I'm sorry that this took a while, guys. It's been getting harder for me to find time to write. But calm yourselves; no need to be mean. I have not abandoned you. Let's try to keep things civil in the PMs, whaddya say, 'kay?
Out on the Town
One thing he'd done once; he'd done a thousand times—taking care of Crescent Rose was so far ingrained in his subconscious that Jaune could take him apart in his sleep. That said, his mind shut off while his hands began their good work.
Jaune started, as he always had, by taking off his ring. With half a mind, he placed it on the table to his left before picking up hi- Ruby's scythe in his hands. With expert fingers, he then unmade the deadly farming implement.
(Jaune made extra sure that he did not say that out loud.) He chuckled to himself.
Granting some differences here and there, overall, Crescent Rose was just like any other rifle where in Jaune still went for the magazine first. Safety and all that. How embarrassing would that have been if he'd accidentally shot himself in the foot right after telling Ruby that "I got this"?
After making sure there was not a round in the chamber, Jaune then went to separate the stock from the upper receiver that was also the top half of the scythe. Removing the bolts that held them together, it was only a matter of bending the two pieces until they came apart smoothly.
After that, usually, Jaune would take out the spring buffer next. This version of Crescent Rose, however, did not bother with recoil dampeners so that Ruby could utilize the kickback to propel her forward and close the distance quickly between her and her target. A tad bit unconventional, sure, but his wife was smaller and lighter back then so this was an okay stopgap as any when it came to the design. That being said, Jaune knew she would still grow (much to her excitement) and would soon find out that implementing gravity dust in future schematics is the way to go.
Taking out the charge bolt, removing the firing pin, and so on, and so on, Jaune breathed out a sigh of contentment. It was nice not having to think for once; to do something linear and basic while shower-thoughts kept his mind occupied but not busy. It was soothing. In that moment, there was no mission to accomplish, no classes to attend to, no overhanging clock to remind him of the summit that would be taking place in the coming weeks. No worries. To Jaune, all that mattered right then and there was him, Crescent Rose, and-
What was Ruby holding?
It was silver, tiny, familiar. Turning it this way and that, Ruby inspected the tiny trinket in the dim blue light of a sleeping forge. Jaune Arc's eyes widened in panic when it caught the scarlet shimmer of the ruby inside the metal band.
His ring!
Crescent Rose made a dull thump when he slipped through Jaune's loose fingers and onto the tabletop. Right hand frantically flying to his left, Jaune felt for the ring that was clearly in Ruby's curious grasp.
The unsuspecting huntress tilted the inside of the circle towards the light, trying to read the secret Jaune knew was written within…
~ • ~
"R… U…" she whispered to herself, "Is that a 'B'?"
"Ruby."
"B- Eep!"
Caught by surprise, her head jerked up before turning in his direction.
"My ring please," he spoke, tone deathly calm as he held his hand out to her.
"O-Oh, sorry! I just saw it lying there, and I- Well, I still probably shouldn't have picked it up, huh? Heh-heh."
Jaune was not amused.
"Sorry, Jaune…" she apologized before depositing what was his in his waiting palm.
As if she'd snatch it away, Jaune quickly drew the ring to himself soon as it was in his hand, and with an urgency that had Ruby furrowing her brow, slipped it on. Ruby didn't know what to make of the expression he had on his face when he peered at it, if he was either relieved to have the ring back or if it hurt.
"Jaune?" she said his name with clear concern.
"It's okay… You didn't know," his smirk, she noticed, wasn't half as mischievous as the ones she'd seen before when they were messing around earlier.
Then silence, awkward and oppressive, took another stab at the conversation and only the muted clattering her weapon made when Jaune resumed giving her baby a bath could be heard. No, she would not stop calling it that. Yes, Jaune was clearly using bath time to avoid her. But she couldn't very well force him to tell her what was bothering him though. She guessed that it would just have to be yet another one of his secrets he'd never-
"It was a…" he hesitated to say before forcing himself to finish, "gift… from my partner."
"Pyrrha?"
He looked at her, finally, and with the slow shake of his head, told her "no".
'Huh, well what do you know.'
…
'Oh my gosh-!'
"I-It's super pretty! Your friend must really know their stuff!" Fumbling, Ruby grasped onto the tail end of what he said, desperate to keep him talking; to open himself up to her about his past even if it was as small as this. She couldn't let him raise his walls up again. Not again. She had to know more.
What must have been a nervous habit made him twist the ring around his finger—ring finger, left hand. Ruby filed that thought away for later—taking comfort in the way it rubbed against his skin. Meanwhile, half-lidded eyes took on a more nostalgic air about them when he smiled a secret smile at the sensation. It was clear that that tiny piece of silver meant a lot to the blonde
"Yeah…" his gaze lifted again and met hers, but this time, whatever that was in the way he looked at her, "yeah, she really did," it made Ruby blush. She would later on come to realize what that 'whatever it was' was, but as for now, all she knew was that it was not deserved; that the lights in his eyes were meant for somebody else. Somebody really special.
It reminded her of how her dad used to look at one of her mom's pictures.
'Stupid eyes! Stop noticing weird stuff about Jaune!' She shook her head.
Ruby really wanted to ask if he was okay; wanted to ask about what he was thinking when he stared at her like that, but she wasn't that brave. She also wasn't sure if he wouldn't just wave her off and tell her "it's nothing" like he was prone to doing. So instead Ruby kept it light just to keep him from clamming up again. They had time, after all, the whole day in fact.
"I like the rose and thorns design. Oh, and the ruby too! Heh, how about that? A ruby and a rose. Ruby Rose. That's a strange little coincidence," she giggled.
"Y-Yeah, a coincidence."
For a split second, Ruby thought she saw panic in his eyes, but that was silly; they were just talking. It's probably just the low lighting making her see things. You'd think a secret forge would have better fixtures. Oh well. Now, where was she? Ah, yes.
"And she's a girl? Wow! If I weren't me, I'd almost think that I gave you that ring! Haha! How crazy would that be?"
There was that look again. Huh, so it wasn't the lights. Weird.
"Totally! Toooootally crazy. So crazy, in fact, th-that- thaaat it can't possibly be true. Nope, not even close. Aheh-heh… yiiieeeah."
"So where'd she get it?"
The question caught him off guard. "What?"
"I wanted to buy one too in case I get the chance."
"Oh, no, she didn't buy this; she made it for me."
"She made that?! Ho-ly! Whoever this girl is, I like'er! You think we could hang out sometime? Swap some stories maybe? I'd love to meet her!
Ruby saw how his face fell just as soon as she'd asked the question, and she immediately regretted opening her big fat mouth. She couldn't stop herself this time, the worry spilling out before she could catch it, "Jaune, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. It's just…" he tried to put on a smile but it was the brittlest thing she'd ever seen, "I don't think you'd be meeting her anytime soon, Ruby."
Finally, it dawned on her what that look was; why she thought she'd seen it before. Ruby's hands flew to cover both her nose and mouth in an expression of horror.
That look really was just like her dad's…
"Jaune, I…" her voice came out muffled, "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to."
"It's fine-"
"—But it's not!" Her outburst caught them both off guard.
Mindful of her tone this time, Ruby went on to say, "It's not okay, Jaune." She bowed her head. "I came here to find out if you were still my friend, not... this. I wasn't supposed to be digging up your past. I'm-... I'm sorry if I made you remember. I didn't mean to make you hurt."
She held Crocea Mors close to her, remembering the same torment in her father's eyes.
"You can keep your secrets, Jaune."
~ • ~
Him having to keep secrets had more to do with Ozpin and the fear of failure rather than anything else. But then again, Ruby wouldn't exactly be wrong in saying that part of it was because it hurt to remember all that he had lost. It was funny in a sad way how the woman he had grieved a long time ago was the one telling him that now.
He kept silent, not knowing what else there was to say on the matter. Her words rang too many emotional bells, and going back to cleaning Crescent Rose was all he could do to distract himself from the feelings that bit and clawed the insides of his ribcage.
No. There was something he could say, and he would say it, by dust!
"Ren wasn't wrong when he'd said that you were all part of my mission." His hands stopped what they were doing.
"Jaune, you don't have to-"
"—It's okay. I-… I want to, Ruby. You of all people deserve an explanation," he said, but in his head, added, 'or at least the less insane version of it.'
She did not interrupt him again.
He took in a deep breath. "When I came to Beacon, It wasn't exactly…" he drummed his fingers against the tabletop, thinking of the appropriate word, "...planned. I was in a very bad place, in a very bad way with some very bad people. I never, in a thousand years, ever thought that I'd-" he cut himself off before he could get too emotional and say something he wasn't supposed to. "But by some 'miracle'," he dodged, "I was given another chance. A fresh start. A clean slate."
Ruby hung off his every word, some of her questions being answered but most of them not. It sickened Jaune how there was still so much that she couldn't know about. He hated hiding things from her be it in this life or the one before.
For the time being, this would just have to suffice.
"But," he continued, "for me to keep what I have now, Ozpin gave me a mission. What that mission is, I was told not to tell you."
She frowned, her gaze not meaning to droop towards Crocea Mors but did. His hand quickly enveloped the one she had on the table, and he didn't even think twice entwining their fingers together to make sure that she stayed with him and listened to what he had to say. With a surprised blink, shocked silver found beseeching blue in the semi-darkness of the forge.
"It's not to hurt any of you, I swear. I'm just a soldier looking for a little… redemption, I guess. Please, Ruby, I want to tell you, but I can't. If it weren't the case, believe me, you'd be the first to know."
"Not Pyrrha?" she asked in a small voice.
Jaune wasn't sure what Pyrrha had to do with anything but still shook his head no.
"O-Oh? Well, that's- heh."
Ruby bowed her head again, making her bangs fall over her eyes. But no, he couldn't have that. She needed to hear this. He needed to make her understand.
Jaune made sure that Ruby's sole focus was him and only him.
"I will tell you this though: it may have started off as a mission," weaving his fingers through the curtain that was Ruby's blood-red hair, he gently took hold of her chin and tilted her head up so that the girl had no choice but to look at him. Delicate strands fell away, revealing wide silver eyes and cheeks dusted red, "but that doesn't change the fact that you're still my friend," from pinching the tip of her chin to cupping the side of her face, the action came as naturally to him as breathing. A thumb caressed the smooth curve of her cheek, "my best friend, and you always will be. You—all of you—…"
~ • ~
"…You mean the world to me, Ruby Rose."
…
…
…
[Gulp.]
Was there a window or whatever she could open? It was getting kind of stuffy in the small room they were in, or was that just her? Was that steam coming out of her ears? That's weird.
"R-Really?"
"Really-really," he grinned.
"We're still friends?"
"The bestest."
"I…"
'Don't! Don't you dare say it!' her brain was screaming at her. 'What? He comes at you with some cheesy one-liner, flashes you them big'ole baby blues, and you melt into a puddle of woos?! What happened to making him work for it? Tell him to buy you a milkshake at lea-'
"—Okay… I trust you."
'Augh, dang it! My milkshake!'
"Really?"
Pulling herself away from his inviting warmth, Ruby let out a loud sigh, well and truly disappointed with herself. "Yeeees," she groaned as she slumped over the table and burying her face under her arms. "And here I was planning on guilt-tripping you a little more; maybe squeeze out a couple of snacks. [Sigh] I can't believe I was that easy… Man, if Yang saw me now."
Jaune let out an incredulous laugh, "You thought that was easy?"
She harumphed.
"Well let me make it up to you then."
'Make it up to me, he sa- what's that?' Her head shot up and saw a box placed in front of her with Jaune slowly opening the lid. Inside were-
"Dost this please the lady? Am I forgiven?"
'—Cookies! And is that- there's no way… Nooooo. Waaaaay! Strawberry snickerdoodles?! Score!'
"No?" With an exaggerated flourish Jaune then magically brought out a carton of milk from under the table like the best gosh darn magician ever! "What about now?"
"Sorcery!"
Double score!
~ • ~
"Yang! Yang, where are you-oof! Sorry," Blake apologized to the hapless student that she had bumped into while trying to keep pace with her partner. "Where are you even going?"
Yang did not reply; she just kept on speedwalking that warpath only she could see. To where? Blake didn't know.
"Yang, come on; leave your sister alone."
Still no reply.
"I talked to Ruby; she told me that it was just a friend date! Why are you getting so worked up about this?"
"There is no such thing as a friend date when snickerdoodles are involved, Blake."
What? The time it took for her to process what she said, Yang was already three paces ahead of her, and Blake had to jog just to catch up. "Snickerdoodles? What are you even talking about?"
Yang ignored the question. "And for the record: you are dead to me right now for keeping this date a secret, and from your own partner, no less! Henceforth you shall be as a spectre of my long lost and distant past. Any and all replies to you will always be accompanied by shivering followed by obvious ignoration. Take note, Weiss."
"Note taken. And 'ignoration' is not a word."
"Weiss?!"
"Brrr! Did you feel that? There's some serious paranormal activity going on in here!"
Blake rolled her eyes. "Oh, very mature, Yang. And Weiss, shame on you; I thought you were better than this?"
"I'm under contract."
"What?"
"It means she owes me, oh wandering spirit who shall not be named."
At a loss, all Blake could do was growl. When it came to their teammates' shenanigans, usually she found an ally in Weiss. What now when she was the only one with any sense?
Well, she was usually good at complaining; maybe she could try that?
"This is childish. This is so childish. I honestly can not believe you two! Here Ruby is trying to do her part to mend the trust between her and Jaune, and then Jaune with his team, and then his team with our team, while you two-" she tried to think of a good word, "you two… STALKERS, all you did was, uh, stalk your own teammate! Where is the trust here?"
Yang turned around to glare at the ravenette. "I trust my sister plenty. It's Vomit Boy I'm worried about."
A laugh, both mocking and sceptical, barked out of the usually monotone Blake. "Jaune? Jaune Arc? Mr 'An Arc always keeps his word', that Jaune Arc? Are you serious?" she asked, after doing an overly deep and unflattering impersonation of the knight.
"Uh-uh, don't you do that! Don't pretend you don't remember what he did! If Vomit Boy was ballsy enough to do that out in the open then just imagine what he could do behind closed doors."
"That's preposterous."
"Thank you!" Blake breathed out in relief.
"Et tu, Weiss? Still wishing it was you who opened the door that night?"
"N-No!"
Oh? Blake's cat-like curiosity was piqued. Weiss, the ice queen, having a change of heart? How… intriguing.
"I'm just saying that-"
"—Mhm, yeah, sure. Yo, P-money, whatcha doin' over there?" she dismissed in favour of the girl that had her ear pressed up against the door that led to the school forge.
All eyes looked forward at the invincible girl who jumped at being caught. "Oh! Uh, hello again," she smiled guiltily.
"Pyrrha? What are you doing here?" Blake asked.
"I-"
"—Oh, I'll tell you what: we got lucky! Jaune and Ruby are in there aren't they?"
"Auuugh, no… Pyrrha not you too." Blake covered her face with a hand and shook her head in disappointment.
"I-I wouldn't know; I just… got here." Pyrrha would have sounded a lot more convincing if her eyes would just stay put instead of looking at everything that wasn't them. As it were, she wasn't convincing anyone, least of all, Yang. "Because you see, Miló hasn't had any proper maintenance as of late, and so I was-"
"—Pyrrha, I'm not mad, I just want to know if they're in there or not."
Biting her lip, she hesitated but eventually conceded.
"Yes."
Before anyone could stop her, Yang was already opening the door and stepping inside the forge. "Yang!" Blake reprimanded as she and the two other girls followed suit but much less confidently.
"Are you sure you saw them come in here, cuuuz'… they're not in here," her incorrigible blonde partner turned to address Pyrrha.
"No, I am certain that they mentioned going to the forge. Jaune even picked up Crocea Mors for maintenance."
"It concerns me deeply to ponder how you know that, Pyrrha," Blake deadpanned.
"W-Well, I just so happened to be passing by when-"
"—You were stalking them weren't you?"
The invincible girl damn near choked on her own spit, "'Stalking' is such a strong word, Blake. I was merely- um… investigating." A gesture that had Pyrrha looking like she was pulling apart a delicate piece of string with a pair of 'okay' signs accompanied the deliberate enunciation of the word.
"Yeah, Blake, she was just 'investigating', same as us. Nothing wrong with that."
The way Yang copied Pyrrha's gesture did nothing for their argument.
Blake has had it. "This is ridiculous. You are all acting so ridiculous! Stop this, Yang. As you can see, they are not here, so just give up, and let Jaune and Ruby have their date!"
"Date?" Pyrrha asked. To her credit, the champion only sounded a bit alarmed.
"Not, right now, Pyrrha," Blake mumbled in the corner of her mouth.
Yang replied, "And I would, just as soon as I've made sure that she's okay. Why do you even care anyway?" The brawler asked with crossed arms and raised eyebrow.
"I care because Ruby's the only one trying to fix the mess that nobody else wants to. I care because her own sister, my partner, is trying to mess that up."
"Ruby's fifteen; he's a soldier for gods' sake! I'm only looking out for her!" Yang rebutted.
"It's one thing to look after Ruby, but this, what you're doing, is a whole other different crazy something else."
Yang shook her head. "You just don't get it! Jaune is not safe for her. He wants her; I can feel it!"
"And so what if he does? Are you going to shoot him again, Yang?"
That got Yang looking ill, and her gaze quickly fell to the floor at the reminder of what she had done. Seeing this, guilt welled up inside Blake; that was uncalled for and underhanded. "Yang," she tried to reason more gently, "I think it's sweet that you worry so much about Ruby, but you also have to trust her that she could take care of herself."
"I would have to agree," Weiss spoke up, "Ruby may be a dolt at times, but she is capable."
With both her teammates trying to talk some sense into her, Yang slowly began to calm down. She let out a heavy sigh, "Yeah… Yeah, I guess you're right."
Blake favoured her with a soft smile, one that she hesitantly returned.
"Excellent. Now I do believe that this whole enterprise has run its course. Not that I was worried; as I was saying earlier: Jaune would never do such a vile thing. As a respectable professor, I am hard-pressed to believe that he'd-"
"Oh, Jaurne, it's sooooo guuuuurd! More!"
All eyes in the room widened at what was clearly…
A moan.
~ • ~
In a world as bleak as Old Remnant, there were only a handful of things that brought Wolves' Bane true joy, joy the likes of which were pure, sweet, and simple. Seeing his beautiful wife delight over a plate of cookies he had baked just for her was one of said few.
Here now with Ruby, cookie after cookie disappearing into the void that was her stomach, Jaune could not help but feel the same.
"Oh, you like that, huh?" A sense of masculine pride filled him even when the thing he was currently being proud of was something inherently girly.
"Mhmmm~"
"And I bet you want some of my milk now, don't you?
"Yesh pleash," she replied over a gob full of cookie crumbs.
"Well, you can't have any."
"Woh?!"
Jaune pretended to frown, "Yeah, not until you've taken care of my sword."
Swallowing, Ruby protested, "But I'm thirsty!"
"Then you better hop on it then. It's not fair that I took care of your little Rose, but you won't return the favour."
~ • ~
"I'm sure that's not what it sounds like."
"And what does it sound like, Blake, hm?" Yang asked sarcastically, "because, to me, it sounds an awful lot like foreplay."
"It's not," Blake insisted. "Look, it doesn't even matter because Ruby is going to say 'no'. Watch."
~ • ~
"Okay."
Ruby picked up his weapon and unsheathed the blade. Jaune's eyes immediately turned to the size of dinner plates once he saw and realized something very important.
He had taken out the wrong Crocea Mors…
"Is it just me, or did your sword get bigger?"
~ • ~
'Ruby, what the hell?!' her inner voice screeched inside her head. Blake, the perv- er, the romantic that she was, may have wished for a spicy romance between Jaune and Ruby, but hot damn, not that spicy!
"B-B-B-Bigger?!" exclaimed Weiss.
"Oh my!" gasped Pyrrha
And Yang…
"Sonuva bitch! Lemme at'em. Lemme at'em! I'mma rip off his sister corrupting little di-!"
"Yang, stop!" Blake managed to wrap her arms around the blonde brawler's waist just in time to keep her from kicking the door down.
~ • ~
Dustless adamantine sharpened to the razor's edge of efficiency; a crossguard of gilded ivory atop a cerulean coffin-grip, leathered immaculately to a tee; finally, a rounded pommel bearing the Arc family sigil while it surrounded Ruby's signature rose within its ancestral curve brought together the sword known as Crocea Mors: Finale Reforge into perfect balance—or as his wife liked to call her, "Briar Rose"—an elegant and deadly masterpiece that challenged any other blade that dared call themselves worthy.
How surreal it was that by some twist of fate his wife's magnum opus, her greatest creation, found itself in the hands of her creator once more.
The sight of her admiring her work would have been cathartic if it weren't so terrifying.
He couldn't let her see it too closely or for too long; his ring was one thing, but Briar Rose was too familiar, too personal to the reaper that, even if it was impossible for her to recognize, there were bound to be questions. Questions that he had no idea how to answer. Questions like-
"Who… made this?" she whispered to herself, the wonder in her eyes well on its way towards recognition.
—Yeah, questions like that.
Jaune panicked.
Quickly reassembling Crescent Rose, "Done!" Jaune exclaimed before compacting the scythe and pretty much just shoving him in Ruby's face. "Here let me take that." He reached over the table for his wayward sword.
"But I haven't even-"
"—It's cool. Briar doesn't need that much maintenance anyway."
"Briar?" looking at him curiously, she asked, before her attention returned to the sword.
"Uh…" Jaune faltered. Damn it, he really said it didn't he?
Watching as her eyes were drawn back to the intricacies of his weapon, Jaune's trepidation only rose and rightly so. Because just as she'd guessed the monicker of the black scythe, so too did she with the blade in her hands, "Briar Rose," she whispered her name. "This isn't Crocea is it?"
It was, in a way, but he wasn't very well going to tell her that.
"Your friend made this too, didn't she?"
…
…
…
"…Uh."
Damn it twice! How could he have forgotten just how astute Ruby could be when it came to weapons? Of course, she'd recognize the similarities between his sword and his ring.
"Jaune?"
'Do something! Speak!' his mind blared in alarum, and Jaune quickly blurred into action. None too gently exchanging Crescent Rose while tugging on Briar, "Gimme!" he exclaimed. Max smooth. Zero suspicious.
Poor Ruby was caught off guard and could not let go right away, sword frozen securely in her grip, "Wha- Ow, Jaune not so rough! Uhn. Ungf! Ah! Be more gentle! You're going to break my-"
[—Bang!]
Jaune and Ruby looked towards the door where the loud noise had come from.
~ • ~
Blake held back a neigh rabid Yang, but t'was not the blonde bomber who'd punched the door.
It was Weiss.
The unexpectedness of it all silenced all.
"Uh…" Blake began tentatively, "you doing okay there, Weiss?"
Blue eyes slowly widened in realization of what she had just done, and everybody jumped when she suddenly turned and bolted. Picking a spot behind one of the forges, she ducked down to hide herself.
Blake, Pyrrha, and even Yang were exchanging concerned/confused glances when Weiss's head popped out from behind the hearth suddenly. "Fly, you fools!" she bade them before ducking back down.
"Is someone out there?" they heard Ruby say from inside the room followed by footsteps coming closer to the door.
Yang readied her fist while Blake tried in vain to pull her to cover. "Pyrrha, help!"
"R-Right!"
Two huntresses working together had been enough to subdue the blonde beast, but it did nothing to stop her literal growling "Grar rar raghg!" Blake tried to keep her quiet by placing her hand over her mouth.
Yang immediately tried to bite her. "Ow! Yang! Cut it out!" she whispered harshly.
"I will not be sile- ehwmf!"
Four-time Mistrali regional champion, Pyrrha Nikos, stuffed Weiss's scrunchy inside Yang's mouth, and in true Pyrrha fashion, apologized shortly thereafter, "I'm sorry!"
"Hey!" Weiss cried out, mortified at what had become of her unfortunate hair-tie. "Pyrrha?!"
"Sorry!"
"Pyrrha, stop apologizing. Everybody, shush!"
The door opened. "Hello? Did anyone knock?"
No one dared make a sound.
"Who was it?" their professor asked their teammate as he stepped out from behind her.
Ruby replied with the sound people usually made when they were too lazy to say "I don't know" but had no qualms about humming it. "You almost broke my arm back there by the way," she glared.
"Because you won't give my sword back!"
"But you told me to take care of her!"
"And I changed my mind because I'm a good friend and I didn't want to bother you!"
"You are so weird!"
"Yes, I am!"
Ruby snorted out a laugh, "Remind me again why I'm friends with you."
"Because we're dorks, and dorks stick together?"
Ruby rolled her eyes with a grunt of "ah" but did not leave it at that. Sounding more sincere, she assured him, "Hey… if you didn't want me to know, you just had to say so. I promise I won't pry anymore. I did just say that I trust you, didn't I?"
"No, that's not what I-…" he didn't finish, instead, the soldier simply sighed and smirked at being caught, "Thank you, Ruby. And it's not that you can't ask; it's just, Briar she- she hits a little too close to home, you know what I mean?"
"Like your ring?"
From the edge of the hearth where the quartet spied on the duo, Blake saw the familiar glimmer of loss and longing in the soldier's eyes and felt pity for him.
"…Like my ring, yeah."
"'Cuz you're girlfriend made it?" Ruby tried to tease by poking him in the ribs, making light of an obviously touchy subject just so he wouldn't feel the hurt too badly.
It was Jaune's turn to roll his eyes. "Nothing gets past you, Red, except for the part about her being my girlfriend. She never was."
"Red? Hey, I like that! It's like a code name or something."
"Oh?"
"Yeah! It's better than the names Yang comes up with, at least."
Blake could feel Yang growl with the hand she used to cover her mouth.
"Like: Ruberry, Rubaby, Rubeanstalk, Rubimylady, Rubilly Fofilly, Rubyn Hood, and worst of all," she paused for effect, "Rubilbo Braggins of the Shyr."
"Ooo, I like that one."
"Someone's a fan of R.J.J Shortkien."
The conversation went on like that from there, and it warmed Blake's heart to see again the two friends getting along so well. She smiled fondly at the pair, as the hope she had for herself grew.
"Well, well, well, what do you know," Blake whispered to her captive, "for a couple of horny teenagers that you thought they were, they don't look very sexed, now do they, Yang?"
Yang glowered at her in reply.
"They really were just talking about his sword, not… well, not his sword."
"There's no need to beat around the bush Pyrrha; we were all thinking it, and the word you're looking for is 'penis'," Blake said plainly.
Pyrrha reddened at being called out.
"You see? I knew it. I told you Jaune would never do such a thing," Weiss turned her nose up, always proud of being right.
"Said the girl who punched the door."
"That-" Weiss had no rebuttal, "Shut up, Blake."
Furious mumbling cut short her crushing victory over the girls, and Blake shot a warning look at her partner. "Fine, I will let you go. BEHAVE." Her arms fell away from where they were keeping Yang in place.
"What about the moaning, huh? Riddle me that, oh partner o'mine!" the blonde challenged as soon as she'd removed the thing in her mouth and handed it over to Weiss.
The look of disgust on the heiress's face was unjustly ignored.
It was Ruby herself, however, who answered Yang's question. "My yum-yums!" Going back inside the room they had come out of, Ruby retrieved a blue box of familiar smelling treats. Taking one out, Yang realized that they were the cookies she had helped—half-helped, if you'd asked Weiss—bake! She popped the simple pastry in her mouth, and Yang blushed in sisterly embarrassment at the sounds that resulted. "MMMMM~ Sho guuuuurd!"
"Gods, Ruby! Could you be any louder? I don't think people got the wrong idea just yet." Jaune asked sarcastically while warily checking the room for anyone who might have heard her faux orgasmic appreciation.
"Woh wong idea?"
Jaune opened his mouth and shut it just as quick. "Nevermind. Let's just get out of here. I think that's enough maintenance for one day," he said as he strapped Crocea Mors to his side.
"M'okay." Ruby did the same with Crescent Rose once she'd finished with her treat. "What else you wanna do?"
"I don't know. Want to go hit Vale?"
"Sounds like a plan!"
Only when they had walked past their little hidey-hole and closed the door to the forge did the four remaining huntresses breathe out a sigh of relief.
"Are you satisfied now?" Blake asked, but it was like Yang didn't even hear her when she stood up suddenly and made a move towards the door, obviously to follow her sister. Blake could not believe it. "Yang Xiao Long! Are you being serious right now?!"
Yang spun around, but what Blake expected to be anger, a plea was what was on her partner's face instead. "I know that I'm being crazy, alright?! I know! It's just-" A noise that sounded strangely like defeat escaped her lips. "She's my sister, Blake," she finished as if the statement explained everything.
Blake was just about to argue when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking behind herself, The dark-haired huntress was surprised to discover that it belonged to none other than the Ice Queen herself, Weiss Schnee, of all people, actually looking sympathetic of Yang. "Let her have this," she asked on her partner's behalf.
Blake would've been lying if she'd said that seeing her normally confident friend look so worried didn't tug at her sympathies any. It was obvious that whatever this was, it meant a lot to the brawler. How unfortunate that it was then that Blake remembered her decision to be a good teammate which apparently extended to being a good partner. 'I miss being the aloof one,' Blake thought before relenting with an extra loud, extra grumpy groan. "Fiiiiine. But you follow my lead, got it?"
"Ooooo! Thanks, bunches, partner!" Yang exclaimed as she glomped the ruffled Faunus.
"Yeah, yeah. Warm feelings all around. Now come on; we've got to go now if we don't want to lose them. Pyrrha, did you catch where Jaune said they were heading?"
"What makes you think I would know?"
Weiss, Blake, and Yang stared blankly at Pyrrha who was trite enough to look abashed at the denial. Let it never be said that Pyrrha Nikos did not know herself.
Foiled by her own obviosity, "Vale," she begrudgingly admitted.
~ • ~
Vale. 'Wow…' He had almost forgotten just how alive it all was. So many people… living. Looking at them, it was obvious that the Grim were the farthest things away from their minds. To these civilians, it's like they didn't even exist.
If only.
Dark. Rain. Hopeless. Alone.
"JAUNE!
Jaune was taken out of his reverie when he looked down at his companion. "Sorry. L-Lost in thought."
"Yeah, you've been doing that a lot since we got off the bullhead. Are you sure you're up for this, tough guy?" She rose an eyebrow at him.
"S-Sure! Why wouldn't I be?"
What a question.
Indeed, why wouldn't he be? It wasn't like a mirage of a ruined city would often replace his surroundings or that moments when he saw Grim instead of people made him want to take his sword out. That instead of life, around him, there was only death.
Maybe going down to Vale wasn't such a good idea.
"Ugh…" Wolves' Bane stumbled, just barely catching himself against a lamppost. His migraine was back, and this time, it came accompanied by an unwelcomed ringing in his ears that had no business being there.
"Jaune!"
And as always, Ruby was by his side in an instant, just as he'd always remembered her to be.
Another memory, another stab of excruciation.
"Jaune, what's wrong?"
"It's nothing, Ruby," he tried to smile through the debilitating pain just so she wouldn't worry. All the while, a poorly tuned violin with only one string decided that his head was the perfect venue for its tear-jerking rendition of 'Dying Cat', "just having a bit of a headache."
"Uhuh, I noticed you've been doing a lot of those too," she said flatly before her tone took on a more anxious pitch. "Jaune, if you're not feeling well we could just go ba-"
"—I'm fine."
"You are clearly not fine."
"I said I'M FINE!" Ruby recoiled, his sudden outburst catching her on the back foot. Jaune could immediately feel remorse and disgust for himself crawl up and down his skin when he saw the look on her face. His hand went to cover the one she had had on his shoulder and apologized. "Sorry I- I promise I'll be good. Just let me do this… please? I have to show you that I'm still me."
"But you don't have to! I already said that I-"
"—I know what you said, but please, Ruby, for me?" he insisted.
Jaune knew when he looked at Ruby that way, that she could never deny him. It was just one of the many things Wolves' Bane knew about her, but Jaune didn't.
And that was exactly the reason why he had to do this.
Though Ruby only thought that Jaune was still just trying to earn her trust, it was much more than that. To Jaune, it was a matter of earning the memories he had of her. What he was doing was trying to find Jaune Arc underneath all that the legendary Wolves' Bane had lived through. To prove that there was still pieces of him left.
Feeble as it may be.
Where was the boy that loved to play games, make jokes, and read comics with his bestie? Did his seventeen years not amount to anything that it would so easily be buried under the magnitude of another him?
It couldn't be. No, he would remind himself that Jaune was still his own person.
"You're sure you're okay?" Ruby made sure to ask him again.
"I'm sure."
She gave him one long stare-down before finally budging on the subject. "Okay. So—Vale—where to first?"
Jaune knew exactly where he wanted to go first. Someplace easy and safe with zero chance of Wolf zoning out. Wolf-Zone, now there was a word.
"Comics!" they said at the same time.
The two teens grinned at each other and took to the path that was both familiar and foreign to Jaune. They soon arrived at their destination, and the doorbell tinkled when they entered the modest-looking establishment. Jaune wasted no time picking up the first thing on the closest shelf to his right which just so happened to be his favourite comic book series, "X-ray and Vav".
"Your reading that again?" Ruby asked from over his shoulder, her own "Weapons Monthly" magazine in her hands.
"What?" Looking down at the paperback he was currently browsing through, he saw the yellow number one printed in the corner, denoting that it was the first issue. He didn't even notice. "Uh yeah, I am. Just a refresher. I'm trying to get caught up."
Ruby shrugged and did not ask again which Jaune was infinitely thankful for. He didn't even know where to begin explaining how he had all but forgotten about X-ray and Vav. When was the last time he'd even held a comic book? Years? Decades?
No, that was Wolves' Bane, not Jaune. Jaune shook his head and kept on reading.
But the ringing did not stop.
~ • ~
It was getting late and Nora was still on her morning jog. How many did that make now? Seven? Eight circuits around the Commercial District? To be honest, she wasn't really keeping track; she was too down in the dumps to be her usually ballistics-grade cheerful self.
And if it wasn't already obvious what's got her so sad, it's Jaune.
Her fearless leader, the man she'd gladly call brother even with the scant few months she had known him. The man she'd admired for his kindness and drive to improve himself no matter how hard it was.
The man who lied and pretended to be her friend.
'He's just like the other kids. Dumb Nora always falling for the same old tricks. When will I ever learn?" Nora berated herself. However much she would deny it, though, there was no hiding that she missed the "J" of the greatest team in all of Beacon; the concern she had displayed earlier proved that.
'Team…' She missed being a team.
She stopped to catch her breath and leaned against the wall of a building. Nora let the salty sea breeze of the docs fill her lungs. It was getting kind of foggy out and the chill made the sweat on her clothes colder than they actually were.
'Wait a minute…' she took stock of her surroundings, "Where in the world am I?" She must have been so out of it that she didn't even notice where she'd been jogging.
Nora was just about to check her scroll's GPS when she was interrupted by a shout.
"Citizen!"
Her head perked up at the voice and watched the person approaching her. "Who, me?"
"Yes, you! You must not be here; it is not safe!"
"Not safe?"
"Indubitably! Because you see…a robbery is taking place!"
"A robbery?!" Nora blinked…
…and then she grinned.
~ • ~
"It's official. We've lost'em."
"Well, if somebody hadn't made such a fuss earlier about me keeping tabs on Ruby then we wouldn't be having this problem."
"Don't make me regret helping you, Yang."
Yang ignored her glowering partner. "We should've found them by now! What gives, P-money? Don't you have like a GPS lock on Jaune's scroll or something?"
"W-What? Of course not! That would be very rude and invasive of Jaune's privacy," she said, all the while, calmly (if "calmly" meant panic-clicking "X") closing the app on her scroll (that was clearly not working seeing as that she was still looking for Jaune) so that she could give Yang her full undivided attention.
"Uhuh, yeah, sure. So that wasn't Moogle Maps you had on just now?"
"N-No!" the red-head denied, but her eyes still did that thing where it avoided the person she was currently lying to.
"Riiiiight. Well'p, this was a bust." Yang blew a lock of golden hair out of her eyes.
"Wait. We're going about this all wrong! In one of his lectures, remember what Jaune taught us about tracking Grim?"
"No," Yang did not pause to say, "and I'm surprised that you do, given the fact that you were staring at his butt half of the time."
The girl in white reddened, her skin starkly contrasting with her dress. "Ass- As I was saying," she emphasized, "like the Beowolf that frequents the shadows, or the Borbatusk that favours wide open spaces, or even the Nevermore who makes its perch in the forest, we need to start thinking of places Jaune and Ruby will most likely visit."
Yang put a finger to her chin. "You know what, Weiss? That's not a bad idea! Quick, what are dorks' natural habitat?"
"How should I know? She's your sister."
"Hm, you're not wrong." Yang adopted a thinking pose. "Okay, so if I were Ruby, where would I go?"
"Not just Ruby. You would also have to consider Jaune as well and where he would like to go," Pyrrha reminded.
"Right. Uuuh, off the top of my head, there's the comic book store. They like comics, right?"
Pyrrha nodded, "Jaune likes comics, yes."
"Oh, and the arcade!"
"Yes, I've seen them play on their scrolls quite a lot as well."
"Video games and comics, it's like they were made for each other," Blake said idly, not finding the appeal of both those places.
"Hardly, Blake. Have you never heard of the phrase "opposites attract"?
Blake looked at her colour-opposite incredulously, not expecting the rebuttal. "No, but I've heard the one that goes "Nevermores of the same feather, hunt together."
"Jaune and Ruby are hardly Grimm," she reasoned.
Blake reasoned right back, "But weren't you the one who suggested tracking them down like Grimm?"
A long pause.
"Shut up, Blake," Weiss mumbled.
"Nope, she got you there fair and square, Weiss-cream. Now suck it up and let's go. The arcade is not far from here."
~ • ~
"Jaune, watch my six!"
"…"
"Ah! Beowolves coming out of the toilets! I knew going through the train station was a bad idea!
"…"
"UUUUURSAAAAA!"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Jaune, you okay?" Ruby took a quick peek at her friend playing the second player in their game of Grim Frenzy and asked the question the reaper felt like she'd asked for the twentieth time today.
Well, it was his fault! She'd stop asking if only he'd stop worrying her so much.
And it was his quietness this time that made her so. He wasn't usually this subdued whenever they played their favourite shoot'em up game. Based off experience, he should already be spazzing out alongside her right there and then, but now…
"I'm fine. Contact on your left." Two plastic clicks of the toy gun later, "Target down. Proceed to next objective."
"Uh, ooo-kay…" Ruby mumbled not entirely sure how she would do that seeing as the game didn't actually allow the players any sort of movement, instead, taking them from one place full of 32-bit Grim to another place full of 32-bit Grim. The redhead chose not to comment, however. She simply observed.
His gaze was focused and intense as if he were really out on a hunt. How Jaune held the pink toy gun also spoke to Ruby of a discipline her uncle Qrow once described as military. Even the way he spoke, clipped and cold with protocol, saying only words that mattered in the moment and nothing more, all just screamed "soldier". It was... kind of scary.
"Ruby, pick up the bazooka and get in the bullhead; I'll cover you."
"R-Right!"
She had stopped playing, and Ruby didn't even notice what with the way he was hard-carrying her heavy butt throughout most of the game. Looking in the top-right corner of his side of the screen, Ruby was shocked to see that he hadn't even lost one heart yet while she was already down to her last four. That was insane! Everybody knew that she was the better gamer! Everybody! Just ask Zwei (not Yang because she's a liar and would say otherwise)!
This was simply unacceptable. Jaune didn't even use guns and he was showing her up in a shooting game? 'Well, I'll show him who's the Grim Frenzy queen around here!'
What was supposed to be a co-op quickly became a competition, and between the two hunters in training, the levels just flew by. Even set to "Huntsman" mode, which was required by the shop to keep the scores fair amongst the normies, it was almost too easy!
But then came the levels that they've never reached before, and Ruby was beginning to lag under the sheer volume of enemy pixels. "Gah! Finger cramp!"
Switching to her left hand, she kept on firing, but it was obvious that a southpaw, she was not, and her performance dropped drastically. They were losing. The devs clearly designed these higher levels so that both players had to pick up the slack, not because it required more skill, but because there was just so many gosh darn Grimm that one gun wouldn't cut it, the input/output of each shot capping out just barely between the two pistols.
But with Ruby's effectiveness cut in half, naturally, they were being overwhelmed.
'So this is how it ends? The fall of the great queen Ruby. Well played Jaune. Well played,' Ruby applauded. For what it was worth, she actually had fun. She never got to play those stages before and it was nice to see that the game she liked still had more to offer. She was getting hungry, though, and with her cramp, Ruby simply decided to just watch her friend get snacked on by virtual Grim so that they could go grab a bite to eat already—totally not because she was a sore loser or anything. Perish the thought!
'Serves him right though. Hmpf, show off!'
Pretending to lose (because, obviously, she was only letting him win), Ruby let out a fake cry for help, "Save me, Jaune! The Grimm's got me!" and then giggled at her own silliness.
Which had been a mistake, she quickly realized...
Jaune seized, gun held out in front of him and beginning to shake, as some sort of terror seemed to grip him. The reaction was similar to the one he had in the forge when she'd asked him about his ring, but where that was sad, this was more terrified, and it showed far more noticeably.
"Jau-" Ruby was just about to ask again if he was okay when he, all of a sudden, tore the blue pistol out from her grasp and began dual-wielding it along with his pink one. "—Okay, I guess you can... have that. Sure," she said, warily watching Jaune as he, with bared teeth and eyes full of crazy, unleashed himself upon the poor game.
They were not prepared.
With each foe felled, the scores rose, and Jaune didn't even baulk at the fact that he was downing Grimm faster than they could spawn. Most of the time, Ruby couldn't even see Grimm on the screen, just words like "Nice!" or "Crit!" spam-floating where the monsters should've been. Moments where Ruby did see hints of their evil pixels at all were few, and those were when Jaune had to reload.
And even that did not take a second.
A crowd began to gather around the two of them, eager to see the boy who was demolishing the hardest game in the arcade at the highest possible difficulty. Klaxons blared as words above the console lit up bathing the vicinity in its soft neon glow. It read: "WIN GAME GET PIZZA!" and that was all it took for Ruby Rose, really, because who in their right mind would ever say no to pizza? Go on, who? (Well, not unless it was pineapple. 'Barf!')
Her friend's strange behaviour briefly forgotten, Ruby maniacally cheered, "Do it, Jaune! JUST. DO IT! WIN ME THAT PIZZA!" and the crowd cheered along with her!
"PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA!"
! ! ! FINALE BAWS! ! !
The game announced and the crowd went wild. Jaune, however, was way too deep in the zone to pay them any attention. All that mattered was the monster that dragged itself into the light, the true last boss that only "Huntsman" mode allowed to see.
'Wow...' Ruby didn't know what the game designers were thinking when they thought this Grimm up, but if she had to hazard a guess, it'd be somewhere along the lines of 'Hey, Bob, what did you eat this morning? Beans? What'd that look like? No, no. I mean after you went to the loo.' What Ruby was trying to say is that it looked like poop. Maybe they thought that no one would ever reach the true finale of Grimm Frenzy that they just went 'meh' and pushed it to the masses.
Well, obviously they were wrong because here comes Jaune about to win her that pizza!
[Click click click. CRACK!]
That was the sound of Jaune breaking his pink pistol's trigger with the speed of his pulls, and for a split second, Ruby worried for her prize. But she needn't have, because this was a boss fight, and accuracy was more important here than bullet quantity.
Jaune placed the broken weapon to his side almost as if he were expecting a holster to be there, but because there was not, it only fell to the floor with a clatter. Jaune didn't care. He only changed his stance and held the blue pistol with both hands.
'Almost... Aaaaalmoooooost theeeeere!'
[ROAR! You are VICTORIOUS!]
"Yes!" the crowd cheered!
The scores tallied.
1st Player:
Score: 923,898
Kills: B
Aim: A
Boss Stagger: A
Health Lost: C
Civilians saved: S
Rank: Hunter Extraordinaire
'Woah! I almost hit a million there; not too shabby! I think- Yeah, that's my highest score yet!' Ruby thought proudly.
But then Jaune's score flashed on the screen-
2nd Player:
Score 2,076,102
Kills: S
Aim: S
Boss Stagger: S
Health Lost: None
Civilians saved: S
Rank: Legend
—and everybody just lost it.
"YES! You did it! You actually did it, Jaune, you mad man! You beat Grim Frenzy on HUNSTMAN MOOOOODE! Oh my gosh! I can't even right now! You were all like, 'Grim scum, prepare tzoo be tzerminated! Ruby, get on the choppa!' And then you were like 'Pew pew pew! Ahhh! Devastation...' And then- and then... you..." Ruby's congratulations drifted off because, even with the crowd drowning out their voices, there was no hiding the haunted look in Jaune's eyes, his mouth moving, muttering something over and over again. "...Jaune?"
The worry that was previously forgotten returned sevenfold.
"Jaune?" She squeezed his upper arm to try and grab his attention, and it's as if a shock of electricity was sent through his system, bringing the boy back to life. His head snapped up from its bow, breaths coming out quick and ragged. His baby-blues were dilated, wide, and unfocused, always shifting like he was only just remembering where he was.
And when his gaze finally found her's, it was with eyes that recognized only a stranger.
"Jaune, are you okay?" That question again! 'Please, just tell me, Jaune,' Ruby pleaded in her mind, and it actually hurt her when all Jaune did to reply was smile that damned smile again. The fakest thing she had ever seen.
"W-W-W-Well th-that was fun. S-So, want to try a new game?"
"Jaune-"
"–On second thought, do you mind if I step out for a bit?" He didn't even give her a chance to answer before he was already walking out of the arcade at a brisk pace.
"Jaune! Jaune, wait up!" Ruby was just about to give chase when a hand on her shoulder stopped her. Looking back, she saw that it was only one of the arcade's staff.
"Excuse me, miss, but don't you want to claim your pizza?"
"I- wha? Pizza?"
"Yes, the one you win for beating the game!"
"Oh, right! That-uh," Ruby had almost forgotten about the pizza! Understandable, what with her thoughts being more occupied by her friend, rather than food this time. Ruby looked back and forth, torn between her stomach and running after her partner. But, come on, of course, she would choose Jaune, duh!
She just- you know, as a responsible pizza lover, she still had a responsibility to ask. "So what kind is it?"
"Pine-"
"Nope!" Ruby petal-blurred right on out of there before the name of the dreaded topping was even uttered, but then a second later, came back. Grabbing the blue pistol, Ruby shot the three allotted letters that would forever mark her and Jaune's high score in arcade history. Yes, that's right, hers and Jaune's. Why? Because he used her gun, that's why! "J. x. R. Okay there, see ya!"
And with that, they were all left to wonder who was going to sweep all the rosepetals off the floor.
~ • ~
We have to save her, Jaune! The Grimm's got her!
We will! We. Will. But you're hurt. Just rest for a minute while I-
—I won't let you go in there alone. She needs the both of us. She needs both her-
"JAUNE?!"
Ruby found him in an ally next to the arcade hunched over, gripping the side of a dumpster so hard that you could hear it shaking. Jaune noticed a foul smell coming from nearby only to find out that it was the puddle of bile at his feet the stench was coming from. He hadn't even realized that he'd puked; his head just... hurt so much it was driving him mad.
Not to mention the memories that were becoming more and more intense. This time, he remembered a house... on fire, heat, panic, desperation, and finally, despair.
It was more than he could bear.
"Alright, that. is. it! We are going home this instant! Now, hold on to me, you stupid boy. I'll flower power you all the way to Beacon if I have to!"
She draped his arm over her shoulders so that she could support him, but just as they were taking their first step out the alley and into the street, Jaune's scroll rang. He took it out, and because of how she was holding him, Ruby saw who it was that was calling.
It was a group call for team JNPR coming from one Nora Valkyrie. Jaune didn't waste time and instantly hit "accept".
"Nora?" Jaune said weakly.
"Jaune?" came Nora's surprised reply.
Then an explosion that had Nora looking over her shoulder and Jaune more alert sounded clearly through the scroll. Nora had no choice. If she was hoping that someone else from her team would pick up, then she was not given the time to.
"J-Jaune... I need help."
Jaune's arm retreated from over Ruby's shoulders as he stood up at the ready. "Give me vectors, Hammer Time."
"What?"
"Where are you, Nora?!"
Another explosion sounded, and for a while, all a panicked Jaune and a worried Ruby could hear was static. Both leaders waited with bated breath until, finally, Nora's voice came through.
"D-... oc... I'm-... hur-... ry! The-... Docks!
When questions like "why did you let that happen" or "why did you make this person do that" pop up in my PMs, there's this thing my old liberal arts prof used to tell me that comes to mind, "Patience is a virtue, but it's also a bitch."
I appreciate everyone that's been so interested in my story to actually comment, and more than that, to actually PM me just to pick my brains on the subject (or to just verbally kick my lazy ass for taking so long with this chapter. Yeah, you know who you are, you meanies!), and it behooves me so—and I mean: it really just grinds my gears—that I can't straight up tell you. I don't want to spoil anything and ruin it for anyone who is actually willing to wait. All I'm going to say is that a lot of these questions will be answered as we go along (I mean, come on guys, we haven't even reached the Vytal Festival arc yet, goshness).
I guess it would help to explain that, though the Jaune I chose to portray in my story is far more experienced, these same experiences have broken him in ways we can not even begin to comprehend. Who are we to dictate what sort of things a broken man would or wouldn't do? Not only that, but there's also the Jaune that doesn't want to disappear, to lose what's left of his identity that is purely his own! (Damn hippy teenagers!) Imagine that this is the kind of person everybody in the RWBYverse is going to have to interact with, sooooo... Duh-hyuck! Yeah, I guess there are going to have to be some changes from canon! Who knew? But then again, that's… kind of like the point of fanfiction (unless I've been horribly misinformed). [Insert Star Wars: "That's Why I'm Here" meme here.]
And so my duckies, grab yourselves some of that good ole wait-wait juice and strap in. It's going to be a bumpy ride!
Again, thank you for your lovely reviews! Yes, all of them! Because you didn't have to write me anything, but you still took time out of your busy day just to let me know what you were thinking, and that to me is still a pretty big deal. So please keep'em coming! You might not notice, but what you say affects the way this story is written. I'm not gonna tell you in what way though. I'm mysterious like that.
See you in the next chapter you beautiful little muggles! (But I won't wait up if I were you; things are still a teensy bit crazy here in the Philippines. Lockdown part 3, yalls. This whole debacle's become a damned trilogy. Goodness gracious.)
TTFN, a-hyuck!