Note is on other fics, but repeating for those who only read this

As those who read White Sheep and Relic will know, I had to rush my mother into hospital after she suffered a heart attack. She is still in there being tested and they're unsure when (or if) she will be able to come home. As such, I am spending time at the hospital every day with her and my writing has and will be impacted until things settle down.

Rather than not update chapters, I'm going to take to writing some slightly shorter ones. Hopefully, this will only impact for a week or so, but it will depend on many things. She may be released come Tuesday or Wednesday, but she may not be.

This is a note to let you all know.

I could take time off writing, but right now I need the distraction it gives. If thing get worse, deteriorate or she dies, I may need a week or two off to recover. I shall let people know if such occurs.


On Trolls

Secondly, as some have noticed there is a silly little troll trying his luck in the reviews. He posts as "anonymous reviews" but types in someone else's name as the reviewer, hoping to incriminate them. Mostly, he seems to be lashing out at a Mr Grimjaw and Canuck72, but he has also imitated other reviewers, mostly posting half-assed racist comments or trying to provoke arguments. Just ignore it, but also keep in mind that it is NOT the fault of those he pretends to be.

They are innocent, and the troll likes to imagine his childish comments will lead to them receiving hate PMs or being banned or something.

For these shorter chapters, I took the idea from a reviewer or two (who said some other author I can't right now remember the name of uses it) to have "Interlude Chapters". Basically, a short chapter which looks at what is going on "outside" the PoV and immediate area of the protagonist.

Some have wanted this for Forged Destiny for a while, so let me know what you think, and I might consider making it a semi-regular thing. Say, once every couple of chapters or so, or when something big happens. I'll not set any defined limits on when.


Beta: College Fool

Cover Art: Dishwasher1910

Book 7: Interlude


Her master's Guild was a mess.

Ellayne realised that quickly, but things had only gotten worse once her master was locked away in the palace. Each of the Guild members showed it in a different way, and Ellayne was starting to get a grasp for how each of them expressed that frustration, sorrow and, in many cases, guilt. Some of them moped about and acted like they were marionettes with their strings cut. Others busied themselves in little tasks and acted all annoyed when they didn't have something to do. Others got angry, or took it out on the Grimm, or – in Pyrrha's case – took it out on her.

"I-I yield," Ellayne panted, flat on her back with a sword tip to her neck. "I give up."

Pyrrha Nikos, Champion, and all-around monster, looked down on Ellayne as if she were surprised to discover who she had been sparring with. That she'd lost track of things and defeated Ellayne without paying attention was obvious, as was Ellayne's shame at not putting up a better fight.

Don't get it wrong, she considered her master to be strong as hell, but Pyrrha? She was on another level. Worse, Ellayne had become her informal student since Jaune was away.

Honestly, it was ridiculous. Jaune was her master, her his apprentice – or even his squire. She wasn't so useless that she couldn't survive a week or two longer without his tutelage, however. She had some of his training regimes down and she could hunt in the Emerald Forest. She could be a patient squire while Jaune handled things far above her. She wasn't a puppy which needed twenty-four-hour attention and care.

Pyrrha didn't realise that.

No. She probably did.

It was just that Ellayne had become her own way of redeeming herself. In lieu of a way to apologise to Jaune, or maybe just not knowing how, Pyrrha sought to be useful to him, to earn his forgiveness through being helpful. Hence, Ellayne – lacking her master – got saddled with death incarnate.

Wonderful…

It wasn't that she disliked Pyrrha. How could you dislike someone who was so unfalteringly polite? It was more that she'd become more acquainted with the floor in the last few days than she had an entire year under Jaune. He didn't see the need to beat her down unless she got arrogant, a rare occurrence nowadays but something that occasionally flared up. He would be more likely to stop a fight and tell her where she was going wrong. Pyrrha preferred to show her, and usually though the experience of it.

"O-Oh, I'm sorry," Pyrrha said, only just realising what was going on. Damn her. "That was good, Ellayne. You're getting better."

As if you paid attention to me at all, she thought. Pyrrha hadn't seen enough of the fight to know if she was getting better or not, and since all she had to count on were innumerable losses, she wasn't sure what she was getting.

Still… it was hard not to begrudge Pyrrha a spar. Not because Ellayne needed it, but because Pyrrha did.

Ellayne really didn't care about the whole Class issue with Jaune. He was her master, the one who took her in and assured she'd become a Hero when she hadn't deserved to. He'd saved her and, in doing so, saved Hazel as well. Frankly, he could have revealed himself to be a turnip disguised as a Farmer disguised as a Knight disguised as the King of the Moon for all she cared. Caste titles had started to lose their importance after she nearly slipped through three of them in one day. Noble to Hero, nearly to Soldier until Jaune helped her be a Hero.

For those like her, trapped between Castes, the whole system was torture anyway. It was easier for the people born pure – though Ellayne hated that the term implied such people were better. They, at least, got the security of knowing their place and never having to fear losing it.

So, Jaune was a Blacksmith, an NPC.

Meh.

He was more a Hero than she'd been in her First Quest and that was all that mattered.

Of course, it was different for Pyrrha and everyone else. They had their own hang-ups, their own problems and their own opinions. Most of them were born into a single Caste anyway, so they didn't really understand the struggle. Jaune being an NPC had come as a shock to their system, and for someone like Pyrrha, who came from Mistral – rule abiding and disciplined, as Ellayne recalled from Hazel's lessons – it was even worse.

In a way, it was a sign of how much Pyrrha trusted him that she'd only acted as she had. Most people from Mistral would have had a whole lot more to say. Not that it helped much, but Ellayne figured Pyrrha deserved at least a little kudos for that.

Now, if only Pyrrha could work up the nerve to apologise to Jaune normally, as opposed to what she was currently doing, trying to beat the apology through Ellayne and into Jaune vicariously. It didn't make sense, damn it! Just. Say. Sorry!

"Shall we go for another round?" Pyrrha asked kindly. "Jaune asked me to help you. Maybe we could surprise him."

Oh, for crying out loud!

"Y-You know, you could just talk to him," Ellayne panted.

"H-Huh?" Pyrrha flinched. "N-No, this is fine. He asked me to look after your training, trusted me to help you. I won't betray that trust." Pyrrha's face was filled with barely concealed pain as she said it. The trust had already been betrayed, or so Pyrrha felt.

Trying to earn forgiveness by being `useful` was self-destructive, Ellayne thought. Well then, she must have been the same. It was the only explanation for why she kept feeling sorry enough for Pyrrha that she accepted time and time again, letting the older, stronger and infinitely more skilled woman pick her apart piece by piece just to make her feel better.

With an exhausted groan, Ellayne brought up her weapon.

"Again…"

/-/

Ruby smiled up at her Uncle Qrow, more grateful than she dared admit for his offer to go out and eat in Vale, just the two of them. She'd been desperate to get away from the others, even if she would never admit it.

"How are things going with the Greycloaks?" she asked over some beef and onion dinner.

"They're going," Qrow, as usual, gave away nothing. "You'll hear anything important from Ozpin or I as we find it. Right now, they've got their eyes focused on Vale. Oz told you the plan, right?"

"Use Jaune as a lure for them," Ruby said. "I don't like it…"

"No? You don't think he's good enough?"

"It's not that!" she said quickly, before anyone could accuse her of doubting him. "I'm just… Things are tense enough as it is. I don't think pretending to have an argument is a good idea."

"It's just fake."

"Even a fake argument might hit a little close to home. If the others shout that they don't trust him because he's Labour Caste, that'll not be entirely make believe…"

"They don't trust him?"

Ruby's face fell. "They do… It's just…"

"Easier to say, harder to do."

She nodded. Everyone trusted him because he'd proven he could be trusted. In the same way that they trusted Yang or Weiss or Pyrrha. Even in Vacuo, they'd all known Jaune was strong enough to look after himself, because hell, he'd done so in the same situations they had. They knew he was capable but knowing something was different to actually doing something about it.

"Maybe it would be better if everyone was together more," she said. "They could all get used to him and it wouldn't take long for the silence to grow and force an apology, but the separation is bad. It's letting people build up their tempers."

Jaune's included. She'd seen it a few times already in their brief visits. If they were all in the Lodge, something would have exploded by now. Ruby dreaded it, but in a weird way she also thought it might be for the best. Get it out quickly and get it over with, then go back to normal. Things wouldn't have festered and gone bad like this.

Then again, it was easy for her to say that. She'd discovered his secret before the others and confronted him, which meant she got to dodge out on all the anger and mistrust.

In hindsight, the better option was just Jaune coming clean. A whole lot of the negative feelings came from the way it was revealed. It was kind of hard to talk about them trusting him, when he'd clearly not trusted them.

"It's all a mess," she said. "I don't think this will help."

"Hmm." Qrow drank a little more of his beer. "How is Yang handling it?"

"Not… great. She's not beaten up like Blake or mopey like Nora and Pyrrha. You know what she's like, she's just waiting for them to talk so they can argue, probably fight it out with their fists and then be friends again."

"Sounds like her. It might work, though."

"Yeah, but I'm worried about what comes after. I'm not sure Yang can treat him like a Hero." Ruby's voice fell to a near-silent murmur. "She can barely treat me like one…"

"Hey." Qrow's hand fell on her shoulder. "None of that. It's hard for any family member to look on another like that, and it's nothing to do with trust or anything else."

Ruby smiled but said nothing. It was easy for Uncle Qrow to say that, but he was kind of the same. They didn't mean it in a cruel way. There was love involved, definitely, but then, there was love involved with Jaune too, wasn't there? Not quite the same familial love, but a love that friends had for one another.

The problem was, even if Yang, Dad and even Uncle Qrow loved her, she knew they'd have been a little less worried if she wasn't such a broken Class. If her other Stats were a little higher and she didn't define the concept of fragile. Ruby hated her Class. Despised it, for all that she bit back the complaints and did her best to carry on with it. She'd have loved to be a Warrior, Knight, Archer or even a Mage. Something more consistent, something with less doubt.

She couldn't even blame them for looking out for her or being nervous, not when a single blow might have ended her life. At least before Jaune helped, not just with a weapon the first time, but also with her armour, and the Rune that more than tripled her Constitution. Maybe that was what had always excited her about him, that he never looked at a Reaper as if she were anything less than a Hero. The `why` was obvious in hindsight.

I just wish they'd all stop looking at me like I'm going to follow in mom's footsteps. I'm barely able to convince people I actually am a Hero, let alone stand in her shoes. Though, considering how hard she tried, she supposed that they were right to be worried about her.

But that didn't make it hurt any less.

"I'm a Hero, Uncle Qrow."

"We know you are, squirt." He rubbed a hand through her hair. "But you're also Ruby Rose before that, and it's hard for people who love you to see past that."

Yeah. It was just a shame they couldn't look past that.

"I know, Uncle Qrow. It's fine."

/-/

Sometimes, Weiss felt like the only sane one in the Guild.

Ever since the trip back from Vacuo, she'd felt it – if only because things had truly descended into madness. She would never be so silly as to say Jaune was the glue that held the Guild together, because he wasn't. She had a fair relationship with each and every member and had even bridged the gap between herself and Blake long ago. The Guild didn't need Jaune to function, but it sure did miss his absence, as it would anyone's.

And, of course, no one else is willing to do a thing about it, Weiss thought, giving up on reading. It was all but impossible when Blake was in the room taking deep, calming breaths.

"Your anger is showing again," Weiss said.

"I have no idea what you mean."

"Hm. I'm sure."

The Assassin glared her way, a stark reminder of the difference in their Classes and just why Weiss had so despised her at first. It hadn't been fair, looking back on it, but considering what happened to her family, Weiss felt it was forgivable. Blake had certainly felt so and seen fit to entertain Weiss as a friend despite her earlier mistreatment. If an Assassin and a Mage could become friends, then surely a Blacksmith turned Swordmaster could do the same with a group of Heroes.

Then again, that had never been in doubt.

"This will all wash over, Blake," she said. "We just need to get it out into the open."

"I still have no idea what you are talking about."

"For being an Assassin, your ability to talk yourself out of trouble is severely lacking. I know you're not reading that, by the way. You've yet to turn a page and it's been fifteen minutes."

The book in Blake's lap slapped closed, the Assassin sighing as if it were Weiss who had interrupted her reading and not her own thoughts. Rather than continue with the charade, Blake asked, "And how do you expect us to get it out, hm? Unless you misheard, we're to continue the argument to allow him into the Greycloaks. Which, I will add, I still think is a terrible idea."

"I know. I think it is, too. But if you'll take some advice, you won't say so to Jaune."

Blake's lips peeled back. "The idiot…"

Weiss neither agreed nor disagreed. In the end, it wasn't her lover's spat to walk into, if one could really call them that anymore. Emotions were running high. Jaune took each and every question of his capability as an insult instead of the concern it was, but to be fair, Blake was no better. They were both itching for a fight. Weiss had a sinking feeling the Lodge was going to be the setting, and her the mediator. And, if her suspicions were true, it might happen in a little under three hours.

Sometimes, most times, Weiss hated being the sane one in the Guild.

/-/

Ren felt nothing.

Every time it felt like he might, every time the feelings welled up, they were stolen away by his Passive, often before he could identify them. A lifetime of never feeling them had left him with little more than a vague understanding of what they might be. The twisting in his gut – barely a second before it was stolen – might have been fear, guilt or even love. The long sigh he released could be relief, frustration or simple boredom. The rush of heat? Anything.

Only the calmness of the void remained after, an enforced silence that was not so much `calmness` as emptiness. A lack of any explicit emotion. Perfect balance.

Something welled up inside of him.

And then it was gone.

Anger, probably. That might have been a flash of anger directed towards his Passive. It was hard to keep track and it was gone now, so it didn't really matter. Not much did.

A hand fell on his shoulder. Nora smiled at him, happily, but also a little sadly. She knew, of course. "Jaune will be back soon. Do you think he'll still be upset?"

"I would imagine so. I expect that absence has allowed the wounds to fester and become infected. I am not convinced Ozpin's latest plan will help us any."

"No, I guess not." Nora, unlike him, was expressive at all times, and the way her face fell had his stomach clench – until it didn't. She was upset. Nora was a social animal, outgoing like all Barbarians, and yet lacking much of the anger their kind was renowned for.

Stereotyped for, he supposed. Jaune had taught him the folly in judging people for their Class, a lesson he'd learned long ago in the Communal Halls. Funny that the moment Jaune's Class was revealed, he fell back on old habits. It might have been that he saw Jaune's words as fake the moment he was revealed as such, but it might just as easily have been the setting, the constant danger in Vacuo clouding his mind.

Either way, Nora was upset and as her friend it was his duty to help however he could. He reached up and gripped her hand in his, squeezed it and hoped to convey feelings he did not – could not – have.

"It will be fine, Nora. Only those who still hold feelings for one another can experience true anger. If he did not care for us, I doubt he would act as he does. He feels betrayed."

Nora's smile wobbled. "He has a right to…"

"Just as you have a right to feel upset that he kept it a secret from you. As Blake does that he lied to her face, despite them being so close. Everyone is hurt, and everyone has a right to be. That doesn't matter, however. What matters is how we move forward."

"I guess." Nora cheered up a little. "You always know what to say, Renny."

Reading helped. But then, so did spending time with Nora. He could not feel the emotions for long, but she was so exuberant that she brought more sparks of them, the brief instances where he could taste feeling for a second or two.

"Are you looking forward to seeing him again?" Nora asked.

Ren considered the question. "Yes, I'm looking forward to it."

At least, Ren thought he was.

It was impossible to tell.


Glimpses of other people's points of view. I tried to cover everyone, if not directly then at least by including them in a scene with someone else. I'm not a fan of those "Glue that holds people together" moments, and I genuinely don't think Jaune is that here. He helped bring some of them in, but they have their own lives and friendships now.

Anyway, I'm off to the hospital soon. If all is lucky, she might be in for her angiogram today. She has been gowned and she is nil by mouth, but again, if someone more desperate comes in and needs it, they get it.


Next Chapter: 19th November (my Birthday =P Let's hope I have reason to celebrate it)

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur