After spending their first day settling in, Jaune and Weiss took Pyrrha out around Arcaesia the following morning.
Pyrrha had been worried about being recognized at first, but Jaune assured her that his hometown was remote enough that the Invincible Girl's fame wouldn't reach its denizens.
"They have other things to worry about than some Mistrali girl's tournament wins," he told her. "No offense."
"None taken," she returned with a small smile. She knew her paranoia was silly, but it was hard to truly shake such a feeling when it had been ingrained into her for the past few years.
Still, her friends did what they could to alleviate her nervousness, flanking the redhead as they walked through town. They did garner looks as they passed by pedestrians, but they were fleeting glances of curiosity at most. In fact, it seemed that Jaune drew the most attention between the three of them.
"Oh! Welcome back, Jaune!" an older woman called when they passed by her produce stand.
"Hey Mrs. Green!" he called back with a wave.
"Jaune-boy's back? How's it going there, son?"
"All right, Mr. Donahue, good to see ya!"
Several more people greeted Jaune as they continued their stroll, and Pyrrha couldn't help but comment on that fact. "You seem rather popular."
"I used to do some odd jobs around town when I was younger," he explained. "Dad said it would be a good life experience."
They walked for a few more moments before stopping at one of the storefronts: a bakery. A pleasant aroma stimulated Pyrrha's senses as both Jaune and Weiss smiled nostalgically.
"Still smells as good as I remember," Weiss said, her eyes closed to focus on the smell.
"I wanna bet it'll taste just as good too," Jaune added with a smirk. He opened the door and gestured for them to go in.
Upon entering the bakery, they were met by a man, his face slightly wrinkled yet still full of youthful energy. He spoke with a North Valean accent: heavy, yet still comprehensible (1). "Bonjour! Welcome to…" he trailed off as soon as he spotted Weiss. "Wait a moment… Mademoiselle Schnee? Is that you?"
"Hello, Monsieur de Mie," Weiss said with a small curtsy. "It's nice to see you again."
"The pleasure is all mine, I assure you. I still remember you nibbling on a croissant as a young girl. You've grown beautifully, my dear." The baker's gaze drifted to Jaune. "Ah, and of course Jaune is home too! Have you decided to come back to work for me full time?"
"Not quite, Pan," Jaune laughed. "Besides, you'll need to wait in line. Pretty sure Mrs. Green called first dibs."
"Bah!" The baker scoffed with a wave of his hand. "That woman only wants you for eye candy. Besides, were you not the one begging for this job before? I recall you wanting to learn how to make Mademoiselle Schnee's favorite pastries."
At once, both girls turned to observe their leader, who sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I-I wouldn't exactly call it 'begging.'"
"Mon dieu, I could remember it as clear as day." Pan clasped his hands together and, with a pleading voice, recited, "'Monsieur de Mie, please teach me the ways of the pâtissier! I want to surprise Weiss the next time we meet!'"
"I-It wasn't just Weiss! It was for my family too!" Jaune exclaimed with a red face.
"But you don't deny you learned to bake to impress me, right?" Weiss teased with a smirk.
The blond opened his mouth, then just as quickly closed it, realizing that he'd already dug himself into a hole.
Pan's eyes drifted towards the Pyrrha, then widened slightly with surprise. "Ah! Forgive me, mademoiselle! I was so excited to see familiar faces that I did not notice you. I am Pan de Mie (2), owner of this bakery and pâtisserie. You are a friend of these two, yes?"
The redhead, who'd been silently observing this entire time, was somewhat startled at suddenly being addressed. "A-Ah, that's right! I'm Pyrrha. We go to school together."
"Ah, another aspiring huntsman, I see! C'est bonne!" Pan gestured to a glass display, full of appetizing baked goods. "Come, come! I've just baked some fresh pastries. I know those in your profession have quite the appetites, so please, order as many as you like!"
Like a moth to a flame, Weiss was immediately drawn to the display case; her ice-blue irises zeroed in on a particular pastry: A chocolate cupcake, iced with coffee-flavored icing, drizzled with caramel and topped with chocolate chips.
Pan chuckled upon seeing her hypnotized expression. "I see you've spotted the Coffee Coffin Cupcake. It has been quite some time since you've had one, no?"
"I'll take it," she said, leaving no room for argument. It was only after she had her card in hand did she add an embarrassed, "P-Please."
The baker erupted into full blown laughter. "Of course, mademoiselle, here you are!"
Upon receiving her cupcake, Weiss excitedly unwrapped the bottom portion and took a bite, sighing with heavenly delight.
As Pyrrha looked at her partner's elated expression, the only thought that passed through her mind was 'adorable.' She rarely got to see her partner act in such a way, so she resolved herself to ingrain this image into her memory.
The sound of a camera shutter drew her attention. Her eyes widened for a moment, her stomach clenching with panic and anxiety, before realizing that it was just Jaune, who'd taken a photo of Weiss. His fingers danced across his scroll for a moment before he dramatically said, "And… Saved!"
She hid her quiet relief beneath a small giggle at his theatrics. "I hope you plan to share that with me."
Jaune pretended to contemplate her words for a moment. "Hmm… not so fast, Pyr. I'll need something of equal value first." He teasingly waved his scroll and gestured towards the display case of pastries. "Why don't we get a pic of you snacking on something too, hm?"
Pyrrha played along, unable to stop the wide smile that stretched across her face. "You drive a hard bargain, Jaune, but I accept." In a sudden surge of boldness—surprising even to herself—she grabbed his hand and pulled him to the display. She felt the rough calluses of his fingers against her own and couldn't help but fixate on that sensation, mindlessly wondering what it'd be like to interlock their fingers.
"… Pyr?" she heard him whisper confusedly. It was only then that she realized how long she'd been idly standing there, hand-in-hand with him, not even bothering to look over the pastries on offer.
"O-Oh, um, uh…" she stammered, eyes rapidly scanning the baked goods before her. "W-What would you recommend?"
A look of understanding crossed his features. "Heh, right. You in the mood for something sweet or savory?"
After Jaune gave a brief rundown of everything, Pyrrha eventually decided on a Pâté Lorrain: a traditional North Valean puff pastry filled with pork and veal. It was less extravagantly decorated than Weiss's selection, but was certainly no less appetizing: The scent of fragrant herbs and spices assaulted her nose, enhancing the smell of the meat within.
She took a bite, the satisfying crisp sound of the pastry breaking between her teeth echoing in her ears as the flavorful juices of the filling flooded her mouth. The redhead instinctively let out a hum of approval as she savored the taste.
Jaune's scroll made a shuttering sound once more as he snapped a picture of her enjoying her food. "Pleasure doing business, Pyr," he said before taking a bite of his own pastry and turning his scroll's camera on himself.
Her scroll buzzed, notifying her that she received a message. Upon checking it, she saw that Jaune had sent her both photos he took. She laughed at how silly they looked, their cheeks visibly stuffed with food, yet at the same time couldn't help but notice how flattering these photos were in spite of that.
"These look great, Jaune!" she told him.
He merely shrugged his shoulders. "Well, when you grow up with seven sisters, you kinda have to learn to take good pictures. Glad you like them!"
"Something's missing, I feel," Weiss piped in, her own scroll in hand as Jaune had also sent her the pictures. Turning to the pastry chef, she said, "Monsieur de Mie, would you kindly take a picture of us together?"
"It would be my pleasure, mademoiselle." Taking her proffered scroll, the baker stepped back as the three of them shuffled into position. Taking a seat at a nearby table—so as to put all of them at roughly equal height—the girls positioned themselves at either side of Jaune. They all held up their pastries together and posed for the camera. "Smile on trois!"
For the first time in a long time, Pyrrha finally felt a genuine grin split her lips as she smiled for a camera.
-]I[-
After leaving the bakery, the trio continued exploring the Arcaesian venues to their hearts' content, only returning to the manor just as the sun began to set.
"Today was amazing," Pyrrha said gratefully. "I don't think I've been able to enjoy myself like this since before my first tournament."
Their outings in Vale, while fun, still required the redhead to disguise herself. To be able to walk about in public without having to hide who she was truly couldn't begin to compare.
"I'm glad you had fun, Pyr," said Jaune with his usual grin. "It's been a while for Weiss and I too, so I'm happy we could share the experience."
"Keep in mind that we only visited the commercial district so far," Weiss added. "We've yet to visit the lake."
"Oh yeah!" Jaune exclaimed excitedly. "We can totally go fishing tomorrow! A shame it's so cold, otherwise I'd say we should go for a swim—"
He paused suddenly, stopping in place. The girls turned to him; concern clearly etched on their features.
"Jaune?" Pyrrha queried. "Is something wrong?"
He said nothing, only closing his eyes as if to intensely focus on something.
"…!"
Swiftly, Jaune unsheathed his sword and whirled around in a single motion, just barely catching an opposing blade bearing down on him from above.
Weiss and Pyrrha reacted instantaneously, drawing their own weapons and preparing to retaliate against their attacker.
That is, until they realized who it was.
"Really, Dad?" Jaune said through gritted teeth, having needed to use both arms to support his sword against his father's strength.
Ferrum cast a shameless smirk down at his son. "Just wanted to make sure your senses haven't dulled since you began classes."
With a single flap of his large wings, Ferrum disengaged from the blade lock and flew back a short distance. Turning his gaze to the girls, he nodded approvingly. "You girls reacted quickly, even if you failed to detect my attack. Well done."
Relaxing slightly, they lowered their weapons. "Well, it's not every day we encounter an opponent who can fly."
"Maybe not," he conceded, "but you'll encounter them in droves later on. I've heard from Glynda that you three slew a Nevermore during initiation. While an impressive feat for Huntsmen-in-training, you need to realize that there are Grimm who are less conspicuous than what you've faced. Should they catch you unawares, it will be a swift end for you."
Both girls silently scolded themselves for their lack of awareness and took his advice to heart.
"Don't feel too bad about it," Jaune comforted them. "Dad's trained himself to be especially quiet while flying. Only reason why I noticed it was 'cause he trained me like this almost every single day since I decided to become a Huntsman."
"Not just me," Ferrum reminded him. "Your mother and grandfather played a role, too."
"Mom always took it easy on me, and Grandpa didn't have wings. You're the only one who could ambush me from above."
"You should've asked. I'm sure I could have dropped him on you a few times."
Jaune visibly shuddered at the thought. "Please, no."
Ferrum stared at the teens for a few moments, silently contemplating something. "… Say, I know you kids are on break, but would you be interested in sparring with me? I'd like to see what the next generation of Huntsmen has to offer."
"Sparring with the 'Iron Angel' himself?" Weiss said with a surprised, yet intrigued expression. "I've always wanted to see what it'd be like to fight against you, Mr. Arc."
"I'd not be opposed either," Pyrrha agreed, excitement clear in her eyes. "I've been curious to see how good of a fighter you are, Mr. Arc. I've heard many impressive stories from my teammates."
"Hahaha," he laughed from his spot in the sky. "Well, I suppose I'll need to put on a good showing."
Sighing, Jaune asked, "So how do you want to test us? As a group? One-on-one?"
"Let's see how good your teamwork is," his father answered.
"All right, but keep in mind that we're down a member from what we're used to."
Ferrum nodded in understanding. "I'll fly on ahead and tell the others. I'm sure your mother and grandfather would be keen to watch you kids. Meet you at the training grounds!"
With that, the Arc Patriarch took off in a burst of speed, soaring into the distance.
Jaune turned towards his teammates with a resigned expression. "Welp, looks like fun time's over."
Smiling confidently, Pyrrha placed a hand on his shoulder. "On the contrary, Jaune, I believe that it's just begun."
Her leader stared at her for a moment, looking as if he wanted to say something. Instead, he graced her with a small, tired smile and ushered them back to the manor, content to let the experience speak for itself.
-]I[-
Behind the manor laid a flat, open clearing; clean of debris and wayward foliage. It was there that the Arc family and their guards gathered to watch the spar between Ferrum and his son's team. Glynda sat along the outside of the clearing with Violette in her arms. Aerarius sat next to her while the rest of the Arc girls lined up around either side of them, eager to get a glimpse of the Huntsman life they rarely got to see.
Within the battling area, Team AW_N stood dressed for battle. They formed a triangle formation, with Jaune at the vanguard. Though lacking their fourth member, they still intended to put on their best showing.
Across from them was the "Iron Angel" himself. Despite his moniker, the winged Faunus was not armored in any way. In fact, the man suspiciously lacked any sort of metal on his persons, not even a weapon.
"Mommy, how come big brother is the only one in armor?" Violette asked.
"Well, sweetie, most Huntsmen don't really need it," Glynda explained simply. "They have Aura to protect them. Jaune wears it so that his Aura doesn't have to do all the work."
"But doesn't Dad also wear armor?" Celeste pointed out. "And where's his weapon?"
"… Mom told you about Pyrrha's Semblance, didn't she?" Jaune accused his father, to which the man shamelessly nodded and grinned.
"Sorry, honey!" Glynda yelled guiltily. "I thought it was a good chance for Pyrrha to fight an opponent she couldn't directly use her Semblance on."
"It's okay, Mrs. Arc, I appreciate it!" Pyrrha called back. Her gaze turned back to Ferrum with an eager gleam. "Besides, it's only fair. Jaune and Weiss did tell me of yours, sir."
"As they should've," he replied with an approving nod. "Though do keep in mind that being told is completely different from experiencing it yourself." His gaze turned to Weiss at that moment. "That goes for you too, Weiss. The little parlor tricks I did for you when you were younger are just a taste of what's to come."
In response, Weiss flourished her rapier, its cylinder clicking into place as it primed a Dust cartridge. "Respectfully, I'm not that same little girl any longer. I have a few tricks of my own to show you."
A small, wistful laugh escaped him as the Faunus's Aura began to flare up. "Then let's see how well you've grown."
The white glow that encapsulated the man began to take shape, forming into a translucent armor that covered him from head to toe. Aura condensed in his hands as he drew them apart, coalescing into a long spear that stretched even taller than himself.
With one beat of his large wings, Ferrum launched himself into the air, his form disappearing into the blinding light of the sun.
Unable to look directly at their opponent, Team AWN stood back-to-back, covering each other's blind spots as they scanned the skies for their opponent.
There was silence for a few moments, all quiet except for the wind blowing and rustling the nearby trees. And then they heard it: a low, subtle whistling, coming from directly above them. The sunlight that shone down was eclipsed by shadow, cascading them in darkness as Ferrum's falling form swooped down upon them.
The girls broke away while Jaune stood his ground. Bracing himself, Jaune faced his father's diving thrust head-on, catching the spear-tip on his shield at an angle and letting it slide off the shield's face.
Ferrum's attack kicked up a cloud of debris as it impacted the ground, keeping his form concealed and preventing Pyrrha from lining up a clear shot at him.
Jaune immediately launched himself at him, but Ferrum beat away his son's hand with a slap of his wing before launching a sweeping strike with his spear, swiping Jaune's legs out from under him. The armored blond hit the ground, but rolled backwards onto his feet, continuing his assault as Weiss joined the fray.
Summoning an acceleration glyph beneath her feet, Weiss dashed forward in an unbelievable burst of speed, lunging at Ferrum's exposed back.
The Faunus was prepared for this, however, and immediately jumped into the air once more; hoping that Weiss would crash into Jaune.
To his surprise, Jaune crouched low and angled his shield so that Weiss slid up it like a ramp, launching her into the air. The heiress summoned another glyph to kick off of, allowing her to change her trajectory and continue towards Ferrum's airborne form.
Myrtenaster glowed green as Weiss swiped in front of her, launching a blade of wind at him. Ferrum made to dodge, but Pyrrha's shield blindsided him from behind, striking him in the back of the head. The unexpected blow kept Ferrum in place long enough for the wind blade to land, sending him tumbling through the air.
Unfortunately for Weiss, the fact that her attack launched him away meant that she couldn't continue her assault. She landed on the ground gracefully as her teammates flanked her, their firearms drawn as they laid down a barrage of gunfire in Ferrum's direction.
The Faunus was able to right himself after a moment, riding his momentum into a smooth acrobatic U-turn. He flew erratically towards them, dodging bullets left and right before colliding with Jaune, knocking the boy off his feet as he barreled into him.
He skidded to a halt as he landed before launching himself at Weiss in a flurry of spear thrusts. Unable to trade blows due to the range advantage Ferrum possessed, Weiss tried her best to deflect and dodge; but she couldn't defend against all of his attacks. Each missed parry gradually began to chip away at her Aura.
Pyrrha rushed to defend her partner, lunging forward with her own spear. But to her complete and utter shock, Ferrum caught her weapon with his hand.
Or rather, his armor did.
Slowly, the armor of Aura that protected Ferrum stripped away from his body, moving as an independent entity while the man himself continued to attack Weiss. It stared unnervingly at Pyrrha, its grip tight around the shaft of Miló as it tore the weapon from her and punched her in the face.
Discombobulated from the initial haymaker, Pyrrha tried her best to put up an effective defense. She was able to trade blows with the Aura armor, but she was no Yang Xiao Long. She was not nearly as proficient with fisticuffs as she was wielding a blade.
Likewise, Weiss was still struggling against Ferrum's superior range and strength. She did have the speed advantage, but the veteran Huntsman had no problem predicting and reacting to her movements. These brief clashes only resulted in her getting pushed back while dealing negligible damage.
-]I[-
"They fight well," Aerarius said, impressed with their performance even as they were losing. He turned to Glynda, "You did a good job teaching them."
She shook her head as she idly played with Violette's hair. "This is the fruit born of their own efforts. I only pushed them in the right direction from time-to-time." Her gaze shifted between Weiss and Pyrrha, with a cursory glance sent towards her husband.
Aura Guardian: A Semblance that enables its user to conjure an entity of Aura that can fight independently of its summoner. It was not unlike the Avatars that the Schnee Glyphs could summon, though it was not contingent on slaying specific Grimm. It could even be compared to a cloning Semblance, though most clones are not nearly as strong, fast, or durable as the Guardian; nor could they be controlled to this extent without completely immobilizing the user.
"Woah…" the Arc girls sounded in awe as they watched the spectacle before them.
"It's like they're fighting two Dads at once!" Azura and Mazarine exclaimed.
"If Dad makes another armor thing like that, then the numbers even out." Olivia observed.
"That's true," Glynda conceded. "But your father can only make one Aura Guardian at a time."
"And not only that…" Aerarius trailed off as he spotted Jaune rushing headlong at Ferrum. "If your father moves too far away from his Guardian…"
The armored teen managed to get the drop on his father, tackling him away from Weiss. At the same time, the punch that would have caught Pyrrha in the jaw suddenly stopped just before making contact with her as the Guardian was violently pulled back by an invisible leash; dropping Miló in the process.
"The Guardian is forced to follow."
-]I[-
Despite suddenly being pulled away from its opponent, the Guardian immediately found a new one, locking on to Jaune just as the teen began to rain a series of punches down on Ferrum.
Weiss, seeing this, immediately intercepted the Semblance, loading another Dust cartridge and plunging her rapier into the ground. A line of ice spikes shot out of the earth, racing towards the Guardian and entrapping its lower half within an icy cage.
This stopped it for all of a moment, as the Guardian simply punched itself free, but not before Pyrrha threw herself at it with renewed vigor. Having regained her bearings, the gladiatrix was now able to properly fight back against the Semblance. Weiss, too, joined the melee. The partners shared a look, agreeing on a wordless plan: Keep the Guardian occupied while Jaune dealt with Ferrum.
-]I[-
Unfortunately for Team AWN, their leader lost his advantageous position not long after, his father managing to knock his son off him. Both blonds rose to their feet, Jaune rushing to grab his weapons while Ferrum took a moment to catch his breath.
"You have some good teammates," Ferrum told his son, gesturing at them with his spear. "I'm especially impressed with Weiss. She's come a long way from the little girl I used to know." He paused, pointing his weapon at Jaune. "But you? I'll admit that I'm a bit disappointed. Nothing to show for after all this time besides a new toy."
If his father's taunts got to Jaune, he did not show it. Brandishing Crocea Mors, he replied, "I'm only just getting started."
Jaune approached slowly at first, gradually picking up speed until he ran at a dead sprint, closing the distance in the blink of an eye as Aura amplified his muscles. With a roar, he clashed with his father, who met his slash head on with an amused smile.
That is, until the Faunus felt the stinging impact of a bullet against his thigh.
Concealing White Rose behind his shield, Jaune fired the pistol point blank at his father's legs. Had it not been for Aura, the shot would have crippled Ferrum's fighting ability. Another high slash forced Ferrum's attention upwards, another mistake that was rewarded with a shot in his stomach.
Ferrum batted away Jaune's gun hand, swinging the butt of his spear at his son's head. Jaune merely raised his shield to block, which had perfectly lined up his pistol with his father's face. Eyes widening, Ferrum turned his head just as Jaune fired, dodging the bullet but catching the full brunt of the muzzle flash; the close proximity not only blinded but deafened the Faunus's heightened senses.
This allowed Jaune to get a series of slashes, bashes, and kicks in against his father, who could only blindly try to defend himself to ineffective results. Gritting his teeth and becoming annoyed, Ferrum threw away his weapon and began to grapple with his son, who yelped at the sudden change in tactics.
-]I[-
In that instant, no one noticed that Ferrum had actually thrown the spear in the direction of his Aura Guardian, who caught the ethereal polearm just in time to ward off Pyrrha's own weapon. It immediately thrusted the butt of its spear backwards, catching Weiss in the stomach and throwing the shorter girl back. As it made to strike at Pyrrha, the spear in its hands began to change shape, becoming that of a longsword.
The more versatile weapon proved to be difficult for the championship fighter to deal with. Though lacking in range compared to the spear, it was still long enough to keep her at bay when Miló was in Xiphos form. If she tried to mechashift it into its javelin form to match its reach, the Guardian immediately closed the distance with half-swording techniques that rendered said reach useless.
Despite having trained against Jaune, who fought with a similar style, she'd always been able to subtly nudge his attacks aside with her Polarity. Now faced against an opponent unaffected by her Semblance, she found that she couldn't effectively counter its attacks with her skill alone.
'I didn't realize how overly reliant I've become on my Semblance,' she thought to herself. She'd need to fix this for the future.
-]I[-
Eventually, Team AWN was slowly whittled down and picked off one-by-one. Weiss was the first to fall, followed by Pyrrha, then Jaune. The three of them were laid out on the ground, utterly battered and exhausted from the spar.
"You three fought splendidly," Ferrum said as he stood above them. Though he had won the spar, the veteran Huntsman definitely showed signs of fatigue. "I'd imagine that if you had your fourth member, you might have won."
The teens' eyes widened at his words: Did he actually mean that?
"I really mean it," he said, reading their expressions. "Granted, I was fighting at a handicap, but you guys really did push me." Just to show them how close the fight had actually been, he pulled out his scroll and showed them his Aura meter.
"50%!?" Weiss exclaimed as she propped herself up on her arms. "But we spent almost half the time fighting your Semblance!"
"Exactly. My Semblance, which is an extension of my Aura. Whatever damage you dealt to my Guardian was reflected onto me directly. Every cut you made, every punch you threw, I felt it. And let me tell you, you guys hit hard."
It was a small consolation to the girls, who felt like their attacks did very little to slow down the ethereal being.
"Now, with all that being said, there are a few things that I noticed that could be improved on, but I'm sure my wife can do a better job of explaining than I can." Ferrum gestured to Glynda's approaching form.
Now in instructor mode, Glynda began to cite all their shortcomings during the spar. "Pyrrha, as you may have realized, your Semblance did not help you all too much during the fight. At least, not the way you're used to using it. I know that you primarily hide the use of your Polarity through subtle redirections of your opponent's weapon, but sometimes it is best to throw caution to the wind and be more direct with using it. I'll admit that it is good that you keep your Semblance so well hidden, but I doubt you have much practice using it so openly in combat.
"Out of the three of you, you had the best chance of fighting Ferrum in the air had you thought outside the box. For example, perhaps you could have tried using your shield as a platform to ride and control with your Semblance. Just something to think about for the future.
"Weiss, you seem to be overthinking things too much. There were moments when you had opportunities to help either Pyrrha or Jaune fight, but because it took you so long to deliberate who to help, your moment of opportunity passed. Trust your instincts a bit.
"And Jaune…" she let out a disappointed sigh, "Simply put, you need to train with Weiss more. For the brief moments you two were battling the same opponent, it seemed as if you thought you were fighting alongside Blake. You don't seem to fully comprehend the full extent of Weiss's Dust wielding capabilities, and thus are not able to capitalize on the openings she creates for you using them."
They each took the woman's words to heart, though Jaune purposefully avoided looking at Weiss's smug expression, ashamed enough as is.
-]I[-
"Good work again today, Blake." Tukson said as he closed up his shop.
Blake hummed in acknowledgment as she leaned on the countertop, eyes glued to her scroll. There, the battered forms of her teammates smiled back at her, followed by a text.
Dork Knight: Got our asses kicked by my dad. Wish you were here.
An amused smile formed on her face as she typed a message back.
Kuroneko: I don't think I'd have been much help.
Dork Knight: Nah it was pretty close. Pushed him to half.
Her eyebrows raised in surprise.
Kuroneko: Really?
Dork Knight: Yea
Dork Knight: Dad said if we had a 4th we might have won.
Kuroneko: ( • ᴖ • 。) Sorry
Dork Knight: It's k.
Dork Knight: Should come next time tho.
She recalled the pictures her partner sent earlier. A part of her really regretted missing out on the fun, but she needed to do this. For both their sakes.
Kuroneko: Yeah, maybe. Those pastries looked pretty good. (๑ᵔᵔ๑)
Dork Knight: Ya they were
"Texts from your boyfriend?" Tukson teased, peering over her shoulder.
Blake immediately scrambled to hide her scroll from him. "H-He's not my boyfriend! I've said this already!"
"Oh, I know," he said smugly. "But as your parents aren't here to annoy you about this, that duty falls to me." Seeing her glower at him only raised his hackles.
"Ugh, I'm going up first." The Faunus teen immediately tried to push past him to go upstairs to the apartment, her cheeks flushed.
"I think they'd like him, you know." Tukson said as she began her ascent, causing her to pause. "Oh sure, Gira would want to scare him off, but he'd come around pretty quickly. And Kali would adore him for being able to make you smile like that."
"Shut UP!" she shrieked with embarrassment, making the man laugh even harder as she rushed up the stairs and slammed the door behind her.
Once she was secure in her privacy, Blake let out a sigh of relief. She jumped onto the futon and brought out her scroll again. She looked at it for a moment, catching herself just before she reopened her chat log with Jaune.
'I really shouldn't be texting him,' she thought to herself. 'If I'm trying to lose this crush, I need to go radio silent. I need to get him out of my head.'
… But it'd be awkward if she just ghosted him, wouldn't it? Especially when she'd see him again next week?
And besides, it'd be rude to suddenly stop talking to him in the middle of a conversation, right?
'…'
Kuroneko: Sorry about that. Tukson was being annoying.
Dork Knight: No probs. He doing alright?
Kuroneko: Yeah, he's having a blast. Business has been booming since I started working.
Dork Knight: Oh? That's great! Happy for you guys.
Kuroneko: Not so great. So many guys come in to try and get my number. It's irritating (_")
Dork Knight: Not surprised. Cute girl working the front is like every guy's dream.
A warmth filled her cheeks and chest when she saw him calling her 'cute.'
Kuroneko: Try "Hot Goth Cat Girl."
Dork Knight: You're more emo than goth, I think.
Kuroneko: I'm neither!
Kuroneko:
/ᐠ — ᐟ\
( ᓀ'‸ ᓂ )
૮ ...….. Ⳋ ˎˊ
Dork Knight: You're right. You're a weeb XD
Kuroneko: Am not!
Dork Knight: You own a traditional Eastern Mistrali sleeping gown! You're not even Mistrali!
Kuroneko: Because it looks nice and feels comfy!
Dork Knight: Uh huh, sure.
Kuroneko:
/ᐠ — ᐟ\
( ᓀ'‸ ᓂ )
૮ ...….. Ⳋ ˎˊ
Dork Knight: g2g, need to help make food.
Kuroneko: Stop sending me food pics. I get so hungry… ()
Dork Knight: Suffer :)
As if a spell had been broken, Blake blinked to herself, reviewed their chat log, and quietly muttered to herself.
"I'm so screwed."
A/N: First up, Happy belated New Years! Been a while, huh?
To be completely honest. it's gonna be another while til the next chapter too XD. Between all my classes and part-time job, as well as the general lack of motivation to write, things have been and likely will continue to be rough on this front, hence the relatively shorter chapter.
That said, I hope you guys still enjoyed it. I'm never going to give up on this story (At least, not til the end of Season 3), but I can't promise anything else.
There are a few things I wanted to explain in this chapter, so here I go:
First, the use of language other than "Common" i.e. English. Even though there's little mention of it in the lore, I did want to incorporate the real world phenomenon of regional dialects, just to give the world a bit more flavor. In this case, I've equated the northern part of Vale to France, and Eastern Mistral to Japan. It won't be a main focus-mostly because I'm not a polyglot and don't know many other languages-but I will be using it from time to time in the future.
For those of you who do know a bit of French, you might have caught the little joke I made regarding Pan. For those who don't, the baker's name is a pun on the French name for bread i.e. "Pain de mie"
Second, Ferrum's Semblance: Aura Guardian.
... Yes, it's a Jojo reference. For all intents and purposes, Aura Guardian follows the typical rules of a Stand, specifically a close-range combat one. Whatever damage it takes is reflected onto Ferrum and vice versa, with the caveat that the Guardian is wearing armor in a similar manner to Silver Chariot. Furthermore, it has a limited range and Ferrum can only summon one Guardian at a time. It has a few more abilities than that, but I won't reveal too much more beyond the fact that it can summon weapons of Aura that Ferrum can also wield, and can also act as armor for him.
That's about it. I'll see ya when I see ya. Thanks for reading!
