King: 11 Million views and rising!
Knox: Almost 11.5 million now. Go us~
King: We could never have made it this far without all of you. Which is why we're doing something special. If you thought Jaune's... fan club was going to stop at three... well you obviously weren't paying attention, one. But also I wasn't stopping. So here's the plan.
Knox: YOU GUYS get to decide who's next!
King: By the end of the vacation, someone else will either join in or recognize feelings for our blond good boy. Depending on where they are. The rules are at the end of the chapter, but the important part is you'll be giving your answers in whatever way you wish. But you need to have something else to say other than a name. Those will be ignored. Now, I hope you enjoy the chapter. And remember, the rules for who's next for the We-Love-Jaune Club are at the end.
Inspiration: [Function currently down for maintenance.]
/\
Sunday
\/
After a night of questions from Simone, the crew eventually got some sleep. Now, it was Sunday and the first real day of their vacation. The visitors were given use of a number of guest rooms within the house. Turns out that the Arcs don't use a lot of the rooms they have. They live a fairly normal life as compared to anyone on Remnant, just with a larger family and house. Most of the rooms are either not used or set as guest rooms. And they can get a lot of guests if a family reunion happens.
Right now, most of the group was waking up and making their ways to the kitchen, a siren scent leading them to an energizing hope called breakfast. Those missing were Coco, Neptune, and Emerald. What they find is Jaune and Lilianna working at the stove with a few stations going.
Jaune grabbed one of the pans and turned the burner off. "That should do it."
Lilianna held up a plate as her brother placed a series of bacon strips onto it. "Should I get the others?"
"Tell them breakfast is waiting for them."
"Okay!" Lilianna walked past the Beacon crew, bowing and apologizing for 'pushing through' them.
Yang looked over the spread to find pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, a fruit bowl for those inclined, and a few options for drinks. "If only Beacon's breakfasts looked this good."
Jaune jumped a little, having not realized they were there yet. "Hey! Hi… Morning."
Nora was zipping over to the pancake stack, "Yes! Great start to a day!" She grabbed a stack from the pile, intent on devouring her meal, only to find it snatched away by Juane. "Hey!"
"Hold on a second, Nora." Jaune grinned and held the plate away from her. "Remember, I get to decide meals for our team for a week. A bet's a bet."
Nora grumbled, "You made the pancakes and won't even let me have any?!"
"I didn't say that. But I need to finish them first."
This visibly confused Nora, and many of those around her.
The sound of Coco's yawn grabbed attention to her. To anyone other than Velvet, the fact she looked just as put together as any other day was surprising. But Velvet new Coco was late because she was making herself 'presentable.' "What's for breakfast?"
Jaune moved to the side with Nora's plate, "Pancakes a-la-mode."
Coco perked up once she heard that, "Really? Kick ass."
"What's alamode?" Ruby asked, now even more confused.
Jaune didn't say anything and grabbed something from the freezer, deliberately keeping out of sight. When they saw again, Nora's pancakes now had two scoops of vanilla ice cream on top of them. He then handed the plate back to Nora.
Nora's eyes were shining like stars as she looked down to the combination. "This is a thing?!"
Ruby had a similar reaction, "That's a thing?!"
Coco chuckled and took a stack before being handed the tub of ice cream. "It's a thing. Though I guess it's not as popular as I figured it would be."
After this life changing revelation, the Beacon crew began to eat in earnest. They were soon joined by the remaining group members and the four other Arc siblings still living in the house: Lilianna, Anastasia, Sherry, and a very tired-looking Marie. Their parents were called by the Court of Paladins to oversee some kind of event planning. They were sparse when it came to details.
"So, let me see if I've got thi straight." Marie waved her fork to point from person to person as she addressed them. "The three of you are dating my brother using that Non-Traditional ruling here in Arcadia."
Nora, Pyrrha, Velvet all nodded.
"Neat." She took a bite from her eggs before continuing. "So, what're your plans for the day?"
Jaune shrugged. "We're not sure yet."
"I know one thing happening." Coco spoke up after finishing a bite. "Gilded Lily. I made you promise, remember?"
Jaune sighed, "I remember. But that's not an all day thing. Right?"
"We'll see." Her nonchalant attitude concerned many at the table.
"Well, I've got something that should help." Marie held her hand out toward Jaune. "Scroll."
Jaune knew this could end one of two ways. At least it was insured… He handed her the device and waited for the worst.
Marie took the scroll and started to tap the screen before plugging a small device into it. After a moment, there was a ding and she nodded, taking her device and giving back the scroll. "There. A comprehensive map system for Arcadia. You can copy the program and send it to your friends so they can download the map as well."
After opening the map, Jaune was impressed by how much it had. There was landmarks, store lists for anything you could look for, best times for visiting parks and other recreational areas, and even more. "This is crazy."
Marie smiled and nodded. "Glad you like it. It even has a Directions feature to give you the best route to your destinations. My hope is to find a way to take it global, but there's no way to do so right now. I can get away with it here thanks to our localized Communication Tower, but that's about it. And even if I could convince the Kingdoms to use the CCT system, if even one goes down for any reason it would fall apart. A serious design flaw if you ask me. Like, I get it. It promotes unity and everything, but in terms of technical design, redundancy should be on hand in case of shut down."
"Marie." Jaune snapped his fingers in front of her face. "You're rambling again."
"Oh. Sorry about that." She took the time to finish her meal and stood up again. "Thanks for the meal. If you need me, I'll be in my lab."
\/
While some were getting to enjoy time away, others were stuck in place. Roman sighed as he leaned back onto the bench in his cell. Even after ratting Cinder out to the General over a scroll, which was weird, he was stuck to face the crimes he committed. Granted, he knew he wouldn't get off scot free. But he also knew he wasn't going to serve anything any time soon.
As he sat up, the door opened up and revealed Neo in an Atlas uniform. She smirked and pulled the hat off and motioned for Roman to follow.
"Let me guess, another call with the general?" Roman smirked and stood up, keeping enough of an act up to avoid people becoming suspicious without a second look.
Neo led him through the ship's hall for enough time to escape. She flicked to the side and kicked out a door to a small hanger. Releasing Roman's restraints, she tossed him his hat and cane which she hid using her semblance. The two broke through a small line of soldiers and nabbed a landing craft. Neo hopped into place at the pilot's chair and gunned the accelerator forward. By the time the shiip sounded the alarm, the two had escaped to Vale. Three hours later, the ship was found in a large parking lot with a pink spray paint job of Neo sticking her tongue out.
\/
Back with the gang in Arcadia, the crew had chosen to split up for the first part of the day, each with an Arc to guild them. The justification was to allow many to look around and get a feel for the area. But the truth was that most of the Beacon gang wanted to avoid Coco's imminent shopping trip, which she was forcing Jaune to make good on. His team, Emerald, and Velvet followed as well to help with Coco.
The Gilded Lily was a beautiful building of marble and gold. It was like it leapt out of a painting of an old world. They walked in and it was a dream-like world of cloth and jewels. The group were amazed by what they were seeing, but none more so than Coco. Her eyes were like stars as she looked around. "Oh my gosh! I'm actually here!" She immediately ran off to look around, and maybe find something worth the trip.
As Coco looked around, Velvet found herself eyeing a few items as well. She found a nice jacket, fashionable but not overly so. The sleeves were stitched with a set two of golden stripes that wrapped around the arm as though they were hanging loose. Her only complaint was that it was primarily blue.
"Do you like the jacket?" A new voice joined the group. Turning to the sourse, one would find a taller woman with light-tanned skin and dark blue-green hair. She was dressed in a black and white leather jacket and black shorts with dark tights and calf-high boots.
Velvet glanced around, not knowing who this was. "Um… Kind of."
The woman brought her hand to her chin in thought as she looked over Velvet. "Let me guess. It's the color."
"I… Yeah."
She nodded as she crossed her arms. "Hmm. Maybe a nice chocolate color. Keep the gold. I'm sure we could get that together for you if you want."
"Do you work here?"
The woman laughed. "Work? That makes it sound so arduous!" She paused for a moment before calming down again. "Sorry. This is what I love doing. Anyway, it would be more accurate to say I own this store."
"You're the owner?"
Coco slid to a halt next to her teammate with a giddy smile on her face. "Velvet! I just found the perfect scarf for…" She then noticed the woman standing nearby. Her face went blank as her giddy state turned to star struck. "Y-y-you're… Cleo Patricia Philopator."
The woman giggled a bit. "Nice to meet you." Cleo moved her weight to the side and placed a hand on her hip. "I'm guessing you're a fan."
Coco nodded like mad. "Yes ma'am! You're an inspiration to my style."
After a moment to look over Coco, Cleo smiled. "I see that. I love what you did with your belt, by the way. I'm guessing you're a huntress."
"In training."
"Of course." Cleo smiled and took the jacket Velvet was looking at. "Now, back to you. What did you think? A nice brown color with gold accents? Maybe a design on the back?"
This confused Velvet. "What?"
Coco joined her teammate in place, "The pieces out here are displays. You can find something you like and ask for a different version unless you know exactly what you want."
Cleo clapped once, rather loudly. "Quite right~ So?"
Velvet thought about it, but shook her head. "I don't know if I want to spend that much on a jacket…"
Cleo sighed, but nodded. "I understand completely. Everyone puts fashion as different values in their lives."
Jaune walked over to the area to find Velvet and eyes went wide a bit at the scene. "Oh hey!"
All three turned to him as he approached. But the first to speak was Cleo. "Hi Jaune~"
"Hi Aunt Cleo."
"Aunt… Cloe…" Coco broke a bit and grabbed Jaune's collar, pulling him over as she shouted, "You were related to Cleo Patricia Philopator?! And you didn't tell me?!"
Cleo jumped at the sudden action, "Are you both friends?"
Velvet grabbed her leader and pulled her off Jaune, "Yes! We're friends. We all go to Beacon."
Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, and Emerald soon joined the group, called forth by the scene being made by Coco.
Jaune shook himself back into the present. "Uh… Introductions! Aunt Cleo. These are my friends Coco, Velvet, and Emerald as well as my team Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren."
Cleo practically radiated sparkles of joy. "It's wonderful to meet you all~"
Jaune gave a nervous cough. "I'm also dating Pyrrha, Nora, and Velvet. You know… the Non-Traditional system."
Cleo blinked before the aura around her seemed to outshine the room's lights. "Oh my goodness~!" Cleo spun around to the three. "Getting a look at you… You are all so cute~"
They all took that in various ways. Velvet and Pyrrha both turned bashful. Nora just grinned.
Cleo turned to Ren, blinked, and leaned closer with a look of concentration.
Ren leaned back a bit and glanced at the others.
After a moment, Cleo walked off before returning with a bundle of green clothing, folded into a square. "Try this on."
Ren looked at the item before shrugging and taking it from her. He walked off to the changing room and stepped out after a moment to show a green changpao. The base of the coat was the same green shade as his usual coat. However, this new form came with designs of a lighter shade of green showing lotus flowers.
Nora gasped and ran around Ren, "Oh my gosh! That looks so cool!"
Ren held his arm up to get a better look at the style. "I have to admit it is nice."
Cleo clapped her hands once and grinned from ear to ear. "Excellent! For you all, I'll give a friends and family discount. Anything you want in the store~"
"Really?!" Coco looked like a kid in a candy store once she said that.
\/
Life on Patch was quiet, especially if you're a huntsen teacher at a nearby commbat school. But Tai's life was usually chaotic thanks to his daughters. Now that both his daughters were away at Beacon, though on a vacation now (he was thankful they let him know), his life got all the quieter. Zwei was a handful at times, but even the corgi wasn't the same kind of chaos without the girls. Tai never knew what his life would be like without them around. Even now, months later, it was still hard sometimes. His work at Signal helped during the day, but any time he wasn't working felt empty.
Tai sat at his kitchen table, using his Sunday afternoon to look over his students' progress papers. He used these to test his students without the pressure of grades creeping in. For now. So far, they were all improving at varying rates. His problem now was that he finished all of his work until tomorrow. He placed everything away and sighed as he lay his head down on the table.
The bark of his faithful companion got him to smile as he pet the dog by his side. "You're right. I should get some training in."
Zwei barked again, wagging his tail, until his ears perked up and he turned toward the front of the house.
"What's up boy?" A knock at his door answered Tai's question and caused Zwei to run off to the door. Tai sighed and made his way to the door calling out, "Hang on!" He moved Zwei to the side and opened the door a bit. "Hello?"
On the other side of the door, of all people to be seen, was Sienna. She was dressed in more civilian-style clothing one would find in areas like Mistral. "May I come in?"
"Um… sure?" He moved aside and allowed her inside. "No offense but, why are you here?" He wasn't necessarily complaining, but it seemed rather out of the blue.
Sienna noticed Zwei as he seemed to eye her up for possible threats. "I actually came for some advice. You are a counselor, right?"
"Yeah." Tai motioned for her to move to the kitchen and have a seat. He sat in the seat opposite her and got into 'Counselor Mode.' "So, what is it that you need help with?"
Sienna folded her fingers together and took a breath. "I made an announcement to the White Fang that our practices have become too extreme and that we'll need to tone things down again. Rumors have also started spreading that say that Adam has chosen to forsake his original path to undue violence. Though they haven't been nearly as kindly worded. I have reason to believe the Fang will tear itself apart between those who believe in our new path and those who feel we aren't doing enough."
Tai tapped his foot on the ground as he folded his arms. "I'm not exactly well versed on this stuff. But I think the only answer left is to leave the Fang behind completely. Create a new organization. After all, even if you manage to turn things around, it'll be hard to separate the organization from the stigma of violence."
Sienna sighed and placed her head in her hands. "I don't want to have to do that. The Fang meant so much after the Revolution. Gira created it to complete our goal of equality for Faunas. It was the only group of its kind." After a moment, she sighed, "But I know you're right."
"Sorry," Tai could tell the Fang meant a lot to her. So telling her to let it go was obviously hard on her.
"No. No, it's alright. I know you're right." She took a deep breath and sat up more properly. "I guess I should thank you for the advice. Though I want to at least try to fix things."
Tai paused for a moment. "You said you were worried about extreme members in the White Fang."
"Yeah?"
"How extreme, exactly?"
"Why?"
"You, the leader of the White Fang, came to a human of your own volition…"
Sienna's eyes went wide as Tai went quiet. This was accompanied by a rising growl from Zwei. Tai brought a finger to his lips to suggest keeping quiet. Everything was quiet, the world seeming to slow as the moment hung in the air. The moment Zwei barked in response to approaching danger, the door to Tai's home was blown in. As the intruder started to charge inside, he was met with a fist to the face that knocked him back outside. A White Fang in the tunic with his face obscured by a mask, and he wasn't alone.
Standing nearby was Fargus Gale, a White Fang Lieutenant on the very extreme side of the war with humans. "Pathetic. Our great leader, not only did you grow soft, but you fled to the arms of a human."
"I fled to no one!" Sienna growled. She, of course, had her whip on hand and lashed it outward against the ground as a warning. "I'm giving you one chance, Fargus. Take your followers and leave."
"I'm not in the habit of listening to traitors!" Fargus's grin spread as he turned malicious. "I'll kill you for your treason!" Fargus drew a heavy pistol from his belt and fired a shell toward his 'former' leader.
Sienna swatted the bullet out of the air with her chain and tried to retaliate, only for one of the grunts to get in the way and knock her off balance. As the grunt tried to capitalize, he found a similar situation happened to him as Tai knocked the grunt away. The grunts, consumed by their hatred of humans, started to swarm the Signal teacher. However, Tai was a professional huntsman and a technical fighter. His skill outclassed the entire group combined and he could dispatch all of them rather quickly.
Fargus began to rush toward Tai out of revenge and hate, finding Sienna striking him with her whip. The weirdest part to Fargus was that she hit the human too. Tai smirked and moved faster than he had before, socing Fargus in the chin before dipping out of the incoming counter and kicking the Faunas in the chin. Fargus was sent flying up a bit, only for Zwei to suddenly appear. The corgi leapt from the house's roof and cannonballed square into the man's chest and slammed him into the ground. When the dust cleared, Zwei was standing atop his victim with a pleased bark.
Fargus Gale was arrested and officially listed in Patch's criminal records that evening. But word got back the Fang about Sienna's trip thanks to a grunt that was smart enough to escape. It had… mixed reception.
\/
The day came to an end in Arcadia, bringing everyone back to the Arc home. Apparently, Team RWBY, Sun, and Neptune spent the day getting a handle on everything alongside Sherry and Lilianna. Penny and Winter spent the day with Marie, Penny and the scientist bonding over her robotic nature (which she figured out the moment Penny told her Pietro Polendina was her father). They started to make plans for the next day and any other miscellaneous options they had thanks to RWBY+SN. Monday was creeping up and they were going to be ready.
\/
Monday
\/
The vacationers' plans weren't quite so possible, as it turned out. The original plan was for the crew to visit a museum of Arcadian history for the first half of the day and go out to a diner for lunch. They forgot to take into account that other schools were still in session. And it was apparently field trip day. They decided to hold off on the museum today. So, the start of the day became 'do whatever.'
This led the Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Velvet to a park nearby called Avalon Gardens. It was owned by the Grail Family, but open to the public as a flower garden. The group were sitting at a picnic table as they looked over the flower art nearby, depicting a pair of silhouetted people dancing a waltz. The man was made from blue flowers while the woman used golden flowers. The group had also stopped by a nearby stall and got something called Arcadian Ice (for reference: Italian Ice).
Nora took another bite from her strawberry flavored ice and sighed. "This is nice. Just us getting to spend time together."
Pyrrha nodded as she finished her own spoonful of her chocolate ice. "I agree completely."
Velvet was enjoying her vanilla flavored treat with a sigh of satisfaction. "It almost doesn't feel real."
"You have no idea." Jaune chuckled lightly as he finished his own treat. "I'll be honest, if anyone had said I'd have been dating one of you, much less all of you, I'd have called them crazy."
"You don't give yourself enough credit Jaune." Pyrrha, who had been sitting next to him at the bench, patted his shoulder to comfort him.
"To be fair, I don't think any of us are in a different boat there." Nora offered as she scraped off the last of the ice. "Pyrrha wasn't saying anything, Velvet was too shy, I didn't want to step on any toes and mess things up for us…" Nora turned somber for a moment, but shoo it off and smiled like she always did. "But we don't have to worry about that now."
"But we do have something new to worry about." Eyes were on Velvet as she placed her empty cup down. The fact of the matter is, what will we do if we aren't the only ones anymore?"
Nora folded her arms and nodded in understanding. "Yeah. It's only a matter of time before someone else sees what we do."
Jaune looked around at them all, "Come on guys. Don't joke like that."
Nora huffed, "We're serious, Jaune. And now more than ever!"
"I thought we agreed it would have to be unanimous. Besides, I don't really think I'm as impressive as you've been saying."
"You'd think having three girlfriends would give you better self confidence." Nora jokes, but moved too quickly onto the next topic before it could register. "The point is, it was only a matter of time. But now that we're all on a vacation in a, let's be honest, beautiful city by the water, it's inevitable."
"I think you're blowing this out of proportion."
"No." Velvet rubbed her chin in thought. "No, she's got a point."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. It just… feels like the kind of thing that would happen."
Pyrrha leaned forward a bit, steepling her fingers, "Then what's our plan?"
Nora crossed her arms and thought for a moment. "I think we shouldn't go seeking anyone else, but if they come to us, we should at least consider it. That sounds fair right?"
Jaune could see the logic that caused this. It was just weird to think anyone else would like him.
(King: Oh you sweet, innocent Summer Child.)
Jaune felt a chill run up his spine. He shook it away before addressing the others again. "It sounds fair. But we should keep the power to veto. It should be unanimous. If even one of us isn't okay with it, then we don't allow it."
The girls nodded. They had a game plan now. Even if it was or something a little odd by most standards, but they felt they needed it.
\/
When Qrow heard about the attack yesterday and how Tai brought in a serious threat, he certainly did not expect the reason it happened at all was because the Supreme Leader of the White Fang was in his home. But there she was. With Zwei in her lap as she scratched the corgi behind the ear.
Qrow sighed and turned back to the conversation at hand. "So, what happens now?"
Tai sighed and shrugged. "Last she heard, Fargus wasn't the only nutjob left in the White Fang. Just the rumor that she's been in the home of a human has torn the organization apart. Or starting to. Moderate voices are getting out while the gettin's good."
"In other words, the White Fang will only get more violent and openly hostile."
Sienna's ears drooped a bit, "The Fang may well be a lost cause now. But there's nothing I can do about it now." She paused a moment before sighing. "Though I guess I need to make an official statement to the world about what happened."
Qrow sighed a bit. "Why can't anything with this family be normal?"
"Says the man that turns into a bird." Tai shot back.
"You're just proving my point." Qrow took a swig from his flask. "So… is she staying here then?"
Sienna suddenly remembered her position in this issue.
Tai shrugged, "I mean… I'm not exactly going to kick her out with things as they are."
Qrow sighed again. "Yeah, I figured." He finished up a sip from his flask and tapped it against the table. "Hey, think you could get my old stache I kept? I'm kind of out of it."
Tai shook his head, but stood up. "This is the last of it, Qrow." He walked off and toward the stairs.
Cue Qrow turning to Sienna with an, ironically, sobering look. "This wasn't just a trip for counseling, was it?"
This caught Sienna off guard, "What?"
"You don't cross a continent and come to this little piece of nowhere just for advice." Qrow took another swig from his flask, both revealing it wasn't quite so empty and trying to make it so before Tai got back. "Listen, if this does become something, just promise not to hurt him, alright? He's been through enough. And if I'm reading too much into it, just say so now so neither of us look stupid when he gets back."
Sienna's eyes lowered down toward the table. After a moment, she found her words again. "He helped me when I needed it, and I felt he could do so again. But… if this is something… then you have my word."
Qrow nodded and finished off his flask. "All I can ask for."
\/
Finally.
The Beacon Vacationers finally got to visit Arcadia's History Museum without a swarm of school children running around at random. Most of the crew didn't really care, but they did learn a few new things.
For one, Julius Arc was originally a citizen of Mantle before the Great War. But he turned on his Kingdom in favor of the right of creativity and individuality. After the war, he was given the land to be named Arcadia by the newly dominant Atlas Military faction, then led by Gaius Hitchens; a former soldier in Julius's faction. They learned a few miscellaneous things, but nothing else got retained by most. Weiss, Blake, and Neptune will likely remember everything. The others… not so much.
That was until they found the Arma Historia, or Weapons of History. It was a special exhibit showcasing weapons from around Arcadia and in its history. Ruby was officially on cloud nine once she found this. She was bouncing around at the various weapons. Some were fairly plain: old mass produced rifles from the Great War that were preserved as best they could. Others, however, were very eye catching. Each was a standard weapon, but adorned with gold and etches to create nothing short of artwork. Some were ceremonial pieces, including a blade used in knighting ceremonies within the Seventh Legion. They had to literally drag Ruby out of the room when they had to leave.
Safe to say their vacation was off to an interesting start.
/\
Okay, so here's the rules. Each character is in a stated category. These are Definitely, Possibly, Maybe, and Not Happening.
Definitely - These are characters that will end up with Jaune at some point. (Spoilers, I guess.)
(Yang, Ilia, Emerald)
Possibly - These are the ones that I'm not planning, but can do so in a heartbeat.
(Coco, Penny, maybe Ruby) (I also do like the option of Neo here, but not the same way as the others.)
Maybe - You'll have to really make a case for these. As I have no real intention to make them an option, but I'm still open to it.
(Weiss, Blake) (Anyone not listed directly could be here as well.)
Not Happening - These are the characters that I will NOT be using for this. No matter what.
(Anyone that's happily in a relationship, Outright Villains, Sienna {and you know why})
You're free to leave suggestions in my Messages or Reviews, but know that you need to have something else to say as well. Anyone just listing a name will be ignored. And if you're preferred option doesn't get the 'win' then don't despair. This is just the 11 Million special event.
Good luck! And thank you again for sticking with us this long.
