Beacon Academy: The Courtyard
Link's POV
The time is... well I don't really know. I just know that it is some time after my fight against team RWBY that ended in a victory for me but I do not feel like a winner at all. I guess you could sum it up as 'well that couldn't have gone any worse' I feel like the worst friend in the world right now. What have I done? Sure we got selected to fight and it was just supposed to be a friendly spar but yet here we are now. I caught team RWBY by surprise when I'm sure they were holding back because they didn't want to hurt me, and I just didn't hold back on them. Who knows what could have happened if I didn't regain control from whatever the hell that was. Oh great... I'm sure to be questioned about it too but I have no clue what it is, I have only experienced this thoroughly about once or twice in my entire life. Never mind that, I could have killed Blake, Weiss, Yang and Ruby back there. Just when I thought Weiss was forming a good opinion about me too with her choice of words for me. I'm such an idiot. What is wrong with me... DAMN IT! There's nothing else I can do other than what I already did to try and help. Now I'm just pacing around outside of the academy because I don't want to hide out in my dorm all day
"H-hi Link."
"Hm?" I feel a soft tap on my shoulder, and while I couldn't tell who the tap is from, but I can recognize that voice anywhere, it's Velvet. She must have followed me when I left the building after the fight, helped Ruby and her team get to her dorm, and now am just pacing around the Courtyard, "Oh..." The stalling doesn't last forever and I soon turn to face the nice girl. I turn my head and quickly release the anger that is pent up inside me, my fists are no longer tight and as I calm down I can sense the 'gold eye' vanishing... that was happening again and I had no clue it was in the opening stages, what the hell?
"Link?" Velvet asks again, her eyes are large like a cartoon characters eyes would be and I can't help but feel calm when I see her pretty brown eyes looking directly into my blue eyes
"Hi Velvet." A sigh exits my mouth, the anger is soon completely gone and I feel calm again.
It may be time to carry a handheld mirror if this thing is going to happen without me even noticing it happen, the only obvious sign is that it happens when I am angry. Although it would be better for everyone if I knew what on earth this really is. I'd rather not let this weird form come out and hurt my new friends, along with the strange demon voice in my head saying diabolical things about hurting anyone... at least not anymore, especially after that horrific day
"A-are you alright?" Velvet asks, then she grabs my arm and playfully swings it around whilst she continues to look into my eyes. "I know about what happened, Blake told me. Although she was quite hesitant when doing so. It seemed like something was really bothering her, it's as if she feels guilt. So I decided to come check on you as fast as I could. Luckily my team and I had just been released from class so I am here much faster than I would have been any other day. Are you okay?"
"I agree that was very fast, even if getting out here took you twenty minutes. The school is normally being watched by professors like hawks when classes are in sessions so the fact that you are out here right now is impressive." I chuckle and show off a smile for the rabbit faunus
"Mhm." Velvet nods and continues to swing my arm side to side. "Sooo? Are you going to answer my question?"
"O-oh right! Sorry about that. I'm okay, yes. I just feel bad for going a little too hard on team RWBY, because they definitely were holding back in my opinion. Thank you for coming to check on me." I smile and pat her head, then proceed to ruffle her hair a bit before turning to walk away
"Wait!" Velvet pulls on my arm to make sure I hang back and I oblige to her request. "Are you sure you're okay? You accidentally hurt your friends and you can say you're fine but... not sure really. I guess I just want to make sure you are actually fine since you could just be putting on a front to fool me."
"I would not lie or deceive you, Velvet. Yes, it hurts and I do feel really bad and I'm not sure if Blake gave you all the details of the fight but I vow to never let anything like that happen to Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, any of my friends, or anyone else I love." Another smiles come from me as now I begin to actually walk away from the sweet faunus
"One more thing!" She says and follows me, still grabbing onto my arm in the process. "Sorry! W-what did you say to Ruby and her team? Blake told me you helped them by carrying Weiss up to their dorm while she helped Ruby and you two watched Yang who could walk on her own but slowly."
Oooh right, after the fight, I helped up and took her over to Blake so she could help her up to their team's dorm while I carried Weiss. Ruby had some minor injuries that slightly needed attention and I would have just carried her had Weiss not been in a worse state, ultimately though they along with Yang are going to be just fine. All they need is some rest and team RWBY will be back on her feet in no time, brush off this setback, and become stronger for it
Flashback: Team RWBY's Dorm
"Thanks for the help, although we really didn't need it I'm sure everyone appreciates it." Yang sighs, she carefully and quietly leads the way for me while I carry Weiss gingerly into the room and to her bed. As I trail behind the blond girl who seems a lot more energetic now I see something lets say odd for the sake of not being that mean. Team RWBY has bunk beds... and not very good ones either. One is hanging in the air with the help of some rope and the other has the two stacked beds being held up by a bunch of books which I assume ninety five percent of those are Blake's
"No problem, I did kind of go too far as well. So I kind of owe it to you guys." I nod and place Weiss on her bed which luckily requires no additional lifting as her bed was the bottom bed, the one hanging below the bed hung up in the air with rope which I figure out belongs to Ruby because of her notes and homework that are scattered everywhere
"If you don't mind as well.." I sit next to Weiss and briefly examine her to see if I've done any additional or reckless damage but luckily with her since I only took her aura, she's physically unharmed thankfully. She may not like me but that certainly won't make me happy about hurting her, this was all a huge mistake on my part
"How's she doing?" Yang asks
"She'll be okay. Despite being out cold now, she actually has the least physical damage, besides Blake of course." I say with complete confidence as that is objectively the truth
"Can I get some help over here?" Blake calls out as she is the last to ender the room with Ruby's arm around her neck, the quiet girl helps her all the way into the dorm and only stops when they are near the beds
"Right." Link gets up and extends his hands
"Want any help?" Yang stretches, showing she's regained her strength without any issue or much time
"Yeah why not?" I nod and underhook Ruby's while, nodding at Yang to grab her feet
"Alright. You want to count it down or should I?"
"Feel free." I smile gently and give Yang the courtesy
"Great." Yang cracks her knuckles and reaches down to grab Ruby's ankles. "One... two... THREE!"
The second Yang says three, we both lift at the same time and get her up with all our strength, we quickly lift Ruby over our heads and swiftly transfer her from the air to her comfortable but very unstable bed. I back off and let Yang adjust her sister how she wishes, she could have probably gotten up herself but that would've been a real struggle. Ruby was not unconscious but she was definitely half asleep
"Hmmm..." I frown and figure there's something I can do, especially when I notice bruises forming on her neck and her aura isn't helping with it at all. "She's got some noticeable injuries, if you don't mind can I-!"
"Kiss my sister? Noooo sir." Yang waves her finger
"Well I wasn't implying that but now that you mention it ya know..." I chuckle and smirk, with sarcasm in my voice
"Easy there buddy..." Yang laughs. "Are you serious?"
"No. Of course not. I would never kiss someone when they're not even awake, that's just wrong on some many levels. Ruby is just my friend too and based on what she tells me she's not looking for anything any time soon. And besides, she'd be better off without me anyway considering how much I'm already hurting her despite how little time we've been friends." I mumble and shrug, I can't say I'm too happy with myself or anything
"Nope." Yang firmly said. "I disapprove and doubt that. But anyways, how are you going to help? Are you gonna do that thing with someone else's aura again? Coool, how do you do it? Actually don't tell me, surprise me." Yang gives me a thumbs up and a big grin as she takes a step back and stands next to Blake, who sheepishly looks at the ground in disappointment
"It's just what's left over from what I took from Weiss. I don't need to take anyone else's aura and for some reason this doesn't apply to my own aura. Anyway yeah I'll just..."
I close my eyes, plant my hands together and concentrate deeply. A course of energy and adrenaline surges through me and the feeling lasts seconds, I can visibly see golden aura around my shield, sword, bow, part of my clothes and eyes glow for those few seconds before it slowly begins to disappear. I have no clue how this stuff works sometimes but yet it feels so natural at the same time. Unfortunately I should have clearly gone faster because I don't get the chance to touch Ruby's neck as she awakens...
"W-woah..." Ruby groans as she opens her eyes, "Where am I?" She jumps in surprise when she sees me next to her "L-link how did you get in here? This is my team's dorm!"
"Relax." I chuckle and give her a tap on the shoulder. "The fight ended a while ago. You were in and out of consciousness and we helped bring you up to your door. We being Blake and I of course. I carried Weiss and Blake brought you by helping you walk up here."
"Ohhh, g-good then. Thank you." Ruby smiles gently puts her hand on top of my hand that I have placed on her shoulder
"I'm sorry." I whisper softly so the rest of her team does not hear. "I went too far and I should've toned it down when you guys obviously weren't going all out and I-!"
"Stop that. We're huntsmen and huntresses, fights and injuries happen... I guess you could say it's 'part of the game' am I right?" Ruby laughs and turns her head to look at me, directly in the eyes which turns out to be a mistake for her, "Ah!" She cries out when attempting to move her neck
"Even a simple chat can be painful." I smile and help her lie down flat on her back and then I place my hands on her bruised neck
"U-um..." Ruby looks at me with a weird look. "What are you? Some kind of mystical healer? Is that your semblance? Can you heal people?"
"Stop talking." I can't help but laugh at Ruby's comments as I do find them amusing, although it is hard to focus, "This will only sting a bit. Just relax and it'll all be over in no time." I assure her and slightly have a grip on her neck with my open hand. "Alright... just like what I did to Weiss during the sparring session, luckily I don't need anyone else's aura to help since I didn't even use all of what I took from Weiss."
As soon as I press my left hand on Ruby's neck, she winces momentarily and the next thing I see is Ruby's aura activating quickly, the entire process only taking about ten seconds or less before all her injuries: the choke bruise, and the faint black eye, along with some marks on her face are all completely gone. Helping my cheery friend proves to be successful as I exert all the aura taken from Weiss and now Ruby looks good as new, just like I hoped it would go
"How do you feel now?" I ask and wait eagerly for her response or at least physical motion to see that she is perfectly healthy
"Well..." Ruby says as she dramatically pops her neck, "I feel better now. Like REALLY good, better than before we even fought." She smiles with joy before the huntress sits up instantly. "How did you..."
"It's a surprise." I chuckle and squeeze her shoulder softly to comfort her
3rd Person POV
"A surprise huh..." Ruby wonders to herself. "Hmmm, I still think this is your semblance but I also am not sure."
"Uhhh..." Link shrugs sarcastically. "Something tells me she didn't even understand what I did against Weiss"
"Unless you do want to tell me right now. I would be very open to that idea hehe."
"You wish." Link warmly smiles. "Maybe I'll explain it to you at some point later in the year, or maybe even this semester who knows?"
"Speaking of later... could we perhaps hang out later? As innn tonight? If you're free of course I wouldn't want to intrude on plans you already have." Ruby lightly punches her newest friend on the shoulder.
"Sure thing but I will honor that 'later' and not right now." Link grins, slowly moves his hand away from her shoulder and proceeds to open their dorm window. "If you don't mind, I'm going for a dramatic exit today. The real answer is I'm going to the courtyard."
"Why not now? You do have plans don't you?" Ruby raises an eyebrow
"No. It's mainly because Yang will pummel me if she finds out I took you out this quickly after you just recovered. Isn't that right?" Link turns around and smiles at the half sister who carefully watches the two of them
"Damn straight!" Yang laughs
"See?"
"Ugh!" Ruby sighs and plops her head onto her pillow. "Fine we will hang out laterrr I suppose. Promise?" Ruby holds out her hand which was now a fist
"Gladly. I promise that we will hang out tonight." Link walks back towards Ruby and balled his hand up, "Here I will say it again so you know I really mean it. I promise to you, Ruby Rose, that we will hang out tonight." He then collides his fist with Ruby's, the two friends add theatrics when they pull their fists away, open their hands and wiggle their fingers
"You guys are such dorks!" Yang continues to laugh
"SHUT UP!" Ruby tosses a pillow in her half sister's direction but it is easily dodged, "ANYWAY! That's awesome Link!" Her concerns go away promptly when she is promised twice. "Before you go, thank you again for giving us a good reality check, helping us back to our dorm and helping me with my injuries."
"No problem Ruby. Now rest up and we can have a rematch whenever you want." Link smiles again then turns his back to Ruby once more
This time Link actually leaves and shows off his athletic abilities by performing a front flip which sends him out of the window, and makes the observing team RWBY members gasp in shock. They then sigh in relief as he brandishes a hook shot and quickly fires it and the next thing they see is sharp metal piercing a tree branch, followed by Link making it down onto the ground feet first and then taking off
"..." Ruby smiles and rests her head onto her pillow once more
"Don't store all your focus into him. You have classes, the tournament and your other friends as well." Weiss's voice suddenly comes out of nowhere, making the team leader jump in shock
"Weiss?! you were listening?!" Ruby yelps as she is clearly startled
"Oh of course. But besides what I said, you should ask him to the dance, he'll have to give you a chance, you know why ruby?"
"Why?" Ruby asks hesitantly
"Because you're a bundle of joy. Despite your immaturity as a leader, you're okay as a person. And not to mention, you both get along so well, love to go on and on about each other's weapons, fighting and goofing off in class." Weiss shows off a smile that is visible to nobody. "Oh and Yang will punch him into next week if he rejects you, that's an added bonus."
"Yeahhhh!" Yang nods and jokingly slams her fists together
"Thanks Weiss, you know you really-!"
"Shush up now." Weiss demands and slams her foot against her mattress. "Get some rest because you, Blake, Yang, and I will need to practice but we are also headed to the city of Vale, the Vytal festival is being prepared and I want to head down and admire all the hard work and all the beauty."
"Geez, still the same old Weiss..." Ruby shrugs and throws a blanket over her head to try and go to sleep
"HEY!" Weiss frowns. "Fine, we can focus more time on training too, is that better?"
"Definitely." The silver eyed girl laughs. "You call tell me 'don't store all your focus into him' all you want, he went out of his way to help us back to our door and even carried YOU to bed."
"W-what's that supposed to mean?!" Weiss turns over and a faint blush appears on her cheeks. "Because I can assure you I am not happy about anything that transpired today."
"You did inspire him to attend class today..." Blake mumbles
"Y-you!" The white haired girl is too stunned to speak as the rest of her team laughs at her. The Schnee Dust Company heiress ultimately does not say anything else and accepts that she's been verbally defeated by Ruby and Blake
End of Flashback
"They're both okay then, right?" Velvet asks. "Well Yang too, they're all okay?"
"Yes of course. Just a bit of rest and they will be one hundred percent by tomorrow even." Link turns away from the rabbit faunus and sighs. "I should get going, you're a busy lady I'm sure. I'll just walk around the courtyard and continue to feel like the worst friend ever for hurting them the way I did."
"L-link?" Velvet calls out. "W-wait!"
"Hm?" Link turns back to face Velvet. "Yes Velvet? Is something wrong?"
"No no, nothing is wrong I just didn't want you running off so soon." She smiles
"O-oh okay then." Link returns the smile. "Something on your mind?"
"Well you said I'm a busy lady and everything but the truth is I'm not busy at all." She looks down and thinks about what she wants to say next
"I see, that's great then what are you going to do next? Classes are all done for you?" Link asks
"Yes Link, classes are finished for the day and have been for a little bit." Velvet giggles. "You have a lot of make up work to do, don't you?"
"You are not even wrong." The boy laughs and gently puts his hand on Velvet's head, softly feeling her silky hair. "So what's up? Do you want to do something, just us two?"
"Well... now that you say that I can get to what I wanted to say when I stopped you from leaving. There is this nice spot around the courtyard, it's on the east side of beacon that looks really nice, have you been there?"
"Not really no." Link shakes his head but not in a dismissive way. "I take walks around the campus but I don't necessarily pinpoint nice spots or bad spots. Is it where I found you the other day?"
"No no this one is different from where you found me." Velvet shakes her head. "And that's okay that you are familiar with the campus but don't know where the really nice spots are. I can be your guide for that, I like to really take in nature. It's so beautiful and such a relaxing environment, wouldn't you agree?"
"I do agree as a matter of fact, I would say I thrive in nature too. Not that this is nature or anything since we're at a pristine academy on its own island but I prefer this much more than the city of Vale."
"Excellent." Velvet smiles brightly, "Well, I have a picnic set up there but nobody wants to come with me and enjoy it..." She smiles and kicks the grass in embarrassment
"Brutal." Link sighs. "I don't get it either, you're a nice sweet girl. Why would they flat out reject-!"
"NO NO! Nothing like that" Velvet shakes her head profusely. "I did not mean to imply that nobody wants to hang out with me. It's just... I asked Coco, Yatsuhashi and Fox, but they were all doing their own thing already with training and I don't want to interrupt their progression, they truly are incredible warriors."
"Oh so they didn't outright refuse. You simply did not want to pull them away from training, that's very considerate of you." Link nods
"Thank you. I'm still a bit too shy to speak to team JNPR. Although Pyrrha does make an effort to speak to me which is very nice on her behalf and then there's team RWBY, I can't exactly ask them for anything when they need rest and time to feel better."
"I see. Normally I would help you and talk to them for you but today I'm feeling selfish and somebody sweet like you should never be alone. So this is me swooping in..." Link takes one of Velvet's hands and looks into her eyes, "Mind if I join you on your picnic?" He asks. "Why walk around out here alone or sit in my dorm alone when I can be with a nice friend like you."
"Sure." Velvet shyly nods. "I would like that very much."
"Awesome!" Link sighs in relief. "Lead the way because I have no clue where this new spot is."
"O-okay!" Velvet walks in front of Link whilst he still grabs onto her hand, a little shifting, adjusting and they would be walking hand in hand but it's not meant to be today
Moments later, after approximately five minutes or more Velvet and Link arrive at the spot she had in mind and it did not disappoint as it definitely has a better view than other places around campus. This also shows that the rabbit faunus really does enjoy nature and knows how to spot good environments
"Here it is." Velvet said and away so that she is not in front of her friend anyway, which allows Link to get the entire view. A green, yellow and brown carpet marked the picnic spot where they were going to sit.
But the real view is all of the different flowers in the spot chosen by the team CFVY member that truly marks the spot. Roses, tulips, lily's, sunflowers, perfect grass, a beautiful smell and it faces a blocked off portion of Beacon so that nobody can see them through a window or anything of the sort
"Wow." Link's eyes light up when he gets a view of the entire area selected
"Do you like it? I personally do but maybe if you don't then we can always-!" Velvet stops speaking when is pulled into a sudden hug
"Velvet its amazing, thank you for bringing me here. This is better than anything I was expecting or could have imagined." Link chuckles then releases Velvets from the grip of his hug so they can sit down and enjoy the planned picnic
"Remember what Coco said, get to know him..." Velvet says to herself, she slowly sits down while Link looks through the basket to pull out the packed food and split it up evenly
"Oh Velvet..." Link grins and pretends to take a bite from a medium sized carrot
"Oh ha ha." Velvet giggles and crosses her arms. "I didn't choose to be a faunus but I've embraced who I am and I love carrots."
"I know and I'm just kidding, here you go." Link chuckles and hands the carrot to its rightful owner. "That makes me happy to hear though, so many faunus aren't happy with themselves, some even hide their identity if it's possible. Heck even you could have a large hat but I'm glad you're like who you are."
"Thank you." Velvet says, almost feeling ashamed when she bites into it, but still continues to eat it anyways as it is one of her favorite foods and the person she's with will not make her feel second class due to it
"Hmmm..." Link keeps his smile of appreciation, "Look at all this, when and where do you even do this? A grilled cheese, apples, milk, my favorites. Practically what I grew up eating. You also brought strawberries, grapefruit and salad. I assume this is for you of course." He then realizes... "That's why it took you longer to 'sneak' out of the school, you were preparing this for me."
"A good friend must keep her secrets and show her kindness..." Velvet softly whispers
"So for lunch I get a nice view, a nice day out, good food and a sweet friend to spend some time with... I am quite lucky, aren't I?" Link nods at her
"Sweet friend? That's very nice of him to say and it will help boost Velvet's confidence too." Coco grins as she watches them from a discreet hiding spot around the corner of the east side entrance of the school. The choice of hiding spot is not too close to get caught but close enough to hear them speaking
"SO!" Link claps his hands, which shocks Velvet. "Is Cardin still bothering you? Or any of his teammates?"
"No, he hasn't." Velvet nods and takes another bite of her carrot. "Thank you once again for that. I don't know what got into them that day. Normally they just say derogatory things or the most they would do physically is pull my eyes but to attack me... I'm glad someone was around to help. But more importantly than anything else, I am glad that you were there to help me out."
"No problem. They shouldn't have even bullied you to begin with and I wish I humiliated them in the cafeteria that day. I can't stand seeing my friends getting picked on just because of their appearance or who they are." Link shrugs. "People like Cardin and his friends disgust me, they think everyone who is a faunus is the same... and we know what they think of all faunus' in general."
"This might be a dumb question but, you don't have any problems with... 'me' right?" Velvet gently touches her rabbit ears and turns away
"Of course not Velvet." Link smiles. "I was wondering if I could touch your ears but I also don't want to be intrusive or offensive. You're my friend, not a pet."
"R-really?" Velvet brightly smiles as she lights and then blushes before lowering her head. "I think coming from most people that question would have come off as offensive but you are an exception, feel free to touch them."
"Thanks." Link carefully reaches over and nervously sets his fingertips on the very soft and fuzzy ears of his faunus friend. "Wow, they feel great. The way people imagine what laying on a 'fluffy cloud' must feel like, that is how your ears are to me."
"Nooo, you're too nice." Velvet smiles widely. "I don't believe that but I do believe that you believe that, so thank you."
"Of course. I like you so you deserve to know the truth."
"A-are you being serious?" Velvet shakes nervously. "H-he... likes m-me? Do something Velvet!" She says to herself as she slowly reaches for Link's hand
"Yeah we haven't really known each other very long but we're already great friends in my opinion." Link speaks confidently, not knowing his hand was seconds away from being grabbed. "It's been a blast making friends this soon, I figured I was destined to make one friend max, maybe two if I was lucky."
"I misread, oh no!" Velvet quickly retracts her hand when Link pulls his hand away to scratch his head. "Y-yes I am very glad we became friends t-too. And soon, I already cannot imagine a scenario where I didn't meet you." Velvet nervously giggles
"That's nice. Hey vel." Link says. "Not to be intrusive again but what is your weapon anyway? I mean no offense but you don't look the type to primarily go hand-to-hand. Although you do look very quick, if you wanted to you probably would have run circles around Cardin and his team until they passed out from sheer exhaustion."
"You flatterer, thank you but as for my weapon. Ummm..." Velvet stalls "Well, it's kind of still in develop-!"
"May I take a peek at it at least?" Link asks. "At least an idea of what you're going to use whenever it's ready."
"Coco told me not to use it or show it off to anybody, not yet at least." Velvet mumbles
"Okay that's fair. I get it, I would have never let anybody touch my crossbow when it wasn't done yet." Link grabbed his bow from behind his back, safely secure behind his sword
"You're making more adjustments to it?" Velvet asks
"Yes I am. I kind of used it against Ruby and her team today. It's got two completed forms right now, the meh state... which is the regular bow, and then there's the crossbow state where it's mainly for rapid fire since it's small and compact. The third state is a thin semi automatic rifle that is still in development, I used it to blast myself in the air and finish off Yang with a melee attack." Link speaks with shame when he gets to the last part. "I just need to mess around with it a bit, look to see what else I can do. Right now it can only fire successfully at point blank range, which was great for blasting me into the air but not ideal for using it against opponents at a distance. It is intended to be a rifle and not a shotgun after all."
"Does it only work with you?" Velvet looks closely at the bow
"No way, anyone can use it. And if you don't believe me, then try it." Link extended his hand and offer his steel bow to Velvet, along with an arrow
"Sure! I g-guess..." Velvet nods and grabs the bow, she is careful to not potentially damage her friend's weapon but also wants to show Link what she can do
"The reason it turned into the crossbow instantly is because I was very angry. Due to the whole Cardin thing annnd maybe my anger got the better of me and the transformation into the crossbow was an accident on my part." Link shrugs
"Oh so it requires force and pressure in a certain area." Velvet grins. "And it's okay, we cannot be perfect huntsmen or huntresses with every fight we take."
"Smart girl. That's absolutely right." Link nods. "Go on then, give it a try."
"Come on, don't disappoint him, I can do this..." Velvet tightly grips onto Link and vows to do her best despite starting in a seated position. "Hmph!" Velvet frowns when she seemingly puts all her force into the bow, which does not generate her any immediate results
"You are too tense and as a result you aren't putting your full strength into the pull. Relax and try again." Link warmly says as he places a hand on Velvet's shoulder. The one man team lightly squeezes her shoulder, but unbeknownst to her, the hand on her shoulder helps her calm down and the tension she was experiencing was beginning to fade away
"Okay." Velvet nods then calmly begins to breath, after inhaling and exhaling a couple of times the tension and nerves are long gone and the nervous faunus is calm and relaxed within seconds after having the assuring hand on her shoulder
"You got this." Link continues to nod, pats her shoulder, and gives it one more squeeze before letting go
And now, as soon as Velvet successfully puts her force into pulling back on the bow, it only takes a few seconds before she pulls back and fully extends the bow with an arrow ready to be fired
"Nice job." Link compliments the bowmanship by Velvet as he reaches out to grab an apple, "Think fast!" He snaps in an attempt to scare her and tosses an apple in the air
"Got it!" Velvet carefully aims the bow as the apple feels like it stays in the fair for an extended time, the sun gives her some trouble visually but in the end does not cause her to fail as she fires the arrows and it directly strikes the apple. The power of the bow and arrow impresses both huntsman and huntress as the arrow perfectly splits the apple into two pieces
"Amazing job!" Link claps and gives Velvet a gentle side hug, where he also shakes her lightheartedly in the process. "Now time for the crossbow, quickly find the button!"
Link grabs another apple and lightly tosses it in the air with some power for maximum rise whilst Velvet struggles to the button to transform his weapon. Eventually, she locates it at the bottom of the bow and in seconds the bow transforms into a small but compact double crossbow. The faunus is initially caught off guard when a custom dust chamber rapidly spins, cycling between changing different colors, and landing on the light blue one. Velvet regains focus and fires away, then both she and Link observe the ice covered arrows fire, one goes wide but the other one pierces through the apple through the middle but at an angle, the impact of the icy arrow cuts the apple into 3 perfect slices, all three slices being partially frozen
"Woah... two p-perfect shots." Link mumbles and easily catches the three frozen pieces, he then begins to breath heavily to melt the ice off them
"You shocked?" Velvet asks as she returns the crossbow with a sense of confidence. "You must hit those all the time so I suppose someone else handling your weapons like that for the first time is shocking."
"Yeah I am shocked. Not at you, but it is just that... I can only clip the sides, I can never hit a bullseye on dropping objects before. Which is weird because I've had success against grimm and people." Link chuckles
"Noooooo." Velvet grins "I don't believe you. You're just making me feel better about myself"
"Nobody is perfect after all, except you of course." Link laughs and begins to breathe slower now as the apple slices are edible and ice-free
"That guy..." Coco chuckles. "From what I heard came of his fight with team RWBY, he can take aura, use it as offense and give it to someone... though Blake does speculate that he can only use it for a short amount of time before it drains him completely. So he might have weaknesses after all. He's also a smooth talker on top of that because I'm sure it's working on Velvet."
"So anyways my bunny eared friend, are you looking forward to next semester? This one has felt like kind of a breeze but I haven't exactly been the best student."
"Mhm." Velvet nods. "My time has been mostly good, the beginning of this year wasn't so good but you know why that was."
"Come on, ask him..." Coco frowns but is not surprised at the fact that she expects to happen ends up happening and that is Velvet sighing and saying nothing
"This is really good. Whenever you retire from being a huntress you should be a chef." Link expresses a look of joy as he finishes his food. "Thanks a lot for this Velvet I never had a meal that wasn't from a shop really."
"Your mother never made food for you?" Velvet raises an eyebrow. "Parents can be really busy so I would understand if she-!"
"I... never knew my mother to be completely honest with you." Link's mumbles as his left eye flashes gold again but this time he was able to make it go away, the repressed memories of his childhood do not succeed in making him angry
"O-oh I-I'm sorry." Velvet shakes her head. "If the topic is too sensitive we can-!"
"It's okay, I can't just keep it bottled up forever. I've been alone for all sixteen years of my life. I never knew my brother and I never even knew my mothers name." Link sighs "I should really tell her the truth... that I don't even remember fourteen years of my life. Perhaps another time when I get closer to her."
"A-and what about your father?" The rabbit faunus asks nervously
"I... had to defend myself to survive." Link's eyes water as his eyebrows raise in annoyance. "He tried to kill me... so I had to 'defend' myself and ever since I escaped his evil wrath of physical and mental abuse. I don't know, it was hard to trust anybody after that happened."
"Link..." Velvet shakes her head and scoots closer to wrap her arm around his arm by the elbow. "I'm so sorry about all of that and I am really sorry for even asking. But... forget those dark times, they don't define the person you are right now. For you to have a new life here, you're making new friends, all the professors have the best possible interests for all of us. I know I already said all your friends are here but I really do mean it. I can't speak for exactly everyone but I like to think we are all here for you. At the very least, I am here for you."
"Thanks a lot Velvet that really means so much." Link mumbles, "I'm glad I came here to Vale. Sure I've met losers like team Cardin and his team of discriminatory cowards, but for every negative person I've seen I have gained at least two people in return. I have friends like you, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Pyrrha, Jaune, Nora, Ren, Coco, Fox, Yatsuhashi, and hopefully many more as we progress through the year." Link looks up and glances at Velvet who was still hugging his arm. "You are all my friends and I promise to never let anything get in the way of that."
"That's so sweet." Velvet whispers and slowly feels the interlinking of their arms break by way of Link slowly pulling away
"This has been really nice. We should eat and then hopefully you allow me to take you back to your dorm, before Coco sends Yatsuhashi over here to pummel me into the dirt for keeping their teammate away for so long." Link laughs
"Right. Let's eat."
The next ten minutes or so are possibly the most amazing moments spent in silence as Link and Velvet eat happily, peacefully and exchange looks of happiness every now and then as they quickly get through the food Velvet packed and prepared for this picnic that could really be a stress reliever for anyone
"That was all really good." Link folds the blanket and neatly packs some empty containers inside the basket Velvet brings. He then stands up and extends his hand to help his friend up
"I'm so glad you enjoyed the picnic, that makes me feel so good." Velvet looks up, smiles happily and takes Link's hand. "Okay, let's head back."
The walk back is more of a journey as Link as velvet take their time strolling around Beacon and purposely taking the longer routes in order to not have to part ways so soon. Until eventually, no more stalling can occur as the two friends who just had a nice afternoon end up at the door of the team CFVY dorm
"Welp here we are." Link says, knocks on the door once and before giving it a light tap with his foot. "Hellooo, team CFVY? Special delivery, A rabbit girl who can fire a weapon she's never held before better than the police in Vale."
"Oh stop." Coco laughs as she opens the door and pulls Velvet away from Link. "He's got a point you know-! Hey wait a second mister one man team. How do you know that the police are bad shots?"
"Let's move on shall we? You don't need to-!" Link smirks and raises an eyebrow. "Now you wait a second Coco, what do you mean by 'he's got a point' when you don't even know what I'm referring to."
"Touché." Coco lowers her sunglasses and winks at Link
"I'm not that good guys. I just got lucky, that's all." Velvet mumbles
"Well you already seem better than me so that's a start. And a reality for me to get to training and improve my aim." Link nods to himself
"A-anyways, thank you for walking me here." Velvet smiles. "And thank you for a nice time, I'm glad you enjoyed the little picnic I threw together."
"No problem, I will gladly walk you back to your dorm or all around campus whenever you want. Can't have Cardin ruining your day again." Link nodded "But still, besides me your whole team has your back. And your friend Yatsuhashi would be all that's needed to scare the life out of Cardin, isn't that right?" Link peeks inside the dorm and nods at Yatsuhashi
"Mhm." Yatsuhashi nods in approval
"Good." Link gives a thumbs up. "And Velvet if that's just you 'throwing a picnic' together I could not even imagine how you'd plan a special dinner or a party. You have some serious skills. Goodbye Velvet, see ya around." He steps into the room and proceeds to embarrass Velvet in front of her entire team. Doing so by playfully grabbing her ears one more time to feel the softness before he cheerfully walks away, waving as his back is turned
"Sooo Vel..." Coco grins and promptly shuts the door
"V-vel?! How do you... y-you were eavesdropping on us! Link wasn't wrong when he accused you of somehow knowing how I did when I fired his bow!" Velvet frowns and crosses her arms. "Did you not trust him? Or did you not trust me?"
"Yeah yeah look, it wasn't either of those. I just wanted to keep an eye on you and make sure you were having a good time." Coco glances at the open window in their dorm, she grins as she gets ready to say her next sentence with confidence and optimism. "The little of his life story he told, just... wow. Sad life he had, but luckily he has us now, he has you Velvet. We can be his new family because he's clearly a nice guy with a big heart, he just has a troubled past."
"Mhm, spot on Coco." Velvet nods. "You said it best too, I wouldn't wish his life growing up on anyone, not even my worst enemy. But this is where it all turns around for him, we can and will be his new family. I just hope it works out that way. Link is such an amazing person and I'm glad he's our friend now."
Hours Later, Team RWBY's Dorm
"Hm, I do wonder what we're gonna do or where we're even going to hang out?" Link thinks as he walks to his destination. "I suppose the library will do or we could always head back to my dorm since it's more spacious and all. Although spending time in the team RWBY dorm would be cool too but-!"
ZOOM!
The sound and sight of a figure quickly flies by Link, but the boy also turns fast enough to see it is Blake Belladonna who also turns to meet his eyes for the rapid half a second they cross paths. Something is wrong however, Blake's normal calm demeanor is replaced with sadness and her bright amber eyes are watery as if a fight just broke out and some horrible words were exchanged
"Huh? I wonder what that was about..." Link speaks to himself out loud, the happy huntsman calmly walks up to the dorm room of team RWBY, and they for some odd reason have their door open wide open
"Erm, hello?" Link knocks on the open door and steps inside carefully. "Is everything alright?"
"Leave!" Weiss demands. "As much as I appreciated your help earlier, this is team RWBY business only!"
"Whoa stop. What's going on?" Link takes a step back
"S-sorry Link I can't go out tonight." Ruby sighs
"I get that, but what happened?" Link says and quickly noticing Yang, Weiss and Ruby's expressions drop as soon as the question is asked
"Blake's gone." Ruby said with a worried tone. "And we don't know where she went..."
"WHAT?!" Link quickly runs out of the dorm in hopes to see some sign of her, but she is long gone. "I just saw her running down the hallway."
"You did? And you didn't stop her?!" Weiss' eyes widen
"I didn't exactly have the context of the situation to stop her. Plus Blake is pretty fast when she sprints, I was walking and not on guard at all."
"Fair. I guess..." She shrugs
"Where do you think she went?" Yang speaks up
"Your guess is as good as mine unfortunately." Link crosses his arms before turning back and re-entering the dorm. "So, who wants to tell me what happened and I mean what actually occurred that made Blake run away."
Silence, followed by more silence, capped off with another touch of silence until Weiss Schnee clears her throat and begins to explain what happened during the day after their sparring match and the events leading into the night, involving traveling to the City of Vale, where it all fell apart for the four girls