To LoamyCoffee, happy I could make your day.
As for the other "triggers", I think the "what if" might be enough to stop Ruby from doing things she shouldn't be doing. Like eating her bodyweight in cookies and making it so her stockings "shrink in the wash"~
I'd been waiting ages to have them pull off [Soul Resonance], whereas the Tony Stark reference felt strangely appropriate given their momentary power-up.
As for the Candroids, yeah, that was always the plan; I was just waiting for an organic moment to bring it up. Especially since I went through so much trouble of giving Jack a family beyond the idea of "seven sisters", given the "Visitors Day" chapter happened way before we saw Jack's sister in the Canon or any in-world media of him and all of aforementioned sisters.
For Glynda, yeah, it's been a lot of fun fleshing out her character a bit more from the "stern and sharp personality" we got for most of the Canon.
To Raidentensho, while the idea of 1:1 scale Medabots in RWBY is interesting, I feel like any such resource would be centered around combatting the Grimm. You know, because they tried to roll out newer state-of-the-art mechanical infantry in RWBY Canon only to neglect on the oh-so-important SOFTWARE PROTECTION. Which ironically is the same issue Skynet had with its Terminators, but I digress.
And while I can imagine some enthusiasts in-world might build something like a Medabot for the in-world equivalent of Battle Bots, I sincerely doubt that commercializing the sale of children's toys equipped with live weapons would go over so well in Remnant like it did in what's implied to be a Post-Scarcity world. Maybe after the Grimm are eradicated, people would be open to the idea as a substitute for warfare, but not before.
That's just the way my mind works after I got over my "Phase One" of writing FanFiction where I just wrote whatever I wanted with a definite ending in mind but wrote fast-and-loose without planning ahead.
To Anime PJ, while RWBY: Fairy Tales of Remnant and the Faunus creation myths therein aren't presented as "objective truth", it is presented like you would find it if you were purchasing it from an in-universe bookstore, given the general lack of Fourth Wall-breaking. As such, in-world, people might legitimately tell/brainwash their children into thinking that's how the Faunus "came to be"; especially if they're racist to begin with.
The Archer-inspired sub-plot was also a lot of fun to work with because it helps diversify the universe, showing that there are people with lives that have absolutely nothing to do with the main RWBY cast and Ozpin/Salem's little back-and-forth. Yang wanting to fangirl over Glynda when she's like that was also a nice nod to Ruby's fangirling episode back before she actually knew the woman.
As for RWBY: Ice Queendom, I feel like the "Metaverse" of Persona 5 had more in common with Shion Zaiden's [Dream] Semblance than the "Midnight Channel/TV World" of Persona 4. Now, I will admit that I only played some of Persona 4: Golden (on my snazzy Persona 4: Golden-style PSP Vita~) before getting sidelined by "Adulting", and that the bulk of my experience with that narrative comes from the wacky "Persona 4 Abridged" by TheAbridgigationTeam on YouTube, but my "hill to die on" is that the events of RWBY: Ice Queendom have more in common with Persona 5 than Persona 4.
But like I said, that's just me. We can always hash it out on Discord if you feel up to it.
I'm a little sad no-one noticed the Leverage reference, what with Jack using a metronome to hypnotize Ruby and how he learned it in prison, but you can't win them all.
Hope you all like the start of the "JNPR Arc", even though it's interspersed with other storylines running roughly in-parallel.
*NEW WORLD*
With classes over for the day, Team JNPR returned to their room and packed for an extended leave from Vale as Jack had instructed. Though Jack had been informally "sub-contracted" to Team JNPR, Team RWBY genuinely had no idea the exact terms of things, nor how-long Jack would be gone; only that he would be taking them out of town to show them how the job of being a Huntsman on lesser assignments should be treated, lending them his expertise as a tried & tested Mercenary with the real-world experience they all largely lacked.
At the moment, the two Teams were standing in the hallway between their dorms, RWBY by their door and seeing them off, while across from them were Jack and Team JNPR with backpacks and weapons in tow.
"Alright, Juniper, the gig I got for us comes complete with transport. We'll be making a brief layover in the mining town of Rockwell to the north before continuing onward to our final destination. I trust you packed as I instructed?"
"Spare clothes, weapon maintenance kits, extra ammo as-applicable in the event of inflated prices outside of Vale, and backup battery packs for our Scrolls," Jaune parroted, his armored silhouette cutting a far-more-impressive figure compared to before his 'rude awakening'.
"And the 'Adventurer's Gear'?"
"Writing chalk, charcoal, towel, grappling hook, pitons, torch, and shepherd's sling," Pyrrha nodded eagerly.
"Alright, that's good," Jack returned as Nora, and Ren gave nods in turn, the Faunus himself turning to his own team. "Ruby," he said putting his hands on the girl's shoulders before taking a knee so they were at eye level. "I won't be back until Sunday at the absolute latest, so there isn't going to be any me 'arriving in the nick of time' to get you out of whatever bind you might find yourselves in. I expect you to sensibly weigh the risks and rewards of whatever missions you do or don't take, and for Etro's sake… be careful."
"Jaaaaack…! I'm not a little girl anymore…!" Ruby whined, but inwardly preened as he pressed a kiss to the crown of her head.
"Maybe, but I still love you like a sister," the Faunus replied with a gentle look in his jade eyes, Ruby fidgeting indecisively for a moment before leaping forward and hugging Jack for all she was worth. After a few moments, the silver-eyed girl relinquished her hold on him, leaping back with a smile on her face.
"Don't worry Jack, I won't burn the house down~!" she replied with a beaming smile.
"The fact that you went there and sounded too practiced worries me," Blake sighed before turning to her extended family. "Jack. Good luck out there."
"You too," he said taking her hand and closing his car keys within it, before leaning over her and repeating the gesture he'd given to Ruby, her bow waggling and a dusting of pink appearing on the closet Faunus girl's cheeks at the tender gesture.
"Hey, where's my goodbye kiss…?" Yang pouted as Blake stepped back, the blond standing on her toes. Jack, rolling his eyes with a mirthful chuckle, stepped toward the busty blond and took hold of her shoulders. The brawler snaking her arms around his scarf-clad neck and puckering her lips expectantly, instead of giving her what she wanted, Jack stood on his own tiptoes and pressed his lips to her forehead through her bangs. "Oh, come on, Jack, you can do better than that," she faux-whined, even as her cheeks dusted pink.
"You behave yourself, and I just might~" the Faunus replied stepping back with a wink.
"Ugh, so corny…" Ruby groaned.
"Jack…!" Weiss said striding forward as the blond backed away, the heiress standing rigidly before him with flushed cheeks as the two faced one another. "You come back alive. You hear me?" she ordered holding out her hand.
" . . . Of course, milady," Jack returned coolly as he raised up her hand and pressed his lips to her knuckles. The heiress rapidly blinking and ignoring the eyes on their exchange, though the Faunus attempted to take his leave of her after a few moments, Jack found himself unable to break contact. Looking down at their joined hands, and then at her feet, he quirked a brow as Weiss was using Glyphs of all things to anchor herself in place, and he to her. "Is there anything else you require of me before we part company, milady?"
Weiss' eyes still fluttering, cheeks growing further flushed, after a moments' more deliberation the heiress leapt up at the taller teen, her lips aimed at his own-
"Ow, my teeth!" the heiress cried as they *click*ed together loudly.
"Ow my teeth!" Jack groaned back.
"Oooh…! Botched the landing~" Yang said between a hiss and a grin as the normally-romantic gesture fell flat on its face.
"Awwww~ Just like in the movies~" Nora swooned while off to the side, Jaune's shoulders slumped at the exchange.
"Jaune…" Pyrrha said reaching for his shoulder.
"We should probably get going…" Jaune said dejectedly as he walked away, Jack breaking away from his team and resuming the lead with Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren behind them.
"Jack. I mean it," Weiss asserted. "You come back alive, no matter what, you… you hear me…? I don't… I don't want to lose anybody else…"
The edge of desperation in her tone catching Jack mid-stride, after a moment he fast-walked back to her, his hands going to her shoulders before he leaned forward, the heiress' breath hitching as he pressed warm lips to the top of her scar.
"Always," he said with a smile, Weiss nodding her head even as she blushed up to her ears, before using a Glyph as a step-stool and reciprocating the gesture at Jack's own eye scar.
"Jack. I…"
" . . . I know~"
" . . . Hmhm~ And don't you forget it~" Weiss replied cutely after a moment, the two of them eye to eye.
"Oh, shit, almost forgot," Jack said snapping his fingers. "Yang, could you step back into the room for a moment?"
"I like where this is going~"
"Not for that, doofus," Jack sighed as he led Yang back into the room, checking that no-one was pressing their ear to the door with his heightened senses before turning to her. "Yang, what I'm about to divulge will both shock and disturb you."
"Jack, I've seen things. And I've also heard things. Whatever you have to say to me now can't be any worse than what I learned from you or Rushia in the showers," Yang said putting her hands on her hips. "Huh… I wonder if all great revelations happen in the shower."
"I think that's just you."
*NEW WORLD*
At the same time outside, Team JNPR shifted awkwardly on their feet. After a couple more minutes a muted *thump* sounded from Team RWBBY's room, Jack stepping out a second later.
"Time to go!"
"Why? What happened?" Jaune blinked.
"Holy cats! Did Yang faint?" Ruby cried looking through the doorway.
"Just shut up and go!" he said throwing the blond and his partner over his shoulders.
"Um, Jack, the stairs are the other way," Pyrrha hummed.
"No time. Gotta go now."
The two letting out panicked cries as Jack suddenly defenestrated them through the open window at the end of the hall, a moment later Jack dove after them.
"Now that's how you make an exit~" Nora grinned excitedly as she too made to run for the window, only for Ren to grab the back of her shirt and drag her toward the stairs. "Awwwwwwww."
*NEW WORLD*
"No, but seriously, what did you say to Yang that made her faint?" Jaune asked as the new-and-improved 'Team JJNPR' hopped into the shuttle destined for Vale.
"Something she'll hopefully be able to digest by the time I get back," Jack hummed, a light dusting of pink on his cheeks before he shrugged it off.
"Oh, that bad, huh?" Nora hummed.
"Eh… She's bounced back from worse," Jack shrugged making a 'so-so' motion with his hand.
Of course, if Yang didn't have a "complex" after learning he was a Slave Gladiator, she was definitely going to have a complex now…
*NEW WORLD*
The previously mentioned transport, which was waiting for them in the Vale Commercial Skyport, was a second-hand D20 Heavy Lift Vehicle, colloquially known as a "Heron", painted an inviting shade of sky blue with white racing stripes, reflecting its commercial use.
Its shape was that of a squat cube with beveled edges and a protruding bridge sticking out from the front, its propulsion taking the form of four tilt engines, two to each side, and four conventional rear-mounted engines. In terms of size, it was originally intended to deploy modular prefab military infrastructure deep into "enemy lines" as the Atlesian Fleet would call it; in its after-market configuration, it was essentially a small warehouse that could get up and fly.
Due to its lack of point defense weaponry, it was intended largely for well-protected trading lanes (or a light military escort), reflected in its ability to transport large amounts of material goods between manufacturers and population centers. Upon entering, team JJNPR saw that with the aisles of floor-to-ceiling shelving and cargo nets, the vessel could provision a small town for one or more months on a single voyage. After-market modifications also included the addition of a small refresher, a kitchenette, and crew space to comfortably hold four built into the bow around the staircase to the bridge.
"So you mentioned this ship was taking us to our mission?" Pyrrha began once everyone buckled in, Jack taking hold of an overhead railing after he checked in with their pilot.
"Sometimes, clients will collaborate with airship pilots to ferry Huntsmen out into the Frontier in time with their own routes, instead of making them shell out extra to charter dedicated fare," Jack explained as their vessel lifted off. "You are of course expected to show up, otherwise it counts as 'Breach of Contract', which hurts your reputation in the long run. Those black marks on your record can only hurt you down the line, so it's important to mete out your time appropriately."
"So that's why we were in such a rush after class," Nora hummed, really wishing she could've jumped out the window too.
They could've shaved entire minutes off their commute!
"Any rules for when you have to pay your own way?" Jaune inquired as he tapped notes into his Scroll, wanting to make the most out of their time with the teen mercenary before them.
"General rule of thumb as I've heard it is when you aren't carrying out a 'goodwill mission' to build up your rep, is that the cost of actually getting to your job shouldn't cost more than a quarter to a fifth of the full pay," Jack began. "Of course, that's just for a one-way trip. More often than not, you'll have to make your own way home because airships that are sitting around waiting for you to finish up your business, aren't making any money themselves unless you pay charter. However, if you're smart and plan your route beforehand, you can find more work on the way back, even if it keeps you away for a little while longer. Time might be money, but you've only got one life, and if you scramble to get back home on some self-imposed time table and get yourself killed over it…"
He trailed off with a shrug, letting them come to their own conclusions. Logistics might've been boring for those that grew up on "romanticized" ideals of Huntsmen and Huntresses, but the best Hunters out there were those that could manage their time and money wisely while still remaining competitive in the consumer market. Hothead glory-seekers who didn't know how to think ahead were often the first ones to go; and even if they didn't die, they were usually the first ones who turned to less than respectable jobs from less than reputable people to make ends meet when they had to make "fast money".
Of course, some of this, Roland had already gone over in class, or he would go over it.
"Makes sense," Ren hummed. From an economic standpoint, it was cheaper to charter a one-way flight to a far-off village and then make smaller "hops" back home, instead of repeated to-and-from trips through a singular hub location. And it doubly made sense that between taking a little extra time to get back home alive even if it meant being late for something and still being alive at the end, or scrambling to maintain an ironclad schedule and getting killed over it, the option that lets you live is always preferable.
"So where're we going?" Nora asked excitedly, happy that Skyport security didn't give her any hassle over her Magnhild or the borderline-illegal grenade in her sling bag.
"A farming community that specializes in animal husbandry. Their CCT relay has come under attack, so they need reinforcements until they can reestablish communications with Rockwell," Jack answered.
"If their CCT relay is down, how'd they send out for help in the first place?" Pyrrha asked.
"Probably had someone ferry a message on foot to a working relay," Ren answered. "Old-fashioned, but it still works. Couriers that work out on the Frontier certainly have to earn their hazard pay, but they're some of the slipperiest bastards you'll ever find. It's why you don't kill the messenger; not because it's polite, but because of all the time and resources it takes into training one."
"So when will we arrive?" Jaune asked amidst a bit of turbulence.
"Barring any delays or detours… maybe by late evening. If need be, we can have a night watch on duty, or start in the morning depending on how things get out there," Jack answered.
"Have you ever done Courier work?" Pyrrha inquired.
"Only small-time stuff when a destination wasn't out-of-the-way for me, and technically I was more of a Postman carrying fare over a well-trodden route," Jack shrugged. "The only difference between a Postman and a Courier, is that Postmen don't risk their lives while Couriers do. Letters and packages delivered by Couriers, often discernible by their green uniforms and the numerical strings on their hats, are usually much safer because of their efficiency and outstanding track records, and often delivered much faster because they take the most-direct route."
"So they'll usually have Speed-Type Semblances like Ruby's?" Pyrrha groused, Jack nodding in turn.
"Soooooo... they deliver stuff like trade secrets?" Jaune blinked, assuming that the locations of untapped Dust veins would be incredibly valuable. Too valuable in fact to be sent over the CCT.
"Nobody knows. Those guys might get a little overzealous in their deliveries, but they do know how to keep their ships afloat."
"Do you mean literal ships, or metaphorical ones?" Nora asked.
"Metaphorical."
"Oh, because 'loose lips sink ships'. I see, I see," Jaune hummed adding more notes.
"Well, at least you're taking this seriously," Jack nodded, happy that he'd be able to report such outstanding growth to the boy's parents.
*NEW WORLD*
Partway through their flight, which Team "JJNPR" had been using to do their homework since they didn't have much else going for them, the pilot notified them that there were in-flight snacks if they wanted any. Seeing this as an open invitation to take a break, Jack hummed to find that the pantry was pretty well-stocked. Nothing too expensive, and nothing that'd need cooking, but enough to tide someone over until real food could be eaten on landing.
"Jack… Can I ask you something?" Jaune inquired as he looked down at a granola bar.
"Depends on what it is," Jack returned, nursing some dried fruit.
"Why…" he paused, mustering his courage before inquiring- "Why do girls go for 'the bad boys'?"
Pyrrha of course knew where this was coming from. Having watched Weiss court another man in front of him, it had to be torture to the blond as he pined over the Schnee heiress in the background.
'Even though he says he's gotten over her, the heart wants what the heart wants, I suppose.'
"Well, 'big fat phony' thing notwithstanding," Jack replied as he hooked his feet on the overhead bar and started doing vertical crunches. "Are you trying to fault Weiss for her taste in men~?"
"N-N-No, of course not!" he stammered, unable to look Jack in the eye. "It's just… My mom and dad always told me… stuff… and I don't want to think they were lying to me or anything like that…"
" . . . I guess if you want to hear something that doesn't put all the blame on you… all I could tell you is that it comes down to this little thing we like to call 'Genetic Redundancy'."
"How so?" Ren asked, interest piqued.
Not in the subject itself, but the fact that Jack, as a Faunus, would have a radically different view on the subject than their Human-dominated class.
"Oooooh~ Story time!" Nora whooped giddily as Jack adopted his 'I'm the smartest guy in the room; you gotta deal with it' pose.
"I'm curious about your insight into this matter as well," Pyrrha hummed, wondering what the jaded Faunus' take on the matter was.
Since he was her first Faunus friend, the insights he had on the subject would likely be radically different from anything that'd come up in her own upbringing surrounded by Humans.
"Okay, fine, I'll tell all of you," Jack groaned rolling his eyes. "Like I said, in the end it comes down to genetic redundancy; the assurance that one passes down their genes. For men and women, the reasoning is usually the same, though through different lenses they can be equally self-serving."
"In what way?" Jaune asked.
"Well, when it comes to men, there are usually two key strategies for passing down their genes," Jack said raising up a finger. "The first is to wander, sowing your oats far and wide to ensure that as-many fertile females as possible carry your seed, and thus, pass on your genes to the next generation."
"Oh, so to be a complete horn dog like you," Jaune quipped.
"How 'bout you take that tone with me after you aren't a cherry-boy virgin anymore?" Jack snapped back mid-crunch, Jaune visibly wilting at the burn.
"Ointment for that sick burn, aisle twelve~" Ren sang.
"Hey, I was going to say that!" Nora hissed.
"As I was saying, seeking to copulate with as many females as possible is one means of assuring your genetic heritage, though it's far from perfect," he said, amused by the byplay going on. "The second, the exact opposite of 'the wanderer', is to remain stationary and nurture your young locally; essentially, to put down roots and have the most-direct influence on whether your young survive to adulthood or not," Jack explained. "Normally, the path of the 'wanderer' is reserved exclusively for the strong, because the weak are not able to copulate in this fashion… conventionally."
"I sense a tone shift coming up," Pyrrha muttered.
"Following this logic, those that can't sow their oats far and wide conventionally will go to war with another tribe, another people, or another nation with the promise that they can rape and pillage from the fertile widows of the slain enemy. In fact, a great many wars can be accredited to purely this motivation, even if the historians try and sweep it under the rug," Jack continued. "This is true for Humans and Faunus, and while I might be a bit biased in what I'm about to say, at least Faunus of the ancient past had the decency to only rape and pillage other Faunus. Humans, functionally inferior as you were and still are, weren't sexually appealing to virile males apart from those who couldn't sow oats with their own kind. Not until we'd begun living in close proximity to you that is, though whether that proximity was consensual or not is neither here nor there."
"And how are women 'self-serving' in terms of genetic heritage?" Pyrrha asked with a raised brow, since Jack's current explanation into the topic wasn't exactly… glamorous, let alone flattering.
"For women, as far as I can tell since, obviously, I'm not one," he said with an eye roll, "their strategies to ensure their genetic heritage are a duality of men's motivation. Women can either make themselves physically appealing, thus ensuring that they are chosen by the strongest males and thus ensuring the strongest offspring, while on the opposite end of the spectrum, women will seek stability, a man who will provide for their young and thus ensure they will grow to term," Jack answered. "Even though society has nuance, these old genetic scripts still hold sway. Men are horny and randy to ensure a wide spread of their genetic material, whereas women target 'the bad boy' because the 'bad boy' is usually a prime specimen with good genes. For those that choose stability, men who pool all their resources into a single avenue of offspring are more likely to see them to term on a one-on-one basis than rutting with anything that moves, whereas women seeking a protector and a provider will have an equally-good chance of having their children come to term than if they were purely looking for good genetic material," he explained matter-of-factly. "Each one has tradeoffs, and modern interpretations of decency have put a damper on 'the wanderer', but since those that put down roots can still fail to grow their progeny to term, 'the wanderer' is still a viable genetic strategy. Of course, that's purely the survivalist in me."
"So then Weiss might be looking at you now, but someday she could look my way?" Jaune asked hopefully, a certain red-head huffing in the background.
"Not in as many words, but since you're neither strong nor a provider…" Jack let his words hang in the air. "Maybe you shouldn't count your chickens until you actually have a hen, if you catch my drift."
" . . . Oh! I get it!" Nora hummed after a moment. "Jaune isn't strong, hence his genes aren't actually advertised as desirable, whereas he can't really provide for a girl and her children either," she said with a nod as she brought her fist down onto her palm.
"Oh good, you are paying attention," Ren nodded.
"Gee, thanks a lot, guys," Jaune wilted.
"He does have a point though," Pyrrha accepted. "Your… standing, with the opposite gender could use a little improvement," she conceded.
"I guess you're right," Jaune sighed.
"It isn't about whether I'm 'right' or not. It all comes down to nuance," Jack shrugged. "Professor Port has a sisterhood of wives waiting for him because back in the day he was legitimately a stud, and he's been able to raise all six of his children to term."
"Wait, he does?!" Jaung gawped, wondering how he missed Peter Port having a real-life harem.
"Six kids?" Ren blinked.
"Since when?" Pyrrha inquired, equally confused.
"He went over that very topic in class. Weren't you paying attention?"
By the ashamed blushes on their faces, most had not.
"I did~!"
"Good girl, Nora," Jack hummed patting her head.
"Follow-up question~"
"Yes, Nora?"
"If you and Yang and/or Weiss are some kind of item, why'd you boink some chick when you went to find out about Yang's mom."
"Because while we're together we aren't 'together-together'."
"AH! He said the thing! REN! He said the thing!" Nora tittered happily grabbing his arm.
"Thanks for that," the Mistrali boy sighed. "It's going to be all day like this…"
"What can I say except… you're welcome~"
"Soooooo... people are just, genetically motivated into being horny?" Pyrrha asked incredulously.
"Of course they are! Because it's their primary drive! The meaning of their very existence!" Jack said with a pleased lilt to his tone, as well as a manic look in his eyes, that began to legitimately frighten the red-head. "They are compelled to painfully fuck and reproduce in an unending cycle of misery!"
"But Humans and Faunus-"
"Are the same! We too are merely vessels for our DNA. It drives us to strip naked and in sweaty howling, we give ourselves over to humiliation, heartbreak, and the pain of childbirth, so that this little molecular overlord can see itself replicated, into infinityyy~ Is that beautiful, Pyrrha? Do you think that's beautiful?"
"Um, noooo-"
"Because I do!" Jack grinned.
"W-Wait, there's still one thing I don't understand," Nora spoke up with a raised hand. " . . . What is a clitoris?"
" . . . . . . "
" . . . "
"That's the most fucked thing anyone has said today," Pyrrha sighed after a long pregnant pause.
"Yeah, I don't think I can top that," Jack eye-rolled.
"Just give it five minutes. I'm sure you'll come up with something mind-shredding on top of everything else that's been said today," Jaune said flatly with an eye-roll of his own.
Jack's only response was to return to his inverted crunches.
*NEW WORLD*
"Attention all passengers, we are now coming in for a landing at the mining city of Rockwell, primarily known for its mining, refining, and distribution of common-but-essential metallic ores for everything from wall defense to siding on houses. The layover will be long-enough to swap cargo and top the tank before we make the rest of our journey to Lambert, so don't wander off, alright? I will leave without you."
"You guys wanna go up to the cockpit and see? Our pilot might be in a charitable mood," Jack hummed.
"I wanna go!" Nora said as she scarpered up the stairs.
"Don't think I've actually seen any other cities apart from Orleans or Vale…" Jaune hummed as he followed suit.
"I should probably stop Nora from touching something she shouldn't," Ren hummed as he departed alongside.
"You aren't going with them?" Jack hummed Pyrrha's way, finding her still seated.
"Aren't you?" she inquired.
"Been there, seen that," Jack shrugged. "Faunus mercs are real good for mineshafts and other miscellaneous caverns. Just give us a few glowsticks and we're good to go even in a blackout in a coal mine."
"Huh. I never really thought of it that way…" Pyrrha hummed. "Jack, now that we're alone-"
"If that's what you're lookin' for, it's gonna be 30 lien an hour; 50 if you want it weird."
"Wha-Wha-Wha-Wha-WHAAAA?!" Pyrrha blushed to the roots off her hair.
"Hah~! Man, I can't believe I could say that with a straight face," Jack chuckled at her flummoxed expression.
"N-N-No! While you are handsome…- I don't appreciate you pulling my leg with that…"
"Hey, c'mon, Big Red, it's just a couple of friends yanking each others' chains," Jack shrugged, lightly ribbing her. "Okay, 100% Serious Mode," he said interlacing his fingers in front of his mouth like a therapist. "What do you need?"
"Jaune's growth as of late has made him… enticing in a way. Or at least more-enticing than when I liked him 'just because' he didn't know who I was and treated me like an ordinary girl," Pyrrha said getting her blushing under control, only a small dusting of pink on her cheeks. "Any advice as someone who's courted numerous admirers?"
"Well, I've never courted a dude before, so there isn't much I can say on that front, but my advice… Change your hairstyle."
"What? Why that specifically?" she blinked.
"You look like a slightly-less-hot version of his eldest sister."
"Eldest… You mean the one that couldn't make it to Visitor's Day?" Pyrrha blinked.
"The very same. You're practically a dead ringer for her, especially with the long hair, so Jaune might be subconsciously 'filtering you out' as a potential partner. There's a Human saying about boys always 'marrying their moms', but boys are less-likely to marry someone that looks and/or acts like their sister."
"That's… Huh, I never really thought of it that way…" Pyrrha hummed, quickly connecting to the Interweb with her Scroll and looking up the oldest of the Arc daughters. "Wow. The resemblance is uncanny."
"I know, right?" Jack shrugged.
"Huh… Think I should do something about the hair when we're done on our missions?"
"I can always cut it for you now. Provided you give me the hair."
"What… do you want my hair for…?" she asked inching away from him.
"To sell to your rabid fanbase, of course~ Figure I can bleed 'em dry~"
"Jack, I highly doubt my hair is that valuable."
"Prepare to be surprised."
*NEW WORLD*
"NORA! YOU'VE BEEN SELLING MY HAIR?!"
"Whoopsie-daisy~"
"Don't you 'whoopsie-daisy' me, young lady!" Pyrrha chastised in a way their pilot found strangely arousing. "You've been cleaning my hairbrush and selling my leavings to… to…! Palutana-knows-who!"
"I mean, I though that'd be obvious," the pilot hummed over his shoulder.
"Quiet you," she said icily.
"Yes ma'am!" the man squeaked as his half-boner wilted, suddenly finding his instruments more-interesting.
"Nora, I thought we were friends, but you've been selling my hair for profit!"
"Well you weren't gonna sell it for cash! And you never said I couldn't."
"That was implied!"
"It really wasn't~" Nora grinned.
*Past*
"Hey Pyrrha, you ever think about selling your hair?"
"Not specifically."
"So then what do you do with the hair from your brush?"
"Throw it away every once in a while."
"Huh… Want me to take care of that for you?"
*Present*
"And I thought my team was dysfunctional…" Jack deadpanned as he listened to Nora's anecdote through the open door.
"Oh I wish I were as-lucky as you," Ren sighed as the pilot awkwardly came in for a landing, professional-enough to tune out the two women's bickering.
"Pilot, mind if I borrow your freezer? These two need to cool off."
"Wait what?"
"YES! PLEASE!"
*NEW WORLD*
"A-A-A-A-Are you insane?!" Pyrrha demanded as she furiously rubbed her bare shoulders, Nora huddled in a corner and hugging her equally-bare legs to her body.
"Quite possibly. I never got checked."
"Th-Th-Th-Th-That does not inspire c-c-c-c-confidence!" Nora chattered.
"Anyway, since you two have so much free time on your hands, I figured we could do a little light training."
"H-H-H-How the hell aren't you freezing?!" Pyrrha demanded as she crawled over and hugged Nora.
"HEY! QUIT STEALING MY WARMTH!"
"YOU STOLE MY HAIR!"
"YOU WEREN'T GONNA DO ANYTHING WITH IT!"
"Moving on; our bodies by default aren't very efficient at separating oxygen from carbon dioxide, and most of our oxygen is exhaled back out," Jack hummed in 'lecture mode'. "However, carbon dioxide has a lower freezing point than oxygen, so when it starts to condense in your lungs, exhale the carbon dioxide to conserve more oxygen. Like so," he said exhaling sparkling white breath instead of clouds of vapor.
*NEW WORLD*
Meanwhile, outside the freezer…
"Think we should do something?" Jaune asked as he looked through the porthole, Jack visibly lecturing them and exhaling… glitter(?) while Pyrrha and Nora huddled together for warmth.
"Please, ladies first."
"Oh ha ha," Jaune deadpanned.
"They're not at any real risk. Not yet at least," Ren hummed looking at his Scroll. "Aura can help insulate from the cold, but only until you burn that fuel source out. That's why Roland stressed the importance of having seasonal outfits ready. Our summer clothes will work for now and the warmer parts of fall, but closer to winter we might have to invest in some thermals. Maybe some Lighter Suits."
"That or we could do that 'Shivering' thing Jack's doing now," Jaune hummed as Jack took a horse stance and visibly heated up, Pyrrha and Nora draping themselves around his legs like the mewling quims from those old Grognak the Barbarian movie posters.
"That uses calories," Ren chided in.
"I was being facetious," Jaune deadpanned.
"Anyway, do you really think you can win Weiss over?"
"Oh my god, are you still on that?"
"You're the one that brought that up."
"Urg…"
"Honestly, you should probably give up cold turkey. What they have is genuine, and no matter how you spin it, you're only gonna come out of that fight looking like a jealous unrequited stalker," Ren continued. "His whole 'genetic redundancy' talk might've been a bit of a downer-"
"Hey, how come Nora didn't know what a clitoris was?"
"Not important," Ren cut off, "-but that doesn't mean he was wrong either. Real life isn't like romcoms where the mewling quim leaves the rich businessman for the starving artist and they have an implied 'happily ever after' once the credits roll. Real life is transactional, you can't get something for nothing. You might've gotten into Beacon without putting in the effort, but in the end, it still cost you when the check came due."
"Is it wrong to want nice things?"
"When they belong to someone else, yes."
"Weiss isn't Jack's property."
"Nor is she yours to attain."
"Says the guy who won't make the move on her," Jaune said jabbing a thumb at Nora.
"What she feels is infatuation; not love. Given time, she'll be able to tell the difference between love and the Suspension Bridge Effect. Until that time, it'd be unethical to pursue her; a subject I'm sure you're well-versed in."
"Jeez, I open my mouth one time…"
"Jaune, his words weren't an invite to 'try again' because he has a sudden interest in monogamy, they were a lecture. Don't get the two confused."
Suffice it to say, there wasn't only friction between Pyrrha and Nora that day.
*NEW WORLD*
"Hey Jack, back to the topic of sex."
"You get out of the freezer and that's the first thing you want to ask me?" Jack deadpanned as Pyrrha crawled into a sleeping bag and curled up like a bagworm.
"What was sex like for you the first time around~?" Nora continued on undaunted.
"Nora…!" Ren gasped, utterly scandalized while Pyrrha looked fit to faint and Jaune spit-took all over the cargo.
"And what… pray tell… would possess you to ask that?" Jack asked in a level calm.
"Well, you went all 'Sex Ed' on us and I didn't fall asleep for it, so I really wanna know~"
" . . . Well for starters, I didn't know what the hell I was doing."
"You're actually going to tell her?!" Jaune gawped.
"It's a legitimate inquiry, and I'm not ashamed," Jack replied. "Anymore," he muttered to himself. "Anyway, I'd been interested in girls for a while, some stuff happened…" he trailed off. "Well, Saya also had these super-weird unresolved feelings for my mother, soooooo…"
"So this Saya woman wanted to vicariously have sex with your dead mother through you, and you were just… alright with that?" Nora blinked.
"I was a hormonal teenager who spent my formative years as a slave gladiator, and then on a mountain in the middle of nowhere meditating for days on end as I froze my nads off. How do you think I'd handle my first sexual propositioning?"
"When you say 'slave gladiator', is that a metaphor… or something?" Nora hummed.
"Nora, of course it's a metaphor," Jaune chastised. "Everyone knows slavery is completely illegal now."
" . . . And when, pray tell, did you find that out?" Ren inquired, choosing to ignore literally everything wrong with Jaune's faulty logic.
"During the pillow talk we shared between… me coming to after blacking out from mind-blowing sex, and Kalifa kicking the door down."
"Wow, that's… That's one hell of a story…" Pyrrha admitted, completely unsure of what else to say to all that.
Sure, back when it'd been ambiguous, her imagination had run waaaay wilder, but hearing it straight from the badger's mouth… You can't close Pandora's Jar once it's been opened.
"Pain was something I could endure, but it was pleasure that I had next to zero resistance to," Jack shrugged. "That isn't a problem now, obviously, but my libido has gotten me into more trouble than it's actually solved."
"Well, I mean, that's probably a given," Pyrrha deadpanned.
"Hey, don't underestimate the power of sex toward crisis resolution!" Nora chimed in.
"Says the virgin."
"Hey, you're a virgin too you know!'
"AND YOU STOLE MY HAIR!"
*NEW WORLD*
Meanwhile, the pilot was debating whether to swear off ferrying teen Hunters for the remainder of his career, or continue on for the sheer entertainment value as he kept an ear on the "employee lounge".
Not that he'd ever record it. Lady Hunters could be absolutely brutal if they thought they were being peeped on. Doubly-so for the boyfriends.
Still, better to fare well-rounded teenagers than a bunch of uptight prudes.
*NEW WORLD*
"Alright folks, we're on final approach to the farming town of Lambert. If you'd like to come to the cockpit and observe, I only ask that you keep any hair-related commentary to yourselves until departure."
"We are never going to live that down, are we?" Pyrrha deadpanned.
"Where's this 'we' nonsense coming from?" Jack deadpanned.
"Uuuuu…"
Crowding around the pilot in shifts, Jaune and Pyrrha's eyes went wide as they beheld a quaint farming village atop a hill surrounded by rolling plains, all bathed by the light of the setting sun. It was ordinary for all intents and purposes with stout walls made from all the trees that'd been cleared away, but what caught their eyes were the flocks of sheep stretching out as far as the eye could see. And it wasn't only regular sheep either; there were massive ruminants bigger than soccer vans (counting the fluff), some being ridden, some as low-key beasts of burden.
"What're those?" Jaune gawped incredulously at the bench-sized faces.
"Taxsheep, Capture Level 4. They can run around 90 miles per hour on flat ground, though because of all this muscle, they're tough to eat," Jack answered. "They also make tons of wool, obviously, though its more practical to use them like fluffy taxis."
"Hence the name?" Pyrrha asked.
"Wait, are those car seats and seatbelts?" Nora gawped incredulously aiming a spyglass at two people shoulder to shoulder atop one's back.
"Beats riding a saddle, I guess," Ren hummed.
"And there's the CCT Relay," Jack hummed as he looked at a triangular radio tower, the top and all the equipment scorched a pitch black.
"What do you think caused it?" Pyrrha asked.
"That's what we're here to find out," Jack shrugged.
*NEW WORLD*
As the cargo on the transport was unloaded in full, with digital writ in hand, Team JJNPR were directed towards the mayor; an elderly Sheep Faunus whose beard and hair were so fluffy his head looked like one big cotton ball with a wrinkled face sticking out.
Far from the ego and politicking of Vale proper, Lambert was incredibly laid-back interspecies-wise, since ongoing conflicts amongst the townsfolk were bad for the livestock, and no-one could really stay angry after popping a squat atop a Taxsheep if not laying their heads down on fleece-filled pillows.
With the sky darkening, Team JJNPR made its way to the inn.
"A room for five, I take it?" the lady behind the desk inquired.
"A room with three beds will suffice. We'll sleep in shifts," Jack spoke up before Jaune could.
"Ah, a veteran I see," the woman nodded knowingly. "They're getting younger every year," she hummed fishing for a key.
"So… Can you tell us what happened to the Relay?" Jaune inquired.
"You know, it's been the strangest thing; bolts of lightning completely out of nowhere on a clear day," the woman replied.
" . . . That's it?" Jaune blinked after waiting for more.
"That's all anyone ever saw," the woman shrugged, passing over the key. "If you can resolve this, we'll give you a heavy discount. If you can't, it's full price."
"What, not for free?" Jaune asked only for Pyrrha to elbow him.
"Be happy you're getting a discount at all," the red-head chastised. "I'm sorry about that. Apart from Jack, we're all sort of new to this."
"Oh, what a polite young lady," the innkeeper nodded.
"Know where there's good eats?" Nora chimed in.
"The Bishoku Cedar is quite popular with travelers," the innkeeper replied.
"Then that's where we'll go," Jack replied.
*NEW WORLD*
The Bishoku Cedar was a large tavern which got its name from the tree its wood was made of; a type of cedar that the Gourmet God's wife made her chopping board and various other implements from. Unsurprisingly, the primary meat on the menu was sheep, though because Lambert had it in surplus, they were able to trade it for many other ingredients from the nearby settlements, so the menu was actually quite diverse.
A necessity since, even though lamb was delicious, even that could get stale if you ate it all the time.
"Hey Jack."
"Yes, Nora?" Jack returned over their massive gyro platter.
"If you have sex with a werewolf, does that make you a Furry?" she asked, Jaune and Pyrrha sputtering over their right shoulders.
Which in Jaune's case, kinda sucked because Pyrrha was on his left.
"And what brought this on exactly?" Jack asked as he continued the assembly of his sandwich undeterred.
"Well, we've been talking about sex all day, figured we should carry on with the theme."
" . . . "
" . . . Jack?" Pyrrha blinked as the Faunus went quiet.
"Hold on. I'm thinking about it."
"You're 'thinking about it'?" Jaune gawped incredulously.
"I'm giving her inquiry due consideration," he shrugged.
"You're really going to dignify that with a response?" Ren blinked.
"It's not the dumbest thing I've ever dignified with a response. Though admittedly, most of those were influenced by alcohol."
"Because of course they were."
"Anyhow…" Jack hummed as he drummed his finger on the table, bobbing his head from side to side to a tune only he could hear before turning his attention back to Nora. "If a guy starts having sex with a werewolf before she transforms, it only counts as being a 'Furry' if he willfully continues coitus after she transforms. If she transforms before the guy starts and he goes through it anyway, they're a 'Furry' right off the starting block. The reverse is also the case between a lady and a male werewolf; throw a lady into bed with a lady werewolf however, and the line gets a bit blurry, I would think."
The Faunus explained such with a completely straight face, and only a few in the tavern paid them any sort of attention because much dumber had been debated upon; normally after the imbibing of alcohol.
"Of course, Faunus can't be 'Furries' the same way Humans can because we're already therianthropic in nature," he continued with an equally straight face. "If anything, a Faunus having sex with a Human would make us some kinda 'Reverse Furry' since you're just 'us' with less parts."
"I seriously cannot believe that all came out of your mouth," Jaune huffed.
"There's no such thing as a stupid question, only someone too lazy to answer it in a well-thought-out manner."
"You're taking advantage of the fact that Ruby isn't here, aren't you?" Jaune deadpanned.
"Just a bit," Jack shrugged. "Anyway, Pyrrha and I will take first watch. After you've had some time to nap, we'll swap out."
"Why sleep in shifts, though?" Jaune asked.
"Don't you remember from class? You never have your entire fighting force sleeping at the same time," Pyrrha lightly chastised.
*NEW WORLD*
With Jaune, Nora, and Ren settling down for a power nap, Jack and Pyrrha made themselves more-familiar with Lambert. It started with circling the wall, lightly-patrolled because Grimm sightings had been rather low, and because the livestock acted as their own early warning system. After that was traversing the cross-roads so they could navigate in case there were Grimm and they got into the walls. Final stop on their tour was at the Relay itself where a pissed-off technician was working under an awning.
"A question, if I may," Pyrrha hummed, the man giving off a grunt. "Why not install a lightning rod?"
"Oh trust me, that's the first thing I ever installed on this rig," the man replied. "Problem is, whoever or whatever is doing this is able to aim for the Relay tech, bypassing the lightning rod altogether."
"Definitely not a natural phenomenon then," Pyrrha hummed adopting a thoughtful pose.
"Well, guess it's time to go on a fact-finding mission," Jack hummed as he eyed what there was to work with. "Does this transceiver still work?"
"No. I took off the carbon scoring, but the wiring's all fried," the mechanic hummed when Jack pointed at a lightweight plastic plate on the work bench.
"Sure, you know that, and I know that… but they don't know that~"
"Jack, you aren't possibly thinking of-"
*NEW WORLD*
"-he is…" Pyrrha sighed as she held the reigns of a Taxsheep for… some reason, watching her Team's add-on scale the Relay tower with the transceiver tied to his back.
That he could freehand his way up faster than she probably could with the ladder, was just another indicator of the sheer breadth of experience between them. And don't even get her started on whether or not she could do the same in heels…
Jack vaulting up over the radial catwalk in a move that made Pyrrha's heart leap up into her throat, he then proceeded to make a show of re-installing the transceiver. "Make a show of" being subjective because he was actually mounting it back into place with a practiced hand. Maybe he'd done this sort of work before?
The red-head's neck hairs suddenly standing on end, the next moment a javelin of pure lightning arced through the sky, heading right for him!
To hers and the mechanic's shock, pun not intended, the Faunus dropped his tools before whirling around into the attack, catching it with his extended fingers. The energy visibly drawn down his arm and into his stomach, the next moment he shot out his free hand and send the lightning back out into the sky, waking the sheep in the opposite direction from where the bolt of lightning had originated.
The few passerby that were burning the midnight oil taking notice of this, they along with Pyrrha and the mechanic could only stare up dumbfounded as Jack repeated this technique twice, and then thrice-over. Something in the air changing, Jack suddenly leapt off the relay tower, his leap of faith carrying him towards the spot where Pyrrha sat, the red-head screaming in a fit of panic and fumbling with her seatbelt before Jack kicked the air, killing most of his momentum before he dropped down beside Pyrrha.
"HYA!" he cried after snapping the reins in her hand, the Taxsheep bolting into action.
The wind rushing through her hair, Pyrrha felt an exhilarated thrill shooting through her as the ruminant beneath her achieved highway speeds, its hooves thundering on the cobblestones before it leapt through the town gates and onto the dirt path.
"J-Jack! Where are we going?!" Pyrrha shouted over the wind, fighting the excited whoop threatening to leave her lips as they left Lambert behind them.
"I followed the lightning bolts back to their source, and now I've got a lock!" the Faunus grinned eagerly as he steered their mount off the beaten path.
"What about the others?"
"Our perp would slip away in the time it took to get them out of bed. Right now, it's on the two of us!"
"Against someone that can shoot lightning?!" she gawped incredulously.
"Something," Jack corrected. "Humans' spirit energy is always contaminated with messy emotions and petty bullshit. This? This is a bonafide Spirit Beast we're going after!"
"A what?!"
"You'll see when we get there!" Jack answered as Pyrrha caught sight of a splash of yellow against the wood line at the edge of Lambert's territory in the dim moonlight, standing its ground like it could feel that Jack would just hunt it down with his [Aura Sense].
The Faunus dismounting a short walk away so their ride wouldn't get caught in the crossfire, Pyrrha fumbled for her seatbelt only to tumble off the side as her foot caught fleece. Thankful no-one had directly witnessed her little accident as she went for her weapons, a moment later she rethought the notion and set them aside where Jack had left his weapons, thankful she had someone with fangs and claws to count on as she began to discard the more-metallic parts of her attire.
By the time she was largely metal-free, the cloud cover peeled away from overhead, Pyrrha's eyes widening as she beheld a fantastical canid shape; a large fox close to three feet in height covered in bright yellow fur. The fur ringing its neck colored a shocking white and coming together into points like a crown, arcs of electricity danced among its collar and the quills dominating its backside. Its rhombus-shaped ears were strangely charming, its dark eyes filled with intelligence as it stood its ground against a creature that could redirect lightning.
"Jack. You don't happen to be able to speak 'fox', do you?"
"No I do not."
"Then I'm not sure what else to contribute here."
"Try not to get in my way then," Jack said getting into a stance. "If we fight, I might be able to get a 'feel' for this thing's motivations."
"Like in anime?"
"Anime copied that off real life."
"I guess that makes sense..." Pyrrha admitted before she felt her neck-hairs stand on end, the smell of ozone assailing her nostrils as the 'Lightning Fox' before her started to generate electricity, lowering its head to the ground while its hackles stood on end.
Cue Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver OST - Raikou Battle Music
The next moment to Pyrrha's shock, the Spirit Beasts' quills shot out like a minigun, Jack leaping to the side before they landed, tiny discharges of electricity lighting blades of grass on fire. The Spirit Beast leaping back, it then began to lead on its target, Jack snapping out his claws before he began to rapidly slash the keratin hairs out of the air. To Pyrrha's awe and confusion, the Spirit Beast's quills were regenerating as it shot them out, seeming to give it an unlimited supply.
The Faunus rolling out of the way right as the Spirit Beast stopped its bombardment, the next moment he came up with a Shepard's sling, a stone already loaded and whistling in a ring of leather before he snapped it out, the Spirit Beast letting out a yelp as its hindquarter got clipped. Its eyes narrowing, the "Lightning Fox" began to gather golden energy in its mouth before firing out literal stars of the five-pointed variety, the Faunus rolling out of the way as they passed, only to roll again as they circled back around. The Faunus running in a wide circle and occasionally flipping or rolling when they got too close, as they relentlessly pursued him, Pyrrha suddenly realized there was something she could do.
Snapping out her hand, her [Polarity] drawing her Akoúo̱ to her hand, she then ran into the fray.
"Jack! I've got you!"
Snapping out her shield between her teammate and the approaching star-shaped projectiles, Jack quickly dove in behind her, his chest pressing into her back and his palms against her shield as the swift-moving attack connected. The *Thunk-Thunk-Thunk-Thunk-Thunk-Thunk-Thunk* of metal on metal sounding, Pyrrha dug in her heels as she weathered the storm before shattering the last of the projectiles aside with a swipe of her arm, the Spirit Beast's fur bristling as two stood against one.
"Jack, you watch my back, I'll watch yours."
"Sounds good, Pyrrha," the Faunus nodded before the two of them lunged.
The Spirit Beast's fur standing on end at the provocation, it suddenly shot out a lightning bolt at Pyrrha, the red-head digging in her heel and stopping short in time for Jack to intercept. One hand drawing the attack into his body and down into his stomach before shooting it out of his free hand, to Pyrrha's shock the Spirit Beast absorbed its own attack like it were nothing.
"This is starting to get really dangerous," Pyrrha said using her [Polarity] to draw Miló to her hand, her rifle spinning through the air causing the Spirit Beast to back away in fear.
Before it could reach Pyrrha's palm however, Jack snatched it out of the air, hers and the Spirit Beast's eyes going wide as the Faunus dropped it to the ground.
END OST
"Jack...?" the red-head blinked, making no move to pick it up as some of the tension began to leave the electric fox's body.
"This Spirit Beast went out of its way to only attack the Relay when it could've razed the town to ashes, and it knew what a gun was..." the Faunus said calmly as he got down on one knee, waving her back. "I might be able to reach out to it with Soul Resonance, but only if I'm given the chance."
" . . . Alright. I'll trust you," Pyrrha said as she made a show of laying her hoplon on the ground before slowly retreating, her hands raised in the universal sign of surrender.
Cue Naruto Shippuden OST - Ashura & Indra
Jack and the Spirit Beast left alone atop the hill, the rustling of leaves was the only sound to cut through the tension. Its hackles still raised, but with curiosity piqued as the Faunus expressed no more desire to fight with his eyes, the Spirit Beast slowly tip-toed forward. Little by little, its fur smoothed out until it and Jack were close enough to touch, which still left it looking only as-docile as a half-fox/half-porcupine more-powerful than a car battery could look.
Jack slowly raising up his hand and curling his fingers into a fist, never once breaking eye contact, the wild animal slowly raised its own forepaw until pads met knuckles.
To Pyrrha's relieved surprise, she actually felt the tension leaving the air and her own body. The barest haze of crimson and yellow Aura surrounding the two before the Spirit Beast accepted Jack's Aura into itself, the gesture was then reciprocated in turn. The cycle went on for what could've been a few seconds or several minutes, and though it may've been a trick of the light, it almost looked like slivers of emerald green leaked into Jack's Aura, only for the verdant hue to vanish once more under baleful crimson.
A few moments after the chevron of Aura surrounding the two shifted into a sunny shade of orange, impossible to determine where one's spirit began and the other ended with Pyrrha's untrained eye, the connection was broken. Not like the snapping of a rope, but like two sets of fingers sliding across palms.
The Spirit Beast lowering its paw, the two held eye contact for several more seconds before it turned its back on the Faunus. Its feet lightly padding through the grass as it slowly strode toward the forest, it looked over its shoulder one final time, the Faunus and Spirit Beast's gaze locked intently onto one another before it began to pad into the woods, vanishing into the dark after several long moments.
" . . . Jack?" Pyrrha whispered only when the silence became unbearable. "Did... Did it work?" she asked in a normal tone.
"I like to think so," Jack nodded as he slowly got to his feet, picking up Pyrrha's discarded weapons before walking back towards her, his back completely exposed as he returned her arms. "Let's go back to town. We'll settle this in the morning."
"The morning? Why then?" she asked as Jack hopped back atop the Taxsheep, his hand extended to help her up when she couldn't find purchase.
"So we don't wake the little ones," he said turning the ruminant around and setting it into a leisurely trot.
" . . . Huh?" the red-head blinked as they made their way back to Lambert, all previous urgency leaving his frame.
*NEW WORLD*
AN:
In the original draft, Pyrrha getting a haircut so she wouldn't look like Jaune's in-universe sister was inspired by the comic by mete-g. Part of the story taking on a life of its own in the subsequent "Revision Phase" was Pyrrha flipping her shit when she found out Nora had been selling her hair to rabid fans over the interweb all that time.
Also, I feel like Ren's too smart even in Canon not to recognize that it might be somewhat morally questionable to take advantage of Nora's feelings given what may (or may not) have been part of a Retconned origin story for the two of them.
Anywho, this is part one of a DOUBLE-UPDATE! So I hope to see lots of Reviews to reply to from this and next-chapter in the chapter-after-next. I put a lot of work and a number of witty references into this chapter as well, and I'm especially proud of the end, so I hope they don't all go unnoticed.
See you next time after-next.