The Color of Passion Chapter 2: Always Autumn, a rwby fanfic

Note: This entire story is meant to feature implied yaoi (I didn't have room to tag it in the summary) but the previous chapter was very light on that; things get a little bit heavier here. It should still be light enough to qualify for the Teen rating, so don't worry too much.

…

Monday:

…

Team RWBY's dorm room was quiet tonight. It wasn't supposed to be this quiet.

Blake, of course, didn't mind one bit.

Weiss, on the other hand…

"Why does that guy keep disappearing like that?" the young heir growled as he slammed his textbook shut. He'd apparently been trying to focus on completing an essay from one of his classes, but it soon became clear what was really on his mind. Truth be told, Red's constant absence from their training sessions had also been bothering Blake, but he had the sense of mind to keep that to himself. He kept a lot of thoughts to himself, really.

After a pause, Blake glanced over at the desk and found those ice-blue eyes looking in his direction. Apparently that question was meant for him. "I dunno," the boy in the knit cap shrugged. "Red has his own matters to attend to, I guess."

Weiss slapped the desk and sighed, "We're supposed to be… 'his matters.' He's the leader here. We are supposed to be his main responsibility. I thought he would've figured that out by now."

The bathroom door opened to admit Yang, the tall, slightly-wet boy wearing only a towel around his waist. "Hey Blake, did Mulberry have any 300-stainless lying around?"

"Not enough to machine a new suppressor for Crescent Shadow, no."

"Damn. At least your weapon can handle my Aura for a single shot; most things I try to 'enhance' only end up melting."

"What about your sword?"

"It's designed to channel and dispel the heat, so there's no issue with the blade; I burn through a ton of handles, though." Yang pulled out his PJs before turning to address the third person in the room. "Red is doing his best, Weiss. Cut the guy some slack… we're all human, here."

One of Blake's eyes twitched.

Weiss turned and practically snarled, "Y'know, maybe if somebody didn't keep indulging his every whim… Red might've figured out how to take some responsibility for a change!"

"What, you mean like a certain someone else who seems to think his mommy runs the entire freaking world?"

"You leave Mother out of this!"

"Both of you, SHUT UP! !"

Blake put his bookmark in its place – granted, he hadn't actually gotten through any of it tonight – and gathered his PJs before hitting the shower. Yang and Weiss stared at him with wide eyes, apparently shocked that he even knew how to yell. Not that he could blame them – until now, he had no reason to. Honestly it was a wonder it took this long for the Faunus-in-hiding to finally crack.

"About Red," Blake said before he hit the shower, "You didn't hear it from me, but… Red's been seen hanging out with team CRDL lately. I think Cardina is holding something over him."

"Then why hasn't he told us about it?" cried Weiss.

"If that bitch is targeting my little bro, I will gladly introduce her to the pointy end of Hexijing…" growled Yang.

"That…" Blake held up a finger and said, "That right there is why he probably hasn't told us. He knows good and well that dragging us into his problems will only make things worse in the long run. And lead to more stabbings."

Yang suddenly found the floor very interesting to look at. Weiss simply huffed and crossed his arms.

Blake made for the bathroom as he finished, "All we can do is wait. I'm sure our leader knows exactly what he's doing."

…

What the hell am I doing?

Red let his mind drift as he drummed out a steady rhythm on the heavy bag. He didn't bother wiping the sweat off, instead letting his constant movement shake it away. Most of his thoughts ended up centered on a tall brunette that seemed dead-set on making his life a living hell.

Seriously, what the hell? Is this all I'm good for? I haven't made any headway in our training AT ALL! I can't stand up to anyone with boobs, I- dammit! !

Red let loose one extra-powerful hit, sending the heavy bag flying off its chain. He sighed, then reluctantly took a breather so he could go pick it up again.

"Hey Red… long time no see."

Joan Arc stood at the entrance to the training room, smiling the same way she did back on their first day. Red smiled back, only lifting a hand to wave at his visitor. He casually put the heavy bag back in place and resumed his pounding.

Joan wandered into the room, clearly wanting to talk. She had on a causal outfit tonight, foregoing her usual chest armor. Her blonde hair barely fell past her neckline – from the back, it was easy to mistake her for just another guy. She stood beside the bag and watched Red punch for a few minutes.

"I chatted with your team the other day. They miss you."

Red answered while maintaining his rhythm, "Feeling's mutual."

"I… also heard you've been hanging around team CRDL."

"Yep," Red popped the 'p' sound as he spoke.

"People are spreading rumors that she's been trying to get into your pants, but as someone who knows Cardina, I know better. She's bullying you, right?"

Red had to stop at that part. "…Seriously? Did she start that rumor herself?"

Joan shrugged, "Wouldn't surprise me, dude. I'm guessing you're… doing some stress relief?"

"You're not far off… eh, screw it." Red finally stopped, took a moment to breathe, and walked over to a chair to take a proper break. Joan pulled a chair next to him and handed him a cold bottle of water.

"Thanks," Red took a chug. "Sorry I'm all sweaty."

"Eh, I don't mind. I told you before that I've got 7 brothers; I'm used to the stank."

Red chuckled, then looked at the floor. Neither of them spoke for a full minute. Then Red said, "Yeah, she's after me. I messed up. I basically shouted something damning, Cardina overheard, and now she's holding it over my head."

"You mean your girl-phobia? Yeah, Yang told us the other night – he, uh, said he didn't want us hearing any misinformation." Joan made sure she spoke quickly before he got mad.

"Yeah… it just so happens that Cardina is exactly the kind of girl that triggers me. And she knows it."

Joan patted his shoulder comfortingly.

Red was ready to throw up his hands, "How the hell am I supposed to face off against armies of Darkness Monsters if I can't even deal with one pushy girl? I feel like a failure. One bully gets to me and I just fold. She's got me on a damn leash."

"…Nope." Joan also popped her 'p.'

"…?"

"You don't get to be a failure, not when you have a team to lead. I know, I've felt the same way ever since we started, but… well I hate to admit it, but after Cardina switched to targeting you instead of me, Petra and I had a long talk about responsibility. All four of us came to a new understanding and really came together. Honestly I wonder sometimes why he didn't get named leader, since he does most of the work."

"…That sounds like him."

"Yeah, he's not called the Super Boy for nothing. As twisted as it sounds, Yang attracting Cardina's attention to your team… kinda helped reinforce mine."

Red forced a smile, though a vein on his forehead disagreed. "You're welcome."

"Hey, I'm just saying it like it is." Joan put her hands up. "And I wanted you to know… if you guys ever need any help, just give me and my team a call. We're on your side."

Red's smile softened a lot. "Thanks, but… … … this is something I need to take care of myself."

…

Friday:

…

They were supposed to collect red sap for some teacher's research… or something… but Weiss was too distracted to worry about little details like that. Besides, the job was already mindless – nearly every tree in Forever Fall produced the stuff, and you got about one bottle's worth from each tree. Nor might've picked up the annoying habit of drinking the sap directly out of everyone else's bottles, which made the errand take even longer all around, but that only gave the young heir additional time to brood.

He missed Red. And only partly because of the leadership duties the boy had been avoiding.

Weiss would be the first to admit the two of them had gotten off to a rocky start, which was acceptable when one almost gets blown off the cliff by a dust-fueled sneeze. Things didn't get much better during initiation, either – Red's eagerness to prove himself nearly got them both killed on multiple occasions, but even at that time Weiss could see a hint of potential deep within those silver eyes.

Those same eyes were filled with hurt when Weiss tried to chew him out for making too much of a scene in Miss Port's class, though in truth Weiss only blew up due to his own frustration with himself. Red never deserved to take the brunt of it. And while Weiss did regret going too far, their late-night coffee talk right afterward more than made up for it; that night was the first time he could remember a genuine look of gratitude in Red's gaze. And he liked it.

But ever since Cardina came into the picture, Red had all but vanished. Weiss was conflicted about his true feelings.

On the one hand, Red had come a long way in understanding his responsibility as team leader. He had finally (it seemed) come to terms with the idea that he was currently in charge of four separate lives, not just his own. He finally understood that he had to make the hard choices, that he had to make the sacrifices. He had to grow up. Watching the guy seemingly walk away from all that was a bitter experience.

On the other hand, without Red… the dorm room had gotten painfully quiet. And lonely. Weiss found himself desiring the company of his partner on more than one occasion over the last week.

Especially on those nights when he thought about Red taking his shirt off, revealing a wide, muscular back. A certain part of Weiss' body grew annoyingly stiff whenever that happened…

~slluuUURP~!

"Dammit, Nor!"

The bottle in his hand suddenly became lighter as Weiss blinked, finally noticing the ginger… person… crouched next to him and grinning, face dripping with red sap. Nor Valkyrie darted away before Rena barreled through, the childhood friends chasing one another into the trees. Other shouts from nearby indicated Weiss was not the only one Nor had ambushed in the last few minutes.

The look on Nor's face… the goo running down his mouth… Weiss couldn't stop himself from imagining Red's face instead, crouched low in front of him with different stuff running down his mouth…

… … …Where the crap did that come from?!

It had the same effect as all the other mind images he'd conjured up, of course. Weiss adjusted his pants and tried not to blush.

…

Red could already see the headline:

'Trainee Huntsman Found Dead In Forever Fall,
Authorities Blame Boobies.'

In his defense, it had been a really long week – Cardina had him running around both the campus and the city like a madman to finish her errands and various assignments, and he was tired. And Joan's words of encouragement still lingered in his head when the tall bully asked him for one 'favor' too many.

Well… now Cardina Winchester had red sap all over her face and upper body. Because Red had thrown his jar at her instead of Yang.

And now he was going to die.

"Of all times for your balls to drop, it had to be now." The taller girl wiped the sap from her eyes and nose, looking at how it dripped from her fingers. Then she eyed Red, who had been trying to back away before Russelle and Dove got behind him and grabbed his arms. He couldn't move. Cardina smiled in a way that made Red's gut twist into knots, then… unzipped part of her top, smearing the sap into the fleshy crevice within. She made a show out of it, too.

Red began to sweat. He knew exactly where those bags were headed.

…

PYOING!

As Weiss adjusted himself a bit more, Yang's ridiculous piece of hair stood straight up on his head. "I sense boobs," he declared.

Blake was right next to him in a heartbeat. "You have my attention, good sir."

Ugh. By the Sisters, I'm on a team with pigs…

Yang pointed in a seemingly random direction, his hand not wavering in the slightest. "40 yards that-a-way."

Blake looked in that direction for a moment, then back at Yang, his amber eyes sparkling. "Dude, you gotta teach me how to do that!"

"Eh, it's not that hard ~giggity~. You just gotta be in tune with the cleavage," Yang said with his usual shit-eating grin.

Blake walked over and stuck his head through some bushes, clearly trying to see where Yang had pointed, then looked back and said, "Oh… it's just Cardina. Looks like Red's with her again."

Yang crossed his arms, "Well that's disappointing… even if she has the biggest knockers in our class."

Weiss tried not to draw Maiglockchen, he really did, but his hands almost pulled it free anyway. That woman… every time he thought about Cardina Winchester now, Weiss was overcome with a dark feeling of anger. Or maybe jealousy. Hard to be sure. All he knew was that Yang was no longer the one who'd likely snap first when it came to defending Ruby 'Red' Rose.

…

"All this time, you were nothing more than a timid little boy," Cardina practically purred as she sauntered over to him, licking the sap from her lips. It might have just been the goo, but it almost looked like her face was turning red. Her smile reminded Red of a predator going in for the kill. "I guess now you think you're a man, huh?"

Red began to tremble.

_/_/_/

"Oh my, aren't you just the most adorable thing ever?"

"I know, right? *hic* I just want to eat him up…"

"Come here, you cutie…!"

_/_/_/

Normally the boy would try to divert his gaze away from a display like this, but right now his life was on the line. Instead he darted his eyes all around, desperately trying to find a way out. Nothing. Panic was fully setting in. It took everything he had not to whimper.

And Cardina just kept coming closer. She could literally smell his fear, it seemed. Or she could hear his heartbeat hammering like a drum at a rock concert.

"Normally I'd just kick your ass and be done with it, but… I'd rather make you squirm~."

Less than a foot away. Half a foot. Inches. He could feel the body heat of how close she was. His throat was already growing tight.

Russelle and Dove both looked at each other with puzzled expressions. While it was normal for Cardina to act out at times, this weird 'flirty' phase had lasted longer than they knew what to do with. Skye, the only member of the team not directly involved in what was happening, said, "Uh… is it me, or are you enjoying this a bit too much?"

"I mean…" Dove added, "…Do we need to give you two some private time~?"

Russelle also piped up, "I don't think any of us brought protection…"

"Oh, shut up." Cardina shot them each a look and growled, "I know what I'm doing."

"Yeah, that's kinda what we mean," said Dove with a half-grin. "Bow-chica-wah-wah…"

Cardina started sputtering, face going fully red. "One more word and I'm keeping you bitches on the training field for the rest of your-"

"GRRAAAAHHH! ! !"

A giant Ursai came roaring out of the bushes directly behind Skye, who barely managed to duck out of the way of the Grimm's claws through sheer dumb luck. Russelle and Dove quickly let go of Red's arms and decided their own lives were a slightly higher priority over helping their leader get off. Cardina tried to shout at them to come back, but it made no difference.

Then a lot of things happened all at once; Cardina turned to say something to Red, but stumbled as she did so. Several small rockets appeared from a short distance behind them, and Red knew from the sound that they'd been fired from Joan Arc's hammer, Crocea Dirum, in long-range mode. Various voices began to call out from that same direction, so he knew backup was on the way, which made sense as he and team CRDL had been in throwing distance of Yang when this all went down.

But then, almost in slow motion just to piss him off, the Grimm was hit by the first rocket… which caused it to swing one of its claws wildly, hitting Cardina on the head with a glancing blow… which knocked her forward… right on top of Red himself. With her shirt still wide open, boobs coated with sap.

His world went very dark, though his mind raced back in time.

_/_/_/

"Oh my… *hic* he doesn't look so good, does he?"

"Where's Taiyang? Her boy looks like he's choking on something."

"Was he purple a minute ago?"

_/_/_/

They landed together on the ground, the much taller and much heavier woman groggy and unwilling to get up right away. She barely noticed that Red's face was basically buried in her chest.

She also didn't notice that his breathing had completely stopped.

…

Yang wasn't much of a fan of the outdoors – he considered himself more of a city boy – but even he had to admit that Forever Fall was rather beautiful. Lots of reds and oranges, which he knew his little bro would love. And it was peaceful, a nice change of pace from their first visit to the Emerald Forest where he and the rest of team RWBY had to run for their lives from multiple Creatures of Grimm.

It was too good to last, of course. There always had to be a Grimm nearby, even here.

He and Blake were shooting the breeze when they heard the roar, followed quickly by several feminine screams. Everyone in the clearing moved quickly, but Yang was the first to see the situation. He didn't slow down even when Joan Arc's barrage of missiles reached the clearing before he did.

Cardina was laying on top of Red. And he was thrashing.

Oh shit.

"Joan, cover me!" Yang shouted as he quickly moved to pull the female meat sack off of his little brother. He barely noticed that her boobs were essentially hanging free; his main focus was the boy underneath.

Being thrown off was enough to finally jerk her fully awake, and Cardina immediately started panicking when she saw the boy she'd been relentlessly targeting for the past week. The boy she'd only been trying to scare.

Red was grasping at his throat and making a deeply upsetting sucking noise.

Yang's own breath nearly caught. Not again! Why does this shit keep happening to him?!

That birthday party was where the trauma began, but this kind of thing had happened one other time. Less than a year later, Aunt Qrow had gotten far more hammered than usual and done what Cardina had just now done, passing out on top of Red. And just like now, the boy had started choking and flailing. The only thing that saved Red's life that day was his Dad giving him CPR. Aunt Qrow had spent the next several years apologizing to all of them – nobody expected Red to react so severely, but she still took it hardest off all – and Yang devoted most of his time to keeping his little bro safe from then on. He'd wanted to get Red to the hospital back then, but the younger boy had insisted that he was fine. He didn't want to make a fuss.

Yang was scheduled to take a CPR class himself in two weeks. And there was no way he was calm enough to try and wing it at a time like this.

Joan managed to keep the Ursai distracted, so Yang turned to Cardina and barked, "Do you know CPR?!"

"I, what? No…" the frightened girl shook her head, looking between Yang and Red. "I… I swear I didn't… I only wanted to scare him, I would never…" At least she had the good sense to finally zip her top back up.

Yang didn't bother waiting to hear the rest. He was already up and running back to the group. Somebody had to know CPR.

If they didn't, his brother was as good as dead.

…
…

A few agonizing minutes later, both team RWBY and JNPR had gathered in the clearing. Petra had been the first of the others to arrive, and with his help the Ursai had quickly been dispatched.

But it was too late.

Red had stopped thrashing. His face was a dark, angry blue.

Rena had immediately called for medical assistance when Yang told them what happened, but only she, Petra and Weiss knew the lifesaving technique; Petra was fighting and Rena was busy on the call.

Weiss, however, did not express the slightest hesitation at what he had to do. The young heir moved quickly and with purpose, tilting Red's head into a better position and forcing his jaw to open wider. He took a deep breath, bent down and blew into his mouth.

Nothing happened.

"Dammit. Are you sure he's not choking on something?" Weiss said as he began pushing against the boy's chest in steady, rhythmic motions to keep his heart beating. "Nothing stuck in his windpipe?"

Yang shook his head, "No, it's… … … her," he gestured towards Cardina.

Weiss gave the tall girl a withering glare, then took another breath and tried again. Red's chest gave a spasm, but nothing more.

"Dammit, Red," Weiss almost shouted, pushing on his chest again. "Dammit! Don't you die on us! Don't you die on me!" He took another lungful of air, this one as full as he could make it, and blew into Red's mouth with every bit of force he could muster.

For one dreadful moment, nothing happened…

…until Red's chest finally expanded with a whooshing gasp from his face. Weiss pulled back as Red started coughing and gasping.

Yang damn near passed out from relief. He was ready to kiss the Schnee boy for that.

Both Red and Weiss took a few moments to steady their breathing, the former looking around in a daze. All around them came sighs of relief and muttered 'thank the Sisters.' Yang had to wipe a few tears out of his eyes before he started bawling like a little kid.

"Weiss… I…" Red coughed as he looked up at his rescuer.

The boy in question simply closed Red's mouth with two fingers. "Shut. Up. Don't you ever goddamn scare me like that again, do you hear me?!"

Red quietly nodded. Weiss just sat back and closed his eyes, clearly trying to calm down.

Needless to say, the kids were a bit of a mess when Goodwitch finally flew in with a Bullhead to get Red back to the city, Cardina was the worst of all. And while it was oddly satisfying to see the formerly smug bully brought low, Yang took special note of how Weiss refused to leave his young leader's side all the way back to the city. He held Red's hand the entire flight home.

…
…

"Mr. Rose, based on what your friends told me, I'm going to recommend you start seeing a therapist. As soon as possible."

"…Yeah, I figured you might."

"You know, at first I thought you'd had a reaction after being stung by one of those Rapier Wasps, which I was informed were at the scene…"

"I can explain that-"

"You had all the signs of a severe allergic reaction, but your blood test showed negative. But when your brother told me about your trauma, the results made more sense."

"He's had to tell that a lot lately. It's kind of a long story."

"It was almost a very short story by the sound of it. Constricted airways are serious business in my line of work. Be sure to thank your teammate when you get back to Beacon – if it wasn't for Mr. Schnee, you would be dead right now."

"I… … … I will."

"Good. Now… while I don't know the extent of your… problem… nor how effective your eventual therapy sessions will be, I can prescribe you an inhaler if you think it necessary. It should be able to open your airways in case of an emergency. Based on what I observed while you were here, I think your airways were only restricted due to uncontrollable muscle spasms, and we do havemedication for that."

"As much as I hate to admit it, that actually sounds like a good move."

"I'll take that as a yes, then. Alright… just sit tight for a few minutes while I fill out the paperwork, then you're free to go."

"Dr. Nightengale…?"

"Please, call me Carl."

"Carl, then… … … thanks."

"Anytime. But… let's not make a habit out of this, okay?"

…

Saturday:

…

"I've got no beef with you anymore, kid," Cardina spoke with a flat tone of voice, arms crossed. "What're you trying to prove?"

All of team CRDL stood on one side of Training Field #2, armed and ready for battle. Team RWBY stood opposite, all equally armed and just as determined. Several other students had gathered around the perimeter of the field to watch, among them team JNPR and the second-year team CFVY. Velour in particular seemed worried as he wrung his hands.

"I'm not trying to prove anything." Red cracked his knuckles. "We agreed to a match, and I intend to carry it out."

"You almost died yesterday, and now you wanna show off? You just trying to be macho or something? Or are you just looking for some payback?"

"None of the above. Heck, if anything… I should thank you."

"…?"

Red smiled. "Coming that close to death is a good way to help you straighten out your priorities."

Professor Glen Goodwitch stood to one side of the field, his pressed shirt and perfectly ironed slacks making him stand out among the students. He used his Scroll to activate the monitors – all 8 combatants appeared on the display, each with their Aura level shown as green bars next to them. Since this was an official sparring match, the teacher had to be there to referee. Otherwise it would just be a brawl.

Cardina took a ready stance, her bronze shortsword held upright and her face tight with a mix of worry and anger.

Red also took a ready stance, Amber Celica locked and loaded, trying to keep himself loose as Professor Goodwitch gave the starting signal:

"Begin!"

…

Author's Note: There's a good chance I'm not portraying Red's trauma in a very realistic way, but I do know there are a few real-world medical conditions that can cause voluntary muscles to malfunction – I don't think it's a stretch to imagine a severe reaction like his happening if it's linked to a deep, untreated traumatic experience. So yeah… take that as you will. I am trying here.

In the next chapter I'll be running them all through a big, protracted fight scene, so I hope you stick around – fight scenes are one of my major weaknesses when it comes to writing, so the more of them I tackle, the sooner I'll gain some confidence in writing more of 'em. Bear in mind that CRDL is no exception to my weapon-rotation concept, so the upcoming battle might not go quite the way you expect…

(Credits: Dr. Carol Nightengale OC created by The Layman and used here – albeit genderswapped – with permission)

=^..^=