce rebuttal, as well as the tears mixed in. She continued. "Seven percent aura is NOT 'nothing', Copen." Her grip on her brother tightened and the sobbing increased.
"Oh… that." Nobody would accuse Copen of being tactful. "If it makes you feel better, that was from me using Jaune's Sembla-"
He suddenly stopped talking when Mytyl's head snapped upward, her crimson eyes zeroing on his scarlet ones. A mixture of anger, disbelief, and horror reflected in hers.
"YOU WHAT!?"
Copen flinched, almost throwing himself out of Mytyl's iron grip.
"Ahem."
She was stopped from giving her brother a brutal verbal teardown by the Headmaster.
"Miss Kamizono. You can chew out your brother on your own time," – Copen sent Ozpin a sarcastic 'Thank you' look – "but it is late and there are some things we need to discuss."
Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she nodded. Her expression, however, promised this was not over.
"Miss Belladonna, Mister Volt, care to explain how you found yourselves in the middle of a heist conducted by a notorious criminal and a terrorist organization?"
Blake knew this question was coming; it was the obvious question. She started reciting the answer she mentally practiced on the ride back. "GV and I happened to be by the-"
"The whole truth, Miss Belladonna," Miss Goodwitch interrupted. The steel in her voice a warning to everyone against nudging the truth. Blake winced at being so unceremoniously interrupted. "The entirety of it. Do not think your little escapade went unnoticed by the faculty. Even if you had been subtle about it instead of announcing it to entire school, we, the faculty, would have known."
A chill ran down her spine. The whole school… so much for keeping her secrets. Blake was at a loss of words. Even if she could get over the sudden realization regarding her status at Beacon, what could she say that didn't paint her or GV in a bad light?
For better or for worse, the opportunity was taken away from her by GV.
"After Weiss's and Blake's fight yesterday and Blake failing to return to the dorms, her team and I decided to look for her…"
GV explained the whole thing. All of it. How he found her, how they talked, revealed his previous affiliations with the White Fang – GV's past with them raised some eyebrows –, what they overheard in the restaurant, and the reasoning that led them to investigate. He brushed over some details, like the exact nature of their conversation in the restaurant and the specifics of how the fight at the docks went. Except how five bullheads were dealt with. There was no rug big enough to sweep that under.
"I thank you for being so forthcoming on this, Mister Volt," Headmaster Ozpin said, once GV finished his account. "I recognize that yours and Miss Belladonna's… previous life experiences might prompt you to act upon whatever information you come by, but please, as a Huntsman in training and a student at Beacon Academy, you are expected to inform the faculty rather than take matters into your own hands. And while this is not strictly enforced once you graduate, it still is highly encouraged to seek for help rather than handle this kind of situations on your own. Putting you on teams is not a decision made on a whim."
"I sent a message," GV offered.
"And that's appreciated," Ozpin nodded. "But send it earlier next time. Seems like you could have, if what you told us is true. You and Miss Belladonna will serve daily detentions every weekday for what remains of the semester. Miss Goodwitch will handle the schedule of what professor you'll be serving them with. Report to her on Monday immediately after classes, instead of going about your free sparring period."
Ozpin turned towards the rest of the students, particularly those present in the fight. "I cannot fault the rest of you for assisting your teammates after receiving a message that suggested they were in danger. In fact, I commend it. I would have preferred you have waited for the faculty to respond, but at the same time I cannot promise Mister Volt and Miss Belladonna would have been fine have you not intervened."
Finally, Ozpin looked at the odd one out. "Mister Wukong." – Sun gulped – "Welcome to Vale and Beacon. Please, I implore… no, I beg of you. Do not make a habit of arriving earlier than reasonable, stowing illegally into the cargo, committing arson, or engaging in dalliances with the criminal underground of Vale."
Sun just laughed nervously, wishing to be anywhere but there.
"You are all dismissed. You'll be called if we need to speak further with you.
-o-
The group ambled towards their dorms in silence. Or as much silence as they could with Ruby fussing over Yang and Mytyl giving Copen an earful.
"By the gods, Copen. What the hell were you thinking? YOU decided that Jaune's Aura Amp was too dangerous of an Aura sink to use. To which I agreed, by the way. YOU forbid me of using it out of worry. YOU insisted upon it out of some delusional, nonexistent emotional vulnerability YOU swore existed on me. YOU-"
"Come on, Mytyl," Kohaku tried to calm down her team leader. With the wind suddenly taken off her sail, Mytyl stumbled a bit. Kohaku automatically held her up before she lost her footing. "I was the one who asked-"
"I don't care," Mytyl said, regaining her balance, her breathing a little labored, and calmly breaking Kohaku's hold. "Copen is a grown ass adult capable of making his own mistakes and taking responsibility for them." She turned towards her brother. "That does it, you are going to suffer through one of Weiss's speeches on responsibility. Repent!"
Copen heard, but didn't listen, to his sister. Focused on her but not her words. That last part, however, snapped him back to reality.
"That reminds me. Weiss, I brought you something." He offered Weiss a paper bag. The heiress had been silent throughout the entire journey back to the dorms, lost in her own world. Copen's offer confused her, but she accepted the slightly cold bag. Reaching into it, she pulled a carton container.
"Winter's Delight…" she read the flavor of the chilly dessert. She remained confused a few more seconds.
Then it clicked.
It started with a small smile, which evolved it a chuckle as the realization of what this possibly meant sank in. Weiss used the ice cream tub to hide her ever increasing laughter.
"Pfft, hehe, Copen, did you, heh, did you go to battle with this thing?"
"Oh no." Yang said, smiling wide. "Even better. He forced Miss G to stop on a twenty-four hours store on our way back. He even jumped out of the bullhead and we had to fly in circles while he bought it."
"Never again," Jaune muttered.
Weiss exploded into full blown laughter. "HAHAHA. Oh god, Copen, you are such a dork."
Copen shrugged. "I aim to please."
Weiss managed to reign in her laughter. With a lighter spirit and out of her reverie, she realized something. There was one thing left to do.
"Blake…"
The cat girl froze, both at the heiress addressing her and the sudden attention from everyone. She knew what was coming, but she had hoped she could postpone until tomorrow… or later today. Same difference.
Weiss counted to ten, using the time to compose herself and mentally practice her words. "I-"
"I'm sorry." Blake blurted out, stopping the heiress in her tracks. She was staring at the floor "You were right. About the White Fang. I didn't want to believe. I assumed a lot and said terrible things to you. I'm sorry. Sorry for calling your family monsters. For saying you don't care. For…" Blake sighed and forced herself to meet Weiss's eyes, which were looking back with surprise. "…for not being a better friend."
Weiss slowly nodded. "Apologies accepted. And I'm sorry, too, for the things I said. I had time to think. I made it all about me. You are the faunus. And don't understand what you have gone through. I didn't think about how you feel. How everything must hit close to home for you too. What you said was not entirely off-base. The SDC has done – still does – terrible things. And I will work to change that. That much I can promise."
Blake nodded in gratitude, letting herself admire a little the resolve Weiss was showing. "Thanks."
"Also," Weiss smiled, "you look better without that stupid bow."
Blake slowly reached for the top of her and discovered that, indeed, she was not wearing her bow and her ears were exposed.
"Oh… thanks," Blake blushed.
"Woo! Yeah, friendship! Now kiss!"
"Sun…" Kohaku lamented.
"Woo! Yeah, friendship! Now kiss!"
"Yang! It's not a 'he's a boy' thing!" Ruby chided.
Blake and Weiss, and everyone, looked at the blondes and their crimes against the mood. Sun was cheering with a wide, toothy grin, arms raised, and rippling abs. Coincidentally, Weiss was at the right height to look at them intently with narrowed eyes. Yang soon joined Sun in a one-armed hug, finding a kindred spirit in the monkey boy.
"Who are these… cheap, two-bit strippers?"
"Oi," Yang howled indignantly.
"Hey!" Sun said in similar indignation, before dialing up the mock dial, "I resent that. My prices are moderate."
Kohaku pushed Sun out of the way and to the floor, leaving Yang grasping at nothing.
"Sorry about that," she rapidly added. "Introductions. Right. Ahem. Sun!" – Sun waved from the floor – "these are my friends. Friends, this is my Sssss-" Kohaku cringed when she realized her slip. She had been too desperate to avoid another catastrophe due to Sun's untimely joke that her tongue tripped over itself. It wasn't even a trip over the truth. Just a trip over the uneven, muddy, awkward swamp Ruby and Jaune lived in. It was too late, however. She was just going to have to live with the consequences "-sssssssuuuuuuunnnnnnn?"
Yang, because of course it was Yang, had a shit-eating grin. "Your… Sun?"
Kohaku despaired. Being struck by lightning sounded amazing just about now. Maybe she could figure out something with GV. Maybe she'll discover she has Nora's Semblance. Maybe she'll die. She was having trouble coming up with the negatives of the whole scenario.
"My Sun…" Sun, still on the floor but now posing as he laid sideways, face resting on his hand, tasted the words. "Wow, that's amazing! I totally need a girlfriend to call me that." He looked at each of the girls present. "Blake!"
"No."
Sun shrugged and rolled with the punch. "I can pivot. You! Girl with the amazing neon blue hair! Wanna be my girlfriend? Just long enough to call me your Sun."
Nora shook her head. "Not interested… you think my hair is amazing?" Nora picked a strand of her hair to look at intently.
"What about Kohaku?" Yang asked.
"GV, I am thinking neon green."
"I can do lilac."
Yang took a step away from Kohaku and GV and hugged her own hair. "Do it and nobody will find your bodies."
"Well, this has been… special," Weiss said warily. "But I'm going to go and eat my tub of ice cream. Ruby, Pyrrha, Mytyl, and Copen are invited."
"What about the rest of us?"
Weiss gave Yang a measuring look. "What about the rest of you?" Then she turned towards her room, her invitees following.
"That's also my room!"
"You can crash with the Kaleidoscopes today."
Copen raised a second paper bag. "I bought another tub for you guys." He handed it to Yang before following after Weiss and the rest.
"What about me?" Sun asked. "I have nowhere to stay."
"…Sun… where did you sleep yesterday?" Kohaku asked.
Sun just gave her a plastic grin. "You know, Kaleidoscope is a pretty kickass team name."
Kohaku facepalmed and sighed. "You can crash in my team's room."
-o-
Kohaku slid under the overly large crossbow bolt, letting the missile sail above her, to be dealt with whatever unfortunate object met its path. She was quick in regaining her footing and empty a clip from her pistol. Each bullet pinged off the deceptively robust ceramic shield Copen held, but she expected that. With the time bought, she spun once, using the momentum to give her blade the extra power needed to ensure Copen didn't just bat the attack to the side.
He still blocked it but wasn't able to immediately raise his heavy crossbow to retaliate. Instead, he aimed Border at her and fired, each of his shots parried by the approaching Kohaku. With each step and each bullet deflected, shed picked up the pace and before long was right in front of Copen.
Angling his shield upward, Copen bashed Kohaku, only for the latter to use the shield as a footstool and vault over him. Flipping midair and using the rotation to once more give her whip an extra kick, she struck a clean hit on Copen. Only for the boy to dissipate like an illusion.
"Sh-"
Her swear was cut short as a flurry of sigils tackled her and sent her careening to the edge of the arena. Rolling unto a kneeling position, she dared a look at her torso.
And the damning 'X' sigil that hovered over it.
Lola's P-bits moved to orbit her, sparks of electricity cackling ominously between them.
"Kohaku," Copen commanded her attention. Beside him, Lola floated in her Stellar Spark form – the configuration mimicking GV's Semblance.
She really needed to speak with Kon or maybe Miss Goodwitch about a way to deal with Copen's Semblance if tagged.
Sighing, she raised her hands in surrender. "You win. Do with me as you please. Be gentle."
Copen rolled his eyes and gave Lola the signal to retrieve the P-bits. At least the new ones were working as intended. "I know you like using your whip and are more comfortable and skilled with it. But at close range you want to use your sword more. The revving needed to properly give the whip striking power is a blind spot at close range. With the sword, you just swing."
"But you are getting better," Copen admitted with one of his rare smiles that looked more like a smirk. "Good job on keeping the pressure on."
Walking towards the benches next to the training arena, Kohaku picked a pair of bottles of waters and threw one at her partner before sitting on the bench. "Thanks Copen. Out of curiosity, what would you have done without Lola back then?"
Taking a generous gulp of his bottle, Copen joined her on the bench. "Hmmm… Aix Gear is too cumbersome for me to swing it before you hit me and you're skilled enough with the whip that I don't fancy taking the risk of flying upward and crashing down on you, leaving me open to getting hit mid maneuver. Probably would have shot you."
He quietly chuckled at the incredulous look Kohaku gave him. "Remember my weapons' concussive reload mechanism. Border was not out of bullets. It wouldn't have won the fight, but it would have created some distance between us. I am working on some close-range options for Mytyl and me, but until then, shooting works fine."
"Right, right. Growing up you see so many Hunters do flashy moves in television that you forget simply shooting someone on the face can be as effective."
Copen raised an eyebrow. "You're trained in quick drawing, aren't you? The entire philosophy behind that style is quick, efficient moves."
Kohaku laughed. "It is. But then you see Kon do it and you forget it's not meant to be flashy. Her Semblance is not subtle at all."
With a hum of understanding, their conversation transitioned to a comfortable silence. They were supposed to bring food back to their dorm, but Mytyl and GV could survive a little more without sustenance. Besides, GV was at the moment trapped somewhere serving his detention.
It has been a week since the docks' incident. It was the only thing anyone in Beacon talked about nowadays. At some point, JNBR's and KVKC's involvement was leaked. RWPY's was spared the attention thanks to only having Yang involved, and everyone was willing to believe the blonde bombshell was a loose cannon with a penchant for flagrant disregard of the rules. In the history book that was the docks' incident, Yang was but a footnote with an expert's quote by Pyrrha saying how grand it was not to be dragged into the infamy.
For this reason, the bulk of both KVKC and JNBR have been hiding inside their dorms, waiting for the storm to pass and only braving the strange new world outside to fetch food and go to classes. Or serve detention in the case of GV and Blake. And when it came to fetching food, the modus operandi had become to draw straws and send one singular member.
Though Team JNBR rigged the system to make sure Nora never drew the short stick. They and the world were not prepared for that madness.
Kohaku was the unlucky one to draw the short end today. Thankfully, Copen took pity on her and they seized the opportunity to do some light sparring.
Copen's definition of the word 'light' left something to desire, but Kohaku didn't mind. She could use the training and it gave her a chance to spend some alone time with her partner. Mytyl was so carefree and bubbly that she was a joy to be around. You couldn't help but have some of her energy rub on you. And she wasn't as exhausting as Nora's brand of high-octane energy or Ruby's energy mixed with occasional awkwardness and unexplained obliviousness. But there still was an upper limit to how much of her… Mytyl-ness you could take. Honestly, it was a bit fun to compare and contrast Mytyl with Copen. Despite being twins, they were miles apart in every way but a few sprinkled similarities.
And GV was kind of fun to be around, in his own way. Not due to his personality. The boy was pretty stoic most of the time. But that was it, he always looked serious and he would endure the chaos around him with the same unflinching face. Ren was cut from the same cloth, but while the chaos around Ren was caused by Nora, GV was the architect of his own chaos and it was always a spectacle to watch. Nora and her hair could testify to that.
She didn't get many chances to be with Copen without someone else – be it from KVKC, RWPY, or JNBR – tagging along. She enjoyed these rare occasions. It gave her a breather from everything else. A chance to avoid the draining intensity that was the rest of her friends. Copen has its own set of oddities – a small giggle, that had Copen eyeing her curiously, escaped her when she recalled his fondness for jumping out of bullheads when he was just done with everything.
That aside, Copen was easy to get along with. He wasn't particularly friendly, but neither was he actively antagonistic, nor did he make you feel like you shouldn't be there. He just accepted you. He had that in common with GV…
"Hey, Copen… can I ask you something?"
"Hmmm?"
She bit her bottom lip. This was a topic that had been stewing in her mind for the last couple of days. JNBR couldn't comment on it negatively without being hypocrites, so even if they were being truthful, the nagging feeling of doubt would remain. RWPY as a whole didn't seem to care either way, with the possible exception of Weiss. The heiress had opted to wait and see, and Kohaku wasn't close enough to the girl to broach the topic and disturb that delicate balance. And Mytyl seems to have already made up her mind. It was about her partner, after all. That only left Copen.
"What do you think about GV's… past?"
An arched brow and a silent request to elaborate was his initial response.
"He was a member of the White Fang. He was a criminal, right?" She started fiddling with the water bottle on her hand. "I grew up in one of the nicest villages in Vacuo, so the White Fang and even crime beyond shoplifting was something that happened to other people, even if I spent most of my days in what could be considered the slums. I don't know if I have the right to judge him when the others are so willing to forgive."
After a few seconds of silence, Copen answered. "I don't think any one of us has that right. Maybe Weiss on a personal level but forgiving him is her prerogative. In fact, out of everyone, I'm probably the least apt to judge. I was born to privilege. The Fang never targeted me or my family. In fact, Sumeragi is in the business of arms manufacturing and dealing. In war, both factions need suppliers."
"You armed the White Fang!?" Kohaku screeched.
"Not so loud!" Copen flinched away from her, bringing a hand up to nurse his ear. "Not on purpose or with our consent. All it takes is one sympathizer or greedy executive and a transport allegedly lost to the Grimm. Or to just outright buy the weapons and give them to the Fang after the facts."
He sighed. "That's not to say I don't have my reservations. But it's not because of what he did in the past. His actions at the docks and the Headmaster's approval are enough for me to give him the benefit of the doubt. But he defected from the White Fang. He and Blake are bound to have made some enemies. And I'm… afraid of Mytyl getting roped into it."
"Yeah…" Kohaku casted her eyes down, focusing on the bottle. "She seems like the kind to jump straight into the nitty gritty of things if her friends are in danger."
Copen scoffed in amusement. "Pot, meet kettle."
"Hey, you're not that far behind us, Tiger. Only difference is you're more selective about who you call a friend."
"Ugh, don't call me that. I only allow Yang because it's easier to indulge her."
"Ho ho ho," Kohaku's smiled like a cat that ate the canary. "So, you're saying only Yang Xiao Long has the privilege of calling you nicknames? How about Doctor? Can I call you Doctor Copen?"
Copen sighed and stood. "No. If you believing whatever fantasies you conjured about Yang and me is what it takes for you to drop the subject…"
"~Copen and Yang, sitting in a- eep!"
"Thanks, Lola."
"I got your back, Doctor Boss!"
Kohaku rubbed the spot where Lola tazed her, pouting at the little pod.
"Let's go," Copen said with the slightest of twitches in his eye. "Our two illustrious teammates must be starving just about now."
A quick shower later, both of them were on their way to the cafeteria. They ignored the looks sent their way. Sooner or later people would lose interest in them and move onto the next big thing.
"Copen…"
"Hmm?"
"I don't think I ever thanked you. For coming to my… to our rescue, at the docks."
"You said it yourself," Copen smirked, "I'm not that far behind you."
-o-
Jaune was nearly toppled over as someone crashed into him from behind.
And proceeded to hug him?
"Jaune!"
A few students in the vicinity, who were looking at him for other reasons, quickly diverted their sight, some chuckling while others with the barest hint of red on their cheek.
"Hey Mytyl, fancy meeting you here," he squeaked through Mytyl's deceptively tight grasp.
"Hello, my favorite non-Mytyl human," a cheery voice with an electronic undertone saluted him.
"Hey there, my favorite nongaming machine," Jaune shot back.
Lumen humphed. "Are you implying I'm not better than a dumb video game?" She challenged.
"I don't know," Jaune said while smirking. "Can you play Autumn Record?"
"I probably can. Mytyl, can I become a videogame?"
Releasing Jaune, Mytyl skipped and twirled to face him. The girl was currently dressed in her Beacon uniform, her hair free from the ponytail she normally wears in her combat outfit and opting to only adorn it with the bell ornament that lightly chimed with every step. Jaune had to admit, he enjoyed a lot the soft jingle of the bell.
"You're gonna have to ask Copen about that. Didn't know you were a gamer, Jaune."
"Not much of one these days. Beacon is a full-time job, especially for someone like me."
Mytyl tilted her head, face blank. "Someone like you?"
"You know," Jaune scratched his head, adverting his eyes from the crimson orbs staring at him. "Someone who's… not as good. And have a lot catching up to do."
He took a half-step backward and leaned away as Mytyl closed the distance between them, tiptoeing to gain just a little more height and not have her head completely overtaken by Jaune's.
"You shouldn't sell yourself short like that, Jaune," she said, soft smile on her lips and fiery eyes full of conviction. "I heard how you jumped to my partner's and teammate's aid against the handsomely nefarious Roman Torchwick." The last few words were played up.
That turned a few more heads their way, but Mytyl paid them no heed. "For a brave and gallant knight as yourself to stand in front a downed comrade, with only a shield and true grit between you and Death." She swayed dramatically. "You make me swoon, Jaune Arc!"
She fell back towards Jaune but was met with his hand stopping her brusquely as her cheek impacted his palm. "Sho ruff," she purposely mangled the words. That was another quirk of Mytyl he had come to appreciate the few times he had witnessed it before.
He, and a few others, chuckled at her antics. "Come on Mytyl, it was nothing. I just did what any Huntsman would do."
Recovering and standing up straight, Mytyl looked up to Jaune. An intense stare that suddenly he had trouble meeting and responding to.
"No. Huntsmen and Huntresses hunt monsters. It's in the name. What you did is not what a Huntsman would do."
Jaune frowned in confusion. "Sure it is. Hunters protect people."
Mytyl shook her head and took a step forward, closer to Jaune.
"No, Jaune. That's what heroes do."
He opened his mouth but wasn't sure how to respond. Her words lingered. Even the few students that stuck around to eavesdrop on the infamous leaders of Team KVKC and Team JNBR walked away, no longer feeling it was appropriate to invade their privacy. They also had something new to think about.
"Some would say a Hunter and a hero are one and the same."
"And some people would be wrong. A Hunter could have forgone their friends, justified in chasing after their prey. A hero wouldn't."
"I… I see," Jaune manage to say, sheepishly falling back to his nervous tick of scratching the back of his head and a slight blush brushing his cheeks, still a bit startled by Mytyl's unexpected praise.
"You… really think I'm a hero?"
"You and everyone else," Mytyl confirmed. "Don't you think so too, Lumen?"
"Absolutely," the bot said with a surprising amount of humanity in her synthetic voice.
Mytyl smiled. "So thanks… for being there for my team when I couldn't."
Jaune chuckled. "Well, I guess if the Fae-rest of Queens insist, I have no choice but to be a hero."
Mytyl giggled, not even bothered by the dorky pun. "What can I say? I expected no less from you, my most Gallant Knight."
They both burst into laughter. A couple of passing students looked at them, most unable to contain a smile at the contagious display of mirth.
As their laughs died down, both first-years began walking, slowly strolling through the hall with no specific destination in mind, letting a comfortable silence reign for a little while. Lumen floated a step back, content to let her master and Jaune to their own device.
"So, what are you doing out of your room?" Mytyl asked. "I thought your team was doing as mine and hiding on their dorm."
"We are. I drew the short stick when it came to fetching food. You too?"
Mytyl shook her head. "Koh drew the short stick among us. I was heading to Oobleck's office. GV is serving detention there. Should be finishing soon, so I thought I would pick him up. Make sure he doesn't get lost on the way back." Jaune noticed a bit of edge on her words.
"That's not a bad idea," he said. "The Gods know Blake could use a tracking collar of her own."
"How is Blake handling…" Mytyl raised her hands above her head, mimicking ears.
Jaune sighed. "All things considered, not that bad, though more than once she drew the short stick and I had to volunteer to fetch food. She's still a bit stunned about having outed herself back when she and Weiss fought. Thankfully, I would say more people has approached her in support than to mock her. And even if it's a bit mean, I ultimately believe Nora forcing her to have her ears in the open is to her benefit."
He bent towards Mytyl, lowering his voice. "Luckily, doesn't seem like many connected the dots to her past. Seems like they took her outburst as referring to the faunus in general."
Mytyl nodded. "Lucky us, indeed. I suppose it's hard to believe the school allowed… radicals to enroll. The simplest answer is not always the correct one, but there's no harm on letting people believe it."
Her disposition became sunnier. "As for the ears, it probably helps a bit GV himself is no longer being an idiot and turned off his lenses' disguise."
Jaune chuckled. "Leave it to GV to spend a semester without realizing he's hiding his eyes." He shot her a smirk. "Blake does seem to be in higher spirits after a detention. Think GV has anything to do with that?"
Mytyl snickered. "Probably. Pair of weirdos. Come, let's go and fetch our morally dubious partners together, my hero Jaune Arc!"
Jaune shook his head in amusement. "Lead the way Queen Mytyl Kamizono."
-o-
"For the umpteenth time, GV, I forgive you!"
"You forgave me for shaming you, but not for hiding my faunus trait while doing so."
"He's right. It was kind of crappy and hypocritical of him to give you grieve while hiding his own faunus traits."
"To play devil's advocate, Volt gave her grieve for not acting like a Huntress, not for being a rabbit."
Velvet, used to Cardin's lack of tact (to put it lightly), sighed as Blake glared at the boy.
"And is not like I didn't have my own share of growing pains before I forgot my lenses were hiding my eyes."
And then there was GV. Why did she agree to supervise Dr. Oobleck's detention?
…
Oh right. Money. The Ultimate Incentive.
"How do you even forget you're hiding your faunus trait?" Blake asked exasperatedly.
"She brings up a good point," Velvet pointed out.
"Does she though?" Cardin chimed in. It was obvious he was trying hard to be polite. "It's not like his lenses chafed his eyes like her bow did her ears. It's not like he's reminded he's a rabbit every time he crossed a door."
Velvet scowled, more at the annoying reminder of her ears hitting door frames and low hanging lamps than anything else. "I guess…"
"So we're good, right? I really don't need Mytyl piling more things on top of me to grill me for."
"Do you have to be such a dick, Cardin?" Blake chastised the boy.
"What did I do now?"
"You called her a rabbit!"
"She is a rabbit! Just like you are a cat and Volt is... I'm not sure what he is but it's probably something slimy."
Volt looked up from the can of soda he was drinking. A little treat from Velvet to her favorite trio of hopeless criminals. "Nice try, but no. My animal isn't slimy."
"Ok, but consider this," Cardin leaned in, can held by his interlaced fingers. "What if you are?"
GV narrowed his eyes. "You make a rather convincing argument."
Ugh, boys. "Velvet, shouldn't you be forcing them to help me proofread Dr. Oobleck's paper?"
Velvet froze with her drink midway to her mouth and met her eyes, raising an eyebrow. "You're actually proofreading that?"
This was their TA and current jailor?
"Belladonna, Oobleck writes like he talks. I rather give up my career as a Huntsman than read through one of his papers. We already slapped his damn references into place. Just call it a day and enjoy the easy detention. Why do you think when I get detention, I push for Oobleck to administer it?"
GV eyes gleamed. "I always thought it was because you enjoyed Velvet's company.
Both objects of the conversation choked on their respective drinks.
"What!?" Velvet screeched, face beet red.
"You are playing a dangerous game, Volt."
"No, no, let's hear him out," Blake interceded, giving up on Oobleck's paper as she pushed it to the side. "An obtuse brute vying for his crush's attention in the only way he knows. By bullying her. The story writes itself. I'm thinking of the redemption arc around the end of the second act."
GV mock-whispered conspiratorially towards Velvet and Cardin, who were looking at Blake in a mix of disbelief and horror. "I recommend you sell the rights to your star-crossed love before Blake writes it herself. Otherwise it will just be porn."
Velvet opened her mouth to comment but closed it and thought her words carefully. She finally said to herself, "No, no, I'm still being paid enough to deal with this."
"I'm not," Cardin grunted, "Can I go now?"
"Hello! How are my favorite pair of miscreants doing today?"
The favorite pair of miscreants, plus Velvet and Cardin, looked towards the entrance, where Mytyl, alongside Jaune, merrily greeted them.
"Hi Mytyl. Hi Jaune. What's up?" Velvet returned the greeting.
"Not much. Making sure our teammates don't sneak off to blow up the commercial district next."
Blake looked at GV. "Where's our respect?"
"You sold it for info on the White Fang and I foolishly followed you."
Blake pouted.
"You guys are lucky Coco is out of town. Otherwise, you would be bleeding from your ears by now. I speak from experience." Velvet's bunny ears twitched.
"Ha! Ears."
"It's not always a faunus thing, Cardin!" Blake angrily snapped.
"No, it was a faunus thing in this case," Velvet confirmed.
"Don't encourage him!"
GV tuned out his two bickering cellmates and their jailor in favor of greeting his visitors. "Our detention time is almost up. Should we go to the cafeteria after this?"
"And deny Kohaku the experience of being stared at while queueing for food?"
"…Fair point."
"Hey GV," Lumen hovered in front of the spiky blond. "Do you think I'd make a good video game?"
He blinked. Then he blinked at Mytyl and Jaune, asking for an explanation.
"She wants to be a video game after she lost to Jaune's console as his favorite machine," Mytyl explained with a tinge of incredulity in her voice.
"No," Jaune defended himself, "what I said is that any machine capable of running Autumn Record has an intrinsic advantage over those who don't."
"Autumn Record? The MMO?" GV asked rhetorically. "That thing is how many years old now?"
"Turns twelve on November."
GV and Jaune gave Mytyl questioning looks. In turn, she froze at the sudden attention.
"Mytyl," Jaune carefully began. "Do you… play?"
"…I've dabbled in it," she said, nervously rolling a strand of hair around her finger and avoiding Jaune's eyes.
"What is your gamer tag?" Jaune asked, fishing out his scroll.
"…CyberDiva…"
Jaune nodded and began searching the player's directory. He froze. Then blinked. Then gave GV the scroll. He also froze. Then blinked. Both raised their eyes to meet Mytyl, who was suspiciously whistling innocently.
"Mytyl… the id for this player is #00000001…"
"Hehe, yeah," she laughed nervously. "That was a pretty weird sixth birthday."
"What?" Jaune eloquently asked.
"Autumn Record… Dad may or may not have created that thing as my sixth birthday present."
…
"Damn," Velvet muttered. "And I thought my dad was awesome for helping me build Anesidora. An entire MMO?"
"I'm not jealous. Are you jealous, Belladonna? Because I'm not jealous."
"I'm a teensy bit jealous."
"Yeah, me too," Cardin changed his tune.
"Dad thought the social aspects could help me make friends from the comfort of my hospital bed…"
"…you do realize one of these days I will drag you to play with me so I can brag to all my online friends I know the game's very first player, right?"
Mytyl looked to the side and cough. "Technically you know the first two players. She sighed, but nonetheless nodded at Jaune with an amused smile. "I guess you've earned at least that much, my heroic knight."
"I'm going to hurl," Cardin groused. Then an alarm on Oobleck's desk rang and he stood up immediately. "I'm free! See ya', nerds!"
As Cardin made a beeline for the exit, Velvet called after him. "Remember you have another session on Monday. Don't make me hunt for you!"
"Screw you, wabbit!"
The remaining students turned to face Velvet, who busied herself with organizing the paperwork on Oobleck's desk.
"Seems like you're getting along with Cardin well enough," Mytyl commented.
Velvet creased her eyebrows. "I wouldn't call it getting along, He is much easier to handle when there's a clear hierarchy in place. He is a student. I'm a teacher's assistant. Ergo, he listens to me in this setting."
"I'll take that as a small victory," Mytyl decided.
"Yeah, I suppose it is. I have to leave now and meet with Yatsu. I must lock Dr. Oobleck's office, so…"
The first-years nodded, filing out of the office and sending their goodbyes to Velvet. Jaune and Blake also said their goodbyes, splitting to brave the strange new world of Beacon's mess hall. Godspeed.
Mytyl and GV walked back at a sedated pace.
"Semester is almost ending," Mytyl said, making small talk.
"Hmm…"
"What are your plans for break?" she asked her partner.
"My options are limited. I have a place to crash in Menagerie, but since it's only two weeks I think I'll stay put at Beacon and save Menagerie for the holidays."
"You can come with Copen and me to Vale. We're staying at a hotel!"
GV send her a sideway glance. "Why?"
"Room service!"
He huffed, amused. "Of course. I don't really have the money for a hotel, though."
"That's no issue. I'll pay. We can even rope Jaune in. Maybe even Blake if she has no plans."
"You shouldn't be flaunting your money like that."
"It's not flaunting," Mytyl closed her eyes, raised her nose, and pouted in mock anger. "It's keeping my friends close and my accident-prone partner closer!"
She didn't hear GV respond. When she opened her eyes, it was to GV looking at her with… she couldn't read what his expression was meant to mean.
"Are you ok?"
GV shook the stupor that consumed. "I'm fine."
"You sure…" she stopped. No. She was not beating around the bushes. "GV, this isn't the first time you blank out on me like that."
He sighed. He had forgotten how uncannily sharp Mytyl could be when she wanted.
"You… can tell me whatever it is… you know that, right?" She asked shyly, wary of stepping on a metaphorical mine.
"I know," GV said. "Maybe I'll tell you soon. But for now, be assured I'm fine."
On a whim, he extended a hand and flicked one of the darker colored, locks of hair that framed Mytyl's face.
She tensed initially but was ultimately just left confused by the time GV finished.
"What was that about?"
GV shrugged. "Those two locks of hair remind me a bit of antennae."
She narrowed her eyes. "Are you comparing me to a bug?"
"You do have a pretty blatant butterfly motif going on for you."
She crossed her and huffed in indignation. "I'll have you know it's a fairy motif. Jaune even calls me a Fae-ry Queen."
GV half-groaned, half-snorted. "Thanks Jaune. I hate it." He said mockingly with a strained, resigned smile. Mytyl giggled in return.
Turning on the hall to their dorm, they stopped. They looked at each other, then closed the distance to the door of their room and looked owlishly at the body sprawled on the entrance. His finger, covered in a sticky, red substance, scrawled the word 'Koh' on the door.
Mytyl blinked. "Well… that's something."
"By the gods, is everyone in Beacon a drama queen?"
-o-
"Sun… what are you doing on my bed?"
The monkey faunus stirred from his deep slumber, looking up and back from where he laid sideways, his groggy consciousness not quite at the point where any semblance of lucidity could be discerned.
"We found him at our doorstep faking unconsciousness and his hand drenched in ketchup. So we dragged him in and threw him on your bed. He came looking for you," Mytyl, who was on the desk writing in what appeared to be a music sheet, answered. "Since you were acquiring grub, we let him wait here. What did you bring us?"
"Today was pizza day," Copen raised the bag with the take-out boxes, rummaging through them after placing them on the table. "We have tomato for me, extra cheese for Kohaku, pepperoni for you…"
"Yes!" Mytyl cheered triumphantly as she made for the box in Copen's hand. "Today we feast!"
"And last and definitely least," Copen's face distorted into disgust. "Pineapple for Gun." He looked at the blond. "You are a monster, you know that?"
"I've been called worst," GV shrugged, taking his crime against living beings.
Copen eyed his own box with resentment. "I don't have anything against pizza, but we've been eating only fast food for the last week and I'm getting sick of it."
Kohaku rolled her eyes. "If you all stopped being drama queens and got out of the room, we could dine like normal people."
"Hey, GV said something similar!"
"Then execute on your words!" Kohaku chided. She looked at the monkey faunus. "Sun, you're still on my bed."
Sun scooched towards the edge, giving Kohaku some space to lay down.
A heavy sighed escaped her lips. "Perv."
Sun stuck out his tongue. "You didn't mind sleeping side by side when we were younger."
"I didn't. Back when we didn't have those pesky hormones hitting us like trucks. Your words, not mine."
"I didn't say that. Not like that at least…"
She sat beside Sun, leaning against the wall and hands occupied with pizza. The textbook image of carefree. "Sure, you didn't," she said with no small amount of skepticism and dismissal smeared over her words. "I didn't see you at the mess hall, so there's a box in there for you, too."
"So that's the fifth box…" Copen was wondering why Kohaku brought a second box with her.
"You do realize giving him food is the reason he doesn't leave," Mytyl said as she took a bite of her so-called feast.
Sun raised to a sitting position from his spot in Kohaku's bed. "I don't want to be alone in my room! I'm telling you, that place is haunted! Beacon is not meant to be so… quiet. Hey, which one of those is mine? Did you get me a banana too?"
Copen face morphed into utter disgust. "Pizza and banana? Is not enough to be a stereotype, you have to be appalling about it?"
"Don't diss it until you try it," Sun said as he reached for the food.
"I don't see the problem," GV finally chipped in.
Copen sighed. "Of course you don't. I'm at fault for expecting more."
Kohaku stifled a giggle. She supposed that in the end, all that mattered was that they were here to become better people than they were yesterday. And if the path was too steep for some, just like they helped her, she would help them.
Author's Notes
A shorter, lighter chapter. Except not really because originally this chapter ended with the Weiss Cream tub and everything after that was added much, much later.
On that note, I want to thank the people who has been reviewing this fic. Half of this chapter was written thanks to their reviews and the food for thought they have provided.
RUNDOWN!
MYTYL!: Just want to express how happy I am that Mytyl is now tagged in this fic.
You dork!: Rereading Copen's dialogues in ASG2 and LAiX, Copen can be such a big dork sometimes. It's a joy to be reminded of that.
Jaune and Mytyl: God I love writing these two. The little hero speech Mytyl gave Jaune is easily one of my favorite things I've ever written, both in previous and future chapters, and in and out of this fic.
Velvet: Velvet is one of those Early Installment Weirdness present in RWBY. Why is she in the first year history class? Because that was supposed to be the extent of her character. After fan approval, she was pushed into becoming a fully-fledged character… part of second year Team CFVY. Like, why? Why was it necessary for CFVY to be second year and introduce that bit of dissonance between Velvet's year and the classes being taken?
There was a fic that dealt with this in a way I liked: Velvet was made a TA of Oobleck's class. Sooooo. I copied their homework! (Fic is Mending the Knots by azndrgn. It's one of those 'Jaune doesn't get into Beacon so he opens a business in Vale' fics)
Autumn Record: Alrite! There's actually some neat ASG lore trickery in here.
In the supplemental ASG material, September Record is an MMORPG developed by Sumeragi to sniff out Adepts with the help of Lumen. It is through this MMO that Merak finds and captures Elise before the events of ASG1. After GV rescues Joule and Lumen, the service is shut down and sometime later a sequel called September Historia is released, which Joule plays, alongside a classmate and Zeno.
Anyhow, the name of these MMO came from fact that 'September' means seven (since once upon a time it was the seventh month). Remember that the number 'seven' has meaning in Gunvolt, the most on the nose one being that Adepts are attuned to the "Seventh wave of the Lifewave", a.k.a Septima.
I wanted to include the MMO for a minor thing down the line. I was left thinking: how can I change what we know about September Record to fit more with the RWBY-verse? Well, we know it's built by Sumeragi for ulterior reasons involving Lumen.
*Looks at Mytyl*
I'll make it so that her father (who runs Sumeragi in this fic) developed it to give a bedridden Mytyl some social interaction! Now, the name. I wanted to keep at least the phonetic similarity that existed between Septimas and September, with the equivalent of Septimas being Aura or Semblances. I was originally going to call it August Records to keep the monthly theme. But since months are not that big of a deal in RWBY, nor is the number eight or six (August was the sixth month and is currently the eight), I left my options open. Then it hit me. Months are not important in RWBY…
But Seasons are. And with me setting Mytyl's birthday right in the middle of Autumn, it pulls double duty. So we go from Septimas and September Records to Aura and Autumn Records.
I'm not a bug. I'm a fairy!: This is actually said by Lumen when GV suggests Joule pick the humanoid bug race in September Historia, due to it being noob friendly. Lumen accuses GV of thinking of her when making the selection (which to be fair, he did). Ultimately, Joule end up making an elf because it's the closest to Lumen's claim of being a fairy.
Reviews
PikaKnight: Thanks for the reviews. Glad you liked the chapter. About what you said Astrasphere. You are not entirely wrong, and I would like to say that's exactly what I planned. But honestly? I simply didn't think about the ranged Astrasphere GV does… well, not true. The attack expanding at the end is inspired by that, but I didn't think of actually implementing it as it appears in the game.
Partly because while the attack is stronger gameplaywise, it doesn't feel like that for me. The player's version feels more visceral. More world shattering. If you need to justify it, call it Jaune's Semblance amplifying the strength of GV's Astrasphere, but not his control over it (which is what would be needed for him to throw it like he does in the games).
But that's just me justifying things. The simple truth is I didn't think about it and, honestly, cannot say I would do it differently.