Arc II: The Knight Life
Chapter 13: First Responders
Dizziness and the urge to vomit hit Jaune like a truck. Honestly, it seemed like no matter how many Bullheads he took in the past, he would never get used to that feeling.
Said symptoms heralded themselves when the Bullhead finally touched down, the small force of which proved to be the tipping point as he was the first to rush out of the door and upend the remnants of his afternoon snack into a nearby trash bin.
"Ugghhoo…"
"There, there," cooed Pyrrha gently as Nora, Ren and Team RWBY followed behind. "Just let it all out."
"Hah...I think I puked my whole stomach out," Jaune groaned as the nausea quickly began to fade away the moment he found himself upon firm, solid ground, free of the slight twists and turns that came with riding a plane.
"Well, better here than in the restaurant," Pyrrha replied as he leaned on the bin to stagger back up.
"I'd rather not puke at all. I don't think there's an air ride in which I didn't get sick," Jaune shuddered.
"He's Vomit Boy for a reason," Yang announced, walking up to her fellow blonde and patting him on the back. "You should've been on the Bullhead before Initiation. A certain someone had the wonderful idea to decorate my shoes right before we landed."
Ruby giggled and Jaune nervously laughed, scratching the back of his head. "Heh. Sorry."
"Water under the bridge...or maybe air under the Bullhead?" Yang waved it off before holding her chin in thought.
"Can we eat yet? I'm. So. Hungry!"
Nora interrupted, turning them to notice her particularly hungry and angry - hangry? - expression. As if in response, and probably because it was now empty, Jaune's stomach rumbled loudly.
Pyrrha chuckled while Ren sighed, patting a hand on his own abdomen. "I suppose we might as well get going. It's already rush hour on Friday night."
"Where are we going again?"
"To Benny's, Blake! The best all day breakfast served twenty-four seven!" Yang exclaimed, gripping her by the sides of her arms and shaking her as she finished her sentence. "Hot dogs. Hash browns. Omelettes. And most importantly -"
"-pancakes!" Nora and Ruby finished, the same voracious glint in their eyes as if they just stumbled upon a particularly small group of unaware Grimm.
Weiss deflated at the sound of a particularly diabetes inducing meal. "Ugh. Why did I agree to this?"
"Because you love us, Ice Queen!" Yang responded with the cheer of a primary schooler who was just informed that all the ice cream in the world now belonged to him. "And besides, you can't deny the promise of good food."
"Oh please. You're talking about an excess of carbs, fat, cholesterol - ah! Yang! Unhand me!"
The taller blonde took Weiss by the arm and started leading her away while ignoring her sputtered protests to their amusement. Turning a corner into a busy side street, the heiress reached back in an attempt to call for help, her desperate gaze managing to land on Jaune...
...only to morph into a defeated one after seeing him shrug and hesitantly smile back while the rest of their teams stifled laughter.
"Rest in peace, Weiss. May the Gods be ever in your favour."
Snorting, Pyrrha cleared her throat and cocked her head in their direction.
"Well, shall we?"
()===|=====+
"Cheers!"
"Woohooo! Cheers!"
Weiss gingerly toasted her glass of orange juice to the rest of their teams'.
"Aw, come on, Weiss! What's wrong? Are you not having fun?"
"What? No, I'm fine."
"...or maybe we're just too boring to be around? Yeah. That's it!" Yang declared, lightly slapping the table full of food with her fist.
Weiss crossed her arms. "Excuse me? You guys are plenty fun, thank you very much. Wait," she paused, only to let out a squawk in surprise as Ruby immediately threw her arms around her partner.
"Awww! Weiss! You really do care!"
"Let go of me, you dolt!"
"Hah! Weiss-cream's too easy," Yang crowed, raising a hand that Nora enthusiastically high-fived back.
Despite their banter, Jaune couldn't help but smile at how the heiress tried desperately to wrestle her way out of Ruby's grip, looking like she was fighting down a smile despite how much she refused to admit it. Yang, deciding to celebrate her success had turned her attention to the last remaining pancakes on her plate - with Blake watching curiously as the blonde bombshell voraciously devoured her way to victory.
"Eeeee! Aren't you the sweetest, Ren? Come on, give it here! Gimme gimme!"
He looked to Ren beside him and chuckled at the sight of Nora gleefully accepting the starchy food, consuming them with a contented noise.
A willing offering for the queen of the castle, no doubt. Can't go wrong with breakfast food.
"Maybe if we offered the Grimm some pancakes, they would stop attacking us. Hell, maybe they're attacking us for our pancakes!"
Jaune sighed, taking a bite of a breakfast sausage and leaning back, letting the loud but energetic ambience wash over him. Pancake diplomacy aside, the diner was nonetheless quite busy, being rush hour smack dab in the middle of Friday night. Though it was his first time at this specific location - the one back in Hudson was a tad smaller and definitely less busy, even at its peak - he quickly saw that it also seemed to be a popular haunt for Huntsmen and students in training, if by the number of teens and older people with holstered weapons was any sign.
Glancing around, he picked out a few familiar faces he remembered seeing once or twice in the hallways. In a table by the entrance sat Team CRDL, the hulking form of the Winchester heir towering over the booth, although his...personal history with him and the fact that he was flirting with a waitress took away the apprehension. In another corner sat a team that he recognized as being a year or two above them, one member of which was a rather beautiful girl with a beret and dark cream coloured clothing, rocking for all Remnant to see a pair of shades indoors. He felt the urge to question why despite the fact she rocked it with gusto, and that the equally pretty rabbit faunus beside her - presumably her teammate - looked like she was trying in vain to convince her to take it off, to the rest of her team's amusement.
"And that guy over...why does he keep glancing over here?"
Another teen - a monkey faunus, with sun kissed skin and gripping his bottle of juice with his tail - sat with his team by the window, with Jaune noticing that every so often his eyes would wander in their direction, snapping back just before they could make eye contact.
"Excuse me! Sorry, coming through!"
"Oh, sorry!"
Jaune shifted and moved his seat in, allowing a waitress to walk by with a tray full of food fresh and steaming from the kitchen, watching her stop by a table with others he didn't recognize. International students, perhaps? The Vytal Festival was approaching soon, and some exchange students have already begun arriving from Atlas, Shade and Haven. These three were probably one of them, noting how a rather cute girl with pale green hair flashed a smile and take the food from the tray, handing it out amongst her team: a teen with grey hair who paid no attention to the waitress whatsoever, attacking his omelette with the grace of a honey badger -
- and an absolutely gorgeous girl with a coyote coloured cutoff vest whose raven hair fell elegantly down the front of her shoulder.
"...whoa."
It must've been several seconds too long as said girl, after the waitress had left her table, turned her head in his direction, slightly raising an eyebrow and giving him a curious, almost dangerous looking smile.
He replied by immediately snapping his head and attention back towards his table, face going red and feeling like his Aura was beginning to heal his neck from how fast he turned.
"Are you alright, Jaune?"
"Huh? What?"
He turned to his right to see Pyrrha giving him a concerned and puzzled expression.
"You looked like you were blanking out there."
"Oh, it's nothing. Just looking around," he brushed off, scratching his head though his partner didn't seem all that convinced.
"Look, you know when you kinda just phase out and stare blankly, then realize that you've actually been staring at someone the whole time?"
Pyrrha chuckled, sipping some orange juice. "Heh. Yes, I know what you mean."
"It means that Vomit Boy may have found his vomit girl at last!" Yang crowed, leaning forward with a predatory grin.
"No, Yang -"
"So who is it, huh?" she ignored him, looking around the restaurant. "Is it her? No, she looks like she's taken. Oooh! What about Miss Purple Hair over there? Man, you're a player tonight, eh, Jaune? How you gonna do it?"
Each of her statements caused him to further sink into his seat in embarrassment and groan, even with Ren patting his shoulder in brotherly sympathy, no doubt gained from years of experience.
"Please, Yang. Contain yourself," Weiss interrupted with a relatively bored looking expression.
Jaune sent a grateful nod over to her, sitting up as he felt invigorated by the support of his friends and allies.
"After all, there's nothing to be surprised about him acting like his age. I suppose I should be grateful he's at least out of the house," she replied, performing a detailed inspection on her nails and steadfastly ignoring the look of betrayal he had begun to send to her.
"Wait, what does that mean? Weiss!"
Pyrrha made to respond but Yang beat her to the punch. "Oh please, Weiss-cream. That's rich coming from someone who couldn't keep her eyes off the boys on the way here, yeah?"
This time, it was her turn to go red, eyes indignantly widening at their laughter, with Nora in particular sounding like she caught red handed the little kid with his hand in the cookie jar.
And it wasn't even Ruby.
"E-excuse me!?"
"Yes, I think Yang may be onto something," Pyrrha replied, the redhead also leaning forward with a look that bordered between smug and giddy. "There were a lot of transfer students on the Bullhead ride to Vale."
"Wha-well, that's because -"
"The Vytal Festival is coming, yeah, yeah, we know," Yang waved a hand dismissively. "With someone as studious as you, there's plenty more material to study from now, eh? Eh?"
Nora flashed her a devious grin. "Ooooh! And what kind of homework you gonna take home, huh?"
"N-no! I object to this line of...questioning! I may be dedicated and proper, but I know not of what you're insinuating!"
"Yeah, Yang! Are you saying that they came all the way over from Mistral just to give her homework!?"
His teammates chortled and made gleeful accusatory noises, while even Ren and Blake looked away to try and mask their laughter.
"Ruby, you're not helping..."
()===|=====+
And as the two teams made to leave after they finished their meal - quickly followed by a monkey faunus and the rest of his team - they were unaware of the gaze that a certain raven haired girl had fixed upon them. There was that boyish looking blonde who managed to catch a glimpse of her as his eyes wandered around, but was sent into embarrassment with but a smile, and didn't look at her at all as they left.
Oddly enough, though, she felt a faint trace of magic that emanated from his direction. Something that was almost like the power she stole from Amber, and yet...more ancient. Deeper. Buried, and undeniably more potent.
It almost felt rejuvenating just by basking in it. She would have to keep an eye out for him.
What piqued her interest more so was the fact that her main person of interest sat across from him - the small redhead conversing with a cheerful attitude and eyes of silver displayed for all the world to see.
Just like the white rose which the Queen had plucked several years ago.
With an innocent smile, she downed her glass of cider.
()===|=====+
"Ugh. So many things to do. Places to see. And so little time!"
"Relax, we have the whole night!" Yang grinned with a dangerous glint in her eye as they stood outside the entrance to Benny's. "Tonight's curfew is at midnight, and it's only, what, six thirty? We're gonna make our mark and rock this town!"
"Yeah!"
"Woo!"
Ruby and Nora cheered Yang for her war speech while the rest of them looked on in amusement. She couldn't help but crack a smile and give a chuckle; looking around, Jaune grinned while Ren did his usual and try to hide his amusement, with Weiss and Blake attempting the same with various degrees of success.
"So! War plans, everybody," Yang cracked a fist into her palm. "What's it gonna be first? I'm digging this new place just down the street. Forgot the name but I heard they have live music, and the first band starts in half an hour!"
"Yang, aren't you too young to dri -"
"Ehhhh!" she interrupted, holding a finger to shush her and covering Weiss' mouth to which she earned an irritated glare. "Don't worry about that, Weiss-cream. I checked the law and it says sixteen is the limit if we're Huntsmen or students. Sorry Ruby."
"Eww, no! Last time I tried booze it was like eating dirt, except that it was on fire!"
Yang nodded in satisfaction. "Good! Means you'll behave."
"So, what's the plan then?" Ren asked. "You'll be heading straight to the club, then?"
"No, not interested."
"I'd rather not, no."
Weiss and Blake spoke over each other at the same time, to which they glanced at each other with a mildly annoyed glare.
"Hmm...are they still annoyed over their cafeteria fight a couple days ago?"
"Aww, come on, Blakey!" Yang crowed, coming over to her with a tearful eyed expression. "You're gonna abandon your partner all alone, huh?"
"What? No! I just don't like loud party music and excessive amounts of alcohol."
The blonde took a step back, acting hurt and affronted. "You...you wound me..."
"Oy! Why are we just standing here?" Nora complained, jumping onto Ren's back for a piggyback, though judging by the stumble and oof the teen let out he wasn't exactly prepared for it. "There's a weapon shop right over there, and it says that upgrades are on sale!"
Ruby immediately rushed up to Yang and Weiss who both immediately let out undignified sounds in surprise as she grasped them both with a steely, deadly serious expression. "I have found my true calling. We must go forth so that I may fulfill my destiny."
"Uhh...Ruby? You alright there?"
"Of course I am! This is basically heaven for me!" Ruby excitedly replied.
"But...but -"
"Look, Yang," Weiss sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "We have some time to spare. Why don't we go down the street and take a look at each of the shops before we hit your...bar?"
The blonde perked up. "Huh? Really?"
"You're obviously not going to let it go, and if anything, it's on the way. I'm sure you'll have your fill of fun too."
Yang's grin returned full force and roughly wrapped an arm around her partner, while Blake sighed in defeat.
"Wait, hold on, sis! I'm too young to even enter!"
Said sister glanced over to Ruby, staring at her for several seconds before resuming her predatory smile.
"I'm sure Weiss-cream would love to accompany you around, then, eh?"
The heiress blinked. "Huh?"
"You heard me! We'll just text you guys when we're done!" Yang crowed, eliciting from Weiss indignant protests at losing her freedom while Ruby cheered from behind, mentioning something about becoming BFFs.
"And don't worry, Blakey. I haven't forgotten about you. Any bookstores you wanna hit?"
To this, she looked towards her partner in confusion. "Wait, what?"
"I'm not so selfish as to deny you all the fun," Yang grinned back, though this time in a softer and friendlier manner. "Tonight's for all of us. Isn't there at least one place you'd wanna check out?"
She paused and looked to the side. After several seconds, she shrugged slightly in response.
"I'm not hearing a no!" Yang hollered, Blake burying her face in her palm. "Right then! That settles it. We'll go together to the club and split up once we get there. Sound good?"
Cue a mass nodding of heads, shrugs and affirmatives.
"Right. Off we go!" Yang and Nora whooped, the former grabbing Blake by the arm and dragging her along with them while the rest followed behind.
()===|=====+
"Excuse me, coming through!"
"Yeah, can I have the, uh, sausage, please?"
"I think she's totally into you, bro. Oh, dude, she just looked this way again!"
Upon exiting the restaurant, Pyrrha found herself subject to the hustle and bustle of the neighbourhood; many shops and eateries such as the one they had just taken advantage of were full of students like them, local and foreign. No doubt did these people - their competition in the fighting Festival to come - sought to enjoy every pleasure and luxury that their home for the next several weeks would offer.
And as Team JNPR along with Ruby and Weiss walked, the litany of voices filled her ears. Those as well as the vendors, small shops and various cafes all around them gave a sense of stillness and energy at the same time; peaceful, yet dynamic and full of life. The cool, still night air contrasted heavily with the atmosphere of the Valean nightlife. Upon exiting the restaurant, Pyrrha found herself subject to the hustle and bustle of the neighbourhood; many shops and eateries such as the one they had just taken advantage of were full of students like them, local and foreign.
It was almost like going on vacation and getting graded for how much you have fun, except that said fun also included rendering any of their newfound friends unconscious. At least the streets were bright and lively, if a bit cramped. She could definitely picture it as something that many would check off their bucket list, or a place she would be made to go to and photoshoot if she advertised her social life instead of her combat prowess.
The redhead shuddered at the thought. Her fame already made that hard to maintain; it was quite annoying how back at Mistral or when she went home to go see family in Argus that almost everybody recognized her, asking for pictures and autographs on her memorabilia. Sometimes, she couldn't believe that before all this she was actually quite a shy and reserved kind of girl - the kind which had to be forced out of its shell against its will in the name of power and family.
Her thoughts were shaken from her head at the sound of Ruby and Nora gasping loudly. Looking forward, she was treated to the sight of Ren and Weiss following after them like a pair of best friends patiently following after their shopping-crazy partners, which, to be fair, was more or less exactly what was happening in the first place.
"Ruby, this is the fifth weapons shop you've been to."
"I know! And there's five more just on this side of the street alone!"
"Oh my Gods, Ruby, check this out! Not only are those Dust grenades on sale, but they have two types of dust in them too!"
"And not only are these dust bullets armour piercing but they have fire Dust in them! Nora, incendiary ammo!
The two looked at each other with the gaze of two comrades charging into battle for the last time before immediately breaking into cries of joy and entering the store. Weiss took a step forward and sighed, glancing back at them with a weary expression.
"Ren...how? Just, how?"
"You don't want to know," he replied in solidarity. "Come on, let's go. Jaune? Pyrrha? You coming as well?"
The two looked at each other and shrugged. "Sure, why not," their team leader replied.
Ren nodded and followed Weiss as she entered the store, the remaining members of Team JNPR close behind. The first thing that they noticed - and really, it was rather impossible to miss - was a mannequin resembling the statue in the courtyard of Beacon. The likeness of Alastair Arc brandished a sword and shield as its inspiration, and around it lay various mechanical swords, axes and guns all chained securely to the table. Around the store hung various promotional posters interspersed with the occasional crossbow or mechanical pike; long story short, it was the dream of any weapons fanatic.
Pyrrha walked over to one of the sample swords, picking it up and feeling its balance. It was a simple weapon; according to the display it held Dust in its guard and could be used to coat the blade in an element of the wielder's choice, similar to Weiss' rapier.
"Like what you see?"
"It's alright, I suppose." She turned around to face Jaune, who held a curious look as he eyed her first and then switched over to the weapon. He took it from her grasp, noting with the occasional grunt and nod of the head about his opinion as he tested it as well.
"For a mass produced weapon the quality is not too bad, but it will never match any custom crafted weapon. The blade is sharp and is only slightly off balance though, so it works."
"Huh, okay. And what's it supposed to transform into?" Jaune inquired, leaning down and squinting at the item description. "Shield...? Hey, it's just like mine!"
Pyrrha leaned down beside him and read the display before inspecting its scabbard beside it. Sure enough it was indeed a sword and "shielth", but whereas Jaune's was brighter in colour this was was grey and black, dull in appearance as was the level of production that went into it.
Jaune huffed as he placed the sword down with a vaguely offended look. "I don't know about you, but I almost feel personally attacked."
She let out a small laugh. "Well, if it makes you feel better maybe they copied it because they liked yours well enough."
The blonde turned towards her. "Oh yeah? What if we come back Monday and find your spear and shield here but black and white? And many of them on the shelves across the wall?"
Pyrrha followed his gesture down the aisle, noting the various racks of weaponry as well as Ruby arguing with Weiss about some of the products on the shelves.
And now she replaced that with the sight of her weapon instead, being sold like some sort of mass produced commodity.
...she cringed at the thought.
"...yeah. I see your point," Pyrrha groused, facing back towards Jaune. "I wonder if Ruby, or Weiss or any of the others bought their weapons from a shop like this."
"Beats me, though I feel like they could probably use any of these well enough to kill the Grimm anyway," Jaune replied, walking back towards the entrance. "By the way, I'm still feeling kinda thirsty from the club. Is there any place to get a drink out here?"
"Yes, there's plenty of shops," she replied, looking towards Ren in the hopes of him seeing her as he watched over Nora like a protective parent. After several seconds he finally glanced around, making eye contact and tilting his head in an inquisitive gaze. In return she pointed between herself and Jaune and then the door, to which he nodded and pulled out his scroll.
Text and meet in front of the club when you're done
Pyrrha replied back on her own scroll with a thumbs up before following Jaune outside.
"Okay! So, there's a ton of places we passed by on the way to the club and stuff. Let's go check those out."
Bemused, Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Aren't you still full from dinner? You're acting like you won't make it another day without eating."
"I also like my stomach full, thank you very much," Jaune retorted as they continued walking down the street that they walked up on. "Besides, being in that club really made me tired."
"Eating food makes you more tired, though."
"Don't question my logic!" he replied, sarcastically aghast. "As a Huntsman in training, I require lots of sustenance every day. How will I kill Grimm if I don't?"
Pyrrha giggled, linking her arms around her back. "Alright then, Mr Huntsman in Training. Let's go get what he needs to be a big strong hero."
"Exactly, you see the li - hey, are you mocking me?"
Instead of replying she merely shrugged and smiled, walking ahead and forcing him to catch up. The two continued to bicker on for some time whilst weaving through the throngs of fellow students and Huntsmen. Despite the large number of people the cool night breeze still blew through the buildings surrounding the street; enough to relax but not to chill. What made it better was as they passed by an open restaurant or other shop, the fresh scent of various foods drifted out into the sky, creating a menagerie of heavenly smells as they walked.
It was at this point as they were continuing to walk and Jaune rambled on about their brief stint in the club - Yang absolutely destroying her dance floor competition while Blake sat at the bar and dealt with the advances of a charming looking monkey faunus did a sudden thought enter her mind. Initially, she surmised that at this point several hours after dinner that Yang and Blake would've already have left the club, but her thoughts rounded back on the fact that all of this here in the nightlife of Vale, from eating out for dinner and going on a shopping spree with teammates, and even having one or two beers at the club - it was something that people her age would go out and do to have fun. The normal thing to do.
Normal...
She looked to her teammate, remembering how he was the first in Beacon to fail to recognize her.
"...finally, we're here. Looks like there's some seats still left too..."
For once she felt like a normal person. Not Pyrrha Nikos, tournament champion and a proud scion of the Nikos family. Just...herself. Just Pyrrha.
"...umm...are you okay?...Pyrrha...?"
And that made her happy.
"...Pyrrha? You're...um...scaring me..."
The redhead suddenly came to her senses, realizing that she'd been staring at him as she blanked out. His face was a brilliant shade of red, a hand loosening his collar as he darted back and forth between looking at her and their surroundings. Eyes widening and face turning to match his own she quickly followed suit, coughing and mumbling apologies under her breath as she too looked away.
"Sorry. I, uh, may have blanked out on accident."
"Y-yeah! No worry. No worries," he stuttered, looking down and tapping his feet. For a couple more seconds did they awkwardly stand until she garnered the courage to speak and cleared her throat.
"Um. Do you want to...?"
"Oh! Uh, yeah! Let's, um, get a seat before they're taken."
()===|=====+
"Ahh!" Jaune exhaled loudly, planking down his empty glass of mango milkshake. "Just like momma used to make them."
Pyrrha grinned at his antics, taking a bite of the remainder of her cherry ice cream. "I never knew you had such a sweet tooth, Jaune."
He shrugged in reply. "Hey, if it's good then it's good. Not exactly gonna complain, you know?"
Nodding, she took another bite and gazed out the window, watching the fussiness of the street play out as people went about their lives. They had lapsed back into mostly companionable silence, looking at everything else but each other, and though none of them said it aloud the memory was still fresh in the back of her mind. Glancing back at him, she immediately regretted and looked away again as she saw him about to do the same, and then look away as they made eye contact. Both their faces turned red once more.
Deep down, however, she lightly cursed herself. This was her partner, the one she should've been most comfortable with. The one who, deep down, saw first for the person she was. And now she can't even talk to him, let alone face him and look him in the eye. And yet, she could face the Grimm. What kind of warrior was she? What kind of partner -
"Come, on Pyrrha! You've faced worse odds than this. You can beat it, girl!"
"Ahem," came out instead, clearing her throat as a knee jerk reaction. It actually startled her poor partner, jumping slightly and hitting his knee against the bottom of his table.
"Oh, sorry!"
"No, no! It's fine, Sorry, I kinda just phased out myself," he replied sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "So...lien for your thoughts?"
She looked back at him with a slightly unsure expression. "Um...it's nothing, really."
Jaune tilted his head in confusion, some of his own nervousness dissipating as he began to sense potential concern. "Really? It, uh, must be something if it's been on your mind this long."
"I...I was just thinking."
"About...?"
"Um. Things."
"...things?"
Pyrrha nodded furiously, quickly taking advantage even though she knew not where she was taking this.
"Yes. I was just thinking about...things. And...places. And, um...people!" she declared, putting on an air of false confidence. To be fair, it did seem to work as Jaune leaned back with some amusement.
"You like people, places and things?"
She solemnly nodded, glad he got the point because Brothers knew she sure as hell didn't.
For several long seconds that was probably akin to years they stared at each other's eyes before they both broke down in fits of laughter.
"I...okay then. Good to know!" Jaune chuckled, taking a sip of his milkshake.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what I'm saying," she replied with a bit of mirth in her eye. "I think the beers at the club are getting to me."
"But you only had like, two."
Pyrrha shrugged, to which Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Well, now that I know your, um, diabetic preferences, I guess its only fair that I even the odds," she replied, leaning forward. "I...don't exactly have the highest tolerance."
"Wait, what? Really?"
"Yes. I still remember the first time I ever drank. I could barely finish the bottle of beer they gave me," she said sheepishly, though she couldn't help the grin as he snorted in response. "Being the...generous...people that they were, they made sure to always have some left out for me. And since I can't just turn them down, well...let's just say I made the bathroom my home for the night."
"Ooh, yikes," Jaune replied, leaning forward with a sympathetic expression. "That bad, eh?"
"The next morning was the worst," Pyrrha agreed. "My Aura was still recovering a tournament from earlier the previous day so I had nothing to help absorb the pain with."
Her partner reached out and patted her arm. "My condolences. I'll make sure to bring you plenty of painkillers and powerade next time."
She snorted, and the last of their mood faded away. "Thanks, Jaune."
"But I have to ask. Why didn't your parents stop that from happening?"
At this, she made to reply but closed her mouth, looking outside the window as she fought for a way to...delicately phrase her answer.
"...I'm sorry, I-I shouldn't have asked."
"No, no! It's fine!" she stammered. "Really, I insist. It's just that...well. Remember when I said a while back that you're not the only one who feels the burden of family expectations?"
Jaune's gaze hardened and he nodded.
"My father is a...demanding man. He has always fought to uphold the reputation of our name, especially in many of the tournaments I've fought in. At the same time, he expects a lot of us. Perfection. Loyalty, That kind of thing. And so every time I take home another trophy it really inflates his ego, as if it was he himself who won it," Pyrrha replied, closing her eyes and her fist, the latter beginning to shake. "He's always the first to get drunk whenever something like this happens. All while never once looking after mom and my little brother. Never once -"
"Pyrrha."
She opened her eyes wide as he said her name, his voice gentle and reassuring.
"I'm sorry to hear that. Really, I don't want to make you uncomfortable if you want to stop talking about it, that's fine -"
Shaking her head, she wiped her eyes and gave him a grateful smile. "No...it's okay. I've, um, never actually said that to anyone so I'd appreciate it if you keep it under wraps, but I will say that it felt, uh, what's the word...cathartic, to say."
She reached forward and gently laid a hand on his arm.
"Just...thank you, for listening to me."
Jaune smiled back.
They both held their gaze for some time; this time however, neither of them felt the awkwardness nor regret as before. Instead, Pyrrha noted, a feeling of mutual understanding and gratefulness on her part, filled the space between them. From the cozy booth in their cafe to the heart to heart they had, it helped give back a sense of normalcy to the atmosphere. That same normalcy that she had desired, and now restored by the one who introduced it to her at first.
She couldn't help but smile.
Such thoughts were interrupted, however, as she felt the scroll in her pocket vibrate. Her eyes narrowed in concern as it continued to vibrate over and over - fishing it out she opened it up and quickly read through the texts Ren and Yang had sent her.
"What's going on?"
"It's from Ren and Yang. They said that they - oh. We need to get to the docks right now."
At this, Jaune too narrowed his eyes as they both stood up. Slamming down several bills of lien on the counter they hurried to the exit, the blonde yelling back to keep the change as they headed down the road.
"Pyrrha, what exactly is happening?"
She sent off a flurry of replies before turning back towards her partner.
"We have to call our weapon lockers from the school. The White Fang's attacking the docks."
- Important Announcement -
Before I get into the AN proper, I need to make an announcement. Due to unavoidable work obligations with the global pandemic, I unfortunately have to put this story on hiatus. It pains me to say it as school itself had just finished and would've freed up even more time to work on this story, but because work commitments tied to the uncertain length of how long the pandemic will continue, there will be little spare time to sit down and write, much less even have access to a computer. That being said, let me be clear that the story is not cancelled - only delayed. I am not going to abandon this story, and any time I could spare I will devote to brainstorming and finishing up the next chapter. In fact, Chapter 14 is almost fully fleshed out. The real question is when I can have time to finish it and upload it. I am truly sorry for this to pass but just like our heroes in green, so too will this story return. Updates will be posted on my profile.
/AN\
In any case, welcome back all to A Descendant of Legends!
Here, I wanted to continue from where Chapter 11 left off - though this time having fun enjoying the nightlife after school as befits a treat after a long week of schoolwork. Definitely shorter than the previous, and tried to make it somewhat topical too - might as well go let out some steam and enjoy the end the week, and, honestly, I don't think it would be completely enjoyable to write several thousand words of our protagonists just sleeping. Though the visual of them just chilling around for a bit as befits a late morning weekend does sound like a fun, minor idea. I myself consider it an achievement if I could honestly make it out of bed before noon, lol. It was rather amusing seeing people fall asleep in online lectures.
Once again, thank you all for reading and sticking around! Constructive criticism and feedback are always welcome.
Hope to see you all next time! Cheers, and stay safe.
Anonymous: Honestly yeah, it's quite interesting. I sat for around for a while on the wiki reading about the various items and lore some time ago, and have to say it looked pretty well done. But thanks, and hope to see you around!
Dragon lord Syed 101: Gotcha. And hey, you gotta give credit where and when it's due. Thanks and hope to see you next time!
KlonoaFan64: ;)
MeraHunt: Uh oh indeed. Looks like there is another force of evil now walking the face of Remnant, eh? And yeah, Ozpin's had the advantage of time and experience before with Salem and the Grimm - now faced with Jaune and what lies beneath, it really does look like he's on uncharted ground. In any case, thanks and hope to see you soon!
Anonymous: Thanks! Hope to see you when I do!
Spartastic 4: Thanks! Writing in more of DL as well as other Zelda villains is definitely one of the more satisfying aspects of this story. And yes, stories are more than just tense moments and drama. I figured here to tackle two birds with one stone - more interactions between the characters as well as to develop a feel of how they can enjoy themselves in my own take of how the city of Vale could be like. Hope to see you next time!
HallowedExistence: Thank you, and gotcha. Hope to see you next time!
SkyArk: Glad to hear it! It was my love of lore - especially that of the Zelda series - which were one of my main inspirations to begin writing this story, even without any prior experience in it, lol. I would definitely recommend you sit down and give the games a try. Many people fell in love with it for various reasons, and honestly there is something magical with the lore, universe and quests which tell us the characters' stories. I'm sure you'd find yours, too. Thank you, and hope to see you next time!
The Legend of Zelda and RWBY are properties of Nintendo and Rooster Teeth, respectively.