Jaune and Courage the Cowardly Dog
Chap 43: Muted Muriel
We were currently in the living room. That included me, Courage, Eustace, Muriel, Ruby and Weiss. It was a month since Kitty had reunited with Bunny. It was relatively quiet since then and I like it. Mainly because it gave us a chance to relax and not have to worry about any criminals. At least, that is what Courage and I had hoped for.
"Eustace? Eustace? Are you listening to me?" Muriel asked Eustace who ignored her and just read his paper. Eustace has been more of an ass in the past week. Ignoring Muriel whenever she talked to him or yelling back at her for the smallest things. Hearing some yelling and banging coming from upstairs, Courage and I shook our heads.
'They're at it again.' Courage said with a sigh.
"Yeah. And it's getting worse." I agreed wincing when I heard Ruby raise her voice which is unusual for her.
A few days ago, Weiss and Ruby had come to Nowhere. I was curious as to why only the two of them came and not the whole team. But got my answer when I received a message from Blake and Yang. Apparently, Weiss and Ruby have been arguing so much back at Beacon that it was starting to get on the nerves of everyone there. Getting tired of their arguing, Yang and Blake suggested that the two of them go someplace to spend time together and hopefully resolve their issues. And they chose Nowhere as they said a neutral place would be best. Yet, that was a few days ago. And since then, their arguing has been getting worse with each passing day. Now, they can't go five minutes without arguing over the tiniest of things.
"Can you go to the store and pick up a bottle of vinegar?" Muriel asked Eustace who ignored her.
'And it's not much better between Eustace and Muriel.' Courage said annoyed at Eustace who continued to read his paper.
"No, it's not." I said sighing when I saw Eustace turn the paper of his newspaper.
"Eustace? Vinegar! Vinegar!" Murie was now shouting. But he still ignored her. "EUSTACE BAGGE!"
'AAHHH!' Courage in screamed in surprise at Muriel shouting before jumping and hitting the ceiling before landing back in my lap.
"HEY! ASSHOLE!" I shouted pissed now. Turning slightly, I reached and took the paper from Eustace's hands and began to rip it up.
"HEY! What you do that for!?" He asked angrily.
"Muriel has been trying to get your attention for the past ten minutes." I told him.
"What you want woman?" He demanded.
"Finally. Eustace, can you go to the store and pick me up a bottle of vinegar?" Muriel asked him.
"Leave me alone." Eustace grumbled before turning on the television. Frustrated, Muriel moved in front of the television. "Get out of the way woman!"
"Is that the only thing you have to say to me?" Muriel asked feeling hurt. Seeing this, Courage and I moved to stand next to her.
"No. I'm hungry. Where's my food?" He demanded.
"If you're hungry. Make the food yourself jackass." I told him which caused him to growl.
"Now Eustace. I don't think you're being very polite." Muriel told him.
"Heh! Who cares what you think?" Eustace mocked.
"I think you'd care what I think." Muriel answered.
"I'd care what you think if you said something worth thinking about." He mocked again.
"Something you never done before. Saying something worth thinking about." I countered.
"Why you little." Eustace grumbled.
"I think you're stubborn." Muriel told him.
"Don't care." He replied.
"And I think you're being very nasty." Muriel said feeling upset.
'When isn't he?' I thought with a growl.
'MM-HMM' Courage nodded in agreement.
"Don't care." He yelled again. "You're blocking me television. Durn T.V. blocking woman."
"I've had it with you not caring what I think or say." Muriel said snapping.
'Finally. Maybe she can leave his ass now. She truly deserves better.' I thought hoping that she would leave him.
"They should make a remote that turns off people." Eustace grumbled as he continued to flip channels.
"Don't worry. I'm shutting myself off." Muriel said now pissed.
'Oh, no.' I thought in panic.
"I'm not speaking anymore. Listen to the T.V. all you want. You won't be hearing from me anymore." Muriel declared.
"Mom. Please don't." I begged her with Courage doing the same.
"Sorry you two. My voice isn't welcomed in this house. So, I'm keeping my thoughts to myself." She told us before heading upstairs where we heard even more arguing.
"Huh? What? I wasn't listening. Ha, ha, ha. Finally, a little peace and quiet." Eustace laughed as he raised the volume on the television before taking out another newspaper.
'Bastard.' I thought as I took this paper from him and tore it up.
"Hey, that was-" He began but I stopped him when I slammed my shield against his face. Going to the Television, I turned it off before moving around and using my sword to cut the plug.
"There, now you can have all the peace and quiet you want." I taunted.
"Fix that right now." Eustace demanded nearly in tears when he saw me cut the plug for the television.
"I'll fix it on one condition." I told him.
"Yeah, what's that." He demanded as his knuckles turned white.
"Burn all your money, burn your chair and apologize to Muriel." I told him.
At this, he began to cry knowing that he would never do so. Sighing, I looked over to the stairs. Wondering if we should go and check up on Muriel or give her time to cool off. Seeing that she was truly actually mad, I decided to give her some space and time to cool off. But hearing more yelling coming from upstairs, I decided to go and check up on Wiess and Ruby.
"Coming Courage?" I asked. He seemed hesitant, and I could tell it's because he wants to check on Muriel.
'Yeah, sure.' He answered still worried for Muriel and by what she meant earlier.
Nodding, we went up the stairs to my room. Though, we both had to resist the urge to check up on Muriel as we passed her room. Reaching my room, I grabbed the handle and braced myself. Opening the door, we saw that my room thankfully not a mess. However, Weiss and Ruby were sitting on opposite sides of the room. They were a bit bruised and glaring at each other. Clearly, they have some unresolves issues. But when they spotted me, their behavior seemed to change. But I could tell it was just a front they put and that they can't stand being next to each other.
"Oh, hey Jaune. Sorry for-" Ruby began but I stopped her.
"Save it. Courage and I could hear it from downstairs." I told her. Honestly, right now I am feeling drained for some reason. Most likely it's because of Eustace as he is always mentally exhausting.
"Jaune. We heard Muriel yelling from downstairs. What happened?" Weiss asked.
Sighing, I contemplated a bit before figuring I should tell them. While it is not their problem and it doesn't concern them, they were arguing constantly and I could tell it was getting as ugly as the argument Muriel just had with Eustace. And this could give them a warning of what's to come to them if they kept it up and how devastating they can be.
"Muriel wanted Eustace get some vinegar from the store. But Eustace ignored her and kept ignoring her every time she tried to get his attention to the point she nearly snapped. I managed to get his attention from his paper to Muriel. But he then proceeded to insult her continuously. Now, Muriel snapped as she said she had enough of him not paying attention to her. And now will no longer speak. And I don't know exactly what she meant by this but we'll know soon enough." I answered.
"Oh, Jaune I'm-" Weiss began to cut off.
"Don't. Please don't. This isn't the first time I have dealt with this. But let me give you both this warning as you both have been arguing consistently and nearly violently for a while. If you both aren't careful, one of you will say or do something that will permanently damage your relationship. And you'll look back on it as one of the worst mistakes you ever made. I can guarantee you that." I told them.
They went quiet at this and looked at each other and seemed like they might apologize but I knew they were far from that and I could still sense some hostility between them. Moving over to my bed, I began to fix it to get some sleep as it was pretty late.
"You two should probably head to the guest room as it's pretty late already and it's going to be a long day tomorrow." I told them as I finished making my bed.
"Right." Ruby agreed as she looked at the time on her scroll.
"Good night Jaune." Weiss said as they left my room. Though, I could tell they were not fully focused and seemed to be deep in thought.
'You think they will take what you said seriously?' Courage asked as he hopped onto the pillow, I pulled out for him.
"They are probably thinking about it right now. But I doubt the reality or the weight of the warning I gave them has sunk in yet." I answered as I got into bed and pulled the blanket over me.
'Looks like we have a big day tomorrow. Best get some sleep. Night.' Courage said before falling asleep.
"Night." I said smiling before giving him a light scratch on the ear. Turning to the side, I turned off the light and went to sleep.
Morning Eight A.M.
"Morning." I said as I stretched when I woke up from the light shining into my room and hitting my face.
'Morning Jaune.' Courage said as he stretched before jumping down from my bed. 'Should we check on Muriel now?'
"Let's check on Wiess and Ruby beforehand. Then we go and find her." I answered as I got out of my bed.
Nodding, we went to the bathroom to get ready for the day. Getting out, we headed down stairs to the kitchen. Entering, we saw an angry Eustace wearing a bib and holding a fork and knife sitting at the table. On the other side were Ruby and Weiss. And the tension between them was still high but not like yesterday. Looking around, we didn't see Muriel.
"Morning Jaune." Ruby said with a forced smile.
"Morning." Weiss said with a more practiced smile that I saw through easily.
"Hey stupid dog and kid." Eustace shouted getting our attention. "Muriel talking yet?"
"How should we know? We just got up." I answered while Courage shook his head.
"Then go find her and get her to talk. I want to know if she's going to make me breakfast." He demanded while bringing down a fist on the table. Only to hit a plate and have it fly to his face. "OOK! GRRR!"
"Oh, sure. Now you need her. Get up and make some yourself you ass." I told him which pissed him off. "Or maybe the reason you need Muriel to do it is because you don't know how to do it yourself. Like you don't know how to farm or grow a single plant."
"You little." Eustace grumbled before getting up and leaving the room. Though after he left, we could hear him begin to tear up a bit.
"Jaune. That was mean." Ruby said frowning.
"He deserved it after what he did to Muriel last night." I countered before adding. "Speaking of which, did you two think about what is said?"
"We did. But I think it's going to be a bit more before we can stand each other." Weiss answered calmly at the beginning but nearly growled at the end while glaring at Ruby.
"Don't start Weiss. It's too early." Ruby said glaring at Weiss. But before they could begin to argue, I cut in.
"Enough. It's too early and this is what I'm talking about. If you two don't stop now, it will only get worse and before you know it, your relationship will be irreparable." I told them already growing frustrated.
"Jaune-" Weiss began but I cut her off.
"If you need me or Courage, we'll be looking for Muriel." I said before we left the room.
'Looks like everyone is arguing in the house.' Courage said annoyed as we immediately began to hear Ruby and Weiss argue as soon as we left the room.
"Yeah. Seems like it. Let's just find Muriel." I told him rubbing my temples.
'I think I hear her playing sitar in the cellar.' He told me as he raised his ear to listen for her.
Nodding, we exited the house through the front and went around the house to the doors that led down to the cellar. Opening the doors, we went downstairs and looked around. And true to what Courage said, Muriel was playing the sitar in the corner of the room.
"Mom." I said as we neared her. "Are you okay?"
'Muriel?' Courage asked as well. Instead of answering, she looked at us before frowning and shaking her head.
"Please mom. Answer." I said moving closer to her.
'Please?' Courage asked as well with a hopeful smile. Yet all she did was shrug her shoulders. Sighing, we headed up the stairs to the living room while ignoring the now full on arguing of Weiss and Ruby.
"What do we do now?" I asked Courage. At that moment, Eustace entered the room wearing a coat.
"I can't believe I gotta buy me own breakfast." He bitterly said as he opened the door. But due to his anger, he went into the door instead of exiting the doorframe. He growled before successfully leaving the house.
"Damn ass." I muttered under my breath. "So anyway, what should we do?"
'Maybe call the Dr. Vindaloo?' He suggested.
"What can he do?" I asked confused.
'Maybe give counseling or therapy sessions.' He answered as he picked up the phone and began dialing.
"Worth a shot. Maybe it could work." I said as I moved next to him and waited for Dr. Vindaloo to pick up. Luckily, he did after a few rings.
'This is Dr. Vindaloo. You sick.' He said after picking up. Courage then began to tell him everything that has happened and why we called him.
'Hopefully he can help.' I thought as Courage finished,
'The big lady is silent. She must be the one to explain the problem to me.' Dr. Vindaloo said before shouting in pain at what we can presume is him plucking his eyebrows. 'Put big lady on the phone.'
"That is the thing Dr. Vindaloo. She is the silent one and will not talk." I explained as I took the phone from Courage.
'If patient cannot describe problem to me, I cannot help—cannot help at all.' He told us before shouting in more pain.
"Is there anything you can do Dr. Vindaloo? We really need your help." I asked him.
'If the silent one won't speak, you need more than a doctor to help. You need magic. Ha, ha. That's a good one.' He told us before screaming in pain. 'Ouch. Must hang up now.'
'Well, that was a waste.' Courage said hanging up. 'At least we know someone who could potentially help us.'
"Right. Shirley." I said sighing. But we then remember Weiss and Ruby, "We should probably bring Weiss and Ruby along as well."
'Yeah.' Courage said agreeing with a sigh.
One Hour and a half later
"So, you're Muriel will not speak because of the stupid one? What is it I can do?" Shirley asked.
We were at Shirleys wagon. It would have taken us about a half hour to get to her as she was not that far from the house. Only on the other side of town. But it took longer as we constantly had to break up fights between Ruby and Weiss. It had gotten to the point where we were tempted to leave them behind Then we remembered that if Shirley could help us with Muriel, then she could probably do the same with Ruby and Wiess.
'Anything. Anything to make Muriel speak again.' Courage answered.
"Okay, I will do so. But first, you have a request of me Jaune about your friends." Shirley said turning to me.
"Yes. I do." I told her.
"What are you planning Jaune?" Weiss questioned me suspiciously.
"Something that will hopefully benefit the both of you." I answered before whispering to Shirley what I wanted her to do.
"Very well." Shirley said before turning to Weiss and Ruby. "Gaze into the crystal ball."
"Why?" Ruby asked worried while Weiss just glared at me and Courage.
"You want this done quickly, or no?" Shirley asked impatiently.
"Fine." Weiss said as she and Ruby both began to stare the crystal ball. Only to lose themselves a moment later and become what I can only guess is hypnotized.
'What did you do?' Courage asked worried.
"Merely show them what would happen if they keep like this with each other. But now, your turn." Shirley answered before taking out a Saxaphone.
"Um, what are you going to do with that?" I asked confused.
"I will unleash forces which can only be stopped by the sound of your Muriel's voice." She answered mysteriously.
'Huh?'Courage asked confused.
'This can't be good.' I though now worried at what we just did.
"These are powerful forces. I will make a spell. From deep below the planet's shell." She said before playing the saxophone. "Deeper than the deepest well... May forces rise to break the ground... and cause your Muriel to sound."
'Ahh. Thak you.' Courage said and was about to leave but I stopped him.
"Wait Courage. There's more." I told him.
"You're correct. If your Muriel won't speak, much havoc will these forces wreak. In other words, it will not be pretty." Shirley warned us. At that moment, we felt the ground start to tremble. Looking to Shirley, we saw her open a small umbrella. "So, it begins."
Heading outside, we began to look around for whatever is causing the trembling or whatever Shirley summoned. Soon, we saw something begin to dig its way out of the ground. We were confused by what it was until it fully emerged. It seemed to be a giant starfish but with things underneath each part. But those parts seemed to destroy anything that goes under it.
'AAHHHH!' Courage screamed in fear. All the color had drained from him which showed how scared he was. He then got on all fours and shook himself and all his color came back. Looking back at the creature, we saw that it was moving extremely fast towards the farmhouse.
"If I were either of you, I would get to your Muriel before it does." Shirley told us as she stepped out of her wagon.
'Oh, no.' Courage gasped.
"And how do you suppose we do that?" I asked her.
"For a fee, I can provide you with speedy transportation." She answered.
"Got any money Courage?" I asked as I reached into my wallet and gave Shirley thirty bucks that I had.
'Um, let me—Oh, I got it.' He answered before straining his face. I was about to ask wat he was doing when he suddenly laid an egg.
"Um, is that a solid 14k gold egg?" I asked confused and amazed.
"Don't you have anything bigger?" Shirley asked not impressed.
'Nope.' Courage answered.
"It will have to do." Shirle said before taking it and going back inside.
'Don't ask.' Courage said getting my attention.
"Wasn't going to." I told him.
"Here." Shirley said stepping out of her wagon and tossing us a unicycle. Sh then went back inside her wagon before she could say anything.
'Do you know how to ride it Jaune?' Courage asked.
"Yeah. But don't ask where I learned to do so." I answered while shivering.
'Wasn't going to.' He said smiling. Chuckling, I got on the unicycle before picking him up and placing him on my head.
"Alright. Let's go." I said as we began to ride the unicycle.
Riding the unicycle, on the sandy terrain was a bit hard. Thankfully, after a few minutes, we reached the town and the pavement made it a bit easier to keep up and eventually surpass the monster. I was getting ab it tired though when we were halfway through town. But hearing Courage gasp and looking back at the destruction the monster was leaving behind filled me with renewed energy.
'Watch out!' Courage suddenly warned. Looking to my right, I saw Di Lung racing towards. Narrowly escaping, we managed to doge him.
'Ass.' I thought as I regain my balance and speed.
"Watch where you're goin', ya fool!" We heard him say. Only to hear him scream a moment later when the monster went over him and destroyed his vehicle.
Peddling as fast as I can, we managed to lose sight of the monster. After a solid ten minutes of riding, we eventually managed to make it back to the farmhouse. But because of my exhaustion and looking back, I wasn't fully paying attention which caused us to hit the house and go down and through the doors that led to the cellar. Shaking it off, we looked around and saw Muriel in the same spot as before playing the sitar.
"Muriel." I said as we raced over to her. "Please speak. Please."
'A monster is coming.' Courage told her before transforming into a monster that destroyed a small verson of the house. He then turned into a puppet of Muriel which played a recording of her talking which would stop the monster if she did so.
"..." She was about to speak but was cut off by Eustace upstairs.
"Will you quit playing that stupid hippy music. I'm trying to read my paper." We heard him yell Because of this, Muriel frowned before going back to play her sitar.
"It's close by." I said when we began to feel the ground tremble.
'Last chance.' Courage said as he picked up Muriel and took her outside. Following her, I knew what he meant. That if she saw the creature, then maybe she could talk.
"Please mom." I begged when we saw her continue to play the sitar and not pay us any attention. At the moment, we heard the kitchen door open.
"I asked you to stop playing-AAHHH!" Eustace began but screamed in terror when he saw the monster. He then ran back inside the house.
"Please Mom." I asked one final time.
'Muriel?' Courage whined as well. Seeing that it was no use, we walked away from her a good distance. Once there and ear the monster, we fell to our backs in defeat. Soon, the monster stopped before it reached us. We were slightly confused but then understood when it lifted a part of itself straight up. It was going to slam it down on us.
"Nice knowing you Courage." I told him as I grabbed his paw.
'Same Jaune.' He said holding tightly. Turning back to the monster, we saw it began to slowly bring its arm down.
"MURIEL!" We both shouted one last time.
"OH! COURAGE! JAUNE!" We heard her shout. At her voice, the monster stopped before slowly sinking back into the ground.
"That was close." I said trying to catch my breath.
'Too close.' Courage agreed. We were about to get up when we felt Muriel bring us into a hug.
"I thought I was going to lose you both." She said as she tightened the hug.
"You'll never lose either of us." I said struggling to hold back some tears. She then let us go before pointing to the monster.
"Did I do that? With my voice?" She asked confused.
"Yes, you did mom." I answered.
"I guess what I say does matter. At least to a huge ugly creature." Muriel said chuckling a bit.
"And to us." I added with Courage agreeing.
"And to you both." She said giggling.
"Muriel. Will you promise to never not speak again?" I asked her.
"Of course. I promise to never stop speaking again." She said with a smile.
"Thanks." I said wiping some tears that managed to escape.
"Let's go inside and have some breakfast." She said getting up and heading inside.
'Yay!' Courage shouted in joy. And I couldn't help but do the same.
8:00 P.M.
And another thing Eustace. From now on, when I talk, you listen. Got it? I said, is that clear?" Muriel asked Eustace.
"MM-HMM." He answered. He could not speak as Courage and I tape his mouth shut completely.
'Should have done this a long time ago.' I though as I chuckled at him not being able to speak. Hearing Courage grunting, I turned to him just in time to see him lay an even bigger egg before laughing.
"All right. Now, let's head to the kitchen." Muriel told us. She, Eustace and Courage then proceeded to head to the kitchen. I was about to do so as well when we heard knocking on the door.
"I got it." I said as I moved to the door. Opening it, I saw a pissed off Weiss and pouting Ruby. I then remember that we forgot to get them from Shirley. "Oh. Hey."
"Jaune. Be lucky that you and Shirley helped us otherwise you would be in a world of hurt." Wiess told me as they entered the house.
"What you mean?" I asked trying not to flinch in pain when Ruby pouted again before kicking me in the shin.
"You said last night on how if we keep up our arguing, we might do something we might regret." Ruby told me.
"Yes. I did." I said wondering where this was going.
"Well, Shirley showed us what would happen if we continued." Weiss explained.
"Okay. Good. What did she show you?" I asked.
"Some possibilities of what could happen in the future. But she then changed is to something else." Ruby began.
"What did she change it to?" I asked confused and worried.
"She made us live through what you and Courage just did with trying to get Muriel to speak again. From yesterday where she stopped talking to where you and Courage throwing yourselves under the monster." Weiss answered.
"Which was dangerous. Don't you ever do that again." Ruby demanded.
"I'm sorry I won't." I said promising to her.
"You better Jaune. But we must say, thanks for bringing us to Shirley." Weiss said moving to us.
"Yeah. We may not be on great terms, but we are getting there." Ruby said smiling with Weiss agreeing.
"That's good." I said smiling as well.
"Kids. Dinner!" Muriel shouted to us.
"How about we eat some dinner." I suggested.
"Yes. I'm starving." Ruby said before dashing into the kitchen. Chuckling, we followed her as well.
'Glad they are now getting along.' I thought as I saw both Wiess and Ruby laughed at Eustace who had his mouth taped shut.
Note:
(1) Car Broke, Phone yes with Pyrrha. (2) The last of the star makers with Winter and Iris. (3) Night of the Scarecrow with Qrow, Ruby and Yang. (4) Thousand years of Courage with Sun and Neptune. (5) Wrath of the librarian with Blake. (6) Squatting Tiger, Hidden Dog with Nora and Ren. (7) Cabaret Courage with Wiess. (8) Family Business with Winter. (9) Curse of Shirley with Qrow, Yang and Ruby. (10) Goat Pain with Blake. (11) Journey to the center of Nowhere with Peach. (12) Forbidden hat of Gold with Port and Oobleck. (13) McPhearsome Phantom with Blake and her parents. (14) Heads of Beef with Sun and Neptune. (15) Adiran, Saphron and Terra in Courage under the Volcano.