I'm really busy next week, so enjoy an early update. Also, I'm currently having trouble in what else I should address Ruby. I mean, I refer to Jaune as "The blond, the Knight, the Arc etc..." but for some reason, Ruby is just well...Ruby. Also 20 favourites - ) (0_o) ) _I_I_ ...(thx)
It was passed nine in the night as Jaune let out a sigh, staring at the ceiling. The Knight was currently lying down in his bed, contemplating his next move.
It had been only yesterday since he given Weiss her much-needed space, but Jaune wasn't exactly happy about the ordeal. He didn't quite understand as to why the Heiress was so angry with him even after she had proven herself to be the victor in their little game of love. And her declaration only threw the blonde off even more. "I won't let you beat me Jaune Arc!". What exactly did Weiss mean – when, or rather what did he do that actually caught her attention? He decided to put the question in the back of his mind since he had a bigger problem to deal with in the present.
What now?
What was Jaune going to do next? He couldn't chase after Weiss anymore, so who could Jaune chase after now? There was an empty feeling in his chest, but Jaune wasn't depressed about the situation; no he promised himself to change into someone better – someone who wasn't a failure. But the Arc couldn't exactly declare his love for the next girl he saw. Jaune believed that if he constantly did that, then every girl in Beacon would label him as a desperate pervert who had an uncontrollable libido drive. It may be small and insignificant, but Jaune had a reputation to maintain.
Turning his head over, he came into sight of a devastating storm just behind the window. He felt the wind howling against the window in the youth of night. The crackling sound of lightning drummed through his ears as the dark sky lit up a bright light, only to vanish a second later. Indeed, it was one of the harshest of weather predicaments that he was coming to know.
Looking around, he gave a light chuckle about the room's isolation. His team had all but abandoned him to his assumed sulking. Actually, "abandoned" was a harsh way to describe his situation. In reality, his team members were just busy with whatever life had thrown at them at the moment.
His partner, Pyrrha was currently in the school's library, finishing up a last minute project that she failed to realize that it was assigned in the first place. Normally, the Spartan would have finished the assignment the day it was given, but with Jaune's training and everything, he could only guess that she must have forgotten. The hyperactive Nora and docile Ren had gone to the city of Vale to do some "shopping". As in buying the materials needed to repair all the damage they had done to Ozpin's office. To be fair, it was the headmaster's fault for failing to realize that he left his coffee mug placed defenseless on his desk. They had left around sunset, so no doubt that the storm was delaying their way back to the academy. Well, it was either that or Nora ended up having a sugar rush again, much to Ren's possible displeasure.
So now Jaune just lied there, bored, with nothing to do besides thinking of a plan to get a girlfriend. Seriously, how do you even get a girl to like you?! It's as if the entire universe was wired to make sure that he would never have a chance with a girl. Confidence? Nope, the blond realized that there was a fine line between real confidence and just out-right denial of one's self-worth. Working hard to impress them? Nope, all he got out of that was a one-way trip off the building and a cold punch to the stomach that made frozen tundras look like dry deserts. At this point, Jaune would be ecstatic if the universe just gave him a small break.
That was what he was thinking until the blond heard a knock at the door.
"I wonder who it could be?" he asked out loud, getting up from his gloomy position. It couldn't be his teammates since they could open the door themselves.
When Jaune opened the door, he was greeted by a girl in a red cloak. "Ruby? Is something wrong?" he asked, leaning against the doorway. He was wondering as to why she had her cloak wrapped around her like a blanket.
"Well I was just wandering the halls, but then my mind was like – 'Hey, let's go see what JNPR is up to!" Ruby answered.
"But, our dorm is right across from yours," he pointed to team RWBY's door behind Ruby, "and why were you wandering the hallways?"
"Er..." Ruby nervously began. The truth was that Ruby didn't really stroll through the empty hallways. Actually, in regards to her free time, the girl in the red-cloak usually just stayed locked up in her dorm, or was hanging out with one of her many friends. In truth, she just left her dorm as of just now. The real reason, well, Ruby decided it was best to keep it hidden-
The sound of lightning boomed through JNPR's room.
"...I needed company!" she quickly answered, her shoulders stiffening.
"Needed?" Jaune asked, raising an eyebrow, "Don't you mean 'wanted'?"
He quickly noticed her grip over the red cloak strengthening, resembling a balled fist over the crimson cloth. A part of Jaune cringed at the sight. He somehow managed to make one of his friends feel uncomfortable, and she just wanted to have someone to talk to. He internally beat himself up for creating this mess. How was he supposed to get a girlfriend if he just made a girl, a good friend to boot, feel uncomfortable about herself from just a simple question?
"So um...where's the rest of your team?" he looked around in the dimly illuminated hallways, hoping to find a member of WBY passing by.
"Oh, they're busy with other stuff right now," She replied, "Yang is in one of the practice rooms sparing with Blake, and Weiss – well, she's at Vale undergoing her...um...therapy."
"Therapy?!" he immediately straightened his posture after hearing the last bit. She was fine yesterday – did something happen to her after she ran away from him? The thought of Weiss having some sort of mental crisis made him sick to the stomach, much worse than if he was suffering from his motion sickness.
"Y-Yeah, it's nothing too bad. Weiss just has some...stress... that she needs to cope with in her life at the moment...heh...heh...heh." She awkwardly giggled, hoping to lighten the mood regarding the condition of her partner and friend.
Weiss became even more unstable after the event where everyone was congratulating Jaune's achievement. Granted even Ruby cheered for the blond's success, but who could blame her? It's not every day one of your friends with a tendency to fail at everything suddenly go against the universe. The Heiress got to the point where she could no longer say a normal sentence without uttering Jaune's incompetence and such. It went too far when Ruby walked into her dorm room and found a large chalkboard consisting of complex equations and algorithms – it was labeled "How I will become God: Better than that Stupid Arc". Not only that, but Ruby found her partner, under the board of insanity, in a fidgeting fetal position.
It was at that moment where the members of RBY decided that Weiss needed psychological help. So after a brief counsel with the Beacon's esteemed guidance counselor, a somewhat crazy Weiss was directed to a certain therapist in the city of Vale. The therapist, who Ruby discovered was a retired huntress, assured her that Weiss would be fine in her care.
Ruby knew that Jaune and his team would find out eventually. She would be the one to tell them of course, but the young girl believed it would be best if they were left in the dark, just for a little longer.
"So what about your team, Jaune?" she questioned, hoping to change the subject.
"Well, Pyrrha is the library finishing up some school work. As for Nora and Ren, well you already know what they're up to after that coffee incident in Ozpin's office. So tonight, I guess it's just the leaders sticking around." The blonde answered. "So...if you want, I could be your company?" Jaune wanted to make it up to her, so he was willing to listen to every single weapon from that weapons magazine that Ruby always read if it meant that his friend was happy.
Her silver eyes seemed to have brightened as the blond told her this. She began to jump up-and-down in joy, her cloak no longer acting as her blanket, "Thank you so much Jaune! You wouldn't believe how lonely it was" – lightning struck again, this time it echoed through the halls – "EEK!" Ruby yelped.
"Ruby, are you okay?" Jaune asked about the girl's odd behavior.
"Th-That was just my stomach! C'mon Jaune, let's go get something to eat!" She pointed her finger in the direction of the cafeteria.
"But Ruby, the cafeteria is closed and with the storm going on we can't go outSIIIIIIIII-" before the Knight could finish, the Red-cloaked girl had grabbed the collar of his shirt, and used her speed semblance to drag him across the dark hall.
"Don't worry about it!" she said, super-speeding their way to her destination.
Jaune ended up being transported to the academy's cafeteria. It was closed at this time; however its lighting remained constant just in case the students wanted a place to study, or whatever young adults did in an unsupervised place. With what was going on outside, Jaune already had a good feeling that it would be empty –and he was right.
Still, he wasn't so sure that his friend who dragged him here was in the right place of mind at the moment. The Knight looked over to her, she had reverted her cloak back into a blanket again.
"Ruby, are you feeling cold?" He was still wondering as to why she wore her cloak like that. Was this one of Ruby's "phases" that Yang had warned her about? He could still remember the time when she. . .
"Er...something like that..."she muttered in a low tone.
"What did you say?" Jaune couldn't hear her response. He was lost in thought about the time Ruby had locked him in the closet for commenting as to why he preferred oatmeal over chocolate chip. Thank the heavens that Ren had found him.
Ruby decided to change the subject, "C'mon Jaune, let's go find something to e-"
Lightning roared from behind the window, causing the little Rose to jump.
"Ruby?! What's wrong..." – suddenly, the lights within the room died – "...aw man, the storm cut off the power!" He felt a small breeze fly by him as he stared at the ceiling. However, when Jaune looked back to where Ruby was standing, she was nowhere to be found. "Ruby?! Ruby where are you?!"
Besides the battering of rain against the windows, there was an eerie silence in the cafeteria.
He had to find her, but in the darkness, it was going to be a difficult task.
Jaune took a step forward, but instead of hard tile, he felt something soft. Looking down, despite being in the dark, he glanced upon a red fabric. Bringing himself into a crouching position, he looked under the table to find a surprising sight.
Under the table he found the small girl hiding within her crimson cloak, her hood hiding her face.
"Ruby?" The Arc asked, but there was no reply from the trembling girl.
From Jaune's perspective, Ruby looked somewhat shaken from the unpredicted blackout. Thinking back, the young leader was acting strange when they were at the halls. Especially when the storm...
'No, it couldn't be – Ruby couldn't be scared of something like this.' Jaune thought to himself. He decided to remove the doubt in his mind, "Ruby... are you afraid of lightning?"
There was a brief silence at first, but she spoke, "...I'm not very good at acting, am I?"
"There's nothing wrong with being a bad actor. I mean, I lied my way into Beacon, remember?" The Knight tried to reassure her.
It might have worked, sort of, if the sound of lightning hadn't crackled again, sending Ruby further into her fear. She pulled the hood of her crimson cloak even further.
"But how can I call myself a leader if I'm scared of something silly like this? Jaune, how can I become a hero if I'm this weak?" she quivered. This was what Ruby didn't want anyone to find out about. She hated thunder, but she absolutely despised her fear for it. It made the crimsonette feel weak; vulnerable. Like she didn't deserve to be here. Who would want help from a huntress who was scared of lightning? No one, that's who!
The last bit hit Jaune hard. It wasn't just Jaune who wanted to become a hero; there were many others who shared his dream – many others who feel that they're not worthy of such a title. It reminded Jaune of his desire, and the path he was taking now to achieve it. He wasn't going to let Ruby descend into depression.
"Ruby, a good friend once told me: you need to tackle your problems one at a time. Who cares if you're afraid of lightning, everyone has something to be afraid of! You can overcome your fear if you put the effort into it! Ruby, having fears doesn't make you weak – it makes you human. And it's the humanity within you that gives you the potential to become something great – a hero that everyone can look up to! So come on Ruby Rose, stand up and be proud of who you are!"
Ruby remained quiet for a good minute, her emotions hidden behind her cloak and hood. Then she pulled down her hood and looked at the blond's face, with a sincere smile and teary silver-eyes, she spoke, "Jaune, out of all the people I know, I really did not expect that to come from you. Thanks for the talk, I really appreciate it."
Jaune agreed with Ruby. Even he wasn't aware that he was capable of such a speech. Perhaps it was the road of love that gave him this hidden confidence? "O-Oh w-well, you know-"
"Pyrrha taught you well!" Ruby interrupted, who was now suddenly right beside the mumbling Knight.
"Wh-What – what does Pyrrha have to do with this?!"
"C'mon Jaune, we all know that she's the first person you go to when it comes to moments like these."
"T-That's..." Jaune thought about the moments when he had conversations with his partner. He then realized that most of the time, it involved requesting the Champion's advice. Advice for swordsmanship, advice for confidence, advice for relationships – heck, Pyrrha even had to show him how to open a bag of chips! "...actually true, now that I think about it..."
"But still," Ruby began to rub her fingers between her cloak, "all this inspirational talking gives me a craving for some cookies and milk, you know?"
"Er..." Jaune could only shiver of what the silver-eyed girl had planned.
"Don't worry; I'm sure they won't mind a couple cookies missing!" She started to walk over to the kitchen, despite the lack of lighting. Jaune had no choice but to follow her.
It was no surprise to Jaune that when they arrived in the kitchen, no electrical power was available to them. That meant that they would have to scavenge in the dark.
"Okay Jaune, you go find the milk. I'll search for the chocolate-chip goodness!" Ruby declared. She began to rummage through the many cupboards. Jaune mentally sighed, he wasn't exactly hungry, nor was he a fan of chocolate-chip. But alas, the blond had to keep his friend happy.
It wasn't so hard to locate the fridge. But when he placed his hand on the handle – the impossible happened.
Prior to Jaune's initial contact with the refrigerator, the storm decided to troll a certain blond by sending thunder straight at the building of Beacon Academy. And through non-logical physics theory, the surge of pure electricity ran through the school's system and it remained rampant in a certain kitchen appliance – the fridge – to the point where physical contact would result in certain death.
So when Jaune touched the handle, he experienced over 9000 kilowatts of energy flowing through his body. "SDFSFDSGDHRTJIWRFDWKJFHKWEFUDSCFJDOFOWE-" was the only thing that Jaune could manage to yell out as he was being electrified; brilliant sparks of electricity flying out of his seizure-like body.
"Oh my god, Jaune!" Ruby shrieked, running toward his friend. "Don't worry, I got yoooouSWRTFKOIUJNHYTGVBRFEDCWSXYEWFGDC-"However, Ruby made the biggest mistake of her life the moment she tried to physically pull Jaune away from the death-fridge; the electricity began to flow through her body as well.
And then they died.
The End.
...Actually, they would have perished if they weren't hunters. Fortunately for them, their auras had pretty much acted as their internal shields, safely protecting them from the life-threatening shock.
So instead, Jaune and Ruby collapsed onto the floor, unconscious for the entire night.
When morning arrived, it didn't take long until the duo was discovered by a certain individual. Whether it was her woman's intuition or her sibling instincts – Yang was able to track down her sister, thus leading to Jaune.
It was moments later that Jaune awoke.
"Well, well, well..." Yang began as she stared down at the Arc's condition, "...you must have had a wild night with my sister Jauney-boy..."
"Y-Yang? What are you talking about-" Before Jaune could finish; he realized what kind of position he was currently in. Jaune was currently lying on top of an unconscious Ruby. "Oh god, Y-Yang, I swear – th-this isn't what it looks like!"
"Really? Because, to me, it looks like you used my baby sister's fear of thunderstorms to your advantage..." Yang cracked her knuckles as she continued, "...I never would have thought that you were this deceptive Jaune..."
"Yang, I c-can explain..." Jaune's limbs began to violently spasm in an attempt to get up in a standing position; however the Knight's hand accidentally touched somewhere it shouldn't – Ruby's chest. He glanced over to see Yang's face - it matched that of an ancient dragon, one that was seriously pissed off. "Oh crap...Yang it was an accident I swea-"
"...Jaune," Yang's Ember Celica transformed into its weapon form as she slowly walked up to the panicking Arc, " I think that you and I should have a long talk about treating women properly..."
"Yang, listen w-we can talk about this! No, Yang stay back, Yang, YAAAA-"
And for the entire morning, the entire population of Beacon heard a shrill high-pitched scream echoing through its forever empty hallways.
Well, except for a certain Rose that is; she slept through all of it.