Okay then, things warming up thus far, but now it's gonna start properly heating up.
Also, to answer TheAthenianSon, if you're talking about the Chaos Marine in Chapter 18... well, crimson armor, symbol of a horned devil head on a book? Inherited his "father's" helmet? Take a wild guess.
Also, a little bit of explanation: While we know Jacob sees the world in the animation styles of the different Volumes and it keeps changing with each one, everyone else sees things in... well, pretty much as detailed as we see our world; just not in the same proportions as we see our world.
I'm just as confused on how to work it as you are reading it.
Anyways, on with the story!
Chapter 20: A Major Hiccup
"In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is invaluable." — Dwight D. Eisenhower
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
The tapping of his pencil helped alleviate the rising tension in his head and neck yet at the same time added to it.
He looked down at his watch. 3:55. Five minutes of agony left.
Oh God, he thought, I haven't felt like this since high school. I forgot how much watching the clock aches.
He glanced over his left shoulder, some small part of him hoping that she was gone.
He was met with the sight of raven hair, porcelain skin, yellow eyes, heart black as pitch, and a soul as rotten as Nurgle's Garden.
Nope, he lamented, she's still there.
The amusing anecdotes of Professor Port continued to prattle on with not a trace of stopping in sight. Jacob had begun listening to it earlier but ultimately failed in an attempt to blot out his awareness that his enemy was sitting behind him by two levels of the bleachers, flanked by her two lackeys. They feigned interest and attentiveness, but Jacob had significant doubt that they were interested in how Port managed to single-handedly take on an Alpha Beowolf with no weapons in sight.
...God's wounds, why does she have to be here? He felt like she was glaring daggers into his skull, even if her gaze was fixed ahead in faux-attention as she continued her infiltration.
For the past three days he had attempted to reduce any and all contact with Cinder and her team, an attempt at distancing himself so that he would stop seeing red. Every ounce of him knew quite well that this was beyond absurd, that he shouldn't be seething at her mere sight, and if the facade he created broke it could tip her off that he knows something. It was more than precarious, this was like tap-dancing on tightrope over a pit of flaming alligators.
His gaze turned down to his sketchbook, close enough in appearance from a distance to look like a notebook to suit his needs. As little as he had drawn as of late, it still felt good to put pencil to paper and let the imagination run rampant. At the moment, it was probably the only thing keeping him sane.
His current project was another scene much like the one of RWBY and JNPR he had drawn before he arrived, only this time it was far more 40K. While the first one he admitted had mostly been vague lines and squiggles placed in patterns to replicate an army of Men, an army of Grimm, RWBY and JNPR, here however it was two roughly-sketched warriors duking it out. The first figure—the character on the left swinging a massive hammer from his right side to crush his target's ribcage—was a Space Wolf from Ragnar Blackmane's Great Company. The iconic badge of the Space Wolves adorned his pauldron as organically as it could, though Jacob had desperately needed a reference photo to even try and draw this scene. With a few adjustments here and there the Thunder Hammer Space Marine went from being Captain Titus to a Wolf Guard for Ragnar. The figure opposite of him was immediately distinguishable to any 40k player through the belt of skulls Jacob had hastily drawn on him and the tall, blocky, bladed horns that adorned his helmet; a Khorne Berserker, most obviously a member of the World Eaters. Jumping high with his chainaxe raised overhead to deliver a cleaving blow, Jacob had drawn him 3 months prior to his arrival on Remnant with help from a reference photo of a Spartan from 300 and a friend of his who was a big World Eaters collector letting him borrow his squad of Berserkers for an afternoon. The Wolf was the new addition, Jacob's memory of a screenshot from the Space Marine game serving him quite well. No background yet, but Jacob was thinking some kind of no man's land; everywhere in 40k was its own kind of no man's land in some way or another.
He flipped the pages and arrived at the scribbly drawing of JNPR and RWBY; sadly the shading attempts had finally smudged, leaving almost everything dingy and less defined. Funnily enough, everything around the drawing of Ruby and Jaune had been smudged, yet by some odd happenstance they remained crisp and clean.
That's not funny God, he mentally huffed, imagining that God was poking fun at his insane task all in the name of good humor and not of spite.
With a careless slam he closed the sketchbook and began to pack up his camo backpack, at the same time taking his tall blue mug and downing a swig of his morning Earl Grey, now brewed for 7 hours; it was bitter as sin but it was nice on the throat to have some liquid after 2 hours of Port's class.
Out of the corner of his eye, he swore he saw a pair of blood-red eyes bore into him like a drill. Emerald was watching him like a hawk; she knew something was up about him.
Jacob couldn't tell whether the chill down his back was from the bitter brew or her malicious stare.
RRING! RRING!
Jacob did a double take as the bells rang and registered before he looked down at his Timex. 4:00 on the dot. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs as the fact that five minutes passed in what felt like the blink of an eye.
He was quick to pick up his backpack and sling it up on his shoulders, turning away from his enemies and walking towards RWBY and JNPR. He arrived at RWBY just as Jaune's head made impact with the desk in exasperation; he had tried to flirt with Weiss again.
Idiot can't see the girl pining for him right beside him, Jacob sighed, Pyrrha wants him and yet he's as dense as a neutron star to her advances.
"Come on Jaune," he said as he walked passed the boy as he caught up with RWBY, "No sense crying over spilled milk."
"One day noodlehead," Yang said as she ruffled his hair, "one day."
After a minute all nine of them were wandering down the hallway back towards the dormitories, Jacob trying to sneak a peak behind him every so often to watch out for Cinder and Company.
"What's up with you, Jacob?"
Blake's question pulled him from his paranoid vigil and led him to shake his head. "Sorry, what was that, Blake?"
Beside him, Yang strutted along as she conjured a smug grin. "I think he's looking for Ms. Tall, Pale and Foxy. Am I right, Lover-Boy?"
Jacob whipped around and stared at her with no lack of confusion in his features. On the one hand, to the unknowing it did seem as though these last 3 days had seen him watching Ms. Fall and her teammates like a hawk—to an admittedly stalker-like degree no less—but on the other hand did she seriously not see the worry that was probably manifesting in his eyes? Did she seriously not see the concern that he felt practically ebbed and flowed off of him?
"Don't give me that look," she said with a sly smile and a wink, "I won't lie, she's certainly a high bar to set for yourself, but she's got good times written all over her."
Jacob didn't know whether to be insulted or amused; Him wooing and potentially bedding Cinder Fall? Under better and less life-on-the-line-type circumstances he'd hesitantly consider what was an obvious challenge from Yang.
Of course, there was the fact that Cinder had a heart as rotten as Mortarion's ass in the Death Star's sewage chute that made at least initial attraction to her absolutely null and void.
"I don't know about that Yang," Jacob said, "but while she does make sexy look good, there's something off about her."
"You're just imagining things," Nora said as she pranced up beside his left, Ren casually waking up to his right.
If only that were so, Jacob thought to himself as his gaze met the floor.
Without warning though, Jacob felt Ren's hand come up to his shoulder. "I'm certain she's a nice enough person," Ren said reassuringly, "The two of you made a good first impression when we first saw them."
Jacob's left eyebrow rose independent of its brother. "You really think that," Jacob asked dryly, "Because I sure didn't feel like it was a good first impression." More like a Mexican Standoff of schemers really.
"You're too hard on yourself," Yang replied as she came closer, hugging up beside Ren. "Maybe ask her out on a date sometime over the semester, or—ooh, better yet, ask her out to the Dance! It's only four weeks away, you've got plenty of time."
The Dance... wait a minute, Jacob's mind ran the metaphorical numbers over Yang's suggestion. That's it! I ask her to the Dance, I get more intel on her and tie her up in the dance and stop her from uploading the Queen Virus! It's perfect!
But wait... shit, canon! If she doesn't upload the virus, what happens then? Does she use something else? Upload at another time? And if so, who's in danger from that angle? Too many damn variables...
"You may be onto something Yang," he said cautiously as he muddled about with the idea, "but I need to think about it."
"Well don't think too long about it," Pyrrha said as she joined the four of them beside Nora, "Someone else might ask her first!"
He glanced over to her and was met with her signature smile, kind and endearing. He couldn't help but return it. "Yeah, yeah I'll think about it," he said with a sigh.
After another minute, RWBY had taken a huge lead on their five compatriots, leaving Jacob with JNPR to wander back to the dorms.
"I think they're starting up their investigation into Torchwick," Jacob said after a minute of silence to let JNPR talk amongst themselves.
"Wait, what? But I thought they were gonna let us help out," Nora moaned as she hunched over and walked along like Igor, a disappointed look across her face.
"Smaller numbers allow for an easier covert investigation," Ren replied.
"Maybe," Jacob replied in a mutter, "but it's never a bad idea to have some auxiliary support. Screw it, I'm gonna jump in as well."
All 4 members of JNPR looked at him with varying degrees of confusion, concern, excitement and doubt, all in the order of the team's name. "You're seriously gonna try to help them out?"
"I would be remiss to not; whatever Roman and the White Fang are up to is more or less a threat to the people of Vale," he said knowing full-well what was planned was not just by them but by Cinder as well, "and even if the rest of Beacon will do nothing about it, we need boots on the ground to know what's going on."
Pyrrha stopped in the hallway, a concerned look on her face. "Jacob," she began, "I don't think it would be good for you to start going after the White Fang."
Jacob halted in his tracks, looking back at her in confusion. "Why wouldn't I?"
She only replied with a concerned look at first, her gaze drifting southward to the ground. "What do you expect to happen if they find you instead? They know you now because of..."
Some part of his mind had a good idea where she was going with the idea. "Because of what?"
"...Because of what happened at the docks."
Jacob's spine shivered involuntarily. Bright, sky-blue eyes screamed across his memory like a speeding car on a highway, leaving a ghost of the dead in its wake. His hands felt warm for no reason whatsoever and yet he felt clammy sweat creep up on him. Jacob shook his head like a child shakes a ragdoll as he commanded the ghost to be gone, a sense of lightheadedness crashing over him as he clutched his head afterwards.
"Whoa, hey! Are you alright?"
Jaune's question pulled him out from his shaken stupor. "O-uh yeah," Jacob fibbed as he dismissively waved, "yeah, I'm good." His mouth felt dry and he could feel his heart in his fingers as the pulse attempted to level out from its minor increase. His legs felt wobbly and his stomach felt tumultuous.
"It happened again, didn't it?" Ren's hand braced hard on Jacob's shoulder.
Jacob looked back at Ren, meeting a worried face. "I think so," Jacob said, "but that was the first time it's ever been like this."
"But it wasn't as bad as the last time," Nora noted as she came up and put an unusually soft and reassuring hand on Jacob's shoulder, "Last time we had to drag you from the cafeteria it was so bad!"
Jacob felt embarrassed about that ordeal from two weeks ago; eight teenage kids leading a grown-ass 20-year-old outside the cafeteria after he suffers a panic attack? Not a very dignified image in any sense, even if most of said kids were only 3 years his junior.
"Thanks for that Nora," Jacob said with a huff as he rolled his eyes at her, "I needed that."
After a second of processing what he was saying, Nora gained a quick sheepish grin and blushed with a mutter of, "Oops, sorry."
With a sigh and another shake of his head Jacob continued. "Regardless of what happened... there, regardless of the Fang, RWBY's gonna need every man they can get. I won't ask of you guys to get wrapped up in this unless you're up to it."
A firm but gentle hand squeezed his shoulder. "Jacob," Pyrrha began, "If they want our help, they will ask for it; we won't do them any good by barging in and trying to help where we're not needed."
"Yes," Ren chimed in, "and besides that you are as of now in no condition to help them."
Jacob wanted to protest, but the racing pulse still thundering in his fingers agreed with Ren.
Jacob sighed. Maybe I have been getting too wrapped up in this. Maybe an evening to fully relax would be a good idea, otherwise I'll run myself right into the ground. "Alright," he said after a few minutes, "You make a compelling point. If they want us they'll let us know... I hope."
Pyrrha smiled comfortingly at him. "Alright," she said, "now how about we go and get dinner?"
"Ooh yeah," Nora said as she bounced up and down, "I heard that steak fingers were on the menu tonight~!" With that Nora bounced off towards the mess hall with Ren and Jaune and Pyrrha in close pursuit, leaving Jacob in the dust.
A huff left through Jacob's nose as he felt most of the tension leave his body. As much as I hate it, she's right; RWBY were able to beat Roman in canon tonight, they can beat him here...
He shook his head and began to catch up to JNPR. Perhaps after dinner he should take the night off as it were: perhaps read The Carrion Throne and finish that drawing.
The sound of guns being loaded and swords being sheathed ran about in the dormitory of Team RWBY. Spare Dust rounds had been allocated to everyone—Yang obviously took the majority of Fire Dust much to Ruby's disappointment—and all of them had swapped into alternate outfits for the night so as to keep their identities somewhat safe. This was it, the Big Night, the night they would start looking for the White Fang and Torchwick. Or, at least once it became night; it was now 4:30 and the sun was still fairly high in the sky, though fortunately for them it wouldn't stay that way for long.
Ruby couldn't wait to get started. Ruby had swapped out her black combat dress for a grey long-sleeve and black pinafore combo; she would not however give up her cape under any circumstance.
"I thought that class would never end," Blake said with a huff. She had traded her frilly vest and white blouse for a deep, v-neck zip-up and skin-tight black pants with some kind of half-skirt covering up her behind. Ruby didn't honestly have a clue why she kept her shirt tucked up so her belly was showing, but honestly that was the least of Ruby Rose's concerns.
"Alright, guys, today's the day! The investigation begins!" Without looking Ruby hopped down to the ground below from her bunk, narrowly missing landing on Weiss' knees.
"I'm glad to see we're taking this so seriously," Weiss snarked as she adjusted her bright white jacket and dusted off her thigh-high white boots.
"Hey, we've got a plan," Yang said, now sporting her old favorite cream-colored vest and low-cut black shirt from her days at Signal; now however she was sporting something called a "shrug" over top of the vest and shirt that seemed to be the complete negative of a sleeveless crop-top, as well as a miniskirt and some thigh-high black stockings with her boots. "That's... moderately serious."
Ruby—being their team leader—assumed everyone's attention. "Everyone remember their roles?"
Weiss was first: "You and I will head to the CCT and check the Schnee records for any other Dust robberies or inconsistencies. Seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem."
Blake next: "The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members. If I can get in, I can hopefully find out what they're planning."
And then there was Yang: "I have an old friend on the shady side of town that typically knows everything going on in Vale. Getting information out of him shouldn't be too hard..."
Ruby nodded in approval; the plan was all set and everyone was in some way or another raring to go. "Great! We'll meet up tonight near Yang's place to go over what we found. Let's do this!"
"Yeah!"
Ruby did a double take: none of her teammates sounded like a guy. She turned towards the source, only to meet the grey-blue eyes of an upside down Sun Wukong, hanging on to the tree outside their dorm by his tail.
"Sun," Blake cried in surprise as all four of them took a few steps back, "What are you doing here!?"
"How did you get up there?" Yang's question was valid to even Ruby.
"Ah, it's easy," Sun replied with a dismissive wave, "I do it all the time."
Weiss did a double-take. "You do what?!"
"I climb trees all the time!"
Weiss' scowl was enough to drop a Beowolf to its knees in fear.
Sun ignored the searing scowl and flipped himself into their dorm. "So, are we finally getting back at that Torchwick guy?"
Blake stepped forwards and said, "We are going to investigate the situation... as a team."
Now it was Ruby's turn to interject. "Sorry, Sun. We don't want to get friends involved if we don't have to."
"Psh! That's dumb," Sun replied with another wave, "we should always get friends involved! That's why I brought Neptune!"
Sure enough, RWBY leaned out of the window frame and looked over to find Neptune Vasilias clinging to the edge of the wall by his back, cool as a cucumber while he stood 4 stories above the ground.
"'Sup?"
Ruby was rather confused. "How did you even get up here?"
"I have my ways," he replied with a shrug. "Seriously, though, can I come in? We're like, really high up right now."
After a minute or two of dragging Neptune inside, Ruby had quickly reshuffled the strategy. The rest of team RWBY and the two boys were now standing around her in a circle, awaiting her orders as they prepared to begin the investigation.
Awaiting my orders, Ruby thought to herself with a giggle, like I'm some kind of general or something. I think I kinda love being in the leader role!
"Alright, I'll go with Weiss," she began as she pushed Neptune to where he needed to be; oddly enough, he seemed to have gone rigid around Weiss, all but for a wink that even she had noticed. "Sun, you can go with Blake. And Neptune, you can go with Yang since she doesn't have a partner. Everyone good?"
"Actually, Ruby," Weiss piped up, "why don't you go with Yang? After all, she is your sister."
Ruby turned around and looked at her partner in confusion as soon as sh was done pushing Neptune to Yang. "But, Weiss, who would go with you, then?"
"Well... I guess Neptune could come with me."
Ruby was now starting to get confused? Is Weiss trying to ditch me for Neptune?
After a second, Ruby dismissed both the idea and the request with a hearty laugh and a "nah!" She turned and grabbed Weiss by the scruff of her jacket and began pulling her along absentmindedly, not even fully registering Weiss' protests.
"But! But!"
Just as they rounded the doorframe, Ruby almost bumped nose-to-mouth with someone standing 5'5" in a jean jacket over his Beacon uniform.
"But what, Snow Queen?" Jacob asked through a bite of food as he leaned against the door to his room. His camo backpack was slung over one arm, a half-eaten chicken tender in his right hand and his Scroll up to the lock on his dorm in his left.
Ruby felt her stomach as she stumbled and came to a stop. "Oh uh, nothing Jacob," she said with a weak smile and a laugh. "We were just on our way—"
"—to investigate Roman and the White Fang, right?" His raised eyebrow and cocked grin sent a defeated groan through Ruby. "Ruby, pulling the wool over my eyes is gonna take a lot to do. But, it's entirely your mission," he said as he held up his hands and shrugged, "I won't get involved if you don't want to get friends involved."
Ruby and Weiss shared a look; even Ruby felt that Jacob was trying to manipulate them, but at the same time there was a sense of a legitimate tire in his voice. But Ruby thought for a second on Sun's words back in their dorm.
"Wait," she began as Jacob opened the door to his room, "Do you wanna help us?"
He stopped in the doorframe. He turned and looked at her with another cocked eyebrow, only this time it was in both surprise and hesitation. "You sure? I mean, you've already got your teams by the look of things."
"Well yeah, I mean we do but there's nothing stopping us from having some backup, right? An aux... oxil... axi—"
"Auxiliary, right? an auxilia unit." Jacob looked aside and seemed to smirk. "I have always been kind of the backup in games and school projects in the past. Give me a minute to get get stuff unpacked and my gear loaded up, don't hesitate to go on ahead though."
Ruby felt a faint smile across her lips. "Alrighty then, you can come with me and Weiss, we're gonna make some calls at the CCT Tower to her company to see if any Dust shipments have been stolen since... you know."
The smirk disappeared from Jacob as he seemed to start on a thousand-yard stare. Within a second though he shook his head and the glaze over his eyes had cleared. "Right," he said with a resurgent smile, "I'll catch up with you guys."
And with that, he disappeared behind his dorm's door. Ruby and Weiss stood there for a but a quick moment before taking off at a brisk walk for the CCT Tower.
"He's still having flashbacks," Weiss said in an uncharacteristic somberness, "isn't he?"
Ruby didn't reply initially.
"He's been putting on a face around us," Weiss continued, "but even if he doesn't know it conciously, it still bothers him."
"I don't think it will ever stop bothering him," Ruby replied, lost in her own thought.
A white cape danced its way through her memories.
I should know...
Ten minutes passed and Ruby and Weiss arrived at the foot of the CCT with Jacob at their side. It hadn't taken him long to swap into his casual clothes, though he had oddly enough decided to leave his jacket back in his dorm, leaving him only in his tan cargo pants and his grey t-shirt; "Closest to an incognito outfit I could muster" he had told them when he had caught up with them.
Above them the CCT Tower loomed overhead, its long shadow casting itself eastwards towards Mountain Glenn as the trio basked in the late afternoon sun. Even though she had spent now three months in its towering gaze, Ruby still was in awe of the massive building.
"Woooow! I forget how big the Transmit tower looks up close!"
"You should see the one in Atlas," Weiss replied.
"Guh, even just looking at it from down here I'm getting vertigo," Jacob muttered beside Ruby, "and that's considering I've been up in Ozpin's office a couple of times now."
Ruby turned to her partner, her childlike curiosity getting the better of her. "The Atlas tower was the first one, right?"
"Correct," Weiss said with a confident smirk. "Atlas developed the Cross Continental Transmit System to allow the four kingdoms to communicate with one another. It was their gift to the world after the Great War."
Ruby couldn't help by want to poke fun at her partner's tone, the pride oozing from every syllable. "Oooh, look at me! My name's Weiss! I know facts! I'm rich!"
"Don't be a pest! Besides, the only reason we're here is because you like the tower so much! We could have just as easily made a call from the library!"
"I know, but it's so coool! Ooh, I'm going to take a picture!"
Beside Ruby as she fumbled for her phone, she heard Jacob say, "Doesn't the CCT have some kinda circuit system; if one tower goes out the whole system goes das kaput?"
"Precisely," Weiss said, "So as to make certain that no nation could go without a voice. If one nation couldn't have a voice, no one could."
"...God Almighty is that a beyond stupid flaw if you ask me," Jacob said with a hint of malice in his voice.
Both Ruby and Weiss turned and looked at him. "Excuse me?"
"Anyone with a half-decent sense of pragmatism and common sense knows that setting up a critical part of a civilization with no redundancies or contingencies is a recipe for disaster. A couple of spare towers and some additional firewalls would definitely secure it."
"But all four towers are encased by the Huntsman Academies, they're completely protected!"
Ruby noticed that Jacob was now staring up at the tower intently. "You'd be amazed what people with an agenda and nothing to lose are capable of doing," he said gravely, a scowl across his face.
Ruby couldn't help but feel unnerved.
Still fumbling for her Scroll she finally managed to find it, only for her clumsy fingers to send the device flying. It bounced away from her on the pavement once, twice like a plastic brick before hitting someone's foot with a clatter.
"Oh," the owner of the foot said as she reached down and picked up the Scroll, "You dropped this."
Ruby's eyes met with curly ginger hair and minty green eyes. "Penny?! Where have you been?"
Jacob came up beside her, his arms crossed as he said, "We haven't seen you since that night at the docks. Where've you been?"
"S-Sorry," Penny said as if guilty, her eyes shifting around nervously, "I think you're confused." A small hiccup popped out from her mouth, and the hiccup itself launched Ruby's Scroll back into her hands. "Uh... I've got to go!" She turned and began to walk away at a brisk pace.
Ruby was absolutely confused. Why was Penny acting like that?
"What was that about?" Weiss said with a huff.
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," Jacob said as he started walking after her. "I'll meet up with you guys in a minute, go and make the call!"
Ruby was torn between Weiss and Penny, and now Jacob was breaking off to chase after Penny.
Well, Weiss doesn't need me around to still make the call...
She began to chase after Penny. "You go make your call! We'll meet up with you later!"
"Wait!" She heard Weiss say, but she couldn't wait. She needed answers to questions that only now were surfacing.
By the time she had caught up with Jacob, he hand already block Penny's path on the stairs to the Tower and had started asking her questions. "Hey, slow down Penny. What's wrong?"
"Where have you been," Ruby said as she came up to Penny's side, "It's been weeks!"
"There seems to be a... misunderstanding," she said mechanically. Another hiccup. She pushed past Jacob and continued onwards into town.
Jacob and Ruby glanced at one another, Ruby wearing a look of concern while Jacob looked simply confused. Ruby began following her again, sliding down the rail of the stairs to catch up with her as Jacob walked after them.
"Penny... Is everything okay?"
No response. Now Ruby was getting really worried and really confused.
"Penny," she cried out as she reached out and grabbed Penny's arm, "please stop!"
Penny halted in her tracks.
"Look," Ruby began, "I don't know what's wrong, but you have to listen to me! Those guys we fought at the docks, we think they're up to something big, something bad! I need you to tell me what happened to you that night! Please... As a friend."
Penny looked uncomfortable as Ruby finished, her brow furrowing in worry. Jacob came up to the opposite side, the two both looking concerned to variant degrees. With a massive sigh, Penny seemed to give in, glancing aside with a worried look on her face. She came up to Ruby and leaned in close, and breathed something in Ruby's ear that made the hairs on her head want to stand on end:
"It isn't safe to talk here."
"Hello. Welcome to the CCT. How may I help you?"
"I'd like to go to the communications room, please," Weiss replied to the AI of the CCT's elevator. While there were technically three elevators in Beacon Tower, two belonged to the CCT system and were installed with their AI. The center elevator sandwiched between the two however was also able to
"Absolutely. Could you please place your Scroll on the terminal to verify your identity?"
Weiss complied without a second thought, the device scanning her Scroll's ID. "Perfect! Thank you, Miss Schnee."
Weiss breathed a sigh of relief, letting her stress dissipate into nothingness. It was nice to get away from Ruby for even a little bit as it were, just be alone with her thoughts for a bit. Maybe she could call Winter on the side and see how her big sister was doing—no, no! Focus, Weiss, she mentally chided to herself.
The elevator ended its ascent and arrived in the CCT room, a darkly-colored but brightly-lit room filled with several dozen terminals. Decorative patterns shaped like circuitry glowed a dull green color along the dark grey walls and up into the ceiling, where glowing, bright blue symbols of the Four Kingdoms loomed overhead.
She approached the empty receptionist's desk and was greeted by the hologram of the CCT's AI flickering to life. "Welcome to the Beacon Cross Continental Transmit center," it recited, "How may I help you?"
"I need to make a call to Schnee Company World Headquarters in Atlas."
"Absolutely," the AI responded, "If you could head over to Terminal 3, I'll patch you through."
With a courteous thanks, Weiss walked over to the terminal, passing by several other students on the way. It was sparsely populated this evening by comparison to most days, thought that was the least of Weiss' concerns.
She sat down at the terminal, taking a deep and unhappy breath as she braced for what might come.
Please don't patch me through to Dad, please don't patch me through to Dad...
The face of a short-haired brunette—Sue, the front receptionist from the main offices in Atlas—appeared on the monitor with the Schnee snowflake rotating behind her.
"Thank you for calling the Atlas- Oh! Miss Schnee! Good afternoon! Would you like me to patch you through to your father? I think your sister Winter might be here as well."
Weiss felt a smidgen more of the tension leave her; Sue was always a sweet woman, always helpful when Weiss needed something from the offices.
"No, thank you, Sue," she replied as courteous as ever. "I was actually wondering if you could find some files for me. I've compiled a short list." Weiss produced her Scroll and plugged it into the input. Sue began to receive the list and understandably seemed hesitant.
"I see. If you don't mind... what may I ask is this for?"
"School project," Weiss fibbed.
"Um... There are some sensitive documents on this list, ma'am."
"Well then," Weiss replied, "I'll be sure to treat them with care."
It wasn't enough to calm Sue, who was now somewhat on edge. "Right... Very well. The data is being transferred to your Scroll now."
"Wonderful! That will be all, then."
"Are you sure you wouldn't like me to patch you through to your father before you go?"
Weiss felt her smile waver. Maybe I should just call in and tell him I'm fine—NO, no, Stop it Weiss, you don't need him.
"Yes, Sue, I'm sure," she answered as her faux smile returned.
Weiss had known Sue long enough that she could tell when the fib wasn't working as well as it should. "Well, then... Have a nice day Weiss-I mean, Ms. Schnee!"
Sue's face disappeared as the call was completed, and with it Weiss' act. A sad face stared back at her from the screen of the terminal.
But she couldn't help but notice the sound of boots coming up from behind her. "Well, well, a Schnee so far from home?"
That voice struck her familiarly. Her gaze was drawn to the reflection she saw in the terminal monitor.
Only one person she knew spoke with that accent.
Only one person wore that navy blue long-coat, and those god-awful sideburns...
A massive smile erupted across her face, a genuine one this time.
Finally, a friendly face from home.
Here we go, Jacob thought to himself as he walked down the street behind Ruby, her red cape fluttering in her trail as she continued down the street.
And now Pinocchio shows his strings, he thought as he saw the eponymous allegory walking side-by-side with Ruby. Or her strings rather.
A half-hour had passed since Jacob and Ruby had been asked by Penny to meet her outside the Harbor and Hearth, and currently the trio were now wandering down the street in discussion. As much as he hated it out of pure common courtesy the trio were straddled shoulder-to-shoulder along the street, Penny sandwiched in between the two of them as Ruby and her talked while Jacob walked along absorbing information as he skirted the edge of the street and the road. Fortunately the Wharf District seemed to be generally light of traffic, though now several cars had since passed them by; maybe Volume 1 hadn't been able to render that much?
Late afternoon was interesting to see in the animation of Volume 2. While he did see the shadows of just like back in Volume 1, now they were more defined in their shapes but still were very faint, almost as if they were an afterthought from God... or Monty rather in this world's case.
As he was walking along behind Ruby he was fidgeting with Titan's hammer, the safety on and his seven replenished magazines tucked in his back pocket. He still didn't have a proper holster for it so it currently rested in his deeper front pockets. His thumb traced the outline of the hammer subconsciously, mostly out of unfortunate boredom since Ruby was laser-focused on getting Penny to tell her everything. Cadia was still massive by comparison, so it hung out on his belt for all the world to see, his laid-back walk and the oversized gun at his side making feel like he was trying for that God-awful street thug look.
"...Do you know anything about those men?"
"I'm sorry Ruby, but I don't know anything about those men."
Jacob shook his head as he left his subconscious stupor. Now the conversation was picking up where it was in canon, and he might be able to help cushion the surprise, as well as give Penny someone else to trust.
And maybe, some small part of Jacob's mind thought, someone for me to trust with secrets.
"Well, what happened to you that night," Ruby continued, "We were all together, and then you just disappeared! Were you kidnapped?"
"Oh, no! Nothing like that!" Penny replied. Jacob couldn't help but roll his eyes at Ruby's assumption.
"Then where did you go?"
"I've never been to another kingdom before. My father asked me not to venture out too far, but... You have to understand, my father loves me very much; he just worries a lot."
That line was admittedly confusing to Jacob; when she said "Father" was she talking about General Ironwood? Or was it that older man seen in passing during PvP? Was he the Gepetto to her Pinocchio?
"Believe me, I know the feeling," Ruby said in reference to Taiyang, the two girls sharing a smile.
Jacob chuckled. "Sounds like my mother," he muttered to himself. The two girls looked back at him then glanced back at one another before they both giggled. He simply rolled his eyes in response.
"But why not let us know you were okay?" Ruby continued.
Penny seemed to hesitate. "I... was asked not to talk to you. Or Weiss. Or Blake. Or Yang. Anybody, really."
"Wow," Jacob said with a hit of implied sarcasm, "talk about your state secrets."
Penny's nervous glance back at him didn't go unnoticed.
"Was your dad that upset?"
"No, it wasn't my father—"
"The AK-130 has been a standard security model of Remnant for several years," came a grainy voice from around the corner of the net building, "and they have done a fine job. Wouldn't you agree? Wouldn't you agree?"
The trio rounded the corner and arrived in the Wharf's plaza, where a massive gathering of people had assembled for what Jacob remembered was Ironwood introducing the new Atlesian robots that would be the Vytal Festival's security detail. In the center of the presentation, a fully 3-dimensional hologram of the General stood proud and beaming at his accomplishments, at Atlas' accomplishments. 6 automatons stood at attention in front of a pair of steel structures that reminded Jacob of the robot carriers in I, Robot. Inside the structures just like said carriers, the newest bots were awaiting their first public appearance, though instead it would be at worst another 2 months until they start terrorizing the city.
If only he actually had a fucking firewall system, Jacob lamented mentally as he remembered the robots turning on the population once Roman got his hands on the controls.
"But... the kingdom of Atlas is a kingdom of innovation, and 'fine'... Well, that's just not good enough, is it? Presenting... the Atlesian Knight-200!"
The structures behind the automatons opened their steel gates to reveal the Knights, whom were bulkier and yet seemed more organic in their forms—by comparison to the previous breed. The 200s kicked over their predecessors and took on a menacing one-foot-forward action pose.
"Smarter, sleeker, and admittedly, a little less scary," Ironwood said as the robots proved his point with campy flexes, "These models will become active later this year, but they won't be alone! Now, the Atlesian Military has always supported the idea of removing men from the dangers of the battlefield. However, there are still many situations that will undoubtedly require... a human touch."
"Ruby..?"
Jacob turned and was greeted by the sight of Penny being somewhat nervous. She's worried about getting spotted.
"So, our kingdom's greatest minds," Holo-Ironwood continued, "in cooperation with the Schnee Dust Company, are proud to introduce..."
Wait for it, Jacob thought to himself, wait for it...
"The Atlesian Paladin!"
Ironwood's holographic image was replaced with the hologram of a robotic white behemoth that reminded Jacob of what he imagined a prototype for Tau Battlesuits would look like; hinged piston legs, large guns for hands, and a menacing rectangular head, standing at least twice as tall as the Knights below it.
"Now, we couldn't have him here for you today, but these mechanized battle suits will be seen defending the borders of our kingdom within the year!"
Ruby was dumbstruck by the sight of the war machine's hologram, letting out a faint "whoa" as she stared on.
"Ruby? Maybe we should go somewhere else." Penny began to back away, a nervous look on her face.
He traced a line along the path of her gaze. Sure enough, the two Atlesian soldiers were beginning to make their way towards them, one clearly calling for backup as they made their way over.
Jacob didn't need to be clairvoyant to know Penny had charged across the street at a dead sprint. "Penny," he cried out as he rounded on the spot and watched her sprint into the alleyway across the street, "where are you going? Come back!"
With that, he tugged on Ruby's cape to snap her out of her stupor. Granted it turned out he didn't need to as his cries had snapped her out of the daze. Without warning she took off like a rocket, unintentionally yanking Jacob along for the ride.
The two were neck and neck as they careened across the street and down the alleyway after Penny. Behind them Jacob could hear the footfalls of the soldiers' boots, the sound being more than a little nerve-wracking. They crossed another busy street, the honking cars telling Jacob to not even look back behind him.
Running from the authorities... that was a new one on him.
The duo continued to sprint after Penny, the automaton girl keeping a fair distance ahead. Ruby was quick-witted however and had noticed a tall platform covered in wooden crates. With a quick cleave from Crescent Rose, the platform came to the ground in a massive heap.
"Good catch," Jacob said as he began to find his breathing was getting more difficult. Ruby was beginning to pull ahead of him, his lungs starting to burn at a noticeable strength. Looks like the family asthma... strikes again, he thought to himself as Ruby continued to pull ahead. Even then, he knew his bad genes weren't all to blame; despite the last 4 months giving him an opportunity to get stronger, faster et cetera, he still was not even remotely built for endurance. Sure, at a dead sprint he could hold a solid speed for a bit, but anything longer than a minute of constant sprinting and he found that he slowed down immensely. afterwards. A hundred-yard dash he could do relatively easy, but a cross-country marathon? Forget it. Even the battle at the docks hadn't really tuckered him out too much, and yet now he was straining to keep up with Ruby; Adrenaline during the fight perhaps?
Fortunately, Ruby was already a step ahead. They had turned down an incredibly long alleyway with bare walls and no roadblocks; a perfect place to put her Speed Semblance to use.
Without a second thought, she leapt against a wall and began to wall-run towards Penny, seemingly picking up even more speed than before. With a burst of speed she launched towards Penny, grabbing her by the middle and stopping in mid-air as she readjusted her course to travel down another long alleyway to the side. "This way," Ruby yelled before taking off in a flash of red rose petals.
"Wait, wait, hold up Ruby!" Jacob's cries went unanswered as Ruby rocketed down the alleyway at highway speeds. "Shit," he muttered to himself as he wheezed and turned down the alleyway, the strain on his own body rivalling the stuff he remembered that she was feeling. His lungs burned and his legs felt like fire and pain as he found his stride to be getting slower and slower.
Down the street however he saw Ruby continue to careen forwards, but that soon changed. He saw her body go momentarily limp, as if she had browned out in the middle of her flight just long enough that she and Penny went tumbling to the ground, Ruby herself being flung out into the middle of the street like a ragdoll.
Jacob felt his memory scream back to him.
The truck.
HONK-HONK!
Jacob found his second wind and went thundering down the street like a Berserker from XCOM, Desperately trying to get to Ruby.
But Penny made it there first.
In a fraction of a second Penny pushed Ruby out of the street just as the truck was coming up on her, and extended her hands out to stop the truck. The split second the truck made impact with Penny, under normal circumstances Jacob would have expected a bloody smear on the roadway where Penny Polendina had once been.
Instead, the truck reared up from behind as if it had struck a mountain head on. Penny didn't budge much more than a foot or two backwards, like she had become a monolith in the middle of the street. Even though the ground beneath her cracked and splintered like glass, she refused to yield. The truck slammed its back wheels back to the pavement below, the poor Shopkeep inside visibly shaking.
Jacob caught up to them, his body screaming at him to stop and rest. By now a crowd was starting to form around the accident.
Across the street, Ruby was looking hesitant and more than a little shaken. "Penny..?"
Ruby's mutter of fear fell on deaf ears as Penny checked up on the Shopkeep. "Are you okay?"
After getting a nod of confirmation that he was okay, Penny backed away only to meet Ruby's frightened expression. By now the bystanders were murmuring to each other in an attempt to understand what just happened. Penny began to look around wildly as if under attack, the fear in her eyes more than telling that panic was starting to set in;
She had been unwittingly caught. And now Ruby and he were going to get the truth out of her.
Without warning, Penny took off again, knocking Ruby out of her stupor as her friend tried to get away again.
Despite his lungs and legs protesting, Jacob was hot on Penny's heels. "Come on," he yelled as he passed Ruby, "Come on!"
With no regards to whether or not the two soldiers were following them anymore, Jacob followed close behind Penny, the girl coming to a stop in a squared off area of alleyway.
"Penny," Jacob attempted to cry out as he came to a stop, only to sound pathetically out-of-shape—which he sorta was—as he wheezed while hunched over, "Hold up... for a minute... Oh God why isn't my cardio work getting any better..."
Ruby was next, Jacob righting himself as he let Ruby speak. "Penny! Please! What is going on?! Why are you running? How did you do that?!"
Penny's eyes darted around the clearing. "I-I can't! Everything's fine!" a hiccup slipped out from her mouth. "I-I don't want to talk about it!" Another admittedly cute hiccup. Her tell, just like Pinocchio's nose.
"Penny, if you can just tell me what's wrong, I can help you!"
Penny recoiled away as Ruby tried to come up and comfort her, her hands balled up tightly. "No! No, no! You wouldn't understand..."
Penny," Jacob said with a huff as he continued to let his breath level out, "You can trust us, don't worry!"
After a second of even more hesitation Penny turned around and looked them both in the eye. "You're my friends, right? You promise you're my friends?!"
"I promise," Ruby replied as softly as a summer breeze.
"I swear it on The Lord's Good Book," Jacob said as held his right hand to his heart and his left up as high as he could while he was still catching his breath.
Penny looked down at her hands and slowly unfolded them. Beneath the skin, a metal endoskeleton peak out, the steel glimmering in the evening sun.
"Guys... I'm not a real girl."
Besides the last vestiges of his breathing, the spot became deathly silent.
Ruby Rose was deathly silent. The shock on her face said far more that the lone word that came out of her mouth:
"Oh."
Jacob on the other hand was already aware of this and simply replied with a feigned look surprise and a simple reply. "Huh... neat."
Ruby seemed to stumble backwards as if she were struck. "Penny, I-I don't understand..."
"Most girls are born," Penny replied, "but I was made. I'm the world's first synthetic person capable of generating an Aura." At that her face took a downtrodden look, as if she was struck with realization.
"I'm not real..."
That tugged too hard on Jacob's heartstrings. "Penny," he said softly, "That couldn't be further from the truth; of course you're real."
Penny looked back at him in surprise only to snap her head forward as Ruby tenderly clasped her own hands around the robot girl's hands. "You think just because you've got nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts makes you any less real than me? Less real than Jacob?"
Penny seemed to be absolutely flabbergasted; she was probably expecting reactions of horror and denial at the prospect of fully sentient AI. "I don't... um... You're... taking this extraordinarily well," she said with incredulity as she leaned in closer to Ruby. "Both of you, in truth."
Jacob snorted at that sentiment; being already aware of the truth had jaded him to the surprise, whereas when he first saw it he had been forced to perform a double-take of cartoonish proportions. "Considering what my life's been for the last 4 months," Jacob said with a laugh, "nothing can surprise me. I'll bet Lien on it."
"You're not like those things we saw back there," Ruby said with a calm voice and a tender smile as she tapped Penny in the center of her chest. "You've got a heart, and a soul; I can feel it!"
The fear and confusion left Penny's face. A massive warm smile erupted on her face as she suddenly grabbed Ruby and hugged her in a death-grip. "Ooohh... oh Ruby, You're the best friend anyone could have!"
"I can see why your father would want to protect such a delicate flower," Ruby groaned as the air was probably squeezed out her lungs.
Jacob couldn't help but laugh as he watched the two share the moment. "As delicate as an AT-AT," he jokingly mused to himself.
"Oh, he's very sweet," Penny said excitedly as she let go of the no-doubt savior of the world. "My father's the one that built me! I'm sure you would love him!" She began to move closer to Jacob, putting him on high alert.
"Wow," Ruby said with a giggle, "He built you all by himself?"
"Well, almost! He had some help from Mr. Ironwood."
"The General?! Wait... Is that why those soldiers were after you?"
Penny nodded and smiled. "They like to protect me too!"
Ruby scoffed. "They don't think you can protect yourself?"
"They're not sure if I'm ready yet," Penny said somberly. "One day, it will be my job to save the world, but I still have a lot left to learn. That's why my father let me come to the Vytal Festival. I want to see what it's like in the rest of the world, and test myself in the Tournament."
Now it was Jacob's turn to scoff. "Save the world? That's an ungodly tall order to put on the shoulders of one girl, automaton or not."
Ruby's gaze darted back and forth between Jacob and Penny. "Guys, what are you talking about? Save the world from what? We're in a time of peace!"
Penny looked confused by that statement. "That's not what Mr. Ironwood said—"
"Check down here!"
One of the soldiers. "Oh shit," Jacob hissed as he backed up against a dumpster behind Ruby, crouching low behind it.
Without warning, Penny grabbed Ruby by the shoulders and effortlessly hoisted her over her head. "You have to hide," she said as she marched over to the dumpster, Ruby squirming to get loose.
"Penny, wait! What are you doing," Ruby asked as she struggled to break free of the robot-girl's iron grip. "You don't have to go with them! I can help you!"
Penny ignored Ruby and effortlessly chucked Ruby into the dumpster. Jacob leaned out to watch the two of them, the edge of the dumpster obscuring his view. "It's okay, Ruby" she said calmly They're not bad people; I just don't want to get you in trouble." Penny's expression turned serious. "Just promise me you won't tell anyone else my secret. Okay?"
"I promise," Jacob heard Ruby say from within the dumpster.
Penny turned and looked at Jacob. Before she could say anything, he simply gave her a serious look and a single nod. She smiled back.
But the nod meant far more than just keeping her secret.
I promise it Penny, he said in his mind, more than just your secret will be safe. Count on it.
Jacob tucked himself back into the corner between the dumpster and the wall just as the sound of running boots was upon them.
"Sal-u-tations, officers!" He heard Penny say.
"Why were you running," a soldier asked, "And what happened to those other two?"
"What other two? I've been by myself all day!" Another cute hiccup. Jacob stifled the urge to chuckle.
"You shouldn't cause such a scene."
"Are you okay?" Another soldier.
Jacob slid as silently as he could towards the edge, just far enough out that he could see what was going on.
One of the Atlesian soldiers was less than two feet away from him, his back turned to Jacob and the dumpster. Penny was showing them the open cuts in her skin that revealed her endoskeleton. "Just as scratch," she admitted nonchalantly.
Iesu Christo, Jacob hissed mentally as he popped back behind and hunkered back into the corner.
"Penny, your father isn't going to be happy about this," the first soldier said harshly.
"Please, just come with us," the second said in a defeated tone.
"Yes, sir!"
There was a sound of multiple footfalls heading back down the alleyway they had come from. Jacob let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in.
The squeak of a rat sounded off from inside the dumpster. Ruby replied in kind with a terrified eek as she leaped out of the dumpster and darted a few feet away. She began frantically brushing herself free of garbage, all the while muttering, "Ew, ew, ew, rats, ew..."
Jacob pulled himself up from his hiding spot and said, "Well, that was closer than I preferred. You okay, Ruby?"
"Yeah, I'm alright," she said in a disgusted tone, "I just kinda wish Penny hadn't tossed me in the dumpster like that."
"Fair enough," Jacob replied, "I'm just trying to wrap my head around it all; not from the perspective of the fact that she is... well, She's a robot, but rather why Ironwood would want an artificial Huntress in the form of a little girl." That last part was only a half-lie; Jacob had for a long time honestly wondered what was the purpose to make Penny look human.
"While I'm honestly kinda grappling with the idea myself," Ruby said hesitantly as the duo left the alleyway and returned to the streets, their eyes peeled for Penny and her escorts, "Penny asked us to keep it secret. You'll keep it secret, right?"
"Like I told her," Jacob defended, "I swear it on The Good Book. Only unless she says I can tell someone will I tell someone."
Without warning, another voice rang out from behind them. One that was smooth and jovial and frankly somewhat Jamaican. "Tell someone what, Mr. Muller?"
Both whipped around on the spot. About 20 feet behind them, Vulkan He'Stan was walking their way. He wore a genuine smile of mirth and a mischievous look in his eye. He was dressed casually, a a green sweater and blue jeans as his outfit. Jacob couldn't help but notice the Salamanders' chapter badge embroidered on the front of the sweater.
Ruby let out a big happy gasp. "Vulkan!" Before Jacob could even realized what was going on, she went rocketing towards the weaponsmith, glomping him in a full-body hug that seemed to not even stumble him. "Aah, it's so good to see you," she squeaked merrily, Vulkan's laughter melding with the squeaks.
Jacob felt his eyebrow rise high on his face. "Wait, wait," Jacob said as he pointed a confused index and middle finger at them, "you two know know each other?"
"Yeah," Ruby replied, "didn't I tell you? Vulkan was the one to first teach me how to build a weapon."
Jacob thought back and tried to remember her saying that. "Oh yeah," he finally realized after a few seconds, "the day I got Cadia you mentioned that, right, right. My bad."
"And how is my favorite Rose doing," Vulkan asked with a chuckle, "keeping out of trouble, or getting into trouble?"
"Oh, no trouble here, Vulkan," she replied, a hint of nervousness to her voice.
"Really? Then what brings you two so far into town from Beacon on a school evening, eh?" Vulkan was wearing a sly grin and a raised brow of his own.
Ruby struggled with an answer, a lot of uhms and ahs leaving her mouth as she let the weaponsmith loose of her hug.
"Uh, well, we were just meeting a friend for a bit," Jacob finally said to cover Ruby's tracks, "but she needed to be on her way just a few minutes ago."
"Ah, I see," Vulkan said understandingly. "Then I am in good company; I was just on my way to meet up with my old team from my Huntsman days. Almost everyone is in town for the Vytal Festival and I had suggested that we should all get together for a proper reunion!"
"That's great to hear," Ruby said as Jacob processed that information. Vulkan was a Huntsman? He's still in contact with his team? And on that note, who the hell is his team?
"Well, in any case," Ruby continued, "but you're right, we should probably head back to Beacon. My team and I were looking into some things and we wanted to meet back up where Yang was gonna go. It's out in the Industrial District."
"Really? Perhaps meeting at Beacon would be the better idea," Vulkan suggested, "the Industrial District is no place for kids." After a few seconds, a thoughtful look spread across Vulkan's visage, the uncanny resemblance to the 40k Primarch giving Jacob the jeebies. "Tell you what," Vulkan began, "We're meeting at a place in the Commercial District that's not far from the Industrial District. How about I escort you there and then you can contact Yang to let her know where you are?"
Jacob and Ruby shared a glance that both said the same thing: Is this gonna compromise us?
But it was Jacob who took a second to think over it fully; tonight was the events of the episode Paint the Town..., and being out of place for it could spell trouble if Roman got away in that Atlesian Paladin he swiped. And considering the potential for Vulkan to come along during that fight, would getting Vulkan into the mix start breaking canon? Jacob couldn't afford major breaks to the canonical timeline too soon, or otherwise he'd lose control and insight into the situation.
I fucking hate the butterfly effect, Jacob lamented mentally as he recalled the reason he thought this way; one tiny change can ripple outwards like a drop of water plopping into a lake.
"I don't see a problem with that if you don't, Jacob," said Ruby.
Jacob grimaced and cursed his indecision in a string of mental swears that a sailor would laugh at. "...Sure," he finally lied through his teeth, "No reason not to, honestly."
Vulkan laughed. "Excellent! Come, come, we have little time to waste."
So the unlikely trio began their walk to edge of the Commercial District, the night beginning to settle into the sky. While Ruby and Vulkan caught up on what'd been happening with one another, Jacob hung back and watched the two in passing. They talked about studies and training and family and work and all that good stuff as they traveled along, Jacob along the way starting to feel the hint of... something. That feeling one gets when nostalgia creeps in and gives you the ghost of a warm hug that you got from someone you cared a lot for.
Homesickness, he deduced it to be, some new breed of homesickness he had never felt before. He wondered how much his parents missed him, it at all; for all he knew some doppelganger had assumed his form and all remained right with the real world. Maybe there wasn't some doppelganger and his family was having to learn to live without him.
Jacob slowed a little as the realization came to him; he wouldn't be there to help his little brother when he need Jacob. He wouldn't be there to see him graduate, to find his first girlfriend, to help him in college, to live life...
And his parents; how much did the miss him? Were they hurting? Had they been strong enough to move on? Were they thriving now?
Too many questions, not a single answer to it. The ache he had felt when he first came to Remnant was coming back in a torrent of worry and doubt.
The situation he was in however yanked him back to the now and the certain. Now is not the time, Jacob, he chided himself with a shake of his head, The time to mourn what was has passed. Focus on the now and prep up... Or you'll be on repeat for Pyrrha and Penny.
Vulkan and Ruby had gotten ahead by a good ten feet by now and were still deep in their conversation when they rounded the corner onto a parallel street. Cars had been zooming by them regularly now as the nightlife was beginning to pick up, and the streets had gone from barren of people to now what Jacob would have considered normal for a downtown area.
Jacob heard Ruby cry out and fall back onto her butt from behind the corner.
"There you are, you dolt! Where have you been!?"
Ah, Weiss found us it seems, he thought to himself as he rounded the corner Sure enough, Ruby had bumped headlong into Weiss, whom was now standing over Ruby with her Scroll in hand and an accusatory look on her face.
"Sorry, Weiss," Ruby said as she rubbed the back of her head, "Penny wanted to talk with us and—"
"Ugh, you should have at least called to let me know where you were," Weiss said angrily. "Part of me was worried something had happened!"
About that time, Jacob noticed someone standing beside her. How he missed such an imposing man—even taller than Jaune at around 6'5", strong jawline, solid frame, dark brown hair, sideburns—was beyond him. "So," the man began, "You must be the team leader Ms. Schnee told me so much about." He offered her a small but kind smile and a hand up. "Pleasure to meet you, Miss...?"
"Uh, Rose, I'm Ruby Rose, sir." She took his hand and was pulled back to her feet.
"...Rose? You're Summer's girl?"
Ruby looked surprised. "You knew my mother?"
"Knew her? I was the class two years ahead of them with her and the rest of Team STRQ."
"Well, well, well," Vulkan began with a chuckle, "Sorry to interrupt, but I was beginning to wonder if you were going to actually get to Vale, old friend."
The man did a double take. "Oh, Vulkan! Sorry old friend, I didn't even see you there; how is beyond even me." The two laughed heartily, as if an inside joke had been told.
Jacob's stomach did a leap as something came to mind. Something about this guy seemed vaguely familiar.
"Oh, I didn't know that you two were acquaintances," Weiss said curiously.
"Heh, Vulkan and I go a ways back, back before we even went to Beacon. I was the Lone Wolf of '44, best buds with STRQ and VLAT before I graduated. Good times, good times. Hey, how is the rest of the team? Gabriel arrive?"
"He wouldn't miss the Vytal Festival for the world," Vulkan replied.
Gabriel...
The name and the implication started to upset his stomach.
"And Titus? Did he and Mira...?"
"No spoilers."
Titus... Mira?
Now the roiling waves in Jacob's stomach were getting worse. A warrior clad in blue and gold flashed in his memory, cleaving an Ork in half and beating a Daemon Prince's skull into oblivion with his bare hands. With it the image of a Guardswoman, the only sane one by all accounts in a very mad situation.
"Oh, Jacob, there you are!"
Weiss' comment snapped him out of his stupor, but did nothing to alleviate his stomach. "Oh, uhm, sorry about that, I kind felt to be the odd man out. I didn't want to interrupt or anything."
"Well Weiss," the man said, "shouldn't you introduce me to your teammate and... other teammate?"
"Friend," Jacob clarified, "I'm actually a Lone Wolf myself." He offered a handshake to the man, a pit of familiarity tying itself into a Celtic knot. "Jacob Muller's the name."
"Ah," the man replied with a nod as he returned the handshake. His grip was strong but nothing compared to the vice grip of General Ironwood's hand. "So, you're the one Vulkan has been talking so much about. The pleasure's all mine Mr. Muller."
For a second, Jacob felt the tension alleviate as the air of friendliness grew stronger.
But the air careened to the ground as the puzzle pieces finally fit together.
"Jacob, Ruby, I'd like to meet my sister Winter and I's mentor in swordsmanship."
The new names that he had learned over the course of these last four months came rushing back to him at whip-cracking speed, each one breaking down the denial he was fighting with like a hammer breaking a stone.
Vulkan He'Stan.
Gabriel Angelos.
Malcador.
The Inquisition.
Titus.
Mira.
And the last name shattered it all like Cadia under a Blackstone Fortress, leaving Jacob wanting to pass out and wake up from this surreal dream.
"Professor Ciaphas Cain of Atlas Academy."
DAH-DAH-DAAH! Ciaphas Cain is here, now Jacob's not the only Chainsword practitioner in town!
Apologies for the lack of chapters the last few weeks; between Final Exams coming soon and keeping up with Volume 5—as well as working on a huge painting commission that'll put some solid change in my bank account—It's been an interesting debacle trying to work on this.
Also, so it turns out magic is quite real in Remnant as of Volume 5. Great, now how am I gonna work some of the members of The Eightfold Path like ++[REDACTED]++ and ++[REDACTED]++?
Next chapter, Jacob, RWBY and VLAT take on Roman in a 1-v-11 smackdown, Jacob comes to terms with the fact that his favorite hobby has bled into his favorite anime world, and somebody learns the truth about him... but who?
Review, follow, favorite if you wish, but thank you all for joining me on this rollercoaster and I will see you all in the next chapter... buh-bye~!