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A heavy night smothered Beacon, every first-year student was asleep in anticipation for the trip to Forever Falls. Every student except three.
Three students awoke in the middle of the night because of nightmares, two from the horrors they had witnessed, and another woke from the horrors she had caused and run from.
Unbeknownst to the three of them, Blake, Jaune, and Cardin were all heading to the same place. A small balcony near their rooms, a good location to just relax and think while they could allow the broken moon's rays to shower them.
Jaune was the first to leave and arrive, already adept at moving quietly so as to not disturb his teammates' sleep, for even the gods wouldn't be able to save him if he woke up Nora while she was sleep-hugging Ren.
Cardin was the second to wake up and head out to the alcove, however, he was much less quiet about his departure, as he didn't care if he woke his teammates or not.
Blake was the last, her golden eyes smoldering in the dark as she slipped away from the dorm room, not a footstep could be heard from her exit.
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The broken moon shone over the small balcony, currently, the only student inhabiting it currently was an Arc.
A sigh escaped from his lips as Jaune leaned over the railing, lines of worry barely showing in his azure eyes as he lost himself in his thoughts. There was much to think about, and there was much to do as well. Jaune needed to prepare his team for what was to come, and find a way to explain the sudden increase in training as well.
Jaune trailed a finger along the top of the rail, mindlessly swiping the dust away with a flick of his hand afterward. Blonde hair shimmered an almost ethereal color in the moonlight, the intense shadows being cast by the shattered moon made Jaune's face seem more melancholically angled. With a slow roll of his shoulders he turned to rest his back on the railing, a slow breeze worshipping his skin with whispers, it was a comfortable night to be outside.
He stayed pondering for a few minutes, and eventually, the fall of footsteps could be heard from the hallway, from what Jaune could tell they belonged to a heavy-set individual.
Turning the corner and entering the balcony was Cardin Winchester, his large figure being draped in grey sweatpants and a matching slate tank top.
The two leaders gave only a nod to acknowledge each other, before Cardin rested his forearms on the railing a few feet away from Jaune, an unbroken understanding of why the other was awake existed as a silence. There was a certain look in the other's eyes that they understood, each was a bit frazzled by their dreams and had returned to reality to escape the alternative.
Cardin looked forward and over the balcony to rest his eyes on the architecture of Beacon, a calm wind stroked the trees and swayed the grass, a few dim lights illuminating dorm windows but other than that the only light source could be found in the splintered moon above them.
Shadows had grown to disproportionate size thanks to the lighting, and from those shadows came one Blake Belladonna. At first, she was hesitant to join the two others, but after realizing that there was no conversation occurring she gathered enough courage to simply step out and mirror Cardin as they now both leaned over to admire Beacon's masterful design.
Silence spilled from the night and blanketed the trio, the only sound that of soft breathing, and if one listened hard enough they might be able to hear the collective heartbeat of the three. Cardin had straightened slightly with Blake's arrival, his eyes wandering to the top of her head, curiosity filling his mind, and it was this curiosity that let him break their sacred silence.
"Why do you hide them?"
The sudden intrusion of sound in their tranquil environment was enough to rattle both Jaune and Blake for half a second, as they both realized what was the question that had been asked.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," whispered Blake.
Cardin rolled his eyes, "You aren't the first to think about hiding your ears with an outrageously large bow,"
Blake's eyes sharpened, and her only response was silence. As she moved to leave Cardin raised his hands defensively.
"Hey, it's okay, my sister's faunus too. I didn't mean any harm in asking the question, and I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable," said Cardin.
This made Jaune perk up, "You're related to a faunus? Unless I'm mistaken the Winchesters don't have any faunus ancestors and both your parents were human,"
Blake also haltered her departure, returning to her spot as she looked at Cardin with curiosity.
"She's adopted, Ma took her in after the Grimm attack. The only reason I know about the whole bow thing is that a racist teacher of hers suggested she cover up her ears with one. Stupid bastard thought we'd even consider the idea, as if a Winchester would ever hide who they are," answered Cardin.
"What's her name?" Asked Blake, her voice barely above a whisper.
Cardin's features gained a small smile at the thought of her sister, "Sahara, her name is Sahara Winchester, she's a Fennec Fox faunus and we celebrated her eleventh birthday just before I came to Beacon actually."
"Do you have a picture of her?" Jaune asked, genuine curiosity plastered on his face, and both Blake and Cardin realized this was the first time they had seen the Arc without that fake smile on his face.
Cardin nodded, pulling out his scroll and opening up his scroll gallery. there were few pictures, but the ones he did have contained Cardin, a woman who had a somewhat similar appearance to him and was probably his mother, and a young girl with sand-colored hair and two beautiful perky ears that gave her an extra foot of height.
"This is her," Cardin said as he pointed to his sister.
Blake giggled, "She still needs to grow into those ears of hers, Sahara looks like a wonderful young lady,"
There was little input Jaune could give, so all he said was, "You three look very happy,"
"They make me happy," acknowledged Cardin, "They're the reason I'm becoming a huntsman, I want to protect them from anything, but I need to grow before I can accomplish that,"
Jaune patted Cardin's shoulder, "A noble goal, I'm sure they're very proud of you,"
Cardin's face tinged with a hint of blush, "I try my best,"
"Your mother was the one that sent you your new mace, unless I'm mistaken," Jaune said, "We have to appreciate the family we have, make sure to call them often," his gaze fell on Blake, the knowing look that his eyes always carried made sure she knew the statement was also directed at her.
Blake flinched at the implication, before steeling herself and looking back into Jaune's eyes, "So you know about my parents then?"
"You look exactly like your mother, you know that right? Not to mention you didn't change your name whatsoever, so yes, most of the staff knows who you are. They also know about your past with a certain… organization,"
"And they're okay with it?" Blake asked with a shocked look on her face.
"We're big on accepting anyone who makes it through initiation, we don't have the luxury to turn away anyone with the skills to become a huntsman, and there's been more than one time where someone enters Beacon with impure intentions and graduates with a hunters' heart," assured Jaune, "And if the students go too far, there's nothing stopping us from simply expelling them,"
The last comment was vague enough to Blake's ears, but Cardin understood perfectly what Jaune meant.
"I'll try to reel them in," He growled, not angry at the two before him but angry at whoever "them" was.
Jaune nodded, "Remember, you might be their leader but they're still their own individuals, you can not protect them from the consequences of their own actions,"
Silence once again fell upon the trio, but this time it was lighter with an air of familiarity.
"I doubt I'll be able to fall asleep again, so I'm going to head to my room and brew myself some coffee, would either of you be interested?" Jaune asked.
Blake nodded, while Cardin gained a quizzical expression, "Wouldn't we wake up your teammates?"
"Jaune has a room outside of his team dorm," Blake explained, "It has a kitchen and we won't be disturbing anyone,"
"Then I'm down, lead the way Arc," Cardin commanded in an exaggerated voice, a small smile on his face showing that he was joking.
The knight nodded and began to lead the way, Blake and Cardin trailing along as they eventually made it to Jaune's room. Cardin's first impression was the fact that it was certainly more spacious than their dorms, but he wasn't going to complain since this meant Jaune had an Atlas-press to make coffee in his kitchen. Jaune entered his kitchen after telling his two guests to feel free to sit down in his living room. Cardin sat down on Jaune's couch, letting his head roll back on the cushioned backrest so he could stare at the ceiling, Blake settled in a similarly comfortable position on the edge of the couch, letting herself drape over the armrest with a stretch. A flash of toned stomach flooded Cardin's peripheral thanks to Blake stretching with a yawn, and suddenly Cardin was really hoping Jaune finished with the coffee soon because he had just realized this was the closest in proximity he'd been with a girl that wasn't during sparring.
Cardin's prayers and Blake's yawning were soon cut short as a wonderful deep aroma wafted in from the kitchen, and with that came Jaune with coffee in one hand and mugs in the other. He placed them down atop the coffee table in front of the couch, then retreated back to the kitchen to grab sugar and cream.
Blake was basically salivating at the sight of the pitch black coffee, grabbing herself a mug and pouring away.
The leader of Team CRDL wrinkled his nose at the sight, "You're going to drink that black?"
A raised eyebrow met his question, "I would have never thought I'd hear that from you, you seem like the type that would love drinking black coffee," Blake shot back before taking a sip of the steaming brew.
"What does that mean?" It was Cardin's type to raise an eyebrow.
Blake rolled her eyes, "You know exactly what I mean, there isn't anyone in Beacon who's as dark and brooding as you. Your weapon is even called Worldkiller, and you can't get much edgier than that,"
"It's called Worldbreaker, and I didn't name it," Cardin grumbled, "As for calling me brooding, pot meet kettle. And you can't blame me for not liking pure bitterness, I enjoy the sweeter things in life,"
Blake shrugged, "It's an acquired taste, and I'm not brooding, I'm mysterious, unlike you I'm not a total edge-lord," she said with a teasing glint in her eyes.
"Pot meet kettle," Jaune snarked as he entered with the sugar and cream.
Cardin threw his hands in the air, "That's what I said," before he again wrinkled his nose as Jaune also poured and began to drink his coffee black. "Bunch of freaks," he said, pouring himself some coffee, throwing three sugar cubes in the mug and also a good pour of cream.
The three students sipped their coffee in peace ,before Jaune broke the silence, "You mentioned that you didn't name your weapon, and considering that it was sent to you, it raises some questions. What's the story behind Worldbreaker?"
The auburn-haired teenager rolled his shoulders a bit, Cardin looking into his mug deep in thought. Eventually, he sighed and looked back at Jaune, "Your sword and shield, they're a family heirloom right? The mace is like that, or it was s'posed to be anyway, but my grandfather was an even bigger racist shithead than my dad. So while dear ol' pops was okay with making sure the faunus that lived in our town were impoverished and starving, his dad was insulted that he'd even let faunus live there. Bear in mind my father became mayor early in his life, just round twenty-ish, so when my grandpa retired from being a huntsman, father dearest didn't get Worldbreaker like he was expecting. Instead pops got a letter saying that his father had retired to some fancy estate in Mistral, and another letter from his dad insulting him in all manners of ways. Yada yada, time passes, I'm born, few more years pass, gramps passes, shit goes to hell, pops dies protecting the village, Ma adopts Sahara, we get Worldbreaker in the mail, and the rest is history,"
"Language," Jaune mumbled under his breath, sipping his coffee at all of Cardin's profanities.
"So why didn't you show up to Beacon with it?" Asks Blake.
Cardin takes a swig of his coffee, finishing it off with a sinister smirk, "I conveniently forgot it existed and instead brought my own mace,"
"Seems like your mom found it for you," Jaune said, humor leaking through his voice.
A small frown replaced Cardin's smirk, "Apparently it would mean a lot for her to have me use it, so I might as well use it to win the Vytal Festival,"
"Bold declarations," stated Blake, "Your team has to make it far enough for you to even dream of winning,"
Cardin sneered, "I'll drag them far enough that it won't matter, my biggest challenges are the gladiator and this fucking tank," he said pointing at Jaune.
"And Yang," corrected Jaune.
Blake's brow raised, "Quick to praise my partner aren't you,"
A snort escaped Cardin, "Yeah you don't want the Schnee to get the wrong idea, that family hoards and doesn't like to share,"
"I have no idea what you mean," Jaune deadpanned.
"You know exactly what I mean, the whole school knows you're dating," Cardin said.
"They're actually not, it's just a rumor," commented Blake.
Cardin's face was that of minor shock, "Oh shit really? Those are some convincing-ass rumors,"
"Language." Jaune.
"Sorry for hurting your ears princess," Cardin said with a wicked grin.
Blake snorted at Cardin's comment, laughter spilling from the rim of her mug as she tried to hide her giggles by drinking her coffee. After composing herself and ignoring Jaune's glare and Cardin's smug face she cleared her throat, "I didn't even notice Cardin swearing,"
Jaune mumbled something under his breath, before looking up at the clock hanging off the wall, "It's almost six, I'm going to make my way to the JNPR dorm to get ready. Feel free to stay here as you see fit, just get to class on time or Goodwitch will have my head,"
"Thanks Princess," jostled Cardin, fist-bumping Jaune as he left.
Blake only gave a nod and a small smile as the Arc departed, watching the door swing shut behind Jaune's broad shoulders.
Before the silence could get awkward Cardin stood up, grabbing all the dishes, sugar packets, and cream before heading into the kitchen. All that Blake could hear was the sound of cabinet doors opening and closing, followed by the sound of the sink faucet running water, a faint scrubbing sound tickled the edges of her ears. Curious, Blake decided to satisfy that curiosity and crept to the edge of the kitchen. Blake witnessed the hulking figure of the Winchester putting aside wet mugs and plates on a drying rack, then he grabbed a moist mug and a dry rag, with nimbler fingers than expected, Cardin ran the rag using those thick digits of his, repeating the process until every dish was clean and dry.
Turning, Cardin froze once he realized Blake had been watching him this whole time. Blake herself didn't know what to say so she also froze, coffee mug empty in hand as ocean-blue eyes met the eyes of a prowling panther. A blush crept up across Cardin's face, halting at his scar but tinging his ears with pink.
Cardin cleared his throat, "Uhh, do you want me to take that?"
A quick nod from Blake moved the Winchester to take the mug from her hand, before she slipped out of the room with soundless steps and whispers being the only indication the door opened and closed. Leaving Cardin to ruminate on the feeling of friendship that Beacon could give him, Blake with a strange sense of familiarity, and Jaune with a new idea rumbling in the back of his mind.
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Throughout her stay in Beacon, Weiss had received and sent a volley of letters between her sister and herself. So when a letter was delivered to the snow-white heiress the only thing that particularly surprised her was the timing of the delivery, and not so much the fact that she had received a letter. This changed, however, when Weiss read who the letter was from.
Jacques Schnee.
The immediate reaction that overcame the Schnee was that of impending dread, as she hadn't departed with her father on the best of terms, and the chances of the letter containing a message that Weiss had been disinherited much like her sister had been was the most prominent and probable conclusion Weiss could come too. She was at a loss at what to do, Weiss being too scared to hold the letter with less than one hand, lest she drop it with her subtle shaking. So opening the letter to read her father's message was the furthest from her current intentions.
In an act that most would consider as out of character for the normally confident and poised Atlesian, Weiss decided to hold off on interacting with the letter until later. Weiss decided to leave it on her bed before heading off to the cafeteria to convene with the rest of her team at breakfast and start off the beginning of the day.
Breakfast was a subdued event compared to normal, the usual troublemaker and rabble-rouser of Nora spending the most of breakfast relatively quiet. Of course this still translated into Nora joining in a passionate conversation with Yang and Ruby about whatever came to their collective minds, but whenever Nora's voice escalated to a level above the volume of the cafeteria to such an extreme that Ren was forced to place a gentle hand on either her shoulder or thigh Nora got a bit pink and bit her lip in a very uncharacteristic fashion, a few shakes and shivers overcoming Nora's body at the sudden contact with her partner.
The most perceptive of the group noticed this, but said nothing to conserve their chances of graduating Beacon with kneecaps. And by "the most perceptive of the group" this meant everyone excluding Weiss and Ruby, the former too prim and proper to think of others in a public setting in such a manner to the point where Nora's behavior didn't register, and the latter due to Ruby being Ruby.
Regardless of Nora's behavior, the other half of the group that leaned on the more stoic side was also abuzz with anticipation at the fact that they had a field trip today.
"So. Jaune. What do you know about the trip to Forever Falls?" Ruby asked.
The leader of team JNPR's permanent smile had a gentler curve to it when he answered Ruby, as it usually did when he interacted with either of the two Rose-Xia-Long sisters, "The trip changes from year to year, so I actually don't know what exactly it is we will be doing. If I had to guess, it'd be that we'd either be collecting sap from the trees or learning about said sap due to its medicinal properties. Or both I guess, the possibilities for learning are endless when it comes to a location such as Forever Falls."
A murmur of acknowledgment fell over the group temporarily as they agreed that what Jaune said made sense.
Jaune's smile then took a more vindictive edge to it a split second, before it disappeared and it returned to its natural state, "Coco's team will also be joining us on the trip, they somehow convinced mo-, I mean Ms. Goodwitch that it'd be a good idea. If I had to place a bet on how is that they either got Fox to bake some of her favorite cookies, or Coco had to make a deal of some kind,"
"That should be fun right?" Asked Yang, "Coco seems hilarious and stylish, game recognizes game. I bet the rest of her team is also similarly cool and outlandish,"
"They're one of the strongest and most promising teams at Beacon, made up of Coco, Velvet, Fox, and Yatsuhashi. We should use this opportunity to learn greatly from a team of their caliber," Weiss stated, in a tone of voice that seemed almost rehearsed, and knowing Weiss, it might have been rehearsed.
"Don't get your hopes up, Coco seemed to have been adamant on… educating… a team that was lower on the rung," responded Jaune, eyes flickering to gaze at a particular spot near the cafeteria wall, "So the chances of them focusing on an already exceptional team such as RWBY, who's being led by a prodigy, contains the Schnee heiress, and two huntresses of Blake and Yang's caliber are less than low."
Weiss willingly ignored him and turned to Ruby, "Take notes Ruby, we must use this as an opportunity to learn greatly." She repeated firmly, ensuring her silver-eyed leader understood it wasn't a suggestion.
Ruby giggled at Weiss' serious demeanor, and Weiss cracked a partial smile as well, revealing that even she was feeling more relaxed at the prospect of a field trip outside of Beacon. She was even more grateful that their new habit of eating breakfast as two teams had distracted her from the foreboding sense of despair Weiss felt pooling at the pits of her stomach due to the letter from her father.
Ever conscientious and perceptive Jaune picked up on Weiss' quick shifting facial expressions, before getting Ruby's attention with a subtle lift of his finger and nod towards her partner. Ruby, being ever quick on the draw, and intuitive when it came to helping others seemed to notice what Jaune wanted somewhat.
"You okay Weiss?" She asked.
Weiss' eyebrows perked up as she looked wide-eyed at Ruby, seemingly surprised someone picked up on her mood, "Of course Ruby, why do you ask?" Weiss said, steeling her facial expression and tone of voice.
"You sure?" Prodded Ruby, "It's not that time of the month is it"? I can zoom to the room to get you stuff if it is," She whispered under her breath.
That caused Weiss to rankle, "Ruby! You're not supposed to talk about those kinds of things!"
"Why? Its a perfectly natural and expected thing for a young woman to experience, and one should take no shame in the bodily functions one has as one matures into a blossoming and beautiful huntress" Ruby said, almost as if reading off of a book a parent got their daughter once she started getting her monthlies.
Weiss was aghast, "In Atlas one would never even dream of talking about such a thing with their friends, much less in a public space of all places!"
"Then people in Atlas have bad friends," Ruby stated, "For one it's super normal, and two we're more like family than friends anyway,"
"Yang and I are both blonde, so we could pass as siblings," butted in Jaune, before a befuddled Weiss could come up with a retort.
The blonde brawler that sat ahead of him actually looked offended, "Do not compare your hair to mine, I actually use hair products. Knowing how men are I bet all you do is use a three-in-one shampoo,"
Now it was Jaune's turn to look offended, and through his ever-present smile it was a strange look, "There is nothing wrong with being efficient with one's purchases."
"There is something wrong with ruining your hair with a bunch of chemicals, and in the end all you do is end up smelling like harsh mint," Yang shot back.
"First, Everything is made out of chemicals, so that is irrelevant, and second not everyone needs to smell like apple and cinnamon," stated Jaune, his gaze meeting Yang's and if one looked too long they would swear sparks were created in the space between them as they glared at each other.
"So if we're a family, who's related to who and how?" Nora asked, calling back to Ruby's original comment, "I don't think me and Renny would be related, for… reasons…"
Everyone at the table knew what those reasons were.
Ruby gave a nod, "You can be our cousin, and Ren can be your cool boyfriend. Pyrrha can be like your sister or something, but I don't think Jaune could be our cousin because if Ms. Goodwitch learned that she was related to Uncle Qrow on some level I think someone would die,"
The last part of Ruby's statement broke the stalemate stare between Yang and Jaune, as the blonde knight nodded at Ruby's claim.
"Can we get back to the fact that Jaune knows what Yang smells like?" Blake asked out of nowhere, finally butting in after looking up from her book.
The table fell into a silence, but before any conclusions could be made and Yang's blush could get any harsher Jaune spoke up, "May I remind you that I carried what can only be described as a small ton of hair product the last time we went into Vale? It would be stranger for me to not remember all of the soaps Yang made me carry,"
"Still a weird thing to point out," Blake said in what was probably the most teasing voice they've ever heard her speak in, which wasn't saying much but it was still surprisingly noticeable, "One would think you've been thinking about it,"
Jaune fell into a silence, smile twitching at the corners as his gaze sharpened and he threw daggers with his eyes at the cat faunus, "The smut you're reading is getting to you."
"How do you know it's smut?" The table asked simultaneously.
If Jaune's smile twitched any harder it would fall of his face and start breakdancing, "Would you look at the time, we better hurry and get all our equipment ready for Forever Falls,"
The dozens of comments prodding Jaune were promptly ignored by the young knight, and once again, Weiss' worries melted away into the back of her consciousness. Especially once she revealed that she didn't know what smut really was, all she really knew was that it was something an Atlesian would never admit to reading. This prompted Blake to throw herself in a surprisingly animated spiel on what it was and the deep cultural roots it held in Remnant. And as the chaos of their group razed on as usual, Jaune placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder and nodded when she looked up, signaling that she had done a decent job in distracting Weiss from whatever had been bothering her.
There was a particular energy and level of familiarity that was held in the room, as if everyone's souls were bare to read and meld together, much like how one would find in a family setting where everyone truly loved and trusted each other. And Ruby thought it was beautiful, from the way Nora and Ren touched pinkies every now and again, to how Blake practically hissed when Yang abused her personal space. The huntress in her knew that this was something she wanted to protect.
The leader of team Ruby looked up at Jaune, and saw he had what she could only assume was a similar expression as she had looking at their friends. "Do you see it too?" She asked, "Is this why Ozpin chose us to be leaders?"
Jaune nodded, no further words were needed for Ruby to understand that they both held the same amount of care and love for their team.
"Let's catch up," Jaune softly spoke, as to not fully disrupt Ruby's wonder and adoration for her newfound family.
So they did, Ruby butting in with her own questions about smut, questions that remained unanswered by Blake the second she saw and felt the eyes of Yang and Jaune on her. Even Nora wasn't brave enough to answer the questions, not that she could answer many with her own rather limited knowledge on the subject.
Both JNPR and RWBY made their way to the lockers, feeling a ping in their scrolls as instructions for the day and the trip were sent to them. Gathering their weapons they were once again on their way to a destination other than a classroom to everyone's glee. That feeling was seemingly shared by everyone in their grade, as the hallways themselves were vibrating with the subtle excitement that such a trip heralded. Even team CRDL wasn't fighting, a rare occasion nowadays as usually Cardin had to force his team under submission for them to behave.
All the freshmen had arrived at the bullhead area, awaiting for Ms. Goodwitch to begin her instructions. At the imposing teacher's side was team CFVY, Coco sporting a rather vicious snarl of a grin as she gazed upon the freshmen before her. Coco's eyes were obscured by the shades she wore, but if one could see the eyes beneath them one would notice the ferocious glint and their laser-sharp focus on a particular team of freshmen and one would then begin to pray for the team of CRDL.
Glynda Goodwitch's voice emanated and filled the open air, "Would the leaders of the teams please meet me at the front," she commanded.
The crowd before her shifted slightly as each leader began to make their way to the front, and once Ms. Goodwitch was satisfied that all the leaders were before her she began once more in a less thunderous voice.
"Ozpin has decided that it would be a wondrous learning experience for everyone involved and team CFVY to join us today to help teach their underclassmen anything that might have slipped your teachers' minds," Goodwitch said, "So treat them as if you would treat a teacher here at Beacon. You will receive a message in your scroll on which bullhead your team is to board for the trip. And ensure your team behaves, or Coco and her team will ensure that for you,". Once finished speaking, the imposing teacher dismissed the students before her to return to their own teams, before leading Coco and her own team to stand aside and shepherd the students to their correct bullhead.
The pair of Ruby and Jaune returned to their small group, while Cardin trudged to the slinking forms of his own team at the edge and back of the crowd. Team CRDL was considered by many a group of boorish and brutish outcasts, their leader was rather antisocial and rough around the edges, and while Dove and Lark weren't the most outlandish characters, they did nothing but facilitate and embolden Russel to continuously prod and provoke their leader and the students around them. But if any credit could be given to Russel, it was that he at least knew when to sometimes shut up, so when Cardin began approaching from afar the stringily teen shut his mouth but did nothing to dull the sharp smirk he wore on his face as he looked at Cardin and chortled at his previous comment. Said comment was probably aimed at Cardin and unkind in nature, but Cardin responded as he always had, with an uninterested and dissatisfied glare as he loomed above the others.
"We're on bullhead 3," Cardin grunted out, looking at his scroll once it pinged with the bullhead they needed to get on.
"Surprised he can count that high," mumbled Russel in a soft voice so Cardin couldn't hear, elbowing Dove to laugh alongside him as he laughed at his own joke. The other boy rolled his eyes with a mean smile on his face before clamming as a slap rang sharply through the clearing, quickly being swallowed by the noise the other students were making. Russel however felt his head ring as he was unprepared for the backhand to strike him clean across the face.
"You want to repeat that?" said Cardin, "I'm not having you ruin this day with anything more than your presence, so shut your mouth unless you want to have a repeat of literally any fight we've had,"
Russel was open-mouthed and in shock, holding a hand to his face as if he couldn't believe what just happened. "You- You hit me? Can't you take a fucking joke? What's wrong with you!?" he sputtered out.
His leader was unimpressed, "You act like a brat, I'm going to treat you like a brat. You two want to butt in with any snarky comment?" he asked the other two teens. Dove and Lark were both very quiet, and refused to meet the Winchester's gaze for more than a half-second and instead averted their gaze to either look at the tree line or the ground.
"Good. Now get your asses on Bullhead number 3 or I'll do more than hit you," Cardin ordered.
The rest of his team quickly complied in an uncomfortable silence as the mace-wielding teen led them to their bullhead. Russel trailed a bit behind, contemplating on whether or not to use a recent purchase of his, one that was held in a brown pouch at his hip. He thought better of it, and once on the bullhead he pulled aside Dove and Lark and made sure to sit far away from their leader.
The R, D, and L of team CRDL sat in silence, before Lark peeped up with "Did y'all see our pilot? She's smoking hot and I'm totally going to ask for her Valegram,"
"No balls you won't," Dove responded.
"I don't have any but I'm gonna do it anyway," sniggered Lark, desperately attempting to liven the mood.
"Did you see the size of the guy with the great sword next to Goodwitch? It's a shame he's on the same team as that rabbit, I'd probably let him "teach" me any day if he wasn't friends with an animal, I'd probably catch something," Dove said, leering mentally at Yatsuhashi.
"Ew, he's from Mistral. That brute's probably from a tribe that doesn't shower and stuff," Russel added.
The group of boys continued to make unpleasant remarks even as the bullhead took off, too wrapped up in their own talks to realize team CFVY was sitting right across from them. Coco steeled her face as she talked to her partner about whatever, but a malicious smirk fluttered across her face whenever Velvet was distracted and Coco's gaze focused on Russel and his friends, foretelling what was to come.
All the bullhead's made touchdown without issue, students trailing out of them en mass and grouping up to collect jars and further instructions. Jaune was currently regretting forgetting his motion-sickness medicine, a tight grip on the hilt of Crocea Mors, and a tight stretched smile on his face being key indicators that he was feeling uncomfortable. A few deep breaths later and he was relatively fine, and ready to do his part in Coco's true mission.
"Hey Velvet!" He called out, waving a hand to call over the faunus upperclassmen and spoke up again once she was close enough, "I want to introduce you to someone,"
"Velvet, meet Ruby Rose," Jaune said as he brought the bunny huntress before the silver-eyed reaper.
"Hello, Ruby. It's very nice to meet you," Velvet said with a soft smile on her face and extended her hand to shake Ruby's hand.
Ruby did so, "Hi! My name is Ruby Rose, this is my baby Crescent Rose and we both looooove your skirt, combat skirts rock,"
"They do, don't they," agreed Velvet.
Before the atmosphere could get awkward between the two huntresses in training Jaune cleared his throat and spoke up, "The reason I wanted you to introduce the two of you is that Velvet's semblance and weapon both copy those of other hunters,"
In an instant Ruby understood what that meant and what entailed with such concepts, practically screeching she squealed with glee, "Oh my gosh that is so cool, how does it work? Like how do you copy others' weapons? How many semblances have you copied? If you can copy Jaune's semblance what happens when you boost each other's semblances?"
Ruby trailed on and on, but Velvet tried her best to keep up with all the questions being hurled her way at Ruby-speed. Jaune then nodded to Coco in the background, who nodded back but just needed for the groups to disperse and for Goodwitch to be sufficiently distracted as well for Coco to put her plan into action.
The opportunity for her plan to come into effect came at a much earlier time than expected. Once all the teams were looking for sap and filling their jars team CFVY, excluding the V, had begun to stalk team CRDL. And what they noticed their prey had been slowly and slowly been gravitating towards team JNPR. The probability of them being up to no good was high, but Coco didn't care because vengeance and retribution was in the air and she was one blood-thirsty gal. She was confident she would be able to stop whatever they were up to before anything bad happened.
So before CRDL got too close, she and her teammates began rapidly approaching their target.
"Hey boys," Coco basically sang the words as she approached them, "Let's have a quick chat!"
Team CRDL was aghast at the sudden interruption, the three boys that looked like they were scheming now looked even more guilty than they did previously, while Cardin just looked a tad befuddled as he looked up from his scroll at the sudden intruders. However Cardin immediately noticed the upperclassmen's hostile stances and lack of a faunus member, so he set down the two jars of sap in his other arm and put away his scroll.
"Y'all need anything?" Cardin drawled, hand reaching for Worldbreaker on his back as he stepped in front of his team protectively.
"Just your team members," Yatsuhashi replied as he mirrored Cardin reaching for his weapon.
Coco smiled sweetly, "Yeah, you don't even like them. We've been watching you for awhile and we both know they deserve it,"
Cardin took another step forward, "Whether they deserve it or not isn't up to question, but I'm their leader and I'm the only one that gets to tell them what to do. Velvet-"
A stream of bullets caught Cardin directly on the chest, throwing his large figure backwards and on his ass, scorching the front of his armor and denting it slightly.
"Keep my partners name out of your mouth," Coco hissed as she leveled her mini-gun at Cardin, "Yats, Fox, get them."
The Mistrali giant sprung into action alongside his partner, falling upon Dove, Lark, and Russel who desperately tried to evade and deal with their attacks. The three freshmen couldn't deal with one of them, much less two of them, so Fox and Yatsuhashi slammed into them as a storming bull and a venomous viper would fall upon a coop of chickens. The boys named after birds acted much like chickens would in such an attack, running backwards until they could escape and hide behind the now-standing body of Cardin.
"You don't want to do this," said Fox, "Just let us teach them a lesson,"
"There's a reason why Velvet wasn't the one to teach them it herself, she could have trounced their asses and turned them inside out any second. But she didn't, and there was probably a reason for that. I couldn't give a rat's ass what that reason was but you don't get to fuck with my team on the behalf of someone else," Cardin spat.
Cardin had to raise Worldbreaker quickly to block an incoming ax-kick from Coco, who had just flipped over Yats and Fox to strike at Cardin. The kick sent the Winchester down to one knee at the force of it, "I thought I said to keep my partner's name out of your mouth," Coco said, "And if you're that desperate to get beat with the rest of your team, then so be it, we gave you the chance to sit this one out. SO LET ME JUST FORCE YOU TO SIT DOWN INSTEAD!"
Coco spun on her heel, too quick for Cardin to adjust his stance, and far too quickly for Cardin to react to the butt of her mini-gun being smashed into the side of his head. Before his teammates could react, they were sprayed with a volley of bullets that slammed into them much like a previous volley had slammed into their leader. This sent them backwards in a similar fashion as well, which gave Coco enough time to level her gun directly at Cardin's dazed face, and shatter his aura in a quick burst. This left Cardin unconscious, and once that was decided Coco stepped over his limp body to leer over Russel specifically.
With one perfectly manicured hand, Coco bunched up the front of Russel's shirt in a fist and pulled him upward at an awkward angle so their faces were only inches apart. "If you ever even think about getting close to my partner, I will make sure your body never gets found. Are we understood? Now you don't need to respond capiche? As far as what happened here, you were attacked by a Grimm of your choosing. It caught you off guard and got to your leader before knocking you lot around, isn't that right Jaune?" Coco said before dropping Russel with a sudden thud.
"Obviously that's the only explanation of what could have happened here," responded Jaune, "Luckily Russel was able to kill the Grimm in the end, where he also realized how fleeting our life here is, and had a change of heart regarding his opinions towards the faunus. Don't worry Russel, I'll make sure Goodwitch knows all about your accomplishment and ensure you're praised accordingly,"
In that second, with Jaune standing over him with his hands behind his stupidly armored back, with his idiotic and privileged smile forever plastered on his face. Russel decided he had never hated someone more in his life, dumping all the humiliation from getting his ass handed to him by Coco onto Jaune atop the already burdensome level of embarrassment he carried from being emasculated in front of the entire cafeteria from that time with Jaune and Velvet. So once Jaune and Coco turned their backs, taking his silence for being subdued, Russel felt to that pouch at his hip and retrieved the dust-taser from within. Now the internet guy he had bought it from had assured him it was even better than Atlas-grade military tech, claiming that it was his own invention as well, but Russel didn't care. All Russel cared about was the speed his feet carried him, the satisfying click and the violent buzz of the taser coming to life, and the roar coming from his mouth as he plunged the taser directly into Jaune's armored chest as Jaune turned to see what the commotion was all about.
Oh seeing Jaune's face twist and contort under the ministration of Russel's newly bought taser was extremely satisfying, but that satisfaction was quickly drowned under the extreme confusion and fear of the fact that the taser was producing enough electricity to not only melt into Jaune's armor, but also begin producing enough energy that the taser was glowing a melting hot red.
No one could react fast enough, Russel was at a loss of what to do, Jaune was spasming under the electricity, and Coco was too slow to react to anything other than the subsequent explosion of the taser. Jaune
"What the fuck did you do!" Coco yelled before decking Russel across the face who was surprisingly still standing, then turning to Fox, "Go get help!"
"That wasn't supposed to happen!" Babbled Russel, "It's just a taser, tasers aren't supposed to do that much damage!"
Coco growled, "This one obviously did you piece of shit! You realize you're probably going to get expelled right? Not only did you just use what I am one-hundred percent certain is an illegal weapon, but you also just incapacitated the goddamn son of Beacon and Goodwitch!"
Before Coco could verbally lacerate Russel further, the storming feet of Fox, Glynda Goodwitch, and a brown-haired woman with amber eyes interrupted her.
"Amber make sure he's okay," Glynda ordered, voice laced with concern and worry. No one at the clearing would ever think about pointing out the fact that she had tears in her eyes, but that didn't matter when she leveled her sights at Russel, and the young man felt true fear for the first time in his life.
In this episode of Upon You They Break, Cardin is a weirdo, Russel is a racist shithead, Dove is a pervert, and Lark is trans cause I got like one transphobic comment awhile ago and these characters have so little character depth and actual character design its criminal to not add shit. Decided since the creators of RWBY have like explicitly said that homophobia and transphobia doesn't exist it wouldn't hurt anyone for Dove to like boys and for Lark to have been born a girl, while both of em still being bad people.
Also I wonder who Russel got that taser from ;).
Moi is back. (I love all the fans of my story I hope you had funnnnnnn)