I do not own Bloodborne or RWBY.
A very special thank you to Patrons; your support is the fuel that lets my creativity burn all the brighter. So, thank you to – E-Elf, and Lee yang.
I hope this story continues to be worthy of your support.
Chapter 7 School Morning
Finally, he had made it.
Countless deaths, numerous injuries and many, many attempts later, he, at last, stood further than he ever had before. A frustrated scowl marred his face, and his bone was again within his arm, but he had done it. He had finally reached the end of Central Yharnam.
In front of him lay the Great Bridge, no longer burdened with opposition as the still cooling bodies of the ogre and gluttonous crows lay behind him, their mixed blood pooling at his heels. Jaune took a moment to check over his gear; his Blood Vials, while now reduced, were still numerous, and his weapon was still sharp, if bloodstained and seemed to still be in prime condition for hunting. His pistol was of somewhat more concern as his bullets had been chewed up more than he realised.
Only a handful was left.
Jaune grunted as he slid the bullets back into his pocket, his pistol sliding back into its holster comfortably. Jaune would have to pray that no more threats perturbed him from his next destination, as it would not do to waste bullets.
"Right... onwards," Jaune mumbled, slicking his filthy hair back once more to keep it free of his eyes as he strode across the bridge. He walked confidently, his boots marred by blood making audible scuffing noises as the cobblestones of the bridge made his path somewhat uneven. Further across the bridge, he strode, seeing the gated exit at the end, his eyes already scanning for signs of some mechanism to open the way forward.
He was nearing the end of the bridge when it happened. A harrowing hoarse scream rang through the air like a vile siren. A warning of danger yanked from a set of tortured vocal cords as they bellowed a maddened howl. Jaune froze immediately, his eyes darting about as his Saw Cleaver came up from his side, ready to shred any threat.
Then he saw it.
A thing, an impossible thing, bound over the wall in a single leap, its massive shadowy form concealed by long matted fur that billowed about it like sullen rags. It crashed into the cobblestone of the bridge with a powerful impact that shook dirt free from the crags and made the structure itself seem to shake.
As it rose from its crouch position, something in Jaune's mind flinched. What he saw wasn't possible, was it? How could it be? This was no mere plague beast, no maddened villager twisted and mutated by foul illness. This was something else. Something wrong. Something unnatural.
As the thing lifted its head, its twisted, malformed antlers reaching up into the air hungrily, its fanged maw opened up to reveal salivating yellowed teeth as it let out a wheezing growl. Jaune saw its face and flinched, stepping back in fear as he beheld the insanity that was this abomination further.
It was madness, a terribly deranged thing, its body bereft of symmetry and sense and its physique impossibly starved to the point of appearing emaciated. It looked as if it should be frail, but how did it bound over that wall so quickly? Jaune's mind was riddled with questions as if drowning in the blasphemous reality of such a monster being possible. How else could this thing stare at him hungrily despite its eyes seeming to have shrunk into its own skull?
Jaunes revelations were put to an end when the beast before him clawed forward, its asymmetrical and bulky limb clawing into the stone to pull the rest of its skeletal mass towards its newly selected prey. Jaune was torn from his stupor just as swiftly, an overwhelming sense of fear bucking him in the gut to run as far away as he could from this hungering monster.
And run he did.
With all the speed he could muster, Jaune bolted backwards, his legs carrying him with all haste away from the bloody madness at his back. But his escape was short-lived as he had no sooner begun to retreat than a mysterious fog began to coalesce before him. Jaune ran on, unperturbed by the strange change in weather, solely focused on fleeing for his life.
*Thwack*
Jaune was stunned, his face slamming into the suddenly solid fog as if it was made of the most burdensome stone, the barrier not giving an inch and instead sending him sprawling to the ground, his nose resoundingly broken. Jaune shook his head, doing his best to shake away the dizziness, but his attempt was for naught as it lingered like a foul stench. From his laid-out position, Jaune lifted his head back; the hungering monstrosity was still clawing its way forward slowly, predatorily.
Jaune rolled back to his feet, moving until his back was pressed firmly against the fog, his entire body weight shoving against it as he eagerly sought escape. But still, this impossible fog did not budge, and Jaune knew it would not; somehow, he knew. Jaune's warning was an awful screech as he instinctively flung his body to the edge of the bridge, where he stood not even a breath before now crushed under the mass of this impossible beast.
Its eyeless head turned to stare down at Jaune, its drool spilling from its gasping mouth as it somehow observed him. Jaune could now smell it. The hideous thing reeked, its filthy fur smelling of sweat and filth, but just as powerful was the powerful stench of dried blood that lingered on its leathery hide.
It screeched at him once again as if angered that he dared to dart away from its crushing pounce, the sound rattling Jaune as it made his ears ache. Terrified, Jaune quickly bounced back and just in time, the colossal beast slammed its bulging arm into the space he had occupied, its terrible claws spearing into the bridge's stone with terrifying ease. Still on the ground, Jaune felt a tremble shake through his bones at the demonstration of this nightmarish thing's strength and the razor-sharp nature of its claws.
Jaune hurried to pull himself back to his feet, his body hunched over as he tried to distance himself from the screaming monster, but his attempt was for naught. The beast's claws raked through the stone and crashed into his back, rending his clothes and splitting the flesh of his back as if it were wet paper. He was flung, the insane strength of the malformed thing hurling him across the bridge and into a trio of statues. So great was the force at which he was flung that his body wrapped around the sculpture, his hip taking the brunt of the impact with a wet crunch.
Jaune tried to scream but found his lungs bereft of air. Another shriek had him flailing in a panic as his broken body slipped from the statue and landed with a wet flop, his legs unresponsive. The statue was crushed as the beast leered down at him, its bulging left arm crushing the artwork into the side of the Great Bridge. Its less imposing but no less deadly claw swatted at his pitiful form, sending him rolling along the bridge, his broken body in a warring state as he was swarmed with the sensations of both lifeless numbness and hot mind-breaking agony.
But in a moment of mercy or luck, Jaune found himself rolling beneath an abandoned wagon, he would have smiled, but the last blow had driven his face into the cobble of the bridge chipping his teeth. Through the pain and the immense damage his body had sustained, Jaune managed to retrieve a Blood Vial, crushing the thing desperately into his shattered hip. A rush of relief surged through his veins, and the pain was pushed to the side, just in time too, as the wagon was sent hurtling over the bridge.
As the hanging moon of Yharnam illuminated Jaune, he was found with his pistol raised and ready. A quick snort, splattering blood across his lips as he cleared his nose and gave the maddening visage of the ravenous creature a defiant broken and bloody snarl. The firearm bucked in his hand, lancing a round through the snout of the screaming monster. The beast flinched, seemingly more in surprise than pain, but that brief moment gave Jaune ample opportunity to move. His hip was still a mess, and his back still burned painfully but rolling required little dexterity, and the pain was nothing in the face of dread and necessity. Incensed, the furious monster screamed the noise loud enough to make Jaune's ears protest, but he pushed through, already slamming another Blood Vial into his side as he reloaded his pistol with a practised hand.
His pistol repeatedly bucked as his body mended itself, Jaune darting about its legs as he slowly but surely made his way back to his feet. Messily he rolled and crawled around its feet as it yowled and hissed, stomping and slapping the ground. As his last bullet pierced into its chest cavity from below, avoiding its ribs altogether and splattering Jaune with a slew of blood, he discarded his firearm as the dead weight it was.
As the creature screamed and stomped, flailing its sinister limbs about in a flurry, Jaune attacked with equal ferocity. But it was all done as a mask for his desperation. Despite constant blows, the beast did not slow. His blade barely broke the monster's leathery hide despite attacking with everything he had. His slashes were but scratches, nary even flesh wounds, and while the beast seemed to possess an endless supply of stamina, Jaune did not.
He was off by a foot, not the measurement of distance, no, a literal foot. When he tried to sidestep yet another targeted stomp, his right leg moved too slowly, and just like that, he was crippled as the total weight of the monster flattened the entirety of his foot and a large portion of his shin. Breathless, he could not scream, but that did not stop him from attempting to; a high-pitched wheezing breath slipped out of his mouth as he crashed to the floor, barely audible over the incessant screaming thing above him.
When his hip impacted the statue, an oppressive numbness washed over his lower half; the power of the Blood Vial removed said numbness. Now Jaune was in the position of desperately wanting it back. The world-shattering pain of having his leg reduced to a bloody pulp forced him to lock up, the pain paralysing him. Immobile and stunned by the abject agony of his mutilation, he did not even attempt to reach for a Blood Vial. Nor did he try to resist as the beast scooped him off the hard stone with its nightmarish claws.
It clutched him tightly, his weight practically nothing in the face of its monstrous strength, its long malformed fingers easily encompassing his body. He felt ill, with nausea from pain and blood loss stripping him of focus. His arms remain pinned, unable to reach for the Blood Vials at his side or raise his Saw Cleaver in defence. He doubted he possessed the strength to do so in his present state.
His face was wet, tears or blood, it mattered not, but as he was held aloft, the eyeless visage of this snarling impossible beast before him, he knew fear. At that moment, he could understand a fraction of the madness that seemed to have taken hold of the city. He could appreciate the roaming pogroms and the rude inhabitants fearfully bunkered away in their homes, the terror in their voices as they lashed out.
So that's just what he did.
With a twist of his wrist, the blade of his Saw Cleaver sprung open with tremendous speed, the biting serrated edge thrusting out with all the mechanical speed it possessed. As it sheered through his leg, taking a pound of flesh in penance for his desperate last attempt at salvation, Jaune could only grit his teeth and snarl defiantly. As its teeth bit into the long grasping fingers of this salivating thing, Jaune growled triumphantly at its sudden flinch. When their blood intermingled, and the creature screeched, its displeasure point blank in Jaune's face, he did not shy away. As his ears rang and the grasp holding him aloft tightened to the point that he felt a series of bones snap painfully, he could do nothing but scream breathlessly.
When his Saw Cleaver clattered to the stones below, he choked on the blood that assaulted his airway. When his head and shoulders were suddenly thrust into the rancid cavern of the monster's maw, he could do nothing but struggle pitifully. His attempts at resistance unleashed a deluge of pain upon his senses to the point that his mind was little more than the panicked screeching thoughts of a terrified, wounded animal.
*CRUNCH*
It was as quick as a gunshot, a lightning bolt of agony, piercing, crushing, splitting pain that captured him in its grasp for a moment before fading off. As the pain fled, so did his mind, feeling and senses parting his consciousness, leaving behind the echoes of torturous pain, the sickening feel of blood and clinging drool, the festering scent of death and blood, the sound of his own body being crack beneath monstrous teeth as well as the huffing breaths of this twisted thing. His tongue was drowning in a torrent of vital fluids intermingled with bile he could not hold down.
And as death finally took hold of him again, the last sight he took in was the expanding gullet of a terrible beast as it swallowed him into a black abyss.
And, of course, the uvula hung above it.
All knowledge carries weight. Specific knowledge has far more, for example, the fact that of all the creatures found in the animal kingdom, it is only humans that are found to possess a uvula.
What a dreadful bout of insight to have while being swallowed.
YVYVYVYVY
Cool.
That was always the first sensation that welcomed him back to the Hunters Dream, the smooth, cool stone of the path leading up to the workshop. The cool was like the jumpstart his brain needed, and as the shock of the sensation reached his mind, it shook loose all manner of trauma. Jaune, who had suffered numerous deaths, countless injuries and killed entire mobs of enemies, was reduced to a sobbing wreck as he was forced to confront what he had just seen.
And just like that, it hit him. The confusion, the fear, the hurt and the sickness were like a punch to the gut that had him dry heaving as he clawed at his hair and pounded the pathway with his fist. He knew the same way he knew his name was Jaune and that his heart was beating, that the thing he had just fought was wrong. The beastly visage, the horrific noise, the strange, warped form and its vile stenches like musk and death. The way it moved, the way it acted, its size and its visibly off-putting proportions. The monster was unlike any other beast he had seen. It was not possible that it was merely the manifestation of a plague victim; no, it was something worse.
The sinister nature of what he had just confronted refused to exit his mind; the beast's screams continued to echo in his ears even as the thing's face, devoid of eyes and crowned by twisted reaching horns, continued to linger in his sight. The madness of it all left him shaken, and when his sobs finally faded as he came to terms with what happened, gagging at the memory of being bifurcated, he was left with questions. With enough reason restored, he heard the sound of his Saw Cleaver scrape on the path as he unfurled his body.
His eyes opened blurrily, tears wreathing the bloodshot orbs as they glanced down to his hip and saw his weapon attached to his still intact hip. The sight of his still whole body did a lot to relieve the lingering effects of being eaten alive. His hands, beset by tremors, went about prodding at his torso, his hip, his leg... all there, all perfectly intact, as if the brutal death he had just endured was little more than a nightmare.
A pained chuckle slipped from his quivering lips as he spewed his panic out in the form of sardonic amusement. With a shake of his head, he began to pull himself back to his feet, a task made even more difficult with his still somewhat wobbly legs, but he powered through. Overcoming his frailty, Jaune stood upon his own two feet, his still irritated eyes looking out into the sea of grey clouds that circled the Hunters Dream. The towering monolithic pillars that bridged the infinite grey mists and the eternal cloudy sky were as eye-catching and nonsensical as ever.
A portion of his mind, as rattled as it was, could not help but try to discern the origins and reason of such monolithic structures. Each one was seemingly impossible, but then again, such was the nature of a dream and its contents. As he continued to gaze out onto that strange horizon, he felt his panic subside, the erratic chaos of his mind being replaced with an odd sense of calm.
Free of the lingering terror that had clung to him so savagely, Jaune decided it was time to pursue some answers. Gehrman would need to be questioned again; Jaune could only hope he would be in a talkative mood. Otherwise, he would have an easier time drawing blood from a stone. The older man's adage of just continuing to pursue the hunt would not be enough... not this time.
The abomination on the bridge had seen to that.
Jaune began to head towards the old structure that made up the heart of the Dream, his gaze admiring the peaceful, picturesque image before him. The cool breeze caused the ankle-high grass to lap at the cobble path like waves, the bright luminescent flowers like buoys on a green sea. The graves were cold and melancholy save for candles tenderly placed to illuminate them. A very tall woman stood patiently beside the old stairs leading into the workshop.
"... Huh?"
Pausing in his approach, Jaune looked at the anomaly before him. The sight of this woman, who was easily a head taller than him, was stunning. Indeed, she was beautiful, enchanting, and adorned in dark clothes that contrasted starkly with her features. Her fair, pale skin was like porcelain, smooth and unmarked by nary a single blemish accentuating her cool, refined features.
Her eyes were captivating. They were like gems stripped from the moon, their colour reminiscent of its soothing glow. Her nose was straight and centred, arching out only slightly but enhancing the trace of her eyes. Her lips, shaded, small and delicate, were light and matched her features perfectly, the colour of old faded roses. Her hair, for the most part, was hidden away, tucked beneath a decorated bonnet, save for two partitions that framed her delicate face. The two thin lengths of fine hair hung below her chin, swaying lightly like two ash streams in the light breeze.
Her attire was heavy set and made of many layers, fitting for the Yharnam climate. Her thick bonnet was a deep earthly colour; it brought forth imagery of old thick tree trunks. It was decorated with a wide sash, and a bundle of decorative or perhaps dried flowers adorned the left side. Her clothes reached up to just under her chin, the long collar of her top trimmed in lace and covered by a necktie with colour accentuating her petite lips. Also adorning her neck was a green necklace akin to jade with a curious flower motif. Her outermost layer was a thick shawl with colour to match her bonnet, though made of thicker material. It bore stitchwork and embroidery that took the same design as the curious flower found on her necklace.
Beneath the shawl, a brown corset embraced her torso snuggly, its material constricting a white blouse beneath, the delicate fabric of the item yet again carrying faint motifs of flowers that traced its whole in a colour that was reminiscent of tobacco leaves dried and stored. Her lower half was covered in a thick black skirt that hung well to her ankles, the thick material no doubt well-suited for chilly nights. Her feet were adorned in heeled leather boots, well-worn but well-cared for, and despite their wear and tear, they looked sturdy all the same.
Finally, Jaune found his gaze drifting to the woman's hands, where she wore a set of fingerless gloves the colour of warm copper rust, the edges of which were lined in delicate but aged lace. Floral patterns that were once white but now appeared duller covered most of the visible fabric.
But then Jaune saw her fingers, and thoughts of her beauty halted.
Her fingers... they were the fingers of a doll.
The Doll...
Jaune's eyes widened as he looked up to meet the eyes of the woman he had been observing, her own staring right back, devoid of emotion. Jaune, rattled by the fact that the doll from before, the one that had laid limp next to the stairs for so long, now stood upright observing him, took a hesitant step forward to this strange anomaly within the dream. There was seemingly no movement or reaction to his approaching presence, and for a moment, Jaune fretted that Gehrman, the old bastard, decided to try and play him for a fool.
But upon closer inspection, Jaune noted that somehow the Doll seemed to be breathing, or at least imitating the act.
"How in the wo-"
"Hello, good hunter." The doll suddenly spoke, cutting off Jaune's ruminations and startling him so severely that he nearly tripped over his own feet. The Doll, however, pressed on as if unperturbed by Jaune's fumbling, "I am a doll, here in this dream to look after you."
Jaune was flabbergasted; while he had seen many strange things in Yharnam, excusing the abominable thing that had eaten him upon the bridge, all of it could be blamed upon the plague. But this... a talking doll, this was stranger still. Jaune's silence must have been taken as a cue from the Doll to continue as she once more began to speak.
"Honourable hunter, pursue the echoes of blood, and I will channel them into your strength," She instructed, her voice airy but carrying a melodic quality that soothed a portion of his woes. Her words, however, left Jaune with questions, but now he had someone aside from the crass likes of Gehrman to answer them.
"Pardon me, but I am afraid I do not understand what you are saying. Echoes of blood? What are these echoes, where do I find them and what did you mean by 'look after me? How is it that you are here... like this?" He asked, gesturing to her now upright and talking self.
In response to his question, the Doll stepped forward, her gait bringing her only to within arm's reach of Jaune, but despite his haywire emotions, Jaune did not retreat. The Doll reached out, her fingers sliding around his own, the contrasts between her hardened ones and his flesh as blatant as night and day. With a gentle touch, she grasped lightly at his hand before speaking, her tone almost sounding confident... or at least emotive.
"You will hunt beasts," she spoke, squeezing his fingers lightly to emphasise her point, "and I will be here for you," she continued, her hand coming to rest upon her breast. "To embolden your sickly spirit."
Jaune was at a loss for words, for what was he to say, after so many deaths, such visceral, sickening pain culminating in the madness upon the bridge? What words could describe the relief he felt from the mere mention of companionship? What words were there to convey the gratitude he felt for the Doll?
"I-I see!" Jaune exclaimed a smile, the first he had possessed in a long time, appearing on his face. "I am most grateful for your company, my name is Jaune, Jaune Arc, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Jaune happily announced with a boyish grin on his face as he gently grasped the doll's hand, giving her digits a gentle squeeze in turn.
In the scope of an instant, an eternal night is changed.
Through a single meeting, a simple doll is made into something more.
A hunter's will is honed to new degrees by a few earnest words.
In the moment's breadth, madness is tempered... if only for the moment.
YVYVYVYVY
"Jaune?" A soft voice whispered, concern woven into their tone.
"Jauuuune..." Another voice sang in his ear, the voice young and high-pitched.
"Sky, not in his ear, sis," the first voice admonished.
"Well, it's not like whispering is going to wake him up," the first voice rebutted, their pout audible.
"I wasn't trying to wake him up. I was trying to see if he was already awake; there is a difference, short stuff," was the huffed reply.
"Sure there is."
Jaune, now soundly awake, chose to interject before his sisters devolved into their usual bouts of hard-headedness. "Is it not too early for the two of you to already be quipping at each other?"
"Jaune! Morning bro!" Sky chirped as she flopped atop his head, nuzzling his hair.
"Morning, big bro," Jade hummed, squeezing his torso.
"A fine morning to you both; what a treat to have you both awake before me for once," Jaune jested, wrapping an arm around his siblings.
"Yeah, I thought that was a bit weird, but you seemed pretty out of it... you all right, Jaune?" Jade asked, leaning in, her face a mask of concern.
Jaune smiled, a warm flutter in his chest as he beheld his sibling's concern, "I am, fret not sister, your brother is in fine condition."
"You sure, cause I know things have been harsh lately, but-"
"I'm all right, but thank you for asking," Jaune reassured as he sat up, cradling sky as he did so with ease, his younger sister giggling.
"The giant wakes!" She squealed cheekily, earning a snort from Jade and a smile from Jaune.
"Father and mother are both still taller than me, you know," Jaune commented, sliding off the bed and rising to his full and impressive height. At not quite thirteen, he stood at a staggering six feet tall, near his mother's height but still somewhat shorter than his father. But if he continued to grow, he would soon match the patriarch of the Arc family or even surpass him. A fact Cloud suffered with pride.
Jaune was happy that his height was related to his parents. At first, when he noticed his growth spurts, he was concerned that the origins of his rapid growth were far more sinister.
Yharnam had been home to many a person of tall stature... many a tall thing as well.
Jade gave a nonchalant shrug, "Yeah, but like, just think, bro, if you attended a normal class instead of one of your private tutor sessions, you would stick out like a sore thumb."
"Tis a good thing I do not then, and at the mention of school, I believe we all have to prepare for it," Jaune reminded, heading for the door, his nose twitching at the scent of food already waiting for them in the kitchen and another more prominent scent far closer.
Jaune opened the door to the wide-eyed look of his father, the man's hand raised to knock on the door. "Oh, morning Jaune. I was coming up to check on you. Decide to have a sleep-in this morning, huh?" Cloud asked kindly.
"Yes, apologies, father I –"
"Don't worry about it, son. Sleep is important. In all honesty, I would prefer you sleep as much as you need to rather than make yourself unnecessarily tired," Cloud reassured, patting Jaune on the shoulder. Jaune returned the gesture with a smile and a nod. The years had done much concerning his comfort with touch, at least with those he considered family.
"Daddy! Morning Daddy!" Sky cheered, rushing over and tackling her father's leg in a small embrace.
"Morning, pops," Jade yawned, waving at her father.
"Hey, girls! Decided to invade Jaune's room again," Cloud taunted.
Jade, however, had woken up with her sass reserves filled to the brim, "Well, pops, if you and ma keep up the trend with new kids, we might just have to end up bunking together anyway."
Cloud though was having none of this, "Firstly, you are ten. Where is this sass coming from? Secondly, at least ten other rooms in this house are currently unused... that I know of... The bloody secret basement still freaks me out." He mumbled, his eyes flicking out to the hallway, scanning the walls for hidden rooms.
"Father, we have been over this; it wasn't hidden; it was bricked up," Jaune huffed.
"It was behind a wardrobe! Filled with weapons, Jaune!"
"So, tons of rooms have weapons, our shed, our kitchen, and your office... and the lounge room... what rooms don't have weapons in this house?" Jaune trailed off, his voice becoming curious as he glanced at Jade.
"I can tell you it ain't the downstairs powder room. Found a sawn-off under the sink. Starting to understand why you and mum insist on teaching us about weapon safety." Jade grunted, giving her father a quick hug before heading for the stairs.
"We have a powder room?" Cloud called out after Jade's retreating form, his head whipping back to Jaune. "Did you know about this powder room?"
"That depends. What is a powder room?" Jaune asked.
"I don't know," Cloud whined, seriously bothered by how little he knew about his own home. Slowly the two men of the house found their gazes dropping down to the only girl still nearby. Sky looked at both of them with a superior smirk across her features.
"*Sigh*, Men, tis a toilet, boys," she explained before heading off to the stairs.
Cloud's face scrunched up as he stared into nothing for a moment, utterly confused, "why not just call it a toilet then?"
"... Good morning, father," Jaune chuckled, patting his parent on the chest as he followed after his sisters.
YVYVYVYVY
Sitting at the kitchen table surrounded by his family, Jaune could not help but let his mind drift, the dream from last night striking him with a severe case of nostalgia. He sat to the left of Scarlett, his oldest sister, who graduated the previous year and is now working in town, her job having something to do with her dressing very nicely. Jaune knew her clothes to be expensive; having gone shopping with her before, the looks she received on the street often made him grateful he accompanied her.
The two were now far closer than they had been for many years after his return, but the development was still only relatively recent, developing just before the births of his newest baby sisters. She was presently eating some yoghurt while reading some messages on her scroll, and she was wearing a tight black tube skirt and black stockings, her shoes currently discarded. Her top half was adorned by a high-neck sweater that exposed her shoulders and arms but concealed her throat. It was a stunning shade of red, the same shade as her namesake and pinned to the breast above her heart was a bejewelled pendant in the shape of the Arc family crest.
Jaune let his gaze slowly drift across the table to the seat occupied by his other older sibling, Saphron. She had changed a lot; Saphron had supposedly joined a sports team at school and was presently wearing her uniform at the table. Jaune had actually been excited for his sister when she first joined, going so far as to show up at her practice sessions to watch her training. But Saphron had not enjoyed that, telling him that she found his attentions creepy and that he wasn't allowed to watch her anymore.
Jaune had been hurt but had stopped attending, not wanting to cause his sister any discomfort. That was a couple of years back now. She had grown a lot in that time, now the third tallest of the siblings, below Jaune and Scarlett, who still reigned as the tallest of the Arc children. Her uniform was a loose-fitting sports shirt and shorts with black bike pants that wear visible underneath. The green and silver of the school's colours were eye-catching and easily identified her as a member of the academic body.
Even now, she seemed withdrawn, her whole focus solely on her food or perhaps just on ignoring everyone around her. Jaune knew that something was bothering her; he had seen the evidence in her attitude as of late and again in the scope of her dreams. Something had been gnawing at her to the point where she had become downright caustic to any who tried to interact with her.
She had even lost her temper around Jade and Sky, but Jaune was often around to diffuse the situation, as, despite her deplorable mood as of late, she still found interacting with Jaune to be distasteful. Sadly, her foul temper had led to her and Scarlett butting heads... those fights lasted far too long and always ended with someone getting hurt.
Saphron must have felt his gaze as she shot him a sneer and gestured for him to stop observing her, to which Jaune complied. With a turn of his head, he saw his now third youngest sister, Sky; she was a wonderful little girl. Jaune loved to spend time with her as she was always eager to be around her big brother. She came to him constantly for help with homework or to play, sometimes just to show him some new music or ask him to join her for a tea party. Jaune remembered well the first time he had brought her actual iced tea; the way her face lit up was magical.
Sky noticing his gaze giggled and blew a raspberry at him, her little face a picture of mischievous glee. Jaune naturally had to return the favour, settling for merely poking his tongue out as he held respect for table manners even if other family members did not. A heartfelt snort to his left drew his attention to Jade, who was in the middle of rolling her eyes at him. Like Sky, she was currently wearing the school's formal uniform, a silver button-up shirt with a light green tie, the skirt the same colour, accompanied by silver socks and black dress shoes. Jaunes was much the same, just with black slacks instead, technically, he could also be wearing a coat that was the same colour of green, but he found he disliked the highly eye-catching colour.
Patriotic spirit be dammed that was a whole lot of green.
Jade stood apart from her sisters by colourful green streaks marking her hair and her uniform that possessed a few paint stains on it. Despite multiple complaints and several shirts, the fact was that Jade would let nothing impede her art, but she admitted to Jaune long ago that she just liked how the paint made her stand apart from her siblings. Jaune didn't mind; Jade was his sister, and no matter what, he would be there for her always.
"Kids, you have school soon enough, so hurry and get ready," Hella sternly reminded, her focus flicking across Jade, Jaune and Sky.
"Sorry, Ma."
"Sorry, Mum."
"Yes, Mother."
"Also, your father is on patrol today, so leftovers are in the fridge. I will also be out most of the day, so Tami will be by later to help with the twins." Hella informed as she returned her focus to the two little bodies staring curiously at the spoon covered in what Jaune was pretty sure was some kind of mashed fruit.
"You're taking the twins in to bribe her again, aren't you?" Scarlett teased without looking up from her scroll.
"It's not bribery," Hella denied.
"No, it's outright manipulation, and we have done it since you were in diapers," Cloud chimed in, walking back into the kitchen in his full hunter regalia sans his boots.
Scarlett leaned back so Cloud could peck her on the head as she responded, "tell me, dad, does it bother you as a Hunter upheld by the Valean government as a proud hero of our nation to use babies in your ploys to score more leave."
"You see it as using babies; I see it as introducing the next generation to the realities of Hunter, guild relations."
"Not to mention, with all six of you, we can just say we are doing our part for the betterment of the nation," Hella explained, hefting the twins up in her arms easily, "after all, with faces like these, morale was never even in question." Hella proudly stated.
"Damn right, we make adorable babies!" Cloud cheered proudly, earning chuckles from all but a gloomy Saphron. Cloud noticed this, his smile dimming slightly, but he and Hella had already tried to aid Saphron... neither ended well.
"I'm off, have a good day, kids try to learn something... and you two, get your mother and me a nice vacation k?" Cloud whispered, kissing his youngest children on their little noses. The babies making tiny, excited gurgles in response to their father's affection.
"Be safe," Hella ordered softly, leaning her head against her husband.
"I'll try," Cloud responded, heading off. With the sound of the door closing, Hella rose and walked over to Scarlett and Jaune, handing them each one of the twins. "I have to go get dressed, watch them, and then I will give us all a lift. Sound good?" Hella asked, her question mainly directed at Scarlett, as her schedule was the most different.
"Yeah, sounds good, mum, thanks," His sister accepted the offer of a lift as she began to bounce her baby sister gently on her knee. A chair scraping the floor broke the room's ambience with a screech. Saphron, without so much as a goodbye, scooped up her bag and left the house; the sound of the door closing was quiet but had all the effect of rumbling thunder.
Jaune held his breath, a brief bout of panic sinking into his body as his blood cooled and a stabbing pain jabbed at his chest. Jade broke him from his trance, her hand gripping his arm as she pressed into him, "it's ok... Scarlett came around, right?"
Scarlett flinched at that, her voice coming out a pained whisper, "... I don't think we want things to get that bad again, Jade..."
"Agreed," Jaune stated with a powerful degree of finality. "You and Sky go finish getting ready," Jaune instructed, nuzzling the top of Jade's head and giving Sky a warm smile. "It does not do for a lady to be late."
"Ok, I love you, Jaune," Jade mumbled, giving her brother another squeeze before departing.
"I love you too," Sky called over her shoulder cheerily, running off to one of the bathrooms.
With the younger girls gone, Jaune was immediately pierced from both sides by the curious gazes of his mother and elder sister. Hella tilted her head, eyes closed as if listening for something before she spoke, "it's not your fault." Jaune tsked, distracting himself by playing with his baby sister's little hands, the baby playfully tugging on his digits.
"It's just like before, Jaune; you can't help her if she doesn't let you," Scarlett admonished, her voice gentle but warning as she continued to bounce her baby sister.
"... I just want to help," Jaune bemoaned.
"We know," the two said simultaneously.
"... Do either of you know what's upsetting her so much?" Jaune asked, his eyes holding a dangerous curiosity.
"No, and you know she doesn't like it if you pry, so don't," Scarlett was quick to derail that particular train of thought.
"Worked with you," Jaune complained.
"Different situation Jaune," Hella admonished.
"... We don't know the situation... well, I don't," he whined.
"It's not the same. I was able to learn that much before we devolved into our last screaming match," Scarlett admitted.
"And I used less... acceptable means to double check," Hella admitted.
"Mother, you shouldn't spy on your kids," Scarlett admonished.
Hella merely raised a singular brow, "hypocrisy, thy name is Scarlett."
Jaune spotting the reddening cheeks and mounting frustration, quickly interjected, "I won't interfere... but if she gets hurt..." Jaune trailed off his silence threatening as he dared not growl in front of the babies.
"If she gets hurt, Jaune, then it still won't be our fault... she doesn't want us to intercede in her life, but that doesn't mean we can't be there to catch her... I need to get ready. Back soon."
With their mother gone, Jaune turned to his older sister, his features again displaying his concern as he looked at the sibling who had only just started speaking to him again the previous year. "Be honest. How bad is it?" He asked, desperate for any hint.
Scarlett winced, knowing firsthand just how much Jaune cared about everyone in their family, "... I wish I knew."
YVYVYVYVY
Jaune had come to find that he did not enjoy riding in the car or most vehicles for that matter; sure, he had come a long way from seeing it as a mere wagon like one would find in Yharnam, but that did not mean he appreciated it. For one, it was stifling. The outside world was cut off from him, leaving him feeling trapped and irritable. Secondly, it was loud; the engine's rumble was like a continuous thunderous drone to his ears, and he found it just a tad annoying.
Luckily today, he was graced with the ultimate form of distraction, his baby sisters. The twins were in their little safety seats, and Jade and Sky sat beside him. Jaune had been almost wholly consumed with keeping the twins entertained for nearly the entirety of the trip, a job Sky and Jade were more than happy to join him in. Seeing them all playing together with Scarlett giving glances from the front of the vehicle, a bright smile on her features, had Jaune thinking back to when their two newest members joined the family.
Their birth had come with more surprises than most, one of which was that Hella had ended up having them at the house. They were delivered by Dr Kaiser, who had originally been there to patch up Cloud, whom a rather tenacious Nevermore had left impaled on his last mission. The fact that Cloud seemed to be in more pain from Hella's crushing grip than the arrow-sized plumage through his bicep was quite telling of his mother's strength.
Jaune and Scarlett were the first to hold the twins due to their mother being somewhat fatigued from the ordeal of bringing them into the world and their father's broken fingers. The most curious thing about the twins was their closeness, so much so that as the two had come into the world, they had held each other. Their tiny hands had remained grasping even as they took their first breaths, and they had only begun to cry at their separation.
Due to the proximity of their birth, it was hard to call one or the other the eldest, so instead, their birthmarks differentiated them. The little patch of brightly colour skin could be found on both their wrists. One on the left, the others on their right. When their mother had finally regained enough strength and Cloud's hand had received a splint, the two new Arcs were given their name. Cloud was left scrambling, trying to think of an appropriate name for the two, given that the colour indigo was somewhat trickier than the other colours of the rainbow.
Hella, though, had not hesitated for an instant. She had named the twin with the left birthmark Lapis and the one with the right Lazuli. Jaune had hurriedly skipped across the room, holding little Lapis out for his mother to take. Scarlett had been somewhat slower, with a watery smile as she gave the newborn over to her mother. Jaune was stunned but ecstatic when Scarlett pulled him to her side and whispered a soft "I love you, brother."
The moment was almost ruined when Cloud pointed out that lapis lazuli were not indigo, but his input was vetoed when Hella sent him a glare so fierce it could have warped steel. Instead, the newly appointed father of twins just sat next to his family, softly cooing over his newest children alongside his beloved wife.
Jaune was truly blessed to have such a wonderfully large family.
He was shaken from his thoughts by the announcement that they had arrived at school. Saying their farewells, Jade, Sky and Jaune hurriedly exited the car Jaune last as his mother sent him a pointed look, the warning clear to the only Arc son. Students were already funnelling into their respective buildings, each one for a different selection of age groups. Jaune happily walked his sisters to each of their building's entrances before heading to his own, as he did every morning. Despite offering several times, he had never done so for Scarlett or Saphron.
Scarlett had since stated that a part of her thought it might have been cute to have such an adorable escort. Saphron...
"Hey, sis!" Jade suddenly shouted, causing Jaune's head to shoot in the direction of her attention. He immediately spotted his sister by her distinctive hair, Saphron standing with three other girls, her face marred by a scowl. She looked up slowly at being called but, upon spotting her siblings, cringed and hurried off, the other girls following.
"Well, that was rude," Sky remarked.
"Agreed, she has been such a complete bit-"
"Ahem," Jaune grunted, his gaze dropping to Jade.
"What! She has, and you know it!" Jade protested.
"Her attitude aside, it is rude to curse, ruder still to do so at family," Jaune stated sternly.
"Fine... doesn't change the fact that she has been a total pain in the ass as of late," Jade hissed.
"..." Jaune chose not to comment; Sky nodded along in agreement with her older sister.
"Right, I'm off. Bye guys, see you this afternoon!" Sky hollered, running off to her friends who were waiting for her at the front entrance to her building.
"Me too, see you later, bro... and I am sorry about Saphron," Jade mumbled.
"I appreciate that, Jade, but it is not your place to apologise for our sister," Jaune denied ruffling her hair fondly, his touch soft so as not to mess it up to badly.
"... Your right, but... but I still feel like I have to, you know..."
"You should get to class," Jaune suggested smiling earnestly at his caring little sister.
"K, love ya, bro," Jade said, heading off.
"Love you too, sister," Jaune whispered, heading off to his private booth in a separate building for today's tutor sessions.
He did his best to ignore the expected haze that descended on his mind as he did.
Omake: Dedicated to Nut Guy.
Ruby was a good girl.
She studied hard, listened to her dad, tried not to fight with yang, and even cut back on her cookies. So what on Remnant did she do to deserve waking up in a puddle with the mother of all headaches and her mouth feeling like she tried to eat a popsicle made of cotton?
"Awww, my head," She whined, pulling herself out of the sticky liquid she had found herself in, trying not to think about how the clammy fluid clung to her skin. Her eyes steadily adjusted to her gloomy surroundings allowing her to conclude it was evening. Taking a moment to look around, Ruby quickly found herself even more confused than she was previously.
"What the what?" she uttered as she beheld her surroundings, a swampy forest with mossy grey trees with gnarled branches rising out of the rotting mud. "Ugh, it smells like Yang's gym bag!" Ruby yowled, covering her nose in a futile attempt to avoid smelling her putrid surroundings.
"Oi rude!" A muffled voice hollered from a section of bushes, startling Ruby.
"Who's there? I am warning you I know how to kick!" Ruby threatened dizzily as she struggled to get back to her feet.
"It's me, Rubes..." the voice replied drunkenly as their golden bushy hair appeared out of the bushes matted in moss and twigs.
"Yang!" Ruby cheered happily.
"Shhh, not so loud, Rubes... please," Yang whimpered, massaging her head only to pull her hand away as slime clung to her fingers.
"Please keep it down," another voice groaned from above, causing both sisters to look up suddenly, worsening their respective nausea and head pain.
"Blake? What are you doing up there?" Ruby asked, confused by the sight of her teammate hanging limply over a branch.
"... Exotic yoga," Blake sassed.
Ruby was about to comment on how strange that was when the sound of powerful retching drew everyone's attention to a gnarled swampy stump. The retching continued until it spluttered into a coughing fit, and Weiss, her usual, white-coloured clothes stained by... substances, crawled into sight.
"Oum, please, somebody, kill me," she choked face planting into the mud with a sickening groan.
"What the heck is going on?" Ruby uttered, looking at her teammate's dishevelled state.
"Ruby, volume... please," Yang pleaded. The sound of a body going splat caused Yang to flinch as Blake dragged herself out of the mud, stumbling as she went. The white of her outfit now a revolting moulted brown.
"You ok?" Ruby asked shyly, reaching out to steady Blake.
"I... nope," Blake hissed, accepting Ruby's help and leaning against the shorter girl.
"Arghh Blake, your breath... it's like death...," Ruby gagged.
"What is this... have we been poisoned," Weiss gasped from atop her stump.
"... Juice!" Ruby exclaimed, causing everyone to flinch and groan. "Sorry, sorry... but I just remembered we were all in team JNPR's room for the game night when-"
Whatever Ruby was about to say was silenced as the sound of catching metal and a whirring mechanism filled the air. The entirety of the team of Ruby slowly looked to their right before seeing a sight that would haunt them forevermore. Two figures stood atop a mossy path; one was wearing an elaborate dress, some heavy gown, which would not have been too weird were it not for the strange antlers and the giant bloodstained hammer they had hefted over their shoulder. The second one was stranger still, a nearly naked man with skin that was almost pink in colouration wearing nothing aside from some briefs and a bell-like helmet atop his head.
"Naked!" Ruby hollered, gesturing at the exposed individual, eliciting yet another flinch from Blake. "Soorrrryyy... but yeah, naked."
Yang looked to her teammates before scowling and stepping forward, her fists clenched. "Oi, what's going on here? Where are we, and why are you naked!"
"Oh, so she can yell," Ruby snipped.
But despite Yang's cry, the two figures stood silently atop the swampy path, unmoving like deranged mannequins. That was until the nudist man suddenly raised a hand to his mouth and, with tremendous volume, bellowed out a single, "hey!" His piece said he returned to standing there, watching the four girls.
"Uhh, hey," Ruby waved.
As if that was all the signal they needed, the woman suddenly bowed while the near-naked man, in an impossible fashion, pulled an Oum damned greatsword out of nowhere and began to rush forward like a horror movie slasher. "Oh shit," Yang snarled, pulling her fists up, ready to fight, when her gaze landed on her bare hands.
"Guys! Weapons! Where are our weapons?" Yang cried, looking around frantically. Yang, not spotting her weapon, decided to charge her Semblance instead, but rather than a golden fiery glow and a familiar surge of warmth in her gut, she instead felt hollow. "Wait! Where is my Aura!" Yang Screamed in fear.
"Umm, he's getting closer!" Ruby squeaked, already backing up with Blake. The sound of a gunshot splitting the air had Ruby scrambling back as the woman began firing upon them with a pistol. "Gun!"
"I can see that!" Yang spat in a panic, rushing back as bullets whizzed by, "up and at ems' princess, time to go." Yang rambled, scooping up a foul-smelling Weiss.
Just barely stopping herself from throwing up, Weiss made a pitiful groan before whispering sickly, "Can't you just let them shoot me?"
"Of course not. I need a shield!" Yang cheered, tossing Weiss over her shoulder.
"Bitch, I'm gonna throw up over your butt," Weiss grumbled.
"Time to go!" Ruby cried out as the girls darted off deeper into the woods. A gun-toting woman in a ball gown and a naked pink man with an unwieldy sword sloshing through the mud after them.
YVYVYVYVY
The girls had been running for what felt like ages but had honestly been a few measly minutes. Minutes in which they were pursued by two heavily armed complete psychopaths while still suffering the effects of this so-called 'Juice' but minutes all the same.
"Where the actual FU-"
"Language!"
"Do not give me that shit right now, Ruby! Did you see the snake thing? Did you!" Yang roared furiously, her lower legs and boots coated in a sickly mixture of swamp substances, blood and Weiss vomit.
"It's no reason to swear!" Ruby argued vehemently.
"The hell it isn't! What about all the corpses? And the crucifixes! And the snake things!" Yang ranted.
"Dogs... the dogs...," Blake whispered hauntingly.
"Oh yeah, and the dogs. Thanks, Blake," Yang spat sarcastically.
"Ok, things aren't great but at least-"
*kerrack*
The familiar and dreaded sound of gunfire alerted the four that their pursuers had once again caught up to them. Soon more bullets followed, their accuracy lacking, but the threat was still more than present.
"Dammnit!" Yang hollered as a rotting tree next to her face exploded, the sickly wood splattering against her face and Weiss's legs. Yang, her head still throbbing, looked about their surroundings and was not pleased. Their only egress point was an old stone bridge covered by a thick fog that seemed to span a sheer cliff. If it were busted, they would have no escape.
"Hey!" a distinctly male voice hollered from back the way they came.
"Naked guy is coming!" Ruby alerted.
"Right, screw this. We fight!" Yang growled, dropping Weiss to the ground with a thump, the poor girl giving a sickly burb that transformed into a groan.
"But we don't have weapons!" Ruby panicked.
"I am a weapon!" Yang snarled back, assuming her stance, ready to lay the naked one out, but the charging nudist halted before she could do anything. Yang didn't drop her guard and watched the strange man standing firm with his weapon resting on his shoulder. Then as if by some unknown signal, he began to wave it around above his head. The strange movement only confused the entirety of team RWBY even more. The sound of heavy footsteps indicated that the female half of the duo had arrived when the woman darted around the tree and began to wave her weapon around and walk in circles.
"Ok... I am so very confused," Blake hissed as she squinted at the sight before them.
This trend continued until one of the crazed pair stepped on a nondescript pile of discarded lumber. At that moment, a soft click was heard before chaos reigned supreme. First, the two darted towards team RWBY, but before they could make it close enough, both were slammed in the back by a log covered in spikes. The big log covered in sharpened stakes sent the two to the floor, their backs covered in severe punctures that let loose a spray of red. Team RWBY could do little more than stand there slack-jawed.
The log swung back, and as it did, the two psychos were quick to clamber to their feet and rush forward, eager to be out of the way of the dangerous swinging log. But this sent them straight towards an enraged and filthy Yang. "Take this, creeps!" she hollered brashly, throwing a wild haymaker that sent the duo ducking back.
Then the log trap snapped.
The log set free barreled towards the two crazy individuals and crashed into them again, but this time it kept going and threw team RWBY'S pursuers off the cliff with its momentum. With a dreadful cry, both of them were hurtled to their demise, the log following after and leaving a smear of blood in its path as it rolled over the edge. And like that, the woods were again silent, and Team RWBY was left stunned and perturbed.
"... Fuck," Yang choked out.
"Are... are we safe?" Blake whispered, looking about fretfully.
"Did they just die?" Ruby gasped.
"...Kill me..." Weiss groaned, still under the effects of the 'Juice'.
"I... I think it's over... Haha yeah!" Yang cheered, her jubilations soon joined by Ruby and Blake, with Weiss giving it her best.
The four girls gave into their revelry, adamantly ignoring the lingering effects of whatever it had been that had poisoned them so.
They even allowed a friendly cauliflower to join in.
"Huh."
A flash of an alien cosmos and the roar of furious stars engulfed them.
YVYVYVYVY
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Four high-pitched shrieks split the air with such volume that they could be effectively heard across Beacon Academy... and in nearby sections of Vale.
The dorm room of Ruby, with its... unique beds, was a sight of clamour and crashes as the girls all awoke in a horrific panic. Weiss, worst of all, with a green complexion and shaking limbs, was in the middle of crawling for the bathroom with bloated cheeks. Ruby had hidden beneath her blankets and was wielding a broken plate like a dagger. Yang was lying on the floor clutching her head and loosing curses so foul her mother would blush. Blake had latched onto the roof and was now hanging limply upside down with her fingers lodged through the ceiling with foam spilling from her mouth.
As each of them suffered their respective breakdowns, a rapid pounding on the door continued with fury and haste, belaying panic. Ruby, the most well-put-together of the group, dashed over her blanket, still covering her like the shroud of a reaper... covered in pictures of cute cookie emojis. With a ferocity unusual for her, she wrenched the door open and held her broken plate beneath the throat of the knocker.
One Lie Ren was unperturbed by this and merely quirked a brow at the young huntress. "Morning, you drank the 'Juice', didn't you..."
"How did you know," a cautious Ruby asked, her eyes still looking around for strange Colliflower monsters.
"You are not alone; Pyhrra is currently abducting a nude Jaune who hasn't stopped singing show tunes for several hours... we think they are somewhere on the roof, but both have been marked as low priority. A bunch of other people tried it as well... most are in the medical wing." Ren explained, the ordinarily unflappable young man looking utterly spent with massive bags under his eyes.
"How?" Ruby whined, slumping visibly under her blanket as the terrors in her head began to fade. She finally heard the distant sounds of Jaune singing with his guitar and the sounds of explosions and screams.
"Nora... she decided to try being a cocktail waitress. So far, we have found empty bottles of antifreeze and liquid combustion dust," Ren admitted looking almost pained.
At this point, Yang, looking like the fury of hell itself with her hair ablaze, pushed Ruby aside and grasped Ren's collar pulling him close. "Where is she?" Yang growled, still pissed about being chased by some freakish murderous nudist and gun crazy broad.
"Outside..." Ren admitted pointing to their window. Yang wasted no time darting over but what she saw gave her pause as she beheld a sight that would haunt her more so than even her 'Juice' nightmares.
With pink lightning cloaking, Nora was currently fending off Goodwitch, Oobleck and Port, all of whom looked especially thrashed. Nora, all the while, was laughing maniacally as she successfully kept the three trained huntsman at bay, explosions and thunder booming around her.
"I AM THE SLOTH EMPRESS BOW BEFORE YOUR NEW GOD MORTALS!" She screamed as she hurled Port of the Beacon plateau and headbutted Oobleck into a crater.
Yang and Ruby both paled as they beheld the battlefield below them. Yang's anger wholly forgotten at the sight of the Pink berserker. "What the hell!" Yang yelled at Ren, standing just behind them, blanching at the carnage.
"... She drank three bottles of the 'Juice'..." Ren explained.
"I WILL BOOP THE HEAVENS THEMSELVES!"
"That we know off..." Ren continued.
The three continued to watch as Nora fought off Glynda, some third years joining in to help, all this to the cacophony of Weiss's retching and Jaune serenading the entirety of the academy. This day of madness will always be remembered as the day it was agreed that Nora would be forever banned from the kitchens, the chemistry labs, the groundskeeper's shed, and the laundry room. Also, the day it was decided that at all times, Ren was to be in close proximity to Nora and ensure that she was in no way preparing, altering, or adding to any food or drink on campus grounds.
It was also the day that Phyrra gained a new scrapbook that she kept under lock and key, but that's another matter entirely.
A.N.
Howdy, readers, I'm back.
So, it's been a while, but that's because everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Firstly my new job is less a workplace and more like a political drama depicting the woes of upper and lower management trying to piss the other off through pettiness, and I get the joy of being caught in the middle.
Secondly, and this is the major one, my laptop that saw me through Uni has officially died on me... R.I.P Shyvanna (laptop's name). But through hard work, I have saved enough money to buy myself a monster PC and join the PC master race. So, writing can once again resume unencumbered by the hellish experience of writing on my bloody phone.
Thirdly and this is the embarrassing one. I got writer's block... I don't know. It was like everything was piling against me and my new job wasn't at all what I was hoping for. On top of that, I got caught up on the colour Indigo, which is so stupid, and I think it was just the last straw after everything that happened.
But onto the chapter, as was decided in the Poll, Jaune will be tall! How tall? Haha, it's just another thing to mess him up. We have also accomplished our time skip and introduced the twins. In the following chapters, there will be flashbacks to some key events that took place over the time skip that will relate to the present arc to hopefully fill in some points that I have left potentially vague.
Also, this chapter was my first attempt at an Omake. I will take this point to remind you that Omake's are not necessarily canon.
Also, Nora is amazing. We stand our sloth empress in this household.
Wrapping up, I have begun to upload on Ao3 to make it easier for readers to access my works, so that's fun, and I hope we can attract some more readers to the fold.
But with that, we end the first chapter of the second arc.
Remember, if you find yourself really, really, really liking my writing and want to show some financial support, I'm AceReaper on Pat re on, the same icon as my FF account.
Endure beautifully.
And as always.
Until next time.