Hey, RGQC here. Sorry about the late updates due to a mixture of new ideas, falling ill and doing my driving licence test getting in the way. But I am back with another chapter for all to enjoy! And, like always, reviews first!
BrimazKing: Glad you enjoyed it! There will be more adorable moments between them before another time skip.
Fenrir's Fang96: Well… Some things will change, but others will not. That's all I will say, but Jade's interaction with Blake does affect the future. As will his future interactions with her and the rest of the cast.
And as with all my other stories, I do not own RWBY, only my OCs in this story. RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.
Jade POV
Another month quickly passed with my illness passing, and my suspicions about my mummy were right! She has a baby in her right now and I will be a big brother eventually! She now even has a small bump on her belly! Which actually explains the change in her scent because according to Daddy, when a mummy Faunus gets pregnant, their scent changes to tell others about it, and that can sometimes be used to know if the baby is healthy or not.
But how however, I do not understand.
Oh yeah! In addition, Aunt Kali and Uncle Ghira offered their congratulations, and we even had a small party where cake was involved. Even my best friend and Velvet joined and offered their congratulations! Blake even asked Aunt Kali if she could have a younger sibling like I am soon to have, but she denied it because she is 'satisfied with one kitten.'.
Her words, not mine.
Also, since we discovered Mummy's pregnant, Daddy's been acting protective of her. He would now end his work much earlier and buy all sorts of fruits and vegetables for her. It's something about getting the needed nutrition or something. And as for me, nothing much changed except my training with Blake on how to use a gun. It took a while to get used to the 'recoil', as Daddy calls it, but Blake and I got the hang of it, and we can now continuously shoot.
However, hitting the target, especially a moving target was a different story. In addition, Daddy has increased the standard of his training for Blake and me. This made us very tired at the end of the day, but I did notice something with my eyes. My parents appear anxious about something, whatever it is. They never told me what exactly was bothering them. Something about adult business and how I have no part in it.
Even so, I can tell that this anxiety seems to be growing by the day. Is it the baby causing that? Or something else in the future. I'd like to think it is my soon-to-be little sibling making them nervous, but another part of me suspects that something else will happen in the future, and I don't like one second of it. Other than that, things passed smoothly, as one can be on Menagerie.
At the moment, I was helping my best friend learn maths while she complained about how much she hated it. I know… I never liked it, but once you understand how each formula is supposed to work, maths is surprisingly easy to do! And to be fair on her part, it has been at least two hours since we decided to do our homework together, and Blake looks like she is about to collapse onto the table any moment now. I think a break is in order.
"Ok! I think we can take a break!" I clapped my hand, and as if that was a trigger, I watched as my best friend's ears perked up, and life was restored into her eyes while sitting straight up with a smile. Seeing my friend this happy is a nice feeling, and a part of me wants to keep that smile on her face.
…
Wait. What am I saying?
"About time! It was so boring doing only homework!" My best friend yells out before she jumps off her chair and runs out of the room, leaving me blinking. Uhh… Where did Blake run off to?
"Blake?" I blinked again before I left the library to see that she was talking to Aunt Kali with a Menagerie guard woman following right behind her. From what I managed to pick up, Aunt Kali was looking for her daughter. Though for what I don't know.
"Aunt Kali?" I ask while peeking out from the corner of the wall, and I can see Aunt Kali's ears perking up.
"Oh! Jade, that's where you were. You're normally by my daughter's side." She smiled as I approached her while the guard woman watched me silently. "Your father is looking for you and my little kitten. He wants both of you to meet him at the training field later today, something about an oncoming test he always does every Friday."
A test? Yeah, Daddy does like to do a test at the end of the week to see our progress. I wonder what kind of test we will be doing today? A spar or an obstacle course? Or perhaps an endurance test? He does a lot of tests. "Really?" I tilt my head curiously. "Ok! We will go there later! But we're on a break, and Blake ran off without telling me where she's going."
I said while my best friend's cheeks reddened in response. "I needed to go to the toilet."
Oh.
"Ah." I felt my cheeks glowing as well. I think I can see why she did not tell me. "Have you gone yet?" I asked before my best friend shook her head and ran off, leaving me with Aunt Kali and a Menagerie guard smiling silently at me. Please stop looking at me. I don't like all this attention. I found myself glancing around for something to take my mind off the adults' amusement at my awkwardness.
"Is there food ready?"
Aunt Kali snorted with amusement before she broke out into giggles at how blunt I was. But that has worked in my favour as she answered me. "Of course, dear, you've been quite busy helping my daughter and having lunch prepared for you is at least something I can do for you."
"Yay, food!" I said before running off to the dining table, leaving the two adults alone. And it turns out today was porridge with fish! Or, as Blake sometimes calls it, mushy rice. I can't fault her, but a bit of soya sauce on it makes it taste better, and I don't mind the food Aunt Kali makes for me whenever I stay at their home. There are also fruits in a wooden bowl, and I happily take an apple and a banana for myself.
However, I chose not to eat first despite the risk of my porridge becoming cold. Mummy taught me that it is rude to eat first when others are going to join the table. And so I waited. And waited until Blake rushed in with a smile while I gave my own back to her. Most likely, after lunch, we'll continue where we left off. After all, Blake's almost done with it and then we can have fun elsewhere before Daddy's test.
"Jade! You waited for me!" Blake leapt onto the chair next to me while I chuckled at her enthusiasm. It's contagious.
"As much as I want to have a bite first, I can never enjoy it without waiting for you," I explained before my best friend suddenly hugged me while I blushed. I can never get used to that growing feeling in my chest.
"Aww… Thank you!"
"Anything for you, Blake." I simply smiled before my best friend broke off from me, and we began eating our meals. And it was tasty! I loved how fresh and sweet the fish tasted when I ate it, and a hint of soya sauce made it all the better! Sure, it's not as lavish as our other meals, but sometimes simple meals are good enough.
Much later, after lunch and finishing our homework, Blake and I decided to leave her home to wander the streets and visit Velvet. She has been stuck in her house for days over some project she has been working on. Though what it is, we do not know right now. When we reached over and knocked on the door, we were greeted by Mr Scarlatina.
"Oh, hello, both of you. What are you doing here?" He greeted us as my best friend spoke first.
"We're here to see your daughter, Mr Scarlatina. It has been a while since we last saw her, and we wanted to see how she is doing." Blake explained as Will blinked for a moment before a smile grew.
"Of course. My little girl has been busy with a special project she has been working on for some time. She's in her room right now, and I'm sure she will be happy to see both of you. However, do knock on the door before you walk in." Will said before he stepped aside for us to walk in.
"What project is she working on?" I asked, yet Will simply shook his head.
"I do not know. My daughter says that it is a surprise, and she also mentions it was partially inspired by your training session with your father." Inspired by our training session? "Though I cannot say that I'm not curious about it. From how enthusiastic she sounds; it must be on her mind for quite a while now." Will added in while Blake and I approached Velvet's door, which was painted pink and had bunny art all over it.
Taking a moment to glance at my best friend, I then took a step forward and gently knocked on the door.
"Coming!" I heard Velvet's voice at the other side of the door before it opened to reveal my friend, who had bags under her eyes. Wow. She must not have been sleeping well for quite a while. "Oh! Jade! Blake! What are you both doing here?" My rabbit Faunus friend commented while Blake and I could only blink.
"Well… you've not been hanging up with us because of your project for days now, and we were curious how you are doing." Blake was the first to say before I added in.
"Yeah. And it has been a while since we hung out together."
"Oh…" Velvet blinked in realisation as her ears twitched. "Right. I was working on something big! And in fact, I'm done with the starting designs, and I want to share it with my daddy!" Velvet then became excited while both of us were confused. What starting designs is she talking about?
'Um… What are you talking about?" Blake asks while scratching the back of her head as I tilt my head to the side. Velvet then pushed her door open to show her floor full of papers and writing material. Are these some sort of instruction manual or something? Before we could say anything, Velvet bounced for a bit as she grabbed one of those papers and showed it to us.
"I was working on my weapon when I became a Huntress! I think I shall call it Anesidora!" She announced to everyone in the room while Blake and I blinked. "The idea is that it can copy weapons using Hard Light Dust Papa told me about!"
Uh, what?
Hard light Dust? What's that? I know of Dust from the books I read, but Hard light Dust?
"What's that?" My best friend asked with her finger up before we heard chuckling coming from Velvet's father, and we turned to see a cyan Dust in his hand.
"Hard light Dust is a unique type of Dust, children, and it does not come naturally but is artificially made using the combination of Fire, Water Lightning and Wind Dust. Because of its artificial nature, it is the rarest of all types of Dust, and with it, you can create solid objects out of light energy." Will explained while Velvet was nodding her head enthusiastically. As for Blake and me, both of us were amazed that such dust actually exists.
Especially me, who can imagine all sorts of possibilities that can be done, like a portable shield or even weapons with it! All that is limiting appears to be the imagination, and my rabbit Faunus friend intends to use that to create her Huntress weapon. That's so cool! Will walks past me before borrowing the draft manual for his daughter and gazing at it.
"This is surprisingly intriguing. I must say, dear," Will mutters while Blake and I quickly add that this is an incredible weapon for a Huntress. But how is she going to use all sorts of weapons? All of them have different fighting styles, don't they? Wouldn't that mean my friend must learn many other techniques to use each copied weapon effectively?
"Can I show these designs to the General once I return to Atlas? I believe these designs should easily impress him for approval. And perhaps. Just perhaps, you should be able to get a constant supply of Hard Light Dust?" A simple smile grows on Will's face before his daughter enthusiastically approves.
"Really? Yes! You can do it Daddy!" Velvet cheers while hopping on the spot while my best friend giggles and I chuckle. It's rare to see Velvet this excited, and it feels great to see that our friend wasn't sick or anything but working on a fantastic project! Come to think about it, if I ever become a Huntsman, I should probably come up with a weapon like what my friend did here! And I might have an idea of what should be my weapon when the time comes.
In the end, Blake and I chose to hang out at Velvet's house for a couple more hours, and we talked for a while before leaving for the training field together.
Melo POV
"Alright, that's all for today, everyone, and I will see every one of you next week. Enjoy the weekends!" I announce to the crowd that it is that time of day again for my son to go through another test to see how much he has improved. Of course, I know that most of my students would likely stay behind to watch me tutor my son and the chieftain's daughter, but it is just for the sake of saying it now to sign off today's lessons.
Where was I? Ah yes.
Technically, this is supposed to go on for another hour or so, but I figured I should at least try to spend more time with my lovely wife and son. Her pregnancy is currently going smoothly, as was when she had Jade in her, but she's been undergoing rapid mood swings recently thanks to it. That and the anxiety of seeing her family again have been a growing concern in her eyes, especially since they are ridiculously spiteful, according to her.
Even with the uncertainty of whether that's true or just sheer exaggeration, I still trust my dear's words.
And so, I have been doing everything I could to assure her that no matter what happens when we see them, I will bring no harm to her or our child. But despite my best efforts, my dear wife couldn't help but express her worries about her and our kitten. She fears that her family would seek to separate our family or do something horrible to our child.
And I understand it.
I've grown attached to our little family, and I will do everything in my power to ensure that nothing happens to them. And that reminds me of something. My entire life…
I remember how I spent much of my time alone before I joined Haven as a Huntsman in training at an opportune notice. The reminder of how I don't even know who my parents are. I was just… left behind in an orphanage. To this day, I believe they either hate me or don't even want me at all. What else did they leave me in an orphanage as a baby?
Tch… Though… My time as a Huntsman was one of the best decisions I made after finding love with Amranth. I was no longer alone there. And while it was difficult to get used to the school life due to my orphaned background, I still did my best and officially part of a team.
Team BCMH I was part of after completing the initiation examination.
Technically, it's team black, but Bress, my team leader whom I first hated because of his mouth but grew to respect, likes to call us black mocha as a joke. Then, the name stuck and became official in the academy — much to his horror and most of everyone's humour.
Another thing is I told a half-truth to my kid. I did not leave my Huntsman life once I fell in love with Amranth and chose a peaceful life. The truth is, I went to find a new life elsewhere in addition to meeting and falling in love with my wife because the team disbanded due to my partner. The man and teammate who I trusted with my life betrayed and left everyone for dead to bandits and Grimm just to save himself! Coleen didn't make it out, and Bress was too crippled and was forcefully put into retirement.
Last I heard, he…
He chose to take his own life because he couldn't live without Coleen.
They were dating since year one of our time in Haven and had plans to get married before the disaster…
As for Harl, my 'partner', I do not know what happened to him after he betrayed us. I've spent years finding him for revenge or at least answers for why to no avail. It was as if he suddenly ceased to exist entirely! But I hope hell takes him for leaving us to die like this. I trusted him for four- no six years of my life. And till this day, I still can't believe he would so quickly turn his back on us so that he could live.
I thought all those years together mattered to him…
To us.
I felt a sigh leaving my lips as I closed my eyes momentarily. I miss them. I miss my team and the adventures we went through together. Hell. I miss even Harl before he turned his back on us. Bress Raj, Coleen Xander, Melo Grayson and… Harl Smo… All part of Team BCMH. Heck… I even paired Bress with Coleen before those two love-blind idiots figured out they liked each other.
Oh, how I missed the good times…
"Dad?" The sound of my son broke me out of my thoughts, and I could see him and his best friend waiting for me. Both wore bamboo armour on their arms, torsos and legs upon taking my suggestion days back. And speaking of my son and his best friend, I can see signs of interest growing between the both of them. Just as it was for Bress and Coleen all those years ago.
I only hope that once that time comes when they are older, they will not suffer what I or my team have suffered. "Ah, I see you both are here. Earlier than expected I may add." I mutter before I notice Miss Scarlatina standing not too far behind them. She must have wished to see today's spar.
"Are we too early, Mr Grayson?" Blake was the first to ask me while I simply shook my head.
"No. I believe I mentioned this before, but it's good to come early for anything just in case." I gave both a comforting smile as I glanced to see many of my students watching us. No doubt they wish to see what we're doing now. "Since you're here now. I will now tell you both what you will be doing." I explain as I raise my finger.
"Since we haven't done this in a while, I want the both of you to spar against one another for about ten minutes straight or until one of you yields, and then I want you to go through the obstacle course at least twice without rest," I explained before hearing groaning and getting downcast looks coming from the both of them with their ears visibly sinking. "It is necessary to ensure that both of you have the stamina to keep going. There will be cases where you will be pushed to your limit."
"Okay… We can do that." My son was the first to speak before his friend nodded her head. Though reluctantly at that. I apologise, but it will get harder from now on, kiddo. Taking several steps back, I watch my son draw his wooden glaives out while my friend's daughter draws a katana from her back. Raising my arm, the training field became silent to the point that only the blowing winds were the only thing audible.
With a final glance that both combatants were ready, I lowered my hand before my son and his opponent charged and began the spar. I must say, Blake recovered surprisingly quickly despite the initial advantage my son had with his glaives as he sent a flurry of attacks while she dodged them with unnatural grace before going in for the hit.
Ooh…Yup. That's a hit to the side. And it looks like kiddo's not happy about it, and… yup, tripping using the glaive is not a bad idea. It has to be done at a much faster speed to be effective. A smile found its way on my face when I heard cheering from the crowd, and Velvet's voice was one of the loudest, which was surprising coming from her.
After all, when I first met her. She was incredibly timid and even hid behind my son after noticing I was watching her. But now? Here she is, cheering like everyone else. I suppose my son has positively influenced her and makes her more confident.
Good for her.
"Come on!" Jade yells out as he swings his glaive at his best friend, who ducks under his attack and thrusts her katana up, though Jade had learned and predicted that move would come again and tilt his head to the right as it missed his head by several inches. "Did you think that will work again?"
"No, but this will!" Blake smirked before kicking Jade's shin and landing a haymaker that sent the cat Faunus stumbling back as she closed in for another strike. However, Jade recovered much faster than expected as he quickly locked Blake's katana before twisting both his body and glaive so that her back would be against his while the shaft of the glaive was against the katana's handle.
Then, Jade threw his body forward, hoping to disarm his best friend. However, instead of sending the blade off Blake's hands as he intended, Blake's grip on it was tighter than expected, and she ended up coming along and flying through the air. However, she managed to reorientate her body and landed on her feet before Jade swung again and made Blake roll to the side, and both clashed again in the middle. "Ha! That was awesome!" Jade grinned, as did Blake, who nodded affirmatively.
"I can say the same about that." She says that before shoving Jade back and ducking under his glaive, she uses her feet and trips the cat Faunus before coming down upon him and trying to go for a landing blow on his chest. But Jade immediately rolls to the side, and the clashing between them continues as the roars of cheering echo onwards.
Melo simply smiled with his arms folded while watching both children continue their sparring until finally…
"Oof!" Blake cried out as she sprawled onto the floor with Jade on top of her before having the edge of a wooden glaive against her throat with him panting for breath above her.
"I… win…" A tired grin was on Jade's face, while Blake could only pant while nodding.
"Yeah… But I nearly got you." She then gave a sly smirk. "In fact…"
"Whuaa!"
Blake suddenly proceeds to grab and throw Jade over before finding herself now on her best friend with his weapon against his throat. "Hahaha! Now I'm the winner!" And as if agreeing with her, the crowd lets off a wave of cheers while Jade flatly stares at his best friend with her arms open. Even so, Jade couldn't hate her for this, and frankly, it was about time his best friend got creative and exploited his lowered guard.
However, the cheering did not last long when Blake finally realised the… compromising positioning since she was straddling her best friend. "Uhm… uh…" Blake felt her cheeks grow warmer as she found her eyes against her best friend's as he did the same. It didn't help that the cheers changed to whistling, and it finally made both realise what was happening.
"AHHH!"
Both screamed at the top of their lungs before separating and getting off the ground as the whistling continued. Their cheeks are hot red at the implications of their situation, and before long, Melo walks in with a shit-eating grin and cups of water in his hands. "Quite the situation you find yourself in, kiddo." He continued smiling before Jade snapped at him.
"Shut! No talking! Give water!" Jade cries out before snatching and drinking it all as Blake does the same. Though her eyes refuse to glance over to her best friend thanks to the embarrassing situation, she and her best friend found themselves in. In fact, unknown to everyone, her thoughts were a whirring mess as all sorts of thoughts ran through her head.
"Well done, both of you." Melo smiled before taking the empty cups away from the children's hands. "And I can say that you both have improved a lot since last time. In fact, I'm feeling lenient after seeing that. So, you'll only need one round of the obstacle course instead of two. Congratulations." That earns tired smiles on both Jade and Blake's faces before Melo sticks his thumb towards the obstacle course.
"Alright, just do that, and I'll buy juice as a reward for today's performance." Melo smiles as he watches his son and best friend race off towards the obstacle course to see who can complete it the fastest. And letting off a sigh of amusement, the Grayson Patriarch glances into the sky momentarily as the cheers from the audience continue where they left off.
"Well… Some things just never change."
And cut!
So, yeah. Jade is now aware of his mother's pregnancy, and Velvets is working on Anesidora mainly because it is stated that Velvet came up with Anesidora's design when she was young. So, I figured she would develop the designs before joining Pharos Academy. It just makes the most sense to me.
Next is more lore on Melo because Jade's parents are not one-dimensional people, and I want to grow them more in their thoughts and motivations. In addition, we cannot forget the ever-growing relationship between Blake and Jade and their conflicted reactions to their feelings.
With that out of the way, if you enjoy this story and wish to show your support for more in the future, do Follow and Favourite this story. And while you're at it, leave a review about what you think, as that will let me know that you want to see more content from me!
With that, I'll see you all in the next chapter!
RGQC out!