Fortunately, she hadn't missed the new episode of Jojo.
Unfortunately, once it was over she was fresh out of things to do.
Fortunately, as she was sitting at her computer browsing the internet, something to occupy her time came to her in the form of a text from Jaune.
…Unfortunately, it seemed said text wasn't that high in spirit.
Jaune: "Hey, mind if I come hang out for a little while? I know it's late, but I kind of need to get away from my team for a bit."
Violet was a bit concerned, but she was still happy to have something new to occupy her time, so she sent him a simple text back, "Sure."
She went back to browsing, looking at various videos that caught her attention while she waited, though she kept one part of her headphones off her ear, just to listen for the door.
The knock came about ten minutes after Jaune had sent his text, and so she paused the video she was watching and rolled her chair back while saying, "Come in!"
The door opened and in came Jaune, still in his Beacon uniform. He looked tired and a bit worn out, "Hey, Violet." He smiled tiredly as he closed the door, "Sorry to bother you so late, I just… Really need some time away from it all."
Violet smiled and shook her head, "Don't mention it, Jaune. You're a friend of mine, and honestly, I could use the distraction as well." She turned her chair to face him as he walked over to sit on the foot of her bed. She wasn't sure exactly how she was supposed to help someone who was going through a difficult time, she'd never had to before, "Do you… wanna talk about it?"
"I… I don't know." Jaune responded, resting his arms on his legs as he looked down, "I made a mistake, and I made Pyrrha upset, and…" He trailed off, seemingly stuck on his words.
Violet looked away for a moment. She'd never been great at this stuff, she reminded herself, she'd never had to talk to anyone about anything difficult before. Yet, she would try to help, and if he didn't want to talk about it, well…
She rolled her chair over next to him, "Wanna play a game? I've got lots of stuff we can play, or, if you want, I can just let you play whatever, even if it's singleplayer. Or we could watch a show!"
He lifted his head and looked up at her, ocean blue meeting shining silver. He saw the trepidation in her gaze, but he knew it wasn't because of his presence. He didn't know much about her, but as she smiled a smile that reached her eyes in an effort to comfort him, he knew that she was trying to help him, in spite of her discomfort. He felt a smile crossing his face, in spite of himself, "Yeah. A show sounds fun."
She turned her chair back towards her monitors, rolling over to it and browsing to another website, "Let's see…How about Kami go Kago? That always makes me feel better when I'm sad."
"Oh, uhh-" Jaune chuckled nervously, "I uh… I meant to tell you, but a couple nights ago I sat down and watched all of that."
Violet looked back at him with clear surprise in her eyes, "Y-You did?"
He smiled awkwardly, "Yeah, I mean… You said it was your favorite, and I wanted to be able to talk about it with you, so I figured I'd watch it on my own time." He rubbed the back of his neck, "I hope that wasn't bad."
Her eyes widened before she shook her head, "N-No, it's not." She felt a strange feeling, a fluttering in her chest, something she'd never really felt before. Not this way. He honestly did that, just because she mentioned it offhandedly? He wanted to talk about it with her enough that he was willing to do that? It was so… earnest, so… dorky. Something that left her feeling.
Against her own will, she felt her cheeks reddening, and she averted her gaze from him as the fluttering became more pronounced, "Th-That's… nobody's ever done anything like that for me before, is all. So… I'm just… a bit surprised." She nervously giggled, "It's really sweet." And dorky. That was an important part.
Jaune grinned in relief, "Ah, I'm glad you think so. We could watch it together, actually. Now that I think about it, it might be just the thing I need." Nothing quite like watching four weirdos fail their way to victory to lift his spirits, after all.
Violet pushed down this feeling in her heart, because she knew what it was. It came so suddenly, as well, suddenly she… felt something stirring in her heart for Jaune. It was only sparks, nothing quite so big as love, but she knew it would grow if left unchecked. She reminded herself that she was still herself, and nobody deserved to be burdened with her. In addition, Jaune had a crush on Weiss, she knew that, and she wasn't going to be so foolish as to believe that'd change just because of her.
So instead, she pulled up the show and rolled back so she was sitting near the foot of the bed, though still on her chair. As it came on, she got comfortable, as did Jaune. He found that it was easy to let go of his worries here, Cardin who? All he cared about right now was watching a show with some good company.
And Violet, for her part, was more than happy to provide that.
/-/
They had watched for a couple hours, before eventually Jaune had to return to his dorm. Violet had gone to bed that night a lot less stressed than she had been previously.
That being said, there was still a lot on her mind.
Nonetheless, she was able to at least put it in the back of her mind the next afternoon. She was training her powers on some androids, as she usually did. Five charged her with swords, five stayed behind with rifles—blunted swords and rubber bullets, but still more than capable of making her regret getting out of bed that morning.
Yet she couldn't help but smile as they came. She had her sword in her hands, and wind whipped around it in a frenzy, making her hair flutter with it. Five robots shot at her, but their bullets found no purchase as they stopped moving in the air before clattering to the ground.
The riflebots were soon set upon by Yuvi, who grabbed one with both hands and lifted it off the ground before smashing it into another. She let go of the pile of nuts and bolts before hurrying over to the next one, infused with water that flowed behind her as she moved, and once she reached the next riflebot, she thrust her hands outward, sending out a wave of water that took it and the remaining riflebots with it.
Meanwhile, the wind around Violet's sword grew in strength and size before she swung it with a mighty swing. The wind ripped through the room, and it cut like knives through the five robots charging her, cutting them clean in half and sending them to the ground.
She grinned as the dust settled and the wind around her sword died, but her eyes almost fluttered shut and she fell to one knee, resulting in Ozpin coming up to her to check on her, "You've trained enough today, Violet. You've shown remarkable growth in such a short time; you can afford to take some days off."
Violet shook her head, "Gotta… catch up, right?" She looked up at him and smiled, "It… occurred to me that this really is… magic." She managed to stand, sheathing her sword and continuing, "I've been… doing a lot of thinking the past few days, and I guess I hadn't really let it set in how important this is… so I have to give it my all. Especially because everyone else has years of Huntsman training on me. I only have the knowledge I do because of Grandpa."
Ozpin smiled, "While it's true that you need more training to be on par with the best, you're already equivalent to a third year Signal student. You need time to rest, or you'll risk tiring yourself out or injuring yourself. As such, I'd rather you focus on other aspects of your training for the next few days."
Violet furrowed her brow, "Other… aspects? Like what? Meditation, aura control?"
Ozpin chuckled, "Not exactly."
"So… What is it?"
"Well…"
/-/
Frankly, Violet was upset.
It was one thing to commit to trying to become the best Maiden she could be. It was an entirely different thing to have to give up her afternoon in order to attend a field trip for the sake of 'meeting her peers'. As if she had any reason to meet anyone more than she'd already met!
She was told she'd have to wait at the Bullhead Port while Professor Peach gave the three teams a run-down on what they were to be doing, since she wasn't there to collect sap like they were. So, there she sat inside the port, in her full 'Huntress' outfit and with Suncutter on her back, playing on her scroll and listening to music with her wireless headphones until her eyes caught sight of the door opening.
She had intended to just see if it was the teams and then go back to looking at her scroll, but who she saw meant that she knew that wasn't really an option. Not that she'd want to ignore Teams JNPR and RWBY as they entered, followed by a third team of guys she'd never seen before, led by a tall guy in armor with a bird sigil on his breastplate.
She lowered her headphones so they rested around her neck and paused her music as the others began to spot her. Professor Peach entered the room; she was a kind looking older woman, regarded as one of the most normal teachers at Beacon. She wore what looked to be a pair of overalls and a peach-colored shirt, covered by a lab coat. As she recognized Violet, she cleared her throat, "Students, we'll have a special guest today. This is-"
Ruby gasped, "Violet!" She along with the others started over to her, "What're you doing here?"
Professor Peach huffed, "If you would wait, Ruby." Ruby grinned sheepishly and so Peach walked over and looked to the class as Violet stood up, "This is Violet Merino. She's under the direct tutelage of Professor Ozpin, so she doesn't attend normal classes. She's attending today to observe, so try to make her feel welcome."
Violet scratched her cheek, uncomfortable with the attention, but still she gave a small wave, "Hey." Yuvi appeared behind her and gave a casual salute before returning to her.
Weiss hummed, "The direct tutelage of the Headmaster? Interesting." She clearly had her curiosity piqued, and Violet just hoped that she didn't try and prod any further into it.
Jaune smiled and waved back at Violet, though he didn't say anything, mostly because he didn't want to accidentally draw attention to her. Cardin might think it'd be funny to try and prank her, and he had no idea how that would go over.
Luckily, Violet didn't pay it any mind, and soon the fourteen were riding a bullhead down to Forever Fall.
Before long, they were there, with Peach giving the teams instructions on what to do and then sending them off.
At first, the three groups had to stick together before they were allowed to fan out. During this time, Violet was walking with the others, listening to their idle conversation, when something strange happened.
She had been trailing a bit behind the group, playing on her scroll, when one of the people she'd never met before approached her.
He was a slender guy, with a shaved head that was styled into a light-green mohawk. He wore a hoodie with the sleeves cut off and two bracers on his arms extending from the wrist to just below the elbow. Beneath his hood was a pale-green, long-sleeved shirt, and he wore a pair of brown knee-high boots.
He smiled at her as she looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but the smile didn't feel entirely friendly. More… lecherous. He tried to sound suave as he said, "Hey babe, you've got a rocking body, thick as hell, nice ass... Wanna hang out after this? I'll treat you right."
The conversation around them died as it was clear the others heard. Yang was the one who looked the most ready to punch the guy, and Violet looked shocked for a moment, but it was soon dashed and replaced with annoyance. Yuvi appeared behind her, growing to fifteen feet in height before grabbing Russel as he gasped wide-eyed at the sudden appearance of the entity.
Yuvi held him in place while Violet, brow furrowed and face red, but not with fluster, spoke with indignation clear in her voice, "What the fuck is wrong with you, you stick-figure creep? Ryuk's more appealing than you! Anyone ever tell you that mohawks went out of fashion twenty years ago? I've met people in Dogtags of Duty lobbies with better pickup lines than you! Tch."
She looked forward, while Yuvi let him go. For a moment, Russel looked relieved, but then, once Yuvi was back to 'just' ten feet tall, she punched Russel in the chest, sending him flying straight past his team and into the trees, hitting one so hard he cracked it. He groaned, signaling he was still conscious, while Cardin and the one Violet remembered being called Sky laughed at his misfortune.
The fourth team member, Dove, she thought he was called, approached her. He was a guy with light-brown hair combed to the left wearing tan-colored armor, He looked back at the others before looking back at her with an apologetic look, "Sorry about him. I told that jackass to keep it in his pants, but why listen to me?" He shook his head, "You alright?"
Well, at least not all of CRDL was bad. Violet smiled, "Yeah, not the first time I've gotten comments like that. Thanks for asking."
He nodded and then returned to his team, meanwhile Yang came up to her next and whistled, "Wow! Talk about a homerun, props to you. I was about to punch him if you didn't."
Yuvi posed dramatically, hands on her hips as she looked off at the sky, like some hero. Violet chuckled, "Well, between DoD lobbies and the occasional weirdo whenever I'd go to the store, I'm able to brush it off. Yuvi takes care of the rest, if it's someone in person."
Weiss stepped over and curiously asked, "And if it's someone online?"
Violet snickered, "I've been holding myself back, but I know how to insult someone. Shit-talking is part of my culture." She yawned, "I just hope that I don't miss my friends doing anything online while we're out here."
After that, the groups scattered somewhat, with CRDL (and Jaune, strangely) going in one direction while the others stayed together. Violet watched Jaune as he left from her place near a tree while Pyrrha gathered sap. The red head looked over at her, "Don't mind him." Her voice was tinged with clear annoyance and restrained anger, "He's hanging out with his best friend Cardin Winchester."
Violet hadn't heard good things about Cardin, that was for sure. She tutted, "Why would he hang out with him? It doesn't seem like something he'd want to do. He didn't look like he was enjoying it, either."
Pyrrha sighed, "Truthfully, I don't know. He hasn't said anything, or tried to come to me for help, so… I don't know if there's anything I can do."
Violet hummed but didn't respond, now her mind was on Jaune and his apparently strange behavior.
However, it couldn't stay there, as soon Weiss came up to her, "Pardon me, Violet, I wanted to ask you something."
"Huh?" Violet asked, turning her attention from the trees to the white-haired girl, her tail swishing behind her, "What's up?"
Weiss crossed her arms, "I find it very interesting that you're being personally trained by Professor Ozpin. You must have the skill necessary to become a Huntsman, so what is it exactly that's different about your situation? You could have easily joined a team and become a regular student."
Again with the questions, and again Violet didn't want to reveal things she wasn't supposed to. She shifted uncomfortably and rubbed the back of her neck, "Ah, uhh… It's kind of complicated."
"Well, I am quite intelligent, if I do say so myself." Weiss crossed her arms and smiled a cocky smile, "I believe I could wrap my head around your situation, if you tell me. I simply must know, Professor Ozpin is an interesting enough person, him having a trainee directly under him instead of in the school system? It's got me very curious."
"A-Ah, well- Uhm-" Violet stammered, "It's… I'm not really…"
Before she could continue to try and come up with an excuse, Russell, Dove, and Sky started to run past everyone, with Russell shouting, "Ursa! Ursa"
Yang grabbed him by the collar, "What's happening?"
He stammered out an explanation, "Th-There's an Ursa Major, and it's got Cardin!"
Pyrrha gasped, "Jaune!"
Ruby was quick to give orders, "Yang, Blake, Ren, Nora, you guys go get Professor Peach! Stick together, there could be more. Weiss, Pyrrha, and I will go get him. Violet," she began, looking at her, "wanna come with us?"
"You don't have to ask me twice." Violet responded as her form flickered, with Yuvi briefly overlaying her appearance, "Let's kick some ass!"
The group of five hurried towards the sound of the Ursa, and once they got there, they saw it. It was much larger than your average Ursa, fitting an Ursa Major. Cardin was on the ground, and they had arrived just in time for Jaune to catch one of its claws with his shield. Violet was preparing to draw her weapon, as was Weiss and Ruby, when Pyrrha held up her hand, "Wait."
In spite of herself, Violet did what Pyrrha asked. She watched as he stabbed outward with his blade, causing it to pull away from him. He maneuvered away from Cardin, keeping the beast's focus entirely on him before leaping out of the way of a powerful strike that sent grass and dirt flying into the air. He did this two more times, but on the third attempt, the Ursa Major finally landed a hit squarely on his chest.
For a moment, Violet was worried as she watched him hit the ground, but then he got back up and ran right at it again! He fought with the resolve of a trained Huntsman, even as it knocked him away a second time, he got back up. He looked at his scroll, attached to his shield, likely assessing his aura levels. Violet knew that most people would be down after taking hits like that, but Jaune had a lot of aura. He was a damn tank!
After he assessed his aura, he charged at the beast again, and Violet was growing nervous. One more good hit and he'd be down. He raised his shield, but his form was off. For a split second, Violet was sure he'd get hit, but then Pyrrha raised her hand as it glowed black. His shield moved and corrected itself, allowing the Ursa's claws to scrape against it. Finally, with one smooth swing, he cut the beast's head clean off. The giant body of the Grimm almost immediately began emitting black smoke while the head he lopped off landed next to Cardin before it dissipated entirely.
He stood there for a moment, panting and catching his breath. Violet had to admit, he looked like the protagonist of one of her shows, standing over a defeated foe after saving the day. Her face heated up a bit as she smiled broadly at his success. Meanwhile, Ruby asked Pyrrha, "What was that?"
Pyrrha smiled, "Well… you have your speed, Weiss has her glyphs, Violet has Yuvi, and I control polarity."
Ruby whistled, "Ooh, you control poles."
Weiss rolled her eyes, "It's magnetism, you dolt!"
"Magnets are cool too…"
Pyrrha started to leave, causing Ruby to ask, "Wait, shouldn't we tell them what happened?"
"We could." Pyrrha responded with a smile, "Or we could keep this as our little secret." She then kept leaving, and Violet had to admit that, while she didn't know that much about her outside of the media circuit, she respected Pyrrha for that.
Her attention turned back to Jaune as she saw him stand taller than he ever had before. He walked over to Cardin, helped him up, said something, and then started to walk away. Violet felt her heart flutter as she inadvertently let out a dreamy sigh, only to catch herself and clear her throat. Luckily, the others either didn't notice or didn't care.
She reminded herself that Jaune wanted to date Weiss, and then headed to join the others for the rest of the excursion. She was sure that, now that he had shown his true determined heroism, he'd likely be able to net at least one date with her. Right?
Right?
/-/
Weiss was agitated.
She had been making every effort to educate Ruby on the intricacies of Dust fusions, and how no, Dust couldn't be used to make babies, there were more scientific procedures for that! Yet, it seemed like she just couldn't understand everything, no matter how patient she was.
She didn't get upset at her leader, though; Ruby had skipped two years, no doubt she'd missed some important information. No, Weiss would be patient for her.
Meanwhile, Jaune had more self-confidence now than he had ever had before. It had been a couple days since he'd saved Cardin and started training with Pyrrha, and while he knew he had a long way to go, he was certain now that his genuine confidence, not faked like before, would be enough to at least get one date with Weiss.
If she didn't like him after that, then fine, but he wanted at least one shot! There was nothing wrong with that, right?
He felt he had found the perfect opportunity to ask that afternoon. Weiss had just left the library and was sitting in the courtyard on a bench, watching the fountain and seemingly relaxing. If that wasn't a great romantic meeting, then what would be?
He approached her, and when she saw him coming, she silently wished that he would turn around and walk away. He had a flower in his hand, a Chrysanthemum, and she knew what he was going to do. Between helping Ruby, wondering about Violet's strange position, and now this? All of his attempts? She was at a boiling point.
He cleared his throat, "Weiss?" He began, "Uhh, I got this for you." He held out the flower, "Aaand I'd like you to go out with me to the movies tomorrow night. Would you?"
Weiss took a deep breath to try and calm herself down, closing her eyes in the process, before opening her eyes and standing up, "No." Jaune deflated, but she wasn't done this time, "Jaune, I feel like I need to get this across better. I understand that you've recently done a good thing in saving that… brute Cardin. However…"
Her voice grew angry, filled with venom, "You truly have to be one of the stupidest people I've ever met! What does it take for you to understand that I'm not interested?" She poked his chest with her index finger as he looked at her with shock, "You're dead last in class, you've only just recently begun to learn to fight properly, and I will forever question Professor Ozpin's decision to let you into this academy! The fact that you became the leader of a team is an even worse travesty!"
She stepped back and gestured widely, "What are you even here for? So far it feels as if you're here for one reason!" She gestured to herself, "To worship me! Following me like a lovesick puppy who I can't get off my back even when I make it very clear I'm not interested! You're a complete waste of air! Never talk to me again, or better! Leave Beacon and never come back! How someone like you got in, I'll never know, but," She pointed at the ground he was standing on, "You're standing here in place of someone who has actual skill and enough self-respect to not keep pining after someone who has given you hint-" She poked his chest again, "after HINT!"
She turned on her heels and started walking away, leaving a very shocked Jaune standing there, the flower slipping from his grip and falling to the ground. He didn't seem to care, turning and starting to walk away as well while looking down, doing his best to restrain his torrent of emotions from displaying on his face.
Weiss already kind of regretted what she said. She didn't regret telling him to stop asking her out, but she felt as if maybe she could have gone without some of the other comments. Yet, she was torn, and entirely unsure if she did the right thing. She needed to talk to someone, but nobody on her team would be of any help, so who could she talk to?
"Hello again!"
She stopped walking and blinked a few times, finding that, in her state of not paying attention, she'd almost walked into Pyrrha. She stepped back a bit and smiled nervously, "Ah, hello Pyrrha. I was just- A-Actually, I think you're the perfect person to talk to right now. Are you free for a few minutes?"
Pyrrha gained a look of curiosity, and slight concern upon seeing how conflicted the other girl looked, "Certainly." She'd kept Weiss at arms-length since the heiress tried to poach her to be her partner; it'd automatically made Pyrrha write off the other girl as just another one of those people, someone chasing her because she's famous, and she wanted nothing to do with that.
Yet the other girl came to her for help, and Pyrrha wasn't going to turn her away.
Weiss led the way away, to another part of the campus where there wasn't much, if any, foot traffic. It was a garden of orchids, roses, marigolds, and magnolias, creating a rather beautiful display. She sat next to the bed of orchids in some grass, looking at the flowers as she said, "I feel… I've made a mistake. Jaune… he's… always asking me out, and today I… snapped."
That was concerning. Pyrrha had always felt bad for Weiss, though she had no idea what she could have said. Jaune was her best friend, and some day, she hoped, maybe something more. She'd kept quiet because she felt he probably wasn't interested, but now it seemed as if his crush on Weiss had resulted in something bad, "What did you say, exactly?"
Weiss told her what she said, and Pyrrha had to admit she felt her blood boil a bit at the words. If she were a more emotionally volatile girl, she might have slapped Weiss, but she didn't. It didn't even have anything to do with her telling him she wasn't interested, but the stuff about his skills?
When Weiss finished recounting, she said, "I… I don't regret telling him I'm not interested, but… I think maybe I was unfair to him in other ways. That other stuff I said about his skill… It's not wrong, but saying he doesn't belong here? That's not my place."
Pyrrha sat across from Weiss, "Well… honestly I do think you went too far. Jaune is trailing behind, but he has a lot of potential in combat, and his leadership qualities are clear to the rest of his team, myself included. You didn't do the wrong thing in telling him to stop, that'd never be the case."
"Yeah…" Weiss frowned as she looked down, "I need to think on this more… I'm not going to apologize to him. Not yet, at least, but… my anger's been getting worse lately, and I don't mean to say some things that I do… It's hard to change that sort of behavior."
Admittedly, Pyrrha was surprised, "That's… a very mature way to handle it, and very introspective." She felt that maybe there was more to Weiss than she had previously assumed, "I think that's for the best."
Weiss smiled softly and looked at her, "Thanks for listening, Pyrrha. I… appreciate it. I wanted to apologize to you, I know that much." Her smile grew strained, "I understand that… the way I introduced myself and tried to get you to join my team was… hypocritical. The exact kind of thing I hate, and I know you hate. So… I'm sorry."
Again, Pyrrha was surprised, but her smile grew all the same, "Apology accepted, Weiss. I hope we can become great friends. I think the two of us can relate on a lot of levels, having that kind of companionship would be very nice."
Weiss felt a strange twisting feeling in her heart and her smile grew a bit strained, though she couldn't tell why exactly. Looking at Pyrrha, the kind, red-haired beauty of soul and self, Weiss couldn't help but feel a bit lost for words. Why? She liked guys!
She eventually responded, "Yeah… friends."
/-/
Violet had been enjoying her afternoon as she normally did. Playing games, watching videos, shitposting on the Bonfire chat app, that sort of thing.
However, just as the sun was starting to sink outside, Yuvi started acting weird. She separated from Violet, and tried to get the girl to stand up. Violet furrowed her brow as Yuvi tugged gently on her arm, "Yuvi, what's gotten into you?"
Yuvi rolled her auric eyes and gestured for the door. Violet glanced at her computer before looking down at her outfit. She was just wearing her pajamas, so she huffed, "At least let me put on a jacket and some shoes." Yuvi nodded, and so Violet went to do just that, throwing on a jacket and zipping it up before putting on her shoes and following Yuvi out of the room.
She was led out of Beacon Tower, which, fair enough. She could live with that, whatever that was, and then she started to be led to one of the dorms, and she grew skeptical of Yuvi. Yet, she was already out of her room, so she figured she might as well go the whole way.
Once she got into the dorm, she took the elevator all the way up to the highest floor, but that wasn't it. Yuvi led her to the stairwell, and up one more flight of stairs, where there was the roof access. After Yuvi opened the door, she reintegrated into Violet, and Violet saw Jaune sitting on the roof's edge. He didn't look poised to jump or anything, but he was looking down at the ground forlornly.
Violet wasn't that good with social stuff, but she could tell he was upset about something, so she stepped forward. It seemed he hadn't heard the door open, so she said softly, "Jaune." She realized, now, that she hadn't used her fake voice in a few days. Constantly having to keep it shifted was getting taxing, and so, she simply spoke normally.
Jaune looked up and back at her, clear surprise in his eyes, "Violet? What're you doing here? Everything alright?" There was clear concern in his voice, yet his eyes betrayed just how sad and downtrodden he himself was.
"Yuvi led me here. She has a way of telling when people are upset." Only really people she cared about, however that worked, but she wasn't going to question it. She walked forward, shutting the door behind her as she did, "And I should be asking you the same question." She started to walk over to him, "I'm not exactly a master of… people-reading, but even I can tell you're sad."
She reached him before sitting down next to him, looking briefly down at the ground below, "You're… not planning anything stupid, are you?"
"No, no!" Jaune was quick to shake his head, but he sighed and deflated, seemingly giving up the ruse of not being sad, "It's… Weiss. I asked her out again today, and I honestly wasn't expecting her to say yes, but what she said was… far worse than no." He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut, "N-Not that it wasn't warranted, it was. I was being stupid."
Violet wanted to say something, anything, but Jaune wasn't finished. His eyes stung with tears as he gritted his teeth, "I should have known better. My dad's macho stuff didn't help me with becoming a fighter, why would it help me with getting a date? I kept trying, I thought that maybe…" He sniffled, "Maybe she was playing hard to get, but… that's stupid. She said no, I should have left it at that!"
What was she supposed to say? What could she say? Her words weren't working, but his were, he kept on as he buried his face in his hands and choked back a sob, "A-And she was right! She said… that I don't belong here." His voice grew hushed, "That I'm a waste of air."
She tried to reach a hand out to him, but froze. Her chest tightened and she looked at her own hand with a measure of fear, not directed to Jaune specifically, but… of something long buried. She retracted her hand, surrendering to that fear, and her promise to not initiate contact with people. Instead, she spoke softly, "Jaune, that's not true." He looked up and over at her, sad silver meeting despairing ocean blue, and she continued, "You're here, you passed initiation, of course you belong here. If you didn't… you'd have either failed initiation or died, and don't you dare say you're a waste of air."
She shook her head and looked out at Beacon, the lights glimmering across the campus providing more than moonlight, "I know what a waste of air looks like. I know the kind of…" She spat out the next word, "person who is a waste of air. You saved Cardin, and you'll save more, I'm sure you will."
Jaune at least wasn't crying anymore, but he still looked downtrodden, "I…I dunno, Violet. I don't feel like a hero, I don't feel like a Huntsman, I don't even feel like a man. I'm just… a boy way in over his head."
"Well…" Violet bit her lip and tried to think of something else she could say or do to help. Finally, she reached for her go-to, "...Want to go play some games? Maybe watch some anime?" She asked with a smile as he looked at her, "I recently got this one co-op game, I think you'd enjoy it a lot."
He had trouble really processing what she was offering, because it was exactly the kind of thing he would love nothing more than to do. It was the kind of comfort he longed for, and it was a dream of his, of many people. Who wouldn't want someone they could play things with and earnestly enjoy them? He responded softly, "Sure."
The two of them got off the edge and walked together back into the dorm. The walk was silent, and both their minds were in different places. Violet was thinking about how best to help Jaune, while simultaneously wondering if it was really as bad as he said it was. She knew from experience that it was easy to catastrophize when one is upset, but the only way she could have found out was by asking him or Weiss, things she didn't want to do.
Meanwhile, Jaune's mind was flooded with a torrent of negativity. Weiss was right, she had to be, why else would she say those things? What was the point of him even trying, really? He was so stupid that he let himself believe that Weiss was just playing hard to get, he was so stupid that he thought he had a chance with her. He was stupid enough to get his sister to forge transcripts for him so he could fake his way into Beacon…
"Jaune." Violet gently got his attention as they reached Beacon Tower, stopping outside the doors and pulling him out of his thoughts. She smiled at him, a smile that was a mixture of anxiety and friendliness, "I can tell what you're thinking. You need to stop, if you keep thinking like you are… It's just going to get worse."
"I'm not sure what else to focus on." He admitted with an awkward and sad smile, "It's kind of hard to think about other stuff right now."
"Well…" Violet thought for a moment before saying, "Just focus on me." Her smile wavered briefly, "I know I'm not the most interesting person, but…" She thought as they started to walk into the tower and headed towards the elevator, "What's your favorite manga?"
Jaune noticed how she wavered, but he wasn't sure what the cause of it was, and his mind was too muddled to really think about it. He considered her question for a moment, "Well… honestly, I watch more anime than I do read manga. When it comes to reading stuff I usually read comic books, stuff like X-Ray & Vav."
Violet raised an eyebrow at him as they stopped at the elevator and she pressed the button, "Really? I haven't read that many comic books, what's it about?"
Jaune was a bit surprised, honestly. Not that she didn't know about X-Ray & Vav, it wasn't that popular after all, but more that she didn't read comic books. He decided he could ask about that later, though, and he began to explain, at first with some trepidation, "Well… It's about this superhero duo who's really bad at their jobs at first, they can't really do anything."
Violet nodded along to his explanation. When the elevator opened the two of them headed into it while Jaune continued explaining. As he kept talking, he soon began to become more comfortable with it. By the time they reached the third floor, he was entirely into the explanation, and Violet saw just how excited and happy he was to be talking about it. It made her smile a bit brighter, seeing how he was already moving past what happened, if only momentarily, and the explanation was intriguing to her as well.
By the time they got to her room, the explanation was starting to wind down, and it was then that Jaune suddenly realized how into it he got. Suddenly, he felt embarrassed, blushing and rubbing the back of his neck as he said, "Ah… I… probably got a bit carried away huh? Sorry."
She shook her head as she grabbed the doorknob, "What're you talking about? That was fun to listen to!" Jaune looked shocked, while she just smiled and turned her attention to her room as she headed into it, with Jaune following her.
In short order, they were playing games, sitting on the edge of the bed while using their scrolls as controllers while the game itself was on the PC. Jaune had picked out a classic, Mughead, a game about two mug people trying to collect soul contracts for a nefarious being. It was hard, but that just meant both of them spent more time focusing on the game and talking about it than thinking about anything else.
One thing Jaune discovered was that Violet got really worked up over games. She never got angry, or yelled at, him, but she had plenty of things to say about any given boss they were fighting. Things such as…
"Fucking knock-off flower!"
"Fish-smelling bitch!"
And much later, "Fucking square-headed knock-off swing wanna-be shitstain!"
They had played for so long that by the time Jaune checked his scroll, it was Five AM! He gasped when he saw it, "It's that early?!" He yawned, "I gotta go and try to get some sleep!" He stood up.
Violet giggled, "Guess time got away from us." Not that she minded, but then again she didn't have a schedule to keep. She wondered if there was some way to use magic to wake someone up? Not that she could use it on him, she had to keep magic a secret, but still, it was an interesting question, "See you."
Jaune nodded, "Yeah." He started to leave, but stopped and turned back, "Violet?" She looked at him, and he smiled softly, "Thanks, uhh… I really needed to just… get away from everything for a while."
She gave a lazy two-finger salute, "Escapism is my middle name, Jaune. If you ever need to forget about things, I'm your girl." She smiled, "Now get going; you're probably going to hate yourself later today, but you should still get a little bit of sleep."
He smiled and then left, leaving Violet to yawn and sigh, "Man… how am I going to manage this?" She shook her head as she stood up and went to sit at her computer, "Eh… I'm sure it'll pass. It's just a crush."
/-/
Two Months Later
Cinder Fall was straight up not having a good time.
It was bad enough that it had been so long already with no hint of the Fall Maiden, who clearly had to be a master of stealth and or subtlety to entirely avoid the attention of so many eyes and ears for so long, but she'd also found that she had more problems as a result of not having her rightful power.
Namely…
"I told you, Cindy, these things take time. Now run along, eh?"
Roman Torchwick and his sassy bitch of a sidekick.
They were sitting across from her in a rather quaint cafe, a far different venue from the trendy bars they preferred normally. It was called The Changing Seasons, and it had a very homey, rustic vibe to it, wooden floors, home-style windows instead of large ones, wooden round tables and chairs, booths, a jukebox…
It'd be the kind of place Cinder would go to relax, and maybe that was why she hadn't tried to kill Roman yet. Well, that and she still didn't have her powers, and while she was hungry for power, she knew when she was outmatched. Right now, between Torchwick and Neopolitan, she didn't stand a chance.
The three criminals were sitting at a booth, and Cinder growled as she leaned forward, glaring at the other two, "Fine. What about the goods? Have you procured them yet, like I told you to?" She had gone through all the effort of bribing the White Fang and promising them great retribution on humanity in order to secure a tentative alliance, she didn't want that to go to waste!
Roman rolled his eyes while Neo smirked. After a moment, Torchwick leaned forward, "Listen, I'll give it to you straight, sweetcakes, since based on that stick up your ass, you haven't been getting anything straight for Gods know how long. Your offers are starting to look weaker by the damn minute. You keep talking about power and wealth, but so far? All you've been doing is blustering and trying to order your betters around. As long as the money is on the table, I'll get it done, but you're not going to have anything to do with how I get it or how fast I get it, capisce?"
Cinder was taken aback, and by the time she was able to formulate a response, Roman and Neo were already starting to leave, "W-Wait a minute! You can't just-" She sputtered and blustered, but both criminals were out the door in no time.
She groaned and deflated, lowering her head and resting it on the table, pouting as she muttered, "I could get a man if I wanted to. So what if I haven't?" Power was more important than anything else anyway!
An unfamiliar man's voice got her attention, "Business meeting didn't go well?"
She picked her head up and saw a man with fluffy black hair that reached his brow and past his ears, ice blue eyes, a slender build, and at the moment he was wearing an apron over a regular T-shirt and jeans. He set the cup of coffee she had ordered down on the table and said, "That's rough, buddy."
He started back to the front counter and Cinder wondered, maybe she could get a man. Even if it was just for a night! How hard could it be? She was hot! She knew she was! Her sexiness was part of her femme fatale appeal!
She cleared her throat and was just about to call him over to talk to her when suddenly the door to the cafe opened and a girl's voice called out, "Neve! I'm back, I got those tickets we were looking for~!"
Cinder took in the girl's appearance. She appeared about the same age as him (somewhere between teenage and young adult, Cinder wasn't sure which). She had long, straight, platinum blonde hair that fell to the small of her back, a farmer's tan, a strong build under her T-shirt and jeans, and brown eyes.
The man, apparently named Neve, stepped out from behind the counter, "Luna, you know I was joking when I said you should get those, right?"
She approached him and gave him a peck on the lips, dashing Cinder's hopes and dreams and burying them in an early grave, "I know, but hey, our anniversary's coming up! I figured, why the hell not? You deserve a vacation anyways."
Cinder resisted the urge to groan as the two kept talking about their plans. Instead she took up her cup of coffee (she didn't even like coffee that much) and started to drink it while totally not sulking like a pouty teenage girl. Cinder Fall pouting? Psh! Yeah right…
Just kidding, she was totally pouting.
/-/
Over the past two months, not a whole lot changed for Violet and her friends.
Violet kept up with her training under Ozpin, Jaune kept training with Pyrrha, Violet kept her crush under wraps, and had mostly learned to ignore it, and Jaune…
Well, Jaune was having strange feelings about the resident raccoon girl.
It had all started with that day, with her helping him at a dark moment with video games and kind words. That alone wasn't the catalyst, but the continued support, the continued consistent willingness to lend an ear and play some games or watch some anime to escape the troubles of life were a real oasis of calm to him. He wasn't sure when it happened, but his heart started to quicken anytime she smiled at him, his heart fluttered when she said something nice about him..
Yes, he knew it was a crush. No, he wasn't going to pursue it. Why? Because he knew what it had to be. A rebound crush. Something his mind and heart cooked up as a result of him getting so thoroughly eviscerated by Weiss. Violet deserved better than that, and better than him, so he learned to hide it. Luckily, it seemed she never picked up on it.
One day, Violet received a text from Ruby asking if she'd like to come along with her team to the docks. At first, she wanted to refuse, but then Ruby mentioned that they'd probably be stopping to get food and that Yang wanted to make her some kind of offer. Ruby didn't know what it was, and neither did Violet. Though Violet had a feeling Yang wasn't the type to want to help her enhance her traditional shut-in lifestyle, so she was hesitant.
Still… while the Dining Hall had top-notch food of all kinds, far better than anything she could get from town (at a reasonable price, at least), she was kind of craving something bad for her. She figured she'd get exactly that if she went with them, and so she said she'd come along.
She dressed in her… adventuring? gear (she couldn't call it Huntress gear, she wasn't even a Huntress!) and went down to meet them when the time came, around 2 PM. Luckily, that meant she had been able to get a full day's sleep before having to go and be social. That was good, because she got cranky when she was tired, and she didn't want anyone to have to deal with her at her most irritable.
They were in the courtyard, near the fountain, and once Ruby saw Violet coming, she stood up from her place sitting on the edge of the fountain and waved, "Hey, Violet! How's your day going?"
Yang stood up from her place sitting next to Ruby and stretched while saying, "If we know her, her day probably just got started, Ruby." She said this with no ill-intent as she grinned, "I admire the lifestyle."
Meanwhile, Blake and Weiss standing and pointedly not looking at each other. They were turned in opposite directions, with Blake looking out at the Bullhead Port and Weiss looking at Violet. Weiss said, "Do you wake up this late everyday? Professor Ozpin must not appreciate the tardiness."
Violet's tail swished behind her as she gave a small wave, "Yeah I woke up about an hour ago." She then looked at Weiss as she came to a stop nearer to the four and crossed her arms while smiling proudly, "And I do wake up this late everyday. Ozpin has a lot of work to do during the day, so our training is later in the afternoon."
Blake hummed as she glanced back, "That makes sense, he is a busy man. Surely, any of us could draw that conclusion, right, Weiss?"
Weiss huffed, as she crossed her arms and looked away, "I just wanted to be sure." She turned around towards the Bullhead Port, "Well, let's get going. I want to see how the preparations for the Vytal Festival are proceeding." She walked forward, towards the Bullhead Port.
Blake was next to walk that way, while Violet, Ruby, and Yang all walked together. Violet asked, "What kind of offer did you have for me, Yang?"
"Well." Yang began with a smile as she rested her hands on the back of her neck, "I know you and I don't exactly hang out all the time, but I noticed that you don't really have a lot of variety in the clothes you wear. I figured I'd offer to take you shopping once we're done looking at the docks, help you pick out some outfits. How's that sound?"
Violet hesitated, humming and looking off to the side while she placed a finger under her lips in contemplation, "Well… I've never really seen the purpose of getting other outfits. I mean, a solid colored T-shirt and jeans works if I actually have to go anywhere. Other than that, I have my pajamas and my underwear. Oh, and this outfit." She gestured at the clothes she was wearing before looking at Yang, "Why would I want more outfits?"
Yang smiled a bit broader, "C'mon, Vi, you gotta be a bit more fashionable! I bet with the right outfit you could really be a knock-out! You could impress anyone with the right outfit."
Violet bit her lip and looked away again, "Anyone?"
"Anyone." Yang responded affirmatively, "And in the good way, not in the way that gets the attention of people like creeps like Russel."
Those people were just a fact of life, anyway, it wasn't like Violet cared much about them. She hadn't even thought of the 'Russel incident' since it happened. She hummed and tossed around the thought in her head. Impress anyone? Well… there was at least one person she'd like to impress, even if she still wasn't going to try and ask him out, that was unthinkable. "Well…alright, I guess."
Yang pumped her fist in the air, "Hell yeah! Don't worry, I'm paying. It'd be a bit fucked up for me to offer to take you shopping and then have you pay for it, after all."
Well, at least if she bought some outfits and never wore them, she wouldn't worry about having just thrown away money, like she did whenever she bought a game and never played it.
She'd get to it eventually, alright? She had a lot to do!
When they got to the Bullhead, the ride down was brief. On their way towards the docks, Yang asked, "So, Weiss, why's it so important we come down here, anyway?"
Weiss responded with a smile, "It's important that we be there to see how the proceedings are going, I mean, the Vytal Festival is an incredibly important and extravagant event!"
"Right…" Yang responded, "I've never attended one before, honestly. Ruby and I were too busy training and living life to head to some festival in some other part of the world. Where was last years, Mistral? Yeah, a bit too out of the way for an island girl like me."
Ruby smiled and pitched in, "The fights were fun to watch, though!"
They kept walking, with Violet only half paying attention to the discussion going on around her as she walked, her tail swishing lazily behind her. Soon, the smell of fish and water started to appear, growing stronger as they walked. At least, it was clear to Violet and her enhanced senses. She didn't often really think about those senses, it wasn't like she went outside to use them very much. The ability to see in the dark sure came in handy when trying to find a chip she dropped in the dark of her room, at least.
Her tail also helped her keep balanced, very useful for when she was really sleepy and pawing around in the dark of morning before bed.
'Raccoon, pawing, hah.'
Soon, they reached the actual docks, and saw the preparations for the festivities under way, with workers hanging a banner over one of the paths to and from the docks that read 'Welcome Vytal Participants!'. Weiss smiled and raised her arms towards the banner, and then to the other surrounding preparations, as she said, "Oh, the Vytal Festival, this is absolutely wonderful!"
Ruby made a face, "I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss. It's kinda weirding me out."
Weiss scoffed as she looked back at Ruby briefly before looking forward again, "How could you not smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!"
Somewhere in the middle of this, Violet took out her Scroll and started playing on it while walking with the group, continuing to only sort of pay attention to the discussion.
Yang rolled her eyes, "Only you would be able to make something so fun sound so boring, Weiss."
That prompted Weiss to roll her eyes, "Quiet, you!"
The group came to a stop near the actual docks themselves, and the sound of foghorns could be heard, "Remind me again while we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?"
Ruby covered her nose, "Ugh, smells like fish…"
Violet huffed, "I think it smells good." She wasn't going to mention that she thought a lot of stuff smelled good. Maybe it was part of her Raccoon Faunus heritage, but she had a high tolerance for garbage and smells like fish.
Weiss responded, crossing her arms, "I've heard that students visiting Vacuo will be arriving by ship today. And, as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom!"
The group started walking again, with Blake commenting matter-of-factly, "She wants to spy on them so she'll have an upper hand in the tournament."
Weiss scoffed and waved her hand dismissively, "You can't prove that."
Their conversation was derailed when they came across what looked to be the scene of a crime. The glass on a shop's window was broken, and there was police tape surrounding it. The cops were commenting on yet another robbery, one that, oddly, only stole Dust. The White Fang was floated as the most likely suspects, along with being the suspects in a string of other robberies.
Weiss crossed her arms again and pointed her nose in the air while also closing her eyes, "Hmph! The White Fang, what an awful bunch of degenerates!"
Blake squinted at her, "What's your problem?"
"My problem?" Weiss asked, turning and looking at Blake, "I simply don't care for the criminally insane."
Blake crossed her arms, "The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided Faunus."
Weiss scoffed, "Misguided? They're a bunch of genocidal maniacs that want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!"
Blake was quick to patch up her argument, "So then they're very misguided. Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale!"
Ruby rubbed her chin, "Blake does have a point. They never caught that Torchwick guy that I stopped a few months back, maybe it's him?"
Weiss growled and put her hands on her hips, "That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum! Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal!"
Blake was quick to look at Violet, "Doesn't this bother you? You hear what she's saying about Faunus!"
In response, Violet looked up from her scroll and blinked, "Huh?"
Before that line of conversation could be pursued any further, a monkey-tailed, blonde-haired Faunus boy jumped from a ship. He toyed with the dock workers by way of a banana peel, and by way of swinging from a street light, before he fled from them and started to run.
He ran right past the five girls, and as he did, he winked at Blake before flashing a smile at Violet that got the shorter girl to blush as she gawked at him. He continued to run and Weiss declared a chase, with her, Yang, and Ruby immediately off in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, Blake looked more confused than anything else, while Violet had to wipe some drool from her mouth, "Oh my Gods… You could grind meat on those!"
Blake huffed before starting off after the others, prompting Violet to follow, although trailing a bit behind Blake due to the taller girl being a bit faster. This ended up sparing her, actually, as when Weiss rounded a corner, she crashed into someone, sending not only herself, but the rest of Team RWBY down with her, while the monkey-tailed boy escaped via the rooftops.
While Team RWBY was recovering, Violet watched as the guy left. Sure, she had been crushing on Jaune, but she had already established that she didn't think she deserved him, and so there was no guilt as she gawked. That boy was… "Holy wow." She muttered as she stared at where he had disappeared.
Meanwhile, everyone else was staring at the girl they had run into, who was still laying on the ground. They exchanged greetings that were… stilted, even by Violet's standards. The girl repeated herself, talked strangely formally, and generally had a weird vibe. The team was about to leave when Ruby made the… mistake? Of calling the strange girl her friend.
The girl, Penny, was very interested in that. She seemed absolutely dead set on getting Ruby to do all sorts of things with her, painting her nails, trying on clothes, talking about cute boys… things that Violet herself was a bit repulsed by imagining doing, except for the talking about cute boys part. She loved talking about (fictional) cute boys!
Everything seemed to be going normally, until Weiss called the monkey-tailed boy a 'monkey-tailed rapscallion' followed by calling him a 'filthy Faunus'. Violet had already started to play on her Scroll by this point, so she didn't really think about it.
Meanwhile, Blake was growing more incensed by the minute, "Why do you keep saying that?! Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!"
Weiss turned to face her and said, "Oh, I'm sorry, would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamppost as a lamppost? He clearly broke the law, give him time and he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang!"
Once again, Blake turned her attention to Violet, "Isn't this bothering you?! Listen to how she's talking about Faunus! She's acting like they're all animals on a timer until they become terrorists!"
Violet stayed looking at her scroll, albeit now with a small frown on her face, "Look." She started, voice tinged with annoyance, "It's not my job to change peoples' minds or perspectives. If it's not in a game or a story, I honestly don't care about political stuff, or racism, or anything like that." She shook her head, "Leave me out of it, it's not my problem."
Blake was aghast, "How can you say that? You're a Faunus! It is your problem! Racists like her are part of why life is so difficult for Faunus! You have to have suffered from racism at some point!"
"Blake." Violet began, the obfuscating aura around her grew stronger as it almost looked like her aura was cloaking her, albeit barely. She looked at Blake and glared at her, a move that took Blake aback, "I've dealt with a lot of terrible people in my life, doing a lot of terrible things. Shit like this is nothing. Not a damn thing."
Ruby noticed something about Violet, at that moment. She was glaring, and her words were barbed, but her eyes belied a sense of fear. It wasn't that she was angry, at least not just that she was angry. She was scared, and Ruby felt that maybe her aura cloaking her was a subconscious self-defense mechanism. She had to wonder what caused this, but the mystery of Violet was likely not going to be cracked today.
Weiss placed her hands on her hips, "I will maintain that I'm correct, and seeking help from others is not going to change my belief that people like that boy are one step away from joining that terrorist organization! One step away from a life of crime!"
Blake turned back to Weiss, clenching her fists, "You ignorant little brat!"
Weiss frowned, "How can you say that about me? I'm your teammate!"
"You're a judgemental little girl!"
"What makes you say that?"
As their argument continued, Yang walked over to Violet and whispered, "C'mon, I think now's a good time to go shopping." Violet didn't want to listen to the arguing, so she nodded and left with Ruby and Yang, her aura dying back down to normal levels. Meanwhile, Blake and Weiss kept arguing, and Violet had to wonder…
Why was Blake so fiercely defensive of the White Fang?
