RWBY belongs to Roosterteeth and Monty Oum, both of whom I am not.
Chapter 2
Does he smile all the time? Blake mentally asked herself, seated on a small crate with her knees tucked up to her chest, her amber eyes following her new found friend's every move. Jaune was walking around his small little living space, happily humming as he picked up random things and either tossed them into a nearby box or throwing it near the door, a small pile of junk still growing as Jaune found more trash scattered about his living space.
"What are you doing?" Blake questioned, not bothering to move off the crate.
"Cleaning." Came the cheery reply. Blake rolled her eyes, more out of habit than annoyance. She would never be able to stay angry at someone as happy as the blonde.
"I can see that. I meant why are you cleaning?" Jaune looked up from his work, his grin still in place.
"If your home isn't clean, than it makes you grumpy." The blonde kicked a can over to the junk pile. "And if you're grumpy, it makes everyone else grumpy."
"What?"
"If people get grumpy, how would you be able to make the world a better place?"
"… That make sense." Blake nodded, her thirteen year-old mind seeing logic in the argument. "Want me to help?"
"Sure! Can you pick up stuff that looks like trash and put it into the pile over there?" Jaune asked, pointing to the door. Blake nodded and hopped off the crate, immediately spotting an empty bag of chips and went over to pick it up. She threw it away and continued like that for a bit until, finally, the room was clean.
"And… Done!" Jaune chimed, throwing the last piece of trash away. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"
"Nope." Blake said, plopping herself down on the blankets. Jaune walked over to her and sat himself down, leaning back to lay down on the covers. They both quietly laid there for a few minutes, a sense of accomplishment settling over them. Jaune cracked open one eye, the blue orb darting over to look at the girl.
"Blake?" He called, a cat ear notifying him that he got her attention. "How long have you been out on the streets?" Blake opened up one of her eyes at the question, shifting so she could look at the blonde.
"Why?" She asked, Jaune shrugging at the question.
"I wanna know."
"... I think a couple of months. Maybe a bit more." Jaune nodded at her answer and laid back down. "What about you?" She asked a moment later.
"Hmm?"
"How long?"
"… Three years…" Jaune muttered, shifting to lay on his side, facing the wall with his back turned to Blake. The faunus was silent for a moment, processing the information.
If he's been living out here for three years, then he must be one heck of a survivor. Blake absently thought, ears twitching. As she looked back at him she noticed that his shirt had slid up a little bit, revealing a diagonal scar that ran from his hip up until it disappeared under his clothes. He was still lying on his side, but a soft snore revealed that he had fallen asleep. Blake smiled before reaching over and patted his back. She settled down into the blankets, figuring that now was a good time as any to take a short nap.
"Run, Jaune!" Blake yelled, looking back over her shoulder to see the blonde scrambling away from an angry shop owner.
"Come back here, you little pests!" The man yelled, brandishing a broom over his head as the two street urchins scampered away with their arms full of bread. "I'll kill you ya little sh-"
The rest of what he was saying was lost as the duo darted through the crowd, taking advantage of their smaller bodies to slip between the legs of passersby.
"Take this next turn!" Jaune called out, spying the opening of an alley a few meters away. Blake skidded to a halt and darted through the alleyway with Jaune following suit. A brick wall stopped any further progress.
"Jaune! It just stops!" Blake yelled, a bit annoyed at the obstacle.
"Relax." The blonde soothed, going over to a few planks of wood. "I know a shortcut. Hold these for me, please?" Jaune plopped his bread into Blake's waiting arms and quickly shifted the wood, revealing a hole placed in the wall. He beckoned the cat faunus forward and placed the planks back as she stepped through.
"So… How do you know of all this stuff?"
"Three years, remember." Jaune reminded her, taking the loaves of bread that Blake handed back. "I know a shortcut to get back home. Let's go." He tucked the food under one of his arms and used the other to grab his friend's hand. He gently lead her through the rest of the building, reaching the far wall with yet another hole, but smaller than the last, forcing the two to crawl on their stomachs.
"Why are there so many holes?" Blake mumbled, wiggling through the last part of the small passageway.
"I make 'em!" Jaune chirped, reaching out a hand to help the cat faunus up, before dusting himself off. "Or I just find them! C'mon! This way!"
"So... What are you doing?" Blake asked, perched on her crate again while Jaune rushed around their, now shared, living space. The blonde picked up a small pole before shaking his head and throwing it aside.
"Trying to find something." Jaune muttered, sifting through a small pile of miscellaneous pieces of wood and piping.
"For what?" Blake jumped off of her crate, her curiosity now piqued.
"Fishing." Jaune answered, looking through the final pile in their room. "Where is my... Here it is!" He victoriously held us a long metal pipe, string attached to one of the ends with a makeshift hook tied to it. "Now we can- Blake? Blaaaaake?" The girl was standing in the middle of the room, eyes sparkling with wonder. She was completely still, which confused Jaune because she was moving around just fine a few moments ago. He started to wave his hand in front of her face, trying to get her attention. "Blak-'
"WE'RE GOING FISHING!?" Jaune jumped at her outburst, managing to keep a grip on the fishing pole. "LIKE WITH ACTUAL FISH!?"
"Um... Yes?" Blake squealed and grabbed Jaune, dragging him towards the door.
"What are we waiting for?!" Jaune looked weirdly at Blake, having never seen her so happy.
"D-do you- Ow!- even know w-where- Ugh!- we're g-going?!" Jaune managed to get out, the faunus immediately stopped.
The two thirteen year olds found themselves in the forest surrounding the city of Vale, Blake humming a tune as Jaune led the way, whacking undergrowth away with his metal pipe. They hiked through the Emerald Forest, following a small stream making its way through the trees, remarkably clean for being so near a major city.
"Are we there yet?" Blake asked, amber eyes darting to look at the forest around the two, the faunus never having ventured into the woods.
"Almost." Jaune muttered, a little annoyed, Blake having asked that question about a bajillion times since they started their little excursion. "A little bit further."
"You said that last time." Blake pouted.
"You asked ten seconds before this." Blake pouted harder. "We're here." Blake immediately rushed forward, crashing through some loose shrubbery, and found a small pond, only a few meters across, but deep enough to house at least a few fish. The stream they were following emptied out into the pond, lightly rippling the surface. Blake's eyes widened at the sight of the beauty that nature saw fit to make, which only widened further at the sight of a glistening body of a fish swimming just beneath the surface of the water.
"DID YOU SEE THAT!" Blake squealed, latching onto Jaune's back, who stumbled at the sudden weight, and pointed to the pond. "THERE WAS A FISH!"
"OH MY DUST!" Jaune panicked, managing to stay upright. "DON'T DO THAT, BLAKE!"
"But there was a fish..." Blake pouted a little before regaining her grin and slipped off of Jaune's back and dashed to the side of the pond, staring into the waters with sparkling amber eyes. Jaune stared at her for a couple of seconds, still a bit weirded at the sudden energy from the normally quiet cat faunus. He shook his head, figuring that it was because she was a girl, and started to unravel the string looped around his pipe, being careful not to prick himself on the hook. He finished and set his homemade fishing pole down on the ground, away from Blake, and walked over to a small patch of mud near the pond.
"There should be some over here..." He muttered to himself, grabbing a flat stone from the ground and started to dig around. The blonde's efforts were soon rewarded by small, pink, wriggling bodies. "Aha! Found some!" He quickly grabbed a few worms and brought them over to his fishing pole, wrapping a one around his and dropping the rest in a small bucket that he managed to find.
"What are you doing?" The sudden voice made Jaune flinch, causing him to tip the pail over and spilling the worms on the forest floor. "Oops."
"C'mon, Blake! I just found those." Jaune grumbled, looking at Blake, who only rubbed the back of her head in response. They both knelt down to pick the worms up, only for Jaune to flick one at Blake's head.
"EEEK!" Blake squealed and jumped away, swatting at her hair to make sure she got the small animal out of her hair and glared at Jaune. "That was gross." Jaune just stuck out his tongue and flicked the hook of his fishing pole towards the pond.
"Payback." He chimed, grinning a little as the hook hit the center of the water. "And now we wait." After a few minutes, Jaune felt a tug and swiftly pulled on his pipe, grinning as he felt the hook catch on something.
"I think I have something!" He quickly yelled, ignoring the fact that Blake probably noticed the fact as she refused to take her eyes of him since he threw in the line. The faunus immediately sped toward the blonde, eyes gleaming as she caught sight of a scaled body being pulled towards the surface.
"I see it!" She squealed, practically vibrating with excitement. Blake felt herself start to drool, but ignored it, already imagining the delicious taste of the fish. Jaune heaved on the pole again, succeeding in flinging his prey out of the water. Blake immediately pounced on the small flailing body, her hands clamped around it's form to ensure that it wouldn't be able to escape.
"Relax, Blake. It's not going anywhere." Jaune scolded, taking a pair of pliers out from his pockets. "Move over, I need to take out the hook." The blonde quickly finished his task and pulled a small knife out from under his shirt, taking a moment to hand it to Blake along with some instructions. "Descale the fish please?"
"De-what?" Blake asked blankly, still staring at the fish.
"Descale it."
"Say it as many times as you want and I'll still have no idea what you mean."
"Cut off the scales on the fish." Jaune clarified, already sitting back down with his line in the water.
"Oh!" Blake spun the knife around in her hand, grabbing the now dead fish by the tail. "I can do that! ... Where do I put them?" Jaune pulled a tarp out of the back of his pants, tossing the small bundle to Blake.
"I'll go and catch some more fish and then we'll make a fire to cook 'em in!" Jaune shot Blake a grin, absently flicking the pole up and successfully landed a fish. "Got another." This continued for about an hour, Jaune catching fish, which he was surprisingly good at, and Blake descaling the fish.
"I think we're good, Jaune." Blake piped up, setting the knife down on the tarp alongside a pile of bloody scales.
"How many fish do we have?"
"Sixteen."
"What?!"
"Sixteen." Blake said again, getting up to walk to the pond to clean her hands before faking a haunted look on her face. "I know because I have the blood of all of them on my hands."
"... That sounds really dark." Blake shot her friend the maturest gesture ever created in the history of man. She stuck out her tongue.
"I live on the streets, what would you expect." Jaune shrugged, wrapping the fishing line around his pipe before walking over to the tarp. He quickly grabbed the knife and set down his pole before walking off to the surrounding forest.
"I'm going to get some wood for the fire!" Jaune called over his shoulder, already peering into the shaded depths of the woods.
"Alright. Yell if you need any help." Blake answered, scrubbing at the slightly dried blood on her hands. "Why won't this stuff come off." She grumbled. A couple of minutes later, all the blood finally washed off and she turned to find Jaune tending to a roaring fire, a couple of fish on sticks already cooking.
"How did you get that up so fast?" Blake asked, eyeing the fish.
"Would you believe me if I said magic?" After an unamused glare was sent his way, along with a threat of a punch, he put his hands up in a placating manner. He sighed and slipped a hand into his pocket and brought out a lighter. "I used this, Killjoy."
Blake nodded, satisfied with his answer, and plopped down next to him, mouth watering as she watched the fish cook.
"You really like fish." Jaune noted, reaching out and lightly spinning the stick so that their meal could cook more evenly.
"Hmm?" Blake stared at the fish, obviously not listening. Jaune sighed, an amused smile on his face, and turned back to the food.
"Nevermind."
... So... How's it been?
First and foremost on my list of things to say right here! I am so sorry. It took me forever to write this chapter... actually if finished it like I normally do which is in about two weeks, but I completely forgot that I had it done! I hope it is up to your guy's standard and I hope that you guys liked it!
Second on my list is the age of the kiddies. I don't know if I said it in the previous chapter, but the two that have appeared so far are thirteen. I'm saying that because I do not know if you guys had trouble gauging their ages and also because why not? Thirteen it is.
Third, I am making this work an AU. It was technically an AU before because Jaune wasn't living on the streets and he didn't know Blake at all when he first saw her, but what I mean is they are in basically a Grimm free Remnant. There were no Grimm ever in this universe, so there is no need for Beacon, which means that the two aren't going! Yay! *confetti and streamers mixed in with the wailing of people's dying dreams* But keep in mind that the will be going to a school, just not a combat one. When you ask? Probably not in this story. I'll make a separate story for that after I finish this one, a sequel if you will.
Fourth! You guys never cease to surprise and humble me at the same time, I got so many reviews, favorites, and follows from you guys from the first chapter alone, probably because of my other story, but oh well. I still loved it. Every follow and favorite is a compliment to me and my work and I love it. It's like a drug. Reviews are even better. I love every single one of you guys, even if I do not know you personally.
Remember to Review, Favorite, and Follow in any order you see fit! I will see you guys later! And stay safe!
~ChaosDemon1129