Yo!
Welcome back to another chapter of Familiar! Nothing much to say, let's get into it!
Start Chapter 3
Yang wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to feel when she looked at Familiar.
He did, rather undeniably, fulfill the role of his namesake quite well. He looked just like Jaune; to the point that if Yang had seen him outside of this context, she'd have still pegged him as a younger sibling.
The past few days had seen Familiar helping Weiss when she'd been at her lowest, and the two were building up quite the rapport. That, Yang was grateful for. She wished she could simply focus on that positive, instead of having to peek out of the corner of her eye and see Ruby still just as devastated as she'd been a week or two ago.
Yang knew that she probably should have called the group to a stop, and taken Ruby aside to talk to her, but at the same time, she wasn't wrong in that getting out of here as quickly as possible was for the best.
The longer they were stuck here, the longer their friends in the real world were left on their lonesome.
They were fairly deep into the Red Woods now, having been traveling through them for the last few days. Their progress was slow going, but they were certainly making better time than they'd been a week ago, when they'd all been too steeped in grief to truly put any effort in.
However, the deeper they went into the autumn-colored land, the more Familiar seemed to grow antsy.
Yang wanted to know why.
So, she hung back, so that the two of them were walking parallel with one another.
"You ok?" She asked Familiar, and she watched as he jumped in place. Evidently, he hadn't seen her until she'd called out to him.
"Oh, yes." He nodded, but there was a weakness to his tone. "I'm fine. Tired, and a bit… I don't really know. I just feel like something's wrong. A piece of me that I don't know how to identify seems to be trying to tell the rest of me something."
"And you don't know what that is?"
"No." Familiar shook his head, puckering his lips together in thought. "This area is familiar to me. I feel like I know it, despite the fact that I'm sure I've never been here before."
Yang nodded along to the boy's words. "Well, we'll be careful. You're the resident of the Ever After. We'll take your word for it if you say something's off."
Familiar beamed up at her. "Thank you. I'm sorry for worrying everyone."
"Don't be. You're giving us a heads up." Yang told him, reaching down almost on instinct and ruffling the boy's hair. "That's not worrying us; that's warning us of a potential threat. As Huntresses, we very much understand that."
Familiar nodded along, but there was a certain confusion evident in his gaze.
"What is a huntress?"
It was Yang's turned to be somewhat surprised. "Oh, uh… huh. Putting me on the spot there a little bit."
"You don't have to answer–"
"Nah, it's no biggie." She smiled down at the kid. "You're just curious, and it's not a hard question. I just have to think about it for a second."
She did just that, trying to condense all of her thoughts on the matter into a digestible piece of information.
"Well, where we come from, a Huntress – or I suppose I should say a Hunter, since Huntress is more specific – is someone who fights against the creatures of Grimm."
"What's a Grimm?"
Yang probably should have been expecting that one.
"…They're monsters, basically." She decided that any further explanations about things like the gods of light and dark, or Salem, were unnecessary for the time being. "And they're a danger to the people of our world. So, some of us decide to train our whole lives to become warriors capable of facing off against these creatures. Those are Hunters."
Familiar made an 'oh' sound. "I think I get it!"
Yang chuckled. "I'm glad."
"It's weird," Familiar spoke, reaching up and massaging at his chin with one hand. "I feel like I already knew all of that, but… there's no way that I could've. It's the same thing that happened when I thought about this place, the Red Woods!"
Yang knew why, of course. They all knew why. She could tell that some of the others were debating whether or not they should tell Familiar the truth; that he was, in a way, a reincarnation of their friend.
But none of them were sure how Familiar would react, and perhaps more than that, none of them were sure they were ready for the conversations that would inevitably ensue afterwards.
"Well…" Yang supposed that an absent comment couldn't hurt. "Perhaps you ascended, and you still carry with you some of the bits and pieces of who you were before."
Familiar's face scrunched up rather adorably, and Yang was half tempted to pinch his cheeks, but she refrained through sheer force of will.
"I guess… but that's not supposed to happen."
"What do you mean?"
"Ascended aren't supposed to remember anything about their lives before. They're supposed to be brand new."
Yang hummed. "Well… maybe you were different."
"…Maybe I am." Familiar admitted after a while.
Familiar seemed to think on that for quite a while as the group walked on, and came up on another similar town to the one they'd gotten Yang's arm back in last time. That same town had also been where they'd found Crocea Mors.
The memory still stuck with Yang – very much unbiddenly. She could still hear Weiss' cries in her ears, still see Ruby breaking, collapsing to her knees, and laying on her back in the forest just beyond as the leaves floated down atop her.
They'd been so very lost, then.
Nothing more was said as they asked around town. Their previous time through, they'd done their best to avoid the Red Prince and his men, but this time around they were grasping at straws a bit. It was in their best interest to talk to someone, even if that someone seemed to have a penchant for cutting people's heads off.
Yang was fairly certain they could prevent that from happening to any of their group.
Their suspicions were confirmed; The great castle towering in the distance did in fact belong to the Red Prince. As they were asking around trying to get an idea for what this man was like, Familiar suddenly chimed in with an opinion of his own.
"I don't like the red prince." Familiar said in an oddly childish way, like the Red Prince was some kind of schoolyard bully. "He's mean to everybody, and he hurts people."
Blake nodded her head. "That seems consistent with what we've heard so far. Did you meet the Red Prince, familiar?"
"I've never met him. I guess I've just got a feeling." Familiar said again, and he seemed to be growing increasingly frustrated with the fact that he couldn't quite place any of the memories that existed within his head.
"We'll take your word for it." Weiss chimed in. "You haven't led us wrong so far."
Familiar nodded appreciatively, even as they made their journey towards the Red Prince's domain. Whether or not he was a scumbag who would try to attack them, they still needed answers on how to leave the Ever After.
They arrived on the Red Prince's doorstep to see an army consisting of a good fifty or so nutcracker men standing outside. They were armed to the teeth with halberds and spears.
For Team RWBY, of course, they weren't actually a problem, but they also didn't want to just show up and start blasting, either.
So, they would try the peaceful approach first.
"Heyo!" Yang shouted out, drawing attention to herself as she chose to lead the group. She was the most amicable, and the only natural extrovert amongst their team.
"Go no further!" One of the nutcracker men shouted, leveling his spear in Yang's direction. "State your business, or begone!"
"We're here to see the Red Prince, and ask him how to leave the Ever After." Yang stated, watching as the expressions on the many nutcracker men's faces grew flummoxed. "Would he be able to meet with us?"
To his credit, the nutcracker man did actually look down at what seemed to be some sort of schedule. He peered at a moment, hummed under his breath, and then looked back up towards them.
"I'm afraid his highness is very busy with gazing at his collection of oddities at the moment. You'll have to come back later."
Yang's expression dimmed somewhat. "And uh… how long is that going to take, exactly?"
"His highness tends to stare at his collection for periods of two realm cycles."
Yang opened her mouth, closed it, and then turned back towards her team.
"Anyone have any idea how long that is?"
Familiar raised his hand. "That's about two months."
"Two–" Yang turned back towards the man with a sneer. "He's going to stare at his collection for that long!?"
"It is quite the sizable collection, and his highness likes to dedicate the proper amount of time to each item."
"Well, how about this," Yang was growing less and less patient by the minute. "Tell him to come out here, and we'll give him something for his collection, how about that?"
"And just what it is you'll give his highness?"
Yang had absolutely no idea.
She turned back towards her teammates and raised her eyebrows in question towards them.
Each of them shrugged back at her.
Great. Very helpful. Thanks guys.
"We'll give him, uh…" Yang was struggling. "…a piece of our minds?"
The nutcracker man's eyes widened, and yeah, that was fair, given that Yang had just threatened the damned bastard, but instead of freaking out on them, the guardsman nodded his head, told them he'd be back within a few minutes, and left, presumably to ask this prince.
Hm. That was probably not good.
"What were you thinking!?" Weiss hissed up at her. "A piece of our minds!?"
"Look, I was annoyed, alright!?"
"We can tell." Blake stated, although she had a smirk on her lips. "You'd better hope they don't take that literally, and ask us each to cut off a piece of our brains."
"Well, if they do that, we just beat them up." She shook her head. "Ugh, alright, when they come back with like fifty more soldiers, we can–"
Weiss pointed towards the nutcracker men. "Seems he's back already."
Yang turned, and, sure enough, that same nutcracker man had returned, and he looked rather pleased.
"The Red Prince has agreed to see you in exchange for the terms you provided!"
"Oh, he totally thinks we're about to give him a piece of our brains, doesn't he?" Yang sighed out quietly, before raising her voice to respond to the guard. "Uh, yeah, sure, lead the way, and we'll follow!"
He nodded, and then they were being led inside.
The Crimson Castle was, in all honesty, a rather impressive place. It was adorned with grand ceilings, and checkerboard patterns, and staircases that led up to nowhere at all. It seemed an almost liminal space, the kind of place that might show up in one of those independent horror games Yang sometimes watched videos about when she was bored.
Though it was, in all fairness, much more colorful.
Her attention, however, was not on the rather impressive architecture – impressive, even if most of it seemed physically impossible – but instead on Familiar, who had taken to walking by her side for the last while.
Yang had to admit that it brightened her spirits. Familiar was a good kid, and Yang had always liked kids. That… probably had a lot to do with the whole 'raising Ruby' thing, but eh, kids were cute.
Well, they could also be demonic hell spawn, but that was really beside the point.
Familiar was staying to Yang's right side, almost hiding behind her leg as he clung to it. She wondered if being here was scaring him somehow. Perhaps Jaune and the Red Prince had not been the best of friends during the former's time in the Ever After.
Finally, they exited out into a large, high-ceilinged room. There were many different staircases surrounding a central platform, upon which stood a short figure, maybe a meter tall.
And judging by the crown he was wearing, Yang pegged him as the Red Prince.
"Welcome, welcome!" The Red Prince shouted, and it was a shout, far too loud for how echoey the room was. "You stand within the domain of the Red Prince, ruler of the King's Acre. You have offered an exchange, and I have accepted the terms."
"And the conditions of this exchange, what are they, exactly?"
The Red Prince bristled, And Yang realized that he probably hadn't been finished giving his little speech.
"Er, sorry. Continue."
The Red Prince harrumphed, crossed his arms over his chest, and scowled their way. "You have offered to give me a piece of your mind; in exchange, I will offer you information that shall point you towards how to exit the Ever After. You will give your item in exchange first, and then I will follow with mine."
Well, given that they quite literally couldn't give anything they had in exchange, Yang didn't quite like that arrangement.
"How about you give us your information first, and then we'll give you ours?"
"And why would I do that?" The Red Prince scoffed. "Is it not obvious that you would attempt to cheat me out of what is rightfully mine!? That you would take what I'd magnanimously given to you, and run away!?"
"Well, what guarantee do we have that you're going to stick to your side of the deal?" Yang fired back, taking a step forward. "You could just as easily do the same thing to us!"
"Hah. Hah!" The Red Prince's laugh was rather clearly falsified. "How droll. You think to say that I, I, of all Afterans, would cheat!?"
"Hey, I just said it was possible!"
"You foolish– seize them, seize them and–"
"You're different."
The voice that suddenly called out, then, had Yang jumping in surprise. Mostly, because it had come from directly beside her, belonging to Familiar, who'd stepped out from behind her leg and was now stood parallel with her.
"What is that you said?" The Red Prince asked, but there was a hint of aggravation hanging about him already.
Yang didn't think this man – no, boy, he was definitely a boy – was a very well-adjusted individual.
"You used to be… kind. You used to be generous, and giving. But now the people say you're mean. The people say you take from them without giving in return, and that when they try and challenge you to your games, you cheat."
"Cheat!?" The Red Prince shouted, seemingly aghast. "How dare you accuse me of such a thing!? No one… no one, no one, no one, no one is allowed to accuse me of cheating!"
Yeah, no, this is a really poorly-adjusted individual.
"Guards!" The Red Prince shouted, his voice quivering with rage. "Seize them! And then chop off their heads!"
Well, it seemed that negotiations had broken down.
Oh, well.
Yang sprang into action, deploying Ember Celica and slamming her fists into the first two toy soldiers that attempted to swing their weapons at her. Both flew backwards, and sailed over the edge of the platform.
For their sake, Yang hoped it had a bottom.
"Grr!" The Red Prince growled. "Get them! Get theeeem!"
"Y'know, just once, I'd like to actually do something like this and manage to talk our way both in and out." Yang commented absently.
"Eh, probably better things worked out this way, anyhow." Blake shrugged as she cracked her neck. "I think we were going to be fighting our way out when they asked for that piece of our minds regardless.
Yang hummed in agreement.
Things sort of deteriorated from there.
Conceptually, Yang understood that due to the fact the soldiers were made of wood, and likely powered by some form of magic, they were going to be a bit harder to defeat than the average human opponent.
What she hadn't expected, however, was the sheer number of enemies that came pouring out of the depths of the Crimson Castle.
It felt like a never-ending stream of them. Just when Yang would deal with five, ten more would take their place. Weiss summoned the blade of her Arma Gigas, and cleaved through a good fifteen. They broke apart like they were made of those little brick thingies that Ruby had loved when she'd been a kid, shattering into multiple pieces.
Blake swung about on Gambol Shroud's ribbon, slicing through their wooden foes. She infused Dust into her semblance, and the explosions that resulted knocked even more soldiers off of the platform.
And Ruby…
Yang realized she hadn't yet seen Ruby at all.
She looked back, and saw her sister struggling with just three guards. Her heart leapt as one swung clumsily, something that Ruby should have easily been able to handle, and instead of blocking, or dodging the hit, it instead struck her across the face.
"Ruby!"
Ruby herself didn't seem to have her head in the game. That had been obvious to all of them, but it was something they'd thought at the very least wouldn't affect her combat ability. Instead, she seemed to be floundering where she should have easily been able to rinse these guys.
Yang was just about to run over and assist, just about to break off from the others, but before she could…
A yellow blur streaked by.
Yang's eyes widened as Familiar leapt towards Ruby, who looked shellshocked as one of the soldiers raised their weapon. Familiar was faster, easily catching the haft of the halberd before it could complete its swing, and then kicking the soldier's arm in such a way that the joint broke at the elbow.
Yang winced, then remembered that these were soldiers made of wood, and that they probably didn't actually feel pain.
Familiar yanked the halberd away, and swung widely outwards with it. He tripped up one of the soldiers, then ducked underneath another's spear as it threatened to cut right through him. It was only then that Yang realized that Familiar, being a denizen of the Ever After and not Remnant, likely didn't possess any aura to speak of.
She swore beneath her breath, even as she used Ember Celica to launch herself forward.
A gaggle of soldiers blocked her path, however, and she was forced to stop to deal with them. even as she was doing so, she was watching Familiar, keeping her eyes on him and Ruby.
If things got intense, she would break through. It would cost her aura, but she could manage all the same.
And yet…
No.
It seemed Familiar had things handled.
He wielded the halberd oddly, almost awkwardly. It was clear it wasn't his choice of weapon, but even so, his fundamentals were good enough that he was more than aware of how to use it. He struck out with the tip, then swung it to and fro, forcing the enemies back, and preventing them from closing in on Ruby.
All the while, he urged Ruby up. It took a few times, but eventually, her sister seemed to snap back to reality, and pushed herself up off the ground.
Yang allowed herself to take a breath of relief, then, even as she focused in on her own fight. It didn't take her that much longer to mop up the rest of the party that had tried to stop her, and then she focused in on the main crowd.
Over the course of the next fifteen or so minutes, they cleared that central chamber of any opposition. It was slow going, and rather intense work, but they were Huntresses, and some of the best.
Hey, those were just the facts of the matter. They were among the best Hunters out there. She wasn't tooting her own horn!
Well, not that much, anyhow.
When the fighting had concluded, Yang allowed herself to breathe. She turned towards Ruby and Familiar, the latter of whom was offering the former comfort as they sat down away from where Blake and Weiss were going to 'talk' to the Red Prince.
"Are you okay?" Familiar asked Ruby, and it was clear immediately that he didn't think she was.
"I'm fine." Ruby lied.
"Ruby, you're not fine."
Ruby and Familiar both looked over towards her as she walked over, and sat herself down across from the two of them. She was sat cross legged, leaning forward.
Ruby didn't say anything, but she wasn't meeting Yang's eyes, either. She was trying to dodge the topic, didn't want to face the facts of the situation.
Yang was, frankly, tired of it.
She'd trusted that Ruby would come to them at some point. That eventually, her little sister would tell them what was bothering her.
But she hadn't.
And if she had to force the issue, then…
"Ruby–"
"Miss Ruby?" Familiar cut her off. "Are you still sad?"
Yang didn't want to let the conversation she knew they needed to have get away, but she also didn't want to just step on Familiar's toes, either. Before she could think too hard about it, Ruby was responding herself.
"I'm fine." She said again. "I'm just… just exhausted is all."
"But you are not fine, Ruby."
Ruby bit down on her bottom lip. "I said I'm fine, Familiar. You don't have to–"
"Nope."
"You… what are you–"
"Nope."
Yang's brow furrowed, even as Ruby's eyes widened. There was something there that Yang wasn't catching, something hidden within that simple word that meant something to Ruby.
"You…" Ruby seemed oddly affected by this. "Familiar, I'm telling–"
"Nope." He shook his head, planted his hands on his hips, and looked Ruby dead in the eye.
It was not so much convincing as it was completely adorable, but the boy was trying his best.
"You are hurting, Ruby!" Familiar said, and it did not leave room for her to deny it. "You've been hurting this whole time."
"That… I…" Ruby looked away. "I'm not… it was just a slipup, I'm fine–"
"Why are you trying to explain yourself away?"
"What?" Ruby seemed flabbergasted at the question. "Because I was useless back there! Because one of you guys could've gotten hurt because I couldn't pull my own weight! Familiar, you don't even have aura, do you!?"
"Nope."
"Stop saying that!" She shouted, and the emotion within her voice seemed so much larger than it should've been. "That… I… You don't get to… you're not him! You're…"
Yang decided to step in. "Ruby, please. We're not blaming you. No one is blaming you."
"I…" Ruby's lower lip wobbled. "I don't know how you don't blame me! It's all my fault, everything–"
"It's not your fault–"
"It was all my fault!" Ruby screamed. "I made the wrong call with Ironwood, and I made the wrong call with Mantle, and I made the wrong call with Atlas, and Penny, and getting everyone to safety, and… and we ended up here, and so many people died, and how can you not blame me for that!?"
Yang… she was stunned at the amount of self-deprecation that was practically dripping off of her sister, then. But she knew what it was like. Of course, she did. She'd gone through the same things after Beacon, after losing her arm, and Blake, and…
And feeling like she had to deal with it all herself.
But she hadn't had to.
Neither did Ruby.
"Rubes…" She leaned forward, and took her sisters hands. The both of them. She held them up in front of her. "No one in the entirety of Remnant is perfect. No one out there can say they've made nothing but correct decisions. Maybe you made a bad call. But you know what? None of us tried to correct you. None of us had anything better. So, I'm not going to sit here and pretend like this is all your fault. Because it isn't."
"Mm." Familiar spoke, getting down on his knees and placing his hands on top of Yang's. "Yang's right. We chose to follow you. Even…"
Familiar trailed off, but they'd all heard what he'd said. Yet again, another memory had taken hold of him. Yet again, his past experience, his past life as Jaune Arc had reared its head.
And he still didn't seem to have any clue what to do about it.
In all fairness, Yang didn't either.
"I just…" Ruby shook her head. "I know. I think I… I always knew that. But it's just…"
"There's no one in the entire world that's harder to forgive than yourself." Familiar spoke, but it was a quiet, almost distant thing.
"Yeah." Yang laughed; wan and uneven. "Listen to the deer boy."
"I'm a jackalope."
"Listen to the jackalope boy." Yang said, before looking over at Jaune. "And what do you mean you're a jackalope? You don't have any bunny characteristics at all."
"I have a rabbit tail."
Yang's eyes lit up. "No way."
Jaune pulled up the back of his long blue shirt, and sure enough, barely poking out from out from the back of his shorts, was a fluffy golden ball of fur.
"Oh my gods, that's the cutest thing I've ever seen."
Ruby chuckled, and it was a weak thing, but the fact that she was capable of such at all had Yang wanting to jump for joy. She hadn't heard Ruby laugh in…
It felt like it had been weeks.
And then the room shook rather violently.
"What was that!?"
"The toy soldiers are getting up!" Weiss shouted.
Sure enough, all around them, the toy soldiers that had been knocked out were standing right back up, like they'd taken no damage whatsoever. Their limbs, if they'd been removed, were reattaching as if by magic, and their weapons were returning to their hands.
Familiar tried his best to keep his new halberd, but it, too, soared out of his reach.
"Aw, man. I liked that thing."
"I think a sword might be more your style." Yang chuckled as she hauled him up. "Alright kids, time to run!"
No one else complained. Surely, they could beat them up again, but Yang had a feeling that the soldiers would just stand back up in another fifteen or so minutes.
She supposed that explained how the nutcracker guys that kept getting their heads cut off still served that Red Prince asshole; their deaths weren't really all that permanent.
They ran as fast as they could, even as spears, and halberds, and javelins rained down around them. One dinked off of the back of Weiss' head, and she loudly cursed, even as she shot back a swarm of miniature Nevermore that took out the toy soldier in question.
"Somehow, I knew this would happen!" Familiar shouted as he outpaced them all, his legs moving at what felt like a mile a minute.
Yang just laughed. She was noticing a bit more of the jackalope influence now.
"How did you know that?"
"I don't know!"
"Seems like that's your answer to everything, kid."
"I know!" Familiar yelled back as they ducked underneath yet another thrown spear. "It is very annoying!"
And Yang couldn't help it; she laughed.
/
It took a full hour after that before they were convinced that they'd totally managed to shake their pursuers.
It made sense when Yang thought about the fact that the toy soldiers were… well… toys, and thusly didn't have to worry about things like stamina.
Kind of aggravating, when she thought of it like that, but oh well.
"Hah…" Weiss panted out under her breath, even as she ran the backside of her hand along her forehead, trying to remove the sweat caking it. "Let's not do that again."
"Antagonize a dictator on the off chance he'll know a way out of the magical realm we've been trapped in?" Blake teased. "Somehow, I don't think we're going to find ourselves in such a situation again, Weiss."
"Yes, Blake, hilarious."
Yang chuckled. "Speaking of; did we learn anything from princy boy?"
Weiss grimaced. "No. He didn't know anything concrete. And what he did tell us we suspected already; that we should probably try making our way to the tree."
Yang clicked her tongue along the roof of her mouth. "Welp, guess that settles that." She couldn't help but wonder, however, "…Just how do you get to the tree in the first place, though?"
No one seemed to have an answer to that. Not even Familiar, who she'd half expected to chime in with an incredibly detailed explanation – before of course reverting back to total cluelessness – said a word.
Then something odd happened. Familiar's face morphed into something different. Something almost…
Angry.
And before Yang could ask at all about why…
"Ah, but my friends, that is quite the interesting question you've just asked."
Yang wasn't alone in aiming her weapons towards the sound of that voice, and taking a battle-ready stance.
Yet the person – no, the creature – who approached them, then, was not at all who Yang had expected.
Despite the fact that they'd sounded perfectly human, the new arrival was a cat. It was colored in rather harsh neon blues and pinks, and it seemed to defy the traditional laws of physics with its movements, bouncing about and separating different pieces of its body as it climbed through the underbrush towards them.
All the while, it didn't seem at all threatened by the weapons pointed right at it.
"But the answer to that question is not at all a simple one… are you prepared to learn the truth of the matter?"
"Who are you?" Yang asked, never lowering Ember Celica.
"Me?" The creature smiled, and that expression carried so much that Yang had no idea what to do with it.
"I am the Curious Cat. And it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
End Chapter 3
Alright, that's Chapter 3!
Still not a lot to say, other than that I and the commissioner are working on chapter 4! Expect this story to last about five or six more chapters. Probably ending at Chapter 8 or 9. I'm really enjoying writing this story, it's something I normally wouldn't have, so it's a neat exercise!
As always, given this is a commissioned story, there is no update schedule, so I will see you all when I see you!