Chapter 8: Web
Robbeeyy: Wise words Robbeeyy, but will something along those lines take shape in the future?
CriticaofRandomness: That's a bit funny because sometimes when I write I listen to music and one of the songs I listen to sometimes is "The Man behind the slaughter". XD
Guest #1: Yeah, sometimes CRWBY is a mixed bag of terrible and good writing.
Guest #2: You make great points, and another thing I wanna touch on is the 3 Characters you mentioned. I loved Adam, I loved Roman, and Neo always piqued my interest, and I wanna do their Characters Justice, which is why I plan on writing them in a similar way you mentioned because let's be honest if those three were serious, and I mean if done right and given time to show off what they can do when they're serious, (Which we kinda got with Neo during her fight with Cinder, because let's admit, she was kicking Cinder's fucking ass until Cinder used her Maiden powers), they would have destroyed most of RWBY/JNPR.
NinjaFang1331: Thank you and I hope you enjoy this Chapter.
Update 5:
The planning of the Shade Act is finished! From chapters 32-51! This means it is the longest Act so far planned out as it contains 20 Chapters in the Act. I am now planning Part 2 of the story and boy am I freaking excited! Because trust me, I've been waiting to plan Part 2 forever!
Trust me, this will not affect how I write and finish Part 1, and its Acts. I'm just excited because Part 2 is where a lot of major things happen that will be important in Part 3, which may only have 2 Acts.
Speaking of which, here are the new updated Act names for Part 2 and the titles of the Acts in Part 3
Part 2 Acts:
Beacon Act
Nightmare Act
Beauty and Beast Act
Blackbird Act
Clipped Wings Act
Part 3 Acts:
Fantasia Act
Happily Never After Act
A/N: It took me forever to write this chapter. If there's one thing I want to share with you guys is that this story is hard to write because I want to focus on the Characters, their inner struggles, and their emotional development, but it gets exhausting and emotionally draining.
I want this story to be the best it can be, I want this story to thrive because I am dedicated to this story, this story is my biggest passion project, and while I love all my stories, this story is close to my heart, because it's based on some of the manga that changed my life, that got me thinking about my own life and made me feel much better when I was in a dark place.
But thank you all for reading and continuing to support this story!
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Back in Vale, Ruby and Blake were in their dorm room, the Reaper was reading her comics while Blake was reading her book. Weiss was off doing a charity event with her family, and Yang was training with team JNPR... or just NPR now she supposed. Thinking about Jaune made her feel sad, she knew or at least hoped that she would see him next year, but she wondered what he was doing. Where was he? Was he ok? Was he taking care of himself? She worried about these things, she worried about him a lot, he was her first friend after all.
She didn't care if he faked his way into Beacon, after all, she'd do anything to be a Huntress too.
"Thinking about Jaune?" Blake asked, not looking up from her book.
ruby was surprised and quickly looked to her feline teammate, "How did you-?"
"Because I saw that worried look on your face," Blake said. She closed her book and looked at her leader, "You've been worried about him since he left," Blake said.
"Course I have!" Ruby said, "Jaune... Jaune is my best friend, he was there for me the first day I got here, he's almost like the brother I never had, what he may have done was wrong but I mean it's not like he robbed a bank! I don't see why Yang and Weiss are giving him a hard time!" Ruby said.
Blake nodded, "I understand where they're coming from, Jaune did fake his way in while people like Yang and Weiss worked hard to get into Beacon, but at the same time I have no right to judge Jaune, after all, I am an ex-terrorist,"
"Oh.. right," Ruby said with a wince. Then a sudden realization came to the young teen, "Wait... how did you apply for Beacon if you never went to one of the training schools?" Ruby asked.
Blake gave Ruby a dead stare before turning away and opening up her book. Not answering the young reaper.
"W-Wait! Blake! Are your transcripts fake too!?" Ruby
Blake glanced at her leader but then looked back at the book, "How else do you think I got in? You think I just told Ozpin "Hi, I'm Blake Belladonna, I'm an ex-terrorist, can I join Beacon!" and he let me in?"
Ruby stayed silent, before an awkward smile came to he lips, "I-I never really gave it much thought, hehe," Ruby replied.
Blake softly smiled at her leader before returning to her book, "You know, I'm sure that when he gets back, he's gonna be happy to see you," Blake said.
Ruby smiled, "You think so?" She asked.
Blake nodded, "He's like the brother you never had right? I'm sure Jaune thinks of you as a family just as you do," Blake told her leader.
Ruby nodded with a smile, "Thanks, Blake," Ruby said with a smile.
A knock came on their door and Ruby told them to come in, and when the door opened, a familiar head poked through the doorway.
"Hello Again," Pyrrha greeted with a smile.
Ruby waved at the female champion, "Hey Pyrrha!" Ruby greeted back. "What's up?" she asked.
"Oh, well dinner at the cafeteria is about to begin and they got dessert so I was wondering if you two would like to accompany me?" Pyrrha asked.
"Cookies?" Ruby asked with a raised brow and a smile.
Pyrrha smiled, "I'm sure they do," she said.
"Then what are we waiting for!" Ruby said quickly jumping down from her bunk.
"I'll catch up with you guys later," Blake said.
Ruby smiled at her teammate, "You're loss, Blake!" Ruby said, "Come on Pyrrha! Cookies are waiting!" Ruby proclaimed.
Pyrrha giggled as she and Ruby left the Dorm room and made their way to the cafeteria. Once they left, Blake continued reading her book, however, her mind now had also wondered about the blonde knight, truly wondering what he was doing at the time and how he was handling being out there alone or if he was doing anything at all, wondering if he may have given up and just decided to move on to a different career.
Yet, there was a small part of her that wanted him to come back, sure they weren't close, but Blake knew he was a good person, like Ruby and he deserved better than what happened, he was a faker but in a way, so was she. Finally, she closed her book and got up from her bed, and made her way out of the dorm and toward the cafeteria.
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The time had come, it was time to pick up Vernal's weapon. 7 days had passed and the two along with Melissa and Oscar went into Matsunoki to pick up Vernal's DPCs at Mech-a-Weap, while also getting her, her own scroll. However, Melissa needed to run a few errands so she split away from them to do whatever it was she needed to do.
As they were walking toward Mech-a-Weap, Oscar saw the smile on the ex-bandits face, "She looks excited," He said with a smile.
Jaune nodded and smiled, "I don't doubt it," He told her, "She's been waiting to pick them up since we ordered them," Jaune said.
Oscar chuckled, "Are Mecha-Shift weapons that cool?" Oscar asked the blonde.
"You've seen my sword haven't you?" Jaune asked, looking at the farm boy, with a raised brow.
Oscar nodded, "Yeah, but I've heard that there are cooler ones," Oscar said.
Jaune rolled his eyes, "Jeez, way to insult my family legacy," Jaune said with a smile.
Oscar let out a quick laugh, and looked at Jaune, "I don't mean swords aren't cool, I just would like a sword that isn't just a sword," Oscar told him.
"Oh, and what would you like a sword to be more than just s sword?" Jaune asked with a raised brow, ready to listen to what kind of sword weapon he would come up with.
Oscar thought for a few minutes as he had to think about what he would combine with a sword to make it more powerful before he had an idea. "A Katana with small rockets attached to the back of the blade," Oscar said
Jaune looked at him, "Are the rockets there to boost the swings?" Jaune asked.
Oscar nodded, "Yeah, I mean Huntsmen are already strong, but if you needed, you could make a Katan with small booster rockets in the back of the blade when you want to go for an extra kick," Oscar told Jaune with a proud smile.
Jaune thought about it, "It could work, but you'd have to make sure you're able to control it, after all, you don't want the boosters to be too powerful or the katana will swing out of your hands," Jaune told him.
Oscar realized he was right, and nodded in agreement, "True, but I'm sure someone like you could handle something like that Jaune," Oscar told Jaune.
Jaune looked at him with a confused expression, "What makes you say that Oscar?" he asked.
"Cause your one of the toughest guys I know!" Oscar said, "You do most of the heavy lifting, back on the farm, man, even Aunt Mel can't lift as much as you can," He told him.
Jaune smiled at the praise Oscar gave him, and he couldn't deny he felt a little bashful. It reminded him of how his little sisters thought he was cool when they were younger. "Thanks, Oscar, but you do a lot more on the farm than I do," Jaune told him, "I mean you know how to use the plow, you water the plants, take care of the animals way more than me and Vernal, trust me, your the hardest worker on that farm out of the three of us,"
Oscar felt pride when Jaune said that but he was also bashful when Jaune praised his work. Since they had worked with him and his Aunt, Oscar was close to Jaune and Vernal, he looked up to them, Jaune was strong yet kind, and Vernal teased him a lot, taking jabs at him, yet she was protective of him, possibly because he was younger than her, but it showed that she cared.
Vernal overheard the conversation between the two and when she looked back, she saw how bashful Oscar was, and something inside of her knew it was time to tease the young boy. "Look, I like the father-son thing going on here but can we keep it going, I wanna get my weapons," Vernal told the two with a smile.
The two boys blushed and tried to deny her statement, ut Vernal smiled from ear to ear and the group continued making their way to Mech-a-Weap. When they arrived and made their way into the store, they saw Reese at the counter.
Reese saw them walk in and gave them a wave, "Hey there!" She greeted, "Glad to see you two again, but who's the kid?" She asked
Vernal smiled, "This little brat is Oscar Pine, he's a Co-worker," Vernal told the skater, "We work for his Aunt on their farm," Vernal told Reese.
Reese nodded, and looked at the young man, "Nice to meetcha Oscar, names Reese Chloris," she said, "You in here looking to get a weapon as well?" she asked.
Oscar shook his head, "Um, No, I'm not practicing to be a Huntsmen," He said with a smile.
Reese just shrugged, "I get it, our line of work isn't for everybody," She said with a smile, she then turned to Vernal, "So, you ready to see your DPCs?" Reese asked.
Vernal smirked, "You bet," she said.
Reese smiled and brought out a box as well as a black belt with black dagger sheathes attached to them. Reese then opened up the box only to show two daggers, both still resembling her old scramasax dagger. Both of the daggers had dark brown handles, and a dark purple blade, but what was interesting was that the fuller of the daggers was black. The three of them were impressed by the weapons and Reese smiled proudly as she saw their amazed looks.
"These bad boys got three functions," Reese said as she picked both up.
Jaune was confused and looked back at the Haven student. "Three? Wasn't there only two we came up with?" Jaune asked her.
Reese nodded, "Yeah, but when I was working on it, I saw another use to the design and added a third function that I'm sure you'll like," She told him, "You're already looking at the standard function, but if you double tap the spot just below the blade, it does this," Reese began.
She doubled tapped the part of the handle just below the blade with her thumb and the blade slowly opened, and the fuller was revealed to be a barrel, and it turned to the side as the handle shifted slightly and locked in place to create a gun handle, and a little slot opened and a curved piece of metal was set in place and was no doubt the trigger.
"Ah, hell yeah," Vernal said with a smile.
"That's awesome!" Oscar said with wide eyes and a smile.
Jaune just smiled that it was working based on his design.
Reeses then double-tapped the same spot and the Pistol returned to the dagger form. Reese then turned the daggers upside down and smiled, "And if you turn the pommel inward with your thumbs when you hold them like this, then this will happen," She told them.
Reese turned the pommels of the dagger inward and they shifted right back, and the blades opened up once more and locked in place. "Then if you press the pommels into the handle, you'll be able to fire off a round while the blades inside whatever you stabbed," She said with a smile. She then turned the pommels outward and the daggers returned back to their standard form.
Jaune smiled, impressed and amazed by the third function of the DPC. "Damn! You weren't kidding that We'd love it!" Jaune replied.
"Damn right I was right!" Reese said with a beaming smile, "Anyway, you guys got the money?" She asked
Vernal and Jauen pulled out the Lien needed and handed it to her, and Reese took it and thanked them and they thanked her back. Reeses sheathed the Daggers and showed Vernal how to put on the belt, which was placed on the back of the belt so that the daggers would stay hidden behind her.
"Hey, The Vytal Festival is next year, and it's gonna be taken place at Beacon, so I might see you guys there, and if you need it, I'll do some maintenance on your weapons," Reese told them, "Free of charge too,"
Jaune nodded and smiled, "That be great actually," he told her.
Reese smiled and grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down her scroll number and handed it to Jaune, "Here's my number if you ever need to schedule an appointment, or if you ever wanna hang out, trust me, it's boring here," She said.
Vernal chuckled, "Trust me blue, we'll call you if we need help," Vernal told her, "He might call you just to flirt," She said, pointing her thumb at Jaune.
"Hey!" He said offended.
Reese laughed and once again thanked them, and they did the same and wished her a good day before leaving. They then made their way over to a local tech store that sold TVs, Computers, Scrolls, and Game Consoles. However, as they were making their way toward the store, someone called out to them.
"Hey, excuse me!"
The three turned their heads to see a man wearing and pink and purple outfit. The man looked middle-aged but also looked pretty strong.
"Uh, can we help you, sir?" Oscar asked.
The man gave them an embarrassed smile, "Yes, Sorry for stopping you, but I'm new here and I'm looking for a woman," He told them.
"A woman?" Vernal asked with a raised brow, "Came all the way for some chick? Must be some lady, huh?" Vernal said with a smile.
The man chuckled, "You could say that, anyway, the woman's name is Melissa Pine," The man told them, "Have you heard of seen her?" he asked.
Hearing the man looking for Melissa, Jaune's alarm bells went off, as did Vernal's. Both suddenly felt something off was the man, and both began to analyze every inch of the man to make sure he wasn't a danger, and both of their eyes landed on a tattoo on the man's neck, which resembled a spider's web.
'That tattoo...!' Vernal thought with wide eyes.
Oscar was about to reply but Jaune stepped forward and put himself in front of Oscar and looked at the man with a sharp look.
"I'm sorry sir, we don't know any woman by that name," Jaune told him.
The man raised a brow at him, "Oh, are you sure?" The man asked with a raised brow.
"Yes," Vernal replied, her voice harsh.
The man looked at Jaune and Vernal, and the two teens looked back with a glare. Jaune didn't like that this guy asked about Melissa because something was off about that, and Vernal didn't like him either because she knew what he was and what organization he belonged to.
The man nodded and smiled at them, "Well, thank you anyway!" He said with a smile and walked off.
The two teens watched him walk away and Oscar was a bit confused about what was going on. "Jaune? Vernal? What was that?" Oscar asked.
Vernal looked at the young farmboy and gave him a smile, "Nothing Oscar, nothing," Vernal told the young boy.
Oscar raised a brow at her, "You sure?" he asked.
Jaune looked at the younger teen and patted him on the shoulder, "Yeah," he told the boy, as Oscar looked at him. "Now come on, we gotta get Vernal's new scroll, and meet back up with Melissa,"
Oscar smiled, "Right," he said with a smile.
The three walked and continued making their way to the tech store, but Oscar was walking ahead of them just a bit, leaving the two teens behind him and giving them the chance to talk without him hearing anything.
Vernal turned and looked at Jaune, "That tattoo, on his neck, I know it," Vernal said.
Jaune looked back at her, "You do?" he asked.
She nodded, "It's a gang tattoo, they call themselves spider, a large organization that operates in Mistral City," Vernal told him, "We've had a few run-ins with them in some villages we raided or on the road transporting stolen goods and weapons, they paid us off sometimes and we let them slide, but a few times we did fight them," She told him.
That was odd to Jaune. He expected that if the Branwen Tribe killed a few of them and ruined or disturbed their business, Spider would retaliate. "It never escalated to a war?" Jaune asked.
Vernal nodded, "Never once did they try to find us and kill us, possibly because of Raven and their boss being some powerful people,"
Now Jaune was even more confused, "Raven I get, she's the most wanted woman in all of Mistral, but what's so scary about their boss?" Jaune asked.
"From what I've heard, their boss is scary good at finding people, she's got connections all over Mistral as well as Vale, rumor has it that she and the Vale Syndicate are working together over a mutual deal," Vernal said, "My guess their boss didn't want the most wanted woman in Vale after her, and Raven didn't want Spider's boss to find her family,"
Jaune was once again confused, "What?" Jaune asked, "You mean Raven has another family?" Jaune asked.
Vernal nodded, "From what Raven told me, before returning to the tribe, she had a husband and a daughter back in Vale, don't know where, but she left them for the tribe," Vernal said.
Jaune was a little shocked to hear that, but then he suddenly remembered his father's story about his friends when he was a kid.
"Dad... what happened to your friends?" Jaune asked
Nicholas's expression changed, to one of sadness and he looked to the floor, "Well the one who was like me, she never quite let go of that way of thinking, for I time, I thought she did when she met a good friend of mine, but when she abandoned him and her daughter and seeing as where she is now, I wished she did, I wish she was strong enough to see just how wrong that way of thinking is," Nicholas said with a sigh,
'Was he talking about Raven?' Jaune asked, 'Does Dad know who her husband and daughter are?' Jaune asked himself.
However, before he could think about it more, Vernal's voice brought him back to the topic at hand. "But what I'm wondering is why someone from Spider is looking for Melissa?" Vernal asked.
Jaune thought about it, "It could be her work as a detective back in Mistral City," Jaune said.
"Might be right," Vernal replied, "But we'd have to ask her later tonight when the kid goes to sleep," she told Jaune.
Jaune nodded in agreement, as they finally arrived at the Tech store.
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Later that night, and back at the farm, Melissa sat in the living room, resting after a long day. She took off her boots and set her sunglasses on the table.
Oscar popped walked in and looked at his Aunt, "Aunt Mel, I'm gonna head to bed," Oscar told him.
Melissa looked at her nephew and gave him a soft smile, "Alright Pinetree," Melissa replied, "Sweet dreams, and I love you," she told him.
"Love you too," Oscar replied with a smile as he turned to head upstairs.
Melissa watched him leave and smiled, she lazily leaned back into the couch and smiled, however, she heard footsteps coming up the basement stairs and she turned her head to see both Jauen and Vernal come up from the basement and make their way toward the living room, she smiled at them as they walked in. Vernal sat down in the armchair and Jaune stood near the entrance of the living room, both looked at her with serious expressions.
Melissa was a bit confused as to why they looked so solemn, "What is it? Is something wrong?" Melissa asked.
Vernal looked at her, "We got stopped by a man today, who wore a pink, purple, and grey uniform, and he was asking about you," Vernal told the older woman.
It was here that both noticed a shift in her expression.
Jaune looked to Melissa, "Melissa, what is going on?"
Melissa hunched forward on the couch, set her arms on her legs, and let out a sigh.
"We know he's with Spider," Jaune told her, "Vernal knows who they are and she told me, but what we wanna know, is why is someone from a notorious gang looking for you?"
Melissa looked at them, a now worried expression on her face. "Are you sure he's with Spider?" She asked.
"He had a spider web tattoo on his neck," Vernal told him
Melissa's eyes shifted to the ground, "Damn it," she said, "They found me,"
Both of the teens were now confused by what Melissa had just said.
"What do you mean they found you?" Vernal asked.
Melissa turned to her, "As I'm sure you know by now, I used to be a detective of the MPD, I worked Homicide, and one of my cases was a murder of a family, all the evidence led to Spider's right-hand man at the time, we found enough evidence to convict him, but the moment we were about to arrest him, him and tow of hid friends opened fire on us, a shoot out occurred, we killed them, and the case was close, but that wasn't the end," Melissa told her, "Somehow, Little Miss Malachite found out that it was me who killed her right hand, and so she ordered a hit out on me, there were two attempts on my life, but I refused to be relocated, that was until they thought they succeeded," Melissa finished sadly.
"What happened?" Jaune asked with a peered glare.
Melissa turned her head toward him, "One day, my brother, David, and his wife Eliza, were making their way to my house to visit me because they wanted me to see Oscar, who had just been only 5 months at the time, I met them outside of my home, but... that's when the worse thing to happen to me did," Melissa told him, her tone now sounding shakey, "Spider found my home and they shot it up... my brother and his wife were killed, Oscar was lucky to be alive, he was in his baby carrier, so when they shot Eliza, he just dropped... after that, I took Oscar as my own and agreed to be relocated and they moved me here, some detectives and other higherups were told different locations so that Spider couldn't find me, but it looks like they finally have..." Melissa told them, wiping away tears before they fell.
Jaune and Vernal felt pity for the woman and for Oscar, now knowing the truth of what happened to his parents.
Vernal looked at her, "Melissa..." Vernal began.
Melissa shook her head, "I'm alright," she told her.
"Does Oscar know?" Jaune asked
Melissa shook her head, "No," she replied, "I never told him,"
Jaune nodded, but with what happened today and with what he and Vernal now know, he needed to be told. "Oscar has to know if Spider has found you, and if they're planning something, then he needs-" he told her.
"Is it true?"
The three turned to the entrance of the living room only to see Oscar standing there, looking distraught.
Melissa looked horrified to see her nephew standing there. "Pinetree? What are you doing up?" Melissa asked.
Oscar looked at her with a downcast expression, I-I knew something was up when that guy stopped us, both Jaune and Vernal acted weird after it, so I faked going to bed, I waited till they were in here to talk to you, and I... I heard everything," He told his Aunt.
"Oscar-"
"Everything I was told about Dad... about Mom, you told me it was an accident... Why didn't you tell me the truth!?" Oscar yelled.
"Oscar, you have to understand! I couldn't tell you! Not until you were ready!" Melissa cried, "I had to protect you!"
Oscar growled as tears rolled down his face, and he just ran out of the house, and as soon as he ran outside, Melissa quickly got up and was going to chase after her nephew, but Jaune stopped her.
"Let him, he needs time," Jaune told her.
"But-"
"I'll look for him, but he won't listen to you right now," Vernal told her, "let me talk to him,"
Melissa looked at the teen girl and looked down to the ground sad and nodded slowly. Vernal ran outside after the young boy while Jaune and Melissa waited inside the house. Melissa sat back down on the couch and Jaune took a seat next to her.
Melissa looked at the table in a bit of a daze. "He hates me now," she said in a dejected tone.
Jaune turned to her and shook his head, "he doesn't hate you, Melissa, he just... He's angry and confused," he told her, "His whole world has just been flipped upside down, he's gonna be upset about it, but I don't think he hates you,"
"Maybe... but if he does, I deserve it," Melissa told him, "it's my fault his parents our dead,"
Jaune looked at her, "You believe that?" he asked.
Melissa finally looked away from the table and turned to Jaune, "Of course I do," she told him.
"You... it wasn't your fault Melissa," Jaune said, "You were just doing your job,"
"Right," She replied, "Look where my job got me, you've already seen where your job will get you... we both have a job Jaune, but look where that job gets us... it's just like I said, we live by the sword, we die by the sword... no matter what," She told him.
"Maybe, but we can't die yet," Jaune told her, "There's one person here whose soul isn't blackened, and I know you don't want him to die either if it really is fate that we die by the sword, then I'm fine with that, but I'm not dying when two innocent people need my help," he told her.
Melissa turned to him with a raised brow, "Two?" She asked.
Jaune nodded, "I don't care what you say or believe Melissa, but you did your job, you did what any cop would do, and you've been there for Oscar," Jaune told her. "It wasn't you who killed your brother and sister-in-law, Spider did that, you didn't take Oscar's parents from him, that was Spider, they're the ones at fault, they're the ones who have to pay," Jaune told her
Melissa felt somewhat at ease by Jaune's words, she didn't quite believe them, but it made her feel better, but there was one thing that he was completely right about. Spider needed to pay, and she agreed with that statement quickly. If Spider was going to show up, she was gonna make sure they were only going home one way. In a box.
Outside, Vernal entered the barn, only to hear nothing as the animals were asleep. However, she heard sobbing coming from the 2nd floor and made her way up to it with the ladder. Once her head peeked up and saw the 2nd floor, she saw Oscar sitting and crying into his legs.
Vernal said nothing as she fully got to the 2nd floor and made her way over to the boy and sat down right next to him.
"I'm sorry about your parents, Oscar," she told him, "I know what it's like to not have parents, but you're a lot luckier than I was at your age,"
Oscar looked up and turned to her with tears in her eyes, "How?" he asked, "How am I luckier than most!?" he cried.
"Did you ever grow up in an orphanage?" Vernal asked, looking at him with a raised brow. "Were you treated poorly? Starved? Beaten? Treated like nothing? Alone?" Vernal asked the young boy yet again.
Oscar was a bit dumbfounded about what Vernal was sharing but shook his head rapidly, "No! But-!"
"Did you die from starvation? Were you just thrown into an empty pit and buried as if your life meant nothing but a paycheck? Were you ever raped by someone you thought loved you?" Vernal asked him.
Oscar's eyes widened once more as he became speechless, he closed his mouth and shook his head slowly while continuing to look at the older teen.
"Then you were lucky," Vernal told him, "Your parents are gone, and I am sorry about that, but don't be mad at your Aunt, she took you and she didn't have to, she raised you to be a good kid, while many might have mistreated you and raised you to be nothing but a scumbag... Melissa hid it from you because she wanted to protect you from the truth,"
"But I could've handled it!" Oscar cried, "I'm not a kid anymore!" he proclaimed.
Vernal shook her head, "That's where you're wrong," Vernal told him, "You're still a kid, a kid who's now angry and irrational, too emotional,"
"I-I am not!" Oscar cried, turning to her with a glare.
Vernal gave him a skeptical look, "Really? Then what would you do if somebody from Spider was to show up right now?" She asked.
"I-I'd...! I'd kill them!" Oscar cried with anger.
Vernal sighed and shook her head, "You wouldn't even get a chance,"
Oscar's anger grew, "And how do you know!? I could take him!" he yelled.
Vernal now glared at the young boy, "No! You couldn't!" Vernal replied, her tone hostile. "You want revenge, I understand that! But it is not the answer! Revenge blackens the soul, Oscar! Look what it did to me! To Jaune! Revenge has turned our souls black, we're killers, Oscar! Murderers! I killed my foster father, he was fucking scum but I've ruined more lives than he has! Jaune killed men out of anger and revenge, he nearly was killed because he wanted revenge! Melissa doesn't want you to turn out like us! Jaune doesn't want you to become like is! I don't want to see you become us!" Vernal cried.
Oscar was stunned to hear all of this from Vernal, and as she yelled at him, he felt pity for them, but mostly, his anger began to dissipate. He was learning so much about the two people he considered dear friends, no, who he considered family, people who he... looked up to. He couldn't believe what Jaune and Vernal had been through, he couldn't believe what they had done... and yet, he wasn't disgusted or afraid of them.
"I... I'm sorry," Oscar replied as more tears welled up in his eyes, "I... I had no idea! I-I just! I... I-I want them to pay for what they did! And I want to know why!? Why did they have to die!? Why did Spider have to take them away from me!? Why did they have to find us!? I-I just-! I-I! DAMNIT I DON'T KNOW ANYMORE!" Oscar cried as he grabbed his hair in anger. tears flowed down his face and sobs escaped his mouth.
Vernal looked at the young boy and she wrapped her arm around the boy's back and brought him into an embrace as he continued to cry, letting him get it all out, because she too had once done something similar.
"It's ok, Oscar, just let it all out," Vernal told him.
"I-I'm sorry..." Oscar sobbed out.
Vernal shook her head, "You don't have anything to be sorry for kid, just let it all out," She told him.
Oscar did so, letting out all of his sadness. Eventually, he slowly regained himself, wiped the tears away with his gloved hands, and took in a few deep breaths, to calm himself just a bit more because his throat felt dry. Once he was calm he realized that he was still being hugged by the ex-bandit. He turned and looked at the older girl, "V-Vernal?" he called with a sniffle.
Vernal turned to him, "Yeah Pinetree?" Vernal asked.
"Are you and Jaune gonna help us...?" He asked.
Vernal gave him a soft smile and nodded, "Of course, Oscar," Vernal told him, "We're not going anywhere, not until you and your Aunt are safe, I promise" She told him.
Oscar sniffled and chuckled a bit before giving her a smile, "Th-Thank you," He said.
Vernal still smiled at the farm boy, "You don't need to Oscar," Vernal said as she ruffled his hair with a smile. Once the young boy looked away, Vernal's expression turned to a serious one. 'I won't let you end up like us...' Vernal said.
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I'm sure you can guess that things are most likely about to go downhill from here.
Hey! We finally got a glimpse at what Ruby and the others are somewhat up to, and when we see them again throughout part 1, it will be a stark contrast to Jaune's own journey, with some events that will affect certain Plotlines in Acts 2 & 3.
Wanna know a fun fact? Originally, this story was going to be a Knightshade story! Blake was going to go with him on his adventure, and when Jaune began to accept more of the dark themes of the job, Blake would worry about him becoming another Adam.
but as you can see I scrapped that Idea, and this is what we got! Which is a bit better in my opinion. (don't worry though all you Knightshade fans, I got a story in the works!).
Anyway, thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I hope you're ready for the next one!