Hey all, sorry for some of the long update times. I've suffered not from writer's block per say, so much as writer's exhaustion. I can usually figure out what to write once I force myself to do it, it's just forcing myself to do it that can be hard. Sometimes, it's extremely tiring to write, especially after something as climactic as chapter 18. Plus, I got heavily involved in another project lately, which took up a lot of my capabilities, and I'm in college so there's that. And I'm perpetually working on another personal project besides everything else. So, yeah, I've got a lot on my plate right now, especially a lot of creative things, which imposes a specific kind of drain. It was a lot easier to update this at the same time every week back when this was the only thing I was working on. But for real, please don't complain about update times, as that does nothing but annoy me; I'm doing my best here, and I assure you that this story will be completed.
Anyway, let's get to it.
He stood in his room. Or, at least it was supposed to be his room.
It was the one he'd been assigned to at the beginning of the year, that he'd slept in for just two nights, that he hadn't dared approached in almost two months. It was a place filled with lost chances, a myriad of possibilities, thrown away. He set his bags down, everything he'd used to have in his cave, packed up for the move back.
"It's been a while," he said.
"It has," Pyrrha said behind him as she closed the door. They stood alone in the room. "I'll help you get things sorted, then maybe show you some of my things. I'll let Nora and Ren show you their own spaces later, when they arrive."
"Yeah… it would be better to do that all at once, wouldn't it?"
"We all understand why you wanted to do this with just me," she said. "Like you said: you're tired."
He nodded slowly. "I'm glad none of you have gotten offended… it's just, yeah, I'm too tired. Two's company and three's a crowd; I can handle company right now, but crowds are too much. After our talk… I don't know how to explain it," he said. "I'm just… tired."
"You don't have to explain," she said. "I think we all understand. It's not a problem." Although he wasn't looking at her, he could tell that her reserved smile graced her face from the light tone in her voice. "And look, you're here, aren't you? You're doing what you can, despite things."
"Yeah, yeah I'm doing what I can… because I want this to work, I really do. I want to be a part of a team again, with you all." He shook his head and looked down at the empty, dust-covered bed. "I just… telling you all about my past. I dunno, it was so draining. I've been exhausted ever since… and it's harder for me to deal with people, harder than usual. I just… I just don't really know."
"You don't have to. Really, it's fine. There's no need to keep trying to explain yourself."
He heard Pyrrha shuffle around behind him, then had to force down his nerves and the instinct that told him not to let her out of his sight. It was just the way he'd been taught things. Other people… they were bad. That was the false truth he'd accepted for so long, which he now had to pry out of himself, bit by bit, until he was clean of it.
He grit his teeth and stopped himself from turning around to look at her, instead bending over to begin unpacking his things. Strange, how for him, turning his back to someone was in a way more intimate than facing them directly.
He got to work. His bed was pressed against the wall in the corner of the room, with fabrics ruffled and bunched together, not having been made in months. First, he dragged it back away from the wall, closer to the others. Then he beat down on the blankets to try and clean them, but dust kicked up and made him cough.
"Here," Pyrrha said, "I'll get that for you, just focus on unpacking your things." She smiled and stepped by him, then bent over the bed and started straightening out the blankets.
Jaune smiled. It'd take a while to settle in, but at least he'd have help.
In fact... he was already thinking of a few ideas to get things going…
The bell rang.
Ruby Rose could not have been happier.
"It's done! We're done!" She shouted and jumped out of her chair. Weiss futilely tried to reach over and grab her errant leader before she made a fool of herself, but Ruby activated her semblance and sped out of the classroom.
She hopped from foot to foot, loving the feeling of freedom that coursed through her veins as the bell continued to ring and more and more students flooded outside of class and spilled out into the hallway, all of them happy to finally be done. Well, most of them. Some students had looks of dread on their faces after taking on finals and only now realizing that they may not have been so prepared as they needed to have been. Thankfully, Ruby had her own personal slave-driver to make sure she kept on her toes.
"Ugh, I can't believe you sometimes!" Weiss pouted as she stormed out of the room and approached her. "Really, would it kill you to exercise some tact? A break to lessons isn't something to celebrate so much as something to tolerate—ack!" Weiss suddenly found herself at a loss for words as Ruby sucked her into a hug.
"I did great, I know it! And thanks for all the help studying!"
"Urk, get off me!"
"Nope!"
Weiss stopped wriggling and sighed, knowing by now that she couldn't tear herself free, no matter how much she tried. Ruby was like a leech, that way: you wouldn't be able to get her off without using fire, so you might as well just wait for her to take all she needed and disengage on her own.
Which was just what happened after, oh, another minute. Weiss gasped as her lungs were finally able to expand fully once more. Ruby's lithe limbs were able to exert a surprisingly large amount of strength whenever it came to giving hugs. Yet even then, she was given no respite. Yang and Blake had both exited the classroom now as well, and with her whole team now present, there was nothing left to stop Ruby from initiating her first plan for the break.
"Come on guys, let's go meet up with JNPR!"
She grabbed Weiss by the wrist and dragged her down the hall, calling upon her semblance enough to keep the girl stumbling at a fast pace, though her feet didn't move half so fast as her mouth, which shouted and berated Ruby all the way.
Yang and Blake looked at each other, shrugged and followed at a brisk jog.
"Ack! You buffoon, unhand me!" Weiss swatted at her partner as she stumbled along, desperately trying to just stay on her feet. God, if only Ruby would slow down, or better yet, stop altogether.
She would get her wish, though the universe has a habit of giving you things with strings attached.
"Oof!"
"Agh!"
"Ack!"
"…"
The pair of red and white ran headlong around a corner and crashed into another pair of students, sending them all sprawling. Weiss in particular got the worst, doing a full cartwheel before smashing face-first into the wall, groggily crumpling to the ground as her unprepared aura tried desperately to keep anything from being too broken.
"OhmygoodnessImsosorry!" Ruby blurted as she sprang up to her feet, no worse for wear. With a semblance like hers, one got used to taking the occasional crash and tumble. Thankfully, the one's she'd bowled over weren't inexperienced in that regard either.
"Hah! Happy for the break, right?" Nora smiled wide as she stood up, also hauling up Ren by his collar, which made him choke for a moment as his throat was subjected to Nora's strength. "No probs Rubes, I like tackling people when I'm excited too!"
Yang and Blake caught up, quickly going to assist the dazed Weiss as she got back up off the floor. Ruby, through a combination of Nora's unshakable glee and Ren's imperturbable apathy, felt her panic slip away, and her own smile returned.
"Oh man, I'm so glad school's out! We're gonna go back to Patch, and see dad, and see Zwei, and train, and I'm going to get some new comics, and it'll be great!" Ruby's smile widened just at the thought of It. "Yeah, Yang and I are gonna be off on our own adventure back home, while Blake's gonna stay at the school, and Weiss is going to stay at a spa resort in town!"
"A vacation I both deserve and require!" the heiress said, attaching a growl and a glare to her speech which had Ruby cringing and turning away. Whenever Weiss was in a bad mood, it was best to let her cool off for a moment… heh, cool off…
She snickered.
"What are you laughing at!?"
"Nothing Weiss, nothing at all," she lied. Changing the topic of conversation quickly, she turned back to her two newest friends. Nora was a lot of fun, and Ren was pretty cool in his own chill sort of way. She was glad to have met them finally through Jaune… and she was glad that Jaune was finally getting the chance to be with them too. "So what are you guys going to do over break? That's why I was in such a hurry earlier: I wanna hear all of JNPR's plans!"
Nora chuckled and patted Ren's head much like someone would pet their dog. "Oh, Ren and I are going to stay here at school. We don't have anywhere else to go after all, same with Jaune. And Pyrrha's staying too, since Mistral's too far away." Nora giggled and did a ballerina spin in the middle of the hallways, having some of the other kids sending curious glances their way; but most people in Beacon had learned that it was best to leave the strange girl with the large hammer to own devices, so moved on without a word.
"Aaaaaaannndd," she said, "Jaune's got some plans for all of us!"
"Really? That sounds fun! And where is Jaune, by the way?"
"He's out in Vale preparing for the break," Ren said. "After he finished his finals, he went straight out make reservations and buy tickets."
"Well that sounds pretty sweet, where are you guys going?" Yang asked.
"Oh man, all over the place! It's gonna be great! And better yet, he's moved in with us now, so when we come back from our outings in Vale, we'll be able to hang out in our room like a proper team!"
"Yeah… has he really been living in a cave this whole time?" Blake asked.
Ren nodded and sighed. "Yes. He… hasn't been very forthcoming thus far, but he's making an effort now, and that's what matters. It's taking a little while, though, since some things are still a bit much for him."
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.
"Jaune's not much of a people person, if you haven't noticed," Nora replied. "He doesn't like crowds or talking too much. It makes him tired, and even nervous. Like, really anxious when he's around too many people or he's been too social."
"Yes," Ren said, "to say that Jaune is introverted would be somewhat of an understatement. A full week has gone by since he told us all about his past, but he's still fatigued from it. Opening up like that in front of so many people exhausted him, and we don't want to overload him too much right now."
"So he's just spending time with one or two of us," Nora said, "Just until he gets back on his feet. He says he'll be good in a few days."
"Hmm, makes sense," Ruby said. Of course, Jaune had told her that he didn't like being in crowds or being too social, but he'd always been willing to talk to her. Then again, that was when she was his only friend, the only person that he talked to. Then he started to get friendlier with Yang as well, but that was only a little bit at a time. Come to think of it, she'd never seen him be social in a group. Trying to do that, which may normally already be a real effort for him, while still reeling from all the talking he'd done about his past, had to be pretty hard.
She hadn't gotten many chances to talk to him in the last week. Between finals, preparing for break and Jaune's own focus on catching up with his team and taking time for himself, they'd barely spared a word. And with her going away over break, it would be a whole week more until they managed to speak again.
Something within her felt heavy.
She hopped up and down a few times and forced a smile on her face. People always just interpreted that as her being her usual hyper self, and most of time, they were right. But sometimes, she was trying to stir up some good feelings whenever bad ones were coming her way. Like now.
She settled down and said, "So what are the plans that you've got with Jaune?"
Nora enthusiastically clapped her hands together. "Oh man, it's going to be a ton of fun! We're all going to go out and do stuff in Vale, one on one! And then we're all going to go out together like a team!" Nora did another twirl. "Like a real team, finally!"
Nora smiled and reveled in her own words, which had conveyed next to nothing to RWBY. They turned to Ren, who sighed and explained:
"Jaune wants to get to know us better, so he's asked us all to pick out a place in Vale we'd like to go to. Then, he'll take one of us out to the place we want to go, as a way to spend time together and try to become more familiar, while still not overwhelming himself right off the bat."
"Hm, sounds… empathetic," Blake said. "Not a bad idea."
"I can hardly wait!" Nora said. "I've picked out the perfectest place! It'll be awesome!" She raised her hands up in front of her, and everyone saw that her fingers were practically vibrating with energy. "Oh man, I need really to need to let off some steam! Me and Ren were just going to the sparring room to practice. I really want to smash some stuff!"
Yang grinned and looped one arm around Nora's shoulders. "I like the way you think, sister. Mind if I tag along? After going through finals, I've got more than a little bit of stress I wanna work off."
Nora's eyes widened and seemed to sparkle. "Of course! Destruction is always more fun with a buddy!" She zipped out of Yang's grip and grabbed Ren by the sleeve, dragging him down the hall as she stomped towards the training room. "Come on everybody, let's get to bashing!"
"I suppose that exercise is a good way to relieve stress," Weiss said, sighing as she followed.
Blake merely shrugged and followed as well, knowing full well that Yang would probably strong-arm her into coming along anyway.
Only Ruby remained in place. Her face gave away no expression, but she was tightly gripping her skirt; so tight, that her knuckles were becoming white.
Jaune was going out with all of them… individually… to places in Vale… to get to know them better… didn't that sound like…?
And she wouldn't see him for a while… though they could still talk via scroll, of course? But what if he was too busy with his team, like he had been the last week? No, he'd only been distant lately because he was just finally getting back with his team and dealing with all that, not to mention finals…
But still, she'd been practically his only friend before, and even when he'd hung out with Yang, she'd been there too. Now he had Nora, Pyrrha and Ren, and they were all really cool, and they were actually his age, and they… they… what if they… what if…
What if she was being replaced?
"Ruby, are you okay?"
"Huh?" She shook her head and took a deep breath. "Yeah, yeah I'm okay Weiss, just sorta spaced out for a moment. Heheh, I think my brain's still a little fried from that test, you know?"
Weiss looked back over her shoulder and waved her hand, signaling the others to continue on their way to the gym. They did so quickly, descending into chatter and disappearing around a corner as Weiss turned back to her partner.
"You know, you aren't a very good liar."
"Hey, it's alright, really. Just, just nothing, y'know? Just spacing out after tests..."
"Is it about Jaune?"
Ruby's jaw shut, tight.
Weiss sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. "He'll be fine, you know. He's an utter dullards, but he's strong, and he's got his team now." She smiled. "And he has you. I know how you are, Ruby. You care for other people, perhaps too much."
"Too much?"
"Being anxious over others will just eat away at you. Take a moment to think of yourself."
But I am thinking about myself…
"You don't have to worry about Jaune, not anymore. At least, not so much."
I don't think you understand…
"Thanks for understanding, Weiss." Ruby forced on her usual smile. "I'll try to remember that. Go catch up with everybody, I need to use the bathroom, kay? I'll be right behind you."
"Okay," Weiss patted her shoulder. The girl probably knew Ruby wasn't in the best state, but Weiss was a firm believer in giving people their space when they needed it, so she strode away without another word.
Ruby chewed at her lip and hopped away, ducking into a bathroom and quickly cloistering herself up in a stall. She proceeded to stand there, hidden from view, thinking things over.
She was being anxious. That was what the counselor at Signal had said: she just got anxious when it came to people. She couldn't trust people to stick by her, she couldn't be certain that they actually liked her, that they wouldn't just leave the moment they could. She was paranoid when it came to relationships. The counselor had said all that and more, and all that and more was true. True, but not easy to deal with.
She'd always been so afraid that Jaune would leave her, in one way or another, like so many other people in her life.
I know you'll never do that to me.
She'd told him that… but she hadn't known, not at all. She'd clung to his promises, and she'd hoped, and when it seemed that all her fears had been true, that he was going to leave… well, she couldn't let go. She couldn't let it all be true.
But now he had his team… what if it would be true, just not in the way she'd thought? What if he wouldn't be physically leaving, but just socially? What if he found that he liked his teammates more than he liked her? After all, there was hardly anything special about her to be liked.
She was an immature nerd. Who would want that?
She closed her eyes and pressed her hands against them, massaging her eyes with her palms before the tears that threatened to break way managed to get out. What was wrong with her? Why was she freaking out so much? She… she just didn't want…
An idea struck her. It wasn't the best. It was a bad one. It was a stupid one that probably wouldn't help. But there was no way she could do it in person. Text would have to do. She really shouldn't do it.
She couldn't stop herself.
She pulled her scroll out of her pocket and cobbled together a message, then read it through. She bit her lip, deleted it and rewrote it. Then she reread that. Then she deleted that, too. A few more attempts, and she finally had something that might be okay.
R: Hey Jaune, I ran into Nora and Ren, and they told me about your plans for the break, going out into Vale just with each other and doing stuff. Well, I was wondering if you'd like to do that with me once break is over, maybe on the first weekend back? Just the two of us.
She gulped and stared down at her scroll. She read the message again, then a second time, just to make sure there were no spelling errors and that it sounded right. Normally she didn't care if her texts were riddled with grammatical mistakes or were a little incoherent, but now wasn't the time to come off as stupid. She started gnawing at her lips as she read the message over again and again, thinking about… nothing. She was stuck in one of those odd moments where her mind was terribly busy mulling over absolutely nothing at all, as if emptiness itself had become suffocating.
Eventually, she closed her eyes and hit the 'send' button.
A few seconds passed before she dared open her eyes again and look down. The scroll told her that the message had been sent. Whether or not he'd read it yet, she didn't know. And she continued to not know for a while. Her breath caught when she saw those tell-tale dots appear over his profile, marking that he was preparing a response. Ruby's heart started beating faster and faster every passing second she saw those dots blink. A minute passed. Then another. And another. What was taking him so long? How hard could it be to put together a simple text?
What could possibly make someone spend so much time putting together just one text message?
What could it possibly be?
Eventually, he replied:
J: I'd love that! Just think of a place you want to go to
Suddenly, she felt lighter. A great weight had been pressing down on her, but now it was lifted. Her lips curled up too, and for a moment, she even went up on her tip-toes, feeling higher in a strange way, feeling the need to go up and up and up.
She wasted not a second in telling him that she'd think it over, and that she couldn't wait.
J: I'm looking forward to it!
She smiled some more.
"I can tell why you'd like a place like this," Jaune said as he and Ren took their seats at a table. The waitress passed them each a menu and left them to their devices, telling them she'd be back soon to take their orders.
Ren scanned his menu and answered: "Yes, I've always wanted to visit a proper teahouse. But with Nora around?"
The two chuckled.
Jaune leaned back into the comfortable cushion and took the moment to look around him. The noon sun was high in the sky, but the two of them didn't have to worry about that right now, safely in the shade under their own small, personal gazebo. They sat in the middle of a large rock garden, with intricate wave patterns raked into a sea of pebbles. Thin stone paths snaked across the garden, leading out to several small gazebos like the one they currently occupied. Several others also serviced a few patrons, but everyone took care to speak in low voices, so as not to disturb the calm atmosphere. A high stone wall around the area blocked out any view of the city, leaving those within feeling as if they were truly resting in a place far away from Vale. The only building one could see was the large pagoda which served as the teahouse proper, though he'd managed to get private seats in the garden.
"Yeah, I never thought I'd be able to find somewhere like this, either," Jaune said. "I love peace and quiet, and I like pretty things too. This place nails all the marks." Pretty. Calm. Those really were the only ways he could describe the Vale teahouse. Modeled after the Mistralian variety, this was one of the best in town.
He took in a breath, enjoying just how crisp and clean the air here seemed to be. Maybe they did something to keep it smelling fresh? Or maybe it was just the atmosphere of the place, effecting his mind so much that it impacted his perceptions. Whatever it was, he didn't know, and he didn't care. He liked it, and that was all that mattered.
Jaune perused his own menu, scowling when he realized that he had no idea what any of it meant. Now that he thought of it, he'd never really had tea like this before. They hadn't had anything like that in the vault, and the only tea available in the wasteland was made from mutfruit leaves. It was disgusting stuff, but it was also supposed to be good for the immune system, so plenty of people drank it anyway.
"If you're unsure of what to get, then you can't go wrong with a simple green tea."
"Thanks," Jaune said, then flipped through the menu to see where the green tea was. He soon found it, also finding that there was no singular green tea, rather an entire section with ten different varieties. "Uhhh…"
"How about you just get the classic jade?"
"Yeah, I'll go with that."
The waitress returned, dressed in an exotic robe that Jaune recognized as something coming from Asia. Apparently, the Remnant equivalent for that was Mistral. Though Pyrrha said she was from Mistral too, and she wasn't Asian at all. Guess it had to be a pretty multicultural place, then. It did seem pretty big on the map.
Ren ordered a kind of black tea for himself, and some cakes for the both of them. The waitress nodded and left, telling them to wait no more than a few minutes.
"Sooooo…" Jaune said as she left. "What you been up to?"
"Relaxing now after finals. Well, relaxing as much as one can, with Nora around."
The two chuckled again, before falling into silence.
A silence which stretched on for a little while, before Ren cleared his throat and spoke up:
"I suppose I should get to telling you more about yourself. That's the point of this after all, and you already told us everything about you."
Alright, he felt a little bad about that. The truth was, he hadn't told them everything. Hell, he hadn't even told Ruby everything. He'd told her everything besides the fact that he'd reverted into a brutal killer after his team's death, devolving into a sort of monster. And he'd told the rest less. No one but Ruby knew that Jaune Arc wasn't his original name. They knew his family had died, as had his friends, as had his will to give a damn about life. It was just… too much to give.
Still, he hardly expected Ren to spill anything too personal—
"My parents died when I was young."
Oh.
"I lived in a nice, peaceful town outside of Mistral, and—"
He was cut off by the waitress returning, with a platter of cakes as well as a complete tea set. She set it down on the table between them, the water already boiling. She opened two different jars and scooped out little spoonfuls of dry tea from either one into what looked like sieves. She then placed these into either of two cups and poured out steaming water from the kettle. She expertly finessed the tea in the water, perfectly steeping it until completion. She then bowed and left them with only their drinks and cakes.
"Huh, that was pretty cool."
"Indeed," Ren said, "back in my hometown, we would go to a place much like this every weekend. Some of my best memories from childhood are of myself and my family or friends, enjoying each other's company as we enjoy our tea."
"Hmm." He could see that being pretty nice. He glanced at his teammate, who was now looking down into his own cup. If he'd gone to a place like this a lot, then his family must have been pretty well off, since this had been fairly pricey. Jaune had agreed to pay for every one of their outings, refusing his team's insistence on at least splitting the bill. He still had money from his job, and the management had even give him a nice little bonus for, you know, having to fight terrorists. He'd officially quit from there now, but the money was still in the bank, and this was as good a thing to spend it on as any. Probably better.
"I'm sorry to hear about your family, Ren. I understand."
"I know you do, and that's nice. Not many know how brutal it can be to lose someone so close, especially at so young an age, and in so brutal a way. See, our village had been attacked by Grimm, and…" The cup in his hands was shaking.
Ren took a deep breath, and it may have been a trick of the light, but Jaune thought for a moment that he saw a shade a strange shade of grey wash over him, if only for a second. But the boy released his breath a moment later, and it was gone.
"Forgive me, it is still a brutal topic to discuss."
"I know, you don't have to say anything. The details are hard."
"That they are." Ren shook his head. "But at least I was fortunate enough to have Nora with me. I met her during the fall of my town, and we've been together ever since. I've never been subjected to the sort of loneliness that you have."
"Be grateful for that."
"Oh, I am. There's nothing else in this world that I appreciate more than her."
Jaune smiled and brought his cup of tea up before him. "That's good then. Always appreciate the people close to you." He blew into his cup and then took a sip.
A sip, which he instantly regretted, as the wickedly hot liquid singed his tongue and lip, and it was only through virtue of his aura protecting him that the pain, already harsh, wasn't too bad. He nearly dropped the cup, but managed to set it back down on the table, wincing as a few drops spilled out onto his hand.
Across from him, Ren chuckled. "You can't rush good tea, Jaune."
"Ugh, I guess not." He eyed his steaming cup warily, then crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in the cushions of his chair. It really was comfortable, and this really was a nice place. He couldn't help but allow his anger to drift away in a mere moment, and again, he looked aside and gazed across the rock garden, serene and peaceful.
"So you like the calm," Ren said.
"You could definitely say that. What tipped you off?"
"You've mentioned how much you like the garden, and how much you like nature. And even now, the way you settle into this place. Someone like Nora, Yang or Ruby would never like this place; just being here would probably put them on edge." Ren swept his hand out and across the scene before them, his hand tracing the same wave patterns in the air as were raked into the ground. "Some people need action, not necessarily the fighting kind, not something filled with adrenaline, but at least something to keep them moving, something to do. It doesn't seem like you're that kind of person."
"No, not at all. I love peace." Jaune sighed, deeply. "I just never get it."
"Hm, sorry to hear that. Though I could tell when I first met you, that you were a man on edge, a man without balance."
"Yeah…"
"That's part of the reason why I appreciate Nora so much: she give me balance."
"What!?" That had Jaune shifting to the edge of his seat. "How the hell does she give you balance? Are you saying that Nora helps you be calm?"
"Exactly."
"How?"
"Like I said, as long as I've been with her, I've never needed to be afraid of being alone. I don't want to know what it would be like, if I'd had to go through the things I went through with no one to rely on." Ren sighed and shifted in his chair, turning to fully face the garden beside him. "She gives me security, by watching my back. She keeps me well, by caring for me. Certainly, she can be difficult, but having someone so close, someone I can so easily depend on, let's me rest easily at the end of the day."
"Hm."
"And what kind of rest would I have on my own? After the things I saw, I had a very unquiet mind indeed. Being alone would only have exacerbated that."
"You care about her very much, don't you?"
"I do," Ren said with a nod. He shifted his body back to face Jaune fully, cupping his hands around his cup of tea. "Much of my initial animosity for you was because of how you treated her."
Jaune averted his eyes down, into his lap.
"But the past is in the past. I fear that I may well have found myself on the same path as you, had I not met Nora when I did. Distracting an unquiet mind with an unquiet life, is a recipe for disaster. Best to rely on people you can trust." He shook his head and sighed. "Others can have their fun being rambunctious, but you and I, I suspect we'll both retire to places like this, in time."
Jaune smiled. "Yeah, yeah it'd be somewhere like here."
"Yes, it certainly would. The tea should be cool enough now to drink. Better to do so, before it gets cold."
Jaune nodded and brought the cup back up to his lips. He took a tentative sip, but now found it was no longer scalding, just hot. It was nice, and he especially savored the warm feeling it spread through his chest as he drank it and the liquid swam down through his throat.
"Ah, this is good stuff."
"It certainly is," Ren said after taking a drink of his own tea.
"So, what have you and Nora been doing ever since the fall of your village?"
As Ren began talking about the two's escapades, Jaune continued to drink his tea.
It tasted good.
"Oh boy, this is gonna be good!" Nora said, hopping from foot to foot, waiting for Jaune to make his way past the security checkpoint at the park's entrance. Nora had warned him they wouldn't let him take weapons into the park, so he was left empty-handed, much to his chagrin.
No weapons, and there were people everywhere. This was honestly like something out of a nightmare.
Breathe deep. Hold. Release.
Breathe deep. Hold. Release.
"Come on, let's go to the arcade first!" Nora yelled as she pointed to a direction further in the park, a huge grin on her face. Jaune looked to where she was gesturing, but he couldn't tell out anything specific, nothing which yelled 'arcade'. How one could ever hope to find their way around anywhere in this amusement park, he had no idea.
He looked around him, took in the sights. Large roller coasters curved up into the air, above a landscape filled with bright colors, garish decoration and cheap, greasy foods. And noise. A lot of noise.
He kept his hands in front of him, a natural position that would afford him the best ability to protect himself should anything happen. His eyes darted this way and that, dragged back and forth by everything going on, all the people around him. He could tell why Nora liked it, and he could tell already that he hated it. It was the polar opposite to the teahouse he'd been at yesterday with Ren, but it was what Nora had wanted to go to, so he hadn't hesitated to agree. Now, he was beginning to think that was a mistake.
His skin crawled as he made his way through the crowd, a crowd filled with a ceaseless cacophony and numberless people making their way to whatever game or ride they wanted to visit next. He looked over his shoulder often, offput by the knowledge that so many people were behind him, all behind him. He noticed his breathing get faster.
Breathe deep. Hold. Release.
Just calm down—
"Jaune, are you okay?" Nora looked back at him, brow creased in concern.
Was he being that obvious?
Hmph, who am I kidding, of course it's obvious. Not like I was ever the best at hiding things.
"Y-yeah, I just, um, uh…" He looked around desperately, then saw the perfect place: a somewhat secluded corner with a bench, off the main path. It lay beside a couple vending machines, but other than that, it'd probably provide a decent enough break. "Can we sit down for a moment?"
Nora nodded and the pair walked away. When Jaune sat down and felt the bench's hard wood against his back, he let out a long sigh. The uncomfortable prickly sensation that had been crawling under his skin slowly trickled away as he became secure in the knowledge that there was nothing behind him, that he wouldn't be caught unaware.
"Jaune, is everything alright?"
"Huh? Uh, yeah, yeah sorry. I'm fine, just… don't like crowds."
Nora nodded and looked back out at the park, which was stuffed with people. Plenty of families, everyone from the elderly to little kids, and happy couples. It was a sight to see: just a lot of harmless-looking people having fun. What was there to fear?
But she didn't ask him that. Even if she didn't understand, she could try and be understanding.
"Was it mistake, us coming here?" she asked.
"What? No."
"It's just that, if you're really this uncomfortable, then I shouldn't have forced you to come. I'm sorry... I should have thought more about what you'd want..."
"Hey, you didn't force me to do anything. I want to be here, I do. It's just that…"
"You're on edge?"
He nodded. "Yeah, yeah I'm on edge, to say the least. I've never been used to crowds like this. We never had them where I grew up, a pretty small place, you know? Well, I guess you don't know, but…" He took another deep breath and shook off some of the remaining jitters. He also steeled himself for the talk ahead. Opening up about issues was hardly the easiest thing to do, but it was something he was determined to do. "I just have a hard time feeling safe in crowds. I can't feel secure, with everybody around me. I get really anxious." He jerked a thumb and pointed to the wall behind him. "It helps when I can have something solid right behind me, since a lot of my anxiety comes from not being able to see everyone. I'm just… sort of afraid, I guess."
"So that's why you sit at the back of every class?"
He nodded.
"Is that why you never want to spend time in the cafeteria, either?"
He nodded again.
"You weren't kidding about your people problems."
"No, no I wasn't," he said with a sigh. "It's harder to see in Beacon, where there are less people, and I've gotten used to the place. But here…?"
He looked back out to the crowd, saw the families and couples and the happy faces. But none of that got his attention. He could only focus on the things he couldn't see, worry about whatever there could be that he was missing, something hidden in the crowd, like a mirelurk hidden under the water, just waiting.
"I'm sorry for ruining this," he said. "I should be able to act normal, but—ack!"
Nora had reached one arm around his neck and yanked him close to her, dragging him into a strange cross between a hug and headlock. She proceeded to dig her knuckles into her head, much the way that Butch would do to him all those years ago, but hers was accompanied by playful laughter and a fist that really wasn't grinding in as hard as it could.
"Don't be silly Jaune, you're doing great. Just being willing to come out here for me is really nice!" She released him, allowing him to both draw in some fresh breath and bring up a hand to gingerly rub the spot of his skull she'd assaulted. "So don't put yourself down, okay? I don't like to see that; people should be nice to themselves."
"Heh, I nice philosophy to live by."
"Yup!" She giggled and proudly wore that huge smile of hers. "It try to tell it to everybody, and I try to take my own advice too, but that can be hard."
"Hm? It can?"
"Well yeah, duh!" Nora shook her head an admonished him with a tsk, tsk, tsk. "I try to be free-spirited and whimsical." Nora dramatically threw her hands up into the air, as if reaching out to give a cloud a hug. "And not worry about things and have fun and try to make other people have fun too, because seeing other people have fun is fun, and makes things more fun!"
She sighed and brought her hands down, then turned to him, smile now smaller, more subdued. It was somewhat uncharacteristic of her, but appeared no less genuine. That was something he liked about Nora: she always seemed genuine, at every moment, speaking her minding and her feelings and acting in accordance to them. One never had to worry if she was hiding something, for she never did. Maybe she wasn't even capable of it.
"I try to bring as much happiness as I can Jaune, even when it's hard to do that. But I can't do it a hundred percent of the time… nobody can!" She shook her head and flicked him on the nose. "So don't be mopey about moping, because that's just like, doubling the mopiness! Doesn't do anybody any good. Just try to your best… which you are!" She jumped up from the bench and gestured at him with a dramatic wave of her hands. "Look at you!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, "you are Jaune Arc, and you are trying! And that is awesome! Stupendous! Magicalistic!"
He flustered and felt some heat rush to his face, which was likely turning a little red. He chafed under the inquisitive gazes of a few strangers, but despite the unwanted attention, a smile easily sprung onto his face.
"Thanks Nora," he said as the girl hopped back onto the seat beside him. "You're took kind."
"Yeah, people have told me that."
"What?"
She sighed. "People have told me in the past that I'm too much…" She looked at him, expression devoid of the earlier silliness. "If I'm ever too much for you, just say sp 'kay? I'm not stupid: I know I'm a lot to handle."
"Yeah, I can see that," Jaune said with a chuckle. "Thanks, I'll tell you whenever I need some space. But don't worry, you're pretty great overall."
Nora smiled wide. "Thanks!" The great grin receded shortly, however, and it was back to the surprisingly serious face of before. "But really, people have always told me about how I'm 'too much' or stuff like that. I can't really help it, though. I don't get cues, like social cues, and stuff. I just don't see them, and a lot of people don't really like that."
"Well, I'm fine with it. I don't get social cues either, so I get where you're coming from."
"Yeah, but people have always been turned off by me. All my life before I came to Beacon, only Ren has ever managed to put up with me. Sometimes I feel bad for that… I know he'd like things to be quieter… but I just can't do that."
She frowned.
Jaune punched her shoulder.
"Hey!"
"You needed that," he said. "Get your head out of the gutter Nora, you're fantastic! I've only ever met one other person as dedicated to being positive as you are, and it's a really special thing." Moira had been branded as strange and socially unaware as well, but she eventually came to be a highlight of all his visits to Megaton.
Before it was wiped off the map.
His vision was ripped back into the past, into the realm of memory. He saw it, a massive irradiated crater filled with rubble. The smoke had long since died out, leaving nothing but a hot wreck, too poisonous to approach. The town he'd come to call home. The place he was looking forward to visiting during all those long nights in the hospital, recovering after battle at the Air Force Base. Destroyed, when an Enclave raid attacked, looted the place, rigged the bomb and left. It was gone now, along with everyone in it.
All gone, all destroyed, while he was moping away in a hospital bed, recovering from surgery after the greatest failure of his life—
"Jaune? Are you okay?" Nora asked. She was also gently shaking him.
"Huh? What?"
"You totally just spaced out; are you alright?"
He shook his head to try and shake off some of the memories.
Breath deep. Hold. Release.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just got caught up in some old memories."
Bishop took away everything—
He shook his head again before the thoughts could drag him back under. "But yeah, I'm alright. No need to be worried."
"I'm pretty sure there's a decent need," Nora said. "But if you don't want to talk about it, we don't have to." She shrugged and smiled. "But if we can't talk, we can still do this!"
Suddenly, he was dragged into a bear hug, tight enough to compress his chest and drive out all the air from his lungs. He gasped like a fish out of water, face turning an ominous shade of purple, before Nora decided to have mercy and release him.
Jaune panted and wheezed for a few seconds, before his desperate gasps for breath turned into laughter, which Nora was more then willing to join in on. And they did that for a little while, just sit together and laugh, though neither of them were really sure what they were laughing at. Neither cared; they were just having fun.
Eventually, Jaune settled down again and said, "Thanks Nora, you're something special."
"You bet I am!"
"I do bet."
"How much?"
"Everything."
"Awww, you're the sweetest!"
He chuckled again, shaking his head at a ridiculous conversation, which sported a kind of lightheartedness which had eluded him for oh so long. "I know you and Ren grew up on the road, but I'm sure you must have made friends everywhere you went."
Nora's smile dropped a bit. It was still there, but seemed more propped up than natural. "Well, actually… Ren was the only one who ever got along with people."
"Really?"
"Yeah, he's cool… I'm just annoying. I don't know how many times I've been called that. And ever since I came to Beacon, I know that a lot of people don't like me because I'm such a pain."
"That's not true—"
"It is, and I know it, and I think you know it too." Nora shook her head. "No use in hiding from it. I was really afraid that I wouldn't make any friends when I came to Beacon, that I'd just drag Ren down and make things bad for the rest of our team, but Pyrrha's really and nice and you're pretty good too… well, now you are." She shrugged. "I've always known I'm not normal, and that a lot of people don't like that… but that doesn't matter!" She resolutely shook her head, scowling at an imaginary person who dared to judge her for acting the way she wanted to.
"No, no it does not," Jaune said. He draped one arm across her shoulders and pulled her into a half-hug, a comradely show of support. "You really are something special, you know? I'm serious about that."
"I know!"
"That I'm serious, or that you're special?"
"Yes!"
He laughed, that easy smile coming back to his face. This was definitely a different sort of company compared to Ren, but now he understood what his teammate had meant when he said that Nora was good for providing peace.
"Now come on, let's go see that arcade."
"Yippee!"
"It's beautiful," he said.
"I couldn't agree more," she said.
Jaune stood and stared for a while, unable to take his eyes away from the painting. He had no idea why it had enraptured him as completely as it had, but it did; a simple painting of a bull's skull with some flowers. He didn't know why, but he just couldn't look away.
Earlier, something similar had happened, when he spent a solid five minutes staring at a single painting, which depicted a few strangers in a diner at night. There was just something about these… something that was calming, yet interesting, something almost provocative in a peaceful sort of way.
After the chaos of Nora's adventure at the theme park (which they were now banned from for life, a story neither of them were keen on recounting once they'd returned) he had been excited to go to the Art Institute of Vale with Pyrrha.
His excitement had proved utterly worthwhile. In fact, he couldn't have prepared himself for something like this, anything like this. It was just so…
"It's all so pretty," he said. "I love pretty things. We didn't have a lot of them back in the wasteland." He shook his head. No, nothing like this, never anything like this. In the wasteland, people didn't have the time to make paintings or sculptures. There were never any pretty things around, everyone too concerned with the simple act of living, made so hard by the brutal environment around them.
"That's sad to hear," Pyrrha said. "In Mistral, art is highly respected, and almost everyone tries their hand at it at one point or another."
That finally made him tear his eyes away from the painting, turning to face his partner. "Really? What about you? Have you ever done any art?"
"When I was younger, yes, I took some lessons. But I was never very good, and I eventually gave up on it in favor of athletics, which is an artform unto itself."
"It definitely can be. Especially the way you move while you fight; no one else in Beacon can compare."
Pyrrha blushed in an adorable way. She was cute like that, in her bashfulness; it was almost like having an older, more reserved Ruby.
"Well, I'm sure that there are plenty of older students who would be able to give me a run for my money, really. I'm not too special."
"Now you're just denying fact—"
"Really, don't make a big deal of it."
Something in the tone of her voice tipped him off. It wasn't hard even for a clutz like himself to notice the serious edge in her eye, either.
"Sorry, did I say something bad?"
"It's just… I don't like the added attention. People always put me up on a pedestal… and that's not something I've ever enjoyed." Pyrrha turned away and strode further down the gallery, a great white hall flanked with large, impressive paintings. He followed behind, letting her have her silence for a little while, until she eventually stopped in front of one painting in particular.
It depicted a lone figure, distant and hard to perceive, basking in the sunlight on top of a mountain. Beneath them, on the mountainside, lay the corpses of innumerable Grimm, and he thought he saw a few human corpses as well. But above it all, the lone figure stood triumphant.
"I saw this on the way walking in," she said. "I recognized it right away. It's a famous Mistral piece: The Lone Hero." Pyrrha stared at the painting for a while, and following her gaze, Jaune realized she was looking only at the lone figure. "This is one of the reasons why I wanted to come here, to see this painting in particular. It's always been my favorite." She tilted her head to look at it from a new angle, though her focus remained squarely on the single figure on the mountain top. "I even had a print of it pinned on the wall of my room back in Mistral. I always… I don't know. I've always been fascinated by that hero, all by themselves at the top."
"I guess it's not hard to imagine why."
She shook her head, slowly. "No, no it's not. I used to be enamored with them, the lone hero, standing proud and strong. I wanted to be them. I used this painting as an inspiration, and now I identify with it fully." She crossed her arms and furrowed her brow, staring at the painting as aggressively as one could. "I liked the attention for a long time. But then the loneliness really set in. No one wants to get close to you, when you're larger than life. No one feels they can. And if they do, it's only so they can use you."
Jaune hummed and stared at the hero on the mountaintop.
For a moment, the Lone Wandered recounted all the times he'd walk through villages and be looked up at in awe, fear, surprise or some combination of thereof. He had been crushingly alone all the time, with a reputation that immediately precluded any chance at being close with anyone. Then again, that had been on purpose, in his case. He'd wanted to be alone, so he'd cultivated a character that made everyone avoid him.
But Pyrrha hadn't wanted that, had she?
She was spirited and dedicated young woman, and her devotion to the craft of combat was absolute. Her only sin was trying her best and giving her all. He'd worked hard to become the Lone Wanderer, and she'd worked hard to become the Invincible Girl. They'd both achieved the same effects in the end, hadn't they?
"My fame isolates me. I honestly hate being the Invincible Girl."
They had.
What else could he do, but feel sorry for her? He'd been miserable under the persona of the Lone Wanderer, and the Invincible Girl must have felt much the same.
"That's a big part of why I came out here to Beacon and Vale. I wanted a sort of escape. I could never hope to have anything close to a normal life if I went to school in Mistral, where everyone was bound to recognize me." Pyrrha reached out one hand towards the painting, tentatively, as if she wanted to touch it, to press her fingertips against the lone hero and experience them for just a moment. But she pulled her hand away and brought it against her chest instead. "That's why I chased after you to make you my partner."
"What? You did?"
A small, embarrassed smile graced her lips. "Yes, yes I did. I overheard you talking to Weiss about not caring for people's positions, about judging people on your own. I thought that you'd make a good partner, a good friend."
His jaw clenched, as did his hands fists. "I'm sorry," he said. "I failed you. All of you."
"You—"
"Acted horrible. I have no excuse."
"You told us all what happened—"
"An explanation, not an excuse. No excuses."
He closed his eyes, felt an anger boiling up through his blood, anger and disgust, at none other than himself. He'd never liked the things he'd done to his team, not even while he was doing them, but now? Now that they'd risked their lives for him and shown a willingness to forgive? He couldn't hate himself more.
"Hey now, be calm," Pyrrha said, laying a hand on his shoulder. "What was done, was done; focus on what you can do, like this. Like what you're doing right now." She swept her hand out around her, drawing his attention out to the entire hall. "Like spending time to be closer with us all." She smiled at him. "Put in the effort from here on out, and we'll all be more than willing to forgive you."
Breathe deep. Hold. Release.
After emptying his lungs, he took another few breaths, and that action, along with Pyrrha's comforting words, led to his anger slowly seeping away. He nodded a few times, to what, he didn't know, but the action helped him.
"You're right, you're right… and I'm glad to be doing this." He smiled and clapped Pyrrha's hand, still resting on his shoulder. "It's nice to be with all of you. Talking with everyone the last few days… I've really enjoyed it."
"As have I. It really feels like we're a team now. You, Ren and Nora, you all do treat me like just another person. It's nice."
"Well, I wasn't lying way back when I said I judge people for myself."
To be fair, I meant that I'm too paranoid to take others' word, so need to scope out danger on my own. But it's true in a social context as well; people can get all sorts of titles for all sorts of reasons, but not a single one of them necessarily reflects their character. I've learned to judge people on their actions.
"And you Pyrrha, I've judged to be a pretty awesome person."
She blushed and mumbled something, taking a few steps back. He chuckled, hearing something out being too kind, a criticism he hadn't received in a long time.
"But really, I understand a lot of what you've said," he said. "Back home, I was put up on a pedestal too."
Her head snapped back to look at him, and her eyes lit up. "Really? For what?"
"Well, I was—" A mercenary. A killer. A monster who's dedication to depravity was so excellent that he was known far and wide for the horrendous things he was able to do. A person who none of you would be able to accept. "—a freelance hunter, among other things."
"Other things?"
"I actually fought in a tournament once like you, and I won it. Became pretty well known for that. I was well known in that area for my skill as a steel runner."
"Really? What's all that?"
"Well, I won the monthly arena tournament in the Pitt, which is a tournament just like any you've fought in, except that—"
It was to do the death.
"Except what?
"Erm, nothing. It was pretty much the same. And steel running was going out into the nearby ruins to collect scrap steel for the refineries. It was really dangerous, since there were so many monsters crawling around and a ton of radiation, too."
"Oh my, what's radiation?"
Shit. Good going there, loose-lips.
"Um, a particular sort of poison that's all over the place in my homeland. It makes it pretty hard to live."
"Goodness, your homeland sounds like a rough place. I've never heard you say anything about it that was good."
"Well, some of the people were good, though most were pretty terrible…" He trailed off, not wanting to drag up his past, especially not when they had so much available to them in the present. Instead he brought one arm around Pyrrha's shoulders and pulled her close into a side-hug. She gasped in surprise, but didn't protest the comradely act. "Now come on partner, you said there was a sculpture garden around here?"
"Yes, yes I did."
"Then lead the way."
"Oooooohhhhhhhh…"
"Nora, don't you dare."
"What's the matter, Ren? I wasn't going to do anything."
"I know you. As such, I know that you were absolutely about to touch that."
Nora frowned but dutifully took a few steps away from the giant venus fly trap, which was twitching ominously. She only shrugged and turned away, skipping playfully after her longtime friend. The two shortly made their way through a path that led through a thick, jungle-like environment. Ahead of them was an opening, and the moment they stepped through, Nora's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.
"Ohmygoshitsopretty!" she blurted out.
"Indeed it is," Ren agreed.
All around them was a wild garden, with large beds overflowing with haphazardly growing flowers of all shapes and sizes, every shade of every color. It put Beacon's own flower garden to shame, encompassing flora from every corner of Remnant. It was an explosion of mismatched colors and shapes, which all collided and seemed to fight for one's attention. And the smell, a medley of pollen, from the sweet to the sour, drifted through the air, and every breath one took was another intake of a bizarre, though certainly pleasant, scent.
The Vale Botanical Garden.
"I've heard a lot about this place, "Pyrrha said," but I never thought it'd be this beautiful."
Jaune nodded, not quite able to speak, not really wanting to. Instead, he sat down on a picnic table and propped up his head with his hands, looking laxly at the massive indoor garden complex before him. It was a huge greenhouse, really, and this was the tropical part of it. Sweat dribbled on his skin from the abnormal heat, but the humid warmth didn't bother him at all. How could he bothered, when faced with a sight like this?
He let out a long breath, utterly content.
Eventually, the other three members of his team sat down at the table with him, and then he began to speak: "I never thought I'd ever get to see a place like this. Man, I've said that a lot ever since I came here."
He shook his head and swept his gaze across the little jungle surrounding him, the great expanse of flowers which sprung up daintily and happily. He smiled.
"You know, I never even saw a proper forest until a few months ago."
"Really?" Ren asked. "I suppose what they say about Vacuo is true; it really must be all desert."
"Eh, I wouldn't say that I grew up in a desert… just a wasteland. Nothing grew other than some sick-looking grass. There was only one place I ever found, a place that was sort of like a mini-forest." He closed his eyes and thought back to Oasis, with its bizarre benefactor, Harold. He remembered choosing to extend Harold's life, that his gift might spread out to the rest of the wasteland. "Yeah, that was a weird place, but hopefully it should start spreading flora from there. And my dad's water purification project made a lot of good water for irrigation, and a lot of the land around Rivet City became pretty fertile because of that. Lot's of people started up their own little gardens, if not for flowers, then for some crops."
He opened his eyes and looked once more at the jungle around him. Even though he'd been staring at it for a while now, he still felt a strange, consuming sensation. It was as if a sort of void was set before him, and he was looking deep into it, a hungry nothingness which devoured his vision completely. And he was happy to let that happen.
"I never thought I'd see anything like this. Never thought anything like this would even exist… at least not in my lifetime."
Nora scooted next to him and jammed her elbow into his ribs, making him wince, but certainly getting his attention. "Hey now, there has to have been something about your wasteland that was nice, right? Heck, you even said it's better now, with your dad's project."
"Yeah, yeah it's better… for the first time in a long time, my homeland actually has a bright future ahead of it, now that Project Purity was successful and the Enclave got crushed. Things should be good there."
I hope. If that's the case, then maybe I can die with something to be proud of.
"What's your favorite flower, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked. "You love flowers and nature so much, do you have a favorite? Or is that too much to ask?"
"Nah, that's easy." He leaned back and thought back to a time which seemed so long ago, too long ago. It was after the mess at the Air Force Base. After the Pitt. He was a long way gone then; he'd been the Lone Wanderer.
He remembered walking through Arlington Cemetery, chasing after some bandits. When, out of the corner of his eye…
"It was the first flower I'd ever seen, and the only one I ever would see back in the wasteland. I didn't even know any would still grow there. It was pale, purple. Just a couple of little flowers blooming in front of a gravestone… it's nothing compared to all of this." He swept his arm out, gesturing at the vast army of petals that surrounded them, fresh and gorgeous. "But back then, it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. In a way, it still is. Man… to be honest, I even cried a little when I saw it. I couldn't even believe it was real." It was a beautiful sight, really. Those couple of little flowers had been so pretty, innocent, that he'd felt amazed and happy for the first time in a long time. He sat down and stared at them, just stared and stared for at least an hour, before leaving when he heard super mutants nearby.
He hoped that they were still growing.
"Wow… yeah, your homeland really sucked," Nora said. "But hey, at least it had a couple flowers, right? And look around, now this place has a bunch! It's awesome here!"
"I agree," Ren said. "You certainly chose an exceptional place to round off our break."
Jaune smiled. "All the better, that you guys are here to see it with me."
"And we're finished!" Jaune said, triumphantly stepping back and placing his hands on his hips to survey his accomplishment.
"Heh, RWBY's gonna be in for a surprise when they see this. Finally, their monopoly on bootleg bunkbeds has come to and end!" Nora yelled as she hopped up onto her bunk, the one above Ren's. It was suspended to the ceiling with duct tape and stretched-out bubblegum, Nora's chosen building materials.
His own bed was stacked on top of Pyrrha's by their posts, with duct tape securing them together. Really, duct tape had been their best friend in this whole process. If only he'd had some of that stuff back in the wasteland, would have made a lot of things a lot easier.
"It's certainly more spacious now," Ren said. "I just hope this won't have negative effects on my health in the future."
Pyrrha giggled and fell back on her own bed, the bottom bunk to his. "This was certainly a fun team-building exercise Jaune," she said. "Promise you won't collapse and crush me in my sleep?"
"Hey, I'm a master at jerry-rigging things, alright? You'll be fine—"
His scroll starting ringing its alarm from his pocket. For a moment, he was confused at what it was alerting him to, before his eyes widened in grim realization. Was it really time for that, already? He pulled his scroll out and checked the time. 11:50. It was. He'd gotten carried away in their impromptu session of home improvement.
"Well, I have to go now," he said. "It's time for my appointment."
The faces of his team were… mixed. A bit of pity, a bit more hope, and as they patted him on the back and congratulated him for the effort and wished him well, he couldn't help but think that they'd be disappointed when this inevitably failed.
He left their dorm and walked down the hallway, dragging his feet and walking slower than usual. It was useless though, trying to delay. The office was close to his dorm, and even though he was halfheartedly trying, he wouldn't be late. And he couldn't skip it either, or his friends would tear him apart. He'd promised them, after all.
He reached the office and waited outside for a moment.
Breathe deep. Hold. Release.
He opened the door and entered, then sat down in a quaint little waiting room. He checked the time again, now 11:58.
He'd already done the necessary preparation. Back when he'd told Miss Goodwitch about this, she'd gone and gotten him some forms. A lot of them detailed some legal stuff, like making sure he understood the confidentiality clauses he was protected by and such. There was also a huge survey, asking all sorts of questions about his mental health, family, feelings, habits and the like. It was a little difficult for him to sign away all the personal information, but he forced himself through it anyway, a feat made easier by how it all seemed to be pretty related to the task at hand.
Therapy.
Man, he'd never thought it'd actually come to this. He glanced again at the clock, saw it was now only a minute until noon. That was when his first appointment was scheduled, noon on the second-to-last day of break.
He wasn't sure what to expect. What would he say? What would he do? And would this even help?
Hmph, he was only here because the others, especially Ruby, made him come here. Let the shrink try, but he doubted that anything would actually happen. What was he supposed to do, recline on a couch and talk about his mother?
He glanced back at the clock.
Noon.
Well, it was time.
Breathe deep. Hold. Release.
He wasn't nervous. Not at all. Why would he be nervous? He was only facing the prospect of someone rooting around in his brain, possibly uncovering how much of an awful human being he was. He was a monster, a bastard, a down right piece of shit, and right now, he was going to be put on full display before someone whose job it was to surgically pick all that apart—
"Hello, Jaune?" she asked.
"Huh?" He looked up and saw a face peeking out of the open office door.
It was a woman, though she looked fairly young, at least compared to the other teachers around here, not past thirty. She peered at him with chocolatey brown eyes, a sharp gaze that peered under low-cut bangs that were perfectly flat and totally black, just like the rest of her shoulder-length hair. Her smile was warm, and she seemed genuinely happy to see him.
"Come on in," she said, stepping out and holding the door open wide. She was certainly a sight to behold, especially compared to the other staff. Black lipstick matched her eye-shadow, her hair and her fingernails; if she were any paler, then Jaune may have called her goth. Her outfit certainly fit that kind of description: a black, sleeveless t-shirt with a cartoonish skull on it, along with black combat boots and black jeans. The only part of her outfit that wasn't black was a long, industrial chain with strange etchings carved into it, which wrapped around her midriff like some sort of drab, grey girdle. She was the only person he'd ever met who outmatched even Blake's fondness for the darker palette.
Beacon's Psychology Professor and Head Counselor:
Pauline Peach.
Oh my, Professor Peach makes her long awaited debut! Points to anyone who saw this coming. I've mentioned a few times that she's the psychology teacher, so I hope this isn't coming straight out of left field. I initially wanted this role to be filled by Miss Goodwitch, before thinking: "hey, we don't know anything about Professor Peach, it'd be pretty fun to build her from the ground up." So that's what I've done. I hope she turns out as a nice character in her own right. All that we know from the show is that she's a girl and that she's sort of weird, which gives me a lot of leeway.
Anyway, not too much happened this chapter, at least in terms of plot or drama. It's just one of those parts to show character interaction as well as set things up, especially with Ruby. I'm trying to explore her social anxiety a bit here, at least more than the show ever did. I hope it'll make her a more interesting character for this story.
Also, some people expressed discontent with Blake's actions last chapter, believing that she wouldn't be upset by killing people or that she was being a hypocrite. Well, I think that Blake would accept it if Jaune had killed people in combat, whereas moral hardliners like Ruby would never allow that. However, she didn't just see Jaune kill people in combat. She saw him gruesomely decapitate an unarmed hostage with a chainsaw, then proceed to punt his head like it was a football. Even if the person being executed is a criminal/terrorist, such brutality is still nothing short of horrific. Blake has certainly hurt people, maybe even killed some people, but Jaune's a mile on the other side of a line she's not crossed. Not only that, but a willingness to resort to gratuitous violence is the exact thing that made her leave the White Fang, what she's trying to get away from. We understand where he's coming from, but no one else does, especially not Blake, who knows so little about him. Also, Jaune doesn't actually feel bad about what he did, like, at all. He'd prefer to leave that sort of stuff behind him, recognizing how 'dirty' it is, but he won't feel bad about resorting to it, and will resort to it naturally. His panic last chapter wasn't him being upset about his actions, but being upset at their possible ramifications, like alienating him from his friends.
Anyhow, I'll get the next update within a couple weeks. All questions/reviews are both encouraged and appreciated, as always.