"Where the fuck am I?" Crue wondered. He walked along an empty street, that was familiar, yet alien at the same time. To him, it looked as though he was back in Dublin. But the scenery was just, not quite right.
As he walked, he heard a quiet sobbing. Looking around, he located the source of the crying behind a bin. It was him. Crue. But, a younger version of him. In fact, he looked around the age when he lost his family.
"Hey…" Crue called softly, causing the boy to look up in fright. He had a younger face, but his eyes seemed, duller. Softer. More innocent.
"W-Who are you?" The boy asked fearfully.
"I'm you. I think." Crue answered. "Who are you?"
"I'm Da-" Whatever he was going to say was cut off by a large explosion off to Crue's right. The younger version of Crue whimpered, covering his ears. His human ears, Crue noted, that he was not Faunus.
"What was that?" Crue asked, standing tall and looking at the dust of the explosion.
"T-That was the bad man." Young Crue whispered. "H-He's always been here. But he got worse. And now he's fighting something."
"The bad man?" Crue wondered, cracking his neck and walking over to where the explosion had originated. He barely took two steps towards it, when a being was flung from it.
Crue ducked under the projectile, and rolled to the side. Whatever was flung had crashed into the street behind him, creating a massive crater. A blur shot from the crash, and landed in front of Crue. The Faunus had to blink, seeing himself standing before him.
This copy matched him exactly, except he too lacked any extra ears. "Who are you?" His copy snapped his head at him, and his eyes were the only immediate difference to the younger version aside from size. They were colder. Angrier. Darker.
"I'm you, dumbass." The other him growled. "I'm everything you keep locked away." The darker Crue stepped closer to the original, the Faunus meeting himself with equal distance. "I'm the reason you jump. I'm the reason you hurt. I'm your Remorse."
Remorse lifted up his sleeves, showing hundreds of bloody cuts. "Every scar you ever made. I remember all of them. Because I caused them." Crue sucker punched the darker version of himself, anger welling up deep inside him.
"Ha! The little bitch over in the corner could hit harder than that! If you think I'm bad, I can't wait for you to meet Wrath!" Remorse punched back, Crue standing stone faced with the blow. "You're just lucky I'm not too focused on you right now."
"What do you mean?" Crue asked. On cue, another being emerged from the explosion. This was not another version of Crue, but rather it was a beast not unlike a Beowulf. It was taller than an Alpha, and a deep brown in colour.
It lacked the bone plates that would signify it as a Grimm, but it was not any less terrifying than the real thing. "The fuck is that!?" Crue exclaimed, taking a boxing stance, realising he had no weapons on him.
"That's the Wolf you idiot!" Remorse told him. "Ever since you came to this shithole of a world, that thing showed up." His eyes landed on the Faunus' ears. "And I'm guessing they're the cause."
"So what, that's my instincts or something?" Crue asked, as his darker version took a small pocket knife out. The blade was tiny, but it was all he had to fight the beast.
"Or something." Remorse growled, rushing forward and trying to stab the beast. Crue looked down at his hands, realising he was going into this weaponless.
"Fuck it." Crue decided, rushing in and throwing a punch at the Wolf. It connected with the beasts jaw. The Wolf snapped at him, baring it's fangs and growling fiercely. Crue gave a crude imitation of the growl back.
" 'Grraragh' yourself." The Faunus uppercut the Wolf, as his darker half slashed at its hind legs with the penknife. The Wolf howled, swinging its long tail, catching Remorse and sending him crashing into the original.
They both grunted, letting out the same curse as they hit the ground. "FUCK!"
They stood up, glaring at each other. "Piss off. I can do this myself." Remorse warned. "Have been for two fucking months."
"This is my head. I'm staying. And why don't you use something bigger than a fucking penknife." Crue growled back.
"You should've used something bigger to try and kill yourself with then." Crue stiffened, before decking his darker half. Remorse fell to the ground, grunting as the knife fell from his grasp.
Crue grabbed it instantly, pushing his darker side to the ground and holding the knife to his neck. "Give me a reason. Please, give me a reason." He begged.
"You need me." Remorse grunted out. "I'm your coping mechanism dumbass. If it wasn't for that jackass over there…" His head nodded towards the snarling beast. "Well… Let's just say you'd've gone down a much darker path."
Images flashed before Crue, each of them sending chills down his spine. Crue, standing atop the corpses of team JNPR, Pyrrha's head impaled on her own spear. Team RWBY, broken and battered, as Crue ravaged their leader. Velvet, dead on the ground, her ears ripped off with Crue's own teeth. Neo, nothing remained of her. After stabbing her through the heart, Crue tossed her off the cliff of Beacon to a pack of Grimm.
In every image of what could have been, Crue was wearing the same, unnerving smile. A smile that showed no remorse for his actions, instead showing some twisted form of pleasure that he was deriving from such acts.
Crue blinked back tears as he stared down at his evil half, who was now laughing loudly. "YOU NEED ME!" Remorse roared in laughter.
The Faunus glared down at himself, his eyes brimming with a fury so destructive it could reduce a man to ashes. "Not now I don't." Crue grunted out, gripping the blade tight and making a fist. The Faunus slammed the fist into his dark half, knocking him out instantly.
Crue stood shakily, staring at his unconscious self. The darker part of him seemed to fade away, leaving only the original and the Wolf. Crue turned to face what he believed to be his instincts, who seemed to be eying him greedily. "So." He stated, glancing at the penknife in hand. "You're supposed to be the wild side of me?"
He threw the blade away as he cracked his knuckles, walking towards the beast which roared and sprinted at Crue.
"How about I tame you?"
…
"Crue?"
Crue jerked awake, seeing carpet. He blinked groggily a few times, pushing against the ground to sit up on his knees. "Who…?" He groaned out.
A pair of silver eyes appeared before him, blinking questioningly. Crue blinked back, taking off his glasses to look at the person clearly. "Ruby?" He asked through a yawn.
"Morning sleepyhead." Ruby smiled. Crue managed to smirk back, but he noticed the lack of daylight when he glanced out the window.
"Morning?" He asked, noting Ruby was still in her pyjamas.
"Welllllll…" Ruby drawled out awkwardly. Crue grabbed his scroll out of his pocket to check for himself.
"It's quarter pas-" "Shh!" Ruby quietened him, glancing around to see if he had woken anyone. Crue did the same, checking the bunks, seeing that all of them were occupied. Yes, he included Ruby's bed in that, as Zwei was currently curled up in a ball on the pillow.
"It's quarter past three!" Crue hissed. "I got here like three hours ago!"
"I know." Ruby whispered back apologetically. "But you said you would tell me what was wrong when you got back. And, I fell asleep by accident. So I set an alarm for when I thought you'd be back." She explained.
Crue sighed, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and index finger. Luckily, it was dark, which meant Ruby couldn't see how hungover he currently was. Crue could see just fine, being Faunus, and could see the concern in Ruby's silver eyes.
"You promised." Ruby reminded him.
"I promise." Crue remembered the last words he spoke to Neo, and subsequently, the last words she spoke to him. "Go to Hell."
"Crue?" Ruby shook the boy lightly, causing him shiver.
"You're right. I promised." He smiled awkwardly, regret hidden behind bright white teeth.
Ruby smiled back, standing and grabbing Crue by his hand, dragging him upwards. There was something humorous about the situation, a barely five foot girl lifting a six foot three young adult to his feet.
Crue made sure he had his scroll on hand as Ruby dragged him from the room. He followed in silence, trying to think of how he would explain to the young girl that he and Neo, that he and Polly, were no longer together.
"I figured this would be a good place to talk about it." Ruby told him.
The reaper brought him to the same roof that she had found him the night he almost jumped. Thinking of that night made him remember the dream he had. The images that his darker half had shown him came back in full force.
Crue closed his eyes and steadied his breathing, Ruby's grip on his hand remaining strong. "Just, tell me when you're ready." Ruby spoke softly, sitting down on the ground, inviting Crue to do the same.
He did so, sitting cross legged, staring out at Beacon, his mouth opening and closing several times over, trying to get words to form. Through all his attempts to speak, Ruby remained ever patient, only ever increasing her grip to remind him that he was in no hurry.
Eventually, Crue took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. "Me and Polly, we broke up." There, he said it. He turned to Ruby to see her reaction, the girl letting out a soft gasp as she absorbed the information.
"Oh, Crue." Ruby said sadly. She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around the boy's neck and bringing him in for a hug. Crue hugged back tightly, willing his eyes to remain dry. "That's why you were crying?"
"Yeah." Crue nodded. "I- We- There was an argument." He settled on. He wasn't sure what Neo was going to tell Cinder and her crew, but she assumed she would tell them a half truth, how she saw Crue fighting on the train.
"When did you break up?" She asked him. "If, if you want to talk about it I mean."
"It's fine Ruby. I might as well get it off my chest now." Crue sighed, closing his eyes and looking to the sky, seeing the shattered moon above him, and realising that his heart probably looked quite similar to the celestial body right now.
"It was earlier. Technically it was yesterday." He told the small girl. Ruby sidled up close to him, breaking the hug and leaning her head against his shoulder. "After I crashed the bike, I saw her. And she was upset."
"I asked her what was wrong, and she said that I was always putting myself in danger. And that I cared too much about others for my own good." He gave a short, fake laugh. "Can you believe that?"
"She's not wrong." Ruby muttered. Crue looked at her incredulously. "Crue, you're awesome. Ok? But, you don't really look out for yourself too much. And it's not a bad thing you care about us, but, we can take care of ourselves."
"I know that Ruby." Crue whispered, pulling her close. "I know. But that's not gonna stop me." He smirked lightly, the young reaper smacking him on the arm with a playful smile.
Her smile dropped as she looked at the Faunus seriously. "Are you gonna tell the others?" She asked him.
"Well, I'll have to, won't I?" Crue sighed. "Either they find out off me, or off someone else. And I'd rather it be me." Crue suddenly thought of something.
"Don't treat her badly for this, alright?" He requested. Ruby looked at him curiously. "You guys were friends with Polly when we were dating. Don't be mean to her or anything just cause we broke up."
"Why would we do that?" Ruby asked.
"Well, you mightn't." Crue sighed. "But, I'm not sure how the others will react. Yang won't try and beat her up or something, will she?" Because he already knew how that would go.
Ruby snorted at the question, before realising that there may be a possibility of that happening. "I'll tell her not to." She reassured him.
Crue let out a shallow breath, feeling Ruby shiver next to him. "Come on." He stood, bringing her up with him. "It's late, and you're cold."
"It's not that la-" Ruby's statement was cut off by an adorable yawn. The yawn finished, and Crue looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. "Fine." She pouted.
The two walked off of the small roof where they had their first meeting, making their way back to the dorm. "Are you gonna be ok?" Ruby asked quietly.
Crue sighed, looking to the ceiling as they walked. "I don't know." He told her honestly. "Guys are weird. A day after a break up I'll be fine. In a week I'll be drinking, and in a month I'll be depressed."
"Jesus." Ruby breathed. Crue looked to her with incredulity in his eyes. The young girl noticed his stare. "What? You always say it. I don't know what it means, but I thought it suited the situation." She told him.
Crue began laughing lightly. "I really need to stop cussing around you. You're too damn impressionable." He rubbed her head, ruffling her already messy bedhead.
Ruby glared up at him halfheartedly. Crue found the sight adorable. The two reached the dorm room, Crue taking out his scroll and opening it slowly. They peeked their heads in, checking everyone was still asleep.
When it appeared to be safe, they opened the door fully. Crue was about to roll under Weiss' bed once more, but Ruby stopped him. "Hold on." She whispered. The Faunus did as instructed, curious as to what the young reaper wanted.
He watched as Ruby grabbed her blanket off her bed, rushing over to her dresser and taking out something, then rushing back over to Crue, and having him sit against a wall. Ruby sat down next to him, wrapping the blanket around the two of them.
"Here." She said, breaking a cookie in half. Crue took a half, looking at Ruby with confused eyes. Ruby noticed this, and explained. "If I was ever upset, I'd want someone to do this with me. So, I hoped it'd work for you."
Crue's eyes softened, and he grew a small smile. "It's working great." He wiggled an arm behind her back and pulled her close, the small girl giggling quietly all the while. They both ate the cookie in silence, Ruby letting out a long, and adorable, yawn when she had finished hers.
She rested her head against Crue's shoulder, closing her eyes. "I'm too tired, and you're too comfy." She mumbled.
Crue laughed lightly, and angled himself so she would be more comfortable. Ruby appreciated the gesture immensely, snuggling into the boy. "Thanks, Crue." She murmured, before drifting off.
Crue looked down at her sleeping form, the images that he had seen in his dream being pushed back. "No Ruby…" He rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes. "Thank you."
...
"I feel like I'm going to die." Crue thought. He opened an eye, seeing Yang staring down at him, her eyes red as ruby. Who, coincidentally, was cuddled up to him under the blanket. "Oh. This again?" He sighed mentally.
"You said bring my scroll next time." He told her. She cracked her knuckles, but did not make an action to attack him. Probably due to the fact Ruby could also be hurt.
"What was it this time?" Yang asked.
Crue looked down, frowning lightly. He muttered something, his excuse going unheard by Yang. "What was it?" She repeated.
"...broke up…" Was all she heard. She squinted for a minute, trying to understand what the words meant. Lilac eyes widened in realisation, as she let out a soft "Oh."
"Yeah. Oh." Crue muttered.
"I, guess I can look past this. But only because of your reason." Yang told him, half sternly, half compassionately.
"Hey, it was her idea." Crue chuckled. "She said if she was ever upset, that this is how she'd want to be cheered up. I think we should both remember that."
Yang scoffed lightly. "Like I already didn't know." She grinned at him. Crue grinned back despite himself. "But, for real." Her tone became serious, causing Crue to stiffen.
"Do you want me to beat her up?" She asked.
"No!" Crue barked, causing Ruby to stir next to him. Both blondes froze, waiting for the younger girl to drift back off. Ruby nuzzled into the crook of Crue's neck, letting out a content sigh, falling back asleep.
"No." Crue whispered, once he was sure the reaper was in the realm of dreams. "It wasn't a bad break up." Yang raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Ok, all break ups are bad. But it wasn't because she was cheating on me or something."
"Then why'd you break up? You two were great together." Yangs words caused Crue to frown visibly, his head lowering as he stared at the ground. "Ah! I'm sorry! I didn't mean-"
"I know what you meant." Crue cut her off, not meeting her eyes. He sighed, closing his own. "Remember when I crashed the bike?" He didn't see, but he assumed Yang nodded. "I saw her after that. She said I was always putting myself in danger for others, and that she couldn't take worrying whether or not I'd come back alive after doing something like that."
"She's not wrong." Yang muttered. At this, Crue looked back up at the blonde, levelling her with a glare. "Sorry Crue. But, you don't really look out for yourself too much. Like, when you went after Ruby. I don't think you were thinking about yourself then. And it's not a bad thing you care about us, but, we can take care of ourselves."
Crue let out a dry laugh. "Ruby said the exact same thing." He paused. "Well, she did mention that I'm awesome beforehand."
Yang let out a laugh at this too, shaking her head. "Guess so. You are pretty awesome. I mean, that thing with the bike yesterday? Amazing!" Her exclamation caused Ruby, as well as the other members of her team, to stir.
"What time is it?" Weiss yawned, sitting up in her bed and stretching her arms out, looking like a textbook princess in the morning light.
"Ten." Yang called to her. "Don't worry, no classes." The heiress posture visibly slackened, tension in her shoulders melting away like snow in the sun.
"Why are you up so early then?" Weiss questioned, seeing the brawler standing before her own. "And why are you there?"
"Sibling senses were tingling." Yang told her, causing Crue to chuckle. His noises made Weiss blink, and lean to the side, seeing Crue and Ruby beneath the blanket.
"Why haven't you killed him yet?" She asked Yang. A perfectly valid question, given the circumstances.
"He's, got reasons. And I know he isn't trying anything. He likes being alive." Yang told Weiss.
"That last one's debatable at the moment." Crue sighed. Weiss arched an eyebrow, looking from the Faunus to Yang, who shook her head.
"Crue? Has something happened?" The heiress asked slowly. Crue closed his eyes, breathing softly.
"Yeah, but before I explain, can someone wake up Blake? I don't want to have to say this three times in a row." Crue requested. Yang nodded, going over to wake the Faunus.
If Weiss had thought something was wrong previously, she was assured of it now. She momentarily wondered if Crue had gotten some bad news about his family, before recalling he had no family. A fact they learned after Ruby had mentioned her uncle, and asked Crue if he could remember his family.
If she recalled correctly, a rather large group hug had come to being after that. Weiss normally wasn't one to join in on such things, but she felt compelled to in that instance. She was brought back to the present by a shrill hiss, courtesy of one Blake Belladonna.
She glanced over at her teammate, seeing that Yang had decided to wake up the Cat Faunus by having the ever adorable Zwei lick her face. Blake shot out of bed like a rocket, jumping to the other side of the room and taking shelter in Ruby and Crue's blanket.
The action caused Ruby to awaken, yelping in shock as she felt another presence next to her. From Yang and Weiss' perspective, they saw Blake poking her head out between Ruby and Crue's, only now realising where she was.
"What is going on?" She asked, looking between the two people she was incidentally sharing the blanket with.
Ruby leaned forward, meeting Crue's eyes. "Are you going to tell them?" She asked. Crue nodded, taking a breath and closing his eyes.
"Ruby and Yang already know, so, might as well get this over with." He opened his eyes, looking to his side, seeing Blake and Weiss staring at him. "Me and Polly broke up."
The light gasps from the two of them caused Crue's head to fall. "Alright!" Ruby suddenly exclaimed, causing all occupants of the room to look at her in confusion. "As team leader, I order a group hug on Crue! Now!"
Yang was the first to comply, leaping over from Blakes bed to Crue's side, throwing an arm around the three already in the blanket, squeezing them tightly. Weiss got out of her own bed, not as enthusiastically as Yang, but sat down next to Ruby, reaching her hand behind them and resting it on Crue's shoulder.
Crue let out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob. "You guys are awful." He said with a smile. The members of RWBY looked at the male with wide smiles.
An "Arf!" interrupted the scene, as Zwei bounded over, jumping onto Crue's lap and looking up at him, his tongue lolling out.
"You're the worst of them all." Crue said, scratching behind the corgi's ears. The dog whined appreciatively, curling up into a small ball on the Faunus' lap.
Said Faunus felt someone scratching his own ears, and looked over to see Weiss turning red. "Sorry. I saw you scratch Zwei and my hands copied you." Crue would have rolled his eyes, were it not for how pleasurable the scratching was.
"You can stop now." Crue requested. Weiss complied, still red in the face, resting her hand on Crue's shoulder instead. There was silence in the room, all of it's occupants lying against one another comfortably.
"Hey, guys." Crue began, causing the girls to look at him with raised eyebrows.
"Thanks."
...
"Hey Crue. How're you doing?" Jaune greeted, as team RWBY and Crue sat down at the breakfast table.
"I'm, alright. Thanks." He smiled half heartedly at the leader of JNPR, the rest of his team looking at the new arrivals.
Jaune raised an eyebrow at Crue's words, but before he could say anything, Yang coughed, drawing their attention. "So, you guys still going on that mission of yours? Or is it cancelled cause of the Breach?"
"Professor Goodwitch said that we will still be going on our mission. It will just take a little longer to set up." Pyrrha informed them.
"We have yet to learn what huntsman we will be shadowing." Ren spoke calmly, drinking from his mug of green tea.
"Yeah! I hope it's someone awesome!" Nora bounced in her seat.
"Well, we got Professor Oobleck. So you can't do much worse." Blake reasoned. You could almost hear the cry of the despair come from the green haired man in question, as he proclaimed the word 'DOCTOR!' loudly from his office.
"Unless it's Professor Port." Ruby said. Everyone at the table shuddered, minus a certain Wolf.
Crue was staring past team JNPR, the way that he had sat down giving him full view of the entrance to the cafeteria. It also meant he could see every person that entered the building. Even if he didn't want to.
His eyes moved downwards, focusing on the grains of the wooden table. He willed himself not to look back at the entrance, where the girl with raven pigtails and jade eyes was trying to do the same.
"Crue?" Pyrrha's voice snapped him out of his focus. He glanced up, seeing Pyrrha looking at him worriedly, the rest of her team doing the same in curiosity. He scanned RWBY's faces, seeing they all wore a look of concern.
"Yes Pyrrha?" Crue asked calmly.
"Are you, feeling alright?" It was in that moment, that Crue remembered what the spartan had told him before she unlocked his aura.
"It would certainly bring us closer as friends, but other than a small emotional connection, nothing serious would change." "I wouldn't know for certain what you are feeling, but I would have a small inkling if you were feeling upset and trying to hide it." Her words echoed in Crue's mind, as he groaned lightly, gripping his hair with his hand.
"Can someone else tell her? Doing it three times in one day is bad enough." His head hit the table lightly, all members of team JNPR now looking at him with worry. Ruby leaned across the table, beckoning Pyrrha closer.
The young leader whispered into Pyrrha's ear, the spartan frowning for a moment, before her mouth fell open in shock. "Oh my." She breathed. The red head looked to the rest of her team, leaning over to Jaune first and telling him what was going on.
Blue eyes widened, as Jaune looked upon Crue with pity. After Jaune was told Pyrrha turned to Nora. "Nora. I need you to know, that this isn't something you should shout out in shock after hearing it."
The ginger tilted her head inquisitively, as Pyrrha whispered into her ear. Nora let out a loud gasp, and slapped her own hand against her mouth. Her eyes stared at Crue in disbelief, who's forehead was resting on his arm as he stared at the table.
Nora turned to Ren, who raised an eyebrow in questioning, the ninja being the only one at the table who was unaware of what happened to the Faunus. Nora leaned in close to Ren's ear, and told him what happened.
It was to the surprise of everyone at the table, that Nora did not shout what happened into Ren's ear, as many of them expected her to. Ren's face did not show any emotion or shock at the news, but he did bow his head lightly to Crue.
"So now you all know." Crue said, rising his head, seeing the nods of team JNPR. "Any comments?" He sighed.
The four looked between each other, wondering if anyone would speak. "Uh." Jaune began, all eyes going to the leader of JNPR. "That's rough buddy." The females, as well as Ren, looked at Jaune with expressions that clearly read 'Really?'.
Then, to the surprise of them all, Crue began to chuckle. "Thanks Jaune. Hit the nail on the head there." Crue laughed, Jaune's words causing him to recall a certain scene from a show he watched as a child.
"Could be worse." He said, his shoulders falling as he stared at the table.
"It could?" Weiss questioned.
"Yeah." Crue nodded. He snapped his fingers, pointing to Nora. The girl took this as a green light to list off how much worse things could have gotten.
"She could've been turned into the moon, she could've been cheating on you, she could've lied because she was secretly the princess of a far off kingdom who feared assassins would try and dispose of you because it would destroy her, she could've been part of the group that caused the Breach and she broke up with you because you were fighting in it."
Nora took a large gasp of air, and her head fell to the table. "And that's about it." The rest of the group turned from the ginger to look at Crue, his expression unreadable.
"Yeah. So I guess I got off pretty lucky huh." His voice was as flat as possible, no emotions shining through with his words.
"Do you want me to break her legs?" Nora asked the Faunus, raising her head off the table.
Crue gave a small chuckle. "Nora, considering when I first met you, you wanted to break my legs, it means a lot that you'd say that." He told her. "But no. I don't want any of you fighting her. Just because we broke up doesn't make her a villain."
"It's the rest of this whole fuck up that does." Crue thought, idly poking at his food. "Just, treat her like you would if we never dated." He didn't want any violence to spark between his friends and Neo. He knew what she was capable of.
"What if she tries to talk to us?" Weiss asked.
Crue sniggered lightly, knowing Neo talked to no one. Except him. And dammit now he's sad again. "Talk back? Treat her like you would Emerald. And, try not to mention…" He trailed off, not wanting to say the word 'us' aloud.
"We will respect your wishes." Ren spoke. The others all nodded in agreement.
"Thanks." Crue smiled, but sighed. "I'm gonna go to the training room. Don't wait up for me." He stood from the table, leaving his tray of food completely untouched.
The others watched him go, concern written all over their faces. "Should we…" Jaune began, wondering if they should follow the heartbroken male.
"No." Ruby said, almost immediately. Everyone turned to her, as her silver eyes followed Crue's back. "He wouldn't like that. He's hurting. But he's strong, so he's able to keep it together around us. Right now, I think he just wants to be alone."
Ruby's surprisingly wise words were true, as Crue wished for nothing more than the ground to open up beneath him and swallow him whole. Alas, he had no such luck, walking on his own towards the Combat Simulation room.
He had been to the room once before, when he was feeling a rage like this. During the previous time, Crue had come to the realisation just how much he left behind in his old world. And much like that time, the Wrath that filled him was insurmountable.
He mimicked his actions on that day, setting the battle droids to the highest level, and waiting. He cracked his knuckles in preparation, not having Setanta in his possession when he entered. Not that that mattered.
The buzzer counted down, and the droids sprung forward, their focus on Crue. On the side of the room, Crue's aura gauge popped up, still using the generic male profile. The bar that showed his aura reserves was changing at a rapid pace, a clear indication of how unbalanced Crue's soul was at the current moment and time.
Crue roared, as his fist came into contact with the head of a droid, denting the metal and cleaving the head right off. The other bots, lacking the feelings that require shock, went on unperturbed, their fists flying at Crue.
In a flurry of ducks and punches, Crue took down three more robots, his mind drawing a blank for anything other than the words "FUCK YOU!" On repeat, directed at both the robots and the 'Author'.
A droid got a lucky punch off on him, clocking him in his cheek. Crue's eyes stung, the pain, while not very great, almost became a catalyst for his tears to flow. Instead of crying, Crue grit his teeth, and threw a rocket of a haymaker at the bots chest.
The force of the punch sent Crue's arm clean through the robot, it's battery held in the Faunus' outstretched fist. Crue brought his fist back, the droid falling to the floor. He turned to the two remaining robots, neither of them reacting to their fallen companion.
The two droids lunged forward, one to the left of Crue, and one to the right. Crue ducked under their punches, and grabbed the two robots by their expressionless faces. His grip cracked the black visor of the robots, before slamming the two of their heads together, creating a shower of sparks.
Crue panted, staring at the fallen robots before him. "That, didn't help." He watched as a different set of bots appeared, all of them holding brooms and dustpans and various other utilities. They sweeped up the remnants of their brethren, leaving the floor clear.
Crue walked over to a wall of the room, leaning against it and sliding down into a seating position. "Fuck." He curse, letting all of his emotions return. "Fucking fuck."
He slammed the back of his head against the wall, in an attempt to clear his mind. The action did nothing but give him a damn headache. "Fuckety fucking fuck." He stood shakily, trying to will himself not to break down and cry.
He exited the simulation room, looking around to see if there was anyone else about. When the coast proved clear, Crue exited the room, head held down and his hands in his pockets. "I need to get comfort clothing." He muttered to himself.
As he walked, eyes staring at the ground, he felt himself collide with something. "Hey! Watch it!" The person he walked into exclaimed.
"Yeah. Whatever." Crue responded indifferently, walking around the person. He felt a hand grip his shoulder and spin him round, causing him to look up and see who it was he had walked into.
A set of indigo eyes glared at him confusedly. "The Hell is up with you?" Cardin asked. Crue blinked, not responding for a moment.
"Why does it matter?" He asked the beefy boy.
"Cause if you walked into me and I shouted like that you would've kicked my ass without a second thought." Cardin told him, crossing his arms. "So the Hell is up with you?"
Crue looked at the boy confusedly, wondering if he was actually serious. He decided there would be nothing wrong with actually telling the truth. "Girlfriend broke up with me."
Cardin's eyes widened slightly, more than likely in surprise at the fact Crue had acquired a girlfriend. Cardin huffed lightly, eyes on the ceiling. He then broke his pose, and patted Crue's shoulder awkwardly.
"Shit's rough." He said shortly. Crue's eyes widened behind his glasses, unable to believe Cardin was being somewhat polite with him.
"Thanks." Crue spoke.
"Don't expect me to treat you like this all the time." Cardin warned. "You get one, and just cause of this. You're still a jerk of a Faunus." The auburn haired boy smirked lightly.
It actually managed to give Crue a chuckle. "Wouldn't have it any other way." He thought for a moment. "Cardin, why do you hate Faunus?"
Cardin face morphed into a scowl. "You don't have to tell me." Crue said quickly.
The bully turned to face the wall for a moment, before sighing. "Schnee ain't the only one with enemies."
Crue understood what he meant immediately. He didn't know the context, but he assumed that it had something to do with the White Fang. The Faunus copied the gesture Cardin had performed earlier, patting the boy on his armoured shoulder.
"Shit's rough." Cardin showed at ghost of a smirk at his own words being used.
"This doesn't make us friends, you Faunus fuck." Cardin grinned, stepping away from Crue.
"I sure hope not, you racist bastard." The Wolf Faunus smirked back. The two enemies went their separate ways after that, Crue feeling surprisingly better.
"Can't believe that fuck made me feel better." He laughed silently. He went to return to the cafeteria, but saw a head of green hair exiting the building. Crue turned on his heel, making a beeline for anyone other than Emeralds line of sight.
He aimed himself towards the dorms, hoping that he would go under the radar from the girl's blood eyed gaze. He was not so lucky.
"CRUE!" Emerald sprinted to the Faunus, the boy letting out a breath through gritted teeth.
"Emerald, I really am not in the mood." Crue said, turning round to face her. He did not even get to blink, before a hand slapped his cheek.
He blinked twice, before slowly turning to face Emerald, her red eyes staring at his as the slap had knocked the glasses clean off. "I-." Crue did not know what to say, the action having caught him completely off guard.
"This is about Polly, isn't it?" He stated.
"Gee, ya think?" Emerald said rhetorically, as Crue bent down to retrieve his glasses.
"What did she tell you?" He asked slowly.
"Does it matter? You broke her heart!" Emerald exclaimed. Crue noticed people beginning to stare. Crue's own heart began to clench painfully.
"Yeah well, hers isn't the only one not in one piece." The Faunus told her, causing Emerald to blink in surprise.
"What?"
"That's why I asked what she told you. I want to know what she said happened." He explained.
Emerald crossed her arms, sneering up at Crue. "She said you had a fight." "Physical." "And that you both said some stupid stuff." "I said it." "And then you said you were through, because of, look she didn't go into reason ok?" Emerald huffed.
"Most of that is true." Crue sighed, leaning against the wall of the dorms.
"I know that! Do you have any idea how late I was up consoling her with ice cream!?" Emerald smacked Crue's shoulder. The blow did nothing pain wise, but cemented her words.
"You helped her?" Crue asked, somewhat surprised.
"Of course I did. It's what girls are supposed to do. Mercury was no help. He tried to hit on her the moment she explained you had broken up." Crue's fist clenched at that, then released immediately, realising he had no say in who flirted with Neo.
"She busted his balls pretty bad. That also probably helped." Crue let out a short, dry laugh. Then again, he didn't need to worry about anything like that.
"And Cinder?" Crue questioned. Emeralds wince told him everything he needed to know.
"She's, uh, not good, with stuff like that. So she left it to me." Crue feared that Cinder did more than simply leave Neo in Emeralds care.
"I didn't want to end it." Crue told Emerald.
"Then why the Hell did you?" The dark skinned girl demanded.
"N-" Crue caught himself, almost about to say 'Neo' instead of 'Polly'. "Polly didn't go into reason. I'm not going to."
Emerald frowned. "Why not?"
"Why should I?" Crue growled. "Polly was closer to you, and she didn't tell you. Why should I?" He repeated.
He walked away from Emerald, back towards the dorms. "Hey! I'm not done with you yet." She called, stomping after him.
"Oh really?" Crue responded, spinning on his heel and towering over Emerald. The girl froze in her tracks, not expecting the Faunus to react. "Well I'm done with you."
Crue left Emerald staring after him, entering the dorm rooms. The mint haired girl stamped her foot in annoyance, turning and going back to her own dorm.
"Damn jackass." Emerald grumbled, stalking away, several people giving her a wide berth.
Back in the dorms, Crue was repeatedly banging his head against the wall of the hallway.
"God. Fucking. Dammit. You piece. Of motherfucking. Shit." The Faunus cursed out the 'Author' for putting him through this.
"I get to feel a fucking sliver of happiness, and what do you do?" Crue rested his head against the wall, his previous burning wrath now simply simmering.
"You fucking piss on it, kick it the fucking dick and then stamp on it." The Faunus lightly kicked the wall before him.
He sighed, walking away from his small anger management course with the wall. "I need to sleep."
He made his way to RWBY's dorm, eyes on the ground. His feet turned on autopilot bringing him to the room that he had been living in for the past two months.
He took out his scroll, opening the room, seeing that there was nobody there. Well, no human.
"Arf!" Zwei barked, jumping off of Blakes bed and running up to Crue, panting as he put his front paws on his trousers.
"Hey Zwei." Crue greeted, reaching down to pet the dog. "Don't know why I was scared of you in the first place."
Crue closed the door, Zwei following after the boy as he rested his back against the wall, sliding down it.
Zwei yipped at him, instantly attempting to jump onto his lap, back legs wiggling uselessly.
Crue placed a hand on the dogs rump, pushing him up onto his lap. Zwei barked in happiness, circling on the Faunus' lap until he became comfortable.
He eventually settled down with a contented whine, as he rested his head on his paws.
Crue began scratching the dogs ears, as he took off his glasses and closed his eyes.
As he felt himself drift off, he could only think but one thing.
"Don't give me another one of those symbolism dreams, jackass."
MERRY CHRISTMAS YA FILTHY ANIMAL!
That probably means something else to the Faunus of Remnant. (Totally gonna have Crue say that at some point)
Sorry for the late chapter by the way, had exams this week. Hopefully they went well.
Anyway, Crue has some interesting dreams. That was kinda a shot I'm the dark, hope you enjoyed it. There might be more of that, maybe.
Anywho, hope you enjoyed the story, if you did, let me know, and as always
Until Next Time
-Friday