Holy heck. So many new people? You guys don't how much of a surprise it was for me to just log into my gmail during my 5th-period anatomy class and just be hit with like a bajillion notifications about people following this story. And when I found out Couer of all people mentioned my story (I think everyone who writes RWBY fanfiction a bit starstruck by them, and it ain't got to do with how I'm 16 lol) I was like "WAHHHHHHHHHTTTTT!", and then I told my best friend who's also my editor and they was also like "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!", and overall it was one hell of an experience.
But truly, I am speechless at how lucky I am to get the attention of all y'all. The positivity in the reviews is amazing and I'm really glad y'all are liking this story. And yes it does take inspiration from Relic of The Future, I think that's obvi lool, but they aren't going to be that similar stories. While Relic was focused on Jaune saving the world, this story is more about Jaune's new family's life as he tries his best to save the world. Mostly reiterating the statement I made last chapter, it's going to be a slice of life story first, and an action story second (It's still a RWBY story cool dope ass fights are par for the course). Anyway have some more Cinder and Jaune!
Bleary eyes opened for the first time this morning, Cinder blinking sleepily as the soft sounds of cooking reached her ears. As she sits up and gives a big stretch, a shiver runs through her as the cold outside her blanket settles against her skin. This reminds Cinder of how much she doesn't like mornings, but she tolerates them because mornings contain something she does like.
"You ready for breakfast?" Asks her father as he stands under her doorframe, him turning the knob that controls the light to get a soft glow. Not harsh enough for it to hurt her eyes, but enough light for her to begin waking up. Cinder nods in response, yawning again at the motion. Once seeing that she had woken up, Cinder's father retreated from the doorway and back to the kitchen from where he came. A small smile spread across her face as she recognized what her father was making for breakfast from smell alone.
"Pancakes," Cinder whispers, throwing away the blanket to stand. And while the cold is sharp, the promise of pancakes is even stronger. Slipping into the slippers next to her bed and standing up, Cinder follows the smell of pancakes to the table. She arrives just in time, as her father turns with two plates heavy with fluffy pancakes, a side of breakfast sausage, and strawberries. Cinder hums happily as she sits down and her plate is placed in front of her.
"How does the young lady of the house rate this breakfast's presentation?" Her father asks, "I tried my best to make it look as good as possible,"
"Super good," whispers Cinder in awe, eagerly grasping her fork and knife to begin eating. She eyes her pancakes with anticipation but decides to first try the sausage, Cinder's fork piercing into the breakfast meat to bring it up to her mouth. Blowing air on it first to cool it down, Cinder nibbles on it to see if it's palatable. Satisfied that it is, she bites onto it with more vigor and devours the first piece of meat. Then Cinder tried the strawberries, she had seen them in the fridge and had been meaning to ask for them as a snack but she wouldn't complain about having a few deliciously red berries for breakfast. Cinder happily notes that the green leaves that usually sit on the top of the strawberry have been properly removed, letting her pop a strawberry in her mouth without having to bite around the leaves. Cinder chewed readily and enjoyed the flavors of the strawberry with a grin on her face. While she wasn't a fan of how cold mornings tended to be, Cinder was a much bigger fan of breakfast that was for sure.
Trying another sausage and really noting the spices and fatty taste, Cinder finally moves on to the main event. The pancakes are fluffy and a rich golden color, with a light dusting of powdered sugar on the top layer of pancake. Grabbing the maple syrup Cinder drizzles it on the pancakes, watching as the sugar slightly dissolves into the viscous and sugary liquid. With her knife, Cinder cuts away at the edge of the stack, then smears the slice against the pooling maple syrup on the plate. A large bite later and the pancakes stabbed on her fork now lay in her belly, making Cinder kick her feet in appreciation at the taste.
She repeats the process a few more times before looking up and seeing how her father was eating. The huntsman was also digging in much like how Cinder was, but whenever he cut a piece of pancake and speared it on his fork he also then added either a strawberry or a sausage to the fork before bringing it to his mouth and biting. Cinder was curious as to how that would taste, so she mirrored her father and bit down on her fork which had both a sausage and pancake. She was extremely happy to find that it tasted delicious, it being both sweet and spicy and tasting amazing. Repeating the process with a strawberry instead of a sausage she finds that it was just as yummy of a combination.
Her father chuckles, "Does it taste good?"
Cinder hums and nods to show her approval, remembering to not speak with her mouth open.
"That's good, next time I'll make sure to grab some whipped cream so you can try that too," says the adult, blue eyes crinkled around the edges in a smile and an actual smile being leveled at Cinder.
"Sounds yummy," Cinder responds.
"It is, but it has a lot of sugar in it so we can't be eating it all the time,"
Cinder nods, too much sugar would give her cavities and upset her stomach. She doesn't like having an upset stomach, Cinder's not sure if she likes it less than being hungry but both are bad. A raised bite of pancakes repels the remaining negative thoughts from her head, the taste being enough to bring Cinder out of her thoughts and back to enjoying the present. Were pancakes her favorite food? Perhaps. She wondered what her father's favorite food was.
"What's your favorite food?" Asks Cinder.
"Hmm, it's hard to say. But if I had to decide, I'd probably say a good old-fashioned hamburger. What about you Cinder? What's your favorite food?" Confident in her answer, Cinder says, "Pancakes." Stated with such absolute resolve that it's hard to see it as anything other than cute. Amber eyes twinkle with a kind of pride at their decision, while Cinder's cheeks manage to look especially chubby. A happy child eating pancakes with her father. "Pancakes are a good favorite food, I had a friend that loved pancakes too," reminisced Cinder's father, eyes staring into nothing before snapping back to reality, "But they're in a better place now, eating all the pancakes they want,"
A small gasp came from Cinder as she imagined such a place, "Does she get a stomach ache?"
"Hah, I don't think she ever had to worry about that. If I didn't know her semblance I would have said her ability to eat as much as she wanted without upsetting her stomach was her semblance," said Cinder's father.
"What's a semblance?" Cinder asked.
"An ability aura grants huntsman, they're like superpowers,"
"Do I have a semblance because you gave me aura?" Cinder's father takes the last bite of the food on his plate, "Not unless you train like a huntsman,". This made the girl pause in thought.
"Does this mean you have a semblance?" She asked, putting the last strawberry in her mouth as she does so
"Yep. Do you want to see it?" He responded.
A small nod from Cinder probed her father to stand up, signaling for Cinder to stand with him. Once both of them were standing the taller Arc raised his hand, letting his aura and semblance rush forward and be released into the air. Cinder watched with wide eyes as her father's hand glowed, she'd seen him glow before, through a barely open door as he had confronted her stepmother. Although previously it had glowed as a chair had been thrown against his chest, it hadn't affected him obviously, her father was above things like being hit with a chair, but this light was different from that glow, because it really was a light rather than a simple glow, golden energy swirled around his relaxed hand. Wisps of energy seemed to curl slightly towards her, but also reached above and to the side where their neighbors lived. Cinder reached out with a finger to poke the wisp of energy, giggling when she made contact, and a warmth radiated throughout her hand. Then the light dimmed ever so slightly, and her father placed his hand on her head with a small pat. Almost instantly Cinder felt completely warm and relaxed, the cold air of the morning being banished back to the pits of hell from whence it came. Alongside the warmth Cinder could understand a feeling that wasn't her own, a sensation of fondness and endearment that melded with the sense of warmth. And if that wasn't enough, she now felt bursting with energy, a laugh escaping her as she basically jumped with energy. With a shudder running through her Cinder wiggled for a second, before exploding outwards to hug her father.
Hugging Cinder back her father laughed, shutting off his semblance "Seems like I've still got it! That's my semblance, and one day if you want to train to be a huntress you'll be able to discover your own."
"Waghahaha," sputtered out Cinder, being too jittery to say any actual words.
This caused her father to bend over in laughter with tears in his eyes, "Oh my gods what was that, that was adorable,". Cinder wriggling in his arms in protest at being inadvertently squeezed, muted hits of her small fists striking his sides.
"It's not funny!" Cinder half-wailed, a pout scrunching her face. Her father's laughter was infectious, however, and she couldn't help but to giggle around her even as she tried her best to keep a serious face. Once Cinder felt her father's laughter die down she wriggled harder, this time managing to escape and glare at her father for laughing at her.
Taking deep breaths to stop himself from laughing, with his hands on his knees to accentuate the action, Cinder's father let out a sigh and wiped a non-existent tear from his eye. One look at Cinder however and his mouth quirked upward, threatening to make him laugh again.
"You're going to laugh again!" Whined Cinder, hands balled into fists and feet kicking the ground in disapproval.
Her father raised a hand in surrender, "No no I'll stop, I'll stop laughing I swear. Let's just get ready for the day Cinder, go brush your teeth and get dressed,"
Cinder huffed before spinning on her heel to march towards her room, grumbling under her breath about silly fathers. Nevertheless, she chose her outfit and brushed her teeth, meeting her father at the door.
"Remember, hat, gloves, jacket, and boots." Her father said, patting his body and getting Cinder to mirror him to double-check she was ready to go outside. Cinder did so, ensuring she was ready for their usual walk to the park. Her father nodded once Cinder acknowledged she had everything on and was ready, opening the door and letting them start their walk. Walking down the stairs to the lobby and waving to the morning receptionist they were off towards their destination, a small park two blocks away that Cinder's father had discovered was the perfect place to let her play and run around. Cinder liked the park, more so the set of swings the park had. Sure the slide and monkey bars were nice, but she liked swinging more than sliding down the slide or crossing the monkey bars. Getting her father to push her on the swings was also very nice, and while Cinder would never admit it, she had fits of giggles whenever she felt like she was flying on the swing. The motion was also soothing and would help Cinder calm the energy coursing through her due to her father's semblance.
The trip was shorter than usual, Cinder leading her father by the hand toward their destination at a brisk pace. Once in view, Cinder locked onto the swings, happy to note that there was no one on them.
Sprinting forward, Cinder happily claimed her spot on the swings. "Push me!" she yelled at her father, before remembering to add the "Please!". The man jogged forward to reach Cinder sitting on the swing, stationing himself behind his daughter and placing a hand on her back.
"How hard do you want me to push?" He asked.
Cinder pondered for a few seconds, "Normal, then hard. I want to go high," she stated.
"Your wish is my command," her father said, pulling Cinder back slightly and then releasing her with a push.
Working with her father, Cinder swung herself each time she was pushed. Feeling the air move around her every time she went forward and back Cinder smiled, seeing the ground and surrounding park wane and wax with her movement. It was very fun, the sensation making her feel weightless and carefree. At one point she was completely parallel to the ground, but was moving fast enough that she didn't fall and just laughed as the pulling sensation of gravity then threw her in the opposite direction. Cinder's father eventually let her swing on her own, taking a few steps back and taking a small video and a few pictures with his scroll. This caused Cinder to lose a bit of momentum, but she tried her best to keep the most of it and continued to swing to her heart's content. At one point she could see that another kid had joined her on the swings with the sides of her eyes, and could hear that her father was talking to someone else, the parent presumably.
After a while Cinder got tired and began to slow herself down to get off the swing, extending her legs so the tips of her feet dragged alongside the wood chip-covered ground. Coming to a dragging stop Cinder stood up, shaking her shoes of any wood chips and turning to see what her surroundings looked like. Her father was talking to a shorter woman with dark skin, grayish hair, and what appeared to be a dog tail gently wagging behind her. She found it extremely interesting that the woman's hair matched the color of her tail, and decided the best place to examine the stranger would be to stand behind her father and peek. No, she wasn't shy, Cinder was merely being polite and staying out of the conversation.
"Oh and who is this cutie?! She looks absolutely precious," the strange woman exclaimed after noticing Cinder.
Cinder's father laughed, "This is Cinder, say hi Cinder," prompting Cinder to give a small wave and mumble hello. "She's a bit shy but Cinder is a total angel around the house, truly I've been blessed,"
Embarrassed at being praised so openly Cinder went to hide her face in the side of her father's back, only letting one eye peek open to look up at the stranger and her hands clutching her father's jacket in a loose grip.
"You and me both, my Marrow loves to help around the house. Don't tell my husband but Marrow is a total momma's boy,"
Her father nodded, "What boys aren't am I right?" Causing both parents to chuckle. Their small talk continued and Cinder drowned them out for the most part but kept an ear out for if her name was mentioned, instead focusing her attention on the other child sitting on the swings who from his back alone had a striking resemblance to his mother. And as if he could feel Cinder's gaze, the other child turned and looked at the small group of three that Cinder was a part of. Luckily he didn't notice how Cinder had been looking at him, but rather beamed with joy as his mother waved him over to approach. The small faunus boy walked up and held his mother's hand.
"Hi! I'm Marrow Amin, nice to meet you!" Marrow said, extending the hand that wasn't holding his mother's towards Cinder's father.
"What a polite young man," said her father, taking the smaller male's hand in his own and shaking it gently, "I'm Jaune Arc, nice to meet you. This is my daughter, Cinder Arc,"
"Can I play with Cinder?" Asked Marrow, tail wagging excitedly behind him in a flurry of movement.
"You'll have to ask Cinder," said her father, gently maneuvering Cinder so she was in front of him rather than behind him.
Before Marrow could ask again, Cinder nodded and motioned for Marrow to follow her back toward the playground. "Bye mom! I'm going to play with Cinder!"
"Have fun sweetie!"
/-/
Jaune looked as Cinder and Marrow began to chat and play in the park. Cinder was a surprisingly tall child, having a few inches on Marrow. Luckily the faunus boy didn't seem to care about the small height difference. The huntsman turned his attention back to Janice, Marrow's mother, and their conversation.
"I think it's so wonderful to see a young huntsman like you participating in the foster system, I know children with aura tend to be a hassle for parents without it," Janice stated.
He gave a low chuckle, "Cinder is a dear, I doubt she'd give anyone trouble as long as they treat her with respect. She's basically a little noble lady, a very big fan of acting poised and fancy,"
Janice cooed, "Oh isn't that so cute. My Marrow has been in a cooking mood as of late, he loves to watch and help me cook,"
"It's a good skill to pick up, too many young huntsmen ignore basic life skills in favor of what they think is flashier and cooler. Cinder's also been interested in baking, we're planning on making some cupcakes today,"
"That's wonderful, do you have a recipe in mind? I wouldn't mind sharing mine with you, and I'm sure Marrow would love to come over and help if you'd want him to,"
"That'd be great, both getting the recipe and having Marrow come over. Cinder's been a bit cooped up as of late, with all the fostering paperwork and having the night shift I haven't had the time to take her out as much as I'd like. Having her talk with someone her age would do her well I think,"
"Then it's a deal," smiled Janice, "You're on the second floor right? What's your room number?"
"We're in 213, right next to the stairs," answered the Arc.
Janice grimaced, "Oof, that means you're next to all that noise coming up and down the stairwell. Don't envy you there," she said.
"It's not that bad, everyone tends to be getting home from hunts so they're too tired to make a racket. Cinder has the room farthest from the hall so I don't have to worry about her being woken up in the middle of the night by some stumbling huntress or huntsman," said Jaune.
"That's good to hear, we're in room 320. I'd say the view is great from the third floor, but here in Atlas the only view we have is buildings, buildings, and more buildings. And you don't know how many times Marrow has bumped his shins and knees running up the stairs. That boy has too much energy for his own good sometimes, but that's why we're here. Gotta let him tire himself out,"
"Ha, isn't that the truth. The little I remember from being Marrow's age is filled with getting small scrapes and bumps. Does Marrow have his aura unlocked?" Jaune asked.
Janice nodded, "Why do you ask?"
"Well it looks like he's trying to impress Cinder by climbing the outside of the slide," said the blonde huntsman, eyeing the view of Marrow with care.
"Isn't that cute," giggled Janice, pulling out her scroll to start taking a video of Marrow's shenanigans, "Lets inch closer just in case something happens, and also for a better angle,"
The shenanigans in question came to a small break once Marrow reached the top of the slide, letting himself flop into the top of the slide. Cinder was already there waiting for him, but once he straightened himself Janice and Jaune were both witnesses to Cinder patting Marrow's head like a dog.
Jaune cringed, looking over at Janice, "that's not offensive is it?" He asked. "A more zealous and prideful faunus would probably say yes, but they're both kids so as long as Marrow's okay with it I don't mind," shrugged Janice.
"I'll talk to Cinder about it, just to cover my bases," said Cinder's father.
"Better safe than sorry, I'll make sure to talk to Marrow about respecting one's own personal space and having boundaries," responded Janice.
The two adults stood in silence after that, simply watching their children have fun and mess around. Each deciding to record and take pictures of their respective child, chatting about the small interesting things that being a parent brought to your life. "It's almost twelve, would you guys like to come eat lunch with us?" Jaune asked, "I'm planning on taking Cinder to the sandwich place just around the corner,"
"We'd love to. Now let's just wrangle our kids, Marrow doesn't really like leaving the park," responded Janice, her tail at a low wag as she walked towards the pair of children, "Marrow darling, we're going to lunch with Cinder and her dad. Are you ready to leave?"
"We're going with Cinder! Yay!" Cheered Marrow, causing his mother to sigh and look at Jaune.
"Looks like he doesn't mind leaving the park today," she whispered to Jaune with a smile. The man smiled and shook his head, kids were funny little beings. Cinder didn't seem to mind the excitable young pup which was good, it would have been awkward if she had rejected his friendship, she needed to interact with people her age more. Nevertheless, Cinder overheard that they were going to lunch and stood up, shaking the little dust and debris that had accumulated on her lap and knees from kneeling and sitting on the ground. The amber-eyed girl went to stand next to her father, grabbing ahold of his extended hand, leading Marrow to do the same with his mother. Both families then began their walk to their destination, chattering between themselves.
"Is it the first time you're going to SandWitches?" Asked Janice to Jaune as the restaurant came into view.
The oldest Arc nodded, "I ordered sandwiches for Cinder and me, but we haven't eaten at the restaurant itself,"
"That's good, I recommend their Mistral Club. I'm a sucker for the spicy mayo, melted cheese, and beef,"
"It'll be what I get," Jaune said, then turning to his daughter "What about you Cinder? What are you going to want?" "The normal sandwich," responded Cinder.
"I want the normal sandwich too!" Exclaimed Marrow, blue eyes wide in his eagerness to emulate his new friend.
The two parents laughed at the boy's antics, his tail wagging at such a speed that it was swaying him slightly. A rather funny contrast was struck between Marrow's high levels of energy and Cinder's relaxed state. Any energy gained from her little experience in the morning with her father's semblance had since been burned off, so now Cinder was simply calm, collected, and happy on her way to get herself a sandwich. Marrow on the other hand was still bubbling with unspent energy, he'd probably either be skipping or running to the restaurant if he wasn't holding his mother's hand. No running was required as they soon entered the restaurant, the air conditioning alongside the smell of both deli meats and bread hitting them.
"Smells really good," Marrow stated, with Cinder nodding in agreement. Janice and Jaune got in line, the latter perfectly fine simply holding the hand of their child, while the former had to shift her hands to hold onto Marrow's shoulders to calm him from being so jittery. The line was short and the wait for their food was even shorter, the adults having ordered the Mistral Club with the kids each ordered from the kids' menu and got a rather basic sandwich. Lunch was also a short affair, Marrow being the first one to finish his sandwich and later asking his mother for a bite of hers. To no one's surprise, Marrow responded with the same enthusiasm he always did and proclaimed the Mistral Club was his new favorite food. Finishing their drinks both families then left for their apartment complex. This time Marrow was let loose a block away from their destination, allowing the faunus child to sprint directly toward the building. Cinder was content holding her father's hand and walking, but once they caught up with Marrow she gave a small pat on the head at his claims of being the fastest kid alive.
Saying their goodbyes on the second floor they parted, but not before Jaune and Janice exchanged scroll information so Marrow could come over later. The first thing Cinder did was flop onto the bed, then promptly go to sleep.
Jaune sighed and stretched, picking up Cinder carefully and placing her on her bed gently. Slightly rousing her, not enough to fully wake her but enough for her to be cooperative, Jaune helped Cinder take off her jacket and shoes. Once that was done the girl went back to sleep, smushing her face into the pillow with a yawn. Her father smiled, brushing a strand of hair that was dangling across Cinder's face and tucked it behind her ear. Standing, Jaune went to the kitchen and did the dishes from the morning. Once that was done he went and did the laundry, going down and checking off the mental list of chores as he did them. An apartment like this was easy to get cluttered and dirty, so Jaune was especially proactive about cleaning. Having finished all the tasks that needed to be done, Jaune went to lay in his bed for a short nap, checking his scroll and texting Janice when she'd want to send Marrow over, getting an answer, then setting an alarm for thirty minutes before that time. Now it was just time for him to think about the morning.
Laying on his back wasn't as uncomfortable as he'd first thought, either Jaune had gotten used to the… situation on his back for it not to matter. He closed his eyes, thinking about Marrow and finding it funny that he'd met the man as a child now. This elicited a soft laugh from Jaune, who found the whole situation very funny. A few deep breaths later and Jaune was off to sleep.
/-/
Cinder woke up with a groggy yawn, refreshed by her nap. She laid in her bed for a few minutes, before getting up and seeing what her father was doing. The living room and kitchen were empty, but Cinder could tell he had cleaned while she slept as everything was well… clean. She didn't think he'd be in their guest room, so she went to peek into her father's room. The fact that it was dark told well enough that if he wasn't there he'd gone outside, but considering there wasn't a note Cinder doubted that. Her peek into her father's room showed her his sleeping form, the even fall and rise of his chest creating a steady rhythm that a quiet snore followed. Happy that she knew where her father was, Cinder went to do her own thing. They'd planned to make cupcakes, so Cinder thought long and hard about what they would need to make said cupcakes and wanted to get out the ingredients preemptively. Making a mental list in her mind, Cinder noted that they'd obviously need flour, eggs, and milk. The flour was easy enough to find, as were the eggs and milk. One problem arose, however, that being the fact that each ingredient was in a place Cinder couldn't reach.
"Okay, what else can I get," Cinder said to herself, her answer being found as her eyes fell on the sugar, which was at eye level in the pantry. She snagged that, placed it on the table, and sat down to ponder. As Cinder sat down she thought of something, hopping off and dragging the chair behind her. Placing it in the right place, the black-haired girl once again got on the chair, but this time instead of sitting down she stood on it and easily reached the flour. She then repeated this process with the eggs and milk, rather precariously balancing on the chair with each item in her hand. Cinder took a moment to steady herself, letting out a breath as the chair held firm. However as Cinder made to get off, a sudden alarm from across the apartment startled her, causing her to trip and fall to the ground. The young girl hit the ground chin first, her feet having slipped from under her and even with aura her teeth clattered harshly. A loud sound came from the fall as well, the milk and egg carton breaking against the ground at the same time as Cinder fell.
A dazed Cinder picked herself from the ground, on all fours, and waited for her brain to catch up to what happened. The realization and the sudden pain of the impact made her react like any other child her age would, tears streaming from her eyes and a distraught wail echoing throughout the apartment. Adjusting herself so she was sitting, Cinder wiped the falling tears from her eyes, but no matter how much she tried the wouldn't go away. Then the fear set in, as she saw the mess in front of her. Milk was everywhere, and while the eggs hadn't made as much of a mess the carton itself was still leaking viscous yellow liquid.
But before Cinder could move to do anything, the large form of her father shot out of his room. The youngest Arc attempted to choke back blubbery tears and sobs before being seen by her father, Cinder couldn't however and just cried more.
"Cinder! Are you okay?! What happened?!" Her father asked, crossing the apartment with incredible speed for someone of his frame. Kneeling next to Cinder his arms went to cradle the young girl, letting her lean into her and blubber out a response.
"I- I wanted to get the things out to bake the cupcakes," Cinder cried, "But then a noise surprised me and I tripped and I'm sorry I made a mess,". Once finished talking she rubbed her face against her father's shirt, clutching it and whispering "I'm sorry" over and over.
Her father hushed Cinder gently, "It's alright darling, it was just a mistake. There's a reason why "No use crying over spilled milk" is an expression,"
"But I also dropped the eggs!" Cinder cried, "I'm sorry for wasting the food!"
"Cinder I'm your dad, I'm not going to get mad at you for an accident. Come on let's wash your hands," Cinder's father said, scooping her up before depositing her in front of the sink and wiping her eyes, "Don't worry about the mess, we have a mop for a reason,"
With that the man disappeared and let Cinder alone to wash her hands, small sniffles replacing her previous crying as Cinder let the water clean her stained hands. Moments later her father entered the kitchen once more with paper towels and a trash bag in his hands. Cleaning up the mess on the floor was easily done as the older Arc placed a few paper towels to soak up the milk and wiped any egg that had gotten on the floor before throwing the sods of paper away into a plastic bag. "See! Good as new Cinder, no need to worry about something like this as long as we clean it up before it stains," says Cinder's father in a jovial tone, clearly trying to cheer up the young girl, "Now all I have to do is run to the corner store real quick to replace what was lost and we'll be just fine, do you want to come with or do you want to watch the T.V. for a bit?"
"Is it okay if I watch the T.V.?" Cinder mumbled, not meeting her father's eyes in embarrassment. The man ruffled her hair with a laugh, before nodding and sending her on her way before he made his own way out of the apartment.
Cinder calmed herself down with a few deep breaths before turning on the small blocky television they had, letting whatever flashy cartoon was on distract Cinder from her fall and bruises. Except as Cinder massaged her chin she realized she had no such bruise, which she should have, her past wasn't a particularly happy one so Cinder was somewhat intimate with how much force it would take to bruise her skin. It must have been the aura Cinder thought, happy that it wouldn't end up as a constant throbbing pain, before brooding a bit at the fact she fell and made her da- father, go buy food that wouldn't have needed to have been replaced if it wasn't for her mistake. Regardless of her wallowing the trip the eldest Arc made was a short one, because as soon as the first commercial came on there was the distinctive clicking sound of the door being unlocked and opened.
"I can't believe this is your apartment!" Called out a now familiar and energetic voice. Cinder turned around and kneeled on the couch so she could better see the small form of Marrow, her new friend with a fluffy dog tail, accompanied by the much larger frame of her father. "It looks like mine, except it smells different? Except it's not really a smell but more like a feeling? I don't know but let's make some cupcakes!"
Her father chuckled at Marrow's words and the fact that his tail was wagging so powerfully, "Cupcakes we shall make don't worry. Why don't you say hello to Cinder while I get everything set up?", The faunus nodded and shot off towards where he could see Cinder's head peaking, "Hi Cinder! How have you been?"
"I've been… well. How about you?" The amber-eyed girl responded, subtly making space so that Marrow could sit next to her on the couch, something that the boy didn't notice and had him continue to stand eagerly over Cinder.
"I've been doing just fine thank you very much," said the boy, "Dad's coming home tomorrow so that's going to be super fun and it means he's going to have a whole bunch of cool stories about him going out and fighting the grimm! Does your dad fight grimm? He's a huntsman right? He looks and dresses like one, what's his weapon?"
"Father hasn't fought the grimm recently, he's been too busy adopting me," stated Cinder, strangely smug in her statement, "And yeah he's a huntsman, he's probably the best huntsman because he adopted me and he's the best dad ever. He also has a sword… I think. I've never seen him use it,". Cinder patted the space next to her to more obviously signal to Marrow for him to sit, this time the boy noticed and sat down contently.
"Well I'm not sure if he's the best dad, I think mine is also pretty cool. But dad isn't the best huntsman, he gets hurt too often for that to be the case, at least that's what momma says," commented Marrow, before turning his attention to the T.V. "Can we watch boy cartoons?"
"No, I like this show," said Cinder, ignoring Marrow's potent puppy dog eyes "And my father's never been hurt, which means he has to be the best huntsman,"
"Really? How do you know he's never been hurt, he has scars on his face and stuff,"
"Simple, he wasn't my father when he got those scars. But now he's my father which means he's the best huntsman,"
The light clatter of pans could be heard by the two children, followed by Cinder's father calling out from the kitchen, "The ingredients are out if you two want to get started!"
While Cinder was the first to stand, not tripping over her feet like Marrow did in his hurry to get up, Marrow beat her to the kitchen due to the fact the boy ran to her father. She rolled her eyes but huffed a small laugh at how Marrow's tail, in all its fluffy glory, seemed to be going at the same speed the boy's mind went. Cinder stepped next to her friend, careful to avoid being whacked by his tail, and gazed upon the collection of ingredients and pots on the kitchen counter.
"All right soldiers!" Barked out her father with a smile, "Today we'll be making a cake as well as a few cupcakes, and thanks to Cinder's intelligent decision of purchasing an extra oven, we'll be able to make both at the same time.", Marrow stood in mock salute with a grin as Cinder preened at the praise before the two of them approached the counter awaiting instructions. "There's only one step stool so who wants to be carried?" Asks Cinder's father. And as if it was obvious Cinder stands in front of her father, nodding at Marrow for him to take the step stool. The man behind her laughs, but picks her up by her side with gentle hands so she can see what the ingredients are. With careful instructions, Cinder's father leads them through making the mix for both the cupcakes and the cake itself. There are a few mistakes, splatters of milk from pouring or mixing too fast that are quickly wiped up, a few pieces of eggshell falling as they crack eggs that are picked out, and a few chocolate chips that mysteriously disappear down the gullets of the three bakers. It goes by fast, and once they finish pouring the mix into the correct pan and putting them in the ovens the oldest of the three sends them on their way to the T.V. to wait for their hard work to pay off.
And pay off it does, once the set timer tells them its time to take out the pastries they get a wonderful whiff of chocolate and vanilla and sugar. Marrow is the first to beg for a slice of cake and a cupcake, and while Cinder tries her best to resist the temptation she is only seven and fails. The combined force of not only Marrow's puppy eyes but also Cinder's gets Jaune Arc to crumble in seconds, cutting each of them a slice of cake and giving them a cupcake. Cinder's father also pours them a tall glass of milk and sends them to sit down at the table, joining them after serving himself his own slice and cupcake.
"So. How's it taste? Can you feel all the love and care we put into baking?" Says the huntsman, his only response being the muffled hums and giggles of small children scarfing down cake of both the normal and the cup kind. Eventually, they finish, a truly impressive feat since each child somehow convinced the adult to serve them a slice of cake the size of their face. Nevertheless, once they were finished they waddled back to the couch to finish watching whatever show had caught Cinder's eye. "Marrow your mom wants to know when you're going to be back! Or if you want her to come pick you up," said Cinder's father, his scroll in hand and being mid-call with Marrow's mother.
"When do I have to be back?" The small boy said.
The Arc repeated the question through the scroll, before answering, "She'd like it if you were back in the next thirty minutes,"
"I'll just go then," stated Marrow as he got off the couch and quickly embraced Cinder in a tight hug, "Thanks for letting me hang out with you Cinder! See you next time!". Surprisingly Cinder didn't struggle nor worm around too much at the sudden contact, "We can walk to your apartment, it's what good hosts would do," Cinder said as she stood and looked up to meet her father's gaze to see if what she said was okay. A nod and a smile told her it was, so the trio went up a flight of stairs to deposit a sweet boy with his equally sweet mother, her coos about how Marrow was growing up so fast causing even Cinder to giggle next to her father as they said their goodbyes.
Once they had dropped off Marrow, they returned to their room. Cinder's father decided on making a small dinner of late-day omelets and leftover pasta, Cinder having been the one to ask for the small tupperware container of pasta for dinner. Dinner was a short affair, the youngest Arc having been tuckered out and not needing much prompting to send her on her way to get ready for bedtime. This was surprising because Cinder had taken a pretty long nap beforehand, but she was a growing girl that had a lot of growing up to make up for so it made sense for her body to ask for plenty of rest. One goodnight kiss later, a snug little girl laying comfortably in her bed, and Cinder was off to dreamland once more. Getting ready for any future adventures, adventures they would be.
Guys I messed up TvT, I'm too attached to baby Cinder so writing her get hurt was painfullllllllllllllllllllllllll. Baby Marrow made up for it a bit.
No Adam in this chapter, but he'll definitely appear next chapter! Chapter 3 will also be more Jaune centric, and will continue to give sneak peaks about what happened to him.
A few things that I just want to clarify in case I forget in the future, Jaune and Cinder currently reside in an apartment complex made for hunters specifically, I forgot/maybe never watched the episode that explained Cinder's backstory so she might be a bit OOC atm cause like I don't remember how she acted canonically when she was younger, think I got it kinda right tho?
Now for the good part, I have a question for y'all, because while I have a general idea on who Papa Jaune is gonna end up with I'm fully fleshing out who he's gonna end up with (I'm a sucker for romance y'all). I've considered characters that range from Willow and Ironwood, to Qrow and Salem. But who would y'all like to see be the next Daddy/Momma Arc? Ironwood x Dad Jaune is extremely tempting ngl, but I think that's just cause he's so hot in later seasons lmao.