"Thanks again for the help!" Ruby called out to the blacksmith as Team RNJR made their way towards the outskirts of the village.
"Thank you." The blacksmith snorted. "Keep up the good fight kids."
"You know it mister!" Nora yelled, saluting the man and making him laugh as they walked away. "What a stand up guy. Speaking of, how's your new kit Jaune-Jaune?"
"I don't know." Jaune replied, thumbing the hilt of the sheathed and newly improved Crocea Mors. "It's a little heavier now, obviously. I'll need to get used to the weight."
"Oh-hoho!" Ruby crowed, feeling an inexplicable surge of anger rising inside her. "So it's fine if your weapon is heavier because it's a bigger sword, but when I want to incorporate a ranged weapon so you have options in a fight its all 'But the weight Ruby, my noodles can't handle the weight of bullets and shifting things' huh?"
Nora snorted at her impression of Jaune whilst Ren looked on with a small smile, like he was a father watching his children harmlessly bicker.
"I'll have you know, Crater Face." Jaune retorted. "My arms aren't noodles anymore. All that training with…all that training paid off."
Ruby raised a brow and made a point of looking up and down his body to make him feel uncomfortable and inevitably back down, as the dork would.
Sure, he'd put on a little bulk thanks to their long journey and the harsh training regimen he kept for himself. And yeah, the previously loose fitting hoodie was starting to look a little tight, especially around his shoulders, but that was nothing compared to the fact when Ruby had accidentally caught him changing the other morning and seen, with her own functional eyes, that Noodle Boy, Vomit Boy, was actually kind of ripped these days, with abs carved of marble and…
Ruby coughed when she realised she'd been staring at his stomach for a little too long, her face flushing at Jaune's smug look.
"Y-Yeah? Well you'll always still be Vomit Boy!" She retorted, and Nora appeared out of nowhere, holding her hand up high.
"You tell 'im sister!" Nora cheered, and Ruby jumped up to complete the high five. "Woo! Girls rule boys drool!"
"Girls rule boys vomit!" Ruby added on, and Jaune rolled his eyes and turned to Ren.
"Are we just going to take this?" He asked, and the quieter boy shrugged.
"Considering one is capable of making tornados and the other has a disturbing fascination with breaking legs, I'd say yes to that answer." Ren replied, and Jaune turned back around.
"My lawyer says I should say no comment, so no comment."
Ruby stuck out her tongue at him like the mature young woman she was before realising a villager was running towards them.
"Are you Team RNJR?" The villager panted as she neared them, holding a fluttering piece of paper in one hand.
"Yes, ma'am." Jaune replied with a polite smile, and Ruby frowned as the woman's face turned red. She was clearly over-exerted from running over to them so should just do whatever she was doing already and leave.
"Oh! Erh…h-hi?" The woman giggled, offering the paper to Jaune, who took and looked it over. "My dad, the mayor, wanted me to give you this map just in case. It's been updated so you can see which settlements that have been lost to the Grimm. H-He also wanted me to see if you wanted to s-stay the night. Just to make sure you were w-well rested."
"We're fine." Ruby said bluntly, though she made sure to smile so the girl knew there were no hard feelings. She took the map from Jaune's hands and gave it back to the girl. "We have our own map and places to be, so we'll be going now."
"O-Oh okay." The woman said, swallowing and taking a step back. "S-Sorry for bothering you!"
The woman raced away and Ruby turned to Jaune when he tapped her shoulder.
"That was rude." He said, a disappointed look in his eyes. "Also can you stop crushing my arm?"
"Wai-wha?" Ruby asked, turning and blinking when she realised she was grabbing Jaune's arm for some reason. "O-Oh. Sorry."
"It's fine." Jaune said, shaking his head and rubbing his arm. "Let's get moving then shall we?"
They left the village silently and about five minutes after passing the outskirts of it Ruby decided she couldn't handle the silence anymore.
"So where are we headed now?" She asked, and Jaune shrugged.
"Can I have our map Nora?" He asked, and Ren face-palmed. "What?"
"You gave our map to Nora for safe-keeping?" He said in a deadpan tone, and Ruby turned to Jaune, who had the look of a man who just realised he'd left the stove on at home after the plane just took off for a week-long holiday.
"Nora, do you have our map?" Jaune asked, and Nora knocked her knees together, Magnhild held behind her back innocently.
"I did…then the Grimm took it." Nora replied, and she wailed when Jaune face-palmed too. "It's not my fault the Grimm took it!"
"Yeah. Right. Let's double back to the village and see if that lady is nice enough to give us that map again."
For some weird, inexplicable reason, the thought of going back to that village to ask that weird, unlikeable girl for another map, and having to see that weird, unlikeable girl around Jaune caused a weird, inexplicable pain in her stomach.
"Nope!" Ruby blurted. "We don't need to!"
"Why?" Jaune sighed, and she almost caved under the collective scrutiny of the group.
Her mind scrambled for an answer. It settled on a book that she'd brought with her, not exactly for this exact purpose, but just in case she needed it.
She always thought it would've been her or Jaune who lost the map, not anyone else.
"My atlas!" Ruby yelled excitedly, pulling it out of her travelling bag. "It's got maps!"
Nora cheered whilst Ren and Jaune had a silent conversation before Jaune sighed and nodded, taking the atlas and flipping through the pages.
"Looks like we're headed for a place called Higanbana. My family used to stop there sometimes on the way to Shion." Jaune smiled, raising his hand into the air like a general leading his men to war. "To Higanbana!"
"To Higanbana!" Nora and Ren crowed, though one was more subdued than the other.
"To Higa-Higa…" Ruby paused. "To Higabanana!"
Omake:
Hello~" Ruby called out, skidding to a halt in front of the bronze statue of a Huntsman and Huntress in the foyer in front of the librarian's desk. "Come out, come out wherever you are!"
"There's no need for that Ruby." A voice said, extremely feminine and incredibly close to her ear, making her shriek at how close it was.
"B-Blake?!" Ruby exclaimed, hand on her chest and feeling her pounding heartbeat. "W-What the heck!"
"Hello to you too Ruby." Blake grinned, amber eyes glinting in the dark as she smiled clearly, though her face was partially hidden by the ninja mask she was wearing.
"I…Uhh…Hi Blake." Ruby said, swallowing, before lifting her eyes to stare into her friend's amused ones. "I take it you're giving me my next gift?"
"Of course." Blake said, holding out a single box. Ruby took it and shook it to see if it rattled. "It's a book."
Ruby took off the wrapping paper, quickly, wondering what it was. Her mind blanked when she saw two blank figures, one distinctly feminine and the other distinctly masculine, a lot of rope and a title that managed to look sultry somehow.
"What's a Kama Sutra?" Ruby asked, and Blake leaned forward, smirk clear despite her mask.
"You will learn my young apprentice." Blake chuckled, quickly devolving into evil cackles. "You will learn!"
-=-Line Break-=-
"Ruby?" Jaune asked, knocking tentatively at the room for the inn at Higanbana. "Nora and Ren said I'm sharing with you or something."
"Come in!" Ruby called out and he did so, closing the door behind him.
"So what's going…" Jaune trailed off. Candles lit the room, and the soft fragrance of roses wafted up his nose. Warm, smooth arms wrapped around his shoulders, and he felt something very soft press against the back of his head.
"What's going on?" Ruby purred, every word rumbling lightly against the back of his head. Oh gods did that mean… "Kama Sutra silly billy."
The soft hand made their way down his chest, and he gulped audibly as they pressed against his belt buckle and Ruby leaned up, warm breath brushing against his ear.
"Now it's time to show me your willy." She whispered.
-=-Line Break-=-
Qrow flapped his wings, soaring downwards and getting ready to transform. Diving past the inn he'd seen Ruby and her friends enter earlier, his avian eyes widened as he caught sight of something he definitely didn't want to see.
Then he crashed head first into the concrete road, turning back into his human form a moment later and feeling his head get engulfed by a murky puddle.
"Why does everything hate me?" He sighed.
A/N: Next update 20/01/23!