And the plot is rolling onwards again, hurrah, hurrah~
Also, I have yet to properly say anything to you guys; When I started this fic, I wasn't expecting it to get as many views or as much attention as it has gotten. Those of you who've stuck with this story thus far, I just want to say thank you for all the feedback and the commentary and just in general the attention you've given this story. It means a lot to me, truly.
Now... on with the show.
Chapter 14: No Strings Attached
"Unexpected friendships are the best ones." —Unknown
Jacob was not in a pleasant mood. At all.
Out of all the things he was not prepared for, this he realized was high on the priority list to deal with.
Seriously!? They're actually starting this early, he screamed mentally as he looked about the campus.
Already the telltale signs were going up; Streamers, banners, promotional posters, the whole nine yards. The school was in an insanely happy mood, yet here he was with his stomach about ready to procure an ulcer.
Oh God, please tell me my deadline isn't shortened!
A thick Australian accent snapped him out of his terrified trance. "Hey, Mr. Muller, are you alright?"
Muller about-faced and came face-to-face with the speaker. Long brown hair, similar coffee brown eyes as himself, about his same height... and bunny ears.
"Oh! Uhm, hey Velvet," he said with a start, as his stomach manifested yet another pit, "I just, uh, I was just thinking ahead towards the... you know." He really couldn't bring himself to say it, all things considered, as it was forcing his stomach to eat away at itself and his mind to start going ballistic. Instead he simply gestured around at the various decorations.
It had been only 4 days since he had been on the receiving end of Weiss Schnee's frosty fury, and he had been on the mend fairly quickly in comparison to back on Earth. While he did end up going to the infirmary the next morning for some basic painkillers, most of the bruises and nicks from the Hailstrike—a name both he and Yang had come up with that same morning over breakfast—had been healed and were mainly just sore now, though far less so than in the immediate aftermath. It turned out that the nurse had located a bruise on his rib, but unlike back home where he would have probably have been out of commission for 3 to 4 weeks, here he was only out for a day or two. A day or two!? If he ever found a way back home, the medical academia of Earth would either scoff or unhinge their jaws at the socket with that little tidbit of info at their disposal.
So this was what it was like to essentially have superhuman healing. Huh.
Regardless of that, he hadn't expected things to go so well as they did afterwards. Now with her victory at her disposal, Jacob had expected Weiss to lord over him with it as a badge of superiority. Instead, after she had eventually calmed down from her victory high, she resumed her regular nonchalant demeanour in regards to him and continued as normal, only this time around she was far from as hostile. If anything, she wasn't even dismissive of him, though she wasn't exactly beaming brightly every time they bumped into one another. Rather, to put it in political terms, she was neutral to him, like Switzerland would be neutral to the planet blowing up under its feet or anything else really.
"Why? Most people are absolutely ecstatic," Velvet pointed out to him, "yet you're walking around looking like you're expecting an attack."
...You're not far off, Ms. Velveteen Rabbit, Jacob rattled off in his head as he continued to observe the decorating process.
"Sorry, sorry, it's some of that...unfamiliarity that's kinda throwing me for a loop again," he partially fibbed, "just like when I first got here. A lot of new people, for however short a time it is, new competitors to spar with, yada-yada, it's uh... it's never been my comfort zone." That last bit was far from a fib; A lot of new faces, events and such in a short amount of time was particularly exhausting for him mentally. Sure, most of the faces he'd be on the lookout for were familiar, but even then there were others that the show had never shown, so for all he knew things could get out of hand fairly quickly.
Part of him wanted to throw caution to the wind like there was no mañana, simply spill the beans and let them all know what is "destined" to happen. But the truth of the matter was that doing such would only do three things: One, get him marked as a lunatic by the student body if he couldn't back his claims; Two, if they did believe him it would throw Cinder's plan out the window and risk Cinder and Salem going for a more aggressive stratagem; and Three, it would paint a humongous red target on himself directly, something he knew he wouldn't survive when considering who basically amounts to his opponents here.
I need to calm down, he began to say to himself mentally, just get some distance from it and just relax. Get my bearings and re-focus before I lose my head...
In the back of his mind he began to think of options; Staying around the school itself wasn't going to help, so perhaps going into Vale itself would do him a favor.
About that time he remembered that gift he received from Professor Oobleck in the aftermath of the fight with Weiss...
...
"Are you sure Professor? I mean, I appreciate the gesture, but I don't want to take what you earned—"
"Oh, it's quite alright, Mr. Muller," Oobleck replied with a dismissive wave, "By all account Port and I squirrel away some spare Lien every year for just such occasions as these, I hardly need that much anyhow."
"Yeah but... 800 Lien!?"
"Well in regards to what I've heard, you're skint-broke are you not?"
"I mean, yeah, but—"
"Then consider this a helping hand while you're here, Mr. Muller."
"Uhh, wow, thank you Professor. I, uh, I'll find someway to pay you back, I promise; A Muller doesn't leave a debt unpaid..."
...
Perhaps it was time to pay off his first debt.
"Hey, Velvet," he began to ask, holding up his leather wallet from back on Earth, "By chance, have you and the rest of CFVY had breakfast yet? My treat."
And out of the corner of his eye he spotted another banner being raised. He didn't need to see what it said to know what it said; after all, it was the reason he was having a panic attack this morning.
Welcome to The 40th Vytal Festival, Hosted by The City of Vale.
"...And I respond to her comment—well and pissed off at the moment, mind you— "Hey, you keep touching my friend like that without his say-so and the surgeon who removes my size 9 shoe from your sphincter will be crowned King of Vale.""
The resounding laughter from the rest of the table told him he'd at least hit a funny bone or two. Fox and Yatsuhashi were both laughing hysterically, Coco was barely managing to stifle a laugh as she continued to work on her overly-expensive cup of cappuccino, and Velvet found herself giggling quietly as Jacob regaled them with his tale from back home, obviously edited to work for Remnant.
The five of them had staked out a restaurant deep in Vale's Wharf District, just on the opposite side of the Commercial District from Beacon and not far from the docks themselves where the contestants for the Vytal Festival were arriving from the other nations of Remnant. While it was somewhat upscale in regards to a local cafe, The Harbor and Hearth—as he learned its name was—had a relative coziness to it that did help to set Jacob's mind at ease. The team and their host had decided on an outside table on the second floor, giving them a good view of the ships coming in from across the sea.
It was only when they arrived on the upstairs patio that Jacob realized this would be the very restaurant that Sun and Blake would sit and chat at during the opening scene of Black and White.
"And it's hilarious, because she's about ready to tell me off and then she notices that there's about a quarter of the staff nearby and I myself have a camera holstered on my backpack's shoulder strap."
"Oh my gods!" Velvet cried out as the floodgates burst and she found herself in an uncontrollable fit of giggles, soon joined by the normally-silent Yatsuhashi as he began another bout of hysterics. Jacob couldn't help but join in as well, chuckling along with them. The lot of them had mostly-finished their meals—though he had not expected Velvet of all people to have such a voracious appetite for someone as petite as her—and were simply sitting around, talking and regaling one another about their studies and their hobbies.
Coco apparently had started her fashionista ways at an early age thanks to her family's ties in the upper echelons of Valean society, and it was there she had intended to stay... but why she chose the path of the Huntress she didn't seem to want to say. Yatsuhashi was originally a farmer's son from Mistral, but that was about as much as he was willing to divulge outside of apparently being into calligraphy of all things, even demonstrating on a piece of paper with a pen he had on hand. Fox said nothing of his hobbies or his past, but Jacob had a feeling he was much like Ren in the sense that he was all about meditating; he seemed the type.
Velvet on the other hand seemed very quiet throughout the previous conversations, only divulging her photography affinity as was already privy to Muller. He remembered Heroes and Monsters well, including the kickass fight with the Atlesian Paladin, and her photographs were key to her superpowered weapon. But in regards to knowing her personally, well, she wasn't exactly opening up to him.
After about a minute the laughter had settled down, as their waiter rounded the doorframe and handed them their bill. "Thank you again for offering to take us out for breakfast," Velvet commented as her giggles began to subside. "I would have suspected that you'd have offered to take RWBY and JNPR out instead, but I have to wonder, why us?"
"Well, consider this a step towards repaying you guys for bailing me out of that wardrobe disaster I was working on when I first got here." He chuckled as he received a wink from Coco from across the table. But about the time he returned his gaze to Velvet, he was suddenly reminded of the Cardin's harassment to her during Jaunedice.
Not to mention how he failed to stop it from happening in the first place.
To be honest, in the weeks after her teasing hit its crux during those few days of Jaune kicking ass, she was far more resigned and reclusive in public, only really talking with her teammates and the members of JNPR and RWBY. Ironically he had been left out of that bubble, so he really couldn't even apologize properly to her.
"Actually, he began rather somberly now, "I also wanted to apologize for a few weeks back when... well, when Cardin was being an ass to you."
Velvet's ears lost some of that adorable perkiness it had when she was laughing, a tiny tick he had noticed in passing.
"I mean," he continued, "I would have gotten my teeth kicked in anyhow, but... I felt like such a damned asshole not actually saying anything. I had the perfect tell-off for that brainless bozo too, but I... I hesitated, and in doing so I allowed him to keep doing that shit." While he couldn't tell her exactly why he hadn't been the one to tell off Cardin, he still felt like a shitty person for it nonetheless. "I'm sorry, Velvet. I'd understand if you had any reservations about me."
"No no no, Jacob, it's alright," Violet said in concern as she gently placed her hands over his. He knew it was meant to be a reassuring gesture, but he had to admit to himself that there was starting to be a buildup of heat in his cheeks. He could only pray to God that he wasn't blushing brightly at the moment. "Cardin is, like you said it, an arse. Even considering that, he hasn't tried anything else ever since Jaune one-upped him Forever Fall Forest."
"But yet," Jacob began in protest, "he was still allowed to—"
Coco raised a hand to silence him. "Ease up there, Wolf-boy, he didn't get away scot-free." A devious and smug grin found it's way across her face.
"...What did you do to him?" Jacob asked, smiling in bemusement himself as he figured out the basic premise she was getting at.
"Let's just say he found his morning milk laced with a little bit of my personal blend of Fire Dust, courtesy of Team CFVY."
Jacob let an amused howl of laughter slip, joined in turn by Coco herself.
"Oh my God, that's great! I can't imagine the level of heartburn the poor bastard was getting," Jacob squeaked through his laughter.
"Well, I think he and the rest of CRDL will think twice about touching our bunny from now on," Coco said affectionately as she wrapped an arm around Velvet's side and drew her in for a hug. Jacob had to resist the urge to laugh as Velvet squeaked in surprise and let a small blush tinge her cheeks, the two close to being within snuggling range.
"Coco, come on, we're in public," Velvet whined in embarrassment, but her team leader refused to acknowledge.
Jacob felt a tap on his shoulder, finding Yatsu to be the culprit. The massive Huntsman leaned in close, and whispered, "Believe it or not, for as lovey-dovey as Coco gets about Velvet, even we are still on the fence of whether or not they're an item."
"Really," Jacob asided with a mirthful grin, "the way she's acting right now, you'd swear they've been a couple for a while now." Yatsu simply shrugged. Jacob looked over to Fox only to find the Huntsman simply sipping on his glass of orange juice without a care in the world.
Good to note, Jacob mentally muttered, Crosshares may very well be canonical.
As the two Huntresses continued their hug session, Jacob's eyes turned outwards to the rest of the Wharf District. From the balcony of the restaurant, one got a decent view of the piers down below, and farther outwards one could see the vast oceans of Remnant. It reminded him of this little town in Oregon he visited with his family years prior. Cannon Beach, I think, he thought to himself, had to be Cannon Beach, I went down and sat on the beach and watched the sunset by Haystack Rock with Mom and Luke. As he relived that memory of a summer long ago, he found his thoughts returning to home, much to his chagrin; Unless something were to change his situation, he would never see that beautiful coastline again—
A mental slap spared him the hassle of having to explain why he was getting teary-eyed in front of his classmates. By the time he had returned to his senses, both ladies of Team CFVY had simmered down from their maybe-flirting. "Anyways, where were we?" asked Coco as she picked up and drank the last little bit of her espresso drink. "Oh yeah, don't beat yourself up about it too much Jacob, Cardin got what was coming to him in the end."
Jacob still felt awful about the whole ordeal though, despite her comforting words. They stuck out their neck for him, and thus far he felt as though he had yet to repay his debt to them.
Next time I see Cardin, Jacob decided after a minute of thought, I'm challenging him to a duel.
"Uh, Jacob, you're kinda forgetting something..."
"...Oh, uh, sorry Velvet, you were saying something? Oh right, the bill!"
Five minutes later, they had returned to street level and had made their way over to the pier, where a vessel lay in anchor from its trip across the sea. It was a familiar sight, a cargo ship not unlike those one may see in the harbors of any major coastal American city, but it did bear the hallmarks of an existence in Remnant: Massive guns hiding in plain sight along the body for anti-Grimm purposes—such as that Sea Dragon Grimm from Volume 4 that Jacob had affectionately called Grimmron—subtle but still noticeable armor plating along the hull, gun ports here and there for personnel, the list went on and on. The form was relatively familiar, but there were enough changes to it that his mind automatically told him something was wrong. It was like the ship equivalent of the uncanny valley, and it made him feel uncomfortable as all Hell.
Apparently his discomfort was palpable to his cohorts. "Jacob, you're looking uncomfortable again," Velvet said as she came up to his right side, leaning on the railing.
"Oh, it's just," he began, "I was noticing all the tidbits about the vessel, gun ports and turrets and what not, and it was just kinda reminding me of what's out there... What kind of opponent we face in the long haul." Once again, there was a truth hidden in the lie; The Grimm legions were out there, thundering about with impassioned fury with intent to slaughter every man, woman and child on Remnant. No doubt someone out there was about to or was currently getting eaten by one of those shadow-monster fucks and yet here he was safe within the borders of Vale... safe, at least for now. He glanced aside to view the crowds coming to and fro the wharf; Almost every single one of these people would no doubt face the storm of battle in a few months time when Cinder made her attack, and even then before that when The Breach would happen.
Some of these faces amidst the crowd would not live past that night. He felt a sickening chill climb down his back.
"Well," Coco replied, leaning back against the rail on his left, "that's what we're here for, right? We send them scurrying back, we save the day, kick butt and take names. It's our lot in life, and it's the funnest lot in life I can think of."
He glanced over at her with a raised eyebrow. "Gee, when you phrase it like that, there's suddenly a sense of monotony about it when really there's none to be found." He ignored her indignant cry to continue to observe the crowds trickling out. "Hey, did that ship come in from Vacuo or from Mistral? I'm not familiar with maritime heraldry from the kingdoms."
"It's Vacuan," Yatsuhashi replied, "You can tell by the design; it's a retrofitted Atlesian Cargo Liner from the Great War. As usual Atlas hogs all the advanced tech and Vacuo is left the one scrounging for tech of their own." Sure enough, as Jacob looked it over it did seem to be an older model of ship, sporting some wear and tear underneath the armored plating. The aforementioned guns seemed to be of older make as well, looking akin to the turrets found on ships of World War 2 like the Missouri and the Oklahoma. Really, now that he looked at it, the ship showed signs of antiquity and abuse that, while still showing character for the vessel, did make it seem as though it was cobbled together. Then again, from what her remembered of the World of Remnant episode on Vacuo the poor bastards were kind of the 3rd world country of Remnant, so it did make sense in a depressing way.
"I'm gonna guess that's not the ship carrying the student contestants," he asked hesitantly. He received a round of nods of agreement.
"That ship's coming in this afternoon," Velvet replied, also looking out to the anchored vessel.
"What about the Mistrali and Atlesian ships?"
"Uhm, if I recall, Atlas will come in by airship no doubt, but probably 2 weeks out from now, and then Mistral's ship comes in next week."
"Right, duly noted. Wait a minute, that means they're all here for..." He paused as he performed the mental math needed for his situation before concluding, "Almost 3 months before the tournament begins!?"
"Well sure," Fox replied for the first time that whole morning, "It is a Festival dedicated to celebrating the common grounds of the 4 Kingdoms, right? The cultural similarities, the differences, tiny or great; you can't really do that in a week, so they have the students stay for a few months in the hosting Kingdom."
"...Oh," Was all Jacob could muster in response. I'm just glad that outside of Cinder and the Fang, there's no one else with a more... aggressive culture to deal with, he sighed mentally, remembering the clusterfuck that was Europe just before he left. "So," he continued, "What do you guys wanna do now?"
"Actually, Yatsu and I were going to head back to the Commercial District and pop by my favorite store," Coco responded matter-of-factly, "and Fox was planning to head back to the Academy to practice a bit more."
"Hmm... what about you, Velvet?"
"Oh, me? I actually was planning to go with Coco, I've been meaning to look into some additional bits to my wardrobe. You're welcome to tag along, if you'd like."
"Well, I suppose... I mean fashion's not entirely my thing... but I've always been asked to be the critical eye by pretty much 90% of my family." He hummed and hawed as he thought over it before making his decision. "Tell you what, I appreciate the offer, but I don't wanna intrude on your plans for the day. Maybe some other time, I think I'll just stay and crowd-watch for a bit."
"Oh, well... I suppose," Velvet said with a hesitant tone, "I guess we'll see you back at the school?"
Jacob smirked ever so slightly, just to reassure her. "Yeah, I'll see you guys later."
Coco and Yatsu proceeded to offer him fistbumps—which he of course returned in earnest—Fox simply smiled and waved, and he and Velvet shared a simple handshake.
And as they turned and left, Jacob returned his attention back to the crowds...
4 hours passed, and he had taken to wandering about the Wharf District on his own, simply strolling about as the people from Vacuo continued to file in and take in the sights of Vale. He himself had scoped out a couple stores he would be interested in visiting later on: a leatherworking store, a couple Huntsman supply shops, even a fabric store where they would make whatever you wanted, for a price of course.
As nuts as it sounded, Muller had the craziest idea to have them replicate Old Glory so he could hang it up in his dorm. Granted, he'd have to do it another day, when he wouldn't have to explain the significance of the flag to begin with. Maybe one day he'd get a chance to tell them about home... when all the nuttiness calmed down.
Currently, he had sat his hindquarters down on a bench overlooking the pier. His watch told him it was currently 1:30-ish, and even if his watch had been lying to him, he could tell it was about noon by the sun beating down on his skull. Meanwhile, Jacob had been also thinking ahead, not just towards the Festival... but to the Battle.
His fears about the Vytal Festival had—at least on a short-term stance—been quelled; it was still about 3 months 'til the Battle, so he still had some time to actually form up a relatively decent strategy. Thus far he had come up with diddly-squat, with the concern of stopping Pyrrha or at least covering her 6:00 during her fight with Cinder being a monumental hurdle. He'd somehow have to convince her to let him come along for the fight, or he'd have to convince her to take the tactful approach and live to fight again. Granted, that would also mean that the Dragon would become a much bigger threat since Ruby couldn't be there to freeze the bastard beast with her 11th-hour power boost, aka the Silver Eyes. Anyway he sliced it there were too many hurdles to deal with on his own; but what could he do? He couldn't tell anyone, they'd think he was nuts. He couldn't pull the switcheroo on her and hold off Cinder long enough for Ruby to "Silver-up" as he had began calling it, mainly due to the fact that there was no way he could hold on against Cinder for very long... and there was also the problem in regards to how he would get up there when the elevator was the only route he knew up.
Oh, who am I kidding, there's no doubt a stairwell up, he mentally berated himself for having a stupid moment, who'd be dumb enough to have an elevator and no stairwell in the event the former fails!?
About that time he remembered whom he was talking about. Probably has some B.S. reason, he sighed to himself.
As he continued to observe the throngs of tourists from Vacuo, he took in the myriad of shapes and sizes of humanity—and Faunus, he reminded himself, Faunus were a thing on Remnant, as infrequent as they were in Vale—that mulled their way about the shops and streets. It was rather odd in the back of his mind; He felt for all intents and purposes like he would have back on Earth when he traveled to anywhere like Los Angeles, with normal people going about their normal lives, and then that sense that he was back home would be shattered when he saw a guy with dog ears or a lady with a tiger's tail.
It was like the city version of the Uncanny Valley, at least in his opinion.
He turned his attention back towards the dock... and a particular individual caught his eye, in that same way a familiar face can be spotted amidst a crowd.
"...My apologies, beg your pardon, coming through—oops, sorry about that!"
There, amidst the crowd of individuals coming off the Vacuan vessel, he spotted a rather odd man, even by Remnant standards. He was a fairly large individual, standing probably about 6'5", give or take, and seemed to be of Caucasian complexion and sported a blonde buzzcut. He was clad in cream cargo pants, a red and cream-accented coat with black epaulettes, a white undershirt he could just spot beneath the chestplate and black, dusty combat boots, all of which looked to be fairly well-worn. His chest sported an obvious faux-gold chestplate between the coat and the undershirt that covered everything critical from the clavicle to the stomach, bearing some form of winged symbol on it, but whatever it was he couldn't recognize from the distance he was at thanks to the harsh late morning sun bouncing off the raised points. On his back appeared to be an insanely massive rucksack, packed to the brim with various gadgets and doo-dads. Even from over 100 feet out, Jacob spotted a rolled-up blanket along the side, various tools hanging out of side pockets, and the most interesting thing of all, his gigantic hammer. No joke, it was almost the size of Magnhild, but was by and large a great deal more boxy. On one of the faces of the hammer Jacob spotted that there seemed to be a pair of what looked like hollowed-out holes in the center parallel to one another, almost as if they were barrels to a gun; Perhaps it was a hammer that transformed into a bulky, double-barrel shotgun?
Somebody call Boomstick or Sarge, Jacob laughed mentally, I found another weapon for the both of them to drool over.
The man reached a spot about 30 feet away from Jacob, where he simply stood there, seemingly looking for someone or something. After a few seconds, he sat down on the bench directly behind him and shifted into a comfortable seat with his bag by the side of the bench.
Jacob tried to continue observing the crowds, but something kept telling him this man—whom he had never met before in his entire life—was familiar.
Normally, Jacob was good at recognizing faces; Hell, it wasn't even that difficult for him usually, but this time—perhaps because of the effect that everyone having an animesque form on Remnant—he couldn't quite put the pieces together.
Fuck it, Jacob thought to himself, I'm gonna strike up a conversation. But let's play it casual, shall we.
His approach was slow, as close to the concept of methodical as he could. The man was seated on the bench, facing away from the pier as he whittled away. Jacob gradually wandered his way to the railing, about 4 or so feet behind the bench, and leaned in over the railing as he also continued to people-watch.
The silence—relative to being outside along a crowded street—was thick enough to slice with a knife.
"My boy, you're not a very stealthy spy, are you?"
The hairs on Jacob's back were like a forest of trees how stiff and on-end they were.
"Yes, I'm talking to you. The boy behind my bench, denim jacket, tan cargo pants?"
Oh come on! I was inconspicuous and everything!
He turned around slowly, his back rigid in fear. He found the man staring back at him, though instead of wearing the expected angry frown, he instead wore a smug grin and a cocked eyebrow. "I must wonder though," the gentleman began, his voice deep and tinted with a hint of gravel to it and his accent vaguely British to Jacob's ears, "for whom would you be spying on me for?"
"Uhm, well, no one really," Jacob stumbled over a reply, "I, uh, you just remind me of someone, though who exactly I can't quite recall."
"Oh? How curious." the man's brow furrowed in thought before he gestured to Jacob and smiled. "Come, take a seat, there's enough room on this bench for two people."
"Oh, uhm, thanks." Jacob took the spot on the left hand side of the man.
They sat in silence for a few seconds; The tension in the air was thick as syrup. Jacob cleared his throat in an attempt to break the awkwardness. "So," he began hesitantly, "I'd presume you're a Huntsman, right?"
"Indeed," the man replied, "And I can assume from the guns holstered in your belt, you are a Huntsman yourself; a Beacon student, am I to presume?"
"Uh, yeah, yeah I'm attending Beacon. I got a... bit of a late start on Huntsman training, but Ozpin threw this dog a bone, as it were." Yeah, Jacob's mind retorted, more like you blackmailed your way in. Seriously, it's a wonder Ozpin didn't outright kill you on the spot for threatening to let slip the truth.
"Ah, Professor Ozpin. Smart man, tends to see things in people even they do not see. Although he's always thinking like a chess-player, he's never really direct about his objective."
"You know the Professor?"
The man laughed heartily. "Indirectly only I'm afraid, one of my former teammates is a close compatriot of his. You know the local Forgemaster Mr. Vulkan—"
"He'Stan? Yeah," Jacob interrupted with a smile, "I know Mr. He'Stan. He's the guy I got this girl from," he said as he unholstered Cadia and held her up for the man to see.
The man stared at him for a few seconds with an analytical eye, reading Jacob like a hawk, contrary to the faint smile on his face. "...Very nice. Might I have a quick glance at the craftsmanship?" His conversational compatriot studied the blade after Jacob very hesitantly handed him Cadia. The man stood to his full height, just a few inches under Vulkan's height but still enough to be a rather imposing sight to the 5'5" shrimp of a man that Jacob was. He was quick to find the triggers for the metamorphosis, Cadia's sword form revealing itself. "Very nice, very nice indeed," he said to no one in particular, "Good to see Vulkan's skill has yet to dull with age."
About that time he found he found the button that released Cadia's teeth.
With an audibly sharp sound, the sword's chainsaw form made itself known. The man simply stared at it with a look of surprise on his lips and mirth in his eyes. Something about the image of a chainsword was resonating with him. "A chainsword," he asked Jacob with a chuckle, "My, my, that's a difficult weapon to truly wield. You must enjoy a melee scuffle something fierce to wield such a ferocious blade." The mirth remained in his eyes as he continued to study the blade, turning it over, revving the engine and letting the teeth spin their deadly dance.
Something in the back of Jacob's mind insisted that this guy was familiar somehow, but whatever it was wasn't striking a chord with Jacob.
Eventually the man handed him back the shapeshifting sword and Jacob returned it to its pistol form, holstering it in his belt again.
A laugh—hearty and boisterous—escaped the man's throat. "You should probably look into getting a holster for it," he chuckled, "if you intend on keeping it in its pistol form.
"Yeah, yeah, fair enough," Jacob joined in on the laughter, "I've got a scabbard for her sword mode, but I've been keeping that back in my dorm, mainly 'cause I prefer to quick draw and snap off a few shots before I have to engage in melee. And that's mainly because I, well, suck in melee at the moment."
"Oh, you'll get the hang of it, I don't doubt it," his compatriot replied, offering a kind smile.
"Thanks, I appreciate it," Jacob replied and reciprocated the smile. "Actually, there's a store not far from here that does leatherwork, I may drop by in a few to see if I can commission something."
For a few seconds there was silence as the two stood there. "Well then," Jacob continued, "I should probably leave you to your business, sir. My apologies if I distracted you."
"Oh no, it's quite alright," the man said with a dismissive wave, "I always welcome a conversation. Helps pass the time and you learn more about others. Besides, I imagine we may bump into one another again; Vulkan invited me to Vale to view the Vytal Festival this year, and Professor Ozpin has suggested that I perhaps apply some of my teachings as a senior Huntsman to your class' training."
"Oh, that's cool," Jacob replied matter-of-factly, "coupled with Pyrrha's training, no Grimm's gonna be impossible to kill."
"Pyrrha? As in Mistral tournament champion Pyrrha Nikos? How in the stars did you meet a girl like her?" The look on the stranger's face spoke degrees of both confusion and impressment.
"It's a long and complicated story," Jacob replied, "One that involves me waking up in the Emerald Forest and nearly getting eaten by an Ursa before she and her partner saved my ass." And I'm still working on repaying that favor, he added in his mind.
"Well," said the man, "any complicated story is worth being told. Eventually, of course, I imagine you have your own plans. In any case, take care of yourself, Mister..."
"Muller," Jacob replied, "Jacob Muller." He offered the man a handshake.
The Vacuan man hesitated for a second, eyes washing over Jacob as if to study him. "Mr. Muller. Well then Jacob," he began as he returned the handshake, his grip as strong as Yang's if not stronger, "I hope I shall see you again."
"I hope I see you again too, sir."
"Please, please, call me Gabe."
There it was again in the back of Jacob's mind... only this time it rang clear as the peals of a church bell.
Red and black outfit... Gold armor... hammer... Gabe...
"Knowledge is power."
No. NO. It HAS to be a coincidence, he thought to himself.
"Right... I hope I see you again, Gabe."
Muller finished his handshake and began to walk away, allowing his face to mask his dawning horror long enough for him to turn around and begin to walk away. In his mind, his brain wheeled in fear and terror if what it meant that there were two people bearing the marks of that world.
What next, an insane man clad in grey armor with psychic powers that called himself Kaldor Draigo?
After about 30 minutes of wandering down and halfway back up the pier, Jacob had for the most part buried his fears in the sweet sounds of RUSH's The Garden on his phone; he had to remember to thank his dad for introducing him to their music, even if he couldn't say thanks to his dad directly at the moment. His mind had instead focused on simply relaxing and trying to enjoy his day. Sure, the nagging fear in the back of his mind remained there, but it was currently muffled and to be pulled out at a later time when he wasn't wound tight as a clock.
"The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!"
Muller stopped in his tracks.
That was Weiss' voice.
Jacob's head was suddenly on a swivel as he looked about to find his near-albino opponent-slash-comrade. Sure enough just down the road Team RWBY were coming up to the pier, Weiss leading the way.
"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss," Jacob heard Ruby say, "even considering your fight with Jacob. It's kinda weirding me out..."
"How could you not smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!"
"Depends on your definition of 'breathtaking' there, Weiss," Jacob said as he walked up to them from the side. "Personally, presiding over the planning of something is duller than sin to moi."
"Jacob!" Yang cried excitedly, "Where were you this morning? We were hoping to catch you for breakfast."
The innuendo-savvy side of his mind kicked into action for the first time in several weeks. "Catch me for breakfast? Hopefully not for eating..." he said with a devious smile. Wow, we're definitely feeling braver than usual today, aren't we?
"Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you," Yang replied with a wicked smile all her own, closing the distance and poking him in the chest with her index finger. Three times before they had begun entendre-offs during these last few months, and each time had ended with her winning and the both of them on the floor laughing at their own wit, as well as Ruby and Blake turning red as Ruby's cape in response.
What could he say, he was a man of wordplay.
"But, not today cowboy," she said as she flicked her finger up and caught him on the end of his tiny nose, "I'm not feeling it right now thanks to being bored to death by Ice Queen here."
"Quiet, you!" Weiss immediately turned to Jacob after addressing her teammate. "Mr. Mull— Sorry, Jacob, Good to see you out and about." She extended her hand out, but instead of in a standard handshake gesture, her hand was level to the ground and bent down, as if she were showing him her nails after a manicure. The faintest smile could be spotted on her lips.
She's challenging me to kiss her hand, he deduced rather quickly, seeing whether or not I have any upper-class habits or... refinements, I guess.
Alright, I'm being ballsy today, why not?
He took her hand as gingerly as possible, her soft, porcelain skin meeting his callous-pocked, sun-tanned hands. He brought it up a few inches shy of his lips, taking a second to look up at her.
The look on her face said she had not been expecting him to actually go through with it, but at the same time she was impressed that he seemed to know what he was doing... even though he was running off what little he remembered in regards to hand-kisses by dignitaries.
Every once in awhile Wikipedia saves my ass, he joked mentally.
Either his heart was pounding or her's was judging by the pounding he felt in his hand; his ears confirmed it was at the very least his own pulse doing the hammering.
Quickly, ever so gently, he placed her hand to his mouth and he planted a small kiss dead center on the top of her hand. He felt a terrible heat rise to his cheeks; from the outside it would look as if they were an item, even if Weiss would probably rather jump into a Ursa's maw than be part of something like that.
Weiss held a triumphant and pleased smile as Jacob essentially was at her mercy in that moment... but it didn't escape his notice that she was sharing in the blushing as well, though her's seemed to be far more in-control than the bright red blush he was pretty certain he had at the moment.
"Nice to see you too, Weiss," he said as he let go of her hand and quickly backed a few inches away. The whole motion had lasted less than 10 seconds, despite it feeling like it took forever in the back of his mind. "I trust you girls have been having a pleasant morning?"
"Fairly," Weiss said, regaining composure pretty quickly. "It's been rather hum-drum up until now," she said with a giggle.
"Glad to see I'm of some amusement," Jacob deadpanned as his blush came down.
"If what we heard from Team CFVY is any indication, you were having an interesting morning yourself," Blake commented from the flank of the group.
"Ah 'tis but the first step on the road to repaying them for their kindness. I actually decided to stay here afterwards mainly to see the throngs of tourists as they march their way into town," he said with a dramatic flair as he gestured back to the docking ships.
And in that one back behind us, a part of Jacob's mind focused on canon said, Sun Wukong is about to humiliate the local PD and successfully stowaway.
"Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?" Yang asked her sister's partner.
"Ugh, they smell like fish!" Ruby cried out, pinching her nose.
"I won't disagree with you there," Jacob said in reply, though spending the last few hours there had gotten him used to the smell by now.
"I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today," Weiss began matter-of-factly, "And, as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom!"
"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament," Blake deadpanned again.
"You can't prove that!"
"Weiss, you have moments where you're easier to read than a picture book," Blake replied to her outburst.
"Try a comic," Jacob muttered to Yang, receiving a bemused giggle in return.
"Whoa," Ruby said aloud, grabbing everyone's attention.
There, down the street from the docks, a Dust shop had been raided, just as it had in canon. Jacob and the four Huntresses wandered up to the scene of the crime, to find it exactly as the show had placed it. The remains of a glass window and what appeared to be glass-windowed door were shattered around the entrance to the store; the pattern of the glass for the door looked as though it had been smashed from the outside, whereas the main window of the store was the inverse.
Jacob's hometown was known for it's fair share of criminal activity, mainly in the region known as the South Valley, but robberies were practically a day-to-day hazard of living in his city—along with an ungodly amount of tweekers in the downtown—and as a result Jacob had seen enough post-robbery crime scenes to know the attack pattern. This robbery was fast, organized and knew exactly what it was after: Dust, and lots of it.
"What happened here?" Ruby asked the two detectives working the scene.
"Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle..."
A disgusted and yet disappointed sigh left Yang's mouth. "That's terrible," she added.
"They left all the money again," the first detective said to his partner within earshot. How convenient, Jacob's mind rattled off to nothing in particular. "Ah, it just doesn't make a lick of sense," the detective continued, "Who'd need that much Dust anyway?"
"I don't know, an army?" the second detective replied.
"You thinking the, uh, White Fang?"
"Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough for this."
It was a few seconds before Weiss began to speak up. "Hmph, the White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates," she said, crossing her arms and pointing her nose upwards.
Ah boy, here we go, JonTron's voice lamented in Jacob's subconscious, accented by him actually rolling his eyes.
"What's your problem?" replied Blake, right on cue.
"My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane."
"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths," Blake continued, crossing her arms angrily. "They're a collection of misguided Faunus."
Weiss' response? "Misguided? They want to wipe Humanity off the face of the planet!"
"So then they're very misguided. Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale!"
"See, that's where Blake's making sense," Jacob added, his knowledge beginning to show its power over the situation. "This isn't a White Fang strategy at all, at least from what I've heard. They're all about aggressive protests, riots if things get outta hand and maybe some more extreme actions if the wrong one is pissed off." He and Blake locked eyes for a second, the relief in her eyes suggesting gratitude for backing up her claims.
If only she knew the truth about her beloved dickhead boyfriend Adam.
"Hmm... Jacob's got a point. Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago... Maybe it was him."
Torchwick. Jacob had completely forgotten about Roman Torchwick; yet another obstacle to hurdle over in his long-term crusade. Coupled with that tiny psychopath attached to his hip Neopolitan they were certain to become more than just a human headache with a bowler hat and a umbrella-sword. "Yeah, if what the news had reported about Roman Torchwick is taken into account, this is definitely his type of heist now that I think about it," Jacob fibbed; he knew damn-well that Roman was the one behind this Dust raid...
And this one would be far from the last.
"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum," Weiss continued stubbornly.
Muller swore for a split second he saw Blake's cat ears twitch under her bow.
"Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal," Weiss retorted.
That's racist, Jeremy from CinemaSins responded in Jacob's head, followed by the classic DING! to boot.
"That's not necessarily true..." Yang began, only for a cry to reach their collective ears.
"Hey, stop that Faunus!"
The five companions about-faced and rushed to the pier to see the commotion.
Perched on the side railing of the ship closest at anchor stood a a tan-skinned boy with short spiky light-blonde hair and dark-gray—or maybe they were technically blue—eyes. He wore two red wrist bracers over black fingerless gloves and an open loose-collared white jacket with no shirt underneath, displaying a solid six-pack. Blue cargo pants tied up with a white belt, a chain on the right belt look of his pants, and white bandages on his legs. He sported black and yellow sneakers and wears a twisted golden necklace around his neck, with a round pendant dead-center.
But the most striking feature about him wasn't the abs or the hair or the goofy smile he was sporting.
No, it was the long, gold prehensile monkey tail he sported.
Lo and behold the Monkey King, Sun Wukong.
"Thanks for the ride, guys!" He shouted to the crew members trying to catch him. With a laugh, he sprung from the side of the ship and down to the pier, hitting the deck with a roll and immediately breaking into a sprint.
"You no-good stowaway!" One of the sailors roared at him.
Cementing his position as one of many comedic-relief-type characters in this show, Sun climbed up a lamppost and latched his monkey tail around the arm of the lamp. "Hey! A no-good stowaway would've been caught! I'm a great stowaway," he added, punctuating his point by eating a banana in one go.
"Hey! Get down from there this instant!" Came the voice of one of the two detectives, who had now taken to dealing with Wukong.
Sun only replied by dropping the banana peel on the detective's face, who merely growled in return. The monkey-like Faunus twirled upwards to crouch on the lamppost—How the HELL is his tail strong enough to do that!? Jacob mentally screamed— laughed in amusement at the detective and leapt from the lamppost onto the pier above, taking off at a dead sprint to escape his pursuers.
As he ran past Team RWBY, Jacob caught the wink that he sent Blake's way in slow-mo in the show and continued to be chased by the officers.
"Looks like you've got an admirer, Blake," Jacob joked to her, tapping her with his elbow. She simply stood there, mouth slightly agape in surprise.
"Well, Weiss," Yang began while audibly attempting to stifle a laugh, "you wanted to see the competition, and there it goes..."
"Quick! We have to observe him!" And with that, Weiss took off like a bullet, charging after Sun and the cops. Ruby and Yang gave chase as well, leaving Jacob with Blake as she stared off into space, lost in thought.
"Yo, Blake? Woo-hoo? Hey, kitty-cat?" Jacob waved his hand in front of her face, snapping her out of her stupor.
"Wha-what? Oh, uh, sorry. Wait, what did you just call me?" She glowered at him as she processed what he called her.
"Sorry, thought it would get your attention," he sheepishly admitted. "I mean it did work."
"Just, don't call me that around the girls, I don't want them to... you know, catch on." She turned and began to jog after them.
Not like that's gonna matter for much longer, Jacob thought to himself as he remembered the end of The Stray, taking off after the girls.
The three parties ducked and weaved their way through the streets, maneuvering around the tourists and locals as best as they could. Ironically, Jacob's years of travel to crowded places like the conventions, Disney Parks, et cetera gave him an edge in regards to making his way through the crowd. "Find a blocker, head for the end zone,"was the moniker his family had taken when out and about, and that was giving him enough advantage to keep up with RWBY and Wukong.
Wait a minute, he suddenly thought as they found their way onto a crowded street, Sun and the cops rounding the next intersection ahead, There's something I'm missing here, someone else we get introduced to... but who—
The five companions rounded the corner as well, only for the Schnee heiress to fly headlong into someone, sending both parties tumbling to the ground. Weiss recovered from her fall and looked up only to see Sun jump onto a building and disappear from her view.
"No, he got away!"
Jacob wasn't paying attention. He was focused on the person Weiss had smacked into.
"Uhh... Weiss?" Yang pointed down at the same person.
Weiss finally looked down to see whom she had collided with... only to be met with an overly excited grin.
Meanwhile, in the back of the group, Jacob was fighting that same clamminess he had felt when he first saw Pyrrha in the Emerald Forest.
This girl...
Curly, Ginger red hair, topped with an ahoge stray hair and a pink bow.
Bright green eyes, light skin and freckles.
A whitish-gray old-fashioned blouse with short gray feminine overalls, and a black and green collar with a matching pair of stockings.
And a sophisticated series of wires, servos, motherboards and God knows what else just below her synthetic skin, hidden from plain sight by the most adorable smile in the Universe.
"Sal-u-tations!" said Penny Polendina.
Jacob's stomach roiled in his torso like a stormy sea. How the flying fuck did I forget Penny!?
"Um... hello," Ruby said awkwardly as Jacob continued to reel in his audacity and stupidity, accented by his brain shooting him images of her murder during P.v.P.
"Are you... okay?" Yang said as Penny continued to lay on the ground.
"I'm wonderful! Thank you for asking."
Yang and the rest of her team looked to one another in an attempt to assess the situation. "Do you... wanna get up?"
Penny seemed to ponder the question, just like an early smartphone would. "Yes!" she finally answered before vaulting back onto her feet, the members of Team RWBY backing off a step. "My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!"
"Hi Penny. I'm Ruby."
"I'm Weiss."
"Blake."
"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang received a smack to the arm by Blake in response. "Oh, I'm Yang."
Jacob snapped out of his stunned stupor. "O-oh, and I'm Jacob," he said, bowing his head in greeting.
"It's a pleasure to meet you!" the automaton girl repeated.
"You already said that," Weiss said.
Penny paused as she processed what Weiss had said. "So I did!"
Precious cinnamon bun, too pure for this world, Jacob's brain lamented.
"Well, sorry for running into you!" Weiss said as she and the rest of RWBY began to walk the other way.
"Take care, friend!" Ruby cried back to Penny.
Oh how you've set things in motion, Jacob thought to himself. "Maybe we'll see you 'round... Penny," he said with hesitation as his mind processed his change in situation, offering her a friendly smile of his own.
After a few seconds and about 70 feet of walking later, Yang muttered, "She was... weird..."
Weiss paid her no mind. "Now, where did that Faunus riff-raff run off to?"
"What did you call me?"
Sure enough, Penny had darted in front of them from out of nowhere, as if she had teleported to that spot in the blink of an eye. Knowing the rule of funny in this world, only God Himself knew if that was the case in all reality. Weiss was stunned as she tried to comprehend, looking back and forth between the two spaces Penny had been and currently was occupying. "Oh, I'm really sorry," Yang began apologizing, "I definitely didn't think you heard me!"
"No, not you." Penny walked her way through the group, up until she was directly in Ruby's face. "You!"
"Me? I-I don't know. I, what I, um, uh..." Ruby's eyes darted about, her brow arched in concern.
"You called me 'friend'! Am I really your friend?"
Ruby hummed over her predicament, looking over to her teammates, each one vehemently motioning against the idea.
Jacob just stood there, his mental panic cooling down as he simply shrugged in indifference.
"Y-Yeah, sure! Why not?"
A gong rang out as Weiss, Yang and Blake fell over with horrified expressions plastered on their faces.
"Where the hell did that gong come from?" Jacob asked no one in particular.
"Sen-sational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!" She turned to Jacob next. "And you," she began, "You offered me a friendly smile. Are you my friend too?"
It was rather creepy how close she got to him; admittedly the Uncanny Valley was starting to bleed into his perception of her, giving him a subconscious unsettled feeling in his gut.
"Uh, sure, the more friends the merrier!"
"Absolutely sen-sational!" she cried out with a giggle, "My first ever boy-friend!"
The blush from earlier returned to Jacob's face. "Well, I wouldn't put it like that per say; just call me friend for right now, okay?"
"Oh, is this what it was like when you met me?" Ruby asked Weiss as the heiress returned to her feet, stopping Penny from continuing onwards before she could embarass him further.
"No - she seems far more coordinated."
"So... what are you doing in Vale?" Yang asked the robotic girl.
"I'm here to fight in the tournament."
Jacob's stomach lurched a little as he was reminded of her canonical untimely fate.
"Wait, you're fighting in the tournament?" Weiss asked in bafflement.
Penny raised her hand to her "I'm combat ready!"
Oh Goddamnit that's too cute when it's in person, Jacob thought to himself.
"Forgive me, but you hardly look the part," Weiss replied.
"Says the girl wearing a dress," deadpanned Blake.
"It's a combat skirt!" Weiss defended, Ruby zooming over to her side with a resounding "Yeah!" and a low-five. But after a brief second, a hint of realization flashed across Weiss' face. "Wait a minute," she began, walking up to Penny and grabbing her by the shoulders, "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed... rapscallion?"
"The who...?"
Weiss held up a crudely-drawn picture of Sun, though where she got it Jacob had no clue. "The filthy Faunus from the boat!"
"Why do you keep saying that?!"
Weiss turned to meet Blake's comment. "Huh?"
"Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!"
"Oh, I'm sorry," Weiss began as she let go of Penny and turned her attention to the Faunus in disguise. "Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamppost as a lamppost?"
"Stop it!"
"Stop what? He clearly broke the law. Give him time; he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang!"
Blake gritted her teeth and clenched her fists in anger. "You ignorant little brat!"
Before Weiss could even respond, Blake turned about and walked away in a huff, leaving the heiress shocked at her choice of words. "How dare you talk to me like that! I am your teammate!"
"You are a judgmental little girl," Blake retorted as Weiss ran to catch up with her. The two stood in the streets, 3 feet apart or so, the fire of their arguement practically palpable from as far out as the other three were.
"What in the world makes you say that?"
"The mere fact that you would sort that Faunus boy with a terrorist group solely based on his species makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be!"
Yang slid up beside Ruby and Jacob, looking like she was about to tug at her collar. "Um, I think we should probably go..."
"Where are we going?" said a smiling Penny, without a clue as to what was going on.
Back and forth the two began to argue, Weiss going on the offensive and Blake retaliating in kind.
"So you admit it! The White Fang is just a radical group of terrorists!"
Blake: "That's not what I meant, and you know it!"
"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!"
"That is the problem!"
"Are we gonna have to listen to them the whole way back?" Jacob lamented with an eye roll.
Turns out, not only did he have to listen to them the whole way back, but even after they had returned to their dorms.
Somehow, even though there was a hallway separating the two dorms, Jacob could still make out the faintest bit of their arguing from across the way.
"Jesus, Weiss," Jacob mumbled from beneath a pillow over his head, "You argue so much you'd make my mother seem angelic." In the back of his mind, the last part of The Stray was playing out, verbatim.
"You realize you are defending an organization that hates Humanity," Weiss said, "don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!"
"There's no such thing as pure evil!" Blake retorted back. "Why do you think they hate Humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like you, that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"
"People like me?"
"You're discriminatory!"
Weiss grew furious, walking to the bookshelf in front of the window. "I'm a victim! You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus? It's because they've been at war with my family for years. War, as in actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear; board members executed; an entire train car full of Dust, stolen."
The same Dust cart that Blake and Adam raided in her Trailer, no doubt about it.
"And every day, my father would come home, furious. And that made for a very difficult childhood," the heiress finished, punctuating her point with a sharp slam of her fist atop the bookshelf.
Ruby looked to her partner with worried silver eyes. She had to comfort her. "Weiss, I-"
"No!" Weiss turned back and walked up to Blake. "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"
And then the clincher.
"Well maybe we were just tired of being pushed around!"
That time around it wasn't just his mind. Blake's scream of anger didn't just whisper its way into his room like the rest of the conversation had; It was clear as a bell what she had said, loud enough to clearly go through 2 walls and a hallway.
Jacob rose from his bed as he realized what was about to happen.
He opened the door just in time to see Blake race out the door of RWBY's dorm and down the hall towards the stairwell.
"Blake, wait," Ruby cried after her Faunus teammate, "come back!"
JNPR's door swung wide open as all four of them barreled into the hallway. "What happened!?" Jaune asked in confusion and concern.
Jacob felt his blood pressure jump a bit. "Weiss really goofed up, that's what happened. I'm going after her, the rest of you stay here!" and like that, Jacob was thundering down the hallway like a charging rhino.
He found her exactly where he expected her to be; out front of the courtyard statue, simply standing there in the chilling night air. It was already a few minutes past 9:00, and the temperatures were already dying down pretty quickly. Vale's lights prevented the stars from manifesting their light in the sky, leaving only the brightest stars to see. It was strange to see which stars were where, being so familiar with the constellations of Earth that his brain would absolutely ache if he didn't see Polaris somewhere directly overhead.
As he approached her, she must have heard his approach, as she turned around in surprise. "Go away, Jacob," she said, choking her way through a sob.
"You know I'm not doing that; not until you've calmed down some."
They sat in silence for a few minutes. The cold night air seeped into his body,but it didn't chill him; he had always had a propensity for being better suited for cold climates, and tonight was rather pleasant by his wager. Jacob partially wondered whether or not Sun would show up now that Jacob was here too.
"Why are you here?"
"Because you need someone to talk to," he offered.
"I don't need anyone at the moment," she harshly retorted before catching herself.
"Don't try to pull the loner crap on me, Blake, I used to do that in middle and early high school and it only helps for a little bit before you start feeling lonely."
She looked back at him and glowered. He responded in kind with an irked glower of his own. "I just... I just..." She faltered before even beginning her sentence, giving up and simply hanging her head. You've known this whole time what I am... where I'm from... and part of me thinks you know what I've done."
"True, true, and..." He hesitated to answer the last one, mainly as it would put his position at risk. "Perhaps to some extent if my hunch is correct," he finally answered her, "But that doesn't matter as much—if not at all—in comparison to who you are."
"Then I guess there's no point to wear this around you." She closed her eyes and slowly lifted her arms up to her bow.
"Blake, you don't need to—" Jacob was stopped by Blake as she placed her hand up to silence him. Her other hand continued to move up to her bow.
She grabbed ahold and pulled the string, the bow slowly releasing from her hair. The stray tear escaped only to be caught by her own hand wiping it away.
There, atop her head, hiding amidst her hair were her pair of two small cat ears.
Naught but the wind itself carried any sound for what felt like forever.
"Well... Now you see the truth. Does it change your mind to see it in the flesh?" she asked defeatedly.
He shook his head and chuckled. "No. As far as I've seen nothing has really changed just from taking off a bow." He gingerly placed a hand on her shoulder to try to help calm her down. "You're still Blake Belladonna. That's who you are; That's what you wanted people to see, right? I don't care about those ears, they're practically nothing to me but just a mild... cosmetic difference, no different from skin or eye color."
She didn't respond, only looking at him with a surprised look in her eyes. She was expecting me to change my tone... wonder how often that's happened before.
"Tell you what," he began, "I'll leave you be, since that seems to be what you want so much, but I expect to see you tomorrow morning with the rest of your Team, okay?"
She looked aside, muddling over what he said. After what felt like an eternity, she nodded and quietly agreed.
"Alrighty then, I will see you in the morning, right? Right. Night Blake."
He turned around and began walking away, already aware she wouldn't follow through with it. Overhead, he heard what sounded like sneaker footfalls along the pillars and columns.
Keep an eye on her, Mr. Wukong, Jacob thought to himself, I don't want Yang to beat my teeth out if things don't go canonically.
By the time he made it back to the dorms, it was 20 minutes after 9:00 and both RWBY—sans Weiss, no surprise there—and JNPR were anxiously waiting.
"There you are," Pyrrha sighed in relief, "we were worried she'd fled into town with how long you were gone."
"Well, she's being obstinate, no surprise there," Jacob replied, "But I did ask her to come back tonight so we could talk this out tomorrow morning. I met up with her at the Huntsmen fountain in the courtyard, but she insisted on being alone at the moment. Give her a bit, I think she'll be fine." He looked over to the worried leader of RWBY, still a little shaken by what had transpired. "How are you holding up, Ruby?"
"I, uhm, alright I guess..." Her response was ended with a long hesitant pause. "What about Blake?"
Jacob didn't really have a good answer for her. He muddled over his options for a second before deciding to simply say, "I think she'll be fine, she just needs some time to think things over. She should be back soon if how I left her is any indication."
That seemed to calm them down somewhat, though Ruby still had a look of concern on her face.
"Hey," Jacob said reassuringly, his hand giving her shoulder a light squeeze, "she'll be alright. She's just having to clear her head for a little bit."
"Oh, I hope you're right..."
And scene!
2 weeks of brainstorming how to go about this chapter and... I'll admit that I still feel I could have fixed some things. Anywho, For those wondering who this Gabe guy is, I updated Chapter 12 after a last-minute creative decision, so go ahead and look down at the update portion on that Chapter if you're just returning to this story.
Once again, I have to thank everyone who's been giving this story support, I really do appreciate all the feedback... even some of the less-than-kind ones are helpful. Sorta. Kinda.
Anyway, next chapter Jacob charges headlong into the White Fang and we get FIRST BLOOD! Oh, and Roman finally shows up. Yay, I get to write for that glorious bastard!
Review, Follow, Favorite, all that good stuff if you'd like and I will see you... in the next chapter. Buh-bye!~