"R! W! B! Y! YOU'RE BETTER THAN THE OTHER GUY!" Crue called out at the top of his lungs, holding a large banner with the team's name on it. All around him, people cheered and screamed as the Vytal Festival was finally under way.
RWBY were against Team ABRN of Haven. Crue remembered the fight from the show, but to see it in person was another thing entirely. "SORRY ABRN IT'S NOT YOUR TURN!" He continued to yell, his voice sounding out amongst the various other yells.
He watched the battle with a strange insight, now having been around the team for almost three months. Their fighting styles were intimate knowledge to him, especially now that they had each been taking turns training him up.
Ruby had asked him to take notes on their battle and note any mistakes they might make. Crue immediately felt the urge to say they wouldn't make any, but Ruby's puppy dog eyes folded him like a lawn chair.
They were doing great, in Crue's completely unbiased opinion. His attention was distracted from the fight by a certain jubilant ginger grabbing his attention. "Hey, Crue! You better have a good chant to cheer us on!"
Nora elbowed the Faunus as she too cheered on RWBY. The rest of team JNPR were sat next to him, Jaune and Nora doing most of the cheering. At the mention of a chant however, the entire team threw a glance his way, causing Crue to stop and think for a moment.
"Uh… JNPR, JNPR be their executioner?" He suggested. Nora's eyes lit up, but Pyrrha and Ren quickly waved her down.
"Perhaps, something that doesn't sound like we are going to kill our opponents." Ren requested, conveniently ignoring Nora repeating Crue's original chant.
The Faunus gave a short chuckle. "I'll workshop it." He turned his attention back to the match, seeing Weiss summoning a large ramp of ice, and Yang shotgunning herself towards it. "You might want to cover your ears." He said to JNPR, as he took in a deep breath.
The four followed the instructions almost immediately, as Crue belted out an ancient sporting motto from his homeland. "GO ON YA GOOD THING!" His yell coincided with Yang striking three of Team ABRN at once, sending them crashing out of the arena and depleting their aura.
"WOOOOOO!" Crue cheered as loud as he could, alongside JNPR as RWBY won their match. He was glad they could enjoy these moments. Crue's smile fell slightly as his thoughts turned to the future. They wouldn't be able to enjoy them forever.
…
"You were great!" The first thing Crue said when he saw RWBY exit from the arena, and apparently what they needed to hear, as Ruby immediately went to run forward and hug him. Only to stumble as her legs gave out.
Crue and Yang both immediately rushed forward to catch her and ended up in a tangled heap of limbs and laughter. "Sorry." Ruby apologised after being helped up by the rest of her team. "Guess my legs were more tired than I realised."
"I don't blame you." Crue said, dusting himself off. "You guys were fighting like mad."
"Do you have any notes?" Weiss asked, looking at the Faunus expectantly. Her words caused the heads of the other three to whirl round and stare at him. Crue let out a small sigh as he thought back to the battle.
"Less, notes… More what I would have done differently in your shoes." He started, as they walked from the inner workings of Amity stadium to the airships that ferried people to and from Beacon. "One thing was that massive ball of ice, great work by the way, Weiss."
The Heiress preened under the compliment and sat a little straighter as they took their seats on the Bullhead. "Great thinking, but you didn't use it as effectively as you could. That thing created a massive blindspot that you could've hid behind and attacked from once yer wan broke it."
"Who?" The group said as one.
"Uhh, Arslan. Blonde girl. I just say 'Your one' when I can't remember someone's name immediately. And speaking of." The Faunus turned to the other blonde. "Yang, I get it, going after the physically strongest on the other team when you're the physically strongest here, but it's a team fight. I feel like you guys could've swept the floor with them if you'd just focused more on that."
"Heh." Crue turned to look at Blake in confusion, as did the others who wondered what the normally quiet girl had found funny. "It reminds me of the first combat class you were with us for."
The group grew quiet for a moment, recalling the event as best they could. "Yes, you gave some rather good insight into the fight with Ruby against Jaune."
"That's not what I remember from it." Yang said with a blank stare at Crue. The male in question winced as he crossed one leg over the other. For a second, there was an awkward silence as Yang continued to stare at him, before letting out a snigger.
The break caused the whole group to start laughing while Crue simply sighed and joined in. Eventually they landed, disembarking and making their way to the fairgrounds that had been set up on Beacon's wide grass expanse.
Crue noticed Ruby begin to vibrate as they walked further into the fairgrounds and raised an eyebrow. Before he could say anything, her sister beat him to it. "Hey Rubes, you good?" Yang asked, causing the rest of the group to stop and stare at their leader.
"It's just… It's just…" She wore a wide smile as she jumped into the air. "WE DID IT! Is anyone else starving?" She fell back to the ground with a weary groan.
"I may have worked up an appetite." Blake said with a slight smirk, before an unholy noise that sounded like a mix between Crescent Rose and a blender sounded out from her stomach, causing the Faunus to cover her midriff in embarrassment.
"Do you need an exorcist?" Crue asked with wide eyes, staring at the girls stomach. "Oh, hey you're an innie-OW!" The Faunus' words were cut short as the blushing girl delivered a punch to his shoulder that sent him back a pace.
"Gee, if only there was somewhere on campus to get food around here." Weiss said, with a sarcastic gesture of her hands. "Oh, wait." Crue looked around him at the various stalls, wondering what types of food the various countries of Remnant had to offer.
"Wait, they're not countries they're Kingdoms. God that's weird to think." The Faunus tuned out whatever argument Weiss and Ruby were having as he looked around the immediate area for a certain someone.
The team began to make their way towards whatever venue Yang had chosen, and Crue could hear an odd musical noise coming from Weiss. As he turned to check on the Heiress, he heard the one sound he was trying to prevent.
"Heyyyy!" The group turned, seeing Emerald holding a bright red wallet between her fingers. "Might be a bit hard to eat without this." Ruby immediately began to panic, patting down every possible pocket she had before eventually sighing in defeat as Emerald laughed.
"Thanks Emerald!" The young leader skipped towards her apparent saviour. "Guess I dropped it. Ugh, girl pockets are the worst." She took the wallet back graciously.
"What's up Em?" Yang asked as the rest of the team approached.
"Just left the stadium after watching your amazing fight. You guys were awesome!" Emerald answered, as Crue rolled his eyes so hard he sent his pupils back in time. The eyeroll stopped as he noticed a stall directly to the side of where the group were talking, and slowly inched his way towards it while the others continued to chat.
"We did really well in the fight. You know everyone but- AGH!" Emerald suddenly clutched the side of her head, her other hand immediately going to the hilt of her weapon as she turned to see where she had been attacked from.
"Guess I threw that at the wall too hard." Crue laughed awkwardly, standing before a stall that had a series of cans stacked up, some rubber balls laying in a small bowl. The attendant of the stand looked mortified, as Emerald ground her teeth together.
"Crue! Be careful how you throw balls!" Ruby yelled at the male, causing him to wince and his ears to flatten. "I'm so sorry Emerald, are you ok? Maybe our teams can get lunch together to make up for it?"
"No, I'm fine." She said as she glared at the Faunus who made his way back over to the team, looking decidedly non-apologetic. "And besides, you know how my team can be." She turned to the side slightly, glancing back to where Mercury could be seen. Sniffing boots.
"I'm annoyed I know why he's doing that." Crue muttered, causing the girls to immediately look at him in confusion. "Smell check. Good leather doesn't smell. I do the same with my jackets."
"Well, uh, anyway…" Emerald began to backpedal, before her blood red eyes met Crue's. "I think the atmosphere would be just a bit too, awkward if all of us hung out together." She continued to stare at the Faunus, whose hand slowly curled into a fist as his nails fought against his Aura.
"Hey, it's been a while." Yang said, stepping forward and placing a hand on Crue's shoulder. "I'm sure it wouldn't be too awkward." The Faunus relaxed at the touch and reminded himself that Emerald was only trying to get a rise out of him.
"If you say so." Emerald shrugged. "But, anyway it looks like Merc and I are moving onto the doubles round. What about you guys?"
Ruby took a breath to answer, but Crue quickly spoke. "Oi, no trying to get info that might help the fight." He glanced to Ruby, trying to see if he had accidentally upset her for speaking over the Leader.
Instead of being upset, she gasped and pointed a finger at Emerald accusatorily. "Ooooh. You're sneaky."
"You don't know the half of it." Crue thought and had the strangest feeling that Emerald thought the exact same.
The Faunus caught a brief twitch of blood red eyes, before Emerald threw her hands up in an easy smile. "You caught me. Just trying to figure out how easily Merc and I could whip your doubles butts."
"Oh, there is no way you could beat me and Weiss that easily." Yang said, jabbing a thumb at her chest and stepping forward slightly.
Crue let out a string of curses inside his head. He had been so close. "Ooh. That so. Well, if Mercury and I see you down the line don't think we'll go easy on you." Emerald said, a hand on her hip as she stared at Weiss and Yang.
"Wouldn't have it any other way." Yang said, crossing her arms as Weiss grew a confident smirk. The string of curses became decidedly more violent towards the green haired girl and her companion as he tried not to literally froth at the mouth with anger.
"We're going to catch some more fights." Emerald said, walking back towards Mercury. The rest of Team RWBY said their goodbyes as Crue robotically followed them, a veritable freight yard of trains of thought going through his head.
"I was so close! If Yang didn't have her damn pride! If I had've stopped her! If I had switched that ball for a damn bullet! Can't I do anything right?!" His thoughts came to a halt as his foot kicked something, causing him to become somewhat happier.
"I can do one thing right." He picked up the rubber ball that he had rebounded at Emerald earlier, looked around to make sure none of RWBY could see, and turned and hurled it at the departing antagonists.
Crue ran after the group before the ball hit but was able to hear two exclamations of pain. He smiled widely as he caught up with RWBY. "Hehe. Twofer. That's for calling Yang a bimbo you motherfuck- SHE CALLED YANG A BIMBO!"
The Faunus was about to spin on his heel and actually swap that ball for a bullet, before he was grabbed by the scruff of his shirt. "Hey! Hey! Oi!" He exclaimed, trying to reach back for whoever had grabbed him.
"Don't worry Wolfy." He recognised the voice of Yang. "Just making sure you don't injure our competition." Crue grumbled as he was dragged along, crossing his arms to at least make it more annoying for the brawler to drag him.
"I'm still surprised you didn't apply to at least fight in the single rounds." Weiss said, falling back slightly to walk alongside the dragged Faunus. "I'm certain Ozpin would have allowed you."
"Oh, he asked me to." Crue said. "I respectfully said no." Weiss' eyes met his, the disbelief boring a hole into him. "I respectfully said 'Fuck no'." Crue amended. The heiress huffed in amusement, shaking her head.
"It was probably a good thing. I don't think Professor Goodwitch would be happy with you insulting the competition and setting a bad example for Beacon." Weiss brought a hand up to her mouth as she laughed.
Crue gave a small chuckle as well, before defending himself. "Oi, it's how I do. You piss someone off bad enough they make mistakes." He explained, as Weiss listened to his explanation with intrigue. "How do you think I've survived this long?"
"I would have thought insulting people trying to hurt you would be detrimental to your survival." Weiss smirked. Crue conceded the argument with a nod of his head. "Regardless, it is a shame you won't be fighting."
"Bet Ozpin will still put you in." Yang spoke up with a smirk, leaning her head back over her shoulder to look down at the Faunus. "Thought you'd love the chance to fight one on one with someone in a huge tournament."
"Eh, I don't think I've trained enough for it. You guys are great, but it's a lot to pack into a month. Especially when yous yourself need to train." Crue explained, noticing Weiss' eye twitch slightly at his words.
"Besides. The singles rounds are where the most bad happens. I need to be available to stop that." He'd try to catch Yang's fight, if only so he could make sure to distract Emerald. "We're here!" Crue glanced upwards to see a familiar face.
A balding man with slant eyes stared at the group, before nodding approvingly as they took their seats. Within moments, five huge bowls were placed in front of them. There was an extra helping of fish in Blake's, and a lot more bacon in Crue's.
"Is it still racist if I like it?" Crue wondered, using the chopsticks to pick up a piece of bacon and ramen and bring it to his mouth. He bit down, and immediately cursed as he chomped down on his tongue.
"SHONUFBISH!" Crue gripped his mouth, falling off the stool in pain. When he got back up, he saw Weiss look sadly at Blake, wondering how her card had declined. "Becaushe your dadsh a dip. Dip. DIP! You know whaf I mane."
The Faunus' hand immediately reached to his own pocket, ignoring Weiss' look of disdain, planning on spotting Weiss with the money he had stolen from the racist shop owner a while ago, before he heard a new voice enter the scene.
"Maybe I could help?" The group turned, seeing the approaching form of Team JNPR. Crue was about to say he had it covered, before he suddenly found himself unable to speak.
"PYRRHA!" Ruby cried out, down on her knees in the rubble of Beacon tower, Pyrrha's form slowly dissolving into nothingness as white light envelop- "Crue?"
The Faunus snapped back to reality, his steely blue eyes suddenly refocusing on the group as he blinked away the beginnings of tears. Before him the group were looking at the Faunus with some level of concern. "I zoned out what happened?" He said, trying to rid his mind of the memories of what was yet to come.
"You looked like you saw a ghost." Jaune spoke up, his eyebrows knitted together in a soft frown. "You ok dude?"
"Fine. I'm fine." Crue said quickly, too quickly, flexing his hands to having something to focus on. "I was just, lost for a second." He needed a distraction, quick. "So, who's hungry?" He whipped out his wallet, as the eyes of those before him widened comically.
…
"Psst. Pyrrha." Nora elbowed her teammate, her fellow redhead letting out an 'oof' in surprise as she slurped up some noodles. The two teams and Crue were still at the noodle stand, eating and chatting away. And it was because of this that Nora had a question.
"Jaune doesn't have any competition, does he?" She whispered to the Invincible Girl. Pyrrha's face turned as red as her hair for a brief moment, as she sucked in a large breath, prepared to exclaim no and deny everything.
Before she realised shouting would draw attention to her actions. "No." Pyrrha hissed towards her friend, glancing back over to Crue, who was currently in an animated argument with Blake about what type of tea was better.
"I just, I realised something about Crue." She inched closer to the Valkyrie, the ginger leaning closer in hopes of hearing some gossip. "He's very emotional."
"And Jaune is blonde." Nora said, the boy in question looking up with a 'hmm?' and a mouthful of noodles. Nora gave a small wave of 'no worries' and he went back to eating.
"No, I mean, strangely emotional." Pyrrha made an odd motion with her hands, trying to convey something Nora couldn't understand. "Everyone knows Grimm are attracted to negative emotion. There are also some who think they're attracted to Aura as well, but that's not the point."
"We're taught not to show strong emotion. To the point even regular citizens know well enough to keep their feelings subdued. Crue doesn't have that." The two turned to look at the Faunus, who was jabbing at his palm to make a point, with Blake shaking her head in disagreement.
"Even now, I can feel his annoyance. And it's not even anything serious. It's tea." Pyrrha made a strange noise of disbelief. Nora said nothing for a moment, taking in this information.
"Wait, so when he was dating Polly-" "DO NOT BRING THAT UP!" Pyrrha immediately shrieked, before covering her mouth in embarrassment as every head turned to look at her. Next to her, Nora began laughing loudly, almost falling off her chair.
The group, assuming Nora had said something that made Pyrrha embarrassed, which wasn't incorrect, simply laughed and went back to their own conversations. Ren, who was sitting next to Nora decided to chime in.
"I do agree with Pyrrha. Crue is, unusually emotional. I am almost tempted to use my Semblance on him, just to see what happens." His magenta eyes scanned the Wolf Faunus, who had finally given up on convincing Blake that tea with milk was better than herbal tea.
"But, your Semblance only masks emotions, doesn't it?" Pyrrha asked, waiting for Ren and Nora to both nod.
"True. But with Crue, I get the feeling things wouldn't work out so simply." Ren gave a small chuckle.
"Now that, I believe." Nora laughed, before turning the trio turned back to their respective meals. There was a moment of silence, before Nora spoke again.
"So when he was with Polly-" "NORA!"
Yeah, the less said about that the better.
But, regardless. The Vytal Festival is underway! With everything falling into place, will Crue be able to succeed? Well, that depends doesn't it. Can't make it too easy for him now can I. I feel like I've been going easy with some of the descriptions of certain parts, but that's mostly because it's been seen several times before.
And yes, the fact Crue is from a different world does make an impact. Without the Grimm to hunt those who show their emotions, there isn't any kind of reason for him to keep his to himself. Well, save for emotions he is embarrassed by. Such as the amount he cares for each member of RWBY and JNPR. He'd take that to the grave, and just might!
Anyway, that's it for this chapter. Bit shorter than usual but not too much happened. I hope you enjoyed it, and as always...
Until Next Time
-Friday, the author