Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo while RWBY belongs to Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth
Chapter 12: Like a Moth to a Flame
"Goood morniiiiiing, Jauuuune!" Nora shouted as she ran into Jaune and Ren's room and land on the sleeping blonde. His screams of pain could be heard from outside their dormitory, students outside looking at the building in confusion.
"Nora! What was that for?!" Jaune exclaimed, holding his bruise gut.
"What? It looked fun when Keigo was doing it to Ichigo." Nora said.
"I'm not Ichigo and I was asleep. And don't copy other people!"
"I'm sorry! I tried to stop her." Pyrrha apologized.
Jaune sighs. "There's nothing to be sorry about…"
Yang pops in. "What's goin' on? I heard some girl scream." Jaune grumbles to himself. He notices Ren still in bed, asleep.
"He's still asleep? After all that?"
"Ren's a deep sleeper." Nora said. "But, that only happens when he's comfortable."
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/Nearly two weeks has passed since the nefarious fugitive, Roman Torchwick, had been taken into Atlesian militia custody./ Lisa Lavender announced. /Despite being under tense interrogation, Torchwick has yet to reveal his reasons for working in tandem with the White Fang. Speaking of, the members arrested along with Torchwick have also refused speak…/
Zakuro watches the news from Roman's hideout in Vale with Neo. "Are you worried for him?" he asked the woman. Neo shook her head. "Are you sure?" Neo nodded. She pats Zakuro on his knee before getting up. She motions him to follow her out. "You want to go out?" Neo nods. "But, wouldn't somebody recognize you?" Zakuro asked.
Neo looks down at her person. He may be right. She activates her Semblance, creating a visual illusion over herself. Now, her hair is black with lighter streaks where her white streaks would normally be, and her default eye color turned to green. Her hair is done up in a twin tail hairstyle with white bows and her bangs are still in the same usual style from her original appearance.
She wears an outfit with a black and white color scheme. Her attire consists of a sleeveless black blouse with white frills on the chest and collar and a black ribbon bow hanging from the front of the collar. The blouse exposes her midriff, and she wears medium-length black armbands on both of her wrists. Along with the blouse, she wears a knee-length skirt fastened with a white belt. She wears black shoes with a triple tomoe emblem on the soles, with white legwarmers.
Taking in the new appearance, Zakuro said, "That covers it. I guess."
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The sight was strange, and worrisome, for Emerald. Cinder is pacing around their dorm room, contemplating. And who could blame her? Their plan went up in smoke before it could even start. Now, she needs to think up something new…
"Um, Cinder?" Emerald started cautiously. "…What should we do now?"
Golden eyes pierce furiously into deep red ones. Emerald flinches. "What we should do is to come up with a whole new plan because a certain someone didn't follow simple directions." Emerald wasn't sure if Cinder was talking about Emerald and Mercury or Roman and she didn't dare ask. The fire woman chews on her thumb nail. "Alvis, did you make contact with the Wandenreich when I told you?"
"Yes, I did. And, they've called back yesterday, saying they'll send one of their top Sternritter." The redhead Quincy told her.
"Good. At least someone knows when to follow the rules." Cinder said, glancing at Emerald. The thief casts her eyes to ground in shame. Alvis rolled his eyes at her.
"What now? Hole up until he arrives?" Mercury asked.
"…No." Cinder answered. "We still have something to accomplish: Scouting a possible…successor of the other half of the Maiden's powers. Maybe even enjoy the Vytal Festival." She smirks. "Afterall, it may be the last one. However," She turned dead serious, "remember what I said: Keep your hands clean. If I hear anything about you three causing trouble…" Her golden eyes glowed menacingly. While Emerald and Mercury were a little frightened, Alvis was unfazed, keeping his easygoing mannerism.
"Duly noted."
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"Alvis." Emerald said in the hallway, stopping the Quincy. "You need to be more respectful to Cinder. It's because of her that we have a place to be and—"
"How many times do I have to tell you?" Alvis interrupted, his voice edgy despite his grin. "My reasons for joining aren't as pathetic as yours. I'm not going to put all my trusts in the woman."
"Excuse me?!"
"I'm lending my strength to Cinder for my own personal gain. Nothing more, nothing less. Once my wishes are granted, you are all on your own." Alvis walks off, leaving Emerald fuming.
"That jerk…"
"Didn't Cinder found the both of you working together?" Mercury asked. "I thought you two were buddy-buddy."
"He only teamed up with me to get a cut of the profit." Emerald said. "We're not friends."
"Do you know his reasons for joining?" Mercury asked.
"…No, I don't. He's very tight-lipped about it. Come on, I heard there is a sparring match in the training hall. Let's see for any possible successors."
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This waiting game is starting to get on Alvis' nerves. Two years of dealing with the likes of Mercury and Emerald, while tolerable, is rather annoying. Especially with Emerald's submitting to Cinder's every whim, even though she knows little next to nothing about the woman's plans. He was suspicious of her when they first met and their attack on Amber two years ago just further emphasized Alvis' distrust to Cinder. But, at the same time, it piqued his curiosity. It's not every day you see a fairy tale come to life.
"Hey, Al!" the redhead heard from across the walkway. He sees Yang walk up to him. "What's up?" Yang greeted.
"Al?" Alvis echoed.
"A nickname."
"…That's very creative."
"Eh, I'll stick with it until I come up with something better." Yang said, nonchalantly. "Hey! Why don't you spar with me? I've got an itch that needs to be scratched."
"…Sure. Why not?" Alvis agreed. Cinder did say to scout for possible candidates and from what he heard about the bombastic blonde, it's best to test her mettle.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to watch." Ichigo said, coming around from a corner.
"Sure thing, we might need a ref." Yang said. Alvis gaze at the orangette.
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Yang was formidable, Alvis would give her that. She doesn't shy away, and her punches soar so true that if Alvis hadn't used Sinful Desire, his estoc dagger/sword, to take the brunt of the hits, he would have been black and blue, even with Aura. Alvis and Yang clash again.
Yang smirked confidently. "You're good."
"Of course. I have more experience than you."
"So, you're saying you're going easy on me?" Yang asked, rather playful. "What's wrong? Afraid of hurting a pretty girl?" Yang batted her eyelashes. Alvis chuckled lightly before he kicks her away and quickly brandishes his twin Type-54 Black Star pistols, Ebony and Eclipse, and starts firing Fire Dust ammunition at Yang. The latter nimbly avoids the shots, clearly having a good time.
"Alley-oop!" Yang giggled. "Come on! Is that all you got?" Alvis raises a hand and the fire created from the Dust started to rise and coil around Yang. He wills the fire closer to Yang. Then, her eyes turn red and exerts her Aura Pressure to blow away the flames. Alvis had little time to brace himself from the Pressure.
"…So strong…" Yang charges forward, her eyes fiery and her grin wide, her hair flowed like a raging fire. Alvis barely dodged her punch, the tree behind him taking the hit and is blown off the trunk. He pushed away a stand of his hair, flabbergasted. "…Well…that was a close one…"
Yang's eyes turn back into their purple hue. "Oops…I got a little carried away." She gives Alvis a hand.
The redhead Quincy stare at the charred tree. "…A little?" He grins, but tries to keep it tamed.
"I've seen worse." Ichigo said, recalling the highway fight. "Still, I think you might wanna ease up on using your Semblance a little bit."
Yang scoffed. "Why bother if I can one-hit KO a mofo?"
"But what if you miss? Contrary to popular belief, I don't use my Semblance in every fight I'm in—"
I told ya, King. That ain't your Semblance.
Ichigo lightly shook his head. "True, it lasts for 15 minutes, but that doesn't guarantee a victory. You'll need to use a cooler head. You also need to work on countering with someone using leg-based attacks."
"Ugh, okay. I get it, Angelface."
Ichigo cringes. "…As much as I hate to admit it, Ishida has some good points."
"Fine, fine." Yang said. She turns to Alvis. "Sorry about nearly roasting you alive."
Alvis was quick to slap on a smile on his face. "Oh, it's okay. I had my own fair share of scuffles. Sometimes, my opponent is the one nearly burned." Said opponent being one Mercury Black. "Besides, I've been through worse. Much worse."
Ichigo felt anger. Deep, white hot, burning anger emanated off Alvis.
"It's kinda cool to meet other Quincy with a Semblance. Isn't it, like, super rare for you guys?" Yang asked.
"Very much, yes. If Uryuu and I were around over 2,000 years ago, we would have been treated like royalty."
"I bet. Looking at you right now, you look like nobility." Alvis' combat clothes consist of a fancy black noble's suit covered in small patches of armor with a red cape. His boots are knee high and brown in color. He has his theme over his belt buckle: a blazing phoenix. "Are your folks wealthy or something?"
"…You could say that."
A symphonic metal ringtone sounded from Yang's Scroll. /When leaves have fallen and skies turn to grey~. The night keeps on closing in on the day.~/
"Hey, Weiss." Yang greeted into her Scroll. "…Of course, I did. It's not like I'm going to the dance in my pajamas." Yang then frowned. "…No, I haven't. She's been avoiding me all day…Yeah, I'll think of something…Bye." Yang hangs up and groans.
"What did the Schnee heiress want?" Ichigo asked. Both he and Yang failed to notice that Alvis' smile had cracked and crumbled and mixed with indignation. Alvis quickly covered his mouth as he tries to control himself, his hands shaking.
"She wanted to know if I've seen Blake at all today. Angelface wanted to take her measurements so he could make her a dress for the dance." Yang answered.
"She's still avoiding you?" Ichigo asked. "I wonder what's with her…"
"I'm so gonna get to the bottom of this." Yang said with determination. "Wanna help me track her down?"
Ichigo shrugs. "Why not? It's not like I have anything better to—" He stopped when a flaming image entered his mind. In the middle of the flames was a young boy, screaming. A bead of sweat trickled down from Ichigo's temple as he gasped for breath.
"Whoa! You okay there, Ichigo?" Yang asked.
Ichigo blinked a few times as his breathing returned to normal. "…Yeah, I think so…" The hell was that?
My thoughts exactly.
Yang didn't seem sure as she glances over at Alvis, who was pale. "How about you?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes, yes. I'm fine." Alvis said. Ichigo felt that he was lying.
"…If you say so." Yang said. "Come on, Ichigo."
"…Yeah…"
"See ya later, Hothead!"
As soon as Yang and Ichigo are gone, Alvis hummed.
"Hmph, pot meet kettle."
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"And the winner of this round is Pyrrha Nikos…again." Glynda announced. On the holographic screen above them, Pyrrha's image was brightened while Mercury's dimmed.
"Woo-hoo! Go Pyrrha!" Nora cheered.
"That was amazing." Jaune said.
"Though probably not as cathartic as watching her facing off Cardin and his team, hm?" Ren asked, a small, playful smirk formed from his lips.
Jaune chuckled softly. "Yeah, probably."
Other students up in the stands spoke about Pyrrha's prowess.
"And that's why she's the Invincible Girl."
"What was that guy trying to accomplish? We just saw Pyrrha beat down a whole team on her own."
"…I mean, it's CRDL. That's not much of an achievement. They were stupid enough to challenge her."
"Didn't they run away when an Ursa Major appear in Forever Fall's last semester?"
"Yeah. And Jaune was the one who killed the Grimm in the end."
"That wimp? Then, the Ursa wasn't even that strong?"
"I don't know…Have you ever noticed how strong Arc has gotten?"
Out of curiosity, Jaune flexes his arm feeling his muscles tense up and soften when he releases. He has gotten stronger since he finally put his head and heart into training thanks to Pyrrha and Tatsuki.
"Probably had some help from Pyrrha Nikos. Lucky."
"JNPR is lucky to have someone like Pyrrha with them. I bet they're all not that strong and just wants her publicity."
"Yeah, they probably let her do all the work."
Ren was quick to grab Nora's wrist when she moved to confront the other students. "…Nora."
"But what they're saying is untrue. Pyrrha's our friend. Who cares if she's a celebrity? She's a person like the rest of us."
"If you lash out at them, you'll only make things worse."
Nora stared at Ren for a moment before seating back down with a huff. Ren remained cool and collected as he faced forward. Jaune was impressed how calm Ren is at the moment. Then again, the ninja is probably using his Semblance to keep himself cool-headed compared to Nora.
When no one else is up for more fighting, everyone decides to call it a day and vacates the arena. Nora jogs up to Pyrrha to talk more about her fights. Jaune and Ren tag behind, giving the two their moment.
"So," Jaune started, "what's your thoughts on Pyrrha?"
"It's as Nora said: She's a friend. A person like you and me." Ren answered.
"Huh…Everyone else sees her as a very strong warrior. When I called my sisters some months back, they practically screamed when I told them who I was with and called me an idiot for not recognizing her."
"Too busy checking out girls?" Ren joked.
"What? No, I wasn't! I was too busy being trained by my dad." Jaune exclaimed. "And I was watching my shows, so I never had the chance to see Mistral Tournament on cable."
"Shows? So, kids' cartoons like The Great Adventures of Chappy?"
Jaune eyeballed the ninja, fully aware of Ren's coyness. "…You've been very snarky lately." Jaune smiled. "And, yes and no. When you live in a house with seven sisters AND have the 'privilege' of being the youngest and only son, your TV time is very limited."
"I'd wouldn't know. I was an only child." Ren said.
"Oh, yeah? Well, I've always wanted a brother. Seriously. You have no idea how many times I asked my parents to order me a baby brother from the 'baby factory' when I was little."
Ren snorted. He actually snorted. And even Ren was surprised. Exchanging glances, the two male members of JNPR shared a laugh. The ninja had never felt so at ease. Before Beacon, he was always on edge, spreading his Aura Sense to the point of exhaustion to find any hostilities in his surroundings to protect himself and Nora. Whether it be Grimm or bandits. Even when Gerard entered their lives and basically adopted Nora, Ren felt distrusting. But now…
"…It…would be nice…" Ren said, another faint smile on his lips.
"What?"
"It's nothing."
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Nora wanted to groan. She was really hoping that Ren would open up about what happened that night. She instead sighs. Perhaps it's still too early.
"Is something wrong, Nora?" Pyrrha asked.
"Oh, nothing." Nora decides to change the subject. "So, any luck getting a date to the dance in a couple of days?"
A watery smile appeared on Pyrrha's face. "No…Afraid not." She tried to sound cheerful about it.
"Did you try asking Jaune, yet?"
"…Of course, not…He's still dead set on asking out Weiss…"
"He's probably going through a faze. It's obvious that Weiss isn't going to accept his offer, especially since I've seen her oogling at that Neptune guy." She said the last part cheekily. "Have faith, okay?"
"…Okay…Um, Nora?"
"Hm?"
"If you don't mind me asking, what do you think of Jaune?"
Nora didn't answer right away, a clear sign of how heavy the conversation has gotten. She looks back at the two boys in the team, seeing Jaune telling Ren one story involving one of his sisters, him, and a curling iron. Ren has a genuine smile on his face. It was a smile that only Nora and her adoptive father has seen.
"Ren and I…we've lost a lot when we were younger. Well, I've already lost something before meeting him. I don't remember what happened to my parents. I just know that they were there one moment, and then gone. I didn't meet Ren right away. I've seen him from afar, watching him with his mom and dad. I wish you could have seen them. Ren's mom looked so beautiful and she was so kind. She owned a bakery in the village. She even gave me a fresh loaf of bread when she found me one time, even though she didn't know who I was. And Ren's dad, you could see where he got his looks, except the goatee. He was the village's hunter, a first line of defense before a Huntsman is needed. He was so cool with a bow and arrow." Nora pauses for a moment. "Sometimes, when I watched them together, I get jealous. I wanted that so much…"
"Nora…"
"Then, that night happened… Grimm started to invade the village and killed so many people. Thankfully, Ren's Semblance awakened, and we were able to escape undetected, not before we gathered some food and supplies that we can carry. We were able to find a hollow trunk in a tree somewhere nearby for the night…"
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A young Nora is awoken by the rays of the morning sun. She could hear birds chirping in the distance. It was like what transpired last night never happened.
Last night…
Nora shot up, looking to the side to see Ren gone. She leaped from their shared blanket, not before grabbing her wooden toy hammer, and ran out of the trunk. Ren didn't leave her all alone, did he? Fortunately, she didn't have to search far, as she found the boy seating on a big rock nearby, staring at something in his hands. His hair is let down, reaching slightly pass his shoulders. He almost looked like a girl from behind.
"Ren?"
The boy didn't respond. Nora inched closer, the wooden hammer close to her chest, cautiously as to not scare him. When she got closer, she sees what Ren is holding. It was a dagger in various shades of green. His pink eyes stared dully at the blade, like he was here but not at the same time. Nora wasn't sure if she should touch him or not. She might scare him.
"Ren?" the boy twitch slightly at her small voice and slowly turns his head to look at her. She wished he didn't. His eyes looked dead, like the ones from the adults still in Kuroyuri, slain by the Grimm. Carefully, Nora places a hand on Ren's. "…It's…it's okay. L-like you said: we need to be brave. Right?"
Anguish flashed from his eyes before vanishing again. He breathes in shakily as his Semblance shined over his body. "…Yeah…" He moves from the rock. "Let's go."
"…Okay."
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"It was hard…it was harder for him…" Nora regaled. "His family was well off, so Ren had to struggle a lot, as he was used to having a cushy life. Have I ever told you how I discovered my Semblance?"
Pyrrha shook her head. "No, I don't think you did."
"It happened during a storm and I was careless. Ren was sick and I wanted to get an apple that was high in a tree. Because I was so used to getting hurt, I didn't realize that me getting hurt could hurt others too…"
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Little Nora struggled as she reached for the apple, ignoring the strong wind, rough rain, and flashing lightning. Instincts told her to be careful, as she and the tree is soaked by the falling water and it added to the danger of her falling.
"Nora?" she heard Ren called from their shelter, a cave nearby. "Nora, where are you?"
"Don't worry, Ren! I'll be down in a minute!" she called out to him. She returns to retrieve the fruit.
"Nora! Get down from there! You'll fall!" Ren shouted, clutching blanket around him close.
"Almost there…" With a small lodge, Nora was able to get the apple. She smiles at the red fruit in triumphant. She turns to Ren below and waves the apple in the air for him to see. "Look, Ren! I got it! I—"
A long streak of lightning flashed from the clouds above and struck the young girl. Ren stood still in horror as he watched Nora fall from the tree. For a moment, he couldn't breath as he tried to process what had happened. When it finally sunk in, he lets out an anguished scream and ran out of the cave and towards the motionless Nora. Thankfully, the rain faded away and the clouds parted, revealing the golden hour sky. But Ren didn't care as he reached Nora, unmoving and the apple was ways away, having to have rolled away.
Ren didn't know what to do. Nora was hurt, possibly dead…dead…Ren could feel his heart beating fast and his head hurt as tears start to form in his eyes. Just when he thought he couldn't lose any more people he loved…
Suddenly, Nora's eyes flashed opened and sat up quickly, surprising Ren. "Wow! That was a doozy! I didn't die? Wow! I didn't! Is that my Semblance? Oh my God! I have a Semblance now! Ren, did you—Ren?" She finally took notice of Ren's watery eyes and runny nose as he tried to compose himself. "Ren? Don't cry, Ren. I'm okay, see? I'm o—" Ren wraps his arms around Nora tightly as he sobbed hard. Nora felt the need to cry too. She had nearly died and it clearly nearly shattered Ren. She didn't mean to scare him.
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"So, I tried to be more careful, for Ren's sake."
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No matter how many days has passed, the events of Kuroyuri was still fresh in Ren's young mind. The poor boy would cry out for his mother and father before waking up in a cold sweat and tears stream down his face. Before Nora could do anything to help him, he'd use his Semblance to calm himself. Nora couldn't help but feel that such use of the Semblance in that way is probably not a good idea.
Several weeks had passed and the duo didn't stay in one place long. With whatever money they were able to find in Kuroyuri, they would purchase food and water before leaving the village to trek to the next, Ren using his Semblance to keep himself and Nora from being detected by Grimm. The people of Kuroyuri was wealthy, as did anyone else part of the 'Yuri' project. Ren felt bad that he had to steal from the dead, but he knew he and Nora needed to survive. Unfortunately, the two learned the hard way of how crueler the world could be.
A heavy foot dug into Ren's midsection, slamming him into a hard wall. With a small cough, Ren glances up at the assailant. The person was a teenaged young man, wearing yellow and brown fabric with his medium-length brown hair in a high ponytail. He glared smugly down at the vulnerable child as he tossed a pouch of Lien in one hand.
With one last toss, the teen catches the pouch into his hand. "I wonder what a brat like you is doing with this much cash on you."
"Give that back!" Nora exclaimed, in the arms of one of the teens friends. "That's mine and Ren's money!"
"Is that so?" the teen in yellow drawled. He opens the pouch to look what's inside. "This is an awful a lot of Lien. It would be a shame to lose all this." He puts the pouch in the folds of his robe. "How about you let me hold on to this. It will be in good hands." He and his friends chortle at the two kids' expense. Nora wanted to cry.
"…N-no…" Ren muttered.
"Hah? What's that? Can't hear ya."
Ren grasps at the teen's pant leg. "Th-that's our money. You can't take it."
"'I can't take it'." The teen echoed before chuckling. He then shoves his foot deeper into Ren's stomach, causing him to cry out in pain. "And what are you gonna do about it, huh?! What can you do?" Ren could feel tears swell from his eyes, same with Nora. Seeing the boy like this, a thought came to the cruel young man. "If you want money so bad, I heard there are job openings at Saboten. Heard you can some good Lien. You've got the looks for it, I'm sure they'll hire you on the spot. Right, boys?" His goons laugh cruelly.
"He can pull off as a geisha. He's as wimpy as a girl."
"My thoughts exactly. So, what so you say, brat?" When Ren didn't answer him, the teen in yellow grabs him by his hair and yanks his head up. "You better answer me! You need to show your elders some respect!"
Feeling a spur of anger, Nora bites down on the arm holding her. The arm's owner yelps in pain as he let her go. Landing on her feet, she runs to her friend. "Let Ren go, now!" With all her might, Nora tackles the violent young man down. "Ren, run!" She is then struck in the face by the young man.
"You fucking brat!" He goes to kick Nora before she could have the chance to get up. "I'll teach you to push me down!" His goons join in. Nora curled into a ball to protect herself from the kicks. She struggles to look at Ren. The boy was frozen in place, watching in horror.
"Ren…Run away!" She managed to shout. But Ren didn't. He was still, watching as his only friend is being kicked mercilessly.
Is someone going to help them?
Ren looks around, looking for someone to help. He does see people around, but for some reason, they don't seem to notice the violence happening. Are they…are they ignoring them?
The realization struck Ren with a new feel of horror. No one is going to save them. What should he do now? What can he do? What? What? What? Nora is gonna die if he doesn't do anything.
Then, something snapped.
He reaches behind his back and takes out his father's dagger. He holds it in a reverse grip before sprinting at the teenagers, his eyes full of tears and rage.
I WON'T LET YOU TAKE AWAY WHAT I HAVE LEFT!
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Tears started to appear from the corners of Pyrrha's vivid green eyes. "…Oh my…What…what happened?"
Nora smiles, but it wasn't solemn. "You know the old saying 'with every cloud, there is a silver lining'?"
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A large, callous hand grabs Ren's wrist. His eyes still wild glances at the interrupter. It was a large, muscular man with long blonde hair, wearing armor and a long cape flowed behind him. Covering the top half of his face is winged helmet. The man then turns to the teens. In swift movement, the man grabs one of them and tosses them aside. The action made the others stop their assault.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"This is none of your business!"
"Oh, yeah?" the man challenged. "A bunch of teenagers beating up a defenseless child. Talk about pathetic."
The teen in yellow turned an angry red. "What was that? You wanna have a go?"
"What a minute…" one of the goons interjected.
"What now?! Are you wimping out?!"
"Do you realize who this is? It's Gerard Valkyrie, a Quincy Valkyrie from the Order of the Allfather." The man, Gerard, kneels to Nora, holding her gently in his arms.
"A religious nut? What? Gonna tell me some stupid sermon or something?"
"My reasoning to stop this needless violence has nothing to do with religion. It is the right thing to do."
The teen clicked his tongue. "Whatever." He turns to leave.
Gerard watched him go silently. His attention changed when the girl in his arms stirred. "Th-the money…"
"Money? Oh, you mean this?" Gerard holds up the pouch. Nora recognized it.
"How did…"
"We were lucky that it fell out of his clothes, huh?" He then heard strained sobbing and it wasn't coming from Nora. He turns back to Ren, who was on his knees, still clutching his father's dagger. Unable to focus on his Semblance, the boy starts to cry fully, dropping his father's dagger in favor to cover his face as he wailed. Gerard, Nora still in his arms, walks over to the crying boy. He lowers down to his knees. "What's the matter?"
"…T-they're right…I'm weak…"
"Huh?"
"I-I didn't do anything to help Nora… I was still afraid… Even after my father told me to be brave… I couldn't do it… I couldn't do anything…I…I…I…" Sadness growing in his heart, Gerard carefully moved Nora so he could have a free arm to embrace Ren.
"Something tells me that you haven't cried in a long time." Gerard mused. He removes his helmet, revealing his light blue eyes and pointed ears. "Poor child."
Nora watched in silence as Ren broke down in front of her. "…Ren…" The boy slowly looks up at her. At that moment, Nora poked his nose. Ren looked at her quizzically. Nora smile despite the pain. "Boop."
For the first time in a long time and despite his tears, Ren smiled.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Guardians of Remnant ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Pyrrha fought hard not to cry herself. "That's awful. People can be so cruel…"
Nora nodded. "Ren cried for nearly a week. Gerard stayed with us, watching over us. After everything, he asked us to travel with him before asking if we'd like to live with him back in Valhalla. We agreed and one thing led to another and now, we're here. After what happened, Ren grew suspicious of everything. Even when someone was polite to us, he always kept his distance. He wanted to trust people; he really did. But, there's always something in the back of his mind telling him to be on guard." Nora turns back to see Jaune and Ren again, Jaune now telling a story how he was able to catch a big Matsu bass fish. "…Until now. Jaune's honesty and devotion is something we haven't had in a long time. Thanks to him, we can believe again. We can trust again." She zips over to the boys. "I heard something about fish! Can we have cod?"
"Didn't you want macaroni casserole?" Jaune asked.
"I know. But, I've been having a hickering for smoked fish!"
Pyrrha giggled at the sight. "Jaune is something."
Ren smiled too. "He certainly is."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Guardians of Remnant ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Alvis whistled as he walked down the street with no particular destination, passing by people. Ordinary, blissful people. With no care in the world and having zero idea of what is going on. Unaware and vulnerable.
"Such ignorance…" Alvis muttered to himself. Down the street, he notices a familiar figure. "Oh, you're Zakuro."
"Hm? Oh, you must be Alvis." Zakuro said.
"Yes, I am." He notices a small girl next to Zakuro. "And who's this?" With a blink, the girl's green eyes changed to heterochromia pink and brown. "Oh, the little psycho." Neo changed her eyes back to green before giving Alvis a 'look-who's-talking' glare.
"What brings you to town?" Zakuro asked.
"Looking for Autumn's successor." Alvis answered.
"I see." Zakuro said. "Any luck finding her?"
"Unfortunately, no. Even with my Aura Sense, she's hard to trace. Ozpin made sure to keep her hidden."
"Is there anything you'd like me to do?" Zakuro said.
Alvis chuckled. "Aren't you here for some vacation?"
Zakuro blinked and looked to the side. "Well, I've never been to a Kingdom before. In fact, I haven't left Madre's castle for a long, long time…"
Alvis ruffles Zakuro's long black hair, as if he was a kid. "Then enjoy it while it lasts. It won't be long until everything burns."
Zakuro and Neo watched silently as Alvis disappears from view. The former looks around at the busy streets, seeing people talking to each other, children playing with one another, even seen a few couples here and there. He remembers his Madre telling him about the cruelty of mankind and the other awful things that went with it. And what happened to him… And yet…
"Is this really the right thing?"
Neo studied him in her silent manner. Something catches her eye. She lefts a hand and lets it land on her finger. It was a black swallowtail butterfly with a tint of dark purple on the lower parts of the wings.
I'm gonna be real with ya'll and say this: I don't like Renora as a romantic relationship. Yes, they look cute together, but I have a disdain for the childhood romance cliché because it happens so many times! I prefer more of their sibling relationship. I think it's more cute! So, there's gonna be a chance that I may keep it that way. Nora may still have lingering feelings, but that's it. Some people would just feel that friendship is good enough.
In terms of shipping, my OTP is actually Martial Arcs (I'm a yaoi fangirl), but even then, I didn't feel very strongly about it until their hug in V4. My thoughts on it went from 2 to 11 like that! However, I find Arkos very precious and beautiful and it'll have a place in my heart. Heck, very much like I like Renora as a sibling thing, I also like the bromance between Jaune and Ren.
Because of the big backlashes of ship wars, I do feel afraid of presenting my thoughts out of fear of being attacked. But, I'm sticking to what I think makes things interesting, like Ulquihime. I was rather disappointed with how Ichihime became canon in Bleach's finale. I'm not an Ichiruki fan and was once an Ishihime fan, but it started to die out. Ichihime felt…weird. Yes, we see Orihime has feelings for Ichigo, but Ichigo treats her in the same level as he does with everyone else. Ulquiorra, however, finds her intriguing and is curious about her. I guess you could say that I do like the opposites attract trope, which you'd think I wouldn't like that either since it pops up a lot as well. Well, here's this. The platonic side and romantic side of OA seems to be on even keel, but the CR cliché seems to be the norm. Also, I was originally gonna pair Ichigo with either Yang or Coco, but I thought pairing him with Velvet would be more interesting and my Bleach OTP is IchiIshi, but I thought ByaIshi was more cute.
At the end of the day, romance is on the back burner in series like RWBY and Bleach and will only be put in the forefront if needed. I can be indifferent when it comes to shipping. Whatever the case may be, I will say that Ren and Nora have a close bond, maybe like Ichigo and Rukia. A precious bond that I hope gets better after Vol 8.
Next Chapter: A Momentous Occasion