Author's Notes


Happy Turkey Day!

If you live in a part of the world that celebrates Turkey Day. Feeling good, finished writing a chapter I'm proud of down the pipeline, so here's one I finished final revision.

Also working on posting the story on AO3. That involves going back to previous chapters and fixing grammar/syntax errors and minor changes to wording. I will be uploading those fixes here, but it's nothing worth rereading a chapter if you already read it. And this shouldn't impact my schedule.

I have GTFO for that. That's my most recent drug and I honestly thought of a RWBY/GTFO oneshot I might write if I ever need a break.


Chapter 31: Indescribable


When Jaune walked into his dorm, he was prepared for many things. Even if he ignored growing up with seven sisters and all the unfortunate walk-ins and awkward situations ripe for the taking, living with Nora required one to quickly adapt. Alongside Ren, he spent the first month at Beacon giving Blake a crash course on how to survive the hyperactive redhead. Little did he know Blake would learn all the wrong lessons.

"Blake… what is this?"

"Criminology."

More like conspiracy theory. Somehow Blake got a cork board on wheels into their room, littered with photos of many people, among them Roman Torchwick, and connected them with strings. Slips of paper tacked here and there listed miscellaneous observations about the people and their relationship. Jaune was sure there was some sense to her madness, but that didn't do much to stop it from being madness

Blake herself looked worse for wear. His fault, really, for not forcing her to go to classes this morning. Given how well the week had gone so far, he figured he could allow her to call in sick. That was a mistake. He should have known better.

Her morning hair hadn't gotten the memo it was five in the afternoon and her clothes were a simple a white shirt and baggy shorts, more apt for staying hidden below cozy blankets on a rainy day of May than for going out to a public space. Her cat ears were twitching something madly as she chewed at the black marker she used to write.

GV rested on Jaune's bed, across it and with his legs dangling to the sides, lazily browsing his scroll. He claimed he was helping Blake, but in reality, he was, at most, providing dubious moral support by virtue of being present. And that was being generous.

Nora and Ren were nowhere in sight. Given Blake's flakiness, they opted to cut their losses early and spend what remained of their Friday basking in the beautiful days of midsummer. Whether together or together-together was anyone's guess, but Jaune sadly hedge his bet on the former given Nora's persistent denial and Ren's insistence on taking the path of least resistance.

And it was a beautiful day. While they were on the latter half of the season, they still had a month left before the first whispers of autumn made their appearance. And after their hellish week, Miss Goodwitch had found it appropriate to spare them their Friday's Combat Class. Yet here he was, dealing with Blake's raison d'être. Oh, how much Jaune would pay for Blake to get a better hobby.

Jaune scratched his head in equal part resignation and exasperation "I still think we should let this whole crime solving to the professionals."

Biting harder at the marker, Blake sent him brief glare. "How can you be so… blasé about this? Something is happening and nobody is doing anything!"

"No, something is happening, and you think nobody is doing anything." GV closed his scroll, sat on the bed cross-legged, and paid Blake his undivided attention. "I can assure you; something is being done. You just think it is you who should be doing it."

Blake sighed. Throwing the marker to aside, she sat on her bed and faced GV. "And tell me, o great and wise dragon from the west… what has been achieved?"

Said 'dragon from the west' blinked slowly, parsing through Blake's sass with the slow scrutiny it merited. "Not much. As far as I know. But it is not our job to know, Blake. We are students."

"We are ex-White Fang!"

"I'm brother of seven."

Both ex-White Fang spared a look at the brother of seven.

"How do you spin that excuse into everything?" Blake asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

Jaune didn't answer, throwing his notebook on the bed and taking a spot next to GV, opposite to Blake. "Let me tell you a story. Dad is a Huntsman. An old, experienced one. He has saved many lives. And failed to save many, too. But he's still out there, fighting the good fight. You know how?"

Blake was unsure of where Jaune was going with this, so she remained silent. Jaune took that as a no.

"He lives. He always told us that, above everything else, he made sure he lives to come back home. To be there tomorrow for us and for those who need him then. It was never explicitly said, but I have no doubt that Dad forsook many people when faced with dangerous odds."

"And you agree with that?" Blake asked in disbelief, having penned Jaune as the type to be a hero to the bitter end. "You agree with letting people die because you're scared?"

"He didn't say that," GV interrupted. "Jaune's dad decided his family took precedence over everything else. It's not a bad life choice."

Jaune nodded. "What I'm trying to say Blake… we have much to learn. Our priority should be to survive and grow so we can do more good down the line. There are people better suited than us to handle this and we are biting more than we can chew. We are not strong enough. No offense, but you guys got your ass handed to you during the docks."

"None taken"

"Offense absolutely taken."

GV and Blake narrowed their eyes towards each other.

"We would do more good leaving this to the professionals. Instead, we study. We grow. And we become better Hunters. We don't go headfirst into danger and cut our lives short before we can do greater good. We can save more people by choosing our battles carefully when we can. Doesn't that sound logical?"

Blake sighed in frustration, resting her head in her hands. "I know what you mean Jaune. Trust me, I do. But our enemies are not going to seat twiddling their thumbs, waiting for us to graduate."

"Then leave it to Beacon's Hunters and the VPD."

Blake closed her eyes and lightly shook her head. "GV. Humor me. How does the Vacuo's White Fang deal with the authorities?"

GV shrugged. "They don't. Vacuo's government is too decentralized and anarchic for formal, kingdom-wide law enforcement. And Shade simply lacks the Hunters to cover the vast desert that encompasses Vacuo. As long as you don't stay in one place, you're hard to find. And with most settlements being nomadic…"

While GV talked, Blake stood up and flipped the cork board, revealing a more traditional whiteboard where she listed GV's explanation on the Fang's operations in Vacuo.

"Let's do Atlas now. I spent some time there. It's quite simple. In Atlas, the Fang," Blake wrote in big, bold, capital letters, "DO. NOT. OPERATE. IN MANTLE." And in small letters. "And Atlas proper. Atlas' army makes it a fool's errand to do raids and heist so close to the capital cities, so the Fang is constantly on the move, attacking mines, camps, bases, and other targets of interest dotted across Solitas in guerrilla warfare. Always move. Never stop. Keep a low profile." Each sentence was punctuated with her right hand making a chop motion on top of the left.

"Blake, what's your point?" Jaune asked.

"I'm getting there." She wrote 'Mistral'. And below that, 'Menagerie'. "With Menagerie's relative proximity to Anima, as well as Mistral's seedy underbelly, the White Fang avoids their comeuppance with a mixture of politics and well-placed bribes to the criminal factions of Mistral. Their base of operation is in Menagerie, where any move against them would be seen as a declaration of war against all Faunus. Atlas is bloodthirsty, but not that bloodthirsty. And with Menagerie being virtually a nation of Faunus, they are able to maintain good public rep there with minimal effort."

"And that leave us with Vale…" Jaune concluded. "How does Vale's faction's way of dealing with the authorities means the police and Beacon cannot do anything about them."

"Vale's prejudice is not as bad as Mistral's or Atlas's, but their tolerance is not as good as Vacuo's. It lies in this awkward spot where Vale's governmental institutions, including Beacon and the VPD, suffer from insufficient Faunus representation, yet they still care enough to not alienate the Faunus. Vale's White Fang is made up of volunteers. Less political or militant than the others, and less centralized. They move under the protection of the general Faunus population; which Vale is not willing to antagonize to capture the White Fang. And with minimal Faunus law enforcement officers in service…"

"They struggle infiltrate the White Fang," GV finished. "They cannot do covert operations and if they are overt about it, the Faunus civilians would riot. And no standing army like Atlas means no fear of swift retaliation from operating within the city. Not to mention the possibility of the White Fang having the number of every Faunus officer or Hunter in Vale."

"Assuming they are able to find them at all. Like I said, Vale's Fang consist mostly of volunteers. There are no Adam or Sienna that can be identified as the face of Vale's Fang. At least until recently, if Adam's transfer went through. It means Vale's operations have always been pretty tame, focusing more on community services for faunus than actively fighting institutions It's only recently they started the robberies, after all. Without a mask or uniform, a White Fang member is just a normal civilian who works an eight to five job. Or bums around the slums."

"You put a lot of thought into this," Jaune commented. That earned him some preening from Blake. The smugness was subverted by the general messiness of her current physical state.

"I was more than just a pretty face in the White Fang, you know."

So, she verbalized the smugness.

Jaune snorted. "Didn't take you for someone to flaunt their looks."

"Careful Jaune," Blake intoned, "those words in the wrong ears could mean a world of pain for the both of us… but thanks for the compliment." She switched attention to the other blond. "So, GV, are you in or are you out? I could use your help."

GV sat in contemplation, arms crossed and rhythmically tapping one with the other's index finger.

"I'll help"

Blake perked up and allowed a smile to creep unto her face.

"On the condition that you let me deal with the Headmaster."

Her face dropped back into a frown. "What is there to deal with? We just don't tell him."

"Yeaaaaaaah, no." GV shot down that idea. "You might have been a lowly mook in the White Fang-"

"Hey!"

"But I wasn't. I will not endanger my stay in Beacon by gallivanting against the old crew."

Blake wasn't happy with those conditions, but reluctantly accepted them. The Headmaster did seem to have a soft spot for GV, so if anyone could convince the man to let them help, it was the short blond. And she did want GV on board. He was just as involved as her, perhaps more so. And after the beatdown from Torchwick at the docks, she would welcome someone to have her back.

"Guess I'll inform RWPY and the rest of KVKC about our plans."

"Wait, what?" Blake asked bewildered at Jaune. "No. This is my and GV's problem-"

"Only your problem," GV corrected.

"I don't want the lot of you involved!"

Instead of acquiescing to Blake's request, Jaune switched beds and gave Blake a one-armed hug. "Tough luck. When we became partners, we spoke vows. Promised to be by each other side. For better, for worse. For richer, for poor. In sickness or health, until death do us part."

Blake paled. "Never. And I repeat, NEVER, say that in front of Mytyl."

Jaune guffawed. "You're hysterical, Blake. I'll go tell the other teams. We meet at eight."

Blake was left grasping the retreating Jaune, futilely, like a lifeline just out of reach, only to be seen with despondent despair as she sunk to the bottom of the ocean. She was not ashamed to admit she was a bit scared of Mytyl. Something about the girl was just… creepy. Not always, but every now and then she couldn't help but get shivers whenever the leader of KVKC looked at her. It didn't take her long to connect the dots and figure out it happened whenever she and Jaune did partner stuff, like training or studying together. Needless to say, she had made up her mind about where Mytyl and Jaune leaned in the 'will they, will they not' scale. At least on Mytyl's end. Jaune was still up for debate.

"You're ok, Blake? You look like the evening bell has tolled your name."

Blake's glassy eyes didn't meet GV's. "I feel like it. Also, nice reference. I like that poem."

"I try my best." He took the notebook Jaune left, skimming through it. "Mytyl is nowhere near as bad as you envision. Smarter than she looks, but genuinely friendly. I can understand how some people might be put off by her optimism. Huh, I wasn't aware you could pull off these plays while playing as the Grimm."

Allowing herself to relax, Blake fell backward, bouncing slightly before coming to a rest on her bed. No reason to overexert if her friends were going to butt in whether she wanted or not. Might as well wait for them and make a game plan rather than come up with something and have it been for nothing.

"It's not her optimism, though I admit that's a little draining." She raised her head slightly, enough to get a glance of GV while still lying down. "You're her partner. Doesn't she sometimes seem odd to you? Like the way she acts isn't quite genuine?"

Placing the notebook down, he answered. "Not really. She is pretty outgoing most of the times. Surprisingly tightlipped about her past, though. And whatever that is, it seems it has been acting up lately. I suppose putting a strong front is a kind of being disingenuous, but I don't believe that's what you mean."

Blake hummed in agreement. GV did not let the agreement just be.

"Admittedly, I tend to be distracted by her looks whenever we talk, so maybe I just failed to see it."

That bit got her to shot out of bed and hover over GV. "H-her looks?"

"Yeah. Mytyl looks remarkably like my late girlfriend. And I'm not talking about a passing similarity. Even now I find myself doing double takes whenever she pops out of nowhere. It's like doing one of those 'Find the difference' puzzles."

Silently counting all her blessings, she flopped next to GV, on Jaune's bed. "Thank the gods for not making this into a horrible love triangle from hell."

"I thought you loved romance stories," GV gave Blake a smirk.

She returned the smirk. "In my novels. In real life I have no need for such drama."

"No drama, huh" GV mused. "I suppose that's what people like us really strive for."

No words were needed for Blake to communicate her agreement.

-o-

"Jaune?"

That was Yang's first word to the dorky knight as she, Weiss, and Pyrrha approached their dorm. Jaune was standing in front of the door, performing his trademarked head scratching while looking befuddled at it. It didn't take a genius to deduce what he was looking for. A quick mental tally revealed that.

Yang got along with Jaune well enough, but they were more in the same circle of friends than direct friends. The kind of relationship you call friendship but that you wouldn't call in the middle of the night unless your world was ending, and nobody had answered your scroll by the time you reached his number. A friend you would count on, but not for first or even fifth choice.

Weiss and Jaune… they got along. In the same way water and oil mix when soap is added to the mix. What? She paid attention to her chemistry classes. The soap in this case was Mytyl. Something about Jaune hitting on Weiss and subsequently dumping her in favor of Mytyl. That all sounded like the recipe for friendship breaking drama. But it worked. Somehow. Against all odds.

Finally, while Pyrrha was crushing on Jaune and making a commendable job of hiding said crush, she maintained a respectable distance from the blond. Yang had a feeling the champion was torn between accepting the simultaneously cute and slightly creepy flirting between Jaune and Mytyl and acting on her own feelings. Yang bets were hedged towards Pyrrha letting the dorks be. Partly because Mytyl was more outgoing, partly because Pyrrha was a hopeless closet romantic that would give Blake a run for her money.

Point is, there was only one person Jaune would be here for.

"Hey. Has any of you seen Ruby? Weiss?"

Yep. He was here for her sister. If it wasn't because Ruby is the quartermaster to the S.S. Knights and Fairies, she might suspect foul play. Thankfully, that wasn't the case and her sister was deeply entrenched among the nitty and gritty pirate crew under Captain Volt and Second Mate Belladonna. Personally, Yang was working her way up from cabin girl. The dangers of jumping late to a ship's crew.

Oh well, c'est la vie.

"I… got distracted," Weiss admitted. That sounds about right. Yang and Pyrrha found her silently gushing over that blue-haired boy openly, and shamelessly, flirting with the heiress. "Ruby and Mytyl lagged behind to talk. Maybe they're still at it?"

"Just my luck," Jaune muttered. "Guess I'm leaving messages instead. JNBR is calling a team meeting to address Blake's latest obsession."

"Latest obsession?" Pyrrha asked.

"The White Fang. I feel it would be better to either help her out or snitch on her rather than reading 'Beacon's student found dead in a dumpster' in tomorrow's front pages."

That earned a wince from all three members of RWPY. It was a harsh and unforgiving take, but Yang knew where Jaune was coming from. Finding your teammate with her Aura shattered and one bullet away from death left an impression. And to worsen the matter, Blake hadn't even been alone that time. She even had GV for the ride, and the boy was one transformation and a speech about the power of friendship away from being a battle comic protagonist.

"And you wanted to tell Ruby," Yang correctly guessed at Jaune's intention, a nod from the boy confirming it.

"Can you give her the message? I sent her a text by scroll, but it remains unseen. We'll meet at eight in our room."

"Sure thing. See you at eight, lady killer." She winked. Hey, she might be a proud card-carrying member of the S.S. Knights and Fairies, but she could still have some fun. To her slight disappointment, Jaune didn't bite the bait and waved a goodbye as he thanked them and made his way towards KVKC's dorm.

"I just wanted a simple and somewhat boring Beacon Experience," Weiss lamented.

"Weiss…" Yang warned.

"Don't get me wrong! I think something should be done about the White Fang. But I agree that we are not the ones who should be doing that. We are students!" Weiss averted her gaze. "And you weren't there watching Mytyl and Ruby as your Aura dropped while we were in the blind."

"Yeah… I've never felt so helpless before," Pyrrha echoed Weiss's sentiments.

Weiss words were enough for Yang to relent and empathize. She could easily imagine being in Ruby's shoes and seeing her little sister's Aura just drop without knowing why, with little she could do. "You'll have a chance to tell Blake that."

Swiping her scroll on the lock to their dorm, Yang made her way inside. The first thing that jumped to her was the sole occupant of the room.

"Ruby?"

Bundled under her blankets and with her back against them, her sister's form could be seen on her hanging bed. Ruby's shifted upon hearing her name but remained hidden to the world at large. Alarm bells blared loudly on Yang's head.

"What happened?"

Ruby didn't react beyond wrapping further into her blankets.

Yang's eye narrowed into red. "Weiss, you said Ruby stayed behind to speak with Mytyl?"

Weiss nodded. Ruby froze.

"… guess I have some interrogation to do. Pyrrha, help me keep Copen and GV occupied."

"No!" Ruby was quick to jump out of her fortress, meeting them with a panic-stricken face.

It only succeeded in incensing Yang further. "What did she say? Did she do something?"

"N-no. Nothing happened. I… pushed her. It was my fault."

"Ruby," Pyrrha carefully spoke up, "you sound like a victim of domestic abuse."

"No! I didn't mean- I- that's to say… look, let's" – Ruby visibly cringed at her next words – "drop it."

"…I'm interrogating Morpho-babe."

"Ok! I asked about why she's been acting weird lately and she exploded on me, equally weirdly! I haven't been lying here sulking- just sulking!" she corrected herself. "I pushed her, she's mad at me, and… and… she scares me," Ruby finished with an audible whisper.

"Scares you?" Pyrrha asked. "I… just cannot see it."

"Me neither," Yang agreed. "Mytyl is many things, but I wouldn't list scary among them. Creepy, maybe, if the opportunity hits just right, but not scary. Anything to add, Weiss?"

Weiss shook her head. "She can be vicious with her teasing and, like you said, slightly off-putting when she pranks people, but not worse than you. I only recall her mad once and it took Copen almost dying."

Ruby bit her lips in self-doubt. "I don't know how else to explain it. But when I pressed on and she screamed back… I don't know. I felt dread… but… it went deeper than that. Something was off."

"YES!"

Everyone in the room jumped at Pyrrha's sudden exclamation. Pyrrha herself was surprised at her outburst. "I mean, I get what Ruby is talking about. I couldn't put a word to it before. Dread is not quite the word, but it's close. Whenever I talk to Jaune, and Mytyl is present, it feels like somebody is watching and wishing ill-intent. Just not quite. It's a vague sense that something is wrong. Like Ruby said, it goes much deeper. It wasn't just someone looking at me but looking into me, into my soul, and making sure I knew."

"Aren't you allowing your feelings for the blond fool to embellish your account a bit too much?"

Pyrrha had the decency to blush at Weiss's words, but denied their veracity. "At first, I thought it might be jealousy, but when I fought Mytyl last semester in combat class… I couldn't shake the sense of wrongness throughout all of it. It wasn't enough to affect my performance, but it was noticeable."

"I'm guessing you're not one for stage fright," Yang stated.

Pyrrha nodded. "I know a thing or two about keeping secrets and I toyed with the idea that maybe it's something she has no control over it, so I didn't bring it up. Maybe I was imagining it. It is an indescribable feeling, after all."

"I… I think she has some control over it," Ruby said, starting to see the pieces of the puzzle. "During the break, at the bar, when I danced with Jaune… I felt the same, but to a much lesser degree. It was like Pyrrha said: someone was watching me. Watching into me. It was off enough to feel wrong. Back then it was more like a warning, while today it was closer to making an example. And maybe's Pyrrha's feeling during battle+- was just how it feels passively."

Yang's eyes widened as a conversation with a certain blonde-pinkette resurfaced on her mind. Mytyl's little misstep on-stage. Ruby's feelings of dread. Was it a coincidence?

"You're thinking, Xiao Long."

"Huh?"

Weiss crossed her arms and huffed at Yang's blank expression. "I can smell the smoke coming out of your head."

She allowed the heiress to have her dig at her. The current topic intrigued her, especially since it shook Ruby pretty badly. "Why did Mytyl stumbled on the stage that night?" If anyone in this room knew, it was bound to be Weiss.

But she didn't know. "Mytyl overexerted herself singing like an idol. She had a weak constitution as a child, so it caught up to her."

Or at least the version of the events Weiss gave didn't convince Yang. It was the same curated version Mytyl and Copen told.

"You don't become a Huntress if simply singing on stage had those effects on you," Yang said. She hated the fact they were gossiping about a friend behind her back, but she had to admit the topic had picked her interest and then some. Maybe she could bounce ideas with Pantera about it.

"At any rate, unless you're planning to bring it up tonight, can we stop?" Weiss asked. "I feel bad talking about Mytyl behind her back."

While her curiosity wasn't sated, Yang reluctantly agreed. Her relationship with Mytyl wasn't particularly close and, in Pyrrha's case, it was closer to a silent rivalry, the same couldn't be said for Weiss. If the heiress wasn't spending time with her team, she was spending it with either of the twins, but mostly Mytyl.

And Ruby herself, recent altercation aside, got along well enough with the lavender-haired girl due to their shared burden as team leaders and their complementing optimism. And if it was something Mytyl has no real control over, it felt scummy to scrutinize her. Given that she herself was prone to accidentally activating her Semblance, Yang could relate.

"You care a lot about her, don't you Weiss?" Ruby said, smiling warmly at the heiress. "I know it's because you want us, as your team, to succeed, but you're willing to criticize us much more than you do Mytyl."

Ruby's smile proved contagious as Pyrrha chipped in. "I agree with Ruby. Weiss truly acts much more mellowed around Mytyl."

Even Weiss couldn't help her lips from curling upward. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Whenever I'm around her… I don't know. It's hard to describe, but I feel-"

Weiss cut herself short. Her smile slowly unfurled into a small, gaping mouth, as her eyes widened, and her breathing picked up the pace.

It didn't look good and Yang was the first to react. "Hey, Weiss-cream? Are you ok?"

Icy blue eyes, stricken with fear, met Yang. "I… I… feel happy?"

Yang looked befuddled, while Pyrrha voiced her thoughts. "You feel… happy? Is that bad? You know we won't judge if you have a thing for her… although you and I might be out of luck-"

The heiress shook her head harshly, her breathing becoming more labored. "You don't understand. I feel happiness. More than normal. Hard to describe happiness. Indescribable happiness. Now that I'm thinking it, I cannot not think about it. Why do I feel that way? I'm not the most emotive person around. I realize that. It's not like me to feel like that over something as small like being with a friend I've only known for less than a year! It goes deeper. It is… off."

"O-off?" Ruby asked, the parallels not missed on her. Or anybody else.

Yang herself felt dread creeping quickly as she witnessed the heiress have a panic attack right in front of her. She was quick to hug and console her teammate. "Calm down, Weiss. Breathe deeply. Slowly. It means nothing. It doesn't make your friendship with Mytyl any less real. Remember, she might not be doing it consciously. It just means you are important to her. Ruby and Pyrrha feel dread, but you feel happy. That's good, right?"

Weiss started to calm down a bit, returning Yang's hug and clinging to her, seeking reassurance. The blonde felt pity for the heiress. The idea that her first friendship here at Beacon might not be genuine… it was a frightening thought. And despite her words, Yang couldn't help but feel a kernel of doubt.

A distant conversation sprung to mind. Weiss wasn't present for it and Yang was, at the moment, grateful to whatever higher entity existed for it.

Copen once said that Mytyl was abnormally fast at making friends and foes alike.

What if abnormally wasn't just an idle choice of words? What if unnatural circumstances were at play?

Yang couldn't help the frown that appeared on her face. She could only hope it wasn't a deliberate decision on Mytyl's part.

"Yang is right," Pyrrha rubbed Weiss on the back. "We don't know the details and all we're doing is assuming a lot of stuff. Right now, our guesses at her Semblance could be completely off the mark and we wouldn't be any wiser."

"R-right," Weiss managed as she got her breathing back in control. "People assume my Semblance are just glyphs, but it's actually creating hard-light constructs. Glyphs just happen to be the easiest objects I can make."

It was an attempt at convincing herself. Making herself believe they were reaching the wrong conclusions, but Yang was happy to agree and play along if it meant the heiress remained calm. "My Semblance is a temper tantrum, but at first glance it looks like setting my hair on fire. And Ruby's is speed, not becoming flower petals. I'm sure whatever Mytyl is doing, Semblance or not, is not on purpose or as simple as that. Maybe it's just a side effect she cannot control."

Weiss nodded, happy – desperate – to accept the explanations given. She didn't want to jump to conclusions. Not when her friendship lies on the line.

"Weiss," Ruby shyly spoke up. "If you feel you need to… you can ask her. I'm sure Mytyl also cares about you. Whatever it is, it's obvious she doesn't like speaking about it. She's a very private person in that sense. But if you tell her your fears, she might relent and open up." Ruby quickly panicked. "I-I'm not telling you this because I'm curious, although I am. I'm just saying, if you feel that strongly about it, you can ask and never speak a word of it to us. Just for your own peace of mind."

Ask Mytyl. It was a simple solution, but one that filled Weiss with dread. Not Ruby's ethereal dread, but actual, genuine dread, fearing the answer. Ignorance was a bliss. But now that the seed of doubt had been planted… could she let it go?

The instant she asked herself that, Weiss knew the answer. "Yeah… I think I will ask her."


Author's Notes


Damnit, why do I even bother envisioning chapters ahead of time if when I write them, they go off the rail? I originally didn't mean for this topic to be broached until much later, but after the whim of adding a hint last chapter and the natural conclusion of RWPY finding the aftermath, I started writing and the pieces started falling into place. Things I hadn't even thought about suddenly became clues all along and now we're on the warpath.

It also serves as a way to strengthen character's bonds and make their relationships more dynamic. Each of RWPY's relationships with Mytyl is being tested or morphed in some way or form. Yang's indifference replaced with curiosity and wariness. Pyrrha's so-called rivalry (which is admittedly unimportant and unexplored) has suspicion added to it. And more importantly, Ruby now fears Mytyl to some extent while Weiss fears what it could mean.

Let's do our rundown:

Blake: Just as obsessed as in canon, I made her give some explanation as to why she has no faith in the police and Hunters beyond "I'm ex-White Fang, therefore I, Blake Belladonna, must do something." And since in this story Jaune is a bit more pragmatic than Ruby, he is quick to involve all his friends to mitigate the inevitable disaster. Especially after the disaster at the docks.

Such mysteries, much obfuscation, wow: I have a feeling this is one of those things that, if you know the source material, seems kind of silly to be obtuse about. But in the off chance you don't, it pays dividends down the line.

Volume 8: Yes, I am up to date with Volume 8. Since I began writing this before Vol 8, I cannot promise I'll keep close to canon.


Reviews


FoundingRaiderChrona: Thanks for the well-wishes. Glad you liked the Star Trek reference. Yes to Glynda Goodwitch, and being Mytyl is suffering no matter the universe.