Living The Dream Chapter 27: Little Girl Red And The Yang On The Moon, a rwby fanfic

Chapter 27 – Little Girl Red And The Yang On The Moon

In which Jaune Arc gets a sword and gets annoyed.

Well, I guess I won't be dropping out of the Vytal Festival Tournament.

"How did you even get this? The last I saw, Crocea Mors was lying on the wrong side of Raven's portal in who knows where."

Cardin shrugged and handed Jaune the blade and sheath. Jaune inspected both for their authenticity and was amazed to find that it was indeed his family's sword. The steel and bronze metal, the etchings of his family crest into the base of the hilt, even the scratches it had sustained from use against the Garrial Grimm.

"Treat her well," said Cardin. "She got me ought of many a tight spot, when The Executioner just wasn't enough."

"Seriously, Cardin. Before Raven died, she said that –"

"Raven? Raven Branwen is dead?" Cardin's head rolled backwards and let out a massive laugh. "Oh, this day can't get any better!"

"Raven Granolawhy, you mean."

"What? No, she's a part of the Branwen tribe. And believe me, anyone who willingly uses that last name deserves to be food for the fungus. If she's dead, then the world's far better off than it was before. How'd it happen?" Cardin's eyes narrowed, and he tilted his head slightly to the side with a faint smirk. "Was it you? Did you fix your…problem?"

Jaune was as relieved to hear that Cardin seemed to be good on his promise to not cause Jaune trouble as he was confused about why the tall teen seemed to despise Raven. However, right now, both of those feelings were overwhelmed by the happy shock of not having forever lost his family heirloom.

"No, she was killed by Hazel," Jaune replied. "Seriously, Cardin, I actually wanna know. How did you get this?"

Cardin didn't answer, instead staring past Jaune with an extremely serious look on his face. Jaune followed his intense gaze to the cafeteria table where the Coffees sat, all watching the exchange curiously.

"Your sandwich…uh, is that…tuna?"

"Oh, uh, yeah? You want some?"

Cardin nodded, and Jaune broke off a bite from the corner of his sandwich. Before he could hand it to Cardin, the armored boy took the bulk of the sandwich, leaving Jaune with just the scrap he'd been planning to give to him.

Oh well. I wasn't really hungry anyways.

Moans of pleasure came from Cardin as he dug into the tuna fish sandwich. "Oh, yeah. That's the good stuff. Suck it, Miss Calavera – your clam chowder is industrial waste compared to this."

Jaune looked away awkwardly, unsure of if he even still wanted to be involved in this conversation. Curiosity about the method by which Cardin had come by Crocea Mors burned within him, but he also was pretty freaked out by the way Cardin's eyes were rolling back in his head from the food.

"Uhhhh…"

"Oh, yeah, the sword." Cardin swallowed what was in his mouth. "Yeah, Raven gave it to me."

That only raised more questions. So many, in fact, that Jaune wasn't able to decide on a single one to verbalize. "Raven? When did you meet…I thought you said you hated…weren't you in Patch?"

"Patch? What's Patch?" Cardin placed the sandwich just above his waist, and to Jaune's amazement, his belt came alive and began to nibble on it. "Here you go, buddy."

It was a Grimm. Jaune tried to bring Crocea Mors down and chop in half the monster that was wrapped around his former bully's waist, but Cardin blocked it with his vambrace. "Hey, cool it bro. We're not looking for a fight."

"IT'S A GR–"

The rest of the sandwich was shoved into Jaune's mouth, shutting him up.

"Woah, indoor voices, friend. We're in an academy – if you go around advertising LJ's presence to everyone, they're gonna carve up the little guy into ribbons. He's harmless, so just…let it go, okay?"

"CSSSSCSSSSSCSSSS!"

Jaune looked down at the chittering Grimm. It was a centipede of some sort, but it was easily the smallest of all creatures of Grimm Jaune had ever seen. It was probably no longer than three feet long and so thin that he'd mistaken it for a chunky belt, like the kind wrestlers fought over. It had feelers, mandibles, and a bajillion legs, but other than that, it didn't seem all that harmful; actually, it behaved quite docilely. He wasn't pleased with the notion of letting it live, but if Cardin of all people chose to vouch for it…

"Fine. But you may want to release it in the forest or something, if it means that much to you. I don't think everyone else is going to be as understanding as me." So far, no one else was even aware that it was anything more than a belt, save for Jaune and Team CVFY.

"You shouldn't play with fire," said Fox. "You'll only get burned."

"I dunno, it's kind of cute," said Velvet from her seat, poking at the Grimm as it screeched and nipped at her forefinger. "How'd you tame a Grimm, kid?"

"He's not a threat," Cardin insisted. "Look, my team is waiting for me. We've got a lot to do, and I only came by to apologize for being a prick and give you Crocea Mors. If you want to know more, you'll have to wait for the spinoff sequel to this fic. It's fully written and has a wordcount of–"

"Dude, that's not cool," chided Jaune. "Leave the shameless promo for the author's notes."

"Okay, okay, I'm going. See you around, Arc."

Cardin gave him a mock salute and sauntered off, leaving Jaune alone with his rabid rabbit fan, his abject confusion, and his sword.

"Hey, Jaune. You feeling better? I heard that y–"

"Ruby," said Jaune, cautiously. "There's something I need to tell you."

Jaune knew that this was going to be a tough conversation. At least he wasn't alone for it – he had his team at his back, a short distance away.

Though I suspect they all just want proof of the maiden powers, given that Ruby is now one of them.

Team JNPR was in a weird place, right now. When he'd come back to the dorm with one more sword that he'd left with, Perry had apologized profusely for his lack of trust in him. In the wake of Amber's tirade, he'd apparently felt the most shame over his behavior. Jaune had accepted the apology immediately. While he had been a little hurt that his partner had been so forceful in demanding Jaune reveal his secret, Jaune personally hadn't felt like it was some unforgivable offense.

He'd half expected himself to come home to a Dear Jaune letter from Nora, but she'd also apologized…tentatively. She pointed out that while she had been quite rude to Jaune, especially given that he was still nursing grave injuries, he still had been lying to them and wasn't guilt free himself. And she's not wrong, per se.

Coco had said sides were being drawn between the pro-Jaune and anti-Jaune factions, and if that were true, Ren was clearly in the latter's camp. He'd felt that he had nothing to apologize for and had outright declared that he was only accompanying Jaune on their confrontation with Ruby for proof, not support.

"What is it, Jaune?" asked Ruby, cocking her head.

Jaune looked back to his team for aid, but their eyes were glued to their feet. I guess this one's up to me.

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just come out and say it."

"Is everything okay? W-What's wrong?" asked Ruby, fear in her voice.

"Your mother is dead."

Ruby's fearful expression was immediately swapped with one of annoyance. "Oh, wow. Never heard that one before a million times at Signal." Sarcasm laced her high-pitched voice. "Seriously, Jaune, if you're gonna go for the lowest hanging fruit in the whole gosh-darned orchard, at least spice it up with something original."

"Ruby…"

"Like, here's one: Ruby, yo momma so dead, her worms have worms."

"R-Ruby?"

"Or this: Ruby, yo momma so dead, she makes Ren look lively."

"Ruby, this isn't a joke. She's dead."

"Uh, yeah. I know. Duh!"

"You do?"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Is this going somewhere?"

As a matter of fact, it was.

"Keep trying, Ruby. You have the power within you, you just need to unleash it."

Jaune had been trying to coach Ruby on how to unlock her latent magic abilities, passed down from her deceased mother Raven, for the past hour, to no avail. Ruby hadn't so much as summoned a spark. He'd tried everything he could think of: explaining the full nature and history of the maidens, as best he understood it, having her try to hit targets with fireballs at Beacon's practice range, putting her in a bathtub and asking her to freeze it – nothing. Amber had told him earlier that there was no set path for training one to utilize magic, so he was flying blind here.

"I am trying," Ruby groaned, strained. "This isn't working, Jaune."

Currently, he was trying to see a more spiritual would work, so he was having Ruby meditate while hanging upside down from a pull up bar at the weight training center.

He'd had a bit of trouble convincing her that magic was even real in the first place. His team was watching from afar, none willing to miss the moment that Ruby used her magic for the first time.

The worst part was that Jaune wasn't even sure if this was the right thing to do. Perhaps it would be better for everyone, Ruby included, if she never knew what she was truly capable of. Maidens were apparently guardians of the light, but Ruby was only fifteen and still working out the kinks of leading her own team (and no, he was not referring to Weiss). There was no way she was ready for this kind of responsibility.

But if she accidentally uses her powers in front of Ozpin, she'll be in trouble. It's better this way, with her aware of what she can do and in control of it.

"You're doing great," Jaune shouted encouragingly.

"Really?"

"Uhhhh…no, but–"

Ruby unbent her knees and flopped down onto the ground. "The monkey bars aren't doing it for me, Jaune. Are you even sure I'm the magical girl?"

"One hundred percent."

Even though Raven was a monster, he somehow doubted that her dying declaration of intentions to pass on her abilities to her daughter was deceitful. The only problem was, he wasn't the one whose doubt mattered.

"Jaune, this is great, but I am kind of busy," Ruby said, doing her best to sound politely and not dismissive. "I have homework due for class tomorrow."

"So do we," said Nora, approaching the duo. "It's clear that this isn't going to happen."

Alarms rang in Jaune's head. "We just need more time–"

"Not today, I mean." Nora held back a frown. "We still believe you, Jaune, but–"

"I don't," Ren squarely declared.

"– but maybe this is going to take longer than an afternoon," said Nora, ignoring her partner. "Life is still going on. We can't put it on hold just to…"

T̶o̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶y̶ ̶a̶l̶o̶n̶g̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶f̶a̶n̶t̶a̶s̶i̶e̶s̶.̶

Jaune sighed. He wanted to keep going, but what would keep going even mean? Just try more random stuff and hope it worked? "You guys are right. Go on back to the dorm."

"You coming?" asked Perry.

"I'll…I'll be a minute."

Team JNPR left, leaving Jaune alone with Ruby.

"And what about you?" he asked. "Do you still believe me, or are you with the rest of them?"

"T-They trust you, Jaune," Ruby weakly lied.

"You don't have to pretend. I know that what I'm saying sounds absurd. Magic, maidens, transferrable powers that eclipse Dust and semblances – I barely believed it when I first heard of it. And here I am, asking you to take me at my word without any proof. I don't blame you for distrusting me."

"I'm sorry, Jaune."

Amber had lost her maiden powers, and while a talking scroll sounded impressive, there was no way to convince anyone she was more than just a person on the other line who had hacked his scroll and was using the audio system to listen in. Cinder was long gone and far out of Jaune's reach, as were the Winter and Summer maidens. The only proof to convince Ruby was Ruby herself.

"I just wanted to help," he said.

What was I even trying to achieve here? Ozpin is the maiden wrangler, not me. Even if I did somehow manage to get Ruby to use her powers, I have no way to teach her. Maybe Amber could.

Unfortunately, she had asked to keep the circle of trust regarding her existence limited to Team JNPR. Jaune tried to convince her that Team RWBY was certainly trustworthy, but Amber hadn't spent the last few weeks sharing a dorm room and constantly eavesdropping on the four girls, so she wasn't yet convinced that the headmaster was uninvolved with them.

Jaune felt a hand pat his shoulder.

"I'm sure you meant well," Ruby said. "You've had a rough time in the past few days. Your first mission went wonky, you nearly died – these kinds of things take a toll."

"I'm not hallucinating this stuff because of PTSD, Ruby. This is real – I knew about it before the missions. You believe me, right?"

"I…I…"

Jaune immediately regretted putting Ruby in the uncomfortable position of having to lie to spare him his feelings and tried to backtrack.

"Never mind, you don't need to feel obligated to answer that."

"No, I will, I–"

"Ruby, please. I'd rather not hear another person say that I'm…never mind."

Ruby placed her hands and her hips. "You know, I really did believe you for a while. But if you're gonna be like that–" She waggled an angry finger at him and puffed out her cheeks in an exaggerated pout. "–then I don't want to play with you anymore."

"Ruby, we weren't playing," Jaune said in frustration. "This is serious stuff – people have died for this!"

"Jaune, you're telling me I'm apparently supposed to have magic powers to control nature, even though I've never done anything like that in my life. It's a little farfetched. You get what I'm saying, right? Jaune?"

"Amb…argh. Cinder Fall was a maiden. My mission, which involved a maiden, nearly got me killed. The least you can do is treat it seriously." Jaune turned around to leave. He was getting far too fed up with Ruby, and he needed to calm himself down before he said something he regretted.

A whispered mumble stopped him in his tracks.

"Miss'nth'chadesrt'd."

Jaune pivoted around on one foot to face a bright red Ruby, her hand caught in the proverbial cookie jar.

"What did you just say to me?"

"N-Nothing."

"No, no. I wanna hear it." Jaune cupped a hand overdramatically to his ear and leaned in close to Ruby. "What did you say to me? I hear the words 'mission' and 'deserted,' and now I wanna know what came in between."

Ruby frowned. "Don't take out your anger on me, Jaune. I heard what you did. I'm trying to be the bigger lass here. Let it go."

"And what, pray tell, Ruby Rose, did I do?" Jaune sighed and extended his arms. "Tell me what you really think, because I've just about had it."

Silver eyes glaring at Jaune angrily, Ruby answered. "You deserted your mission. You ran away, and the sheriff you were with got kille– EEEAAAH! WHAT, ARE YOU CRAZY?"

In hindsight, throwing the nearest reachable object, which happened to be his own sword, at Ruby probably hadn't been the right move. She had aura, and he knew it, but the intent was enough to turn her away from him even further.

He understood why. She had a week to read the newspapers, see the rumors on her scroll, and decide for herself before Jaune was even awake. It was entirely unsurprising that she would hear secondhand accounts from friends that Jaune had ditched his team and ran off. He had, but it wasn't like that (though there was no way Ruby could know that). He understood it, he really did.

But he would be damned if he wasn't allowed to be angry about this one thing.

"Don't talk about that like you know what happened. You weren't there!"

"You know, I used to look up to you," said Ruby. "But I'm not some stupid little kid anymore. I read the news. I know what people are saying about you. Ren and Nora told me all about how you ordered them to abandon the village they were supposed to protect, and how you abandoned them!"

"AUGH!" Jaune collected his sword with disgust, turned around angrily, and stomped towards the door. "I don't need to take this!"

"Oh, here comes the Citron Champ's best move – running away when things get tough! I wonder if it'll work against me too."

Ruby stepped between Jaune and the door. He considered trying to push past her, but without aura, he would never make her budge. Thus, with a sour heart and a scowl, he heard her out.

"We were friends, Jaune. Really. You were my first friend at Beacon, and I wished we could've been on the same team, but now I see that it was a blessing that Ozpin put me far away from you. Hunters save people, not leave them! We never abandon the innocent, EVER! There were civilians in that village, defenseless men and women who don't have a chance against Grimm."

"Shows how much you know – we weren't even there for Grimm."

"But you were there to protect them, and you didn't! And don't even get me started about Team JNPR. If Blake or Weiss o-or Yang left me behind in the middle of a mission, I'd die! I'd literally die because there would be nothing left for me to live for, so I'd throw myself in the mouth of a Beowolf. And you're their leader! I can just imagine those poor three, all alone in the woods, not sure of where they're going or what they're supposed to do, while their leader goofs off with fantasies of himself being some magical superhero."

Ruby placed her hands on Jaune's shoulders and roughly shoved him backwards. The difference in their strength was made apparent, as Jaune went flying and roughly tumbled onto the carpeted floor.

Blood came up in his mouth, presumably as his just barely healed injury was opened up again. He swallowed it back down and hoped that there wouldn't be anymore.

"You – cough – you buy into all that garbage that says I'm a Vacuoan spy, eh?"

"Don't try and play mind games with me. This isn't about that. This is about you being the worst hunter and the worst teammate imaginable."

"My team and I made up."

"Oh, sure." Ruby looked away at the door. "They seemed really 'made up' with you when they left you to play your mystical maiden games like a delusional idiot."

"You know, Ruby, you're right." Jaune nodded resolutely. "I'm a fool who's not nearly capable of helping anyone out. So if you ever have any problems with the maiden powers, be sure not to come to stupid old me. Why don't'cha go straight to your old pal Ozpin and see if he can help you? I'm sure he'll be the right guy for it."

"What does–"

ZZZZHHOOM!

Both turned at the loud noise and saw Yang standing in the doorway.

No. No standing. Floating.

"Check it out, you guys! I'm a magical girl!"

She shot out her arms, and crackling bolts of electricity popped from hand to hand, jumping and spinning around her outstretched limbs.

Oh.

OHHHH.

That daughter.

Ruby's head could've been mistaken for a spinning top for how rapidly it switched between looking at Jaune and her sister. "W-Wait, it's real?"

Jaune shrugged. "Well, you said it best – a leader should stick with their team through thick and thin, Ruby. So deal with this by yourself."

She took a step back at his acrid words and the hatred with which he uttered them, and Jaune took his opportunity to slip between the two of them and leave.

Perry had been awkwardly shooting Jaune glances ever since he'd stormed back into their door and reduced his pillow into a fluffy heap of shredded fabric with Crocea Mors. Some part of him had half expected it to be filled with feathery goose down, but it turned out that such things were out of fashion, and it had nothing except for white fibrous stuffing.

It wasn't fair. It just wasn't. He'd gone out selfishly looking for a hunter to unlock his aura, and he'd walked away a hero for recruiting the Citron Commandos. He'd sought out the White Fang with Blake to self-unlock his aura, cowardly breaking his promise to Amber, and he'd destroyed a paladin and arrested the thief within. But the one time, the one darn time that he actually did everything right and tried to conduct himself as a real huntsman, he lost everything.

"My team, my friend, my life…"

He'd done what he felt a huntsman, a teammate, and a leader was supposed to – looked out for the innocent first and foremost, got his team out of danger, fought an impossible fight, come home safely – and now he'd been turned on by all the people who once trusted him absolutely.

"Being loved is horrible, being hated is somehow worse – this stinks!"

Well, not all the people he cared about. A certain scroll of his had never turned her back on him, not once.

When his pillow was completely unusable, Jaune turned to Amber as she charged. "Am, could you text Yang and tell her not to kill herself by going to Ozpin?"

It wasn't her fault. His rage at Ruby's betrayal felt like it was burning hotter than the surface of the sun, but Yang wasn't the one to blame for that. Murdering his bedding had helped quell his distaste, and he could look at the situation a lot more clearly now.

Her screen dinged. He read the message she'd sent him as it displayed on the lock screen.

Amber: I sent it. I take it training went poorly?

"I thought Ruby was the maiden. She and I…argued. It turns out it's Yang, but I don't have it in me to face either of them right now."

Amber: Ruby isn't Raven's daughter. She and Yang are only half-sisters.

"Huh. The more you know, I guess. That explains the whole Rose-Xiao-Long-Granolawhy-Branwen fiasco. It doesn't matter, really. Ruby and I aren't going to be talking much more nowadays."

"That bad?" cut in Perry.

"Perhaps she is wiser than we give her credit," said Ren, meditating cross-legged on his bed.

"Renny!" Nora slapped his arm. "Jaune, I'm sure she didn't mean it. Ahem. W-What exactly –"

There was a pounding at their door.

"Jaune?" asked the voice on the other side. "It's me, Ruby. C-Can I come in? Yang and I want to talk."

Jaune flopped a hand dismissively at the door, even though the huntress on the other side couldn't see it. "You don't want my help, Ruby. I'm still a fake huntsman who betrayed Iyun and fed my friends to the Grimm."

"…okay, I think we can both agree that things were said which should not have been said. I-If you let me in, we can talk about it face to face like adults. Er, like teens.."

Jaune turned the lock on the door. "What's there to talk about? You've made your feelings on the matter clear."

"I…okay, I'm sorry. Is that what you want to hear? You were right, and I was wrong, and now I need your help. I'm sorry. Can you let us in now?"

Yang's voice joined her sister from the other side of the wooden divider separating the two. "Rubes says you know something about what I'm going through?"

"I don't," Jaune said. "Anything I could say or do to help you I already told Ruby back when she was humoring my insane lunatic ramblings. Leave me alone."

"We aren't leaving without seeing your handsome face, Vomit Boy!" Yang teased playfully. "You owe us one explanation about my newfound superpowers, matey! Check this out!"

A thin sheen of ice covered the door, produced from the other side. Ren's eyes widened a fraction upon seeing it. Jaune looked at him and raised his eyebrows.

"Yang, don't tease! I…I really messed up, and he's mad, and–"

"C'mon, Rubes, you're as mean as a sugarfree cocker spaniel. What's the worst you could have done?"

The voices on the other side of the door continued in quieter tones.

"Jaune."

Jaune faced his most stoic teammate and gestured for him to continue.

"It would appear that I owe you an apology," said Ren. "I was quick to dismiss that which I didn't understand. Please, forgive me and accept my humblest–"

"Accepted," said Jaune, patting Ren on the back.

And that was that.

Nora looked at the duo, then at the door. "Wait, if you forgive Renny, then why don't–"

"Ren didn't believe me without proof and was kind of salty. When evidence came up that confirmed what I told you all, he changed his mind. Ruby, on the other hand, accused me of abandoning you three and the village of Iyun in an act of desertion."

Nora cringed. "Dust, that's…"

"…inaccurate," finished Ren. "Wildly fictitious."

"Jeez," said Perry. "It certainly didn't feel like desertion at the time. I kinda thought it seemed more like you were sacrificing your life to buy us a fighting chance at getting away or something. From how urgent you made running sound, I was worried we were gonna die." He looked down at Jaune's chest. "And I guess if the sheriff and your Hazel fella were all that, we nearly did."

"So, Yang's the maiden?" said Nora. "I thought you said it was Ruby."

"Apparently, I misinterpreted Raven's dying message."

At the time, he'd thought that Ruby, as the child Raven had abandoned, was being given the maiden powers as some form of apology. Now, knowing the truth, Raven probably had never even cared about Ruby in the first place.

Nora let out a groan. "Sorry for not –"

Jaune raised his hand. "Enough of that. We're a team, you guys. I think it's time we move forward with the apologies and bitterness and doubts. After all, we've got a tournament to win, and now that I'm once more armed and dangerous–" He flashed Crocea Mors. "–we've got more important things to worry about than who's to blame for what."

"Agreed," said Perry.

"Seconded," said Ren.

"Motion carried," said Nora, with a grin.

"Jauuuuune!" called out Ruby.

Oh right, they're still there.

"Go away, Ruby. I'm still mad at you."

"I…I can accept that. But my sister needs your help, and I'm not going to jeopardize her safety because of anything. Even if antagonizing you now costs me our friendship."

"It might be easier for you to simply open the door and help them," said Perry. "Those kids can be stubborn as sin."

"Help them with what?" said Jaune. "I don't actually know how to maiden – I just felt like I needed to make an effort because I owed it to Raven for accidentally distracting her in a critical moment. And our 'digital friend' is still on the lamb, so she can't help them without revealing herself."

"JAUUUNE! Yang's going to start melting the hinges off your door. She's really sloppy with her fireballs, so she'll probably miss. B-But if you come out and help train her on how to use them, there will probably be less damage to your door when she busts it open."

"Please don't let them burn down our door, Jaune," pleaded Nora. "Doors are getting super expensive, and I don't have a lot of money. I'm but a pauper."

"Nora's a butt popper?" said Yang from the other side. "That's – no, I can't get distracted at this critical time. Alright, let's light her up!"

Jaune sighed deeply, unlocked the door, and opened it.

There was Ruby, tiny tears forming in her tiny eyes. "Okay, I know I messed up, but–"

It took all of Jaune's resolve to not cave in to her pleas and forgive her right then and there, but he refused to. This had gone too far, and it needed to end. He refused to be vilified for a job well done and then simply be the bigger man to everyone who accused him. Team JNPR needed to be fixed; his friendship with Ruby didn't.

"I don't wanna hear it. Yang, there's nothing I can do to help you. I know about what's happening to your sister, but I think it was pretty clear from what we saw today that I don't know how to rein it in." He frowned. "I…will…I will look into it…"

Translation: ask Amber to forward you girls the info pretending it came from me.

"…but don't expect any miracl–"

Ruby was on him before he could even finish the word. "Oh, thank you thank you tha–"

"NO!" He pried her off and stepped back. "Ruby, you can't just pretend that everything is okay here. You really messed up on this one, and a simple apology isn't going to cover it."

"Okay." Ruby stood at attention. "If sorry won't cut it, what would you like me to do as an apology? I'd do anything to make it up to you."

"I don't want anything. Just…leave me alone, okay?"

"B-But…"

"No buts. You said anything, so that's what I'm asking. I'd appreciate being able to recuperate without any disruptions. I just want all this…" He gestured to Ruby as she frowned and Yang, a lingering fireball in her hand. "…to leave me alone."

Ruby looked like she'd swallowed a lemon, but she nodded. Yang, who had been watching the whole thing wordlessly, scowled at Jaune. He shut the door on the two of them and waited until he heard their footfalls leading away before letting out a deep sigh that tasted a whole lot like blood.

"Are you okay?" asked Nora.

"No," said Jaune, crawling into bed and lying face down on his bed in a puddle of pillow fluff. The red of his spit stained the sheets beneath him a faint crimson. "No, I'm most certainly am not."

"Ma, pass the ketchup, wouldja?"

"Grab it yerself, you dumb rat!"

"Oi, don't you go calling my son a rat!"

"He's my son too, you twit!"

April rolled her eyes at the antics of her family. Her mother and father were arguing like always, but Casey didn't usually get involved in those sorts of things.

Things have always been rough, but tensions have been especially high since our purses got tighter.

Still, they were a close-knit family, and they would see it through. Perhaps times were tough, and perhaps they'd gotten even tougher since her older brother had run off to play huntsman without even thinking about how the loss of income would affect his family, but they would make do just as they always had.

It's probably better this way. If he'd ever gotten caught, it would've been much worse. And it's not the end of the world. In the long run, we'll be far better off, especially when his huntsman paychecks start coming in. Since he's older, maybe they'll let him graduate early, or do some sort of work study thing.

DING-DONG!

All four Faunus turned to the door.

"We expectin' company?" asked Casey.

"Shut yer trap and eat yer hot dogs, you lousy lump," said Pa. "I'll handle this."

Standing up, he made his way to the door. Stopping just in front of it, he stared out the peephole to see who it was.

"Who's there?" he bellowed. "We don't want no trouble!"

"Is that Mikey?" asked Casey.

"I said shut!" Pa boomed, turning around to give his youngest son the stink eye.

"It is merely I, the weary traveler from the cold," said a voice from beyond the door. "I wish to warm my tired feet at your hearth and perhaps partake of some ale, if my hospitable hosts would be so generous as to allow a fellow Faunus in."

"No handouts here," said Pa. "Get lost, buddy."

"Say no more, kind sir, say no more. A gust of wind, and I am no more."

The sound of footsteps leading away heralded his departure. Pa waited for about fifteen more seconds, just to be sure their unwanted houseguest truly was gone. Then he nodded, even though the traveler couldn't see it, and sat back down.

"Hey, I never did get that ketchup," said Casey.

"Here you go."

April's head shot to the side.

"Enjoy," said the traveler, handing a squeezy bottle to the young Faunus.

Actual End of Volume 2

tl;dr ayo why the Ruby bein' evil

Next Chapter: Vacations All We Ever Wanted

In which Jaune Arc plans a relaxing spa day and nothing else.

Author's Notes

Welcome to the future, Rat's Nest, beyond the prophesized end of the story.

That ending will make sense soon enough. We're going into Volume 3, and there's going to be more of a streamlined focus to this one, compared to 1 and 2 where it was just 'bad guys fall into Jaune's lap.' Also, the choose-a-side thing isn't going to just go away.

Also, Cardin spin-off actually confirmed?

Cardin spin-off confirmed!

Cardin spin-off totally confirmed, let's 𝐟&^* $! go baby, Cardin spin-off finally confirmed whooooooo yeah!

"You, Me, and The Tuna" is the title, and all of Cardin's weird mannerisms will be explained there. Literally all of them (the sandwich, the rams, the tomboy, the Grimm belt). It's the second part of The Hogwash Chronicles, it will come out when Living The Dream ends, and it is without a doubt my favorite story written so far. I would say it's my best, but that's subjective.

The first POV segment of this chapter is just Jaune and Cardin alternating between not answering one another's questions in favor of asking their own. It's so wonderfully bad.

It's often said that Ruby is a blessed cinnamon role by many within the fandom. She is, but that's not the point. She's secretly evil and is the secret villain all along (no she's not). In all seriousness, though, it's hard to write Ruby as the straw jerk who's unfair solely for the purpose of riling the audience up, but if the issue is something like a huntsman (the kind of person she idolizes) seemingly deserting his mission, that might be enough to stir up the rare nasty feeling in her.

Just to be clear, Jaune is intentionally letting Ren off the hook for the sake of the team's cohesion. Since Ren is willing to apologize, he's going to let it go, even though he feels that Ren was being a bit unfair.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!