Disclaimer: The following is a nonprofit fanfiction of RWBY. RWBY belongs to Monty Oum(RIP) and Rooster Teeth. Any likeness to writings of others is not intentional. To help with improvements: Read and Review!
Chapter 2: Tears and laughs
"Is it me or have we been sitting here for months?" Nora asked.
"Feels like it." Ren shrugged. "We're given a bit of a break time to just relax and share thoughts on what we saw but it's not like we could get out of here."
"Same like those other places, only whoever is in the projector room doesn't wanna come down and talk to us." Yang sighed.
"But it's not like whoever is in there is ignoring us completely." Pyrrha added. "He or she has been kind enough to listen to our requests."
"Yeah, that's true." The brawler agreed. "I wonder when the next-"
Before Yang could finish her sentence, the lights dimmed and the projector was on again.
"Nevermind, it's already happening." Yang said, focusing on the screen.
Canon-ish
If I could tell him(her)
It was after the group reached Haven Academy and were resting. As Jaune sat alone in his room staring at his sword and shield with Pyrrha's metal forged into it, Nora and Ren came in to join him.
"She thought you were amazing, y'know." Nora leaned on her leader's shoulder.
"I still don't know what she saw in someone like me." He sighed.
"She said a lot." Ren replied. "Whenever you weren't around, she'd talk the world about you."
"Really?" Jaune asked unsure. "Like what?"
Sharing a look, the ninja and the pink bomb thought it over befor deciding to share.
"Well," Nora started.
NORA
She~ said
There's nothing like your smile
Sort of subtle and perfect and real.
She~ said
You never knew how wonderful
That smile could make someone feel
Nudging Ren, the ninja patted Jaune on the shoulder with a smile he was struggling to keep.
REN
And she~ knew
Whenever you get bored
You scribble stuff on the cuffs of your jeans.
And she~ noticed
That you still fill out the quizzes
That they put in those teen magazines
NORA
But she kept it all inside her head
What she saw, she left unsaid
And though she wanted to
She couldn't talk to you
She couldn't find the way
But she would always say:
She choked a bit, so Ren took over.
REN
If I could tell~ him
Tell him everything I see
If I could tell him
How he's everything to me
But we're a million worlds apart
And I don't know how I would even start
If I could tell him
If I could tell him
"Did she say anything else?" The blonde leader asked with tears held back.
"About you?" Nora wiped a tear almost slipping.
"Never mind, maybe this is enough." Jaune shook his head. He could feel it was hurting the two to share.
"No, no, no, no, no she said, she said so many things!" Nora tried to explain. "We're just trying to remember the best ones. So, um-"
NORA
She~ thought
You looked really pretty, er
It looked pretty cool when you tried to have a mature stare
"She did?" Jaune asked embarrassed. He remembered feeling dorky when he did it back then.
"Honestly, she thought it was more adorable than cute." Ren told the real truth and gave a short laugh. Nora slugged his arm for that.
NORA
And she~ wondered how you learned to dance
Like all the rest of the world isn't there
But she kept it all inside her head
What she saw, she left unsaid
If I could tell him
Tell him everything I see
If I could tell him
How he's everything to me
By then, all three were not holding back as tears rolled.
J+R+N
But we're a million worlds apart
NORA
And I don't know how I would even start
If I could tell her
If I could tell her
REN
But what do you do when there's this great divide?
JAUNE
She just seemed so far away
NORA
And what do you do when the distance is too wide?
JAUNE
It's like I don't know anything
REN + NORA
And how do you say
JAUNE(PYRRHA)
I love you
(I love you)
I love you
(I love you)
But we're a million worlds apart
And I don't know how I would even start
If I could tell her
If I could…
Sniffling, the three embraced and stayed that way.
"I think my heart got punched in the dick." Yang held her chest after the song ended.
"I died in a universe?" Pyrrha panicked.
"Someone get me a defibrillator, two bottles of hot sauce, and a KNIFE to cut my weeping heart out!" Ruby bawled into her hood.
"Make it two." Nora cried next to her.
"Dammit projector room person." Jaune wiped his eyes. "Can you stop giving us depressing stuff? It's like you enjoy collecting our tears."
Plbt!
"Oh, screw you!" The knight turned away and stewed in his seat.
"Personally, I'd like something to laugh at to forget about that song." Pyrrha looked to the projector room. After she didn't get a response, she added one more word. "Please?"
Ding!
The lights dimmed once more and the screen started to play. It just goes to show that being polite can show better results.
Everyone's a ritto bit racist
"Say, Blake, can I ask you a question?" Jaune asked the cat faunus next to him as they were walking back to their dorm.
"Sure." Blake shrugged as they continued walking.
"Well, you know Neon Katt from the tournament?" He started.
"Uh huh." She nodded.
"Well, she's a cat faunus, and you're cat faunus." He continued.
"Right." Blake let him continue. It was probably a question about the differences between cat faunus.
"You're both cat faunus." He said the obvious.
"Yeah." She rolled his eyes.
"Are you two related?" He finally asked.
"What!" She stopped, putting her basket down. "Jaune, I'm surprised at you! I find that racist!"
"Oh, well, I'm sorry." He shrunk back, feeling ashamed. "I was just asking."
"Well, it's a touchy subject." She said with hands on her hips. "Not all faunus are related. What are you trying to say, huh? That we all look the same to you? Huh, huh, huh?"
By now, Blake had Jaune up against the wall with her eyes glaring at him.
"No, no, no, not at all." Jaune shook his head. "I'm sorry, I guess that was a little racist."
"I should say so." She took a step back, and taking her laundry basket. "You should be much more careful when you're talking about the sensitive subject of race."
"Well, look who's talking!" It was Jaune's turn to put his basket down and put his hands on his hips.
"What do you mean?" The cat faunus quirked a brow while putting her basket down again.
"What about that special Faunus island you told me about." He pointed out.
"What about it?" She still didn't see the problem.
"Could someone like me go there?" He motioned to his whole self.
"No." Blake said a little repulsed. "We don't want people like you-"
"Aha! You see?!" He pointed a finger at her.
JAUNE
You're a little bit racist.
She bawked at the accusation. She pointed a finger back at him.
BLAKE
Well, you're a little bit, too!
JAUNE
I guess we're both a little bit racist.
BLAKE
Admitting it is not an easy thing to do...
JAUNE
But I guess it's true
BLAKE
Between me and you, I think
BOTH
Everyone's a little bit
Racist, sometimes.
Doesn't mean we go around committing
Hate crimes~.
Look around and
You will find,
No one's really
Color-blind.
Maybe it's a fact we all should face~.
Everyone makes judgments…
Based on race.
"Not big judgments, like who to hire or who to buy a newspaper from." Jaune shook his head.
"No!" Blake agreed strongly.
"No, just little judgments like thinking that Vacuan busboys should learn goddamn manners!" The blonde huffed.
"Right!" She nodded with a thumbs up.
BOTH
Everyone's a little bit racist
today~
So, everyone's a little bit racist.
Okay~!
Ethnic jokes might be uncouth,
But you laugh because they're based on truth.
Don't take them as
Personal attacks~.
Everyone enjoys them.
So relax!
"All right, stop me if you've heard this one." Jaune held Blake up to tell a joke. "There's a plane going down and there's only one parachute.
And there's a rabbi, a priest-"
"And a Mistralian!" Blake clapped, familiar with the joke.
"What'd you say, Blake?" Pyrrha walked up, hearing her ethnicity.
"Uh…" Blake sweated, being caught.
"You were telling a Mistral joke, weren't you!" The champion glared accusingly.
"Well, sure, Pyr, but lots of people tell Mistral jokes." Her partner tried to reason.
"I don't." The redhead huffed, crossing her arms.
"Well, of course you don't. You're from there." The blonde rolled his eyes. "But I bet you tell Atlas jokes, right?"
"Well, sure I do." She smirked, with a small chuckle. "Those stupid Atlesians!"
"Don't you think that's a little racist?" Jaune wagged a finger with a raised brow.
The redhead stopped her chuckle realizing it was true. "Well, darn. I guess you're right."
Blake twirled before pointing a finger at Pyrrha.
BLAKE
You're a little bit racist.
PYRRHA
Well, you're a little bit, too~.
JAUNE
We're all a little bit racist.
PYRRHA
I think that I would have to agree with you.
JAUNE & BLAKE
We're glad you do.
PYRRHA
It's sad, but true!
Everyone's a little bit racist…
all right?
JAUNE
Alright.
BLAKE
Alright.
PYRRHA
Alright!
Bigotry has never been exclusive-ly tight~
ALL
If we all could just admit
That we are racist
A little bit,
Even though we all know that it's wrong~
Maybe it would help us…
Get along!
"Brothers, do I feel good!" Jaune sighed.
"Now there were some fine upstanding humans!" Pyrrha nodded.
"Who?" He scratched his head.
"The Brothers!" Pyrrha smirked. Blake blinked at her statement.
"But Pyrrha, they are faunus." The cat faunus corrected.
"No. The Brothers are human." The champion disagreed.
"No, they're faunus!" Blake pushed.
"No, I'm pretty sure they're human!" Pyrrha got in Blake's face.
"Guys." Jaune cut in, separating the two. "The brothers are monochrome."
Letting it sink in, the three devolved into laughter getting his meaning.
"Hey guys, what are you laughing about?" Scarlet walked out of his dorm hearing them laughing.
"Racism!" Pyrrha gasped for air after the laughter ended.
"Cool." He shrugged.
"SCARLET!" Velvet came out with a basket of laundry. "You come back 'ere! Take down your grundies!"
"What's that mean?" Jaune scratched his head at the term.
"Um." Scarlet blushed, coughing into his hand. "Undies."
The three shred a look before laughing once more.
"Hey, don't laugh at her! How many languages do you speak?" He defended his wife.
BLAKE
Oh, come off it, Scarlet!
Everyone's a little bit racist.
SCARLET
I'm not!
JAUNE
Oh, no?
SCARLET
Nope! How many beastiental girl-friends you got?
"What? SCARLET!" Velvet gasped at what her boyfriend called her.
JAUNE
Scarlet, buddy,
Where you been?
The term is Menage-Valean!
VELVET
I know you're
Not in-ten-din' to be~,
But callin' me Beas-ti-en-tal
Is offensive to me!
"I'm sorry honey." Scarlet hugged his wife apologetically. "I love you."
"And I love you." Velvet hugged him back.
"But you're racist, too." He pointed out.
"Yeah, I know." She admitted with no shame.
VELVET
Atlas has all the money
And Vale has all the powuh
And I watch in a theatuh that
chah-ges by the hour!
"Me too!" Jaune agreed.
"Me too!" Blake seconded.
"I can't even get in one!" Pyrrha pouted.
ALL
Everyone's a little bit racist.
It's true~.
But everyone is just about as racist
As you!
If we all could just admit
That we are racist a little bit,
And everyone stopped being so P.C.~,
Maybe we could live in
Harmony~!
VELVET
Evreh-one's a littuh bit racis'!
Everyone was quiet for a while until it was Ruby that raised her hand.
"Let's all be honest guys." She scanned them all. "Raise your hand if you've ever tried to copy Velvet's accent."
Showing that she was honest, she had her hand up to show she wasn't going to judge since she was guilty too. Next to her, Yang raised her hand along with Blake, Jaune, Pyrrha, and Nora.
"You should all be ashamed of yourselves." Weiss wagged a finger.
"Is it comfortable in that glass house of yours, Weiss?" Blake asked her teammate.
"Can you really not get into a theater, Pyrrha?" Ruby asked, hoping to change subject.
"Not for what the song implies, Ruby." The champion soon explained. "I can't go into a theater without fans bombarding me. But the song implies that I can't go into theaters because I'm from Mistral."
"Why?"
"Because most of the pirated movies come from Mistral." Pyrrha sighed dejectedly at her country's shame. Glancing to the side, she recoiled seeing Nora with her scroll out shamelessly rewatching the last songs. "Thanks for upholding the stereotype, Nora."
"I hear my name. What?" The ginger looked up.
"C-can whoever's up there put something else on before we have a full on race war?" Jaune begged whoever was in the projector booth. "Please?"
When the lights dimmed, Jaune was glad it wasn't a raspberry.
Fragments: Jaune Gaiden
The scene started all black until an orchestra started. A spotlight then turned on and it was Ruby dressed in her signature cloak and a dark suit and one eye lilac instead of silver. The skin around the lilac eye was also scarred like it was burnt.
RUBY
How does a bastard, orphan,
Son of a whore, and a huntsman
dropped in the middle of a war target spot
in a Mistralian village,
which was burnt into asunder
Grow up to be a champion and hunter
Another spotlight turned on and it was Ren with his hair in a man bun also wearing a black suit. He also sported a black metal chin guard with fangs designed near the bottom lip.
REN
The Mistralian champion brother that lost a father
got a lot farther by working a lot harder
by being a lot smarter
by being a self starter
at just twelve
He saw his village turn to a slaughter
Yang was the next to show up with a mechanical arm and short hair only she was dressed in a white sun dress.
YANG
And on that day while families and friends
were running away somewhere safe,
he struggled and kept his guard up.
He didn't know of the future
that he was gonna be a part of.
The brother got shot at Haven's door.
That was the starter
Another spotlight and Adam of all people stepped out without his mask showing red eyes and a flask at his side. Like Yang, he was wearing white too.
ADAM
Then Atlas rule came, and martial law reigned.
His mom saw Mistral freedom drip,
dripping down the drain.
Found his sister at a temple,
rebellion in her brain.
But he did not refrain, he
braced himself for pain.
RUBY
Well the word got around.
They said "This kid is insane man!"
Stole an Atlas flag
And made a cowl for their champion.
"Start your preparation,
cuz kid you're going far!
And world'll know who you are."
Who are you man?!
Next to Ruby, Jaune showed up wearing an eyepatch and a paint splotched white cowl draped over him.
JAUNE
Outer Circle Champion.
I'm the Outer Circle Champion.
And there's a million things I haven't done.
But just you wait. Just you wait.
Pyrrha showed up next to Jaune in a dress similar to the dance only white. The dress showed her midriff presenting two scars on each side.
PYRRHA
At fourteen, his father split.
Blown to bits, by mine-hidden.
Three years later, see Jaune's mom deathly sick bed-ridden.
Laying in her own sick, the scent thick.
COMPANY
And after days later, his mother went quick
Glynda showed up behind Ruby, and she was also wearing a black dress.
GLYNDA
The eldest of his sisters in prison,
because of genocide.
Left him with nothing but ruined pride,
cut him deep inside.
But a voice saying:
GLYNDA AND COMPANY
Jaune Arc, you gotta better yourself
GLYNDA
He started retreating and reading every
treatise on the shelf.
RUBY (COMPANY)
There woulda been nothin' left for someone less astute
He would've been dead or destitute
Without a sense of resolution
Started speakin', singing for the peace of a free land!
Showing Mistral light of what it means to be a free man!
(Scanning) for every truth he can get his hands on.
(Planning) for the future
See him as he sits in
the Bullhead flying off into new lands.
Mistral's sending their champions.
COMPANY
Outer Circle Champion (Outer Circle Champion)
The Prism Project is waiting for you.
You could never back down.
You'd rather push defeat, a-si-i-i-ide.
Oh~!
Outer Circle Champion (Outer circle Champion)
What will Remnant's people sing of you?
Will they know what you overcame~.
Will they know you rewrote the game~.
The world,
will never be the same~! O-o-oh!
RUBY
The ship is at the landing pad, see if you can spot him. (Just you wait)
Couple of champions risen from the bottom (Just you wait)
The higher ups destroyed his rep, all of Remnant forgot em.
Weiss came in wearing her usual clothes next to Yang, while Sun appeared next to Adam in a black suit.
ADAM & WEISS & YANG & SUN
WE fought with him
Ozpin came in with Oscar in a wheel chair with both wearing white.
OZPIN/OSCAR
Me? I died to him.
Raven appeared next to Glynda wearing white in contrast to Glynda's black dress.
GLYNDA & RAVEN
Me? I trusted him.
Blake and Neo came up between Pyrrha and shared the mic with her. And just like Pyrrha they were also wearing white dresses.
PYRRHA & BLAKE & NEO
Me? I loved him.
Ruby took center stage with arms wide and tears in her eyes.
RUBY
And me? …I'm the damn fool that shot him!
There was a pause before Ruby took her place with the others.
JAUNE (COMPANY)
There's a million things I haven't done.
(But just you wait~!)
RUBY
WHO ARE YOU MAN?!
ALL
OUTER CIRCLE CHAMPION
Everyone's jaw was hung open even when the lights turned on. It was weird seeing slightly older versions of themselves looking so scarred and sad.
Ruby was taking it the hardest because her character openly admitted to cutting Jaune. It sounds minor with a word like cut instead of slice, but remembering what her weapon was it was understandable.
"I… feel like there's a really huge story in there." Weiss broke the ice. "It's like the song compacted a whole years worth of stories into an intro."
"Like what was that story about champions?" Pyrrha prodded. "And a prism project. It sounds ominous, like some sort of collection."
"Whoever is up there, can we have some sort of explanation for that one?" Blake shouted to the projector booth. "The other songs were easy to understand but this one was a bit hard to wrap around."
Hearing some shuffling and a few drawers opening, a wire-bound book was thrown out and caught by Blake. Seeing the title Fragments on it, she took note how thick the whole thing was. If she estimated, it was close to three hundred pages plus.
"No time for your slow reading." Yang yanked it out of her hands. Plopping it on Ruby's lap, she patted the book. "Ruby, speed read."
Pouting, Blake covered her ears to not hear any spoilers Ruby would give. Taking a glimpse, the cat faunus saw her leader's face shifting to different emotions and at some point even blushed before flipping pages faster. Once she got to the end, Ruby was sniffling.
"So explanations, Rubes?" Her older sister asked.
"It was so sad and noble." Ruby wiped her tears.
Alarm bells going in Blake's head, she covered her human ears and flattened her cat ears while humming to drown out whatever Ruby was saying. It took about twenty minutes until Ruby finished.
"That is a beautiful story I'd never want to read or see more than once." Weiss wiped a tear.
"Just from the summary you gave, its heavy." Jaune leaned in his chair. "I'm a bit grossed out about the incest scene. I don't know why you had to share that part, but everything else was great."
"Jaune, weren't you paying attention?" Pyrrha wiped a tear. "It had to be told to show how it brought out the truth along with the decision."
"And technically, it wasn't incest." Ruby pointed out. "They just lived in the same household and while one of them never knew the truth."
"I liked my character's portrayal in this." Ren voiced out. "His role was innocent, but he was brought in and all his shifts and growth was justified."
While the others continued talking, Blake sneakily took the book and read it with ears still covered.
"By the way, what's with the songs mostly having Jaune singing in them?" Yang asked. "I mean, his roles in some of these weren't major, but he still has more screen time than me."
"Maybe because he's a better singer than you." Ruby pointed out. Seeing her older sister sputter and fume, Ruby put it out straight. "Yang, you're only as good as you think you are."
"I-I can totally sing!" The brawler fumed.
"You mean that howling you do in the bathroom?" Weiss huffed in disgust. "At least Jaune's campfire songs have intelligible lyrics and a tune."
"Aww, thanks Weiss." The knight blushed.
"We're comparing it to Yang, so it's not like it's a huge feat to be prideful of." The heiress shot him down.
"That's it!" Yang blew up. Looking to the projector, she had her eyes burning red. "Hey! Play something with me as the lead singer! I'm gonna show this popsicle who's got the real voice."
Pblblblblblbt!
"…Okay, now I know how you feel Jaune. That's just insulting."
"I know, right?"
END
AN: I'm not sure if Yang can sing or not. She had a band in chibi, but they did more bashing than singing.