Belief

The last class of the day had been combat training with Professor Goodwitch, with Pyrrha sparring having to spar against a young (but big) man named Cardin Winchester, and to no one's surprise, she made short work of him. Janne almost felt kind of bad for the guy with how fast that started and ended. With that done, though, school was done for the time, and while everyone started to depart for their dorms, Jaune had other places to be, which didn't go unnoticed by one of his teammates.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha called, getting his attention, before she asked, "Aren't you going to go back to the room?"

"Actually, I was going to go the on-campus chapel," Jaune said, jerking his thumb down the hall.

"The chapel?" Pyrrha asked, cocking her head. That wasn't the first time Jaune had gotten to the "you don't strike me as the religious type" look, and he was used to it by now. Being completely honest, he didn't think of himself as really "religious" per se, but he was definitely a believer, like every member of his family's dynasty had been. And at any rate, it never hurt to show the powers that were a little reverence every so often.

"You want to come with?" Jaune asked. Pyrrha seemed to think about that for a time, before shrugging slightly.

"Why not?" she answered, as she followed Jaune down the hall, "I'm sorry, but I didn't know you were a practitioner."

"Are you?" Jaune asked.

"My parents are," Pyrrha answered, "And they raised me on the same tenants."

"Same here," Jaune said as they made their way out of the class building, "My dad says every king and queen of Vale has been raised on that faith." Of course, it wasn't as if the House of D'Arc ruled through "divine right" or anything like that, but some the core tenants of the Faith of the Two Brothers, like how people are intrinsically bound together and needed to act like it, were some of the prime principles the previous kings and queens ruled by. Heck, one story that was often told in Vale was the first ruler, Queen Jeanne D'Arc was inspired to unite the various petty realms into one kingdom by a vision from the God of Light.

"Of course, that also meant we had to attend every service, and every festival," Jaune continued, "Now the festivals weren't that bad, but trust me when I say that the services got really boring the fifth time you attended them."

"I believe you," Pyrrha said with a slight chuckle, "I was always bored during them too. Though I will say I enjoyed the points when they would light the fires in the statues at the end."

"Yeah, that wasn't bad," Jaune agreed, "Though my mom caught a couple of my sisters screwing around on their Scrolls a few times during service."

"Really?"

"Of course. Why do you think there's now a rule that you have to turn in your Scroll when you get to a temple?" The teammates both exchanged a laugh at that, as they made their way to the chapel.

(I) (I) (I)

Ilia wetted her finger briefly, as she turned a page in the book she was reading. With classes done for the time, she had returned to her dorm to take a breather. While it certainly wasn't an especially tiring day, or anything like that, it always felt good to be done, and to kick back, and that was something Ilia certainly believed she'd earned, and while she did make an effort to keep an eye on Jaune when she could, that didn't mean that she had to be within arms reach of the prince all the time. In light of that, for the sake of both of their sanity, Ilia had opted to let Jaune go for the time. Besides, he was with Pyrrha, and if anyone could keep him safe, who better than the Champion of Mistral?

Sadly for her, though, the chameleon's attention was suddenly seized by the sound of her Scroll ringing. At first, she intended on ignoring it, until she saw the name of the caller ID, and she quickly answered it.

"Ilia?" the voice of Hazel Rainhart said.

"Captain!" Ilia said, as she quickly sat attention, even though the Captain of the Guard was in a completely different place, halfway across the city. When Ilia was younger, he had been responsible for her training as a guardswoman, teaching most of what she knew about fighting; in fact, Lightning Lash had been his gift to her when she was officially assigned as head of Jaune's detail.

"I trust Beacon has been treating you well?"

"Yes Sir," Ilia answered promptly, as she was trained to do.

"How is His Highness?"

"He is doing quite well on his team," Ilia answered, "Do you need to speak with him?"

"Actually, it is you I hoped to catch."

"Then what can I do for you, Sir?"

"Straight to the point?" the captain said with a slight chuckle, "Well, you always were one for that. Well, to answer your question, I have an offer I wish to extend. There is an operation that will be happening soon, and I was wondering if you would be interested in joining it?"

"An operation?" Ilia asked, as she cocked her head slightly, "About what?"

"It relates to the White Fang. Reports have been coming in that they've been sighted in the Eastern reaches of the kingdom."

"White Fang?" Ilia echoed, as she felt her lips turn up in contempt at the mention of the organization responsible for ruining the good name of Faunus all across Remnant, "They're here?"

"Indeed, and in light of that, His Majesty has requested I organize an expedition to the East to try and learn more about it. I have already enlisted Mirage to join the expedition, and I was curious as to if you would be willing to join her?" Ilia opened then closed her mouth, as she considered it. Like many Valean Faunus, Ilia held the White Fang in very low regard, and in any other situation, would've been eager to join in a mission against them. But on the other hand, she had come to Beacon with Jaune with the express purpose of protecting him, and she certainly wouldn't have been able to do that if she was in the East of the Kingdom.

"Is… is this an order?" she asked.

"Actually it is not," the captain answered, "I merely assumed a Faunus like yourself would be best suited for a mission like this, but if you believe you would be better suited elsewhere…" Ilia thought about that, but it didn't take long to come to a decision.

"I apologize, Sir, but I do think my place is better suited here, protecting the prince," Ilia said. There was a period of silence, as she felt the captain sigh slightly.

"Very well, I will respect your duty to His Highness," he said in an understanding tone, thought it was soon replaced by a somewhat stern one, "If that is the case, then I expect you to guard the prince with every waking hour of your time."

"Of course, Captain."

"In addition, I would recommend you keep your eyes and ears open there in Vale. The White Fang aren't ones to stay in one place for long."

"Yes Sir, I will be diligent. Is there anything else?"

"No, that will be all, for now at least."

"Thank you Captain," Ilia said, before quickly adding, "Long live the House of D'Arc."

"Indeed," Captain Rainhart answered, before hanging up. Ilia sighed, knowing she'd probably have to go looking for Jaune now; so much for her free hour.

(I) (I) (I)

Pyrrha had been a few different places of worship, such as Temples of Dust or some dedicated to Janavara (a goddess worshipped by some Faunus), but in her opinion, chapels devoted to the Brothers looked the best in terms of design. They were rectangular in shape, almost like boxes, with larger ones (such as the Great Draconic Temple) would sometimes have statues framing the entrance. Inside, covering the walls were images of the Brothers doing various deeds, both great and terrible, while the head of the room were two statues of the Brothers, in humanoid form, albeit with the heads and tails (and wings in the case of the God of Darkness) of dragons. In between the statues was a small altar, where people could leave offerings, which Pyrrha was doing at the time.

"Please accept this gift," she said softly, as she set down a small offering of incense (the chapel didn't allow food or drink offerings). She then looked up at the God of Light, and bowed her head briefly. Though she didn't consider herself exceptionally religious, she certainly believed in them to be sure; in a world like Remnant, it always paid to believe something, be it gods or people, and Pyrrha, honestly, liked to believe in both. She then went back to where the prince was sitting on a bench; he seemed to be looking up at a mural depicting the God of Darkness looming over humans honoring him. They were otherwise alone in the building, which Pyrrha felt was a shame.

"Are you going to leave an offering?" Pyrrha asked as she came up to him.

"I would, but honestly," the prince answered, as he looked up, before giving an embarrassed smile, "I don't like the smell of incense." Pyrrha could certainly get that, anyone would; oh well, the Brothers would understand.

"You only left an offering for the God of Light?" Jaune asked.

"Yes, why?" Pyrrha responded, cocking her head.

"Oh, I was just wondering," Jaune answered, "When my family came down, we'd always leave an offering for both of them." Pyrrha couldn't help but feel slightly surprised by hearing that; true, the God of Darkness was said to have just as much a hand in the creation of humanity as his brother did, but he also created the Creatures of Grimm, and so many other forces of destruction in the world. At least the God of Light created forces of good.

"Well, that's just me at least," Jaune said, rising to his feet, "Shall we head back?"

As the two were walking out, Pyrrha glanced back at the building. It was kind of tucked away from the rest of Beacon, and you probably would need to do some actual looking if you wanted to find it.

"Honestly, I think I like this place," the red-head said, "It's not too big, but it's still just the right size."

"Yeah," Jaune agreed, "It's much easier to think in there. In some places, it gets so big that even the slightest sound creates a huge echo."

"Is there any particular one you went to growing up?"

"We do have a private chapel at the palace," the prince explained, "But I think I like this one better, actually."

"Why do you say that?" Pyrrha asked. She imagined a private one would be preferable for no other reason than it was private.

"Well, it was a lot bigger than we needed it to be," Jaune said, "And when you're ten years old in a huge, echoey chamber surrounded by dragons…" He trailed off, but Pyrrha certainly got the gist of what he was saying, even if she had never actually thought that way herself.

The chapel in the city of Argus, where she grew up had been average sized, allowing multiple people to be in it to worship. Pyrrha liked going when she was younger, because she liked seeing the beautiful imagery and hearing the amazing tales. Though when she considered how it may have felt for Jaune, having to probably go to every last ceremony…. She didn't find herself really envying him at this point.

(I) (I) (I)

"Gently… gently," Ruby muttered to herself as she careful tightened the screw in her weapon's bolt. Crescent Rose was a precious item, and he (yes, her scythe was a "he", and Ruby would fight anyone who called him an "it") deserved all the care in the world, and to be treated delicately. With that, Ruby fitted the last screw into the slot.

"There we go," the girl said with a satisfied nod as she sat back, holding up the scythe, "You're as beautiful as ever." She was currently sitting in the common area of the dorms; she'd be doing the work in her room, but she preferred peace and quiet when she was working on Crescent Rose; again, he deserved to be treated with finesse.

"Just a minute, I'm going to grab a soda." Ruby looked up at the familiar voice, as she noticed the prince entering the room, and she quickly stood up, as he noticed her.

"Hey, Ruby," Prince Jaune said, waving.

"Your Highness," Ruby said, as she curtseyed again.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Ruby looked up in surprise at the prince's voice, as he saw her frowning at her.

"You do that every time we meet, and I keep saying you don't have to," he said, "Why do you keep doing it?" Ruby looked down at the floor, now starting to feel bad, knowing the prince was right. But what was she supposed to do?

"I'm sorry," Prince Jaune said, as he also looked down at the ground, "That came out meaner than I meant it."

"No, you're right," Ruby answered, shaking her head, "You do keep me telling me to do that all the time. It's just…" She trailed off as she took a slow breath and looked up.

"When I was in elementary school, we were told that the King of Vale is someone we all needed to look up to. He was a king, making him like a father to all of Vale. Because of that, we owed him our respect. I didn't really think much of it at the time, but now that you're here, in front of me, a real Prince of Vale, it's…. It just feels like something I have to do." Prince Jaune was silent for a time as he stared at her, his mouth open slightly, before he sighed, and sat down.

"Ruby," the prince interrupted, "Can I be really honest with you right now?" Ruby's stomach sank to the soles of her feet upon hearing that; while she didn't have a whole bunch of worldly experience, she did have enough to recognize good things ever followed those words, but she sat down nonetheless to let the prince talk.

"I came to Beacon to get away from the royal life,"he explained, "To see the world from a normal person's point of view. Growing up in the Royal Palace, even with Ilia, everything else in the world seemed so, far away, like I was watching a movie, or I was on a really big, really pretty island separated from the rest of Saunus. But now, that I'm finally at Beacon, with normal, real people…" This time, it was his turn to trail off, as he looked out the window.

"I feel like I'm seeing the real world for the first time," he continued, "That I'm meeting real people, and not just servants or guards. It's like being stuck in the country for years, and seeing the big city. I don't want people bowing to me here, or treating me like a prince, even if I am one. I want to see the real world, not just get a taste of it." Ruby listened intently, as he laid it all out for her; while she certainly couldn't act like she understood where he was coming from (she was just a small town girl from Patch), she could sympathize with feeling like you were just watching the world go by.

"Well, if you really don't want it, I can try," Ruby answered, "I mean, if my dad were here, he'd probably get angry at me for doing so, but I guess he's not here, so…"

"Please," Jaune said, as he smiled at her, "Just treat me like any other guy here."

"No problem… Jaune," Ruby said, after a moment, with a smile of her own, "Though… this will take some getting used to."

"Well, I get that a lot," Jaune answered, with a slight chuckle, before he then went over to the fridge, and got out two sodas, one of which he offered to Ruby, who readily took it, "See you later?"

"Sure thing!" Ruby answered with a big smile, but as Jaune was walking away, she muttered, " And I was just getting the hand of the curtsey."

Note: As I mentioned earlier, I'm trying to insert my own world building into this story to make the story more my own, which is what some of this chapter was dedicated to. To that end, when constructing the actual Two Brothers religion, I based it on what's known about Ancient Egyptian religious practices, since I didn't want it to be pastiche of Christianity. On that note, "Janavara" is Nepali for "beast"; I'll go more into that in the future.

Other than that, apparently Alistair is making plans to investigate the White Fang, though Ilia isn't in on it for the time being. Also, Jaune had a nice heart-to-heart with Ruby about the way she's been acting around him (I wouldn't be half-surprised if Lancaster gets a brief spike in the poll).

Be sure to comment (please?). Also, be sure to express your opinion on the poll; so far, Blake's in the lead, but Weiss and Ruby are a close second and third respectively.