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Scrublord Yoda

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In spite of the fact that the semester hadn't actually started yet, the commissary building that adjoined the frankly massive cafeteria was already both stocked and busy. Students, mostly dressed in their uniform and all clearly among the older years, were already thronging Dust and supply stores for whatever they needed. The commissary itself was three floors, as tall as the cafeteria connected to it was, with each floor split by a wide walkway lined by stores on either side. At the end of each wide pathway were winding sets of stairs set to either side of a large lift. There were even plants, mostly small trees and flowers, down the middle of each walkway with benches set around them for people to rest on.

"It's like a shopping mall…" Mort murmured, "Remember that one we saw at Arclight? It's like that one."

He couldn't properly answer of course, not with the two sisters to either side of him chatting quietly. But he did hum and share Mort's thoughts with them, to let the sword spirit at least kind of talk to the other two. It wasn't much, but it was all he could do for his imprisoned comrade.

"Does it really?" Ruby asked quietly, flicking a look at her larger sister. "You used to sail into Vale to visit the malls, right?"

"Oh yeah, Vale always had better stuff in than Patch did. And thanks to the lil' princess here-"

"Yaaaaaang, come on!"

"-I used to be able to catch free fare whenever I wanted to cruise on over." Yang laughed, letting her lavender eyes roll around the stores as they walked. Her sister glared at her for it, but Yang ignored her, sighing contently like a woman right at home, "And yeah, this about has it on the nose. Minus the screaming kids, but eh, can't mimic it perfectly."

"Would you want to mimic that, though?" Jaune asked quietly, memories of exactly that ringing shrilly in his head. "It was definitely not my favorite part of the one I went to."

"I mean, yeah." Yang guffawed, shaking her head and turning on a heel, walking backwards ahead of them so she could point at him. "C'mon, Lover Boy. think about it. How else are you supposed to laugh at all the people trying to play 'who can herd the army of kids'?"

"That sounds like a terrible game…"

"No, no, I think she's onto something." Mort whispered conspiratorially, the sound warbling in the back of his mind eerily. "Watching stupid people suffer is a great past time, after all."

For the five hundredth time, it felt like now, he thumped Mort's gem meaningfully and rolled his eyes.

"Don't you worry, My Lord," Yang grinned, flashing a weak pantomime of a quick bow and then bouncing on her heel to get back to his side when he and her sister walked by her, "we'll make a people watcher outta you yet."

"People watcher?"

"It's this weird made up thing Yang says she is-"

"Hey!" The blonde shouted, "I didn't make nothin' up! It's on Google!"

"-because she likes to sit down and make up stories about people she sees doin' stuff." Ruby finished explaining without the faintest care for her sister's interruption, sticking her tongue out at the older woman when Yang did the same. Laughing, Ruby shrugged, "It's, ya know… Just a thing she does."

"Like you and your tinkering?"

"Hey." Ruby held up a hand, eyebrows raised challenginyl. "My tinkering is useful. How else would I have made a compactable, fully functional, high-caliber sniper-scythe mecha-shifter amalgam?"

"Pardon?"

"Her scythe is also a gun." Yang explained jovially, turning to point at a store as they reached it, "And this is one of the best combat gear places for armor bois like you I know of. Big name place, been told by friends o' mine that they do great work and aren't shitheads."

"And that means…?"

"She's saying that they aren't racists, and that their stores are all co-ops working the same schematics and styles as the original and sharing the name. So, no employees are being taken advantage of." A young woman on a nearby bench explained quietly, voice barely reaching him over the dull roar of the sparse crowds and stores. Bare ears flicking, the woman flicked her gaze up from her book and tapping her very well fitted leggings purposefully, "And for the record, they do great work even for people that don't wear traditional armor, too."

"As long as the price isn't too steep…" He grimaced, searching her face for… Something that would explain why she seemed familiar to him. When he failed, he simply shrugged, "I've been working the frontier for a couple years, so money isn't… Great."

"They aren't, unless you make custom orders." She assured him, smiling and deftly slipping a piece of paper into her book to mark it as she stood. Shrugging she added, quietly but jokingly, "Or buy a suit of plates."

"Coats of plates are always expensive, yeah." Exorbitantly so, in fact, if you wanted anything that was actually worth wearing. Finally remembering his manners he gripped the top of his sheath and pressed a fist to his heart, bowing his head. "Lord Jaune of House Arc at Ansel, Errant. This is Lady Ruby of House Rose at Patch and her sister, Yang Xiao Long."

"Of…?"

"Of None-Ya." Yang grunted with a roguish little smile, leaning on his shoulder as he straightened and making him stay stooped. The Faunus blinked, and Yang added with a bright, energizing laugh, "None Ya Business!"

"I hate you so much…"

"Nah!" Yang laughed, slipping around him and wrapping the girl up in a bear hug before she could scramble away. Hefting her up she laughed and squeezed the groaning, whining young woman, "You love me!"

"Nein!" Ruby whined, "No love!"

"Who else will make you your cookies?"

"I love your cookies! You're just the delivery system!" Ruby whined pitifully, slapping her fist against her sister's head and shoulders uselessly, the woman's Aura barely sparking for the blows. Yang finally released her and she vanished in a ball of petals, flitting around behind him and using him as a shield while she stuck her tongue out, "Jerk!"

"Well they're certainly… Entertaining." The Faunus laughed, shaking her head and leaning back in her seat, one arm stretched comfortably out along its back. Bowing her head slightly, the woman introduced herself, "Blake Midnight. I'm not a noble, I'm afraid."

"Midnight is the illegitimate name for Menagerie, right?" Jaune asked, "Like Snow in Atlas, or Tin in Mantle?"

"Yes." Her ears pressed flat to her head, eyes narrow, "Is that a problem?"

"No, I was just making sure I remember right." He smiled, waving her off and shrugging as he turned to look at the store they'd been talking about before. "I'm an Arc, remember? And, well, there's plenty of 'Rusts' in Ansel, after the Rights Revolution."

"Some would say your family chose the wrong side…"

"Probably." He nodded grimly, the same age old conversation playing through his head. And with it, his answer to the thousand and change times he'd been asked the same sort of thing by strangers on the road. "But doing what's right isn't always the smartest thing. A mother isn't smart when she tries to fist fight an Ursa while her kid runs. But she is right."

"Well, setting aside that the Faunus are literal children in this analogy…" Blake sighed quietly, shaking her head and rolling her eyes like she was simultaneously amused and exhausted by something. "That's not a bad response to have. Doing what's right should be the only option anyone looks at, even if it's not particularly fun for them…"

"Life isn't meant to be about having fun." Jaune answered quietly, watching the two sisters squabble about a foot away without an apparent care in the world. "But we can make it about being just, if we want to."

"Good words." The woman said, straightening and turning to leave, her book tucked under her arm. "Good luck at Initiation, Lord Arc. We could use more Huntsmen with justice on their mind out in the world."

"Yeah." He agreed, "We definitely could."

He watched the woman leave with a small frown, her face still playing through his mind familiarly. Had he met her somewhere, maybe? But he was sure he'd have remembered someone like her, if only for the very distinct black and white she wore. But for the life of him, he just couldn't manage to place her face anywhere. And as silly as it was, it was beginning to bother him just a bit.

"Already looking for your next lady, Arc?" He turned around, one brow raised, as Yang fell into the seat the woman had vacated, arms spread along its back and one leg resting over her knee. Smirking, she bobbed her head the way Blake had gone, "I don't blame you, Lover Boy. The Kitty does have a great rear end…"

"You are a pervert." Ruby remarked, prodding her sister's shoulder and turning, "I'm gonna go stock up on HE tips for Initiation, perv. See ya later, Jaune!"

"Okay so first of all, that is racist as hell." He said when the young Rose was out of ear-shot. The blonde laughed, smiling roguishly in a way that told him she'd meant to get that reaction out of him. Ignoring her nettling, then, he sighed and said, "And I wasn't looking at her behind."

"No?"

"No." He nodded meaningfully, folding his arms and eyeing the spot beside her until she rolled her eyes and scooted over just enough to give him space. Taking the seat he frowned, "I just…. I felt like I recognized her face, from somewhere."

"Old flame, maybe?"

"That'd be hard to manage since I've had none…"

"Wow, Lover Boy. That's pretty, ya know..." The blonde whistled and then smacked her lips, shooting him a look, "Boring~!"

"Well I'm very sorry to disappoint, my lady, but some of us had things to do." Mainly not getting eaten or stabbed or anything of the sort, for the last couple years or so, but he kept that to himself. There was no reason to sour the good mood they were sharing. "I'm not worried about it, honestly. Just frontier paranoia making me really not like placing her face."

"Well, for what it's worth, her name didn't pop up on my Scroll." She said, closing her little device as he turned to her. Smiling, she explained, "My old man is a law man for Patch, alongside bein' regent for Ruby. And he may have let me have his login for gov junk, as long as I only use it to keep nasty people off o' Rubes."

"Good of him."

"And corrupt." Mort added, "Not surprising. The law is often so."

Probably wisely, he chose not to carry that sentiment over for his companion. Instead he asked, quietly, "Gonna go hunt down your sister? Day's starting to drag on, now. And Initiation is probably going to be very early."

"Yeah, probably should, before she explodes again." Yang snorted, paying him a look and cocking her head to the side, one brow raised. "You're not tryin' to weasel Ruby around, are you?"

"What-" He blinked, confused for a moment before he understood what she meant. Ruby was young, and the sole Lady of her House. So what Yang feared was obvious, and sensible. "No, of course not. I want to earn titles through knighthood and service. Marriage would be… Not terrible, but it would need to be genuine love."

"Uh huh." She nodded, standing with a sigh and looking him up and down, then smiling viciously. "For the record, though? You hurt her, I'll put your cock in a vice and feed you your balls. S'my last word on it. Kay?"

She didn't wait for him to say anything, sauntering off with a fist on a hip and the over paying him a farewell wave. In her absence, Mort murmured, "I wanna keep her, too, Jaune."

"Mort…"

"Her and her sister are precious." They said quietly, completely ignoring Jaune's rolling eyes and quiet chuckle. "We must protect. At all costs."

Ignoring the trapped spirit, Jaune stood and made his way to the store they'd shown him. Considering their job, the name 'Smithson's' drew a quiet little chuckle out of him as he slipped through the wide, open doors. Inside students milled about, some thronging around the changing area in the back and the fitting area beside it while their fellows tried out new gear. And, sure enough, he could see plenty of happy Faunus among the customers and the employees tending to them.

It was a nice, happy kind of place. One he felt like he'd be proud to be giving Lien to as opposed to, for one example that sprang to mind, the SDC.

Inside, the store itself was made up of a dozen or so rows of armor stands set up to display samples of what were on offer. At the front were the obvious examples a store like this would want to front towards people looking in, made of shining plated mail and chain and shined to prim lustres. Or, in some cases, painted dark blacks meant to intimidate and awe, and no doubt show off their painting capabilities for those interested.

Which he kind of was, if not for the price estimates he could see stuck to the bottom.

Further back, in the middle, he could see lighter armor. Mail and cloaks, fit for ranging in the woods but still heavy enough to resist what you were likely to get hit by. They looked good, and when he pinched the fabric of the cloaks between his fingers they were thick, soft and well-made. Enough that he grimaced, thinking of his own older and badly worn mantle, and made a note in his head.

"That material tears really easily when Grimm get ahold of it." A man's quiet voice said, stepping up to his side and pointing at the one next to it at a thinner material on another stand. "This one is better, it slips through their claws."

"Yeah?"

"It's what my shirt is made of." The dark haired, Mistralian man nodded, holding up a gloved arm and nodding for him to test it. True enough, when he pinched the sleeve and tugged, his fingers slid right off. "This cloth is designed to be damage resistant. That one, though, is designed to let you escape more easily."

"Huh. Thanks for the advice." He offered a hand, "Lord Jaune of House Arc at Ansel."

"Lie Ren, from Mistral." The man answered, hesitating at the lack of his own titles and then, when Jaune only nodded, taking his hand to shake it gently. Smiling as they let each other go, Ren added, "It's nice to meet you, my Lord."

"Jaune is fine." He grunted, waving him off when his eyes narrowed and he made to argue. "We're all meant to be equals here, learning to be Huntsmen, so relax. The only one you really need to be worried about being upset is me."

"Alright, then…" Ren eyed his armor and sighed, "You've had a rough time of it too, then?"

"I have. Or, well, my armor has, at least." He clarified quickly, unwilling to sound like he was complaining when he knew that many had it far worse than him. Shrugging, he added, "I'm just getting kitted out for Initiation. I don't want shoddy gear to get me kicked from Beacon. Or, you know..."

"Dead."

"Yeah." Jaune sighed wearily, "I'd be alright if it was just a hard fight, or bad luck. That's not something I can help. But crap gear, when I have Lien?"

"I get it, yeah. Bad luck is fine, but negligence? Not so much." Ren nodded, looking up the row as metal clanged and clattered across the floor. A small but well-built ginger-haired girl, on her rear and covered in a set of light mail and padded cloth that had fallen on her, waved nervously and the man sighed. "I have to go, my… Nora is causing trouble again."

"Your Nora?" He asked, "Is she your girlfriend or something?"

"Or something." He nodded, "Good luck, tomorrow. And I hope you do well."

"The same to you, Ren." Jaune smiled, watching the young man leave while his Nora flailed desperately to untangle from the mess she'd made. Once he was out of ear-shot Jaune smiled, "Well, he seemed nice."

"Nora smash!" The girl finally shouted, hurling the offending, apparently attacking, cloak away from her and glaring. Ren laid a hand on her shoulder and she turned, pointing at it and bouncing energetically, "Renny! The clothing attacked me again!"

"And she seems awesome." Mort answered, "Jaune, can we-"

"I will actually sell you." He threatened lightly, turning to head to the front and place his order now that he had a good idea what he wanted.

About an hour later he stepped out of the dressing room, dressed in a fresh suit of padded gambeson armor that covered his entire upper body and the fronts of his legs. Unlike his old suit, this was a dark silver in color, dotted evenly along the seams by gold-colored lacework. The old, worn leather bracers he'd worn on his arms and legs had been replaced, too, by thicker leatherworking topped by layered steel plates that covered up to his knees and elbows. Each of which were enclosed by thick knee and elbow-guards that were apart of the gauntlets and greaves both.

Across his chest and stomach, he opted to spend for a sleeveless chain-shirt that cinched at his waist by way of a new leather belt. It was sturdy, fronted by a knightly girdle and circled by small disks half the size of his palms. Finally, he tucked a new hood up and over his head and turned to look at himself in a mirror, the long silver cape hanging regally behind him. It was a marked improvement from the ragged woodsman he'd looked like before. Only…

"I still need a shave…" He sighed, turning to pay for his gear and find a barber.

He was almost out of Lien, now, but by the Gods did he feel more well-protected.

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Nomorehashtags :

Those are some neat ideas. I might tweak 'em and see what I can do, in future. Thanks!

As for the technology level, it seems tied to wealth as much as region in canon. Frontier settlements, and thus people, are less wealthy and so can afford only less advanced weaponry and the like. Whereas Weiss has a multi-chambered Dust based rapier built for her Semblance. Solid worldbuilding on RT's part, imo, and one I intend to carry over.

Peace Maren :

With very specific exceptions, you're not anything bad for wanting any particular ship. And I think that what I plan on adding in nearby chapters will only increase your Arkos leanings, lol!

Guest (Guest) :

Merchant nobility existed for a long, long time, and often times were disrespected for their origins. Weiss' attitude is a mix of that and her V1 canon counterpart. Hopefully, she will get a similar treatment, lol.

Arc-Friendly (Guest) :

Yes! It was! V1 Weiss has issues, lol.

SDarkness :

Mort is pretty great in most scenes, yeah.