Hope you enjoy!
Ye Olde Faithful Advisor - Jjpdn
Mystical.
That was the first word that beckoned him as his eyes first opened to span the open skies above.
The vast red sea above contrasted the bright white stars that rained, like a torrential downpour.
Sense shook into him, however, as the ground beneath him heaved. His mind began to click as he rose to his feet unsteadily.
Uncertain eyes drifted around their surroundings, witnessing buildings that towered higher than his gaze reached, plunging into the sea of clouds above.
His eyes moved frantically, looking for the traces of the red skies from mere moments ago. None to be seen from the clouds and towers that seemed to not be there but a moment ago.
His attention was again demanded as another quake riddled the land, feeling the impact as fragments crashed around him.
His gaze quickly scoured the surrounding buildings again, as well as the new debris around him. "Wh-What?!" He was met with far more ruined visages than he recalled a moment ago.
At the behest of another, lighter quake, and his better judgment, he didn't dawdle on it, instead beginning to move.
His steps were hurried as can be while maintaining his balance, the quakes seeming to come every dozen or so seconds, their intensity appearing absolutely random and devoid of pattern.
A wave of force brought him off his feet as a remnant of one of the tall towers struck mere steps behind him, he in response tumbling forward with the momentum as he unsteadily kept advancing.
His breaths echoed in his ears, labored sounding, yet he couldn't feel himself tired, focus concentrated on his escape.
To where, his mind did not answer, yet a feeling seemed to push him in the direction he was going all the same.
Time felt like a standstill as he continued his retreat between ruined, crumbling vestiges. How long had it been, he could not even begin to presume.
Through it all, he would ever so often hear it, a horrible, creaking and wrenching sound, as though one had taken a Grimm's claw to a chalkboard a hundred times over.
However, change did come from it, as in the distance he could gaze it, but a semblance of different scenery.
Steps quickened still, despite the ground itself heaving and demanding he yield and bow,his intent so focused on reaching that distant possibility, he seemed to not notice the shift of the earth, and it seemed to not affect him in turn.
The buildings grew smaller the closer he came, until it seemed even the quakes momentarily relented as he nearly reached the edge of this forgone city.
As his eyes reached its outskirts, it bled into his vision, the familiar crimson sky that spanned all around.
And all around was most notably the case, the clouds having ended with the towers, refusing to drift away from them, as he saw the red sky carry on, above him, to the sides, before him, and even below.
A great cliff spanned the edge of this city, not a dozen meters from the edge-most building of this ruined city.
Startled eyes beheld it as he'd stopped barely off its edge in surprise, only having taken it in a moment before it was too late. His gaze could only wander below.
What gazed back was but an abyss. Not by sense of a metaphor, but a simple emptiness. A hole so vast, spamming the distance and depth, rendered black despite the open sky, and likely carrying on far deeper than his eyes could ever hope to reach.
Another quake shook as an explosive sound echoed from behind him, his eyes trailing back to see one of the stars from before trailing through one of the edge-most buildings and impacting the earth.
The structure, for all of its impressive grandeur, sundered under the star immediately, crumbling down to bits with an awful sound as the star following through to the ground delivered a massive quake.
It brought him off the ground, barely avoiding being thrown off the edge as he saw fissures crack across the landscape.
Then he heard it again, that awful, wrenching sound as he brought his eyes above, above the clouds around the buildings, unable to stop his sights from wandering upwards due to their abrupt cut off.
He saw the peaks of these spires, and he saw the source of that noise.
The tower he gazed at bent, unnaturally so, not from its foundation giving way, but near its peak, as if it was being twisted like clay. Metal and stone groaned as it twisted in ways it shouldn't, all while bits of it broke off and fell, though by what means, he could not tell, for he could see no star impacting it.
"...What…" All he could do was to keep his eyes on it until it finally stopped, now truly bent in an impossible way. He could only wonder if the case was the same for those buildings further inward this crazed city, hidden from his sight.
As the earth heaved again, he took himself out of his stupor, gazing over the surroundings once more.
A quickened jog had him moving around but further from the edge as he surveyed what he could. Yet all there was, was more of the same, devoid of sense.
He had no means to tell how long he trekked for, but he brought his attention to how the crevice spanned, how it seemed to arc as he ran along it, not at all even.
As he gazed back at it, he could only feel confusion hit him. It was not just alike a cliff cut off at the edge of this city of ruin. Rather, as he gazed at the more outward bits of this circular, or perhaps semi-circular built city, he could see the crevice continued even beneath.
How far? He did not have any proper angle to tell in full, but as far as he saw, it seemed to carry on below it at least for a ways, almost as though hollowed out.
How that made any sense, he did not stop to wonder. He'd already accepted that it seemed as though this world was all but devoid of it. His final reassurance in that had come shortly after, as he found himself frozen still, gazing above.
Another star came from the sky, from the floating fragments of the half-destroyed moon above him, moving in what looked as though a guided trajectory and disappearing beyond the clouds, a quake wracking the land not long after.
He felt his legs finally give out as he fell and sat to the ground, expression wide eyed. "No way… Where… Where do I even go?" Every word was shaky as the world crumbled around him. And, finally having slowed down, he realized how shaky even his breaths were.
"What am I…" His expression shifted however, "Where are you? Who are you!" Anger washed over him as he screamed to everyone and no one. "What are you! What do you even want from me!" He kept demanding as he rose to his feet, but none answered his cries.
There he stood, expression uncertain, breaths slightly quickened, seemingly from his display of anger. He gazed all around, then to his hand. "No, I know… I remember. It's just a dream. Just… a nightmare." He then pinched his arm, though whatever effect was expected from that, none came.
"Of course," He gave a wry smile. "Can't ever be that easy, huh?"
His attention was beckoned elsewhere however. "...? A voice?" he looked to the far distance down the edge of the cliffside city.
He couldn't make it out, not at this distance, nor with the eerie reddish hue everywhere, but details aside, he was sure he could see a silhouette there.
One that moved! He felt excitement at the prospect. Was this new, had it happened before? He didn't bother thinking for more than a second before he began to move to the figure.
It was there. It was moving, making sound. Did it appear to be looking at him, calling to him?
He was ready to break into a jog, get there as soon as he could. However, that's when he noticed he felt sweltering, as he registered something bright in his peripheral. He felt the blistering heat for but a moment before the lunar fragment impacted where he stood.
Jaune was sat in his bed in the dark of the room, expression blank as he seemed to contemplate something for several long moments. Finally after a while he got up with a sigh, though his steps were slow and cautious, and he couldn't help but go to gaze out his window and search for the moon.
So real, he could only think how it felt so real, but was that not what a dream was supposed to be like?
He considered taking a walk, though warranted against it at this hour, but still chose to go out of his room, perhaps to get some water or something. Anything to get his mind off it.
A short while after as he was returning glass in hand, he met his sister in the hallway. Much like the last one from a few nights prior, he'd come upon Cecily, the youngest of his older sisters, his senior by a year.
With blonde hair that matched his that carried slightly under her shoulders, a head shorter than him and eyes a slight darker blue than most of the rest of the family, she was the one he got along most with. Or perhaps that was wrong.
Rather, she was the one who he hung out with most, among his sisters. Saphron and Ember were quite a bit older than them, so they didn't always align as much in interests. Saphron was also often practically playing the role of a second mother as the oldest, looking out for all of them, possibly even too much. Meanwhile Ember, while not irresponsible, would joke and tease too much, and the two of them tended to contrast each other such that they'd constantly argue back when they were younger.
The younger ones, meanwhile, well, were far apart in age from them. He and Cecily played with them and everything, but it wasn't quite the same playing field so to speak. It was alike how Ember and Saphron were to him and Cecily, he assumed.
Where they would hang out with their younger siblings, play games, let them win, praise them, when they were with each other, Jaune and Cecily, much like Ember and Saphron, would at times get competitive, debate and even argue. They were on more an even playing field so to speak.
It was why even now glum after the nightmare, he couldn't help but find it amusing that twice, or if he recalled right even thrice in a row now, she'd met him right after said nightmare.
His mind being alert now after the rude awakening, even attempted to jump to paranoia as to such coincidence, but he waved it off. His room was right by hers, after all, their beds against the same wall, even. He didn't know if he'd woken up with a yelp or any of the sort, but it wasn't impossible that that could've been the case, and she'd have heard him and come check on him.
"Hey!" He said quietly, though forcing a cheery tone. "It's a bit of a stretch, but if the kitchen's what you're after, it's free now." He raised the glass of water in his hand.
"...Are you sure that's everything?" She began as he was about to walk past her.
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"...It's better to talk. Keeping it bottled up, that won't help you any." And on that note, while she hesitated each time she spoke, she herself was a lot more talkative than last time.
"No, no, it's all good." He was quick to wave it off. "Honestly, I've been thinking about this idea for a painting I have, and it's been keeping me restless, that's all. No need to overthink it." He walked past her. "Well, I shouldn't hold you up."
"...Alright. Good night." With that they parted ways as he returned to his room. Unluckily, the nightmare followed through again, twice more that night. In the morning, he'd have lied if he'd said he didn't feel groggy and cranky, though he was used to suppressing it at that point.
He noticed Cecily seemed to have the slightest semblance of bags under her own eyes though, if he wasn't as used to seeing his own so often, he'd have missed them for sure.
He hoped she wasn't having any nightmares of her own, one among them was already too many. She was stressing over college applications already, and the therapists had told him before that stress can lead to loss of sleep. He hoped he wasn't the reason for it. Possibly waking her and worrying her over it all?
He made a mental note to pay attention to that as he gathered his things and prepared for the park. After all, Neo had sent him a message and she barely ever described anything 'urgent' unless it was related to ice cream.
The chirps of birds and laughter of children carried across the park as it bustled with even more life than usual. The primary reason for that was the summer season, a time to de-stress and enjoy one's youth to the fullest.
And given that only slightly over a month remained until it came to an end, doubly so were youngins making sure to make the most of their remaining downtime. Thus one saw, admittedly mostly, a lot of young couples, for what better place is there than a park for a date, especially in a small town with not too much to do to begin with.
A pair among all the current visitors here could've probably passed as one in their own right, sat facing each other on the grass, though their attentions were taken a ways away from the sphere of romance or any of the like.
Jaune, specifically, was focused on giving the girl before him an odd look.
A contemplative look? To say he hadn't seen such on Neo would've been a lie, but it most definitely wasn't commonplace. Even less so with how she held a notepad in her hand and had seemed to be scribbling down things on there for the past half hour since they were here, glancing at Jaune every once in a while.
"Neo… Hey, Neo, Remnant to Neo!" She finally put down her notepad for a moment as she turned to him. "What's up with you today? You're not usually one to, well, zone out."
Neo seemed to think over his words for a bit, then, raising her hand, she waved him off as she continued with whatever she was doing.
"Harsh." He lightheartedly said as he rolled his eyes. "But seriously, Neo, come on. You called me here and said it's urgent. Come on, tell me what's up."
Neo looked back at him again, began to speak, and no words did come. She put her hands over her mouth in surprise, after which she shrugged and continued with her scribbling.
"Oh ha, ha… You know what I meant. I'm used to you planning things, but you really have to give me some details at least sometimes."
Looking back at him yet again Neo stretched out one arm to the side, then flexed it.
"...Yeah? You're strong, yes?" Jaune smirked. "Can't say you're managing the humble part though, with-"
Neo shook her head annoyed, then pointed to him.
"Huh? Oh! You want me to- well, I mean, you know, I'm not really the strongest arou-"
Neo signed out some words and then tapped her hand against her foot in an urging motion, as though to say 'chop-chop, hurry now.'
"I am not getting stage fright, it's literally just flexing an arm, here." The moment he'd followed through with her request, before he'd even noticed, her hand was already on his upper arm.
"Huh?" He was surprised at the action, though Neo seemed nonplussed as she squeezed it, then retreated her hand and gave a contemplative look again. After a few moments, she made a 'so-so' gesture as she wrote down some more things on her notepad.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean!?" Jaune protested, though in exchange, all he got was a roll of her eyes. After that, she seemed like she quickly checked off a few things by the motion of her hand, giving herself a satisfied look as she put away the notepad.
"So, will you tell me what that was actually about?"
'We'll talk about it later.' She signed out, and then seemingly questioned him in his own right.
"Oh, yeah, I did say I also had something I had to talk to you about. Well, it's…" Jaune looked around the park nervously. "Man, it's a really nice day for a picnic, huh?"
"Oof."An annoyed poke on his forehead returned his sights forward. "Alright, sorry, sorry. What I meant to say was, well… Wanna hang?"
Neo gave him a blank, looked around them and back to them, then raised an eyebrow.
"Haha, yeah, well, I guess I meant, wanna come over to my place?"
As her eyebrow couldn't even rise further, Neo instead settled on giving him an incredulous look.
"I mean, hey, you invited me over to your place, sort of, so you know, thought I might as well invite you over in turn, right?" He gave a weak chuckle as he scratched the back of his head.
"Ouch, Neo, that's annoy- stop." Neo pulled away her hand after one last tap on his forehead for good measure, with a few parting words signed out. "Geez, yes, I am right in the head."
Jaune sighed, "Fine, truth is, I fucked up- don't 'what's new' me here, I'm being serious! I was in trouble yesterday, about yesterday, and well I salvaged it but… I might've panicked while doing that. And I might have made a new problem instead."
Neo rolled her eyes and simply shrugged.
"Yeah, well, it kinda is a big deal. I may have told them about you somewhat - uh, just partially. I mean I guess they technically just know you're a girl and that we hang out," 'And oh boy if that isn't enough for Mom and Dad already…' "but yeah, just - ah. Well, I technically did- h-hey, what do you mean 'get on with it'? You know, fine then! I may or may not have implied that going out with a sword and all that stuff so early it was practically still night was to impress you. There, I said it! Happy?" Jaune threw out his arms to the side exasperatedly.
Neo placed both hands over her mouth, surprised eyes gazing at him as eyelashes were fluttered nervously towards him.
"Oh har-dee-har." Jaune rolled his eyes. "Well, I guess I should be glad you're not angry about it."
It was Neo's turn to roll her eyes as she waved him off.
"Well then, will you come? I know I can lie that you can't. Heck, maybe you're suddenly on a Summer vacation. But I think excuses will just backfire at this point." He began twiddling his thumbs nervously. "So yeah… would you like to come over this Saturday? It'll probably get awkward, but-"
Neo simply waved him off as she then smirked and gave him a nod.
"Thanks," Jaune gave her an amused huff. "Though I'd warn against waving them off so quickly. The entire Arc Family will come down on us, you know? Can't guarantee if we'll even survive the day." He gave his own smirk.
Neo yet again rolled her eyes and waved him off, then giving him an 'a-ok' sign.
"Geez, I was only half joking there, so don't say I didn't warn you." Jaune then gave Neo a look that had her quirking an eyebrow again. "Come on, you can't go all 'What?' on me this time. I came clean, so it's only fair."
After a roll of her eyes, she signed some words.
"Training? You mean for…" He couldn't help but let through a hopeful tone. "Do you really think I could become ready in this much time?"
An immediate shake of the head in denial.
"A-Ah," Jaune couldn't help but flinch at that. "So you're saying it's… hopeless then, for me to pass? Though yeah, I guess that's obvious," He gave a wry smile. "For all my talk, I've nowhere near acted to actually be prepared, huh?"
To his weak smile, she simply gave a calm expression as she signed out some more words.
"What? You just said I'm not ready for it, Neo, but now you're saying I can pass?"
A nod.
"You don't need to console me, really. The fact that you considered it and tried means-"
Another shake of the head and a few words signed back in response.
"But how can I be able to pass it if I'm not ready for it?"
Neo shrugged, then brought a finger to her lips as she thought for a few moments, before adding a bit more to the response.
"So you're saying I can't manage it, but wing it anyway?" It was Jaune's turn to give her an incredulous look. "Just prepare as much as I can and try to brute force it? Even though something like that should - would never work?"
'Yeah, why not give it a shot? What do you really have to lose?' Was her nonchalant reply, though what followed really struck him. 'If not now, then when? When do things start to change?'
It left a bitter taste in his mouth. 'I'll be a huntsman, I'll be a huntsman!' he kept on saying - no, nagging. But when would his first step actually come? It was true, he'd decided on it late. It likely wasn't off to say that most fledgling huntsmen were pushed down that path early on by upbringing or parents.
His family had grown up normal in contrast to that. The culture more open, varied, not solely on huntsmen. Even he recalled how he'd said he'd be a great musician back at five and six. To be a huntsman, that had come not long before he was already ten. Though he wasn't wishy-washy with it, he never let go of it since then… right?
He felt a pit in his stomach. 'What did I really even do all till now?' He was told it was too late for him, true, he was young, yes, but even so, had he ever acted to prove that wrong. To prove himself still within reach of this distant goal? Even now?
He locked eyes with Neo, and where she was often one to show whimsy and mischief, her gaze was now serious. Though it held that oh so common curiosity of hers, expectant of his answer.
"I guess you're right, huh? So much for all my barking, but when did I really show any bite…" 'He was clearly thinking now, of how many times he'd chosen to talk yet acted naught, how many times there was room for a step forward, yet he'd hesitated.' "It's gotten too late for it, it's just sadly not something that can work anymore - oh no, I'll be a huntsman- Ha!" He surprised himself at the sardonic chuckle he let out.
"Then why didn't I take the first step? I could fail since it was too late?" He sighed. "Like waiting made it any earlier, I just kept extending the distance myself, like here and now, ready to do it again. But if I'm always at a stand still, when does something happen? Even if it's scary, if I don't move forward myself, nothing will change. I'm scared of failing, Neo, but… if I don't try, that's no different, huh?"
Neo simply responded with a small smile.
"Yeah… I think I, well, not always, but for a long time, I knew that. I was afraid. Mom and Dad were right, I'm not ready for this at all." Despite his words, he wore a smile. "So I should stop playing pretend and give up at this point."
He stood up to his feet as their eyes remained locked. "But it's still eating me from inside a bit. A dream is supposed to be something we reach out for, and I don't stop before having done so at least once myself. And not to mention…"
He extended a hand to her. "To try it last moment, under such absurd circumstances, Neo, an idea as stupid as that would be something I come up with, though I doubt I'd have had the guts to go through with it." He smiled at her. "Yet you chose to do that so you can push this big idiot to at least give it a proper shot, for better or worse."
She took his hand as she stood up. "So how can I call it quits yet? I've wanted this for so long, to give up without even trying would be too sad. And now even more so, with you pushing me, actually trusting in me, I'd be insulting you if I didn't trust myself at least half as much, right?" She put on a prideful expression as she nodded matter-of-factly, yet her smile did well to ruin the facade.
"Thank you. And sorry again to impose on you, but Neo, I'm tired of waiting, and even more of being an idiot, so, will you join me in trying something really dumb?" Neo's grin was wide in response.
"Man, I was way too cringy just now, huh?" He almost pouted at Neo's silent laugh in reply.
"Man, so mean, throw me a bone at least." He smiled as he felt as though a weight was lifted. It was refreshing. "But you already have. So whatever you have in mind for training, I'll follow through with it. I entrust myself to you, oh wise master." He gave a slight bow as he closed his eyes and clasped his hands before himself.
Neo rolled her eyes, but looked excited all the same, grabbing him by the arm and tugging him along before he could even react. "Woah- Neo! Too sudden, you gotta stop doing thi-" They'd already moved off to the side, having not needed to gather anything since they'd been stuck on discussions since the start.
Neo pulled him into a big bush within which both of them ducked and disappeared, which would most definitely have come by as suspicious to any onlookers. However, if one were to peak and see, they'd be long late to see any soul there, the two of them already lost in their own self-appointed task far away in the city of Vale.
A woman hummed as she moved across the halls of her fairly larger, yet still often too cramped for its too many residents home. Taller than any of her children, she towered as high as her husband, eyes dark blue like the ocean and golden straight hair that carried on halfway down her back. Much like her husband, her face's complexion and barely few wrinkles gave her a look that belied her age.
She'd spend the last hour or so with her first ever grandchild before then tucking him in for his noon nap, having gladly volunteered so that her eldest had a chance to spend some time with some of her sisters and properly had a chance to introduce them to her wife.
Her mood was through the roof even now, a few days after they'd arrived, given last they'd seen them was since before he had been born.
Even so, as she entered her and her husband's bedroom and left the baby phone that'd alert them if Adrian awakened, she couldn't help but have her smile turn ever so slightly saddened as she turned to her husband, sat on the bed. Going up to and sitting beside him, she began. ""My conversation with him, it could've gone better." Am I right, Dear?"
"Writing my lines for me, I see?" Richard raised an eyebrow, though also gave his wife a small smile.
"Oh come now, I'm not that controlling… Probably." She giggled. After that, however, she let out a sigh. "Jaune, that boy… We can't say he didn't turn out passionate."
He smiled. "Ha, you're telling me! Now, if only it ended there, but…" He let out a sigh. "He's always been a dreamer, but it can't go on like this. He needs to realize there's a limit. There always is." His smile fell.
"I know, Dear, but I also understand how hard that is to accept. It's hard for me as well, you know. He's our little special boy, after all, much like each of our girls is our little special darling as well. We know they have limits, but sometimes even just thinking it makes me feel like I'm betraying them as their mother." Her own smile fell in turn.
"...Julia, do you remember it? When he first came up to us and said he wanted to be a huntsman, a hero?"
"Back when he was ten, yes. Why how couldn't I remember, he was so adorable!" Her smile returned, warm at the memories. "Even now, I think about that sometimes. And so do you, Dear."
"Ha, you've got me there! I think back on that a lot of times. Of how it was a good four years later than it should've been to really start him proper. And I think even more on how I didn't take him seriously for too long, and how it might've been different if I had." His expression seemed pained, yet it turned to surprise, and then a small smile as he felt his wife's hand on his own, and gave it a gentle squeeze.
She locked eyes with him as she gave him a smile of her own. "They were all like that, My Love, Jaune no different. Remember how he wanted to be a singer when he was seven? At eight he claimed he'd be the first to fly above the skies. And then at nine, when he found his grandfather's old guitar, he and Cecily were adamant that they'd be starting a band. You couldn't have known which of those truly would've stuck with him the most."
"...I know you're right, but still…" He closed his eyes and let out a long breath. "I just wish he'd have shown us more, given us more signs than simply saying a few words. Simply saying he wants to be a hero - haven't we all said and imagined that at least once when we were kids? But by the time he finally seemed to have begun taking it more seriously himself, it was just so late by then…"
He sighed. "It was just too late. And it is too late now. A huntsman who starts as late as this would have magnitudes more difficulty - and more importantly it'd be more dangerous than if he'd started at a reasonable time."
"It was why we refused, even when he finally realized he needed to act, my Dear." His wife gently squeezed his hand again.
"He was twelve at that point. I was fighting myself over whether I should do it back then, but then that blasted incident happened… I was so relieved our boy was alright, but he looked so vulnerable, plagued by those nightmares every single night, I just couldn't… and then even more time passed still. It was too late. It is too late."
"...Did you talk with him about that morning again?"
"I did. We talked thrice now about it. I admit, I let the distraction of that girl you've all been talking about recently carry away the first conversation. I just wasn't sure what to say to him honestly, so I welcomed it. I considered offering to sign him up for self-defense, I have a few times over. I know that'd be for the better, especially with him having his aura, but that boy is just too passionate. If I did, I'd be giving him both false hope and mixed messages on our stance on this."
"He's inherited his father's stubbornness." Julia smiled.
"Both of ours combined, more like," Richard chuckled as he held on to a weak smile. "I talked to him properly the second and third time around though. I made sure to lecture him in detail and for quite a while both times, so that he doesn't go doing something as stupid again. He listened quite diligently despite me talking his ears off, however, and I am happy with that. I just hope he doesn't take that lesson as huntsmen-related enough that he thinks we're now endorsing the idea of huntsman training. This stunt was even more reckless - if less embarrassing - than what he did last year."
"Jaune's too fixated on it, but I believe he can be reasonable. Besides," Her smile turned mischievous. "He's got reason to redirect his passion to somewhere else, or someone else, or so I've heard recently."
"Ha, of course you'd derail the conversation in that direction."
"Come now, don't keep me in the dark. Saphron didn't even want to tell me details and just told me to ask Jaune himself about it if I'm so curious." Her expression turned faux distressed. "Alas, they don't want to share with their mother anymore."
"Oh for shame, whatever shalt we do?" He said, voice dripping sarcasm.
"Oh hush, you! Now do tell, what did Jaune tell you?"
"Fine, fine, but I don't really know much more than you. By the looks of it, he does really seem to spend a lot of time with this girl. By the sound of how passionate he got, I'd say she's at least a good friend. But are they being shy or if they really do like each other? Ha, like I could tell that. Do you remember how dense I was with you?"
"Gives me a headache whenever I do remember, Dear." Julia stood up as she heard over the device that Adrian had woken up. "Though I remember hearing you be a lot more adamant and certain about how our little late bloomer is finally bringing a girl over as you announced it to the whole family."
"Remember, we took that drama course together, Love." He got up as they began leaving their bedroom to go to their grandson. "Besides, Jaune still pulled quite the stunt, after all. So it's only my right - nay, obligation as his father to embarrass the lad at least a bit over it."
The two shared a laugh as they left their bedroom.
Jaune's eyes kept darting as he trailed after Neo along the relatively empty street. Empty was indeed just relative as it still had more than the occasional passers by, and not half a minute would pass without a car passing along the road by them.
Despite Jaune's eyes wandering, this wasn't his first time in Vale. His family had gone there a fair handful of times, once or twice of those on vacation.
Most of the city might've not had towers scraping the sky at every corner like those who hadn't had the pleasure of visiting it assumed, but the vast majority of it had buildings anywhere from three to six stories tall, the occasional houses large and a luxury, only for those wealthy enough, as even before the buildings themselves, land itself held some of the biggest value in a walled in city like this.
Tiled house-like rooftops graced the vast majority of the buildings, far fewer with flat rooftops matching the more standard residential buildings of other cities. The stonework varied as well, not such that every second one was made of marble - that was a luxury for only few and in between, but just looking close was enough to see there was a fairly wide range of different stone used among the different buildings.
By design or not, that in itself gave the city a more colorful feel, and all together everything gave it a varied and bright look, contrasted by the seaside due to it being a port town. It was quite the sight.
Despite appreciating it, however, it was not new to Jaune and what demanded his attention stood further above. Beacon stood as its backdrop, from effectively all corners of Vale, due to its position and size the school stood reassuringly over it like a guardian.
Jaune couldn't help but let his eyes wander to it before again darting away, thoughts racing. It was crazy, yet they were actually doing this. He couldn't help but feel antsy at it all, so much that he'd almost distractedly barreled into Neo as she'd come to a halt.
"Ah, sorry!" He noticed her questioning look, realizing she'd been focused on some thoughts of her own. "Nevermind. So… we're here? Actually, where are we going exactly, Neo?" He looked around, of note the building before which they stood, though it had a rather old look about it, standing at three stories. It was fairly wide and didn't seem residential.
Neo pulled out a key from her pocket, unlocking the sole door Jaune could see on this side of it, as she then immediately entered.
"Wait, Neo…Wow." He looked around the large and spacious area - this wasn't just a room, it was larger than a floor of his house. More tellingly, from the weights, to dumbbells, to treadmills and way more types of other training tools that he had not a clue as to the name of, this gym didn't seem to be missing in variety. The training instruments themselves might've overall numbered few, but then again, he couldn't see anyone here, not even anyone at the counter by the entrance they were at.
Neo took a few steps forward, turned to him and spread her arms out as she grinned.
"Yeah, this is… This is quite something, Neo," Jaune took a few more moments to take it all in. "Don't tell me you own this place…"
Neo shook her head.
"Uh, please don't tell me we broke into this place?" At that she quickly gave an annoyed look, raising up and dangling the keys before him before putting them away and signing out something quickly and irritatedly. "Sorry, sorry, you rented it, I was just kidding! So… wait, when you say rented, you mean like-" A nod of her head. "Like, the whole place? Isn't that way too expensive?! I… don't think my savings will help splitting the cost…"
Neo waved him off.
"I mean, you say don't sweat it, but…"
At his worry she rolled her eyes as she signed out a few more words, then made a gesture above her head as though she was… doing something with a hat?
"A guy owed- and what? A hat- oh, a guy owed that hat guy - Roman - a favor! Oh boy, so is this place," He looked around, taking it in more so. "...Actually, has this place been used recently? It looks quite dusty, like a lot. I guess we'll have to clean it, huh?"
Neo nodded as she brought a hand to her chin and tapped away as she looked around.
"Hey, Neo," She brought her attention back to him. "I know we said we're doing this, but are you sure? Will this really be enough?" She rolled her eyes as she signed out a few words.
"Huh, sorry?"
Rolling her eyes for a reason anew, she pointed down with one hand, two fingers stretched down and the rest to the side as she wiggled the two back and forth.
"Ah, I see. You're right, step by step. If I rush it won't help us."
Bringing a hand to her mouth, she seemed as though she giggled, even if no sound had followed.
"H-Hey, I know it's been half a year now, but sign language is hard!"
She signed out something in response.
"Hey, what do you mean 'I'm too dumb to get it without the visuals'?!" Jaune gave her a scandalous look to which she immediately responded with a few more words. "'He did it, he got it', huh? Geez, ye really are of little faith." His voice carried an overexaggerated exasperation as he gave her a small smile.
He sighed. 'Thanks Neo, your distraction could use some work but I needed that. Right now, I need to stay focused. Step by step.' "Well, I guess we should probably clean this place up a bit. I feel like we'd catch an allergy if we used it as is."
Neo looked around annoyedly as she sighed and nodded, the both of them beginning to check around in the hopes for a janitorial closet.
It had been a few days since they'd first visited that abandoned gym, mostly cleaning it up and only really doing anything the last day, really just consisting of Neo running him through every equipment there and noting down how well he did. Or scribbling doodles. Jaune technically didn't know, he hadn't seen her notepad as of yet.
It had also been six days since Neo had first whisked him away, since he'd begun something he never thought he would have. Six days, Sunday to Saturday. That Saturday. Brother gods he hoped his family would show mercy.
It was late morning, nearing noon but not quite, as lunch was the most reasonable time, his parents had decided. He was sat at a bench waiting for Neo - to escort her, as they'd put it. 'I mean, I was gonna meet her and bring her over anyway, but why'd they have to say it like that? They're making it weird, aren't they? Gah!'
Before he could lament anymore in his thoughts a weak shadow, as though from foliage, loomed over him with the familiar clack of heels right behind him. He looked behind himself, past what appeared to be a different, completely translucent and plain parasol lacking the decorations of her other one - and hopefully the blade - with a white shaft and black handle.
Who he saw, however, was a girl standing as tall as Neo, same knee high white boots black pants to her usual brown. Where he'd also have expected two belts - a fashion choice he'd learned early on not to question her on - he could not see any by virtue of the white, long-sleeved button up shirt that went slightly over her pants, in contrast to Neo's usual top that left her entire midriff effectively exposed.
The sleeves were neatly folded at her wrists, gloveless hands at the end, and much the same, the collar of the shift was folded. The shirt was fully buttoned in comparison to her usual V-cut, and at the front of said collar rested a black bow-tie neatly tied, only a single of her many black beaded necklaces hanging from her neck.
And as if to further push the strangely formal black and white aesthetic, despite the face being undoubtedly that of Neo, evenly cut and well combed, purely black hair dipped just under her shoulders, her bang combed leftward and clipped by two pink barrettes slightly over her right eye, which like her left was a matching dark green.
"...Neo? Wha- When- How? Why?!" Jaune let out in a weak, drawn out voice.
Neo smirked.
Neo's appearance was based on her waitress one - which you can find images of on her RWBY Wiki page. It seems that, while she's taken on quite a few forms, when not turning into another, already existing person her most common and preferred choice appears to be black hair and green eyes.
Hope you enjoyed!