Remnants of the Realms.
Multiple oneshots of different RWBY universes, some happy, some sad, some fluffy, some inspired by other works of art, some that will make you question your choice to read this… maybe more than some.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, just liked the thought of doing something like these little stories, hope you enjoy.
Follow up, still think it is funny.
'Nora and Pyrrha realise part 2'
When Pyrrha realised it they were at Haven.
The term at Shade had been… trying, for lack of a better word. Having to restrain Nora on more than one occasion because one of the girls from Team NDGO would slap Ren's butt, feel his arms, lean in to close to him, challenge him to a spar only to make sure he either won or lost with a pin in submission or try to get him to work out with them.
Yeah it was a lot, and the poor man was actually quite put off by it all as well. She remembered when her and Nora listened in on Jaune and Ren's 'guy' time one night and Ren confessed he didn't know why everyone was always paying him such attention here and he wished it would stop, Jaune of course then being a great friend had begun to step in more after the first two weeks of this and got Ren out of many a situations by claiming that he was simply doing training with him or they were scouting out missions, anything to help.
She did then hear Jaune joke with Ren that once they got to Mistral they would have to all then do the same once again for her, then for Nora back at Beacon to keep her out of trouble. Ren then joked back that it would seem nobody but JNPR would want the Arc, although that might change if they marketed his semblance and its amazing ability to heal after workouts.
Not happening so long as Pyrrha could wield her spear!
Back to the point, Shade was indeed challenging for all involved; but Pyrrha could count her blessings that none of the girls seemed particularly interested in Jaune… which sounded quiet mean when she thought about it, but she meant it with the best intentions.
Said intentions were to have the Arc man to herself; she had put so much effort into helping him for the first year, then when he came back for the second he was suddenly the one helping the team in new ways, her love for him had ascended into new and incredible heights after that.
And looking at him now.
"Alright guys, last one of the list, I know Atlas was stressful, and Shade as well, but we just have Haven to go and then the test back at Beacon… then we're Hunters, protectors, defenders, we can go out there and help however and wherever we need to, and we can start here. I made that promise to you all those years ago Ren and-"
"-an Arc never goes back on his promise." Ren finished as he adjusted his new Mistral outfit, the look really suited him, and when he told Jaune he wanted to honour his culture around his village, Jaune had really gone into detail… after he had finished his outfit first under the watchful eyes of his teammates, he was not putting them first, not for this one.
He stood there now, combat trousers with pockets full of little lightning dust pellets, his boots were hard and durable, unlikely to rip when he forced a Deathstalker to halt in place, there was still the sash around his waist, the white and gold of his chest plate, gauntlets and shoulder pad, he had moved his shield to his back, these days he used the shield far more than his sword and honestly Pyrrha was happy he did so, he tried so hard to replicate her own style which was very offense heavy, but he was such a solid defender that it worked better for him.
Even when they fought against each other she could barely strike to actually hit him properly.
"Hey Pyr? You okay, you've been lost in thought for a while now." He was knelt right in-front of her and his sky blue eyes were full of such beautiful concern for her.
Then there was the start of his beard, that lovely rugged look of stubble coming over his face was a real treat for her, as was the longer and messier hair, he looked so unkept, so wild, like a woodsman, a true outdoorsman.
"Oh I'm sorry, I was just-" She noticed Nora in the background wiggling her eyebrows which caused her cheeks to turn red. "-Just worried about the Mistral news reporters, yes that's all."
Jaune frowned after she said that and she hoped she hadn't ruined the mood too much when he suddenly stood up and walked out the door, causing the rest of the team to trade looks and then they all ran after him, and they had to run as he had only gotten taller and his stride had gotten far longer than theirs.
"Um Jaune what-"
"I'm going to talk to the Headmaster."
"Oh yeah, Fearless Leader is going to challenge him to a duel; the winner gets Pyrrha's hand in marriage!"
"Nora!" Pyrrha whispered at her as she tried to keep pace with the most important man in her life while resisting the urge to strangle her sister.
"No, I'm going to make it so no reporters can come on school premisses, and make it very clear to him that Pyrrha is here right now because she wants to be, so she can become a Huntress, not so she can be used as a poster girl." Jaune said sternly, his jaw tightening up deliciously… um determinedly.
"Ren?" Pyrrha hoped that the voice of reason on the team would voice some reason into him right now.
"I believe that is him right there Jaune." Ren the traitor said as he pointed out Professor Lionheart talking with several people in fancy suits, and as they neared closer Pyrrha could hear her name thrown about a few times.
"Ah, speak of the woman of the hour, Miss Nikos it is a privilege to have you here with us finally, perhaps you wouldn't mind accompanying me with these people they have many questions."
The reply was on the tip of her tongue, she knew she would be expected to say yes, and she probably would to make sure that all the tension in her team would go away right now, but Jaune beat her to the punch.
"Nope." Lionheart looked a little shocked and then he turned to Jaune, who stood a head taller than him and with a gaze that seemed as strong as the wall he was. "I don't want any reporters coming near her, I don't want you trying to use her for publicity and I don't want you to use her to indorse or acquire funding or whatever."
"Young man I don't know who you think you are-"
"Jaune Arc, leader of team JNPR and this woman is my best friend, and I am tired of everyone always asking stuff of her, even I hate asking stuff of her, and we are partners. You want something to talk about with your suit and ties there? Have this; when I started out I was a failure, this amazing woman spent a whole year wasting her time to get me barely up to scratch, in the years since I hope I have managed to give back even a moment of that kindness… I don't know why she did it, I never asked for it and I certainly didn't deserve it, so you don't get to ask her for stuff like that, she can choose whether to do all of that rubbish, but I'm willing to bet she will choose to do what she needs to be the greatest Huntress the world has ever seen."
Pyrrha was completely speechless, a warm, like an unbelievably warm sensation was building in her chest right now, and she had never wanted to kiss Jaune more than in this moment, but she was far to stunned to even do anything about it, instead she simply held him in awe as he then looked at her with those amazing eyes of his. "You are one of the greatest things that has ever happened, because you are my friend, not because you are their mascot. Now shall we go and do some training?"
She managed to hear herself squeak out a yes as he took her hand and off they went.
The next day not a soul bothered them, nobody wanted a picture, nobody wanted an autograph, no teacher called on her unless she raised her hand to answer, sure the team got looks, but that was just Team JNPR, they were the oddest bunch, and Nora was 75% of that oddness.
It wasn't until the last class when Pyrrha realised it was all a bit too good to be true.
"Nice to meet you too Cinder, this is my team; Ren, Nora and my partner Pyrrha." Her orange eye passed over all of them, and usually Pyrrha wouldn't mind if they just passed her over, but since they passed her over in favour of eyeing up her partner with a long look… well Pyrrha narrowed her eyes at the girl.
"So tell me Jaune-" She did not like the way this girl said his name, like a purr, nor did she like the way she leaned into him and her voice dropped to a whisper. "-Do you often stand up to some of the most important people in Remnant or is it just Mistral that brings it out in you?"
Jaune smiled and then let out a chuckle. "Only on the days that end with a Y, and if it's for my team, then I will do anything."
"Such loyalty is indeed impressive."
"Well I've always wanted to be someone that helps, whether that is my best friend or a little kid forced to work in a dust mine, I'll help." She remembered that child, Jaune spent the entirety of their Atlas trip making sure they were looked after.
Cinder was silent for a moment and then the fake smile she was wearing seemed to vanish, the tension leaving until she had a relaxed one across her admittedly stunning features. "You truly mean that?"
"Of course, it's what we do."
There was another moment of silence. "I am suddenly very glad to have met you Jaune Arc."
"Thanks- oh, looks like we're up." Pointing at the screen it showed Jaune and Cinder's faces opposite each other.
"So it would seem, are you going to hold back on me?" She seemed to ask it as a tease, yet Jaune had already stood up and offered her a kind hand in standing before she finished the sentence, seeming to take the next words from her as she observed the hand.
"I won't fight to hurt you, just so we can push each other to be the best we can be." More silence followed as Cinder got to her feet and then she giggled.
"Well, let us see what this knight has in store for me."
Watching to two of them spar, Pyrrha had to grit her teeth together, clearly this Cinder woman was one of the best fighters she had ever seen, better than Jaune, but he was holding his ground, she might have been able to move at speeds that would make Ruby a little jealous, but she couldn't get enough of a hit upon Jaune, this would end how his fight's usually did, in a time out.
This wasn't what bothered her, it was Cinder's partner Emerald instead who spoke up after she went into the arena. "Never heard Cinder giggle before, never seen that kind of a smile on her face either."
"Yeah, she even looks like she is enjoying the fight." Mercury commented, another member of Cinder's team, his prosthetic legs resting on the back of the chair in-front of him.
"Steady girl." Nora whispered in her ear as the bell sounded and Jaune then held out his hand to Cinder, even using his semblance to boost her aura back to full, not even taking a dent out of his own.
They held hands a lot longer than needed to.
Sitting next to Jaune at dinner with Cinder sat opposite him, watching her Pyrrha really had to use every ounce of her strength to not strangle the girl in-front of her; she was doing the works, battering her eye, hand on his arm from time to time, even laughing at his jokes! What's worse is that Pyrrha knew that at first the whole thing was going to be a lie, she was sure this woman was simply looking to try to crush the opposition and prove herself to be the best of the best, but now…
"Hehe, so you really can't do any air travel at all?" Her orange eye locked on to Jaune's own gorgeous blue, Pyrrha had her own searching Cinder's admittedly stunning face for any imperfection… there wasn't any, everything about her was beautiful, even the eyepatch suited her.
"Nope, we were all on a Bullhead with General Ironwood and his Ace-Ops, and, yeah I kinda, maybe threw up on his shoes." Jaune explained as he rubbed the back of his neck, since he was out of his armour right now and just in his t-shirt his muscular arm was clearly visible, enough that Pyrrha and unfortunately Cinder could appreciate it.
"Oh brothers." Cinder snorted, and somehow she managed to make that attractive, how do you manage that?
"Not my finest moment." He admitted with a grin on his face, his lips forming such a vision of a smile, framed by his manly and rugged facial hair that Pyrrha wanted to tenderly touch.
Cinders hand landed on his forearm and Pyrrha glared at it the entire time it was there, she didn't even notice that the fork she held in her hand had suddenly bent into a very unusual shape… the others all did though. "Hahaha, only you."
"Yeah, that's what you said as well right Pyr?" Jaune was now looking right at her, then his gaze shifted to one of concern when he realised she had not managed to hide her glare very well and his hand was pulled away from under Cinder's to place it on her own.
Her heart did a little tap dance and she resisted giving a cheer in victory, she did notice a certain look flash across Cinder's face for a moment, then it took on something she had seen on numerous opponents faces.
A challenge.
"Sorry Jaune, I'm not feeling the best right now, still trying to catch up with the time difference."
"Anything I can do?" She noticed Nora about to open her mouth and she very quickly sent a spoon flying at her face.
"No it's all good, although could you assist me on the way to the room?"
"No problem, never is for you." He gave her a smile, not one he gave anyone else, this was a special one reserved for her and Pyrrha loved it, because it showed how much kindness he truly carried. "It was really good to meet you guys."
Mercury gave a small nod, he didn't seem big on expressing himself, Emerald gave a few glances between him, Cinder and Pyrrha before speaking up. "Yeah, you too."
"A honest pleasure Jaune, I hope to see you again tomorrow?"
"Team JNPR will always come through, also good fight today Cinder, a couple more hours and you might have had me."
"Oh, you challenge me to a rematch?"
"A knight must always keep his honour."
"And where do I fit in this fantasy of yours then?"
"As a new friend, goodnight guys." Then he took Pyrrha's hand in his own and as they walked away from the table he didn't look back as his attention was completely focused on her. "It wasn't because of anything I said yesterday was it? I didn't mean to stress you out at all, I just know how much it always drains you."
"It wasn't anything you did Jaune, I- we just haven't had a proper moment to ourselves while we have been here." That part was completely honest, he was just being himself, the reason that she had fallen for him after all.
He was quiet for a moment then he nodded. "You are right; that hill looks lovely, what say we spend a little time at a higher altitude?"
"After you've just eaten?"
"…Pyr, what would I do without you?"
"Somehow I know you would have figured out a way, it would be crazy, completely mad, possibly illegal, but you would have figured it out." He gave her a bright dazzling smile and the two of them were laughing all the way back to the dorm.
Morning came the next day and Pyrrha searched around the room for her teammates, eyes always drifting to the bed of her closest friend and-
He wasn't there.
Just as usual, he always made sure to wake up extra early so he could go and do a workout, something that he had started doing when he came back the second year, not that she could ever argue with the results… the results.
Nora let out a loud sounding snore across the room and jolted Pyrrha out of her thoughts while she quickly dressed and then begun a quick walk to where Jaune most likely was in the gym, probably the only student there at this hour.
"-So that's another combo to get better movement in your hips, now you try." Rounding the corner after she heard the voice, Pyrrha saw her dearly beloved partner and another student, thankfully it was not Cinder, although Pyrrha was wondering if right now that was for the best.
The woman stood opposite him was yet again another vision of beauty, different from how Cinder was; this woman was shorter than Cinder, had dark skin like Emeralds, blond hair and a more muscle toned body, one that had leggings and a crop top covering her, her golden eyes boring up at Jaune, and even from this distance Pyrrha noticed the occasional drop to glance over the rest of his body. "I mean I know how to punch-"
She held up a hand to interrupt him, said hand rested against his bicep. "I was watching you for five minutes, you know how to hit something, your 'punch' was a pathetic attempt."
"I didn't want to hurt you." She could tell that had a certain effect on the other woman, although she was unsure whether it was from embarrassment or from anger at him not treating her as an equal, Pyrrha knew it was neither the case as this woman was probably about to learn.
"Why not?" Her cheeks a faint red colour that complimented her skin tone beautifully.
"Well because you're a friend." Jaune said so simply as he then noticed the silence that fell after he said it, he then turned and began punching the bag, Pyrrha would admit his form was certainly better than it had been before. She didn't claim to be an expert in hand-to-hand, but she was good at it, yet she had drilled into Jaune that keeping his weapon on him at all times was for the best.
After a few punches the woman spoke up again as she caught the bag effortlessly, her arm tensed. "We just met."
"Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet."
"…That's one way to look at it." The roll of her eyes was visible from her hidden place around the corner.
"And you helped me out, but I still don't know your name."
"Arslan Atlan, and your Jaune Arc, watched your fight with Cinder yesterday, at least you know how to block, although if my partner was Pyrrha I imagine I would get good with a shield as well." So she had heard of her, and Pyrrha had heard of Arslan as well, it was said that she couldn't use her semblance unless she was alone or in a true life and death moment because it was so destructive, Yang had sent a text saying that the one's to look out for while they were at Haven would be Cinder, Mercury, Arslan and Sun, said they were the best fighters.
Since the only people that Pyrrha had ever lost too were her trainer for the first few years, then Ruby for the majority of the time at Beacon, then Winter Schnee had shown her the difference in skill level, there was that 'fight' with Qrow Branwen, although she couldn't help but think it wasn't much of one, because he then went on to battle a different Ace-Op using his right hand and not his left he used to beat her.
"You know Pyrrha?" Jaune's voice cut her thoughts short as she was drawn back to where Arslan had now moved a little closer to Jaune and placed her hands on his hips to direct his movement a little more.
"Well she has a sword… so best way to block that is a shield, although I would prefer to disarm her."
"Ha, when you figure out how to do that let me know."
"I shall."
"Um I was joking, I'm good, she is my best friend after all."
There was a little silence that Pyrrha didn't know why it had her on edge. "Just your best friend?" That was why she was on edge, well that and the way her hands had moved to her crushes shoulders in a subtle touch and feel.
"Well I guess she is my second in command." The small grin that Arslan had on her face as she looked him briefly up and down from behind and then moved to stand in-front of him, stepping up and staring deep into his eyes while Jaune didn't step away and looked back without giving an inch.
All of it un-nerved Pyrrha beyond belief.
"Hmm, I think I shall teach you some more stuff Arc."
Pyrrha sent Nora a quick text that the curse had fallen to her and then took a deep breath as she rounded the corner. "Hello Jaune!"
Her head whipped around as she saw Cinder enter from the other side of the gym and seemingly glide over to him, a small conversation came from the three, and a silent one began between the two women that naturally Jaune was oblivious to, until he noticed Pyrrha.
"Oh Pyrrha, great now there is an even number so everyone has a partner, we can all do it together." Pyrrha's eyes widened at the shock of what he said, Arslan side eyed both of them and Cinder gave a sultry grin.
It was official, Pyrrha hated Haven.