CHAPTER 9:
FAMILY AND FRIENDS
Two years later…
Ruby grinned as she put the finishing touches on her latest version of Crescent Rose. It was a joke amongst the students of Signal that Ruby spent as much time in the weapons workshop as she did in the classroom. Some wags (her sister included) joked that she would marry her scythe-rifle if she could.
Anyway, it was brilliant to have it now. She had been, admittedly, pants at all that combat stuff until Uncle Qrow offered to teach her how to use a scythe, though she developed her own version of his style. And it was from that teaching and her style that she developed Crescent Rose, a combination of scythe and high-impact sniper rifle, the recoil being heavy enough to propel the weapon and herself at high speeds, complimenting her own Semblance.
Still, she felt a little lonely. She hadn't made many friends in Signal, though Velvet and Coco were probably her friends there. But Velvet and Coco were heading to Beacon soon: they had graduated from Signal (the party was last night), and Beacon's new semester would start shortly after the upcoming holidays. Now she'd only really have Yang, and Yang would be leaving for Beacon the year after that.
What was more, her cousin Harry had been absent for long periods. Training, mostly, with the latest being under General Ironwood of Atlas. She was sad that he wasn't on the best of terms with Uncle Qrow, though the two had sat her down (on separate occasions) and explained why. But Harry came to visit whenever he could, and Ruby loved him as much as she did Yang. In fact, she was delighted when he told her a secret, one that apparently Professor Ozpin himself had told him. About their eyes.
Ruby, once she had the dangers of exposing the Silver Eyes explained to her, did keep it to herself. And she wondered whether there were ways to activate them other than trauma. Still…it'd be totally badass to just look at a Grimm and kill it…though using Crescent Rose was more fun.
Ruby also learned of Harry's Semblance, and she understood why he needed to keep it secret. But, well, she wasn't afraid. One time, she actually faced off against him…and it was fun. It was almost like playing with Zwei, only weapons were involved. And she knew, with the utter conviction and faith of the young, that he would never hurt him deliberately.
Uncle Lupin and Hermione, along with her parents, had moved, for the time being, to Menagerie, Lupin acting as Ozpin's ambassador to the Faunus there. Apparently Hermione had already made friends with a rather nice Faunus called Ilia Amitola. Ruby missed Hermione, as she was willing to teach her a lot of things about their world. Apparently they learned recently that she was not a werewolf (like a human Beowolf), though she had gained a taste for rare steaks and was aggressive when the moon was relatively full. Lupin had to be kept confined, with the help of a special medicine.
Ruby was just finishing things up when the door opened, and she heard a familiar, and very welcome voice. "…Not going to give you any dirt on Rusty or the Ice Queen. They may be hardarses, but…yeah, okay. I'll see you later. I'm seeing Ruby first. Apparently someone spiked the punch at the graduation, and Velvet's still feeling a bit delicate. And no, I'm not having her drink that damned hangover cure you gave me when you managed to get me drunk! I can still taste the raw egg and the tabasco. Fine. See you at home. Bye." Harry finally deactivated his Scroll, and looked at Ruby. "Hey, Ruby. Sorry about that, Qrow was bugging me about what things were like in Atlas."
"It's great to see you again, Harry," Ruby said, taking Crescent Rose, and giving her cousin (well, he felt more like an older brother) a hug. "How was Atlas?"
"Cold as hell. Makes Britain look tropical," Harry said. "Most of the people aren't much better. General Ironwood and his offsider Winter Schnee act like they have a stick somewhere very inconvenient…though they're not too bad once you get used to them. Actually, Winter's little sister Weiss may be going to Beacon at the same time as Yang. Winter's an absolute consummate professional. Qrow's right, she can stand to loosen up, but she judges me on my own merits. So did Ironwood. Plus, Ozpin trusts them. Oh, that reminds me. One of Ironwood's researchers has a daughter who's been kept a little isolated. She's about your age. She's a bit strange, but…well, I persuaded Ironwood to let her talk to you via Scroll message."
"Oh? Is she nice?" Ruby asked.
"Very nice, very friendly. A bit strange, but that's just her. Her name's Penny Polendina. Just don't be surprised if she can't tell you things about what she and her father are doing. Her father's doing a lot of hush-hush stuff for Ironwood."
"Okay!" Ruby chirped. While she didn't have many friends per se, Ruby didn't mind making new ones if they were nice…and didn't mind her geeking out over their weapons. Velvet and Coco were nice enough, even if Coco seemed a little critical of Ruby's clothing, calling it not quite 'haute couture', which Velvet translated as high fashion. Still, Coco's handbag minigun was pretty cool, and so was Velvet's camera thing.
She knew that Harry and Velvet were also pretty much boyfriend and girlfriend. They had gone on a few dates, albeit after Coco had had him fight her in a spar, apparently as a test of his intentions. Ruby had watched the spar, with Harry wielding a long spear-rifle combination (apparently inspired by Pyrrha Nikos' own, though the spear was more like a trident with seven points…making it more of a heptadent), which he called the Gae Bolg(1). He actually used it not just as a spear or a rifle, but also as a staff.
As she walked with Harry out of the workshop, Ruby asked, "You sounded nicer to Uncle Qrow earlier."
Harry sighed. "Yeah. We sort of buried the hatchet. I'm still not sure I can see him as my father. To be honest, I'd prefer to call Taiyang Dad. Padfoot's a bit miffed about that too."
Uncle Padfoot, as Ruby had the habit of calling him now, had become part of the family now. He got along better with Qrow, and was already being trained to become a Hunter as well. While Harry got along with Padfoot better than Qrow, Padfoot seemed a little disappointed that they weren't closer, like a father. Sirius Black had been, after all, made Harry's godfather.
Maybe it was because of knowing that the Potters weren't Harry's real parents, and yet Padfoot wanted Harry to be more like his adoptive father, James Potter. At least Qrow didn't try to make Harry like him.
"So, still working on Crescent Rose?" Harry asked.
"Yep. Finally got those parts I wanted. I'll let Velvet take a snap of it once I'm sure it works, but I've got a feeling in my gut about this one."
"As long as it doesn't bend like that one did," Harry said. "Dunno what Qrow was thinking, teaching you that style. Still, it looks awesome."
"Yeah. I just wish I could go to Beacon earlier," Ruby said. "I'm so jealous of Yang, going there after her next year."
"You'll get your turn, Ruby. Besides, plenty of Grimm here on Patch to slice and dice," Harry said with a chuckle. "We'll spar later. I want to say hi to Velvet…"
After he left Ruby for her to get ready to head back home, Harry walked along the corridors of Signal. He knew now he would never go back to Earth. While Earth didn't have problems like the Grimm, the White Fang, or Salem, here, he had family. True, the Tonks family were better guardians than the Dursleys, and they treated him well enough, but here, it felt like family. Taiyang felt like a father (something that annoyed Qrow, his actual father), and Ruby and Yang like sisters. He felt at ease here that he never quite felt on Earth, even with the Grimm, and what Salem did to him. Hell, he was starting to get a handle on his inner Grimm form.
Still, getting stronger for the time when he would inevitably face Salem and her minions was hard. Hell, training for a time under Qrow before he went back to teaching at Signal was hard enough, but the time he just spent at Atlas? Ironwood and Winter Schnee were hard taskmasters. Though at least they were decent people for military types. Harry even got to meet Winter's younger sister, and while that nearly went badly, as Weiss reminded him a little too much of Draco Malfoy for his liking, he actually managed to make decent conversation with her regarding Dust. He also corrected her when she made some remarks about Faunus, when he pointed out that he had one as a girlfriend. Winter had rebuked Weiss, and explained to Harry that part of the problem was the White Fang targeting their relatives. Weiss, he felt, had potential, if she could get over her prejudice and her sense of entitlement. Hopefully, Winter would help.
Another he had met in Atlas, quite by accident, was Penny Polendina. She had been running from her handlers when she, quite literally, ran into him. Eccentric as anything, Harry nonetheless grew to like her. Eventually, she confessed that she was a gynoid, the first of her kind, capable of generating an Aura, meaning that she had a soul. She had expressed curiosity about Harry's family, especially Ruby, and Harry had managed to wrangle permission for Penny and Ruby to exchange Scroll addresses from Ironwood. The general of the Atlesian Military may have been a hardarse, but he didn't lack a heart, despite Qrow's frequent accusations. Penny may have been initially created as a weapon, but Ironwood viewed her and treated her like a person. Plus, the gynoid wanted to make friends. He chuckled to himself at the thought of Ruby getting called up by Penny, to be greeted by her habitual greeting of "SAL-U-TATIONS!"
Shortly before embarking to Atlas, he had a rare visit from Raven. For all her aloofness and unwillingness to get involved with her family, his aunt did visit occasionally, mostly to see Harry and Yang, albeit only for brief visits of maybe half an hour. The first time it happened, Harry was not happy. But while his relationship was nowhere near as good as it was with Qrow (and even that was not the best it could be), he'd come to a détente with his aunt, who seemed disappointed that Harry had opted to work for Ozpin, but had accepted it. She also made an effort to reach out to Yang, or at least speak with her, and their relationship, while not ideal, was at least cordial.
In any case, he was going to see someone he missed for quite a while when he was at Atlas. He went up to the dorm room, and knocked on the door. After a few minutes, it was answered by an uncharacteristically dishevelled Coco Adel, the usually snazzy dresser looking the worse for wear, her eyes peering at him from behind her sunglasses. "Morning," she muttered.
"It's afternoon…well, just after noon," Harry said. Quietly, mind: she looked like she had a bad hangover, and while he wasn't Coco's friend, she was Velvet's. "Bad night?"
"If I find out who spiked the punch, I am going to end the very concept of their existence," the dark-haired girl muttered. "I woke up next to a traffic cone."
"I'm told by my godfather that it's not a good night unless you get a traffic cone," Harry said with a shrug(2). "Be thankful it wasn't with a strange boy. Is Velvet feeling any better? She sounded a bit…"
"She's finished worshipping the porcelain shrine for now," Coco said as she let him in, used to his presence by now. He took in the state of their dorm, and winced at the mess. Coco would normally never let such things happen to her decorations, and there were the telltale signs of blast marks from Dust. "Yeah, I know," she said, noticing his look.
Lying on the bed, looking a little bleary-eyed, was Velvet. Harry was by her side very quickly. "Hey, Velvet. You okay?"
"Not at all. Ugh, if that's what the morning after drinking is like, then I'm not doing it ever again," Velvet groaned. "I wished I was dead."
"You think that was bad?" Harry asked. "Qrow once took me for a pub crawl while training me on a trip near Mistral. Keep in mind, I'd only just turned 15. I woke up clutching a plush Nevermore toy that had Gae Bolg run through it, and a half-empty jar of sap from Forever Fall. How the hell I got that all the way out in Anima, I've no idea. The cure Qrow had me drink was almost as bad."
"Prairie oyster?" Coco asked.
"Prairie oyster," Harry confirmed, and Coco grimaced in disgust.
Velvet sat up on her bed, and Harry sat down next to her. "Maybe carrot juice might be better," Harry remarked. He was one of the few people Velvet would allow to make rabbit jokes about her.
Velvet smiled, albeit somewhat wanly. "I don't think I could keep it down. Don't you have an anti-hangover spell or something?"
He'd told Velvet and Coco about his magic not long before heading to Atlas, though he only told Velvet about his Semblance. "Nah. Sirius mentioned hangover cures, but he said they taste like cowpats smell."
"Shame, I could do with one," Coco said, rubbing her head. "Water and paracetamol only does so much."
"Nothing major happen while I was gone?" Harry asked, looking at Velvet.
"No," she said, shaking her head.
"Well, unless you count Serin(3) Winchester's son coming in next year," Coco scoffed. "Apparently he's doing a year here after being trained at home, before heading to Beacon."
Harry scowled. Serin Winchester was one of the top businessmen in Vale, and noted for his rather venomous anti-Faunus sentiments. Anti-Faunus sentiments were too-common anyway, but Serin was worse than the norm. He was rumoured to be the head of the local Jaeger chapter, though nothing could be proven. And Serin had a seat on the Vale Council. No doubt his son, Cardin, was a chip off the old block.
"Great, another racist idiot," Harry muttered. "At least Jacques Schnee's daughters weren't as bad as Serin."
"You met them?" Velvet asked.
"Yeah. Winter's a stone-cold professional, but she doesn't have time for anything like racism. As long as you weren't a member of the White Fang, she wouldn't care. Weiss is another matter, but given that the White Fang targeted her family, well…I think she just needs to learn more about the real world. She apologised when I told her I was seeing you, so I think there's hope."
"Oh," Velvet said, blushing a little. Then, after a pause, she asked, "So, how long are you staying for?"
"A couple of months, at least," Harry said. "I think Ozpin wants to wait for me to meet someone. Long enough to see you go into Beacon at least. Besides, it's my birthday soon, and I want to spend it with family and friends. And isn't it your birthday shortly after that?"
Velvet smiled at her boyfriend. His first (and to date, only) birthday present to her was a hard-to-find biography and portfolio of the famous photojournalist and her personal idol, Jaune Cura(4), a Faunus who had covered many events of both the Great War and the Faunus War shortly thereafter. Apparently Tukson bought it the day before Harry bought it from Tukson, and just as well: it was a collector's item coffee table book that was sought-after. It had, for example, pictures of the aftermath of the riots that sparked the war, a picture of Arthur Arc(5) wielding Crocea Mors against a Grimm set upon him by the enemy, the famous picture of the Vytal peace treaty, and General Lagune flanked by a pair of Faunus guards after the disastrous Battle of Fort Castle.
"Actually, I have some thoughts on that, Harry, and I'd like to talk to you about that," Coco said. She then flinched in pain. "Preferably at a later date."
"When you don't actually need to wear your sunglasses indoors?" Harry asked wryly. Coco just scowled at him, while Velvet giggled softly. He once made a joke about Coco's beret being a brain-eating parasite, one of many snarks he made about her fashion sense.
Still, he had a decent relationship with the fashionista. Though not as strong as his relationship with Velvet. There was something about the girl, a gentle, timid soul who nonetheless had a core of steel, that drew him to her. Then again, she was pretty much his first friend in this world, not counting his family. And he felt protective towards her. Not that she couldn't protect herself when she put her mind to it, but still…she accepted his magic and his inner Grimm with ease, the former more than the latter. She gained more self-confidence being around him, along with others like Coco, Yang, Ruby and, before she left for Menagerie, Hermione.
And in her, Harry gained a confidante, one who wasn't prejudiced by his reputation as the Boy Who Lived. Not that Hermione, or Ron, or some others weren't once they got used to him…but it was nice to have a friend that knew him for being Harry from the get-go. Plus, parents murdered by terrorists? Orphaned at a young age? Having people mostly unable to look past one thing (her ears in Velvet's case, and Harry's fame in his own)? Yeah, they've both been there.
"Do you want to take a trip to Vale tomorrow? Once you're feeling better?" Harry asked.
Velvet nodded. "I'd like that very much, thanks…"
CHAPTER 9 ANNOTATIONS:
So, a timeskip, to about just over a year before the events of RWBY. We'll have more Harry/Velvet soon. Plus, do we have a hint of future Nuts and Dolts?
Review-answering time! For all of those wanting me to implement more of Cu Chulainn into Harry…STOP IT. I am the author here, and Harry is going to be a reference to Cu Chulainn, not his second coming. It's like with how the RWBY characters are frequently references to myths and stories, but aren't actually like them. Harry will have precisely three things in common with Cu Chulainn: the spear, the warp-spasm, and an avoidance of dog meat.
NoMercyofDeath: Thanks. It's a pretty dark song, but it fits the chaotic, animalistic nature of Harry's inner Grimm, I thought.
Remzal Von Enili: The appearance of Harry's inner Grimm will remain the same, though the power of that form will increase over time.
aliestrikehero: Yes to the first, no to the second. Unlike the admittedly awesome Gae Bolg from Fate/Stay Night, we're not going to have all that.
Gabriel Herrol: I think Harry, after everything that has happened, has no time for familiarity. As for what age they're considered adults, I'm going with the standard of 18, given that while Yang walks into Junior's club and asks for a Strawberry Sunrise, Junior promptly remarks that she is a bit young to be there.
coduss: If Harry dies, the inner Grimm dies with him. If he snaps, though, he will go berserker, though he will retain an ability to tell friend from foe.
Duke Somerset: He won't be until closer to the canon events of RWBY.
Leicontis: It's basically a two-handed version of Pyrrha's weapon, with the rifle part in the back. If you pay attention to the scene where Pyrrha pins Jaune to the tree in the Emerald Forest in The First Step Part 2, you'll see that the rear of the spear is actually the barrel of the rifle, and it fires to gain a boost in speed when she throws it.
And you do overthink things. ;)
hakon2feb: Exactly. And a troll may have tough skin, but it doesn't have Aura. Harry, even in that inner Grimm form, only wanted to beat the crap out of Qrow, not tear him apart. As for Hazel's reaction, the next chapter has Salem discussing the newcomers from Earth, with a surprising source of information. If you've read EmeraldGuardian7's The Wizard's Apprentice, you may be able to guess who that source is, and yes, I have permission from EmeraldGuardian7, which I will go into in greater detail in the next chapter when I post it. Anyway, Hazel will put the pieces together that Harry is his nephew in the next chapter, but he won't know about Salem's involvement in Gretchen's kidnapping for a while. He will want to try and woo Harry over to Salem's side. As noted above, Ozpin trusts Qrow and Ironwood enough to have them train Harry.
1. It took a while for me to decide what Harry's weapon would be. A trident was my first choice, having done it for the original, unpublished version of Under the Light of the Shattered Moon, but I eventually decided on other weapons for that work, and as Neptune has a trident, I was wondering what to do. I decided on a spear, like Pyrrha Nikos', and based it on the Gae Bolg used by Cu Chulainn (and yes, I know I haven't used the accents on the names: I get tired of typing those correctly, so for this fic, they're not). This is actually kind of appropriate: Harry's inner Grimm transformation is not unlike Cu Chulainn's infamous 'warp spasm'.
2. A reference to the Red Dwarf episode The Last Day.
3. I chose the name of Cardin's father after a LOT of research, with a 'serin' being a French term for a canary. Not only does it continue the bird theme of Cardin and his team, but given a canary's yellow colouration, it hints to Serin's cowardly ways beneath his bullying.
4. Why not re-use the name 'Jaune'? The name itself is a reference to photographer John Cura, who had been retained by the BBC and ITV in the 50s and 60s to photograph TV shows being transmitted as a very crude form of screenshots known as 'telesnaps'. In the days before home video, this was a means of actors and production personnel to show off their work. These telesnaps are actually frequently the only visual record remaining of many TV shows otherwise lost: many missing episodes of Doctor Who have telesnaps.
5. Why Arthur? Well, there is the obvious link to King Arthur…and considering that Jaune is sometimes made a relative of Arturia Pendragon in crossovers with the Nasuverse, there was something appealing. Especially as Jaune is named for Joan of Arc, whom Arturia was mistaken for in Fate/Zero by Gilles de Rais.