Chapter 2 – This Way Comes
A/N: Fair enough, let it not be said I don't listen to my reviewers; given the mostly positive feedback from last chapter (there's always one moron with a room temperature IQ, and yes Guest I am referring to you, just making that nice and obvious so you can pick up on it) I'll continue this story. I'm still not completely au fait with the RWBY universe so if I miss or misrepresent anything please just let me know respectfully and I'll try and do better down the line.
So, here we go again for the next act in this show.
XXX
The roar almost made her miss her footing, all of Remnant shaking as caught the stone lip, Weiss' glyph effervescing into nothing far below. Blinking as the hateful noise faded Ruby Rose could only gasp as the unknown Grimm reared towards the heavens, the Nevermore they'd slain during initiation a Birdie in comparison as its white bone armour flared in the brightening orange. With shaking hands the little reaper cocked her weapon out of reflex, seeing the fire consuming the great beast but hardly daring to believe it even as it slumped to the floor. It was dead, burning to ash and she was only confused, silver eyes sweeping the rooftop – in the madness of her and Weiss's rush here she remembered something about Pyrrhas' message but what…
"Jaune!" The cry was an instinctive rebuke to reality; her head throbbed, eyes holding back a sudden flood but a snarling shadow slunk forwards and she gasped – there was no time to cry when monsters stalked her defenceless friend. Choking her tears back Ruby blurred crimson, the few remaining Grimm no match for her baby.
Even as the last body started fading she was at the side of the sprawled knight, forced to stop a pace away by the furnace heat radiating from him mercilessly. She gawked for an instant then thrust a hand into her pouches – where was it, why hadn't she colour-coded her clips to the Dust rounds inside them like she'd always said she wou- there… no stupid hands stop shaking, mutiny! Quickly yanking the right pack free she slid the top round out with trembling fingers and sliced it across the blade of her scythe, hoping her partner never found out about this latest lapse in Schnee safety precautions. Her aura activated the precious Dust inside and she flicked it forwards, a savage hiss making her heart skip as conjured ice cooled the glowering metal.
Emboldened by success Ruby repeated the action, stopping only when a faint dusting of snow blanketed the steel; she reached forwards to try and flip him over only to yelp, pulling her hands back to blow on her singed fingers – insulated by his body his breastplate was still hot and cooking-him-alive-dummy move it! Frantically she shoved the butt of Crescent Rose under him, levering him over and cutting another ice round in the same motion, hurling the Dust over him as the released heat punched up at her. Her Semblance emptied the clip in seconds and as the mist faded the smaller girl gathered her courage to look down, mouthing a silent prayer.
But for his armour Jaune might have been sleeping, the thought almost making her smile before her expression froze in fear; his face was too pale, his chest still,
"No," she was on her knees before she realised it, "no-no-no Jaune don't do this." She fumbled at the armours' shoulder straps but didn't know they came undone – she had to cut them and why didn't she have a knife it would be perfect for this? She was going to nail one to her combat skirt later, Jaune would laugh just as he would at the image of her jamming Crescent Rose under his armour to cut the stubborn leather and pull the plate aside. Professor Peachs' lesson rushed back to her mind – no giggles or sense of 'ick' now when it might save her friends' life on this windswept tower. Without thought she tilted his head back, looking along his chest; when nothing tickled her ear she pinched his nose shut and smothered his lips with her own, breathing into him. The cartoon face on his hoodie, shrivelled and sticky from the heat, was her marker, hands atop each other as she pressed onto his chest with all her weight, counting in her head and mumbling under her breath.
She had no idea what she was whispering, some strange agglomeration of prayer, demand and bloody-minded denial of fate as she breathed, pumped and counted like a machine, ignoring the spreading burn in her arms and her panting breaths smoking in the air. A noise buzzed nearby, then a sudden squeeze around her middle hauled her off the floor; shrieking defiance she flailed, scratched and bit, determined to get free – Jaune was still down there, he ne-,
"Ruby!" Volume and familiarity with the voice and smell of drink on it snapped her back to reality, her uncle taking her place beside the prone boy as he let her go, "You'll exhaust yourself, I'll take over. We need you to get us help, can you do that?"
She could, she could do that – she was the fast one on her team, getting things was what she did; nodding as her uncles' stubbled face dipped down she scooped up her baby only to squeak in pain; her cramping arms could barely lift it as she looked around, trying to remember her bearings. The wind was stronger now, toying with her hood as she brushed her hair out her eyes; she was on top of Beacon, looking out at the dark sky and the strange moving lights in the distance… that was odd, she didn't remember seeing them over Vale before. Squinting up and cocking her head she tried to puzzle through her sudden brain-fog before recognising the squat shape; with a jolt of panicked joy she snatched another clip from her belt.
Uncle Qrow might have shouted something as she shot a volley of fiery Dust rounds towards their saviours but she didn't listen, watching the tracers light up the sky and screwing her eyes shut as a brilliant searchlight swept the rooftop. She opened her eyes to a scintilla of starbursts, halfway through reloading her weapon before realising the bullhorn had banked, lumbering ponderously towards them. Excitement coursing through her Ruby waved her scythe wildly overhead, pain forgotten as she urged the slow plane on with her mind as it was far away, so far and why wasn't it getting… it was overhead between blinks, the wash from its rotors knocking her onto her bottom as a low roar filled her ears. Crescent Rose clattered down by her side, she'd have to buff that out later as the airship hovered and large black figures spilled out of it – she should tell them something but couldn't remember what, her thoughts muddled as she watched them hurry to her kneeling uncle.
One of them suddenly noticed her and she giggled dreamily, her hand …Rose in greeting as the tall man or woman rushed over – she heard Uncle Qrow bark something while nodding at her but …Miss what it was, instead there were arms under her and she …Rose! up, lifted away as Remnant started to spin away…
"Miss Rose!"
XXX
As the small figure shot off her seat and started gabbling her accoster stepped back a pace, hiding a smile beneath his voluminous moustache,
"Ah wha; yes I'm here, present, what was the questiooooh," catching up to reality Ruby cringed and yanked her hood over her head, mortified, "I'm so sorry Professor Port, I was just…."
"No need to apologise Miss Rose," the rotund hunter replied, his joviality rewarded by a pair of silver eyes peeking up at him, the cheeks under them smouldering red, "you more than most deserve a moments' peace, I've heard nothing but good things about how much help you've been."
"Yeah, here," she muttered mutinously, kicking her heels in a quasi-mope, "fat lot of good I'd be out there right now..."
"Enough of that," the firmer edge to her teachers' voice broke through her depression; Port was easy-going for an instructor but his punishment for those who pushed him was whispered in hushed tones by the student body, "you're doing your part…"
"But I wanna do more!"
"…and that attitude, that willingness to go beyond tells me you'll be a great huntress," the gentle affection in the warriors' voice deflated her outburst, "but please, trust me as not just as your teacher but an older, more experienced hunter that if we had any, and I do mean any, choice none of your year would be within twenty miles of Beacon as it is now."
She guessed the Grimm studies professor could see the question writ large on her face so said nothing, merely watching as Port rubbed his forehead with a large hand, tired but able to dredge up a smile as he sighed,
"This, attack," his preferred adjective wasn't suitable for his current audience, "is the first large-scale invasion of any of the four kingdoms since the Great War and the founding of Menagerie. No doubt Barty, doctor Oobleck that is, will soon have a paper drafted detailing the various factors involved but the simple fact is we were caught off-guard from almost every angle imaginable. But for individual heroics," the atmosphere became leaden for a moment before Port pressed on, "and a lot of luck it would have been worse. Beacon still burns," he declared fiercely, Ruby likewise clenching a triumphant fist at the saying that had swept Vale after the recent battle, "but she is dimmed – losing our headmaster is a grievous blow, especially as he was helping stop the whole damned place collapsing without us knowing it!"
Despite herself Ruby couldn't help but snigger, the sight of Ports' moustache bristling in outrage enough to make anyone smile. As she'd been told by her uncle after waking up from her exhaustion some days ago the Grimm drakes' death had turned the black tide, the roar of the dying leviathan making the other Grimm flood from the breached city. The bloody night had been won and by the dawn so too had the peace; the technicians of the Atlian headmaster-general had managed to isolate the virus that had crippled their forces and repair the damaged CCT tower, proving the images beamed across Remnant as, if not false, then certainly misrepresenting the truth, preventing conflict between the kingdoms. Ruby had been ecstatic to hear this, even more so when she put the pieces she held together with the bigger picture and realised what her first friend at Beacon had done; but for Qrow scooping her up by the waist there'd have been a red blur shouting the news from Vale's rooftops as soon as she'd got her boots on.
Instead her uncle, only sipping from his hip flask in solemnity of the occasion, had sat her down and explained the situation more fully, bad news as well as good. The Grimm were mostly gone from the city but circling in the forests outside, it wouldn't take much to spark another attack that Vale was ill-equipped for. A lot of the White Fang, including their leader and Torchwick, were unaccounted for and help from Atlas was minimal, the Black Queen hack having crippled their robotic soldiers and carrier fleet. Beacon itself was reeling from the maiming and, in some cases, loss of students and Headmaster Ozpin – Ruby had refused to believe that, shaking her head stubbornly even as she sobbed into her uncles' chest at his scroll picture of the headmasters' burnt and broken cane. The bad news extended further to her own team, grief fading to numbness by Qrow's news of Weiss all but kidnapped back to Atlas by her tyrannical father, Blake unaccounted for and her sister…
She didn't want to dwell on Yang, her mind instead racing onto the future of Beacon, itself a precarious but slightly more hopeful situation as the structure still stood. Apparently Ozpin had been more than Beacons' headmaster, he'd somehow melded with the ancient structure itself to facilitate any repairs made. No more could Goodwitch just wave her crop and slot all the broken pieces back together – without the headmaster and, they assumed, his until-now unknown Semblance it would take months if not years to fully undo the damage the Academy had suffered, leaving Vales' future huntsmen and huntresses bereft of a home. A week after that tumultuous night saw them set up a crude base of operations in a trio of dock warehouses, ironically near where team RWBY had come close to intercepting one of the masterminds behind this plot and his lackeys. Hastily cleared out, the homeless students and staff had swiftly transformed one and a half of these structures into crude mockeries of their Beacon dorms using sheets of tarp, hemp pulleys and teenage ingenuity. It couldn't last, not for the long term, but for now it was in this 'Ocean View' that the future hunters of the kingdom slept, ate, rested and healed between punishing cycles of helping patch up the damage to their city.
Or at least most of them do; Ruby's assignment made logical sense; everyone and everything at Ocean View was stretched thin and bereft of a team she wouldn't be allowed into the city anyway due to the risk of stray Grimm; but emotionally it was torture. No matter how many times her Semblance let her deliver food, ammunition, blankets or even people where they needed to be counting the other teams, her friends, out and in was awful. Along with her gopher duties Ruby had become a part-time waitress, delivering food to the weary rescue parties and biting her tongue not to ask for news, simply acting as a sponge for those what wanted to vent. It seemed to help; Velvet had given her a cute red beanie hat she'd rescued from the rubble her team had cleared from Vales' entertainment district a few days ago; but the feeling she could do more always nagged at her heels. The young reaper knew that lessons in disaster relief started in the second year but to stave off disease and despair that could tempt in the Grimm even her year had been called to the fore; that she wasn't with them was a sore chafe to bear.
Still, it could be worse; with an effort she turned her mind to the few bright spots of this sorry affair; at least we're all working together. In Ocean's Rest all the old rivalries had broken – no-one had time or energy to rekindle arguments over race or social standing so all stood more or less equal. Barriers had shattered by necessity and everyone seemed better for it – over this last week or so there'd been hardly a cross word not caused by fatigue or accident. It's good that we're all working together; memories of chuckling at a joke from Sky Lark, a boy she'd had nothing to do with prior due to his teams' reputation, the previous night lightened her mood; and with the CCTS working most people have had news from home, me included. Dad and Zwei are okay, Yang will be too when she's rested up for a bit and we've got a good system going now – the staff and fourth-years are making sure people rotate out from the front, even Pyrrha… damn it!
Her ascending mood took a nose-dive; she'd heard the phrase 'working like a Spartan' before but never thought she'd see it. According to rumour Pyrrha had cleared entire streets of Vale during the battle, taking down whole packs of lesser Grimm single-handedly; since those nightmares had retreated she'd seemed determined to fix the stricken city single-handedly, volunteering for every assignment until Goodwitch, now acting headmistress, had forced her to stand down. Though she'd not been that close to the Mistralian champion on the few occasions they'd crossed paths Ruby had felt a shiver trickle down her spine; even with her team Pyrrha seemed distant, as though the weight of the shattered moon sat on her slim shoulders.
I hope Ren and Nora can get through to her, especially after what happened in the final; she didn't dwell on that – though testimonies from team CFVY and her own sister indicated foul play the young Rose felt the loss of her friend; because Penny was a friend, machine or not; keenly and hated herself for not hiding it better – if she felt bad, how much worse must Pyrrha, who'd been tricked into destroying her opponent, feel? Not to mention; her gaze flicked left and she tried her hardest to deny tears at the thought of the miserable redhead; after learning about this…;
"Miss Rose," the intruding voice made her jump again, one little hand clamped over her palpitating heart as Professor Port gestured towards the door with his blunder-axe, "sorry to drag you away from your rest but I did come to find you. Apparently we've had a delivery and it's all hands to get it stowed before the seawater gets to it."
"I wish they'd give us a bit more warning when they're coming in," Ruby groused, slipping off her stool, "I'm on it Professor, I'll make sure it all goes where it's meant to be."
"I've no doubt," he replied, Ruby not noticing the grimace that flitted across his face as his mask of bonhomie slipped; she's too young, they're all too damned young!
Peter Port had been a hunter for most of his life and had seen the worst Remnant could throw at its few defenders. This was far from the first attack he'd helped weather – most Kingdom capitals had been attacked by Grimm hordes in the past – but this was likely the worst; when he'd confided in his youngest student that they'd been lucky he wasn't exaggerating. And worse than the attack was the aftermath – these children shouldn't have to see this, I didn't until I was past twenty! I'll raise something with our new headmaster, or mistress if Glynda gets the post, perhaps Barty can help after Beacon is restored. They'll all need it, especially that poor Nikos girl; memories of her desolate expression, beamed across all of Remnant, flashed across the old soldiers' mind; though you could likely help sort that lad, if you'd just get off your arse!
His last thought was uncharitable but true, directed as it was at the comatose third occupant of what had once been the foremans' office of one of Ocean Views' warehouses. Converted into a crude medical-cum-storage facility Jaune Arc was afforded a little more privacy than most by the locked door, blacked out windows and, hidden from most students, continual teacher presence as he recovered from whatever hell he'd walked through. Initially sceptical about the necessity for such secrecy, after talking to both Qrow and the team that had recovered him from Beacons' rooftop Port couldn't help but agree with the younger hunters' paranoia. Apart from any White Fang who might have ditched their masks to blend in with Vales' population, the last two reprobates that had made up Cinder Falls' team had disappeared in the chaos of the invasion; alongside stray Grimm, that placed a lot of threat at the young mans' door.
Though very few knew who had delivered the city from the dragons' shadow (and that information was being suppressed; if it wasn't and the Arc didn't wake up or, worse, was murdered, the news of his death might as well ring a dinner bell for the circling Grimm), no-one now was taking any chances with security as leaky as it currently was. The room had been labelled as a store for controlled medical drugs so students left it alone and the rest of his team had been told their leader was undergoing treatment elsewhere, though exactly where was never disclosed for fear of a lightning-empowered huntress running through anything between Oceans' View and there – usually endearingly cheerful, right now anyone standing between Nora Valkyrie and her Jaune-Jaune would be waking up with boot-prints on their chest.
Though he understood the need for such precautions Port wasn't a fan of them so he was grateful an exception had been made for the one student who already knew the truth. Though she was under strict instructions to keep the door locked even when inside and tell no-one about what she'd seen atop Beacons' tower the Grimm Studies expert knew Ruby spent many snatched moments here and there to chat about anything and everything, divesting her worries, fears and inadequacies to her comatose comrade. Ozpin said you were a good listener, one of the reasons he made you leader; Port recalled that meeting with a pang of sorrow for his lost friend, seeing the wisdom in the headmasters' selection even as others, Goodwitch first amongst them, decried it; and you've proven him right again – right now people can tell you anything…;
"Professor?" As he hadn't heard the door behind him open he'd known he wasn't alone,
"Hmm?"
"That Grimm," the young reaper began, not quite able to meet the large mans' eyes and instead looking past him to the bed, "the one Jaune killed, do you know about it?"
"A little; I know a lot of people have been calling it the Grimm dragon but officially it was a Wyvern," seeing his audience paying rapt attention for once Port quickly warmed to his topic, "they're not unknown but exceptionally rare, fortunately for us."
"Have you ever hunted one?"
"No, not that was ever confirmed; two hunts mentioned a flying Grimm that could have been a Wyvern but the first turned out to be an ancient Nevermore and the second was never found, though there was a lot more Grimm newborn around that might have indicated a leviathan flying overhead. The last confirmed sighting was near the end of the Faunus War and even then the beast was only seen at a distance, flying over the Grimm lands. As they spawn lesser Grimm they're considered leviathans, on the small side for the class but deadlier than many as they can fly – in truth Miss Rose had that monster charged the breach or gone after our CCT tower Beacon would likely have fallen."
He could see his student and fellow hunter absorb his words, almost hear her mind ticking over them and couldn't help a small smile as she bit her lower lip,
"Jaune did something amazing didn't he Professor?"
"He did indeed." She smiled, silver eyes softening as they beheld her stricken yearmate again, willing him to rise so things could start to go back to normal,
"And once everything's back to normal we'll be able to tell everyone right? He always wanted to be a hero."
"Proof if any were needed that hard work makes dreams come true; anyway I wouldn't worry too much about him my dear, he's got good reason to wake up soon."
"Really? What?" The professor chuckled, raising an eyebrow towards her,
"Oh come now Miss Rose, it's a story old as time; the young hero risks life and limb to slay the beast because he knows his fairy-tale princess waits for his return…
"Wait, what?!"
"…and when he returns stricken she keeps vigil by his bedside…"
"G,guh!"
"…waiting for her beloved to awake…"
"B'beloovvuuhh!"
"…and claim the kiss she promised…"
"I-I… ki-ki-ki… daahh!"
"…through from what your uncle said you skipped ahead on that one."
"Eeee-eek!"
"Don't despair though – I'm sure young Mr Arc will be conscious enough to recreate the tender moment soon…"
The slam of a door answered him, the old professor chuckling at his horrified students' rapid exit as he brushed rose petals off his shirt front. Teasing students on their crushes Peter; he could all but hear Glynda's scolding; for shame. He'd make sure to apologise to young Ruby later when she'd had a chance to cool her burning face and recollect her scattered wits. Shaking his head as he recalled a few of his own youthful follies the older man cast his eyes around the darkened room and nodded at his other student. Get well soon son; the veterans' humour was replaced by deep respect for what the Arc had done for both his school and his kingdom; you turned the tide of a battle when you fell, now when you rise I suspect you'll turn the tide of something even greater.
XXX
Sometime later, someone began a purposeful walk.
XXX
Stupid Professor Port; Ruby thought words she'd never say – despite the old man apologising two evenings ago she was still wrestling down voluminous blushes at inopportune moments. Even now she couldn't countenance setting foot in Jaune's room again as the old hunters' words cast the life-saving actions she'd taken that night in an altogether more lurid light; just the thought of sitting beside him right now made her insides squirm,
"Rosie!" Fortunately a distraction took her mind off the recumbent knights in much the same way her sister would have, though fortunately without the terrible puns and risk of cleavage-induced asphyxiation,
"Hi Nora; is that you all back in?"
"Yep," the sprightly ginger assured her friend as she released the, for Nora, loose hold, "Renny smelt lunch from half the city away, none of us could hold him back."
"Uh-huh," Ruby nodded, trying in vain to hold her giggles in at the Valkyrie's assertive nod, "grab a table, I'll let them know you're here."
"You're coming too right?"
"Unless there's anything urgent they need me for," the younger team leader assured the now-pleading countenance, idly wondering how someone who she'd seen launch Grimm into the stratosphere could look so helplessly crushed by the thought of losing out on time with a friend, "there shouldn't be, it's been pretty quiet. Grab a table, I'll tell you guys all about it."
"Okey-dokey, see you in a minute," the hammer girl skipped away and Ruby shook her head, smiling – it was almost impossible for bad moods to persist around the muscle of JNPR, one of the reasons Nora was so popular despite her hyperactivity and callous disregard for collateral damage. Seriously, who in their right mind looked at Nora and think 'yeah, that girl needs a grenade launcher'?; unknowingly echoing a question Glynda Goodwitch had often moaned despairingly as she ironed out yet another crater in her sparring ring Ruby zipped into the warehouse of Oceans' View closest to the sea, crossed the training mats strewn around its outskirts and headed for the counter of the serving area that fronted the rudimentary cookhouse curtained off from the cookhouse,
"Four coming in," she beamed up at the serving girl, a member of the Beacon staff; having barricaded themselves into the defensible kitchens when the battle had begun, almost all the non-Hunters employed by the Vale academy had relocated with their charges, "and me as well. Just call when it's ready, I'll get them."
"Thanks Ruby," the older woman smiled, "is it your friends in JNPR?" Rubys' smile became slightly more fixed at the reminder of the missing letter but she powered through,
"Yeah, three of them, though not sure who took the lead; oh, hang on," there was no hiding the fashion sense that strutted into the training area, Ruby waving at the temporary team leader before answering turning back to the server,
"I saw," the server cut off the forthcoming observation, "I'll call it in, you go sit with your friends. We'll whistle when it's ready."
"Oh, right; thanks," Ruby waved awkwardly before retreating towards the returned team, cheeks starting to burn again as her non-existent social skills tripped her up again, "I'll, er, I'll let them know."
XXX
Close by, someone came within eyeshot of Ocean View.
XXX
Pre-occupied with pulling her chair out Ruby didn't see the sneak attack until it was too late,
"Aww, quit it," she demanded, pouting as the hand that had been ruffling her hair withdrew, "I hate it when you do that!"
"Sorry Rubes I can't resist," Coco admitted, chuckling at her dyspeptic expression, "you're like Velv but shor… concentrated."
"I heard that," the first year folded her arms and fumed adorably, "not my fault I'm tiny, I drink milk!"
"Yeah, half-pints." At Nora's strangled snort Ruby buried her head in her hands, not even Ren able to meet her gaze as she dragged her fingers down her face forlornly,
"Puberty I need that growth spurt soon; don't doom me to a life of terrible short jokes!"
"Aw don't say that Rubes," experience let her ride the punch to her shoulder that would have catapulted her onto the nearby sparring mats, "just tell the jokers you're closer to their kneecaps." Caught halfway between a snicker and a shudder at the Valkyries' cheerful assurance Ruby could only shake her head at Noras' carefree grin,
"That works?"
"Works for me," the ginger mistress of explosions nodded sagely, "if it doesn't just break their legs, then it definitely will."
"I'll, er, I'll take your word for it."
"Not to mention you'll likely be tall anyway," all eyes turned to Ren as he carefully tightened one of the blades on Stormflower, "your legs look slightly longer than your body. That means you're likely to, pardon the expression, grow into them down the line."
"Really?" Ruby was already standing up, trying to see if he was right, "That's a thing?"
"I believe so – I assume long legs run in your family."
"Ye-hey," she caught him at the last minute; complimenting Nora's in-your-face zaniness and Jaune's self-depreciation, Ren was the master of the droll one-liner, "nice try Renny but I saw that coming." The pseudo-ninja merely inclined his head, not reacting to his pet name being used by someone other than Nora in respect for her foiling his laugh at her expense even as Coco finished her own once-over,
"Either way he got your leg-length right; nice eye. With your build I'd say go for skinny jeans but since you're so obsessed with that frock…"
"Combat skirt!"
"…I'd recommend tube stocks when you're older – if you've got the legs you might as well make the most of them." Ruby weighed this up in her mind before shrugging,
"Fair, I'll talk with Yang when she's back," she said noncommittally, not wanting to dwell on her sister until her dad came back with more concrete news, "you're right about making the most of it though. Compared to her," Ruby glance down meaningfully, "legs are all I've got."
"You and the rest of us, expect maybe the ginger nut over there," Nora didn't hear Coco's sigh, excitedly re-enacting part of their recent clearance mission with the salt and pepper shakers, "still, the patrols do wonders for the glutes and thighs. Can't wait for Vale to get back to normal so I can start restocking my wardrobe – what about you Pyr, looking forwards to wearing something other than armour and training kit?"
The salt-shaker skittered, even Nora unable to completely tune out the name of the girl who sat not a foot away, a foot that might as well have been an eternity. The strangest thing was that the champion didn't look much different at a distance – it was only up close you could see the dishevelled hair, bags under now-dull green eyes and, most disconcertingly, the sense of palpable distance between her and the rest of the world. Her undeniable skill and resultant fame had always set Pyrrha apart from the rest of Beacon but ever since that night she'd voluntarily closed herself off, eyes fixed forwards to a level beyond her current lonely pinnacle. Ren and Nora had been keeping their combined eyes on her but both were at a loss as to how to rein her in and seeing her sister team in such distress was the sorest test Ruby faced in keeping the secrets entrusted to her,
"Vale must come first," Pyrrha's voice was softer than before, "until the city is made whole the Grimm will be a risk."
"True but that's going to take time," Coco cautioned, striking the tenuous balance between keeping the girl talking and not pushing so hard she'd clam up, "and it's not just us don't forget. We're already seeing the rest of the emergency services come into play; I wouldn't be surprised if they pull us all off recovery duties in the next week."
"Really?" Damn; Ruby's curiosity had derailed her attempts to strike up a conversation with the first year who needed help the most; though I can't really blame her. She's been going stir-crazy and Pyrrha likely needs more help than any of us can give her – I'll see if Dai's got any ideas, his meditation might take the edge off it;
"Oh yeah," not missing a beat or letting her worries show Coco swung seamlessly to the rest of her audience, "you learn more about what's supposed to happen after Grimm attacks like this in year two; watch out for Peachs' essays on it though, they're a doozy. Long story short we, Hunters that is, help pull people out the rubble short-term but beyond that we're worth more keeping the Grimm away. I imagine the profs are already drawing up hunt schedules so don't think too much about the city, you especially Pyr – once the people are safe we leave the clean up to the experts and go back to doing what we do best."
Mission accomplished; as the mood around the table lightened and Nora started discussing the appropriate ways to remove a beowolves' mask without damaging it Coco allowed herself a breath. Pyrrha hadn't smiled but looked ever so slightly more relaxed at the prospect of hunting again, something she'd report to Goodwitch once lunch was over; having worked a few times with the leaderless team Coco could see the stresses threatening to fracture it better than most. Jaune was the glue as much as the lead; thoughts hidden behind her dark glasses the fashionista flicked NPR a glance each; unusual for one person to be both – I've got Vel, and Dai to a lesser extent, as peacemaker if I need to put my foot down, though I suppose Ren could step in if needed. I don't know if this set-up was genius or madness; on paper JNPR seemed a perfect formation but up close there were a lot of flaws in the diamond; but I suppose Pyrrha was going to unbalance any team, not to mention Ren and Nora were so close before they joined neither of them was going to be able to boss the other around. Jaune's made it work so far; Coco respected good leaders and it seemed the Arc had grown into the role, better than he had his sword and shield at any rate; but him coming back is going to be a big test. It depends on when, where and how he got separated from his partner – if that was rough, and I suspect it was; another snuck glance at the standoffish champion – Pyrrha had been tight-lipped regarding her and Jaunes' disappearance before she'd rampaged through the street of Vale and none had been brave enough to press her on it; how they bounce back from that will make or break them;
"Oh nice," introspection was abandoned for nourishment, Coco lifting her glasses to take in the sight of the full plate Ruby had placed in front of her, "actual food today."
"Yeah," a shout from the training mats answered her, a pair of third years sparring as their teammates spotted each other on a weight bench, "upgraded from the regular slop. Must have had a good delivery for a change."
"Came in yesterday," Ruby answered, shrugging a twinge in her shoulder as she went back for a second pair of plates, "I should know, I packed it all away."
"And we're forever grateful," Nora gurgled through a mouthful of saliva, eyes dilated as they drank in the nirvana piled in front of her, "pancakes…"
XXX
Glynda Goodwitch suddenly glanced up from the report she was reading, shivering as though someone had walked over her grave.
XXX
"This is good," having quickly grabbed her and Pyrrha's portions Ruby had dug in with gusto, "my sore arms yesterday were worth it."
"And so say all of us," Nora agreed, wolfing down the fried battery goodness, "what'vw 'ou got'ere 'Uby?"
"Swallow first," Ren sighed, knowing it was a wasted effort to correct his best friends' manners but doomed to try anyway, "it's that rice dish you like isn't it Pyrrha? Has it got fish in it?"
"Yes, just missing a dash of black sauce," she affirmed, taking another slightly less than dainty mouthful, "yours should just be a moment Ren? Ren?" The ninja blinked, apparently lost in thought for a heartbeat before he nodded,
"I hope so; can't deny the food-envy."
"Aww, fancy a toast soldier," Coco offered coyly, amused as Nora's eyes locked onto the piece of toast she offered forwards; girl you've got it bad for him, just woman up and say it 'cause he's never going to; "these eggs are awesome and they toasted both sides."
"Didn't they just use a toaster?" The second-year shook her head,
"Nah, there's no lines; if you'd ever used those rotisserie things in the canteen you'd know they leave marks on the bread. This was done in a pan, very lightly oiled hence why I don't need much butter."
"No way," Ruby looked at the condiment wonderingly, "you could tell that?"
"I take my toast very seriously; gotta be smooth, tanned, warm and melt-in-the-mouth, just like the ladies in my life."
"Eww!"
"Not at the table please," Ren's common sense overrode his younger yearmates' distaste, "we're eating… food." His last word was perfectly placed to both deflate Coco's no doubt saucy comment and deflect the unsettling feeling in his gut, one that only grew as he glanced away towards the counter. Can't tell from here; the distance was too great so he looked back over the table; you'll find out soon enough – getting worked up over anything never helped anyone;
"Oh no Ren, I'm sorry," Ruby must have noticed his glance and guilt at her crushed expression swirled into the existing discomfort, "I should've…"
"Stayed where you are and finished your dinner," he overrode her protest with a raised hand, "it'll be here soon and I'm fairly sure it's cold, unlike the rest of yours." Coco's ears pricked,
"I meant to ask about that; are you a vegetarian Ren?"
"No but it was harder to get meat when we were younger. It's more expensive for one thing so I, or we mostly learned to do without," he explained as Nora, cheeks stuffed, nodded in agreement, "and to be fair I don't like the taste of most meats, I prefer cheese and eggs." There was a loud gulp from beside him,
"Yeah; people who say I'm bad around pancakes have never seen Renny with a quiche."
"But," after a trio of glances were shared Ruby was silently elected as spokeswoman, "we've never seen Ren with a quiche."
"Exactly, you never see him and nor does the quiche – he's a ninja you know. Hey," her encircling arm was too slow to stop the theft but warded off any further attempts, "sticky fingers on your own plate Renny."
"Sorry, needed a palate cleanser," he certainly didn't sound apologetic as he sucked his finger, standing up as one of the other servers set a plate down in front of him, "thank you, just need some salt. Anyone else, black sauce if they have it Pyrrha?"
"Please."
The rose-eyed boy quietly excused himself and the girls returned to their meals, Nora unsurprisingly first to finish and drumming her fingers on her belly content,
"Ummm, that was worth waiting for," she declared, voice full of quiet content as her compatriots nodded, still digging in, "hope the kitchen staff keep it up, especially if they are going to send us out hunting again."
"Too right; field bars, blegh!" There was a communal shudder at Rubys' denunciation, or almost communal,
"Oh don't tell me you like those things Pyr," the redhead suddenly couldn't meet Coco's glasses, "I thought you were cool."
"They're not that bad…"
"They're old newspapers mashed up with Grimm tar," Ruby declared, grimacing at memories of her dad tricking her and Yang into eating some claiming it was a new type of candy; he's probably still got our faces on his scroll; "at least they could make chocolate-chip flavour or something."
"Nah, that'd encourage us to stay in the field; those bars are a way to control Huntsmen," Nora added, explaining as all three of her friends regarded her nonplussed, "think about it - if field rations tasted good we'd go on longer hunts right?"
"Yeah, maybe."
"No maybe, we would because hunting Grimm is awesome, don't you see?" Evidently not – why can no-one see the simplest things?; "the field rations tasting bad means hunters don't wanna eat them, so they have to stay close to the cities or they'd run out of decent food. That means we stick close to civilisation and report in regularly so the Council knows where we are and what sort of bounties we're picking up; it also means we cull the Grimm closest to the cities rather than staying out in the Grimm lands. Quite clever really," she admitted, idly tracing her finger through the scraps on her plate as her audience blinked, swapped glances and blinked again before one of them broke,
"That's both insane and makes sense and I'm not sure which is worse," Coco groaned, massaging her forehead, "can't corral us with force so doing it with food, mad but effective. I agree with you though Ruby, a dash of chocolate never goes amiss when it's hammering down and howling a gale. Ruby?"
Perturbed as the younger huntress didn't answer the temporary team leader glanced over and started as she realised that, save a few scattered petals, the formerly occupied seat was empty.
XXX
Unaware of the peril they were blundering into, two fourth-year students stepped forth to halt someone they didn't recognise.
XXX
Lie Ren was not a ninja, he was a Huntsman; unlike many if not most of his contemporaries, however, he'd grasped the lesson that hunting something usually involved at least some degree of stealth. It wasn't like he even went out of his way to do it either; he just hung back, stayed quiet, watched people and moved when they weren't looking at him, though granted when Nora was around that was usually quite often. Such simple habits meant he wasn't challenged as he breezed behind the small servery, though given his suspicions even he found it hard to keep the lid fully on his temper as he ducked into the kitchen and looked around.
His magenta gaze found nothing but a few confused faces and for a second doubt clawed his insides, then there was a low clunk and another figure rose from behind a counter, slamming an oven shut. Knuckles whitening around Stormflowers' grips Ren forced himself calm, even his Semblance unable to completely drown out the urges to vault the obstacles between himself and the familiar back; instead he ignored the gathering whispers and strode purposefully forwards. His target remained blissfully unaware of how close he was to an intimate encounter with the business ends of a pair of machine pistols as he reached for a plastic spatula; it was only at a sudden cough that Jaune Arc looked around and started,
"Oh, hi Ren."
"Hi Ren," the Kuroyuri orphan echoed, his Tranquility taxed to the limit to keep him from lashing out, "that's it? That's all you've got to say?!"
"No, no of course not," as Jaune backed off with his hands raised Ren felt his zen returning; it was hard to stay mad at the would-be knight at the best of times, the flowery apron and oversized oven mitts he was currently sporting were just overkill, "I got back late last night, when I woke up I heard you'd all gone out. Thought I'd make myself useful 'til you came back – I know man," his voice cracked as he stepped forwards at the same time his teammate did, "I missed you all…"
Their embrace said more than words ever could; there were several seconds of silence as the two reassured by each other by their presence, then Ren stepped back and discretely ran his arm over his face,
You don't know, not yet," his voice was choked but he looked steely, "and you better get out there before the girls realise you're back or they won't miss you." Not even Jaune could miss his glance towards the dining area and as the knight backed up a step Ren let the muzzles of his weapons peep out his sleeves – like it or not Jaune was going out there if he had to drag him by his ankles,
"Wait, hang on…"
"No, no hanging anywhere," Ren would not be deterred, grabbing his closest arm, "try putting this off and we'll both hang."
"Yeah, that's why I need a peace offering," wrenching his arm free Jaune pointed desperately at the tray he'd just pulled out the oven, "at least let me bring the cookies so they don't eat me alive." Ren weighed this up in an instant and slid him a plate,
"Be quick," Jaune nodded, frantically scooping the fresh cookies off the tin and onto the plate; the second he was done Ren had him by the arm again, pulling him towards where the rest of his team sat oblivious to this Remnant-shattering news,
"Wait up, I'm cooling them down," glancing over his shoulder Ren saw the plate in Jaunes' free hand quivering and relented as Jaune kept pace with him, "old Nana Arcs' trick for getting them ready fast. That should do it; actually, you better hold this;" I'm getting an odd sense of deja-vu; the stretched tarpaulin sheet was suddenly replaced by fractured stone as the heat leeched from the hot kitchen – Jaune faltered for half a step then, as before, planted one foot in front of the other as reality reassured itself and he handed Ren the plate, "if I don't make it, tell my family I love them and delete my scroll history." The ninja almost snorted over the steaming cookies,
"You'll live, probably." Jaune deadpanned at his smirk before squaring his shoulders and slipping through into the dining room.
Though the sight of them all sitting there made him clutch his chest as his heart threatened to rip itself in two, in truth Jaune got further than he thought he would before he was noticed; though a pair of silver eyes locked onto him and widened hugely, he was just able to nip to the side of the counter before a familiar figure materialised in front of him.
XXX
Hearing a nearby commotion Professor Goodwitch hurried towards it, an action she would quickly regret when the flash of movement caught the attention of someone stalking down the main thoroughfare of Oceans' View.
XXX
She saw and she reacted, Semblance carrying her halfway to her destination before her brain caught up. Stumbling to a halt Ruby looked up at Jaune, mouth open but nothing emerging; she wanted to scream in delight, sob in relief and howl in triumph all at once but it all clogged up in her throat. Staring up at her first friend at Beacon faint echoes of Professor Ports' joking voice made her cheeks ignite and left her a stuttering mess,
"Uh Jaune it's… you're back, that's great are you feeling okay;" stop talking, please stop; "I mean I don't know what happened but it's so good to see you again. Are you all right and do yo-ah!" Pressure on her shoulders stopped her babbling before two long, warm somethings slipped under her arms, Ruby gasping softly at a sudden light pressure around her ribs,
"You saved my life Crater-Face," the mutter in her ears from a voice she feared she'd never hear again made her well up, "now give me a hug."
"S'shut up Vomit Boy," she managed, half-laughing, half-crying in sheer relief as she buried her nose in the crook of his neck, squeezing the resurrected knight as hard as she could. For a moment there was just the two of them alone in all of Remnant, then Ruby twitched to step out of their embrace only to find Jaune not letting go, feeling the chuckle in his chest and blushing again as it echoed in her own,
"Heh, sorry Rubes but you're my human shield right now."
"Shield? What…?"
"Fearless leader!"
"Ohhhh… whelp!" The brutal impact drove the air from her lungs and the Valkyrie's ferocious embrace kept it out, the young Rose seeing her life flash before her eyes as Jaune's panicked voice filled her ears,
"Nora let go!"
"No!" The denial was visceral and vehement, "Silly Jaune-Jaune, have to keep hold of you so you don't wander off again, it's JNPR honour."
"You're crushing Ruby!"
"Ruby? Oh," the pressure withdrew and the leader of RWBY flopped to the floor, "how'd you get here? You're okay right?"
"Ribs, splintered… spine, talcum powder… kidneys, presumed lost…."
"Yeah, she's fine."
"So I see, and if Yang's to be believed she came from adoption day at the Patch zoo," Jaune joked, smirking as his fellow team leader glared up at him while he embraced his shorter teammate, "it's good to see you Nora. I'm sorry I made you worry."
"You better be," her voice was muffled in his chest before she pulled her head free to glare around his back, "did you know about this Ren?"
"I suspected when I saw our meals," her oldest friend answered, pointing towards the kitchen, "Jaune knows all our favourites so when I saw my cheese salad with sunflower oil glaze I went looking."
The bomber beamed at his foresightedness before seeing his gaze fix over her shoulder; knowing who he was looking at she gave her team leader one last embrace before stepping shoulder to shoulder with Ren, Ruby likewise helped back to her feet by Coco as the last member of JNPR came closer. Pyrrhas' face was a mask, the Mistralians' eyes like painted glass as Jaune watched her approach, doing his best to hold down bubbling nerves. The room went quiet, everyone holding their breath as the partners recently separated by tragedy were finally reunited, Pyrrha coming to a halt an arms-length from the boy she'd rescued in Emerald forest, tension crackling between them as the wait began to stretch, stretch…
…then snapped with a noise like a gunshot and the thud of a body hitting the floor.
The pain in Jaunes' jaw was slight compared to the one in his chest – in the instant before her fist collided with his teeth the knight had seen agony in Pyrrha's eyes; that he was the cause of such hurt made the aches recede enough to let him sit up as the champion span on her heel and stalked towards the exit of the dining room,
"Whoa, what…!
"Jaune!"
"Pyrrha!"
"Hey, get back…"
"Stop!" Ow, ow my face, my depressingly-average face; despite the pain the shout caused, however, Jaune felt it worth it to make everyone else freeze; no matter how good their intentions Pyrrha's emotions, not to mention his, were too raw to try and work through now, "let her go."
"But Jaune-Jaune…"
"No Nora," shaking his head he tried to stand up then thought better of it; though she hadn't hit him as hard as she could Pyrrha still packed a punch, "I probably deserved that."
"What the hell did you do?"
"I made a field call," Jaune's usual self-doubt was absent, the other two team leaders regarding him more closely as he took Rens' pro-offered hand to pull himself to his feet, "I thought it was right at the time but Pyrrha's got every right to be furious with me."
"I, uh," under the sudden uncomfortable silence Ruby was first to crack, "I think we better all sit down; you can you explain everything right?" Jaune nodded, trying to recall what Professor Goodwitch told him earlier that morning after he'd woken up in the night,
"Yeah, sounds like a good idea – come on," with bleeding lips he smiled, waving a hand towards Ren, "I made cookies." Ruby went very still, her eyes started to water as she gazed at the plate adoringly before turning that gaze on him,
"You are my new god."
Nora's shoulders heaved and Coco spluttered with mirth, even Ren smirking widely as Jaune chuckled, resisting the urge to pat her on the head with great difficulty,
"Never change Ruby, just go easy on the prayers and burnt offering – there's some cinnamon and raison ones in there." The reaper recoiled in blatant distaste,
"Urgh, why would you do that to innocent cookies? They deserve chocolate chips!"
"Because Nora likes them and I wasn't sure what Coco preferred," he answered, heading towards the table and mentally preparing his notes, "come on, we've all got news we want to share."
XXX
Not caring where she was going, Pyrrha didn't notice almost barging into someone through the blaze in her mind and tears in her eyes.
XXX
Slouching in his seat Jaune just about suppressed a sigh as the weight of expectation pressed down on him, not even the sight of Ruby nibbling through a cookie like a hyperactive chipmunk diverting attention from the forthcoming explanation – like it or not, it was time to face the music,
"I got back late last night and Professor Goodwitch and she filled me in on Oceans' View and what everyone's been doing since the battle this morning. So, first things' first what do you guy kno-ooohhh!" Focussed on his friends around the table Jaune was only dimly aware of movement in the warehouse entrance until his second glance brought more clarity; the blood drained from his face as he recognised someone stood shoulder to shoulder with a haggard Professor Goodwitch staring straight at him.
Someone very familiar.
Someone very, very angry.
You have one chance; the very small part of his mind not currently blank with shock or gibbering in terror hauled on the mental reins in an attempt to avoid disaster; you need to say something. It doesn't have to be amazing – you can be surprised, make a joke, sound overjoyed – it doesn't matter what comes out of your mouth…
"Eeeep!" ; …as long as it's not that unmanly squeak of abject terror. Oh well, I tried…
The rest of the table had seen the JNPR leader tail off and blanche paler than his hair; even as they made to ask or look around there was a blur of motion, a bellow of,
"There you are!" and Jaune was hauled off his seat,
"Ahh, ahhh-ai-ai-ai my ear!"
"What have you got to say for yourself?"
"You're gonna rip it off!"
"I should I rip off more after the crap you've pulled! Right, you," Goodwitch jumped, "find us somewhere private; you, big trouble; you lot," storm grey eyes flashed with lightning as they swept the table, "stay where you are – I'll get back to you when I've dealt with this idiot!"
Commands issued the stranger strode away, Goodwitch reduced to a mere herald with Jaune, still shrieking at the unrelenting grip on his vulnerable lobe, trailing in their wake. Silence descended as the unusual trio rounded the servery entrance; it was a over a minute later before someone mustered the courage to break it,
"So, ah," Rubys' hand trembled as she snagged another biscuit, "anyone thinking rescue?"
"Nope," Nora's head shook so fast her face was a blur, "nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope!"
"Pretty sure my ass is still putting down roots," Coco added, wiping off the sweat now beading her forehead, "who the bloody hell was that?" Ren shivered as he took a calming swig of water,
"Just throwing a grenade into the Grimm nest here but I'm going to guess that was Mama Arc."
"And she just found out what happened; rest in peace fearless leader, you will be missed."
"Uh, Nora, he's not dead."
"Not yet but give her a minute. Poor Jaune-Jaune; spanked to death," Nora shook her head dolefully, "nasty way to go."
Despite themselves Ruby and Coco cracked, the table alive with helpless sniggers as Ren helped himself to a few more (raisin) biscuits while the girls got a hold of themselves. Once the quartet had reasserted control they each took several minutes assessing this strange new reality – Jaune was back safe and well but so was, they assumed, his mother, who was on the warpath against her son for a reason they were in the dark about. Surely she should be happy he'd made it through the battle? As well as that bombshell why had Pyrrha flown off the handle earlier – what had happened between the two partners, and why couldn't any of them seem to stand up?
"It's a Semblance, it has to be," Nora declared as her latest attempt to leave the table dissipated under the memory of the infuriated woman's blazing eyes, "Voice of Command or something like that."
"I think 'Fear of the Brothers' would be more appropriate," Coco muttered, shifting in her seat uncomfortably, "hope it wears off soon; I gotta go!"
"Oh really? Hmm, fancy a top-up Ren?" Smiling wickedly Ruby swiped the water pitcher and started filling the ninjas' glass, the older team leader groaning at the noise before fixing the girl with an evil eye,
"Quit it you monster, I'm suffering!"
"Huh?" Ruby made a show of cupping her ear, "Speak up, I can't hear you all the way down here." She raised the pitcher higher and Coco doubled over, hugging her stomach as her thighs pressed together,
"Stop it, that's an order; Ren, Nora get it off her, please! Alright, alright I'm sorry – no more short jokes I promise, just stop pouring!"
A/N: Poor Coco – still, she's probably in a more comfortable place than Jaune is right now! Still, what does his 'mother' want with Goodwitch, how much do the other students (apart from Ruby) know about what went down atop the tower, will Pyrrha be able to get her cool back and can Nora start up a successful beowolf mask-selling business? Answers hopefully coming soon!
