Chapter 7 | Rest Period III

"The Human Factor of Fear"


Two seconds IRL translated to a single minute in-game. And when it came down to it, accomplishing two whole hours was not what most people would have called a challenging feat. After all, a healthy combination of careful time management, quick reaction time and acute awareness of their surroundings could net an easy win.

To anyone who considered all those good points, Blake would humbly request them to take two fingers of theirs and shove them up their—

A snap of the door has her jumping in place, but she kept at it regardless, unwilling to become complacent. She kept track of the time, and she had exactly ten minutes left to get to. That meant twenty whole seconds to get through. And that meant twenty seconds that things could potentially go wrong.

She gulped, keeping her breath still and her fingers tensed, ready to react to even the slightest cue. In that world, she stared at the light device on the table of the living room, unwilling to look away; as if staring into the blaring white was her only means of survival.

This was horrible. If this was an actual situation that she was caught in with no second chances (really, though, this was her eighth attempt at this point), she knew she would be dead the first time around. Nothing could possibly change that.

Her breath choked up in her throat when she saw something skitter across the wall. A figment of her imagination? Or something far more sinister? Her head snapped in the opposite direction this time, almost caught off-guard by the ominous tick-tick-tick of the clock in the background.

'Come on, come on..! Don't die on me now—' The world trembled as Sophie encroached on the living. Blake whimpered, but held steadfast. 'Can't kill me, you stupid ghost! I'm safe here!'

Merely thinking that, however, left her feeling like she was simply jinxing herself. Her hands on the table did not budge, and she refused to look away from the lights, afraid that doing so would simply turn her gaze towards the ghost's haunted visitor. And just the idea that she would die now was no longer terrifying.

No. Above all else, it would be infuriating.

She had to go through hell and more just to reach this point. She was not going to lose this!

"Just hold out..!" She whispered to herself. "Just a little more!"

Darkness. Shaking. Cries. Screaming.

And suddenly, as if it had been nothing more but her own imagination, the moment passed. The faunus gasped, finding her eyes checking the time.

Three. Two. One.

A deep gasp shook her to the bones—the first having been heard so long ago, and now a clear sign of their victory at reaching the second checkpoint.

"Yes!" She practically screamed, throwing her arms in the air. The sobbing came out unconsciously, all the tension in her body flying free. "I did it! I actually did it..!"

"You did!" Jaune's voice was equally filled with joy and awe. "Nice one, Blake!"

"Yeah!" She nodded, freezing a moment later when the situation hit her. Blake coughed into her fist, forcing herself to regain some calm. "Ahem. Right. I mean, yeah. Pfft. Obviously."

"Oh, come on now. You don't need to pretend like you aren't happy. It was a well-earned victory!"

"It was," she would be willing to concede that point, but nothing more. She did feel the crack of a grin on her face, however, no matter how much she tried to keep it down. "For real though… I did not expect it to be that hard."

"Well, to be fair, that was the real first checkpoint. I just only played the tutorial portion, which had no danger."

"…Now that you pointed that out, you're not wrong… Gah, whatever. It's a win in our book, no matter what."

"Heh. Yeah it is. And that calls for one thing. Up top!"

His exclamation is followed up by him lifting his hand up high, open palm. The girl stared at it, and though she knew what the gesture indicated, Blake actually wondered if she even wanted to commit. After all, she was the bookish girl. In no world could she possibly do a high-five…

Gah, fuck it. Who cares? She'd done so much screaming and cursing in the past hour, people would likely give up on the notion of calling her shy.

With pride thoroughly replenished and moods riding high, Blake responded to the call, and high-fived her clubmate with a grin that was equal parts relieved and equal parts exhausted.

"Well, I don't care if I die at this point. It's not like she can erase a;; my progress. Hell, I'm not even going to do any—Aagh!" She screamed, right as Sophie dove in for the kill. "God damn it!"

"Hey. On the bright side like you said, you already reached the checkpoint, so it doesn't even matter, am I right?"

"Yeah, it really doesn't. But jeez, she didn't have to go straight at me like that," she groaned, kicked back to the main menu after her impromptu death. "Well, whatever. That was a resounding success, and am I glad for that. And as for Sophie…" Her expression turned into a grimace. "I don't know if I want to do that ever again."

"Yeah, no worries. I'll play that and finish it in my own spare time," that… was kind of relieving. And yet, a part of her didn't want to leave it there. Jaune would be able to finish it, she knew, but she'd want to be able to complete it herself as well. "So hey, let's head back to our rooms for now. We've been here for hours at this point—heck, it's almost three."

Wait, seriously? Checking her scroll, she was surprised to find that such was the case. "Oh, dang. I didn't even realize that."

"Heh, yeah. I mean, we took some time getting some food, and then playing… So for now, let's go back, and then we should meet up tomorrow. I'm thinking of asking Miss Goodwitch if she could join us, too."

She perked up at that. "Why?"

"I got something I wanna' talk about. It's mostly about this club's direction and stuff."

Well, that certainly feels like something that Jaune would consider, what with his hobby and their meetings being on the line. She especially didn't find the idea of making their club open to everyone particularly enticing, so they'd probably have to decide unanimously on what to do regarding that part.

Leaving all of that for tomorrow, though. For the time being, none of these are issues they need to contemplate right away.

Just as she tried to get off from the couch, though, she realized that her entire body refused to move in the slightest. Her butt refused to budge from the seat, and Jaune showed no signs of movement either. Both remained sitting. Both looked at one another.

A moment of silence stretched before the two.

"…Wanna' just chill for, like, an hour here before we head back?"

"Sure."

Using the TV, Jaune played a couple of soft songs—a combination of gentle orchestra and lofi—at a relatively low volume, giving them a great atmosphere. Blake laid her head on the head of the couch and made herself a blanket cocoon, Jaune taking the other side and sitting up with his arms crossed. It didn't take long for the two of them to fall asleep in their brand-new clubroom.


Waking up after just an hour's nap had never felt more refreshing, even if her neck ached a little because of her position. Even so, it was awesome, and it hadn't felt awkward despite it being with Jaune, who was another guy.

Then again, they were fellow horror appreciators (or a growing fan and an aficionado), and all the time they'd met one another had made it easy to connect with one another and overcome that initial barrier of 'we are strangers, i.e. friend of a friend' had made them good friends. Talk about progress.

Nevertheless, once they'd finished turning off all the electricity, cleaning up their mess and locking up, they parted ways to return to their individual rooms. Blake was definitely looking forward to a hot shower—heavens know that she likely stunk bad from all the sweating she'd been doing.

"…which is why I believe that a horde of Lancers would be far more difficult to deal with than a single massive Goliath."

"Are you suuure? I mean, a big-o' Goliath would be super tough to fight, compared to squishy Lancers."

"Squishy?" Weiss scoffed. "You do realize that Grimm bodies are usually tough? I mean, sure, there are some species with more bone plates and thicker skin than others, but almost all of them require a lot of power to cut through or wound."

"But comparing the two, you'd be able to squish Lancers better than you squish Ursa."

"Pretty sure you wouldn't even think to squash an Ursa to begin with," the heiress rolled her eyes. "Dealing with a single one would be so simple. Even if it's a battle of attrition, you can still wear it down overtime and target its weak points. But when handling a horde, it's not just one single Grimm you have to kill; it's multiple. And they can overwhelm you with numbers and speed, which is an extremely difficult task."

"Pfft. Just get some AoE there."

At Weiss' confusion, Ruby explained: "Area of Effect. It's a term we use for videogames. Basically just means attack a wide area."

"Ah, I see. Well, I suppose that is the effective manner to handle a horde…"

"Ultimately, it's all just a matter of how you deal with them," Blake eventually chimed in, setting down her stuff beside her bed. "I mean, you can't use one method to deal with all kinds of Grimm, plus how many of them there are. There's a reason why we've got all kinds of weapons to choose from; we got to figure out for ourselves which method is most effective."

"Hehe! But Crescent Rose can decimate through every Grimm there are!" Cheered her leader, making her grin.

"Indeed. And I will concede, a single powerful Grimm can pose a threat, but it will be up to us to be smart in taking them out."

"Yessir! And Team RWBY will be unbeatable, be it against Grimm or any other teams!"

"Let's certainly work to make sure of that," nodded the heiress. "Now then, Blake. Where had you gone off to?"

"Played a horror game. Discussed it with Jaune. Scared myself half to death."

The response had been so automatic that she hadn't even realized what left her lips. It was only when she noticed the curious looks from her teammates that it finally dawned on her, and she fought the urge to facepalm.

"A horror game? Hang on, you played a game?" Yang asked, sounding baffled.

"Well, yeah. Jaune recommended it. We played it together… and by that, we took turns."

"Daaamn. I never thought I'd live to hear you say that you played a videogame, Blake. You always have your nose buried in books," okay, she deserved that one, but come on! "And you say it's a horror game? What is it?"

"Uhh. I guess I can show it to you," luckily for her, she'd actually downloaded it on her scroll—Jaune made the suggestion on the off-chance that she had time to kill. Plus, with not much saved in her scroll, she didn't exactly mind adding some things to her library. She turned it on, then handed it over to Weiss, who quirked a brow at it.

"Sophie's Curse… What is this? It's a ghost?"

"Yeah. Basic premise is trying to survive for… ten hours in a haunted house? Ten in-game hours, I mean," the sigh that came after was filled with hours' worth of exhaustion and agony. "It was so hard. We never finished the game. Maybe I'll try it out in my spare time and see if I can do it."

"Huh. I would have expected it to be some kind of monster. Is it a monster ghost?"

"No, it's a human ghost."

"Huh. How surprising."

The relaxed way of speech had her quirking a brow in turn. "You're not scared by that?"

"Well, I can't exactly imagine what's terrifying about a ghost. And considering that this is a videogame that the public could play, I'm surprised this is the primary antagonist they would choose—and not Grimm which, you know, practically everyone fears."

"Not us, though," Yang piped in. "After all, it's literally our job to kill them, so I'm thinking we'd be a lot less scared of Grimm-inspired monsters."

"That's a good point, coming from you," Weiss ignored the blonde's offended 'Hey!'. "Still, there has to be a couple mediums using Grimm-inspired creatures, right?"

Though she wanted to answer that, she found herself stopping short once she realized that, throughout all the stories she read, she never actually found any. The two games thus far only used ghosts, and all the short stories and films she watched prioritized the human characters. Even HiImMaryMary opted to use human-like entities as the supposed monsters.

Now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure if she'd actually seen any Grimm-based horror stories thus far. Definitely the strangest realization thus far, considering all the possibilities of the trope.

"I'm… not sure," she admitted. "All the things Jaune and I discussed have only ever been focused on human characters."

"Well, it's certainly much easier to focus on humans than to generate an all-new creature. Then again, that's where the Grimm come in; with all the varieties, you'd have an easy basis for inspiration there."

That was true. Even in the worst body horror stories she'd read thus far involved humans being subjected to all kinds of horrifying experiments, and never stuff like… oh, you know. Large and powerful Grimm, or the like.

"Guess I'll have to go and look through some another time."

"Maybe Grimm just aren't popular to be used as horror stories," Yang shrugged. "After all, it's just a big-o', ugly monster," their white-haired friend scoffed at that.

"Says you. For the average citizens who live in towns who have a one-out-of-twenty chance of encountering Grimm in their entire lives, more so those living in the outskirts where Grimm encounter can be as high as one-in-seven, the Grimm is a terrifying presence. We are fortunate in having aura, weapons, and the training necessary for countering the Grimm. The same couldn't be said for them."

"And some of the most popular horror movies have Grimm-inspired monsters too, right?" Ruby piped in next. "I mean, The Chill is one of the most popular Grimm that has fairy tales and books written based on it."

"The Grimm Child," Blake recognized that one. Practically all parents use that story to scare children off of entering the woods on their own. Her parents never did, although she could see how terrifying it could have been.

"And didn't the Sea Feilong inspire that story about that girl who met that snake-like monster in the lake, and they became best friends?"

"The Feilong Monster," Weiss rolled her eyes, perhaps bemused at the idea of befriending the Grimm. "It's a heartwarming movie, I will admit, but to impressionable young children, they may just be tempted to do something absolutely ridiculous. Whoever made that film really should have thought better than to make 'befriending Grimm' the message."

Her partner huffed. "Hey, come on! It's a good movie!"

"Yeah! Sure, the idea is ridiculous, but even the director said that it was just a movie," Yang sounded defensive, surprisingly enough. The heiress stared at the sisters in confusion.

"Hold on here. Don't tell me you two actually liked that movie?"

"Of course we do!"

"I can't believe this! We are literally hunters! Our whole job is killing Grimm!"

"Don't mean we can't appreciate a good family movie with Grimm in it!"

"I really don't think you should!"

As the two sisters bickered with the heiress, Blake used that time to ponder on the curious notion that, while Grimm-inspired tales were indeed popular, she hadn't exactly seen much on the horror side. Wouldn't it make sense to have a lot of horror stories inspired by literally the single most dangerous existence on Remnant?

Sure, there was The Grimm Child, but that was a popular fairy tale told among families. She can't exactly think up of any horror mediums, movies or otherwise, that used Grimm.

It really did feel weird. Why use humans as a template for scares when it would likely be much easier with something far more monstrous? Did that have to do with human psychology? Biological adaptation?

Okay, that one is going to be a shower thought she'll be pondering through—and that shower was going to be now. She excused herself, all while her beloved team members argue. Another typical day.


Miss Goodwitch held too many positions in this academy; the deputy headmistress, the combat instructor, the librarian at times, and now their club advisor. It would not have been exaggeration to say that she was easily the most overworked person in the school, if not the entire world.

And yet, being the dutiful teacher that she was, she never failed to keep up with her workload. How that was so, her colleagues chalked it up to incredible grit, good time management and unwavering love for her job. It's no surprise that Beacon hadn't collapsed just yet.

Despite so, all too many are concerned to approach her. Partially because they're afraid of her, and partially because no one wanted to bother the busy woman. Thankfully, however, when Jaune had contacted her, she had immediately agreed to the meeting, though it would be done in her office at noon because she still had a bit of material to organize.

"Another meeting with Miss Goodwitch?" Pyrrha looked at Jaune with worry. "You aren't in trouble, right?"

"I was that one time, but no, this time it's different," he answered, patting his partner on the shoulder with a little smile. "Don't worry. I'm not in trouble again, really. I asked to speak to her because there's something we needed to talk to her about."

"Ah, okay. What's it about?"

"She's our combat instructor, but I'm not going to her for combat training or whatever. I requested a small session to teach me tactics, so it'll be more… I don't want to say lecture-based, but it's definitely not hands-on."

Everyone looked at him in surprise. Blake did too, though only because she felt like it would have felt off if she hadn't; she knew it was a fib, after all. If she didn't, however, she wouldn't have expected that either.

"That's quite surprising. Why's that?"

"I mean… The headmaster chose me as team leader, even if I don't feel like I don't exactly deserve that," she could tell he genuinely believed that. And she could tell that none of his team members felt the same, judging by their protective gazes. "Regardless, I can't just work on my muscles. Got to polish the brain too, don't you think?"

"That's certainly a good thing," hummed Weiss. "After all, a team leader will be looked to for instructions, especially in dire situations. Knowing how to make snap decisions in those moments will be incredibly vital."

"Yep! And also, like, ways to synchronise in fights."

"Synchronise?"

"Err. Synergize, I guess would be the right word."

Ah, that made more sense. After all, their team composition was… well, it wasn't horrendous by any means, but it would certainly feel unbalanced in places. Jaune wasn't strong enough to be a frontal fighter or a tank, Pyrrha was more graceful than anything, Ren prioritized speed, and Nora was the heavy hitter. That was unlike Team RWBY (not bragging or anything), all of whom covered different aspects like having close range, distant range, speed and firepower.

Then again, now that he put it out there, they might have to consider a more defensive option. After all, Jaune and Pyrrha could definitely work to become the team's shields—even the blond, at his current level, could do it thanks to his bountiful aura. Blake doubted anyone on their team was just an effective damage sponge as any other.

And even if Jaune couldn't be an effective fighter, that didn't mean that he'd be useless. He could take command and help his team figure out the best ways to poke through the enemy's defenses and manoeuvre around them, so he'd still be able to assist one way or another.

…Well, good job, brain. Overthinking as always.

"Shoot… You're thinking really hard on that…" Her little team leader hummed seriously. "I've got to figure that out too, then…"

"Oh. Well, wanna' come with me for my session, then?"

"Ah, nah! I'm good!"

And so was everyone else at the table, unsurprisingly. Who would willingly approach Miss Goodwitch? Not even she would do so.

Until today, it seemed.

Once everyone split off to do their own thing, Blake excused herself in that she was going to head downtown to do some book-shopping. Ren and Nora had offered to join her, but were quickly cajoled into a game of chess with Weiss (and let it be known that Ren was a massive fan of all the brain games, and refused to lose to anyone—Nora? Oh, well, where Ren goes, she goes). Yang and Ruby decided to get some sisterly time together, and Pyrrha reluctantly attended a meeting with an agent in a different part of Vale.

So all that was left for her to do was head off for Miss Goodwitch's room. Jaune hadn't arrived just yet, messaging her on her scroll that he wanted to grab something from his room before he met up with them. Which meant that she would have to meet the blonde teacher on her own first.

…Would it be okay to just wait out here for now? Maybe head into the clubroom?

'Oh, wait, I don't have the key,' they'd decided that Jaune would be the one to keep it, and they'd make a duplicate some other day. 'Ah well. No point fretting over things,' thinking such, she knocked on the door. "Ma'am, this is Blake. Can I come in?"

"Of course."

Stepping inside, the girl softly nodded her head to the woman, who returned the gesture only briefly before returning to her work. Blake proceeded to take a seat in front of her.

Before she could put a word in to escape the awkward silence, it was her teacher's voice that carried through first. "So, what did Jaune want to talk about? He hadn't given me the particular details."

"Oh. Something about, er, talking about what to do with this club and other things. I'm not sure myself too, so we'd have to wait for him."

"Is that so? Well, alright then," humming, she looked up to meet her gaze. "Would you like something to drink in the meantime?"

"Huh? Oh, no! No, that's unnecessary, ma'am. We had breakfast earlier, so we're—" The sound of the door opening drew their gazes to Jaune, who stepped inside with a backpack slung around his shoulder. "Oh hey, you're here."

"Yeah. Sorry if I was late."

"Not at all. Blake here arrived only minutes before you did," Goodwitch shook her head. "Take a seat. And you can make yourself a drink if you'd like."

"I'm good, thanks," he sat right beside Blake. "So, uh, I just wanted to talk about some things regarding this club, and I was hoping we could get your opinions on the matter."

"Of course. What troubled you?"

"Not exactly troubled, per se, but I was curious," he replied. "Basically, I wanted to ask several questions; the first thing, since this is a club, must it become public to all the other students? Second, do we need to recruit other members? And third, are there any duties that we need to do in order to keep the clubroom?"

"Since you requested it to be private group, we won't add it to the list of official clubs. You don't need to invite others to join you if you'd prefer that. And no, there's nothing you need to do."

Her abrupt answer came to an end, and the two teenagers sat there in silence, waiting for more. When they realized that that was the end of it, they exchanged confused glances before looking back at the woman.

"Wait, really?"

"Yes, really," she answered.

"But we did sign it in as a club. It may have been formality's sake, I get that, but there has to be a need to add other members or something, right? And we might have to do events or make reports…"

"Those are what all official clubs do, yes. But again, you did say that you wanted to keep it a secret, so that's it."

Well, that was the single most shortest answer she had ever heard in her life. It was too easy to believe, and even Jaune looked like he'd just been thrown for a loop.

"I understand your concerns for wanting to respect the rules and regulations, but considering your request, you're free to treat it as your own personal matter. Neither myself nor the headmaster and the other teachers mind. Just as so long as you adhere to the rules and proceed with your studies and training as per usual, then that's more than enough."

"Huh. Well, that's really straightforward."

"It is, yes."

Blake looked around, trying to see if there was a camera in the room. Maybe the woman would break character to point at the camera and tell them that it had all just been a prank. When that didn't happen, reality truly set in.

"So… If we want to add people in?"

"What?" Blake's head snapped towards him. "I thought it was just us both?"

He quickly raised both his hands in defense. "It will be! But I'm just saying this for the sake of hypotheticals. I mean, what happens if another person wants to join the club?"

"You'd just have to tell me, I suppose, though I'll leave how to handle the matters up to you. You can approach me for ideas, suggestions or the like, though I'd appreciate it if you don't come to me asking for money all the time."

"T-That wouldn't be necessary," as if borrowing money from a friend sounded bad enough, she did not need to borrow from a teacher of all people.

"Right. So, is there anything else?"

"Do you, uh, have to join our sessions?"

Her hand moving the pen paused. Blake did too, thinking about that, then failing to imagine a world where their teacher sat before the television screen watching a film about a man being chased around by a ghost in a haunted house.

But then again, doesn't the teacher have to be a part of the sessions too? It would be weird to make her their advisor teacher and not have her there. It just wouldn't make the experience complete.

"I… suppose I wouldn't be against that," she said slowly, clearly considering the matter. "But what did you two do?"

"We read short stories, watched short films and videos, and played a couple of games."

"And they're all horror," Jaune nodded at that. "How scary would you rate your experiences thus far, Blake?"

"Pretty sure I should have passed out once or twice, in all honesty. Not the story portions, but the vids and the games were godawful."

"Yeah. She did scream from that one game that one time—Ow!"

"Don't need to bring it up!" She hissed, feeling her face burn up from the memory. "Urgh… You suck… But yes, that game we played together was super scary for me."

"Is that so..?" An inflection of curiosity slipped into her voice. "Well, truth be told, I don't exactly consume horror that much either, if at all. It is certainly an interesting part of storytelling, however, since it works to overwhelm the audience in what could be considered a negative emotion."

"You could definitely say that. Jaune said it's a form of seeking excitement from all the heart-pumping moments and the like."

"That's an interesting take, and I can see how that makes sense, yes."

"How good do you think you would be with it, Miss Goodwitch?"

"Honestly? I'm not sure," she shrugged her shoulders. "I never tried to watch any horror movies before this, so I don't have any idea how I would fare."

"Theeen… Do you want to join us for the next session? I mean, if you want to," he added quickly at the raised brow. "But, like, it could be a fun experience. I think you'd enjoy it too."

Secretly, she shielded her face towards Jaune and mouthed to the woman 'scared like hell', quickly retracting her hand afterwards. An amused grin slipped onto her face.

"…Well, I suppose it would be unfair if I, as your advisor teacher, am not available for your sessions," her response had them perking up. "Of course, I cannot always promise that I'll be free. Even so, having something incredibly leisurely would indeed be nice."

"Leisurely…"

"Compare that to all the paperwork I have to do on a daily basis. Even an hour's break from all of this would be a godsend," Blake wanted to argue against that, but allowed the older woman to have that. "So, when do you two plan to convene again?"

"Uhh. Honestly, we never decided on what days we have our club meetings. It's been pretty random so far," and truth be told, Blake didn't want it to be done only once a week. It was a whole lot of fun, so she was fine with it being anytime.

"Well, that's probably fine, though it'll certainly be a little more difficult for me to participate if so."

"Uh. Then when are you next free?"

"Hmm… Well, this upcoming Friday will not be possible, since myself and a couple of other teachers will take our leave to attend a workshop for hunters-turned-teachers," sheesh, they're busy all the time, huh? "As such, the lessons on that day will be distributed across the remaining weekdays. Out of those… what say Thursday? I should be fine then."

"That's good with us, yeah. It'll be fun!"

As always, Blake knew it would be fun for him. No idea how it'll go for either herself or Miss Goodwitch.


The week hadn't been any busier despite the shift in lessons, though Yang and Nora did complain how the extra few hours made things a little tiring. She didn't mind it all that much. After all, they'd get a whole day off. That was a fair compensation.

Combat classes, though? Oof. Miss Goodwitch really got to go through the entire student list, and after that, she had a couple of doubles-formatted duels. That one was a little more interesting since it was completely different from their typical style, so even those tired from their first match were happy to give it their all.

Spoilers alert: Yang teamed up with Ruby, and the two utterly beat their opponents in sound fashion. Nora was the most vocal in cheering them on, and Weiss managed to look proud enough to cover for all of them.

Ahem. In any case, the lengthier days weren't too bad, and she'd gotten plentily used to Beacon's curriculum and workload to be able to stay resilient through it all. The days counted down, and eventually she found herself waiting outside of Team JNPR's room. A yawn threatened to slip through, but she caught herself at the very last moment.

'Really looking forward to just sleeping in after the sesh is over,' she thought to herself. It was funny how an hour extra of history class did that to her, but she supposed it was fair; it was history. No offense Doctor Oobleck. The sound of a doorknob being twisted drew her gaze to the door, watching Jaune walk out. "Hey there."

"Yo," he looked to her left and right. "Where'd the rest of your team go to?"

"Resting back in our room," she shrugged back. "And you?"

"Same. Ren wanted to take a nap. Nora was still full of energy, but the moment he hit the sack, she did too. Pyrrha's just chilling inside too," the other two, she could understand. Pyrrha? Apparently, she was a big fan of sleeping. "So hey, I was thinking. What should we do for today with Miss Goodwitch?"

"Hmm… I don't know. What do you think?"

"Maybe we could ease her into it, just like what you did."

"Start off with a horror story, then?" He nodded back. "Well, I suppose that should be fine. Just to give her an idea of how it works."

"Or should we start off with a more hands-on session? Either watch a film or play a game."

"Miss Goodwitch playing a horror game…" She tried to imagine it, only to end up laughing to herself. "That would be quite the image."

"It certainly would be, yeah. But we can just play some simple stuff. It doesn't necessarily need to be too difficult. I've got some ideas."

"Yeah, well, I suppose that's cool too—"

Her words fell in her throat as they entered the room. Seeing Miss Goodwitch in the clubroom was a strange feeling. It was both an 'oh no, why is she here?' and 'finally, she's here'. It was a strange combination, likely resulting from the fact that two different parts of her—one afraid of the disciplinarian, and one pleased to have their advisor teacher with them—warring with one another.

The completely unexpected factor came in the form of a grey-haired man who sat right beside her, nursing a mug of coffee. His eyes shifted towards them, and he raised his mug towards them as a sign of greeting.

Jaune, standing beside her, vocalized their shock in a singular: "Professor Ozpin?!"

"Good afternoon to you two as well," he said with a smile.

"Um. Is this, uhhh, that observation thing that teachers do? Where they stand in the back of the classroom and monitor their fellow teacher teach the class and grade their performance?"

The older man chuckled at his words. "No, no, nothing like that. If anything, consider me a guest of your club. I'm simply here to pass the time with my deputy headmistress and fellow teacher."

"And by that, he means to escape his duties someplace quiet."

"My, I didn't think my assistant held such preconceptions towards me."

"Do remind me who it is between the both of us that keeps this school standing, sir."

"Point taken."

Blake literally stared from one person to the next, blinking. On one hand, Professor Ozpin was going to join them for today's club session? On the other, did Miss Goodwitch just sass her coworker and employer?

Then again, if she wasn't wrong, these two go way back. Perhaps they studied in the same hunter academy? Professor Ozpin's bibliography was made public, and in it, he was described by his peers and mentors as a prodigy, quickly rising the ranks and taking the seat of headmaster of Beacon. Miss Goodwitch, on the other hand, had chosen a more academic route rather than being a full-time huntress, which lead to her present position. Perhaps she'd been a regular teacher before assuming a much more managerial task.

Good thing, too. For some reason, she had a feeling Beacon would fall apart without her there to keep things functioning. Plus, she's a great teacher, scary aside.

"Regardless, if my presence bothers either of you two, I would not be remiss to take my leave."

"No!" Jaune cried out. "It's okay. We'd be happy to have you, sir."

"Thank you, Mister Arc," smiled the headmaster. "Oh, and I hope you don't mind that I brought these along," he gestured to the two black beanbag seats placed on either side of the coffee table. "I was wondering if extra seats would be more appreciated."

"Whoa. No, this is really neat. Can we?"

"By all means. This is your clubroom, after all. And don't worry, they're just old ones we took from storage. I already had them dusted prior to being brought here."

Sheesh, they're being donated all these nice things? First this room, and all the main furniture, and now even these two seats. She felt bad, but damn did the beanbag feel soft under her weight. Maybe they should replace the couch with three bean bags instead? Would be way more chill.

"So," Ozpin began, putting down his mug on the table. "Pray tell. What do you and Miss Belladonna typically do during your meetings?"

"Horror discussions. All of them had ever been us reading stories, watching videos and playing games. And then sometimes, we'd discuss them; the nature of human psychology, the story's literature devices and themes, or at times just enjoying ourselves."

"He enjoys himself," Blake corrected quickly. "I both enjoy it and question my personal safety."

Ozpin chuckled at that, and a faint smile of amusement slipped onto Goodwitch's face. "That is good to hear. And admittedly, I have to admit that it's a genuine surprise that you're a fond enjoyer of horror, Mister Arc. And you as well, Miss Blake. I would assume you prefer superhero stories and romance tales respectively."

Urk. Well, at the very least, he hadn't pointed out her, uhh, more mature preference. That would have been especially embarrassing to put out here in the room, even if everyone here knew that. She sure hoped not, though.

"So, what do you have planned for today?"

"Weeell… I was thinking about letting Miss Goodwitch decide. After all, this will be your first time doing something like this, so we're curious what you'd like to try out first."

"Is that so?" She hummed. "Well, as you know, I'm new to all of this. I wouldn't know where to even start."

"Theeen… How about we watch something together?"

"Like a film? That should be fine."

Blake raised her hand. "If it's okay with everyone, I'd want to request a film using monsters."

"Oh, sure. Tired of ghosts?"

"Not tired of them. Just curious to see different things," she explained. "See, the other day, I talked with the rest of my team about Sophie's Curse, and we had a discussion on how there should be a lot more horror mediums inspired by Grimm than not. And yet, all the things we watched and played together were only ever using human characters without a monster in them."

"Ahh… That's true," Jaune nodded, a thoughtful look on his face. "There are plenty of Grimm-based horror mediums, though, I can tell you that. And certainly, there are plenty of them that are really popular. Fairy tales especially, and even mainstream movies. But… well, for writers and videogames, they simply prefer using humans as a template. Both can still be scary in their own ways, though."

"How so, Mister Arc?" Ozpin queried.

"Well, we're afraid of Grimm because we recognize them as these big monsters that could totally kill us. There's danger in them, so that's pre-programmed fear in us. But fiction utilizing humans as a template for the horror is much more personal—or, for the sake of human-like entities, they're meant to be familiar. But due to the discrepancy in what they should be, they evoke discomfort. They make us unsettled, so that's why we end up feeling a lot more afraid."

"Monsters can do the same too, right?"

"Oh, for sure, but I think humans do a better job of that. The way I see it, we subconsciously regard humans as non-threatening, so when they're made antagonists in horror mediums, we become a lot more intimidated because we're not prepared for how terrifying they can be."

"A good point," he hummed back. "Between a Boarbatusk and a simple human man, I'd assume the former is far more threatening. But a man can be just as terrifying if given the appropriate environment and introduction. It simply requires masterful manipulation of all elements to truly bring out the horror."

Goodwitch stared at him with a quirked brow. "Spoken like an expert there. I never thought you would have known that much about horror."

"I know a little."

"…Huh. That's strange."

"What is?" Jaune hummed back at the man's question.

"I don't know. The way you phrase it, it seems almost… familiar."

"Well, of course. Those are exactly your words," Blake perked up, and so did her friend. The elderly man smiled back. "A few days ago, you opened up a new section within your blog. I believe it was entitled 'Plot Devices', correct?"

If there was one surprising thing for her to have discovered about her friend, it was that he was apparently unshakable before all the horrors they had watched together. He'd always been sort of a… well, this wasn't to be rude, but mostly friendly ribbing. He was a goofball, and came off as a bit of a coward whenever it came to fighting and the like. Not something to be ashamed of, of course, but that was the vibe he gave off.

And then, she'd discovered that, apparently, he was unshakable before all kinds of fictional horrors. Ghosts, monsters, scientific cruelty—he'd practically seen everything, and she couldn't recall a time when he'd been genuinely been taken aback by anything.

Watching his expression slowly morph into abject shock was a sight she never thought she'd ever get to see in her life.

"W-W-Wait a minute," he stammered, pointing a finger at the man. "Do you—"

"Know of your blog? Why, yes, I do. In fact, in my free time, I peruse it to give myself some fun reads to occupy myself," his chuckle made the boy gawk even harder. So the headmaster was apparently a fan of Jaune's blog? Damn. Not what she expected. "And I'm enjoying your new portion, detailing all the techniques that go into crafting a horror story. These are based on your personal experiences and observations, yes?"

"A-Ahaha… Yeah, they are."

"I can tell. You were very passionate in your work, and each paragraph was crafted very meticulously. I can see why even Bart enjoys reading your essays," the blond groaned, face falling into his hands and apparently incapable of accepting the genuine compliments. She couldn't fight back her own grin at the sight. "In any case, one of your entries detailed the utilization and transformation of supposedly 'safe' factors into genuinely horrifying elements, and might I say that you are most right in your assessment."

"I did not expect you to enjoy horror works as well," Goodwitch sounded surprised too.

"Oh, I certainly wasn't. I'd only started getting into them when I stumbled upon Mister Arc's little website, courtesy of a friend of mine who absolutely loved your review on Pocket Mirror. He's a fan of old-bit horror games."

"Really?" Jaune looked up from his hands, still a little embarrassed but clearly curious. "I think they're cool too."

"Quite. I recently watched a playthrough of… oh, which one is it? Ao Grim, I believe, and I must admit that that one caught me by surprise by how splendid it was."

"A classic! You can never go wrong with that one!" At Blake's curious gaze, he explained: "A short game where you play as one dude and his group of friends who enter this abandoned house where a blue Grimm-like monster roam. Your job is to escape the house with your friends."

"Huh. We should totally play that, then."

"That's cool too. It's very old-school, but old is gold," Ozpin nodded along with him. "Oh, if you liked that game, there are plenty others that I can recommend you. Classic RPG horror games."

"I'll admit that videogames and I don't mesh together all that well, but I would certainly appreciate having things to watch."

"Definitely! So, like, there's Ib. Very cool game, very creepy in its general atmosphere. And then there's…"

Somehow, Jaune and Ozpin struck an unexpected friendship over horror stories. Blake met Goodwitch's eyes, and the two women shared a shrug. Well, no such thing as boundaries when it came to friendship, let alone age. Talk about nuts.


Author's Notes:

I was indeed referencing the Loch Ness monster when discussing the Sea Feilong. And The Grimm Child is indeed an official fairy tale within the world of Remnant. Heck, I even bought the RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant book when it got published because I just got into the web series and really enjoyed it. Bought Roman Holiday too because Neo. Reason enough, right?

As for all the old horror games, I played a couple of them before. I couldn't finish Ao Oni, but I did finish Pocket Mirror (the classic version, not Goldenertraum). Classic horror RPGs are cool. I remember watching Pewdiepie playing a bunch of old-bit JRPGs back in the day. That was fun.

In any case, I definitely didn't plan for Ozpin joining the bunch. At best, he'll be a guest from time to time, but I like it, lmao. I legitimately had something completely different planned out, but this is fine too. Him and Glynda, two of the most professional people in Beacon, becoming members of the Little Horror Club. Having some adult presence would be a nice touch to the group.