Jaune and Courage the Cowardly Dog
Chap 75: A Beaver's Tale
"Five lein that he loses the yoyo by the end of the day." Winter said as we watched Courage play with his yoyo.
"I say ten." Weiss said with a smirk.
Currently, we were in the living room watching Courage perform tricks with his yoyo that he recently found again. With me were Weiss, Winter, and Iris. Winter and Weiss were heading back to Beacon after dealing with some issues back at Atlas. However, seeing that they entered Nowhere on their way to Beacon, they decided to swing by for a visit. As for Iris, she found some time off work and decided to visit as well.
'You guys are acting as if I always lose things.' Courage complained yet never stopped playing with his yoyo.
"You do Courage. Especially after you bury it." Iris reminded him while giggling.
"She's right, Courage. I had to help you find not only your yoyo but also several other items you buried." I told him. He just rolled his eyes before continuing to do tricks with his yoyo. However, he stopped when Eustace stomped towards him with a broom in his hands.
'EEEEE!' Courage shrieked, terrified.
"What are you playing like a girl for when I told you to sweep the porch?" He asked while taking the yoyo away before shoving the broom into Courage's hands.
"Muriel told "YOU" to do it, jackass." I growled towards him.
"Blah, blah, blah." He mocked before tossing the yoyo out the open window. Yet, instead of hearing the sound of the yoyo hitting the dirt ground, we heard the sound of water splashing. "What's huh?"
"That was unexpected." Winter said, confused.
"Indeed." Weiss agreed as we got up and headed over to the window. And to our great surprise, we saw a lake surrounding the house that wasn't there earlier.
"Wow." We all gasped in shock.
"Eustace!" We heard Muriel call out from behind us. "Did you sweep the porch like I told you?"
"Yeah, yeah." He brushed her question off as he was still wondering about the lake. "Hey, when we get a lake?"
"A lake?" Muriel asked, confused.
"Yes. Somehow, a lake appeared out of nowhere. And while not accurate, I can approximate that it is at least six feet deep." Winter answered. "But the question remains, where did it come from?"
"It's been nothing but clear skies since we got here." Weiss added before turning to Iris. "Do you know how this water could have gotten here? Maybe another deity?"
"Well, while there are deities that have the necessary control that is needed to pull this off, they would never do this. Mainly because they are generally too busy to do anything meaningless like this." She answered.
"Then what should we do about this water?" I asked.
"Oh, my. There is a lake." Muriel interjected, walking up to us. "Well, since it's here, we might as well enjoy."
'Yes!' Courage cheered before running back to my room, soon followed by Eustace.
"I guess that answers that." I said before smiling and turning to the others. "What do you all say?"
Ten Minutes Later
"Gorgeous! But where do you suppose it came from?" Muriel asked. We were all standing on the porch of the farmhouse in our swimwear. Despite being suspicious about how the lake got here, we were not going to waste this opportunity to go swimming.
"Who cares. It's mine now. Lake Eustace. Here I come." Eustace answered before jumping into the lake.
'Hee, hee, hee.' Courage laughed as he came up next to us. Turning to him, we saw that he was wearing an inflatable ring in the shape of a duck.
"Doesn't he know how to swim?" Weiss asked.
"He does but prefers to use his inflatable duck ring." I answered.
"That's cute." Winter commented when Courage squeezed his duck ring, making a quack sound much like a real duck.
"HEY! NO DOGS IN MY LAKE!" Eustace shouted before splashing Courage with the lake water and deflating his duck ring. "Go sweep the porch, dog, like I told you."
"I got you, Courage." I told him as I reinflated his duck ring.
"Eustace, that's your job." Muriel scolded Eustace.
"I got lakefront prop-huh?" Eustace began but stopped when a thunderstorm appeared over his head. He tried to swim away but failed as the storm electrocuted him. "OW!"
"He never fails to piss us off." Iris commented with a light growl. Winter and Weiss agree while letting out a growl as well.
"Such nonsense." Muriel retorted before turning to Courage. "Courage, you just come with me into the water and enjoy yourself."
"Careful, Muriel." I shouted when she jumped into the water.
"It certainly has been a while since we had a nice swim." Weiss said as she and Winter entered the lake.
"Much less one where the water isn't unbearably cold." Winter added as she started to swim around.
"Care to swim together, Jaune?" Iris asked, extending her hand to me.
Smiling, I grabbed her hand tightly before we both jumped into the water together. However, instead of coming back to the surface, I was dragged down deeper into the water for some reason. I was about to swim back up but stopped when Courage suddenly appeared beside me, equally confused. Looking at each other, we silently nodded to each other in agreement to explore around. While nothing seemed wrong at first, I quickly noticed that the lake was not a few feet deep, like Winter said earlier. Now that I'm deep underwater, I couldn't even see that bottom of the lake. Hearing some snapping sounds, I looked up and saw that Courage had found his yoyo. Only to be denied having it back by a lobster. Swimming over to him, I tapped his shoulder before pointing to the surface. He nodded before we swam up to the surface.
*GASP* "Dear Oum. How did it get that deep in just a few minutes?" I wondered after taking a few deep breaths.
'We better get back to the farmhouse and figure something out.' Courage agreed.
"COURAGE! JAUNE! COME ON IN! WE NEED YOUR HELP" We heard Muriel shout.
"WE'RE COMING!" I shouted back as we swam to the farmhouse.
'Oh, no.' Courage gasped when we saw the lake start to flood the house. Entering, we saw Eustace sitting in his chair, unaware or uncaring that the house was flooding.
"This is even better. Don't got to leave my chair." He said while taking out a fishing rod.
"Courage, Jaune. In here." Muriel shouted from the kitchen. Moving through the water, we entered the kitchen and saw that it was flooded as well.
"I think there's a wee leak in the lake." Muriel said as she used a ladle to scoop some water into the sink.
"I don't think that will work, Muriel." I told her.
"But this will." Wiess said as she and Iris managed to close the door to prevent more water from coming in.
"And for added insurance." Winter said as she used ice dust to create a barrier against the door.
"Jaune." Iris called out. Turning to her, we saw her standing on the table.
"Yes?" I asked.
"Open the window by the sink so I can create a storm to take out all this water safely." She answered.
"On it." I said as I moved and opened the window before stepping to the side.
"Careful, everyone." Iris warned as she summoned a storm with strong winds that took all the water out the window.
"Ah, thanks, dear." Muriel said, smiling. However, before anyone could say anything, we felt the house shake a bit. We were confused as to what was causing the house to shake. That is until we looked out the window and saw the house was now floating above the foundation.
'Oh great.' I thought, annoyed.
"At this point, after everything that has happened to this house, I'm surprised the foundation is still intact." Winter said, amazed. We all nodded in agreement. Hearing the sound of water rushing, we turned around and saw the door open with water flooding the kitchen again.
"Gonna open one of them water parks. Charge a fortune." Eustace greedily said as the water brought his chair into the kitchen.
"I wonder what will it take for him to realize the danger we are in?" Weiss asked.
"Nothing short of losing his money forever." I answered.
"I don't want to alarm anyone, but we better get to safety as the water is quickly rising." Iris interjected.
"It's going to keep rising unless we find a way to stop it." I said before turning to Muriel. "Head to the roof. You'll be safe there."
"Oh, please be careful." She said before heading to the roof.
"Okay. Let's go." I said before turning around. However, before I could start to swim, Weiss grabbed me.
"Do you even know where you are going, Jaune? Or even how to get there." She asked.
"Right. Didn't think about that." I answered sheepishly, which caused Winter and Weiss to smile while Iris rolled her eyes.
'How about we use the table?' Courage suggested.
"That could work." I answered.
Ten Minutes Later
"Wow." We all gasped as we finally reached Nowhere Town.
"The whole town is completely underwater." I said, shocked.
"Hopefully, everyone made it out." Wiess hoped as she looked down and was barely able to make out the ground.
"Now that I think of it, how are we going to free Nowhere?" Winter asked.
"I already called one other deity I know to take care of this. However, he won't arrive for a few more hours." Iris answered.
"That's good-oof." I said before grunting when we hit something. Looking up, we saw that we had hit a giant metal arm.
"Um, what's that?" Weiss asked.
"That's the Statue of Liberty. Well, a copy of it. Nowhere made a deal not too long ago and received a copy of the original." I answered.
"Where's the original one?" Winer asked.
"In New York." I answered.
"I don't recall seeing a statue like this there." Weiss said, confused.
"That's because we were in another part of town." I explained.
'Huh?' Courage suddenly said, getting our attention.
"You see something, Courage?" I asked.
'I see someone else in a boat.' He answered while pointing ahead of us. Turning around, we indeed saw another boat. However, we didn't see any oars.
"He could need our help." Iris said as she had the winds change direction to take us to the boat.
"Excuse me, sir. Do you need help?" Winter asked as we reached him.
"No, not really." The man answered, turning around.
'Help, help.' Courage began to ask.
"Do you know what's happening or where all this water is coming from?" Weiss asked.
"Sure do. This here is the Old Nowhere River. Yep, that's what it is, all alright." He answered.
"Wait, what could have caused a river to do this?" Winter asked.
"Something must have busted its banks. That or there must be something huge blocking it up." He answered.
"Thank you for the information, sir. But before we leave, would you like us to drop you off on solid ground?" Winter asked.
"No, I'm good. Long as I got this straw, I'm a motorboat." The man answered while pulling out a giant red straw. He then placed it in the water before blowing into it. And true to his word, he became a motorboat and sped off into the distance.
"Strong lungs." I commented.
"Wait, we should have asked for directions." Weiss said, suddenly remembering she did not know where the river was.
"Don't worry. Courage and I know where the river is. However, you best get comfy as it's about an hour to get there." I told her.
"Great." She said before lying down.
One Hour Later
"Dear Oum." We all gasped when we reached the Nowhere River. Yet, instead of the river itself, we saw a giant wall that could easily rival the wall Courage and I saw when we were in China.
"How did this get built without anyone noticing it?" Weiss asked, shocked.
"I have no idea." I answered as we reached the wall. Seeing a walkway, we got off the table and relished on being dry stable land again.
"Do you guys hear that?" Iris asked, getting our attention.
"Sounds like something slapping against a hard surface." Weiss said as we heard the sound again.
"It seems that the wall is still under construction. And whoever is up there can give us some answers." Winter said while pointing to the top of the wall.
'And that means climbing up this giant ladder.' Courage whined. 'The things we do for love.'
"Iris, think you can give us a lift?" I asked, turning to her.
"Of course." She answered before summoning a new cloud we could use. Smiling, I leaned in and kissed her on the lips before getting on the cloud with the others following suit. She then had the cloud take us to the top of the wall. However, as soon as we reached the top, we gasped when we saw that the wall had completely blocked off the Nowhere River. Stepping off the cloud onto the wall, we heard the sound again. Looking around, we saw that it was coming from a beaver that was laying down cement on an unfinished segment of the wall.
'Ironic.' I thought that a beaver had built the dam.
'Help, help, help.' Courage said as he ran up to the beaver. However, it seemed to ignore Courage. Yet, the beaver quickly grew irritated when Courage kept trying to get his attention.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" The beaver shouted before using his tail to flatten Courage and then smack him off the wall.
'AAAAHHHHH!' Courage screamed as he fell off the wall.
"Well, that escalated quickly." I said, looking over the edge. Luckily, Courage had landed in the water was now back on the wall, shaking himself dry.
"Indeed." Winter said before turning to the beaver. "Excuse us, Mr. Beaver."
"First, don't call me Mr. Beaver. That's my father's name. And second, what do you want?" He asked.
"We want to know why you built this wall." Weiss answered.
"First of all, it's a dam. And second, isn't it obvious?" He asked while pouring some more concrete on the dam.
"Not really." Iris answered.
"I'm a beaver. Beavers make dams." He explained before wincing when we heard the sound of something hitting the dam. Looking over the edge, we saw Courage hitting the dam with the same lobster that took his yoyo earlier. Groaning, the beaver moved the cement mixer over the edge before pulling the lever, which caused the cement mixer to lower itself and release its cement onto Courage.
'AAHHHHHH!' Courage screamed as he got covered in the cement.
"Okay, I get that beavers make dams. But why a cement one that's this big?" I asked.
"And one that is causing Nowhere to become completely submerged underwater." Weiss added.
"You guys ask more questions than the damn insurance company and give more headache than the city inspectors." He said, irritated. However, as soon as he said that, the sound of a plucking jazz tune greeted our ears. And it seemed to resonate with the beaver the most as he started to dance while slapping his tail around. Looking over the edge, we saw that it was coming from Courage and his yoyo. His yoyo had wrapped around a pipe, and as he pulled on it, it created the sound of jazz.
"You seem to enjoy music a lot." Iris commented, snapping the beaver back to attention.
"Follow me. Let's free your friend from the cement." He said before climbing down the ladder. Nodding, we followed him down the ladder to the base of the dam. Only to immediately dive behind cover when we saw a lobster light a stick of dynamite next to Courage.
'Ha, ha, ha.' Courage laughed as the yoyo freed itself from the pipe before falling to the ground.
"You okay, Courage?" I asked, walking up to him.
'Fine.' He groaned while standing up.
"NO MORE MUSIC!" The beaver demanded from behind us. Turning around, we saw that he had flown back from the explosion. Luckily, it seemed aside from being flung back, he was fine.
"Why? You clearly like it?" Iris asked.
'And you make good music yourself.' Courage added while transforming into a beaver and used his tail to make music.
"I ain't good at playing skins. My dad told me so. Take a look at this." He answered before handing us a view master.
"Wow, I haven't seen one of these guys in a while." I said as I took it and began to flip through all the shots before giving it to Winter.
"What's a view master?" Weiss asked.
"It's essentially an old way of storing memories. But more in the sense of a reel or telling stories." Winter explained before passing the device to Iris. She then turned back to the beaver. "I'm sorry for what your father did."
"No one deserves to go through this." Iris added before handing the device to Weiss.
"So, I'm in construction. That's life. Tough." The beaver said before sitting on the edge.
"Looks like we were both denied something by our fathers." Weiss said as she handed the view master back to him. Only for him to toss into the water where the lobster snatched it before going back in the water.
"Yeah, what's that?" He asked.
"That we were both denied doing something we love." She answered before sitting down next to him. "I loved to sing by my father never allowed me."
'That gives me an idea.' Courage said as he took out his yoyo again. He then placed the yoyo on the ground and used the string as a makeshift instrument to make jazz music. The beaver covered his ears and moved away, trying to resist the urge to dance to the music. At first, it seemed like he would resist; however, when Weiss started to sing, he gave in to the music.
"That is mad playing, man. Crazy mad! I ain't never gonna do no more concretin." The beaver said as he threw away his construction hat and began to dance.
"While this is a nice moment. We still need to find a way to resolve our flooding problem." Winter reminded. Yet, as she said that, cracks started to appear in the dam.
"I think the beaver has that covered." I said as pieces of the dam started to fall all around us.
"Quick. On the cloud." Iris said as she summoned a cloud for us to escape. We quickly got on but had to grab the beaver and Courage as they were unaware of the dam breaking apart.
"Okay, the dam is gone, and the water is flowing through the river banks again. Now we only need to wait for the other deity to come and take the rest of the water away." Weiss said once we were a safe distance.
"But what should we do in the meantime?" Winter asked.
"I have an idea." I answered.
Two Hours Later
"They certainly make a nice musical group." Winter commented with a smile.
Currently, we are in a nightclub called the Hot Jazz, listening to Weiss, Courage, and the Beaver make jazz music. Courage was playing his yoyo while the beaver played drums with his tail. Weiss was with them singing a song she recently made. However, it was a little hard to enjoy their music fully as we had to tune out the grumbling of Eustace and the father of the beaver. Apparently, the beaver had invited them to see him play. And to our surprise, he was precisely like Eustace when it came to music. He was even gripping his paper like Eustace.
"Perhaps we could have them sing on our wedding day, Jaune?" Iris asked.
"Of, course dear." I said, smiling before kissing her on the lips. 'Now, if I can only find a way to bring Karman to the house to sing along with Weiss.'
Note:
Next Chapter: Nutcracker with Iris, Ruby, and Weiss.