Dead Man Walking (Or Something)

by College Fool

Jaune only had a ghost of a chance of surviving Initiation. Thus, he didn't. A little dying is no reason to give up his life's dream of becoming a Hunter, right? Even if 'life' is now a bit late... (Warning: morbid comedy. Literally.) (Now posting how it should have died.)

7. (After)Death Note 1

Trick, or treat?

If you thought this was a new chapter, the trick's on you- it's not a chapter, but the much-hated author note to put this thing to rest. The treat is a heck of a lot of story ideas for a fic most of you probably forgot about already.

There's over 36,000 words of planning I drew up for a 'how the story would have gone', which is actually more than I spent writing what I did. That's a bit too much for one posting, so it's going to be broken up over a couple chapters. The concept sketches for four seasons or so, and then a whole bunch of ghost mechanics and character sketches and what more. The fun of design, if not actually writing a story.

First off…

/

The fic's dead, Jim.

(But how do we know it? How do we know it?)

Probably because it hasn't been updated in over a year, and probably because I'm here saying it never will be. That's not to say there isn't a little bit left to tell, but foor those occasional people who PM wondering if it'll ever be continued…

No. It won't.

But tis the season, and the holiday, and here's something for you to much on instead of candy. A bit of thoughts, and a lot more planning that never was.

/

The Spooky Past

Dead Man Walking (Or Something) was a short lived experiment between myself and Coeur to see just how long I could write a story if I tried to do what everyone else did and tried to write a story on the go. Could I keep it up? Could I plan as I went along? Could I avoid running out of steam and giving up after four or five chapters?

Well, I made it to six, and completed a solid arc, and I felt pretty proud of myself for having gotten that far. Meanwhile Coeur wrote 57 chapters, over 140,00 words, and we both feel a bit guilty for having gotten him into a story he had no prior intent of writing just for a bet. Personally I think he's just rubbing it in- I make excuses of real life work and stuff, and he knocks out multiple ongoing novels in the meantime as a hobby.

Starting sometime around when we were doing Writer Games prompts between us (which, sadly, stopped when Coeur had multiple ongoing novels at once- I blame From Beyond for irony's sake), the idea of 'if Jaune was dead from the start' took us in two different directions, but with some similar ideas. I never reached most of them, and Coeur went his way, but…

Ever wonder what it would have been like if I hadn't quit like a chump?

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The Machinations of a Plot

So, Dead Man Walking (Or Something) had a skeleton outline of sorts from the start. While Coeur's idea of a ghost Jaune was that Jaune would only be seen by one person for most intents and purposes, I took mine on the idea that ghost Jaune would be known by the cast, and compensated accordingly.

This was back before Season 3, so the Breach was still the Big Bad Thing back then, and the core plot of RWBY pretty short. The idea ended up being that while the story would handrail the core-plot for a little while, it'd start to diverge and go its own way around Season 2 with the ghost presence being the justification for a change of plans. Season 3 was obviously set-up for a tournament arc, but it'd be one of my own choice.

Since that didn't leave much plot to handrail, the story concept took on structure of general story arcs- major events of the core plot- with most every character of note having a separate individual plot tied to Jaune. So Jaune would have one subplot with Ruby- the only one who can hear him- and one subplot with Ren- the only one who could see him- and so on and so on.

The idea of these ultimately was that ghost Jaune, as dead as he was, would ironically end up closer to everyone than he would have had he lived. Irony, plus ghost hijinks. So many hijinks.

What sort of plot hijinks, you ask? I'm glad I pretended you asked!

/

Now, About That Story…

The story itself was intended to be one part morbid humor, one part character plots, and one part core plot to carry it all forward.

The core plot was the underlying narrative to push the hijinks forward. Since this started before Season 3 was really a thing, it was mostly drawn up with Season 2 in mind. Given the limitations at the time- we knew a tournament was coming, but not much else- Ghost Jaune would have gone from familiar to an increasingly divergent plot.

Season One was the familiar, with teams forming along familiar lines but then the plot diverging because of Jaune's, well, death. Or undeath.

Initiation you saw. It was to introduce the basic core mechanics of the ghastly ghost and some of the core cast tropes. Jaune's variety of ghost powers, from possession to puppeting, were displayed. The threat of Grimm was enforced to show 'ghost' and 'intangible' =/= 'invincible.' Key character plots, from Ren and Ruby as Seers to background shadowing (Nora) and foreshadowing (Jaune's life limit) were brought up. Finally, everyone had some character hook or comedy point come up, from Weiss's screams to Blake's appetite. It was an introductory arc, and resolved with everyone united in the Sisterhood and thus grouped together.

The second arc would have been the 'Early Beacon' arc, with Jaune trying to adapt to unlife as a ghost. Mostly light-hearted, Jaune's various mechanics and limitations would have been explored with a lot more ghost-related hijinks. The primary challenge for this would be Jaune trying to complete classes, and the primary antagonist would be Glynda Goodwitch, who intends to make Jaune fail.

Glynda- like most of Beacon's faculty- is aware that ghosts do exist. They're just rare enough that most people never see any proof of their existence, and chalk it up to myth. Glynda also knows that Jaune's residual aura is limited, and that his afterlife-span is limited. Glynda is of the position that Jaune should spend his remaining time at home, finding peace with his family and loved ones, so that he can move on. Ghosts who move on end peacefully and content- those who do not and run out of residual aura suffer painful, drawn-out perma-deaths. It is always better for a ghost to move on than end any other way. Forbidden by Ozpin from alerting Jaune's family directly, Glynda intends to make Jaune fail by whatever school rules and technicalities she can- namely, attendance policy.

The first real arc of Beacon revolves around trying to find some proof that Jaune is in class, and not skipping. Jaune's limits of possessing and moving objects that aren't 'his' is demonstrated, as Jaune lacks the energy to so much as hold a random pencil all class long. Jaune could float Crocea Mors… but weapons are supposed to be stored outside of combat class, and Glynda bans Jaune from making an exception. Therefore, the friends have to find some substitute, and go through a comedy of errors with an alternative.

Various efforts include- a floating sheet (too heavy), flipping Glynda's skirt (too brazen- and Glynda's semblance can throw Jaune away), a coating of dust (it works, but sticks to walls/desks and eventually explodes when Ruby sneezes), and puppeting skeletons/anatomy dolls from a physical health class.

The capstone moment is when Jaune possesses some of the Grimm mannequins from Professor Port's hunting expeditions. Complete with the awkward/surreal scene of Jaune-the-Beowolf getting in an elevator and walking around Beacon like nothing's amiss, even as students are freaked out, the measure works out… mostly. Jaune is made to participate in Port's 'reenactments' of his tales for extra credit.

Jaune's 'body,' at the end of this arc, is a teddy bear… the same sort Coeur used in his story From Beyond. This was always intended to be a mutual nod towards each other for coming up with the same idea. Showing up to class and doing a little jig on command (actually the Hokey Pokey- 'Jaune, put your right arm in, take your right arm out, put your right arm in and shake it all about…'), Glynda has no choice but to accept Jaune as present, and the rest of the school accepts that Jaune really is a ghost.

Jaune's teddy-bear body is frequently used, abused, and in need of constant repairs. It also gets the inevitable hugs and snuggles to make other students jealous.

The next focus was 'Communication'- some skits and jokes about how can Jaune communicates with everyone when only Ruby can hear him. What's a ghost to do when asked to answer in class, but only Ruby can hear him? When Ruby gets a sore throat and can't talk for a day or two, Jaune has to do everything else he can before Glynda calls him out in class and uses his non-answer as 'proof' of skipping. Writing with a pen takes too much energy to do long, while Glynda uses her semblance to keep him from using classroom chalk on the chalkboard. Charades with Ren are mixed. Ghostly movements lead to various characters talking to themselves and trying to ask Jaune to do things to answer yes/no questions. Ultimately Jaune gets an Ouija board, which becomes the go-to medium (badum tish) for the non-seers to ask Jaune questions when Ruby's not around. Jaune needs minimal effort to make the Ouija board work… though sometimes the friends nudge the answers to what they want to hear.

These were the sorts of light-hearted antics of the early phase- where Glynda proposes a challenge for Jaune to overcome, and the friends struggle through trying to find a means for Jaune to live up to the task. Zwei gets introduced early and is able to see Jaune through animal-senses. Jaune starts down the road of possessing electronics when Jaune tries to liven up his boring nights with video games since he doesn't need to sleep- and soon finds he can get 'stuck' in electronic devices or blow out electric circuits from possessing too hard. One electronic device Jaune gets stuck in is one of Blake's toys... before she uses it. This story was either have been a very strong T or a soft M after the initial arc.

Team RWBY even sets up a horror-video ghost cam in their room to try and catch proof of any Jaune hauntings or trespassing, after Weiss suspects Jaune of being a pervert ghost and spying on them in the showers. Optimistic, amusing, and not very serious, the story portrays ghostly Jaune as a guy prone to flippant witticisms and jokes, knowing he can get away with a lot. Jaune gets a reputation for joking- whether be it flipping Glynda's skirt when she tries to insist he's not actually present, or little pranks. Nothing serious, nothing cruel, and everyone's getting closer- especially when Jaune starts slipping into their dreams, even their dirty dreams, starting with Weiss.

Weiss is caught the next morning cleaning her sheets, starting a running gag of Jaune dreams and sheet-cleaning.

Things get less funny when the Jaundice arc comes, and Cardin gets involved. Cardin's still a bully as always- but when Jaune ghost-pranks Cardin to divert him from Velvet, it's personal. Most everyone laughs it off- what's Cardin going to do about it?- but they don't know two things.

One, Cardin isn't a total idiot. He got into Beacon on his own strength.

Two, Cardin is the latest in a long line of exorcists.

Cardin's grudge seems like something Jaune should win easily… until evidence pops up of Jaune's prank habit getting out of control. Creeps in the girl's locker room, thumbtacks in shoes, and worse. Jaune denies it, but who else could it be? Besides, well, everyone, but not one else is taking any credit.

Jaune starts to be viewed with suspicion, and claims he's being framed. His friends believe him at the start, but questions arise when things happen to them as well. Nora is Jaune's most steadfast defender, denying that he's a 'bad ghost.' As rumors circulate, Jaune slowly gets ostracized by the school, with students fearing him. The fear reaches a culminating point when, in a spar gone wrong, Jaune accidentally injures Ren's eyes and forces him into a blindfold for awhile.

A key moment happens on a night on the roof top soon after- where Ruby and Jaune occasionally go up to talk away from everyone else. Ruby's worried about the recent fear of Jaune, and Jaune tries to put her at ease even as he himself feels bad about hurting Ren. In a moment of closeness, Ruby shares her experience of hearing ghosts when she was a child- and the difficulties it brought. After her mother died, Ruby still heard Summer's voice for some time, but no one believed her. Mocked and called crazy, she broke down one day and demanded Summer go away and never bother her again. It was the last time she ever heard her mother's voice, and she's felt guilty ever since. Ever since then, Ruby stopped admitting she could hear ghosts, and pretended she couldn't hear them- until Jaune proved he was real. Ruby doesn't want Jaune to get in trouble and go away, and Jaune promises he won't unless she wants him to. It's a sweet moment, and Ruby's relieved that Jaune is a good ghost.

Until the next day the locker-room mirrors are marked with how Ruby is a momma's girl.

There was no one else there, and no one visible on the security cameras as footage shows a marker raising by an invisible hand. No one can actually see Jaune, but it's damning evidence all the same, and an instant schism between Jaune and Ruby. Ruby, hurt, promptly ignores Jaune, cutting off all translation between Jaune and the friends. Ruby is left crying, and shouts at Jaune not talk to her anymore. She never wants to see him again, and demands he go away.

Jaune obeys- and finds he can't speak to her later if he tries. In fact, he can't even get in her line of sight with any body. Jaune can't approach her, can't talk to her, and an overpowering force sweeps his ghost form aside if he even approaches her field of vision.

Unable to speak in his own defense, Jaune struggles to get his point across to divided friends. Jaune claims he was framed on the Oiuja board and in dreams- but it's hard to believe, particularly when other pranks start targeting Team RWBY and JNPR as well. Spilling dust up Weiss's skirt. Ruining Blake's books. Outing Pyrrha's 'secret' semblance after a break-in to the teacher's files. Jaune's trust and standing with his friends is ruined, until the only people giving him any benfit of the doubt are Ren, Nora, and… Blake?

Blake is the last member of Team RWBY to hold out a hope for Jaune, because if Jaune was the culptrit there's one 'prank' he has left to play- outing her. Jaune discovers Blake is a faunus very early on when he falls into one of her… less clothed… dreams. Jaune promised to keep both the dream and her race a secret- which, if he was truly trying to cause trouble, he wouldn't. Blake starts looking for alternative solutions, and when she checks on Jaune's remains for any clues… she finds them missing.

When she comes back, though, it's too late. Jaune is nowhere to be found, having left one final message of 'Sorry' scratched on the wall and no longer making any ghost signs.

The Jaundice arc comes to a close with Forever Falls, at the lowest of the low. Almost everyone has stopped trying to interact with Jaune, and Jaune has stopped interacting with them. No one even knows if he's actually there, because no one brought Crocea Mors along because no one could find it. When Ren is finally able to remove his bandages, he can't see any sign of Jaune in the room, or anywhere else.

Jaune is trapped within Crocea Mors, sealed by amateur exorcist Cardin Winchester, and being ghost-napped along with the rest of his body to be disposed of in Forever Falls.

Cardin reveals himself to be an Exorcist, and the cause of the troubles- mostly. What Cardin really reveals is that, on top of being an exorcist, he's also a Seer with a grudge against ghosts as much as faunus. Cardin's ghost-sense is the sense of smell, and Jaune bothers him, even before Jaune had pranked him. Jaune really was framed, either by applied semblance or Cardin's familiar (an animal-ghost spirit bound to a person, which Cardin would have kept hidden in his room after RWBY and JNPR missed their chance to see it at the Team Naming ceremony), and Cardin monologues the why. The long story is- Cardin is from a long line of exorcists, Jaune's a ghost, and so naturally an enemy. Dispelling Jaune is a good deed.

Cardin's means for that, however, are not.

Cardin attempts to destroy all of Jaune's ambient aura reserves. Team CRDL desecrates Jaune's body before scattering it across Forever Falls for the Grimm to devour. Cardin tries to destroy Crocea Mors, but can't. The sheath is too strong and cracks his mace instead. Destruction failed, Cardin binds Crocea Mors shut with Exorcist tools that keep Jaune from escaping, and intends to bury it in Forever Falls. Jaune will be trapped, forever, as his energy slowly fades to nothing. He'll go mad, and then he'll go insane from isolation, and only after everyone he's ever known is dead and forgotten will he finally dissipate into nothing.

The seal begins to crack, even as there's a disturbance in the bushes.

While Cardin taunts Jaune, the others begin to realize something's afoot as various pieces slide into place. Blake is the one to prompt it, raising how out-of-character the pranks Jaune is accused of have been from the pranks Jaune did. When people don't believe that, Blake vouches for Jaune's discretion by revealing her own faunus-secret, a reveal that forces everyone to consider when they're told Jaune knew all along. With Blake getting everyone talking again, Ren is finally able to see Team RWBY's ghost-cam footage from Team JNPR's room and confirm that Jaune didn't leave on the night he would have had to do one of the pranks. Weiss, finally, is able to provide an for the nights Jaune is alleged to have 'stolen' Pyrrha's semblance secret from the teachers, as Jaune was in a compromising dream with her that she was too embarrassed to admit earlier.

Collectively it becomes clearer that Jaune is mostly innocent, except there's still no proof that Jaune didn't break Ruby's confidence. Ruby is still upset, and more upset that everyone is trying to treat Jaune as a good ghost, and flees the group. Before they can follow her, Zwei makes a scene and they find parts of Jaune's body- desecrated, scattered, and left for the beowolves. Realizing that Jaune is in trouble, the team splits up- Yang and Weiss after Ruby, NPR after Jaune, and Blake volunteers to gather up as much of Jaune's remains as she can.

Totally selfless, that.

Back with Cardin, things go south when Cardin realizes He Fucked Up. The Ursa Major shows up and knocks them over, until it occurs to Cardin to use Ghost Jaune- still stuck in Crocea Mors- as bait and a distraction. Cardin throws Crocea Mors, the Ursa chews on Crocea Mors, and all it gets for its trouble is snapping the seal. It looks like the Ursa is about to munch on Cardin once and for all when it's impaled by Crocea Mors through the skull. Jaune saves Cardin, ala canon.

Except, when the Grimm dissolves… the ashes begin to stick to Jaune, even as Jaune begins to become be audible to Cardin. The black grimm ashes stick to Jaune like dust, giving him a black form with still-blue eyes, even as Jaune grows angrier and angrier at Cardin's flippant 'guess we're even' attitude. What Cardin did to Jaune, his body, and his friends… he doesn't get off so easy for that. In fact, he doesn't deserve to get off at all. Jaune takes a plunge from intimidating to downright terrifying, as he brandishes Crocea Mors at Cardin and his eyes turn from sky-blue to Grimm-red.

Jaune and Cardin fight, and Jaune has the advantage. Though the Grimm-dust gives him a form and strength, he has all the resilience of his ghost. Cardin's blows go right through him, letting him reform. Whenever Jaune's sword hits, though, Cardin can hear Jaune's thoughts and hatred through the temporary spiritual link of Crocea Mors. Jaune is mad- literally and figuratively- shouting accusations of defiler, desecrator, and malefactor for everything Cardin's done. Ghost-Jaune wins the duel, and has Cardin at sword-point where Cardin pleads for mercy. Cardin argues that he didn't kill Jaune, and so Jaune shouldn't kill him. Jaune raises his sword, in a moment of tension, before lowering it and backing away… and saying he'll leave it to the Grimm instead. Grimm come out of the forest, but instead of attacking Jaune they walk past the Grimm-dust covered Jaune until they surround him, facing Cardin. Jaune raises a hand, ordering them to kill Cardin and devour his soul first… and the Grimm obey his commands.

This is where Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha arrive, and Ren explains what is happening to Pyrrha while Nora reacts in horror. Jaune has become a Revenant- a ghost driven mad with rage and corrupted by the Grimm. Having lost his spiritual balance due to the defilement of his body, Jaune is unstable and has descended into madness as a result. Jaune has become the Bad Ghost people feared he would be, and is intent on murdering Cardin in revenge. The only way to cure him is… there is no cure, only the hope of breaking through his madness.

Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha fight Jaune and the Grimm to save Cardin. Jaune doesn't want to fight them at first, but is angry enough at the interference to duel Pyrrha. Pyrrha is resolute- apologetic she didn't believe him before, but resolved not to let him become a murderer (like her). Pyrrha is unable to damage Jaune, but is able to use her semblance to counter Jaune's ghostly possession of Crocea Mors even when Jaune uses ghost powers that now include limited telekinesis. Jaune's ghost doesn't have to be holding Crocea Mors directly anymore to make it fly or swing, allowing a wider variety of attacks that Pyrrha still counters. It's a stalemate while Ren and Nora clear the Grimm. Ren takes opportunities to use his aura-fist technique to knock Grimm-dust out of Jaune, lessening the corruption.

The battle reaches an emotional crescendo when Jaune gives up relying on his weapons and outright possess a Grimm instead, another Ursa Major. Without metal to manipulate, Pyrrha loses ground and is knocked away. Before he can kill Cardin, Nora throws herself in the way to catch ursa-Jaune in a bear hug. Jaune's exposure to all the Grimm ash-dust has given him the ability to be heard by non-seers as he comes into contact with them, and with it Nora- who's been the strongest defender of Jaune as a good ghost all this time- is able to make a heart-to-heart appeal to Jaune even as Jaune starts to bite her neck.

Biting Nora- creating a direct link between them- allows Jaune to see a flashback of hers and Ren's childhood, where Ren was a Seer and she was the only person who believed him. Nora believed him because he could see her late grandmother, who was Nora's last guardian and still looking after her from the afterlife. Nora believed Ren because Ren was able to infer things only Nora's grandmother would know, and so the two orphans had a spiritual guardian. Nora didn't put her Grandmother's ghost to peace, however, and she recklessly caused her grandmother to use up her residual aura life-force. As her grandmother lost energy she became senile, and in the end after saving Nora from a foolish mistake her Grandmother too became a Bad Ghost and a Revenant. It took an Exorcist to forcible exorcise Nora's grandmother of Grimm-ash with a lantern-like artifact, taking the Grandmother away before she could move on peacefully.

Nora bears a lot of guilt for corrupting her Grandmother into a monster, and has accompanied Ren since then trying to make up for it by helping ghosts be good ghosts rather than bad. This showed up in initiation when Nora and Weiss fought. Nora begs Jaune to be a good ghost even as he's biting her. The connection, and the realization of what he's done and becoming, stuns Jaune and shocks him back into sanity. Jaune's ursa possession stops, the red eyes turn blue, and Jaune-in-bear-form reciprocates the bear hug as he starts to stand down.

Cardin ruins a good thing when he uses the pause to attack Jaune from behind- crushing the Ursa's skull, but also knocking Nora at the same time.

Nora crumbles, bleeding from the head and the neck, and the Ursa dissolves into ash that reverses all the progress made so far. With Nora down, Jaune's rage returns as he turns on Cardin to finish him once and for all. Jaune's attempt at a final blow with crocea mors is stopped by both Ren and Pyrrha- Ren catching the blade bare-handed, and Pyrrha using all the magnetism she can to counter Jaune's ghost-force. Ren, Pyrrha, and Jaune have a tree way struggle as the two try to stop Jaune.

Jaune's murderous intent is less insane than before, and more of his righteous fury over Cardin as a murderer and defiler. Ren and Pyrrha refuse to let Jaune corrupt himself over Cardin, even they promise to hold Cardin to account. The promise of justice- and Nora surviving if they stop fighting now to get help- appeases Jaune's anger. Jaune emotionally crumbles from rage to sorrow- almost breaking down over how Cardin not only hurt his friends, but hurt him personally, as the defilement of Jaune's body is treated as analogous to rape. Jaune is unstable due to how the violation, desecration, and harm to his soul, and anger gives way to hurt and sorrow. Ren's promise to hold Cardin responsible convinces Jaune, letting him re-find his balance and regain control. Jaune the Revenant stops pressing, and the eyes shift back to blue for the last time.

Just in time for Ruby to show up on the sidelines.

Ruby is a late arrival, right at the end. During the fight she was sulking over the team's belief that Jaune was good, even as war torn between insisting he was not but wishing it was. Ruby sulks until Zwei finds her and brings her one of Jaune's bones. Realizing that Jaune is in trouble, Ruby wants to help him even if she's upset. When she realizes she doesn't know where to start looking, Ruby is guided by a ghostly whisper to the fight- where, without context, she sees what looks like Jaune trying to kill Ren and Cardin.

Ruby calls out for Jaune to stop- and that signals the end of the fight. Ruby's arrival might as well banish Jaune, as Grimm ash falls away like flaking skin. With a final wordless look at Ruby, Jaune lowers himself into the earth, scraping off the Grimm ash as goes where she can not see. The last Grimm dust is blown away over the cliff, until nothing remains.

Jaune is gone- not in Crocea Mors, not anywhere Ren can see, and still not saying anything... just as Ruby demanded. All that's left is an empty Crocea Mors, beside a comatose Nora who needs care.

Forever Falls ends on a down note. Even though the truth is out and Cardin is forced to confess, Jaune is gone and so there is no reconciliation. Cardin is in extreme trouble with Glynda, who reacts with horror at the news of desecration, and blames him for both what Jaune became and also what he almost did. Glynda is furious, but Glynda's wrath in their favor isn't worth Nora being hurt and Jaune gone. Ruby is left knowing Jaune was never responsible... but he's not responding to her attempts to call him now either. Moreover, the desecration of Jaune's body has destroyed much of Jaune's residual aura reserves. However long he had before, he has far less now. Some of the defilement can be undone by giving Jaune's body a proper burial with purifying flames, but Cardin took a significant amount of Jaune's afterlife away.

A chapter of Beacon without Jaune occurs, as life without a ghost is… different.

Cardin is expelled from school, both for hurting Nora and corrupting a ghost into a Revenant. Cardin's expulsion shows Ozpin on the bad side of the Exorcists, since Cardin was supposed to be a bridge-building between Ozpin and the Exorcist organization. It means more poor ties, but Nora's injuries are enough. Without Cardin, the ghost pranks stop, proving it wasn't Jaune all along.

Nora eventually wakes up, but is subdued when Jaune's absence is reported. Despite having a private funeral- and Blake throwing a farewell barbeque at the same time where she insists everyone eat her 'secret recipie'- Jaune misses his own funeral. The teams have to lie and cheat to claim Jaune is present for Glynda's attendance tests. Pyrrha raises a pen magenetically, Ren claims to understand Jaune's answers. Glynda is implied to know the truth, but pretends not to. Meanwhile, Ruby is left alone- no 'I told you so's, no whispers, and no ghosts. Ruby goes back to the rooftop, and discovers Cardin's room is right below, and understands what happened. More guilt, and more angst.

Ruby makes a verbal apology to Jaune- not knowing if he's there or not- but apologizing anyway for doubting him and accusing him of being a bad ghost. She regrets dismissing him, just like she regrets how she dismissed her mother, as now she suspects the two are linked. Ruby takes back what she said- including her demand that they never talk to her again- and hopes against hope that he'll talk to her now.

He doesn't. But someone else does.

A faint but familiar whisper calls Ruby's name. It's the same whisper that guided her in Forever Falls and even earlier during the Emerald Forests, leading her to Jaune both times. The voice never responds to her but guides her through the school with a single repeated word of 'come.' Ruby wanders Beacon, led by faint whispers, until she's lead to the kitchen. In the kitchen are pans and batter and all the ingredients for baking. Crocea Mors' sword is used as a spatula- the shield as an oven mitt.

The motion stops when she enters, Crocea Mors clattering on the counter- dropped as if catching someone red handed. Except there's no one to be seen.

Ruby calls out Jaune's name, questioning, but gets no verbal response. Instead, the oven door opens, and a tray with dozens of cookies emerges. The tray levitates to her as if being offered, and on the cookies is written a simple message.

Forgive me?

Ruby does, breaking down and giving Jaune permission to talk again. With speaking privileges restored Jaune apologizes for upsetting her, Ruby apologizes for making him apologize and driving him off when she should have believed, and Jaune possesses Ruby's cloak to give her a ghostly hug as they reunite. With tears of joy and relief, Ruby helps Jaune finish baking the cookies, which are an apology/get-well present for Nora as much as her.

The final scene of the chapters ends with Ruby opening the door to the infirmary with the tray of cookies. Everyone else look at her, before Nora brightens in joy as the tray of apology cookies picks itself up out of Ruby's hands and floats forward.

/

End Jaundice Arc

/

Author Notes:

The first of a whole lot of summary/planning notes I wrote for a Halloween release. I realize it's not Halloween everywhere now, but it is where I am, so consider this the extra treat for you. This section was review and backstory and what Season 1, the most planned season, would have been. Season 1 will finish tomorrow, and it includes more than just Blake and the docks.

The Jaundice Arc was ultimately one of the most thought-about arcs, as the entire part of Jaune turning into a Revenant played through my heads so many times in so many ways. It's really the lowest the story ever gets- where trusts are broken, the perpetrator is there, and where righteous anger mixes with vengeance for something dark and dangerous. The fight- and the moments of Nora drawing Jaune back to the brink of sanity- and then the struggle where Jaune is once more saved in spirit by his friends, only to disappear when Ruby arrives right at the end... leaving because that's what she'd said, even if it wasn't what she wanted...

It would have been tear-jerking, yo. Jaune disappearance would have been an entire chapter of guilt and angst. I would have made it hurt, if only so that the reunion would be all the sweeter. One of my favorite moments I wish I'd written.

Otherwise- a lot of important developments here, even if they aren't obvious at the time. Gradual world building still establishing new dynamics.

More to follow over the next few days. Treats almost every day this week, just for you. Let me know how you like them.