It occurred to Jaune, as he attempted to get some measure of sleep in the small, crowded tent, that most people didn't know what they really wanted.
Oh, sure, when word spread that Autumn Rose would be accompanying him and her sister on their trip, Jaune was subject to a lot of knowing grins and congratulatory back-slaps from the older men in town. Even his older sister, Saphron, had made a wistful sigh about how unfair it was that he would get to be in close confines with the vivacious older Rose daughter.
Jaune had heard it remarked upon more than once that it was odd for a boy and a girl who had known each other since childhood, like he and Ruby had, to develop romantic feelings towards one another. However, as possibly the foremost expert in the entire world when it came to having sisters, Jaune could say, with complete certainty, that he had never once conflated Ruby with his many…many female siblings.
Her looks may have helped in that regard; as she took after her mother, Ruby's dark red locks and large, exotic silver eyes made her stand out like a sore thumb in Mantle. Summer Rose had originally come from a land far to the south, called Vale, and one of the many adventures that Jaune and Ruby had dreamt of going on as they grew up was traveling there, to see if the people of that far-off land shared her distinctive features.
No, between her looks and her behavior, Ruby had never been in the 'sister' category for Jaune. But Autumn Rose? Oh, having Autumn with them was exactly like having one of Jaune's many, many sisters with them on their journey, and in just the worst way.
Autumn got clingy in her sleep, and tended to clutch her little sister to her chest, hogging the Rubes to herself. There had been precious few Ruby-cuddles for Jaune during their trek south. His disappointment was immeasurable, and his adventure ruined. Then Autumn sprawled. Those long, long legs that had been the fantasy of the boys and men at Mantle had to go somewhere when she slept, and more often than not, they tended to invade Jaune's personal space, tangling him up and putting his groin into mortal peril.
And finally, Autumn snored. Back before it was destroyed, the entire village of Lonelywood didn't saw logs like she did.
So, in summation, Jaune had found himself saddled with an irritating older blonde woman, who hogged the pretty girl to herself and made a lot of annoying noise. It was exactly like having Saphron with them.
The only silver lining to the situation was that, as it turned out, there really was some truth to the idea of huddling together to share body heat. Jaune's tent was actually his backpack. Ruby had designed it herself, with the wooden backpack frame connected with clever bronze fittings that, when detached, allowed him to unfold the beeswax-treated, waterproof canvas of his pack and use it to make a small tent.
Of course, the idea had been for it to have just been himself and Ruby in the tent, with a bit of room for Ruby's pack, and his own supplies, but Autumn was able to cram herself in as well. With all three of them in the tent, and the flap closed, it got downright balmy in there. It got so warm, in fact, that Jaune had to sleep on top of his thick fur bedroll, as he had actually begun to sweat, and in the mornings, they would wake up to find a ring around their tent, from where the snow had all melted away.
Huh. His father had mentioned the practice, but he never said anything about it being that effective. Oh well.
At least their other unexpected party member was happy.
Weiss was perfectly thrilled with the warmth. The small dragon was sprawled out on his chest, her little head rising and falling with his breath. She'd had a few of the dreaded "itchies" since they'd left Mantle, including one on her belly and another one right in between her eyes. That one was still growing back, leaving her with a pink spot in the middle of her face.
Her new scale would grow in pretty quickly though; they always did. Including the one that he'd plucked from her back when they'd first met, Jaune now had a half-dozen small, gleaming white scales in a pouch he kept on his belt. Maybe when all of this was over, they'd become new Arc family heirlooms.
It wouldn't be much longer until they reached Norport. While the port town wasn't on edge the way Mantle had been after the destruction of Lonelywood, Jaune was still wary of people recognizing Weiss for what she was, and causing trouble because of it.
Fortunately, he and Ruby formed two halves of a single genius. While neither Autumn nor Weiss herself thought that it had any chance at all of working, they had both agreed to do their part to help, the former out of amusement, and the latter since her own plan of "stroll into town and kill anyone who accosts them" was rejected by unanimous vote.
It had taken some time, effort, and more rabbit pelts than Jaune had really been comfortable with, but with Weiss keeping a vigilant eye on the snares that he placed and Autumn stretching and brain-tanning the pelts, it wasn't long before they had enough soft, white rabbit fur for their plan to work. And as an added bonus, all the additional meat helped keep Weiss, who was just the most voracious little dragon, from devastating their stores.
Sometimes, when he and Ruby put their noodles together, their brilliance surprised even Jaune.
He smiled at the pleasant thought. Even in a cramped little tent, with a pushy little dragon asleep on his chest and a big dumb blonde snoring away, physically interposing herself between him and Ruby, and occasionally menacing his manly bits with her nocturnal kicking, he still wouldn't rather be anywhere else.
It wasn't how they imagined it, sure, but he and Ruby were finally on their big adventure.
[/]
Norport was, as the name suggested, the northernmost port on the various trade routes that crisscrossed Remnant. Refined metal ingots, northern timber, and marble traveled south from Mantle, while food items and finished trade goods came north, across the sea from Argus, with additional sea salt sent north for good measure.
Norport had been strategically-constructed in a well-protected natural harbor, and was the largest town, both in size and population, in the north. Stone walls meandered haphazardly from the cliffs and over the rolling hills.
Warmer air was blown in on a prevailing wind, and as a result, the air was noticeably warmer than the more northern Mantle. While it was still a brisk cold, the land was green with tough, hardy grass, over which herds of sheep roamed.
"All right, this is Norport," Jaune announced, perhaps a bit unnecessarily. "I've been here before with my father, so I know how this works. We'll approach the gate, where the guards will ask our business. All we need to tell them is that we're picking up a passenger due to arrive by ship, and escort him to Mantle. And Weiss - "
"Is wondering why I put up with your human foolishness," the dragonness interjected.
"But Weiss!" Ruby pouted. "You look so cute!"
The little Frost Dragon fledgeling was wearing the disguise that Ruby and Jaune had thought up. As a result, she had a sort of "jacket" made of soft white fur, as well as a hood, complete with imitation cat ears, made from sticks that Autumn had sewn into the garment.
Of course, Autumn had been obliged to make little slits in the back for her wings to fit through, and they didn't have quite enough rabbit pelts, so her scaly tail swished freely back and forth, and her decidedly un-catlike talons and snout were bare to the world, and the end result was that Weiss looked like a ridiculous small dragon wearing a kitty costume, but it would work.
"You are insane," declared Weiss. "Both of you."
Jaune waved off her complaints. Weiss complaining was like water being wet at this point. "You just haven't been educated in the finer points of bad behavior."
"Trust us, this is going to work," Ruby added.
Autumn shook her head, her blonde locks bouncing freely. "Yeah, I'm gonna go with the lizard on this one. It's not going to work."
"But you did such good work sewing her little costume!" Ruby looked up at her older sister with huge, silver eyes. "Don't you at least want to try?"
As always, Autumn was powerless in the face of her little sister's pleading. "When we get thrown in a cell, I'm totally gonna say that I told you so."
"Duly noted and ignored," said Jaune.
Autumn looked to her little sister. "Can we have a serious discussion about your taste in men?"
Ruby ignored her with the ease of long practice. She clapped her hands together. "Okay, no more time for second thoughts!"
"There was a first thought?" grumbled Weiss.
"Let's go!" continued Ruby. "Remember, you have to believe!"
With that, the small but unusual group made their way down the final stretch of the road towards Norport. The gate was open, with a pair of bored-looking guards leaning on their spears and chatting as the party approached. When they noticed the youths, they straightened.
"State your name and your business in Norport!" the one on the right said.
"Jaune Arc of Mantle, accompanied by the Rose sisters, of the same. We're here to meet a passenger due to arrive via ship, and escort him to Mantle."
The guard on the left hastily scribbled in a parchment.
"Make sure it's spelled J-A-U-N-E," Jaune told him. "I can't tell you how many people have misspelled my name over the years. Sometimes, I worry there's a 'Juan Arc' out there somewhere, and one day, he's going to hunt me down for revenge."
"And what is the nature of this…creature that accompanies you?" asked Right, peering curiously at Weiss.
It was at this point that the bullshit began.
"That, my good man, is one of the only North Mantle Dire Lizardcats to be seen in living memory," Jaune said, his tone one of authoritative pride.
"Meow," deadpanned Weiss.
Left and Right looked at each other.
"A…a what?" asked Left.
Jaune, in turn, looked surprised. "You mean you've lived in Norport all this time, and you've never heard of the legends of the North Mantle Dire Lizardcat?"
"It's like a normal lizardcat," added Ruby, nodding sagely. "Only dire."
"Is it dangerous?" the guard on the right inquired.
Jaune shrugged. "No more so than a hawk. Trying to pet one is a bad idea," he warned, as Left had tentatively reached out to try and pet Weiss. "It took me a long time to befriend this one here. The passenger we're waiting for is a ranger, who can help study the creature."
"It's super exciting!" cheered Ruby.
The two guards looked at one another, sharing a silent conversation before Right shrugged. "Well, you'll be responsible if the creature attacks anyone. If it does, we'll treat it like baring steel - and you don't want to be the one's drawn first here in Norport. 'Sides that, Portmaster's the stone building next to the docks. He can tell you the names of the ships arrived in port. Keep yer noses clean, and you'll be welcome in Norport."
"Of course," Jaune smiled blandly.
"Thank you!" added Ruby. "C'mon, let's go inside!"
Autumn and Weiss shared a look of mutual bafflement. In the stunned silence that fell over the group as they entered the town, Ruby and Jaune were radiating smugness the way they normally radiated frustrated sexual tension.
"I literally cannot believe that that worked, and I kind of hate that it did," the blonde girl finally said.
From her customary place, sulking on Jaune's shoulder, Weiss agreed. "In retrospect, I should have accounted for human foolishness."
[/]
It'd been a long, long time since Qrow Branwen had journeyed this far north. Decades, at least. Still, ol' Jimmy had been one of his adventuring buddies, before he caught a polar bear to the arm, and when he called for help, well, it was both a professional and personal obligation to at least check it out. Plus, if nothin' else, it gave him an excuse to break out the real cold weather gear, make sure it wasn't all worn out.
Still, friend or no friend, ranger or no ranger, there was no way in any of the seven hells that he was heading off into the far north without at least restocking on the damn good booze. The rum ran dry on the crossing from Argus, and the vile grog that the sailors had improvised out of desperation was, in Qrow's inestimable estimation, a war crime.
Qrow was a tall, lanky man, with a perpetual five 'o clock shadow and his dark hair in a constant state of utter anarchy. The slight point to his ears betrayed his half-elven heritage. The ranger was dressed in his customary mottled brown leathers and dark green cloak, with a pack containing his specialized cold weather gear on his back. His baldric carried a few pouches and vials across his chest, and his belt with festooned with weapons, including a short, curved sword on his left hip, a long fighting knife on the small of his back, and a quiver containing arrows and a short - but frightfully-powerful - recurved bow on his right hip.
Caw!
With the addition of his familiar, a large black bird that flew in to land on his shoulder, the very image of the classic ranger was complete.
"Yes, I'm goin' to a tavern first," he informed his feathered companion.
Caw!
"Oh, don't give me that," he rolled his eyes. "I know what I'm doing."
Caw!
Qrow smirked. "Well, of the two of us, one of us is a bird, and it ain't me. So, I'm sure you'll understand if I don't come to you for good judgment, Rae."
Caw! Caw!
Just like the balance inherent in nature, there was a careful balance that one had to strike when finding a place to drink. Too cheap, and the drinks were watered-down, downright poisonous garbage, the sort of dank shithole where the fleas had fleas and one was in danger of catching a knife to the ribs just as much as catching the Ruinous Shits. On the other end of the spectrum, going too expensive was just as bad. Besides dealing with snooty shits lookin' down their noses at a man who works for a livin', the booze was crazily overpriced, as if the brewers were doin' you a favor for deigning to bottle the piss of the gods for sale.
The Flopping Seal looked like it'd serve his purpose well enough. Reasonably clean, honest and unpretentious, it was the sort of place that Qrow could see himself getting well and truly shitfaced in relative ease and comfort.
A few hours later, Qrow was feelin' much more himself, with his feet propped up on a chair at his table in the corner, empty tankards displaying his afternoon's progress. His position was carefully-chosen to let him keep an eye on the rest of the common room, old habits dying hard. He kept his hood up, obscuring most of his face, while Raven hopped around on the floor, picking up discarded scraps of food.
He was debating calling the bar wench over for another round, when some fuckin' kid entered the tavern.
There was nothing overly-special about the boy himself, some tall youth with blond hair. The caribou-hide jacket and traveling pack on his back meant he was probably from Mantle. If that'd been all there was to the kid, Qrow would have dismissed him without a second thought, but then he saw the boy's own companion.
His feet fell to the floor. What the fuck?! How the fuck?
"She's a North Mantle Dire Lizardcat," the kid was telling the man at the bar, which was quite possibly the dumbest bullshit Qrow had ever heard. That was clearly a dragon - a dragon hatchling, no less - that had, in defiance of all reason, allowed itself to be garbed in a ridiculous costume.
"Say, you wouldn't happen to have had a ranger pass through here, have you?" the boy asked. "I'm supposed to meet one here."
Come again?
"Well, I can't say as for sure, but that feller sittin' in the corner there -" the tavernkeeper pointed him out, damn the man - "He has the look o' one."
"Thanks."
The boy with the dragon met up with two young girls, and then the group began to approach.
"Are you Qrow Branwen?" the youth asked when they stood at the table.
Qrow stared at him. "That's a dragon," he hissed.
Then, the dragon itself spoke, addressing the boy. "People keep telling you that as though you don't already know," she said, with the prissy voice of a highborn maiden. "Should we be concerned about their mental faculties, or yours?"
Qrow levelled a reddish-brown gaze on the youth. "That's a hatchling, far too small to be separated from the nest for long. You'll bring her mother down on this place, boy."
"My mother is dead," the dragoness said. "And this is my treasure-boy, Jaune."
The ranger quirked a brow at her. "Aren't you a little young to be mating?"
"Mating?!" The boy, the dragon, and the smaller of the two girls all sputtered at once.
"Well, why the hell else would you take a human male as a treasure?"
If nothing else, Qrow could now say that he had seen, with his own eyes, a sputtering, outraged Frost Dragon hatchling wearing a cat costume. He held up a hand to forestall additional arguments.
"You clearly wanted to talk with me, probably about your scaly friend there," said Qrow. "So why don't you sit down, and for Gaia's sake, keep your voices down."
"Oh, right."
The youths each took a seat, and the bar wench gathered up the empty tankards.
"Someone's had a busy day," remarked the blonde girl.
"Rough crossing," grunted Qrow. "And mind your own business."
"Right," the boy took over. "James Ironwood sent us here to meet with you, about that business up in Lonelywood. I was first out to the scene; it was all burnt to the ground, every last building, but the thing is, there were no tracks in the snow, not a single thing…"
Jaune recounted his story, answering Qrow's questions with a thoroughness that surprised the half-elven ranger. Then there was his meeting with the dragons - plural - and the revelation that the otherwise unassuming boy had effectively befriended a potentially powerful being, and had survived surrendering an artifact made of their mother's remains to an angry young adult dragon. Finally, enlisting the aid of the juvenile dragon's senses as a tracking aid was downright inspired, the only thing stymying the kid being that neither he nor the dragon had the experience to follow the trail further.
When the kid finally trailed off, Qrow let out a low whistle. "Well, shit, kid, I'm impressed. I've got a pretty good idea of what happened just from your story, but before we head out to the village, I want to check something." Abruptly, he leaned down and snatched up the black bird from the floor.
"All right, The Peaceful Stillness of Moonlight Spilling Over the Fresh-Fallen White Snow, I want you to taste Raven's scent here -"
"You named your raven Raven?" Autumn interjected.
"Naw, Raven was Raven before she was a raven," replied the Ranger. He shook his head. "Not important right now." To Weiss, he said, "Now, taste her scent and see how it compares to what you tasted at Lonelywood."
With a look to Jaune, who just shrugged in response, Weiss dutifully flicked out her blue, forked tongue. After a moment, she raised, hunched up and curling her lips back to bare her sharp teeth. "That's it! That's the scent! Prepare to die!"
Caw!
The raven, for its part, was unphased, flapping angrily in the general direction of the dragonling.
Qrow was quick to hold up his hand. "Calm, calm."
"But that's the scent!" protested Weiss. "The bird burned down Lonelywood!"
"Don't get me wrong, it's the sort of thing she'd do, but she can't. She's a bird, you know. What you taste on her is what you tasted in the air back at Lonelywood. That's the taste of magic, powerful magic."
The youths all shared a worried look with one another.
"Well, what does that mean?" asked Jaune.
"That means, that more likely than not, we're gonna need to find a mage."
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Chapter Endnotes: Shorter update this time.
I had a lot of fun playing out Jaune and Ruby as two characters using the Bluff skill, while Yang and Weiss are completely incredulous.
The last chapter was kind of heavy, with Jaune killing someone for the first time, but the tone that I'm more looking for in this story is kind of like a JRPG, like Golden Sun, where drama occurs, and heroes do heroic things, but there's still room for silliness.
That, and as soon as the idea of "what if they put her in a cute little costume?" occurred to me, I was physically-incapable of doing anything else. I tried to write it out with the gang taking the prudent route of having Weiss fly up and out of sight for a while, but my fingers mutinied, and I was obliged to be goofy.
There's a YouTube channel called "Skill Tree," where the host designs and builds all manner of geek things. The pack that can be converted into a tent is one of them, so if you check out that channel, you can see exactly how it works and the dimensions of the tent the four of them are sharing.
The purpose of relaying Ruby and Yang's parentage to the readership is to play with dramatic irony. Dramatic irony is where the audience has information that the characters in the story do not, which gives the writer leeway to play with it, like Jaune damn near sweating in his tent and thinking "wow, this body heat thing really works, huh?" The humor comes from us knowing what's really going on while he operates under misapprehension.
And yes, that raven was Raven, because Raven is going to Raven, even when Raven is forced to Raven as an actual raven named Raven. Why is she a raven? Because when Raven Ravens around, some take exception to said Raven behavior - and powerful mages are a thing in this story.
I've got a lot of fun ideas for this story, including nailing down Ren and Nora's races and their vocation, and how I want to handle Mercury and Emerald.
I hope you're having as much fun reading this as I am writing it.
Love,
Mahina Fable