[RWBY] RWBY Shorts

[AndrewJTalon]

Now, I've been stressed to hell and back with real life and my job... But I do have something Christmas-y to share.

- - -

Staying with Ruby after Vytal had been... Rough. Yang was closed off, and when she wasn't closed off, she was angry. Ruby tried to smile and be cheerful, but it was all a facade Jaune could see right through. Taiyang was busy a lot of the time, though when he was home he trained with them. He was an absolute monster and kept a good attitude about things.

"It's not about you, son," Taiyang had confided to him, after a grueling training session that had left himself, Nora, and Ren exhausted and bruised, "It's about them. You have to be strong for them."

The older man shook his head, his eyes filled with sadness.

"I've been weak. I've broken down. I've failed them... I can't fail them again."

Jaune slowly nodded. That conversation stayed in his mind, even as the snow began to fall.

Yuletide was coming. Taiyang was called away to fight in Vale: The city was still in bad shape but they'd pulled together forces for a counter attack. That left them on their own.

One night, Jaune had gone out to get firewood in the forest. He'd wandered around, getting a bit lost as the snow was now covering the tracks.

He broke out of the trees onto a cliff overlooking the valley below and the sea in the distance. He saw Ruby crouched down in the snow, wiping something off... And talking.

"... She just... I don't know how to help her," Ruby admitted, staring down at the object, "I don't know how to help anyone. Jaune... Jaune's holding it together. He's doing so much. I-I know he's hurting but he's so strong and I..."

She bowed her head. Her voice hitched.

"I-I can't do anything right," she whispered. "How... Why would they come for me? I... Don't... I don't deserve it..."

She began to sniffle. Tears fell onto the stone marker. Jaune stared, hesitated... And then clenched his fists.

Your mother is the strongest person I know, son, his father had once told him, but she has weaknesses. And the job of a man is to stand up and protect the ones we love where they're weak.

He walked towards her. Ruby didn't even notice until his boots crunched in the snow right next to her. She started and looked up in shock.

"J-Jaune?!"

Jaune looked down at the stone marker. He read the words carved into it.

SUMMER ROSE - THUS KINDLY I SCATTER

Ruby sniffled again. She stood up and hurriedly wiped her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry, I-I didn't-"

Jaune reached out and pulled the smaller girl into his embrace. He hugged her tightly. She stiffened for a moment, before she trembled.

"It's all right," Jaune murmured. "It's all right. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

"..." Ruby broke then. She began to sob into his chest, burying her face in it. Jaune rubbed her back up and down, murmuring soothing things.

They stayed like that for a while. Jaune honestly wasn't sure how long. The clouds covered the sky, there were no stars to be seen.

"... Do..." Ruby whispered, "Do you think she's in Heaven? Do... Do you think any of them are-are in heaven? Waiting for us?"

Jaune was silent. He stared out into the night. A pair of green eyes in a heart-shaped face under red hair appeared in his thoughts. He took a deep breath.

"I do," he said.

"Even... Even after everything?" Ruby asked.

Jaune nodded again.

"I do," he murmured. "We will see them again... But not before we've made the world a better place."

Ruby nodded, still sobbing intermittently. Jaune rubbed the top of her head, and kissed it. She blushed, and snuggled closer against him.

"Come on," he said, "Let's go home where it's warm, okay?"

"Wait," Ruby said quickly. She turned to the grave. She took Jaune's hand, and let his larger hand encompass hers.

"Mom... This is Jaune," Ruby said quietly, "He-He's my best friend. He's a good man. And, and I hope you approve."

Jaune smiled at the grave, then looked beyond it.

"Hello ma'am. I'm going to take care of Ruby. I promise... I won't let anything happen to her."

He squeezed her hand tightly.

"I swear it."

The clouds parted for a moment. A bit of starlight got through, and the rose on the grave seemed to glisten in the faint light.

Ruby squeezed his hand back. They shared a smile. The silence stretched on before Ruby spoke again:

"It's really cold."

"Yeah," Jaune said, "Hot cocoa?"

"S-Sounds good," Ruby agreed.

They turned and slowly walked away together.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

One thing that Jaune enjoyed about being back in Radian was that when he looked up at the night sky, he could see the hundreds of thousands of stars stretching overhead. Back in Vale, the city had too many artificial lights that obscured a clear view of the sky. The only overhead lights Jaune ever saw were from towering skyscrapers or relay towers as well as any blinking signals from bullheads and other aircraft flying at night.

Standing outside the bathhouse, Jaune combed some damp blonde hair away from his eyes and craned his neck upwards to stare up at the river of astral radiance that spilled across the expanse above him. Even if the tree tops were bordering around his peripheral vision, it didn't detract from the amazing sight. The paper lanterns that lined the stone path leading to the hot springs were the only other sources of light, but the subtle luminance of the dust crystals powering the lanterns didn't hold a candle to the loud flashes of the city.

It was a quiet, peaceful night.

It didn't match Jaune's mood at all.

"Not exactly the most relaxing soak we'd hoped for."

Ren announcing himself with his comment didn't draw Jaune's attention away from the sky. The leader of JNPR really didn't want to address the tension still present amongst them and how their dip in the hot spring had been unsuccessful in alleviating it. He didn't want to respond to the melancholy and simmering frustration that colored Ren's tone. He didn't want to ask his friend if he'd heard Nora's sobbing on the other side of the bath… or if he'd heard anyone else.

Jaune just wanted to lose himself to the void for just a few more seconds. He wanted to be silent, let his mind drift amongst the stars, and ignore everything that was happening on Remnant for just a little longer.

Ren stared at his leader's back for a few moments before letting out a quiet sight and stepping up next to him.

"Neptune and Cardin will be out soon. Just as soon as Cardin can convince Neptune to not try and sneak a peek at the girls as they're exiting the bath." Ren said. "I'm looking forward to seeing what your family's cooked for dinner."

There was still no reply from Jaune. Ren glanced over at the blonde, frowning worriedly before reaching out tentatively.

"Jaune-"

A sharp cry sounded out from inside the bathhouse, making Ren flinch and causing Jaune to finally look away from the sky and over his shoulder towards the door. A few seconds later, Ruby and Arslan stepped outside, with RWBY's leader giggling lightly to herself while Arslan was rubbing her knuckles.

"Neptune?" Ren asked, earning a snort from Arslan.

"Velvet's paramour held him off. I put a stop to his antics." Arslan reported.

"He wasn't doing anything. He didn't even get past the cabinet and cupboards where we left our stuff." Ruby pointed out.

"You overheard his proposals to Cardin. He tried to make an accomplice, but I'm glad that our fellow leader maintained his integrity. Velvet isn't the only one who appreciates that." Arslan replied to the shorter girl before turning to face the two young men standing in front of her. "The rest should be out shortly."

"It… was a good bath." Ruby smiled, but the other three could see how shaky her smile was and also heard the hitch in her voice. The redness around her eyes that had nothing to do with the heat of the water they'd all soaked in also stood out even with the darkness of the night blanketing them. "Your family has a lot of cool things, Jaune. I'll make sure to thank your mom and dad when we go back to the house!"

"Yes. Repaying your parents for hosting us and providing shelter… the list of things that require us to show them proper gratitude grows even larger." Arslan nodded to the blonde, managing to pull a genuine smile onto her face as she said so.

"Yeah. Even if we… well, um…" Ruby trailed off, shutting her eyes as she thought back to what had happened in the springs.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and mentally patted herself on the back for not breaking down again. After Nora had gotten going and May had started crying, she hadn't been able to hold herself back either. Neither had Yang or Velvet. Arslan was the only one that hadn't had any tears to shed, but the words she'd spoken in the bath had been heartfelt even if Ruby hadn't understood them.

Maybe if she were in a better headspace she'd have asked the older girl to translate them into words she could understand.

Instead, Ruby quietly stepped forward and tugged on the sleeve of Jaune's jacket. Jaune didn't react to it, simply staring down at the smaller girl as she gently turned him around and wrapped her arms around his midsection, burying her face in his chest. Jaune didn't react to that either. He didn't return Ruby's hug. His arms hung limply at his side, eyes vacant as he stared at the empty space above the silver eyed girl's head. Ren sighed and stared down at his hand, wondering if it would be worth it to use his semblance for this if it could stop his friends from hurting for just a minute or two. Arslan merely clasped her hands together, muttering a few prayers to herself to bolster her own waning spirit.

A loud growling noise suddenly pierced through the night.

The four hunters were quiet for a moment

…And then a light chuckle from Jaune broke the silence as he finally returned Ruby's hug.

"We'll eat first thing when we get back." Jaune told Ruby, chuckling a little more when he noticed how red the tips of her ears had gotten. "My family's probably got us a big feast cooked up for us, and I promise you'll get first dibs."

"...Thank you." Ruby mumbled into Jaune's shirt, stoutly ignoring Ren's quiet chuckles and Arslan's sharp bark of laughter.

Holding his friend, Jaune glanced up and felt a little lighter seeing the slight smiles on both Ren and Arslan's faces. Past them, he saw the rest of their party stepping out of the bathhouse. Neptune was rubbing his jaw but looked more upbeat than he did before in the spring and was chatting with May about something that had the girl smiling slightly. Velvet was clinging to one of Cardin's arms and while both had tired looking eyes, they both seemed content in each other's presence. And Yang had an arm, the one with her new prosthetic attached, wrapped around Nora's shoulders as spoke softly to her… and the orange haired girl's usual megawatt smile was slowly emerging back on her face.

Jaune stared at the group and felt his own lips twitch upwards slightly.

…Plenty of things were still broken, but he felt a little more ready to face the world now.

- - - - - - -

Like everything else in the Arc estate, the dinner table was big. So much so that even with the academy students and those from Jaune's family who were present all sitting down together it only took up a third of the table. Neptune made a joke about whether or not Jaune's family had a bigger dining room or if the Schnee family would beat them, and luckily the quip had gotten chuckles out of most of the group instead of depressing everyone over the fact that Weiss had been abducted back to Atlas by her family.

And for once, everyone was able to put their morose thoughts on the backburner. As it turned out, good food did much more for restoring the spirit than a hot bath did. It was likely because if each of the fragmented teams thought about it, they hadn't been able to sit down and have a decent meal in a week. For most of them, it'd been quick meals in between jobs or rations they'd been given by the Radian militia. It was hard to dwell on the negatives when you had a feast of [insert foods here] to distract you.

"So… Lilac-" Neptune started.

"She's engaged." Jaune spoke up, cutting Neptune off before he could get started.

"And I am willing to fight her fiance if she can cook like this." Neptune replied immediately.

"You'd probably have the advantage if it came down to fists. Mercer isn't a fighter." Orchid said. "He makes a living as a mechanic, courier and part-time racer."

"He's a mechanic?" Ruby asked, interest piqued.

"He's a racer?" Yang asked at the same time, interest piqued for another reason.

"Speaking of, mom, how's he…?" Lilac looked to her mother who sat at the head of the table.

"He should be at the hospital helping Verdy and Coral with the supplies manifest and making sure that the shipments are getting to where they need to go." Isabel answered, smiling as her daughter let out a calming breath at the news. "He said he'll make time to visit sometime the day after tomorrow once his relief comes in."

"I'm glad…" Lilac sighed in relief. "What about Nana and Papa?"

Nick hummed.

"They should be getting to Vale soon. They've been sending messages whenever they can."

At the questioning looks on his friends' faces, Jaune explained:

"Nana Arturia and Papa Shirou are my great-grandparents," he said, "And they have, um, political connections. They're trying to pull together support to retake Vale."

"They fought in the Great War," Verdy supplied with a grin, "Total badasses!"

"Wow," Ruby supplied. She grimaced.

"Wait, wouldn't that make them really, really old?"

"They are," Isabel noted in amusement, "But it's barely slowed them down since they both hit their hundreds."

"Huh," Yang observed, "So they're getting a lot of old vets to go fight in Vale?"

Was the situation that bad?

Isabel chuckled and shook her head as she took a sip of wine.

"Oh no! Just talking to old friends in high places to get support… Hopefully."

"You know Nana, she's not one to stay on the sidelines," Nick chuckled. "Tangy is doing well, too. Her company is with Nana."

Again, Jaune felt the looks from his friends and quickly explained:

"My sister Tangerine. She runs a private military company."

"Geez," Neptune muttered, "How connected are you guys?"

Jaune flushed, a bit embarrassed.

"Plenty!" Orchid said cheerfully.

"So, um," Ruby began, "What news? From Vale? Have-have you heard anything?"

Nick grinned.

"Plenty! Was waiting for someone to ask!"

"Nick," Isabel said warningly, "Not at dinner-"

"We should know!" Velvet interjected. At Isabel's scowled, she shrank a little but scowled back. "Don't we?"

"We do," Cardin said firmly. Arslan nodded, her eyes intense even as she sat quietly. May looked shy, but didn't look away. Ren nodded in agreement, while Nora's smile dimmed. Yang stared intently, clenching her mechanical fist. Ruby and Jaune looked at eachother, nodded, and then looked back to Isabel and Nick.

"We deserve to, Mom," Jaune stated firmly.

Isabel looked over at Nick, seeking some support. Nick slowly shook his head, before he took a bite of some roast.

Isabel sighed and leaned back in her chair with a scowl.

"All right," she muttered. Lilac patted her on her hand as Nick took a deep breath. Yang leaned in eagerly, as did Ruby.

"About two thirds of Vale has been overrun," Nick stated, "The local forces and reinforcements have control of about one third, but the dragon's making it harder."

"How?" Ruby asked in shock. Nick grimaced.

"It's spawning Grimm that support the White Fang," he stated, "And somehow the Grimm aren't attacking them. We don't know how."

Velvet audibly grit her teeth and clenched her fists. Cardin put a hand on her shoulder.

"We might have a few ideas," Jaune grumbled. Lilac frowned but nodded. Nick continued, his eyes locking onto Ruby and Yang.

"Patch is being used as a refuge, along with every other nearby community that can take refugees," Nick stated, "Your father is fighting in Vale. He's doing all right, last I heard. He's glad you two are here."

"Th-That's great," Ruby said with a warm if tense smile smile. Yang's fists clenched but she slowly nodded.

"Yeah," she allowed.

"What about my dad?" Cardin asked urgently. Nick grinned.

"Councilman Winchester is one of the few members of the government who survived. He was a former Huntsman Captain, after all! He's essentially in command of Vale's forces. The staff of Beacon all survived and are fighting under his command." He frowned.

"I don't know anything about the rest of your family but-"

"No... It's okay," Cardin shook his head. "My mom and sisters were out of the country at the time-They should be all right. I'm just glad to hear my dad's all right."

Cardin leaned back and let out a soft sigh of relief. Velvet reached out and squeezed his hand with a warm smile. Cardin squeezed her hand back and smiled happily. They leaned in close to each other, touching foreheads. Neptune scowled and looked to Nick.

"So? What about my team?" He demanded. "And Arslan's? And May's? I…"

He glanced at May, wincing. She closed her eyes tightly and looked down. Arslan reached out and wrapped her arm around her waist.

"I'm sorry," Neptune mumbled, eyes blank. "I'm-I'm so sorry, I didn't-!"

"It's fine," May whispered, "I-I know… I know…"

Ruby shuddered. Yang held her hand under the table, and it calmed her down. Ren and Nora were very grim, as was Jaune.

They all remembered how Team BRNZ had gone out, after all.

Nick cleared his throat.

"Neptune, Scarlet and Sage were picked up by Scarlet's father on his airship," Nick explained, "And Arslan's team was evacuated over the mountains to Vacuo's capital city. Their transport made it safely."

Arslan murmured a soft prayer in relief, even as she held the sniffling May. Neptune also looked relieved.

Nick paused a moment before he continued, his eyes kind.

"Sun is also all right. Made it to Menagerie with Ruby's friend Blake."

Neptune looked conflicted, but nodded his thanks.

Yang grit her teeth. Velvet sneered.

"Did she?" The rabbit Faunus demanded, glaring over near Ruby. Ruby glared back.

"What?!"

"I-!"

"That's enough," Cardin muttered, wrapping an arm around Velvet's shoulders. Velvet fumed but slowly nodded. She looked back to Nick.

"Any-Anything about Teams CVFY and CRDL?" She asked. Cardin tensed, but made no other moves. Nick shook his head, looking regretful.

"No news." He brightened. "They're not on any lists of the dead though, so there's still hope."

"Yeah," Cardin muttered bitterly, glaring down at the table. Velvet squeezed his hand again and leaned into him.

"What about Atlas?" Ruby demanded. "They were able to sneak in and kidnap Weiss!"

"They've gone to Status Alert One," Isabel explained, "They recalled their fleets to try and stop the cyberattack. Ironwood is in intermittent contact with what's left of Vale's government. They were planning on a joint action…" She sighed heavily.

"When Mistral fell into civil war."

Arslan and Neptune's eyes widened in shock. Isabel nodded slowly, looking very tired.

"Mistral's three main factions, the Yellow, Red, and Green Dragons, are in full civil war. Many other sub-kingdoms like Pandu and the Hellenic League under Argus are threatening to be drawn in. The reports are scattered and confused, but it looks like the moment the CCT went down, elements of each began attacking the others. Vacuo's also suffered terrorist attacks from revolutionaries." She sucked in a deep breath.

"They're also threatening to attack Menagerie in retaliation, since White Fang is involved in these and other attacks."

"All at the same time?!" Velvet demanded. "All across the world?! At once?"

"Looks that way," Nick confirmed.

"...What exactly happened?"

Everyone at the table turned to Yang, who had remained strangely silent throughout the discussion. Other than her reaction to news of her father and uncle, she hadn't made any outstanding comments so far. The intense expression she wore gave everyone pause.

"I just…" Yang started before faltering. After a moment, she shook her head and forced the words past her lips. "I barely remember anything about the Fall. I mean, the night everything happened I was sitting in my room with Zwei and kicking myself over what happened in my singles match for the Vytal festival, then suddenly the alarms hit. Grimm, White Fang, and even Atlas's robots start attacking and I fight my way to Beacon's plaza area where most everyone was fighting and met up with Weiss. She told me where Blake was and I rushed to help my par-"

The word got stuck in Yang's throat as Blake's face flashed in her mind. The brawler felt herself grow irritated when she saw a few sympathetic looks from her friends, but shook her head with a small growl as she continued.

"A-Anyway, I find her being attacked by this… this guy who isn't dressed up like any of the White Fang mooks we've fought before. Blake's on the floor, disarmed, and the guy has a sword and looks like he's about to run her through. I rush in, ready to beat his face in, he… he s-sees me coming, draws his sword back, a-and t-then…"

Remembering Blake had made her voice quick and heated, but as she got closer to that final moment, that last memory she had before she'd woken up with Jaune's mom hovering over her, Yang's voice had been reduced to a shaky whisper. The young woman shook violently in her seat as phantom pain suddenly raced up her arm from the point where her prosthetic connected with her arm, and for some reason it had gotten a lot harder to breathe and her heart felt like it was trying to hammer its way out of her chest-

"YANG!"

Yang gasped and suddenly sat ramrod straight when she suddenly registered that Ruby had her arms around her and was clutching against her fearfully as she stared at her sister. Isabel had also gotten up out of her seat at some point and was on her other side, grasping her arm just above her prosthetic limb and pressing down on one of her legs to keep her steady. Looking around, Yang could see how severe the reactions of everyone else had been to her sudden fit. Nora, Cardin and Arslan were all up out of their seats with extremely concerned expressions. Neptune was staring down at his plate, expression pained. Velvet mirrored his pose, only her eyes were tightly shut and Yang swore she saw a couple tears leaking from the rabbit faunus's eyes. Ren had one hand on May's shoulder and both looked oddly serene in contrast to everyone else's distress. Jaune's sisters looked like they wanted to help but didn't know what to do, while Nick was staring at… something behind her? Come to think of it, where was vomit boy? Yang noticed that his seat next to his dad's was empty. Did he go to the bathroom or was he-"

"Yang, calm down."

Yang blinked when she heard Jaune's voice from behind her, and a second after that realized that the hands she felt gripping her shoulders belonged to JNPR's team leader.

"Yang, it's okay. You're safe." Jaune's voice said firmly from behind her, and for some reason his words along with the steadying grip he had on her shoulders helped calm her rapidly beating heart. "No one's gonna hurt you here. Everything's gonna be fine. Take deep breaths. In and out. In and out…"

Yang listened to Jaune better than she had any teacher who'd suffered her antics in the classroom. She didn't know why her hands were shaking so badly, or why her chest pounded with every breath she took, or why every sound except for Jaune's voice felt so muted in her ears, or why the area where her right arm used be was throbbing so much, but she followed along with Jaune's instructions and finally managed to steady herself. The shaking stopped and her heart suddenly wasn't beating so loudly. And the pain she felt slowly receded with each slow breath she took.

When she came back to herself, Yang felt some wetness on her left shoulder and glanced down to find Ruby quietly crying into it. Gingerly, Yang pulled her right arm out of Isabel's grip and enveloped her sister in a hug.

Jaune's hands slowly lifted off of her shoulders.

Yang glanced back at him and Jaune met her gaze for a moment. Both blondes held eye contact for a long minute before Jaune nodded his head a fraction. Yang returned it with a small smile.

"...I think that's enough for tonight." Isabel announced as she stood up from where she'd been crouching next to Yang's chair. "All of you, go get some rest. We've told you all a lot and you'll need time to process everything and decide-"

"No, we're not done yet." Yang protested, squeezing Ruby against her and feeling a little more grounded when she felt her younger sister squeeze her back. "I still need to know. After what… after what happened to me, how did I get here? How did all of us get here?"

Yang looked around and met the eyes of everyone who had been there that night.

"How did Beacon… how did Vale fall?"

Yang waited for someone, anyone, to start elaborating on the events of that night and answering her questions, but noticed her friends were all staring over her shoulder… and glancing behind her, Yang realized everyone was staring at Jaune.

Jaune caught Yang's gaze for a second before sight and gesturing to the other room.

"...Get settled in the living room. I'm gonna help clean up and then I'll join you all in there. Then we can all… go over things together." Jaune said.

"...Right. Sounds good." Yang nodded. Glancing down, the brawler smiled softly. "Ruby, I'm gonna need that arm back. Gotta be extra careful now since I'd like to keep one that isn't detachable."

Ruby giggled wetly into her shirt for a second before pulling back and smiling at her sister. If she could joke, then hopefully that meant Yang was feeling a little better.

"Thank you for the food, Mrs. Arc." Arslan said loudly, her words prompting the rest of their group to voice their gratitude to Isabel and Lilac as they got out of their seats.

Yang shuffled into the next room with her hand held in Ruby's. Both sisters sat down on a long couch together, with May dropping into the open spot next to Ruby's other side. Cardin and Velvet sat together, mushy couple that they were, while Arslan grabbed a cushion and placed it on the floor before sitting down on it in a sort of meditative pose. Nora took the big chair in the room for herself and Ren sat on a small stool next to it. Neptune dropped down onto one of the big chair's armrests, and Nora seemed fine with sharing the space since she didn't attempt to shove him off.

After approximately five minutes of sitting in silence, Jaune walked into the room… carrying a tray of steaming beverages that he set on the table before passing them out. At a glance, Yang thought it was coffee but after being handed her cup, the smell and Ruby's giddy smile gave the game away.

"Hot chocolate?" Yang asked.

"Secret Arc family recipe." Jaune replied with something that actually resembled a smile.

"...Well, it's no strawberry sunrise, but I'll take it." Yang grinned over the rim of her cup.

Jaune shook his head as he passed around the mugs before settling himself in a chair that was placed in front of everyone else in front of the fireplace. Taking a sip of his own drink, Jaune let out a sigh as he drummed some fingers against the armrest of his chair.

"So… anyone got any suggestions on where to start?" Jaune asked the group.

Jaune looked around and it seemed like no one was willing to volunteer a suggestion on how to kick off the recounting of the attack on Beacon and Vale. After a minute or two, Yang cleared her throat.

"Why don't you… start it from your perspective?" Yang suggested. "Thinking back, when I rushed outside, I actually don't remember you being there. Where'd you go during the attack?"

Yang felt a spike of guilt shoot through her heart when she saw the flash of pain that crossed Jaune's face. The Arc son took a shaky breath before he started speaking.

"I was… I'd been with Ozpin and Pyrrha. The woman responsible for the attack on Beacon, Cinder Fall, had us cornered in Beacon's basement. Ozpin-"

"Beacon has a basement?" Yang asked.

"This is news to us." Cardin added with a frown.

"Was it like, a shelter or something? Why did none of us hide there?" Neptune inquired.

"It… look, I actually don't know what it was." Jaune admitted. "Pyrrha actually referred to it as a vault after Ozpin took us down there. It had these machines and some woman was…"

Jaune trailed off when he saw the puzzled looks on everyone assembled. Giving a frustrated sigh, the swordsman pushed forward.

"Look, I don't have the answers about what was down there. Pyrrha and Ozpin knew, I was just trying to keep up. I never got any answers before Cinder showed up and started blasting at us. Ozpin stayed to hold her off while Pyrrha and I escaped." Jaune sighed. "When we got outside, Pyrrha, she… she decided to go back. To try and help Ozpin fight. To try and stop Cinder. I tried to stop her, tried to tell her we should focus on getting out, but…"

One hand came up to cover his face. Gods, he hated remembering that moment. The moment he saw the look in Pyrrha's eyes when she turned to him. The look of resolute determination on her face. The… the kiss she'd given him. The way his heart had leaped into his chest and how he felt ready to take on the whole world so long as he could stand by her side…

Jaune could feel his fingernails digging into his face, feeling his own agonized expression behind his fingers as he remembered the next moment after that kiss… when his partner had shoved him into a nearby rocket locker and launched her away from him despite his protests.

Feeling completely useless as the first person who ever thought he'd been worth anything rushed off to fight an unwinnable battle.

"Jaune…?"

Ruby's voice pulled him back out of the memory. Looking at his best friend on the verge of tears had him glancing away from her… which had his eyes landing on Yang who looked at him with eyes full of sympathy.

"...Y'know, on second thought, we don't have to talk about this right now." Yang started but stopped when Jaune held up a hand.

"No, you deserve to know the full story. And… I think it's something all of us need to finally sit down and talk about. We all experienced it, but we've never had a chance to sit down and really process everything." Jaune murmured. "May as well do it now."

"We'll help you through it, Jaune." Ren assured him from where he sat.

"Together." Nora added, reaching over and squeezing Ren's hand in solidarity.

"You were there for all of us. If gets to be too much, one of us can always pick up where you left off." Cardin offered.

"I think I'd make for a better storyteller anyway, so if you want me to get things started, I'm willing." Neptune smiled.

"Because your account won't be biased at all." Arslan snorted, rolling her eyes when Neptune stuck out his tongue at her.

"I-I don't mind answering any questions you have, Yang." May spoke up, raising her hand with a nervous smile.

"We can always take a break and pick things up later too. We don't have to tell the whole story tonight." Velvet suggested.

"But we shouldn't put it off either." Ruby interjected softly, making everyone fall silent. The young reaper nodded encouragingly toward Jaune, who returned the gesture with a small nod of his own. "Go ahead, Jaune."

"Right…" Jaune sighed, deciding to move past that part quickly so that he wouldn't stall things any further. "So, Pyrrha shoves me in a rocket locker and launches me away before going off to fight Cinder. I land somewhere else in Beacon and call Weiss to tell her what Pyrrha's planning to do and trying to get help. If I remember right, Ruby and Weiss had been looking for us."

"We were." Ruby nodded before giving Jaune a rueful smile. "Weiss and I… went after Pyrrha together after you called us."

"Thanks for that." Jaune forced a smile before he shook his head. "Anyway, after I hung up I was on my own. I was scared, angry, lost, and saw Grimm and White Fang all over. So then I just…"

Jaune's gaze drifted over to May for a second before turning in Yang's direction as he began to explain what had happened on the night of the Fall.

- - - - - -

This chapter written with a lot of help from @UnknownAnon It'll be in two main parts, as we do need to do a proper flashback to show how our heroes ended up in Radian.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Things calmed down a lot after the Dance. School was about the same. Jaune's parents and godparents became regular fixtures. They even taught some of the classes part-time.
Though some were more... Interesting than others.

Isabel: "Now, you're going to learn how to set a broken bone properly."

Cardin: "Professor Arc, where's the mannequin?"

Isabel: "Mannequin? FEH! Who needs a mannequin?" Snaps her own forearm with a smile

Isabel: "All right, let's get to work! Please stop screaming, it's very unprofessional!"

Others were... Odd.

Saia: "Politics is much like a game."

Weiss: "Of chess?"

Saia: "No, no, chess is much too rigid for politics! Instead we're going to play Ogres and Ordensburgen! Here are your dice and character sheets. I shall appoint the DMs!"

And others were depressingly predictable.

Arjun and Nick were supposed to teach combat class... But...

Arjun: "HAHA! SEVENTEEN!"

Nick: "EIGHTEEN!"

Arjun: "That one doesn't count! I winged it!"

Nick: "Does too!"

They got distracted competing to see who could kill the most Grimm. But overall things were pretty peaceful.

Then... Came the day of the training missions.

Jaune: "Oh boy..."

Pyrrha: "Isn't this great, Jaune? We get to go on our first real training mission!"

It was also the countdown to the Breach. He hadn't seen Cinder in days. He didn't know if it was still on or not. He had warned Ozpin about it so all he could do was pray they could stop it in time.

Jaune: "Y-Yeah, great..."

Team RWBY was meeting with Oobleck. So things were going as planned from there. He smiled and waved. Yang and the others waved back. Yang walked up with a broad grin, followed by the others.

Yang: "So, we got Oobleck and we're patrolling some old ruins. How about you guys?"

Jaune: "Well we were going out to a border town but... Um..."

Nick: "HAHAHA! Come on, kids! We're gonna make someone's day at the children's hospital!"

Nora: "YAY!"

Ren: monotone "Yay."

Pyrrha: "Wonderful!"

Yang: "Aw! No fair!"

Ruby: "Wait! You aren't going on some incredible combat mission?! That's your dad!"

Jaune: smiles "Yeah, and he always goes to the hospital in Radian every Sunday to cheer up the sick kids. So we're doing that."

Weiss: "I see... It's a very noble thing to do."

Jaune: nods "We're supposed to bring hope as much as protect people, after all."

Blake: "Indeed."

Jaune: "So yeah. See you guys afterwards?"

Ruby: "Definitely!" She jumps up onto him and kisses his cheek "Hee! Stay good, Jaune! We got a lot of video games to play!"

Jaune: "Don't I know it." He still smiles and beams at her

Yang: "Yup... Now off, you spider monkey."

Ruby: "Aw... But Yang-!"

Yang: "Off!"

Ruby pouted but slipped off. Jaune coughed.

Jaune's Brain: Did... She try to cop a feel? No, no... Come on, she couldn't...!

Yang: "So, next date when we get back is on you. What are you thinking?"

Jaune: low voice, as Nick laughs nearby "Somewhere far away from prying eyes."

Yang: equally low voice "Totally. Your mom gave me advice on birth control, geez!"

Jaune: "Sadly, that means she likes you."

Yang: "Why sadly?" grins "You ashamed to bring me to meet your folks?"

Jaune: "You've already met them. I'm not ashamed of you."

Yang: "Ha! Come on, you love them."

Jaune: sighs "Yeah..." Hugs and kisses her "Mmm... But I would like having more time with you. Privately."

Yang: "Totally. We'll figure something out."

One last kiss that made everyone but Nora and Ren tense, and the teams headed out on their assignments. May waved with her team, as her father Arjun stood nearby.

Arjun: "Hello Jaune! Nick! Nora! Ren! Pyrrha!"

Nora: "Hi King Arjun! May! Other guys!"

Brawnz: "We have names!"

Nolan: "And feelings!"

Roy: "Well they do. I'm actually a man."

Brawnz and Nolan: "HEY!"

May: giggles "We're going to follow Father around at the capitol tower as he does diplomacy."

Arjun: "I will be teaching you how to operate as bodyguards. Hunters often are called upon to do such work. I have asked my protective detail to stage mock assassination attempts on me: You will not let any get through or I will fail you all!"

May, Brawnz, Nolan and Roy: "Yes Father/Sir!"

Nick: "Hmmm... Maybe I should try that training with my team?"

Jaune: "Dad, you don't have a security detail."

Nick: "But I could try to assassinate myself! You could try to talk me out of it!"

Nora: "Isn't that suicide prevention?"

Nick: "Or hostage negotiation!" Holds his sword up to his neck "Do as I say or the blond guy loses his head!"

Jaune: "Dad, come on. You couldn't cut your own head off with Blont Joyeux, it's too big!"

Nick: pouts "Well I could try!"

Arjun: sighs "Just keep to spreading joy to children, Nick. It's what you're best at... In a heavily populated area."

Nick: "Hey! I did not make that skyscraper collapse! It was a team effort!"

Arjun: "You were clearly the MVP of that effort."

Nick and Arjun begin to argue... Before their wives walk in. Both men shut up at their glares.

Isabel: smiles "Have fun on your training mission, Nick, Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora. I'll be leading a class in disaster response. We're going to be setting up some scenarios for teams staying in Vale to deal with. You might run into one of our simulations." Glares at JNPR and RWBY "I trust you'll be ready?"

Jaune: "Y-Yes Mom!"

Ruby: "Totally Mom! I-I mean Doctor Arc!"

Isabel: smiles "That's all right dears. Anyway, I'll be taking team CMEN with me."

Cinder's team emerges from the crowd. Cinder gives Jaune a little smile.

Jaune: "Ah... I see."

Jaune's Brain: Crap crap crap... I mean Mom can take care of herself but... Seriously, what's their gameplan here?!

Cinder: "It's a pleasure to work with you, Doctor Arc. I know we're going to learn a lot."

Isabel: smiles "I hope so. Anyway, let's get going! Time is wasiting!"

The teams soon depart... Though Cinder bumps into Jaune.

Cinder: "Oops. Sorry about that, Jaune."

Jaune: "Ah, no worries!"

She slipped him some paper and went on her way. Yang scowled a bit, but was relieved when Jaune beamed at her, winked and blew a kiss. She made a big production of catching it. They headed out. Jaune pulled out the piece of paper and read it.

Paper: TOMORROW. 12 NOON.

Jaune: lets out a breath

Jaune's Brain: Well... Let's see what I can do about this...

Click to shrink...

They went to the children's hospital, then Saint Lucy's Orphanage. Each place, Nick directed them to help cheer up the children and to help fix things up around as needed. Nora, Ren, Pyrrha and Jaune took to it happily. And even with Jaune's distraction, he gave it his all.

Kid: "Die evil Grimm!" He charges with a stick. Jaune growls and snarls, as the other children squeal and laugh. The kid misses Jaune... And Jaune clutches at his chest.

Jaune: "ARGH! You struck me! I'm dying... Everything's... Going dark...!"

He falls over dramatically. The kids all cheer.

Kids: "YAY!"

Kid 2: sniffles "Oh no! Don't be dead, Jaune! Don't be dead!"

Nora: "I'll apply some lightning!" She holds up her hand and it crackles with lightning

Pyrrha: "Or maybe a princess needs to kiss him better?"

Jaune quickly sits up.

Jaune: "I'm totally fine! I'm better, I'm better!"

Kid 1: makes a face "Kissing? Ugh!"

Jaune: "Heh... You might not mind it so much when you're older."

Nora: "THE KISSING GRIMM IS GONNA ATTACK! RAWR! MWAH! MWAH! MWAH!"

The kids scream in laughter and flee as Nora chases them. Ren chuckles and shakes his head as he follows her. Jaune sits up as Pyrrha walks over to him.

Jaune: "Heh..."

Pyrrha: smiles "You're very good with children."

Jaune: "Oh... Thanks. You've been doing well too, you know."

Pyrrha: blush "I... My favorite PR events were when I got to meet children. Read to them in the hospital. I... I liked how they smiled."

Jaune smiled warmly at her.

Jaune: "Yeah. It makes it all worth it..."

Pyrrha: "Are you all right, Jaune?"

Jaune: lets out a breath through his nostrils "... I've done all I can."

Pyrrha: "So... It's to do with Cinder's plan?"

Jaune: slowly nods "Yeah... I'm hoping they'll handle it."

Pyrrha: "RWBY?"

Jaune: "Yes."

Pyrrha: sighs and slowly nods "I see..."

Jaune: sighs "Ozpin told me to keep to this mission."

Pyrrha: "You think he has a plan?"

Jaune: "Probably."

Pyrrha: "What happens when Cinder finds out you've been playing her?"

Jaune: "..." sucks in a deep breath "You think she's onto us?"

Pyrrha: "I think she's smart enough to figure it out."

Jaune: "I have some ideas. I think we can take her... I also hope we won't have to fight her."

Pyrrha: "Because she kills me?"

Jaune: "She won't. I won't let her, Pyr. That will never happen, I promise."

Pyrrha: blush "Jaune..."

Nick: "HEY!"

Jaune and Pyrrha jump. Nick laughs his big, booming laugh.

Nick: "HAHAHA! Come along, Jaune! Pyrrha! We need to work more on cheering more kids up! LET'S GET TO IT!"

Jaune: "Yes Dad!"

Pyrrha: "Yes Mister Arc!"

Nick: "Pyrrha! You go and help unload that truck of donations! Jaune? A moment."

Pyrrha: "Right!" Pyrrha heads off

Jaune: "Yes Dad?"

Nick: "Yang is a very nice girl, son."

Jaune: blanch "Y-Yes, she is! I'm not cheating on her Dad-!"

Nick: "I know son, hahahaha!" He slaps Jaune on the back, nearly making him stumble "I know! But you gotta be careful! You see, the Arc Rizz is dangerous!"

Jaune: incredulous "Rizz?"

Nick: "It's short for 'charisma', son-"

Jaune: "I know what it means! I just-How do you know what it means?!"

Nick: "HAHAHA! I'm hip! I'm up on modern slang, son! I'm not cringe!"

Jaune: "What?"

Nick: "I'm just like you, fr! Fr!"

Jaune: "Please stop."

Nick: "No cap! Also, I love your drip!"

Jaune: "DAD!"

Nick: "HAHAHAHA! Lighten up, son! I'm just having fun!"

Jaune: groans

Jaune's Brain: Well, at least someone is having it right now...

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Doctor Knowall retired to his office in the Beacon Infirmary after classes were done for the day. It was clean and cutting edge, like the rest of the building. None of the medical scanners had been cobbled together out of anything he could salvage. None of the beds were cots made out of wood duct-taped together with cut apart bedsheets. There was no snarling of Grimm, no pounding of guns or missiles.



It was calm, pristine even.



It all made Jaune feel... Twitchy. Jumpy.



"Hey Doc?"



He took a deep breath. He turned on his chair to face the open door out into the infirmary. He went through every meditative technique he knew.



For standing there with a bright, cocky smile on her face was Yang Xiao-Long.



"Miss Xiao-Long," Jaune said, "What can I do for you?"



Yang smirked a bit, mischief in her violet eyes. It was so familiar it was utterly painful.



"Well, I wanted to get a check up," she said, rolling her shoulders, "My last combat class was pretty rough, and I'm a little sore."



Knowall's keen eyes and Aura senses identified that there was literally nothing wrong with her. He should tell her to run off, stop wasting his damn time. She used to flirt like this with him all the time, in... In the future.



He should just...



"Sit down," he sighed. Yang grinned and sat down on one of the beds, perched like a glamour model. Knowall nodded and scooted over on his chair's roller wheels. He rested a hand on her shoulder, and flared his Aura. Yang sucked in a deep breath as he poked a few muscles and studied her Aura reactions.



"You'll be fine, minor overextension of your ligaments," Knowall stated, standing up and walking over to pick up his Scroll. He tapped out a few notes and added it to her digital chart. He turned back and shook his head.



"You need to diversify your attacks," Knowall stated, "Kicks can be very useful, too. As well as blocking."



Yang pouted a bit at him.



"You sound like my dad," she huffed. She complained about that all the time in the future, too. Whenever he warned her. Whenever he tried to get her to be safer.



"Listen to him," Knowall stated, once again looking over the infirmary and finding it spotless. He hated it.



"You'll avoid a lot of pain if you do," he stated, glaring at her. Yang scowled in confusion. It was just like her... So bright, so defiant...



"What's your problem?" She demanded bluntly. "I just wanted to get some attention. Maybe..." She smirked. "Brighten up your day-?"



Knowall slammed a fist into the wall, leaving a crater. He took slow, deep breaths. He slowly turned to look back at the shocked Yang.



"... Sorry," he murmured, standing up straight. "I'll have to ask Miss Goodwitch to fix that."



"... I..." She shook her head slowly. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... To touch a nerve."



Knowall slowly nodded. Silence fell in the infirmary for a bit. A silence Yang predictably broke.



"Who... Who was she?"



Knowall started and looked back at her. Yang shrugged with a small, apologetic smile.



"Someone... Someone had to have made you this angry. Fifty-fifty, right?" She asked. "Did..." She sucked in a breath. "Did she... Run out on you? Abandon you?"



She looked down at her hands, resting in her lap.



"... Break your heart?"



Knowall sighed. He took off his glasses and wiped them off.



"No," he said, "She... She was murdered."



Yang looked up in shock. Knowall stared past her. He just... He couldn't look directly at her. To see her here, intact, whole, alive... While his memories showed everything...



"Our wedding day," he mumbled, "White Fang broke in. She was... She was friends with someone the leader was obsessed with. He wanted to punish her. Kill all her human friends..."



He closed his eyes. Yep... It was still there. She fought for her life. She killed so many of the White Fang members. He had screamed himself hoarse, tried to pull free. To help her. His captors were too strong for brute force alone.



Even then, he just couldn't bring himself to use his arts to hurt people.



Then Adam descended like a demon out of myth... And stabbed her through the heart. He saw the life go out of Yang's eyes.



And after that... There was only rage. And pain.



"... When they killed her," he mumbled, "I... I broke my oath. I finally... Had enough. I used everything..." He stared at his open palm. Funny, he expected it to be covered in blood.



"Everything I knew... To kill them all."



He shut his eyes again. All the members of the White Fang were dying in horrible agony. Adam? He had saved the worst for him. Every minute of his death had been an exercise in pain and cruelty. Even when the mighty White Fang leader, humbled and broken, had begged for mercy... Knowall hadn't responded.



He'd watched him with unblinking eyes as he perished, his very body eating itself to death.



In the end...



"... It brought me nothing but more pain," he whispered. "Not even absolution. I... I haven't felt peace since that day. Just... Nothing."



He felt her rise. Felt her wrap her arms around him. He opened his eyes and looked down at her. Yang was doing her best to keep the tears out of her eyes, but... The sheer compassion in her gaze was heartbreakingly familiar.



"Sorry," she whispered.



Knowall very slowly nodded.



"Thank you."



He cleared his throat. He got himself under control... And pushed her away to a respectful distance, pulling his hand back just as carefully.



"Thank you," he repeated, "I'm very sorry I got so... Unprofessional."



"I, no, I-I get it," Yang admitted quietly. She smiled softly. "I know how you have to be strong... Even when-"



"You're crying on the inside," Knowall finished. Yang stared at him in mild shock, but nodded.



"Yeah..."



Knowall again cleared his throat.



"You should get back to your team," he said. She turned to go, slowly. He watched her walk out.



He sighed and rubbed his face.



Goddamnit...



When Yang Xiao-Long was involved? He was always weak. Too damn weak.

Click to shrink...

Over the course of the next few weeks, Doctor Knowall got several visitors. Many of them Huntresses, hoping for some attention. He shut them all down professionally and sent them on their way. They were disappointed, naturally, but he paid it no mind.



He also got a few surprises.



"Doctor?"



He looked up from his studies on White Fang movements to see Cardin Winchester standing in the door way. He was holding his right wrist and wore a grimace.



"Yes, Mister Winchester?" He asked politely.



"I uh... I've been having these pains in my wrist for the last two days," he said.



Out from behind him stepped Velvet Scarlatina. She scowled up at him, her hands on her hips.



"The dummy just refused to go and get it treated," she huffed. Cardin scowled.



"I'm tough! It's gonna go away on its own!"



"Well it hasn't yet!" Velvet insisted, "So you'd better get it looked at!"



Knowall held back a small smile. He gestured to the examination bed, and Cardin walked over to it. The big paladin sat down with a huff, as Velvet stayed by his side. She wore a scowl as Knowall held out his hands and examined Cardin's wrist.



"You're channeling too much Aura through your muscles," Knowall deduced, "Even though it heals and protects you, too much of it can leave your muscles feeling sore. Apply a cold pack, then hot pack, and rest it for a day or two. You'll be fine."



Velvet smiled in triumph. Cardin grumbled but slowly nodded.



"I told you," Velvet murmured.



"Fine," Cardin sighed, "I'll take it easy."



"Good," Knowall nodded, "Also? Focus more on Aura control exercises. I believe Mister Ren is adept at it. You should ask him for pointers."



Cardin grumbled a bit more, but Velvet touched his bicep. He glanced at her then slowly nodded.



"I will, Doctor."



"Good," Knowall stated. He turned away to add some notes into Cardin's file. He heard Velvet and Cardin whisper a bit between themselves. After a few moments, she sighed and kissed his cheek.



"All right. But I'm going to make sure you take care of yourself," she stated firmly. Cardin smiled for a moment before his usual brash expression returned.



"Fine. Just not in front of the guys, okay?"



"Yes in front of the guys!" Velvet argued. "They're just as worried!"



"Hmph," Cardin grunted, "Fine. Now go. I'll catch up."



Velvet smiled and kissed his cheek again. She turned and headed out of the infirmary. Cardin watched her go then looked back to Knowall. He cleared his throat. Knowall raised an eyebrow.



"Yes, Mister Winchester?"



"I..." He shook his head. "Thanks. For-For making me make things up to her. W-We're dating now and uh..." He smiled. "It's amazing. It's like... It's like we just click, you know? I... I feel like a jackass for bullying her. She's really amazing. So thank you, Doctor."



Knowall nodded slowly.



"You're welcome."



"Can I ask a question?" Cardin asked. Knowall shrugged.



"Certainly."



"How did you know?" He asked.



Knowall stared at him. He slowly shook his head.



"I just had a feeling," he said. He smiled wanly.



"Make sure you treasure every moment you have with her, Cardin," he stated, "because it will never come again. Understand?"



Cardin nodded seriously.



"I will, Doctor," he said. He slowly got up and headed out the door. Jaune watched him exit. He closed his eyes.



For a moment he wasn't in Beacon's infirmary. They were in wartorn Vale near the Franklin Kingdom. Artillery was pounding overhead in the makeshift field hospital Jaune had cobbled together. The scent of blood, Dust, and gun oil filled the air, along with the screams of the dying.



On a cot, covered in blood, lay a dying Cardin Winchester. Older, with a scuffy beard and a missing eye, and desperately shoving a locket into his hands.



"Please... My wife and kids," he wheezed, "Tell them I... Tell them...!"



His Aura faded. His soul vanished. His eyes dimmed and he went limp as he let out his last breath. Knowall stood there numbly, stumbling back as the nurses did everything they could for the man... But there was nothing more to be done.



He shakily looked down. He opened the locket. A small hologram emerged, blue and translucent. An older Velvet Scarlatina sat on a couch, smiling with eyes full of love and warmth. Around her were three human/rabbit Faunus hybrids: Two girls and a boy, all smiling broadly for the camera.



Knowall took a deep breath. He closed the locket and shoved it back into his pocket. He was back in Beacon, back in the past.



He still didn't know why he had held onto the locket. By the time he got anywhere near Vale, the city had been left in ruins without a soul alive. The Winchester mansion lay in ashes. He didn't know if Velvet or their kids had survived.



Hell he didn't even know if they would survive this time around.



He clenched his fist around the locket tightly.



"It won't happen again," he swore, "I won't let it happen."



- - -



Jaune Arc had just finished up some training in one of the simulation rooms. Pyrrha had to beg off joining him as she had a meeting with her agent while Nora and Ren were off to have fun. RWBY had gone out into the city for a day trip.



Jaune didn't mind the solitude too much. He loved his friends but every now and again he needed some time to himself.



He got out of the shower and made it to his locker. He dressed then turned around-



"Jaune!"



"GAH!"



Jaune fell back in shock. Blake was standing there, her eyes wide.



"Blake? Wha-This is the boy's locker room!" He whispered, his eyes scanning around frantically, "We're going to get in trouble-!"



"Jaune, listen! I... I need to tell you something," Blake said, her voice thick with restrained emotion.



It only took a moment for Jaune to calm down. Blake was in distress. It had to be important.



"What is it?" He asked quietly.



"I..." She shook her head. "I-I came to say goodbye."



Jaune blinked.



"What?" He asked dumbly.



"I..." She winced. "Weiss... I-I told Weiss that... That I was White Fang. I-I told my team and... And I can't stay here anymore."



Jaune's eyes bugged out.



"What? Blake, I-!"



"I'm sorry I lied!" Blake cried, her voice harsh from holding back a sob, "I-I'm sorry! I was White Fang! I-I did terrible things! I-I don't belong here, all right?! I-I don't deserve your kindness! I don't deserve anything! N-Not until I fix this! Not until I stop them!"



Jaune gaped.



"Blake, I-Wait a-!"



"Goodbye! I... Please forgive me," she whispered. Jaune reached out again.



"I do forgive you-Wait-We can talk this-!"



His arms went through Blake, and she vanished as the shadow clone dissipated. He pulled his hands back with wide eyes.



"Blake. No," he murmured.



His Scroll screamed at him. He picked it up and answered the call from Ruby.



"Jaune! Blake just ran off! It-It's a long story-But can you and your team help us find her? Please?!"



Jaune stared at the place Blake's clone had stood. He slowly nodded.



"We'll be right there."



"Thank you," Ruby sighed in relief, "I'm just... It's a long story. I don't know how much you know but-"



"It doesn't matter," Jaune said firmly, "She's my friend. We're going to find her."



"Yes," Ruby agreed with equal determination, "Yes we will."



- - -

 

[TheFabulousCustodes]

Yes but if that was the case, mankind would have gone extinct long ago to sexy catgirls. It would also make the Anti-Faunus racists right. So I think them being able to interbreed is more interesting.

Click to shrink...

Cardin - "....and that's why I feel the way I do about Faunus!"

Jaune - "Wait a minute, you don't like Faunus because you think their sexiness is a danger to the extended survival of mankind???"

Cardin - "Precisely, dude! Look at me and Velvet. She's gotten me wrapped around her finger with those long, soft, gorgeous ears in under a month. But it's not rabbit faunus that are the real threat, Velvet is a super hotty, no doubt, but it's the cat faunus that are the real danger to mankind!"

Jaune - "I dated a cat faunus, Katy Sith, and I'm just fine!" *Flashes Katy's picture to Cardin*

Cardin - "And how hard was it to walk away from a cat girl built like that, to pursue your dreams of being a Huntsmen?"

Jaune - "There do seem to be an inordinate number of hot cat girls.... Katy, that Neon girl from Atlas, Sienna Kahn, politics aside..."

Cardin - "It's not just the women dude, have you seen the guy that founded the White Fang, before it went crazy? Man's built like the cover model for every women's romance novel on those Ember tablets."

Jaune - "Are there any other sexy cat faunus at Beacon?"

Cardin - "Don't think so...."

Elsewhere in Team RWBY's common area...
​

Ruby - ".....and I said, you call that a large cookie?"

Yang - "Yeah, mom's cookies were always the best!"

Weiss - "Their cake was sub par as well, my families Cake Butler's offerings were far and away superior to that bakery.

Blake - " That's precisely the attitude I would expect a Schnee to have......"

Blake suddenly bolts upright
​

Blake - "I sense discrimination against cat faunus!"

Yang - "Dogpile her, and tie her up before she runs away again!

 

[SharkCultist]

Ok so this is a idea born through a weird mesh of my interest.

Megaman StarForce, ronin warriors, digimon frontier ,megaman zx, Kamen Rider, mobile fighter G gundam and a few others. Now I'm mostly saying these are the inspirations for this idea so most of it might not be directly apparent what inspired what bit.

---

Jaune Arc had the heart of a hero. He just didn't have the body to go through the training. By the time he would be healthy enough to train it wouldn't be enough to matter.

His family wanted to give him a shot, just a single chance, at his dream. So they pooled everything they had and worked on one of the greatest projects ever made in remnant.

Computer programming, forging, mechanical engineering, combat of every sort, biological mapping, theoretical energy sciences, nanotechnology, more money than most people will ever see in a lifetime, and enough connections and favors that they could have reshaped nations.

All poured into a decade and a half of development with the greatest minds in the world working on the project.

Hundreds of failures and two successes.

The Red Joker and The Black Ace.

The red joker a crimson katana and the Black Ace a pitch black handgun.

Amazing weapons who's true power would only reveal itself to the one they would bond with.

Both were gifted to Jaune Arc to bond with.

But a mistake had been made.

The weapons had their own will, That was expected, what wasn't expected was how the combat data and knowledge stored inside them shaped that will.

Both weapons asked their intended user two questions.

"What is the purpose of power?"
"What is the source of power?"

Jaune believed that the source and purpose were the same. People and their protection.

The Black Ace accepted this answer and gladly bonded to Jaune.



The Red Joker did not.

The blade rejected him, quite violently, and was sent away. It had been forged too well. They couldn't destroy it with anything they tried so they gave it to Atlas to at least study and keep safe. It's not like they could use it.


Time passed and eventually even Jaune forgot about the sword. Until he ran into it again.

The base that contained the blade had been raided by the White Fang. And The Red Joker felt one who could be it's master so it asked its questions once again.

"What is the purpose of power?"
"What is the source of power?"

It's candidate told the sword that the purpose of power is to be used and the source of power is purpose.

The sword accepted this answer.

And Adam Taurus unleashed the blade upon the world.

---

So a bit more explanation here.

The two weapons are biologically locked, once they have a chosen owner then as long as that owner is alive the weapon won't work for anyone else.

The weapons contain something called a aura core forge. Basically as long as they can be supplied aura they can repair and strengthen (assuming they can even be damaged) they can form armor for their user that can boost all parameters. They boost the learning and skill of the user.

The A.I inside the weapons are constantly learning and can develop new abilities.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

This is the year I decided to focus on RWBY fanfiction. In all honesty it started as a whim, as I ran out of ideas for Star Trek fics and I was going through a LOT of personal crap. And then I decided that I would write and post something RWBY related every week for the entire year, as a challenge.

I suppose as a broken person, I appreciate broken things like franchises. Things destroyed by others in their greed, vanity, and stupidity. And I want to put those things back together, to show off how beautiful they can be.

I've learned a lot about myself and about the fandom. I've made some new friends. And I'm going to continue on into the New Year, though my update schedule may slow down to avoid burn out.

I guess what I'm trying to say is thank you for your support. Thank you for sharing your creativity. And here's hoping 2025 brings even better things.

 

[Unknown_One]

And so, my last prompts for 2024:

-Jaune and Yang end up together for the Vale New Years' party, as the rest of their teams are off with other people or doing other things. They hit the bars, bond... And when the ball drops? They kiss. What happens after?

Click to shrink...

No need to add the bars or alcohol to the mix, IMO.

That being said:

Jaune stood on a bridge near the Pier in Vale. The cool air nipping at his face as he took in the serenity of the moment. He wore a dark blue Fatigues jacket, accompanied with his jeans and shoes.

Pyrrha had been out, unfortunately due to her sponsors being over insistent on her solo attendance to their function.

Ruby was with Weiss, enjoying the festive atmosphere of the moment. Blake was taking in the sights and sounds with Sun. While Nora was dragging Ren through the vendors.

As Jaune took a deep breath, he exhaled in a small sigh. Being this far from home did slightly pain him. But, he was enjoying the brief return to his normal.

"Hey VB, why are you standing alone?" Yelled Yang as she jogged to him. Her clothing being a Brown Waist-coast with a yellow and red scarf matching with Black pants.

Jaune looked at Yang and shrugged his shoulders before looking back up at the dark sky. "I loved watching the New Year's celebrations when I was a kid. The night sky being lit by fireworks, faint singing at the town square. It was tradition."

He then looked back at Yang, as she stood next to him. "Did you have any traditions on Patch?"

Yang nodded slightly as she also looked at the sky. "Yeah, we would all meet in the middle of the island. There would be a bonfire, music, and a countdown to the New Year. Couples would always end up kissing at the stroke of Midnight."

She said the last part with a chuckle, remembering how she and Ruby would act grossed out when they were children, then slowly turn hopeful they might have that moment.

Jaune huffed in amusement as a smile graced his features. "Yeah, I've heard the same. Saphron, my sister, would tell me about the kissing as well."

They heard a the loudspeaker from the pier call out one minute left, and Jaune looked back at the night sky. "Another year gone."

Yang nodded. "Yeah."

The countdown was on, as the New Year was approaching. The crowd from the pier began counting down. "Ten, Nine, Eight…"

Jaune began counting with them. "Seven, Six, Five…"

Yang joined in. "Four, Three, Two, One!"

Together, everyone exclaimed "HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Fireworks were launched, dazzling the night sky. The old year was gone, a new future was upon.

Jaune and Yang watched the display, enjoying each other's quiet company.

Yang turned her head from the display and looked at Jaune. "Happy New Year, Jaune."

He turned and looked at Yang. "Happy New Year, Yang."

Yang lightly bit her lower lip and closed the distance between them. Lavender met Cobalt and an unanswered question lingered between them.

Jaune turned to her, and wrapped his left arm around her. He brought his right hand to Yang's chin and brought his lips to hers, angling his head before their lips touched.

The kiss lasted longer than they expected. Both pairs of eyes closed as the lip lock was going.

It felt good, it felt nice, it felt… right. After a solid minute of kissing, the pair split and opened their eyes.

Jaune took his hand off of Yang's chin and brought his right arm around Yang's shoulders in a loving embrace. Yang wrapped her arms around him in a similar manner.

"Happy New Year, Jaune." Yang said, after burying her face in his left shoulder.

Jaune looked down slightly at the head of Yang. He gave another light kiss to the back of her head. "Happy New Year, Yang."

 

[SharkCultist]

Penny becomes a benevolent eggman.
Kinda.

See Penny wants a big family bigger than just her and her dad.

But Atlas isn't too keen on giving her the space or money for a big production of sentient AI.

So Penny does some....creative application of the truth and resources.

Penny is technically a member of the military after all so she should be getting a officers salary. Surely they just forgot to sign her up for it so she signs herself up, even arranges for the missing backpay. All properly filed and legal(ish).

Since there isn't space for her to make her factory in Atlas? Then she'll just make it outside of Atlas. There's plenty of unused land out there, in fact they send recon drones out to those areas often. She can just leave some equipment and robots behind when the drones gets there.

That nice dormant volcano in the mountain range would make a good base, should be easy to set up some thermal generators.

So fast forward a year or two and Penny has her first few family members. Some are AI, Some are Robots, and a few are Cyborgs.

There's her adorable little sister Sage the AI.

There's her big brother Robotic Rodent Robot Speed Tester Unit...He prefers to be called metal sonic.

There's the two faunus cyborgs Kit and Surge. They needed a LOT of repairs but they're all good now! Except surge keeps shocking herself in the shower. But they're a good big sister and little brother pair.

Penny even made herself a new body, a bit more mature with really cool glasses!

She can't wait to show friend Ruby her new family and form. And it looks like she won't have to wait! It appears some trainee hunters teams have been sent to say hello and check out her really cool lab home.

It's shaped like a smile!

---

Nora: "Holy shit that is creepy."

Ruby: "Really? I think it looks kinda goofy."

Ren: "I wouldn't call a secret fortress that just appeared out of thin air a few months ago goofy."

Ruby: "Maybe they're friendly?"

Surge: and who the H-E-double fuck are you guys?

---

Oh yes this can only end well.

Penny accidentally makes herself a new faction.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Professor Peach: "All right, Miss Schnee, you'll work with Miss Valkyrie!"

Weiss: "Oh no... Not in Dust class..."

Nora: "WOO! All right Weissy, let's get to work!"

Weiss: "Save me... I'm too young to die..."

An hour later...

Nora: "... So you adjust the mixture to 1/45. Add it in with a little shake of your wrist each time for even distribution."

Weiss: "All right..."

Nora: "Ooh! We should add some Lightning Dust in this layer to ensure that the detonation is within 1.2 milliseconds!"

Weiss: "Okay..."

Peach: "All right. Let's test your mixtures in the test chamber. Goggles, everyone!"

Each team has their mixture detonated and examined. At the end...

Peach: "Perfect score, Miss Schnee and Miss Valkyrie! Your mixture was spot on for precision!"

Weiss: "Thank you, Professor!"

Nora: "YAY! Do we get gold stars?"

Peach: "Just A-pluses, Miss Valkyrie."

Nora: "Oh. Guess we gotta do better next time for those!"

Peach: chuckles "Keep it up and I'll see what I can do."

Nora: "Okay!"

Weiss: Stares in Disbelief at Nora "How did you learn so much about Dust?"

Nora: "Well, we learned the basics of Dust from some old books we found in the village ruins. Renny's good but I really took to it! I had to learn to help keep Renny safe! Nearly blew myself up a few times but it was worth it!"

Weiss: "O-Oh... I see... You learned very well."

Nora: "Thanks! You too!"

Weiss: I want to be nicer... I want to show my gratitude... And I want to show that we're friends... But how? I know!

Later... In the common room... Weiss enters with a smile.

Weiss: "Nora! Here!"

Nora: "Eh?"

Weiss hands over a letter. Nora opens it.

Nora: "What is it?"

Weiss: "It's a job offer. Would you like to become an SDC Dust Quality Control Engineer?"

Nora: "What's that?"

Weiss: "Basically, you would test Dust mixtures for their volatility and effectiveness."

Nora: "Really? That would be great! But I gotta look at pay..." She holds it out to Jaune "Jaune-Jaune? Is that a lot?"

Jaune: eyes bug out "That's a LOT, Nora."

Nora: "Really? HEE! Renny! I'm the breadwinner of the family!"

Ren: "I knew you could do it, sweetheart."

Nora: "You'd better have dinner on the table when I get home and you'd better wear the silk underwear!"

Ren: "Year dear."

Jaune: "Er... It seems kind of sudden, Nora."

Pyrrha: "Also, don't you need to finish schooling and become a Huntress, Nora?"

Nora: "Eh? OH! Right!" smiles and hands the offer back "Sorry Weissy, I wanna be a Huntress!"

Weiss: "But I... Oh..."

Nora: "The job sounds neat though, so maybe I'll take it in the future?"

Weiss: "I... Oh... Um, sure."

Nora: "But, let's work on Dust Class homework together!"

Weiss: smiles "I... I would like that."

Nora: "That last mixture was all about precision, which is great! But sometimes you just wanna make a REALLY big explosion! Ooh! Maybe we can add in some Ice Dust and make giant exploding Snowflakes! Wouldn't that be great?!"

Weiss: "I... Suppose it would."

Nora: "YAY!"

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Team JNPR and Team RWBY were returning from a joint training mission. They walked through Beacon's Star Maiden garden, which filled with beautiful fountains, flowers, and marble columns.

"Geez, after that training mission, this boring place is just what the doctor ordered!" Yang sighed happily.

"I will admit, serenity is very nice after dealing with all those issues," Ren sighed.

"Aw, it was fun!" Nora protested with a grin as she hefted up her hammer. "I got to smash those Grimm right in their stupid faces!"

"Along with the chicken coop behind it," Jaune sighed, brushing off some leftover feathers. Ruby grimaced.

"That was the worst!" She groaned. "We should be-be fighting super awesome evil Grimm and saving kingdoms and-and handsome princes or something!"

"Or handsome knights," Yang said with a wink at Jaune. Jaune coughed as his cheeks burned red. Ruby scowled.

"Yaaang! Enough flirting!"

"Did you want to get some flirting in, too?" Yang grinned. "Maybe we should make a sign up sheet!"

"Ease up, guys," Jaune siged, "I want a shower."

"Yes, please," Pyrrha cleared her throat, brushing some feathers out of her red hair, "A shower would be nice."

Yang sighed and brushed some stray feathers from her jacket.

"Fine, fine."

"Honestly," Weiss sighed, still scrubbing her hands with antiseptic gel, "I had no idea chickens were so disagreeable!"

"This is why I prefer fish," Blake said. "Also, do you always carry antiseptic gel?"

"Yes. Why, don't you?" Weiss asked curiously.

This is when loud music began to play over the courtyard speakers. Jaune paled as he heard it.

"What is that song? It sounds super old! 'Bye bye bye?'" Ruby exclaimed.

"I think Dad used to play it all the time... VB?" Yang added, noticing how Jaune tensed.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha asked, staring at Jaune's reaction as he pulled his weapons out.

"ARM YOURSELVES! NOW!" Jaune shouted.

"Are you kidding-?!" Weiss tried, even as everyone else obeyed. Just in time, too.

A figure in heavy combat armor, with curved horns on her helmet, charged in and swung her sword at Jaune. Jaune barely parried the first three blows, before the figure sidestepped his desperate counter attack and slapped him on the ass with the flat of her blade. This sent him flying headfirst through a stone bench, his Aura flaring brightly. Everyone else scattered, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora regrouping immediately.

"JAUNE!" Ruby however was the first to strike back. She leaped into super speed with her Semblance, and struck the armored figure several times. Each time the figure parried or deflected the hits with her sword, before yanking Ruby into range, punching her in the stomach, and throwing her into a column.

"URK!" Ruby gasped.

"A Lancer who gets too close and fights too predictably..." The Figure commented while blocking Pyrrha's furious counter strikes and then evading Yang's berserker rage. "Hmmm..."

She traded sword blows with Pyrrha while evading everyone else's fire. Yang then charged at her, her eyes glowing red and her Aura burning like fire.

She caught Yang's wrist and threw her into Pyrrha. Pyrrha tried to catch Yang... Which is when the figure closed the distance and slapped them both into a fountain with her sword. They smashed through the marble fountain and fell into the pool with a large splash.

"A Berserker without brains or agility and another Lancer who is far too showy and emotionally compromised-" She dodged around Nora's wild swings and slams, using her agility to disarm the hammer maiden and then kick her into a tree.

"Another Berserker who is too wild-"

Ren popped up from behind a stone bench and tried to strike her from behind, but the figure swung around and unleashed an Aura blast that sent him crashing through a statue.

"Assassin with shitty weapons-" She casually backhanded Weiss who tried to charge her. Weiss plowed into a flower garden with a screech.

"A Caster who thinks she's a Saber-"

She looks over at Blake, who was hesitating on top of a pillar. She swung her blade and unleashed an Aura blast. Blake used a clone to avoid it, sent two more in… Who the figure plowed through to backhand Blake into the recovering Yang, sending both back into the fountain pool.

"EEYAH!"

"And finally, another Assassin who thinks too much." She sighs, "JAUNE! Your teams are very disappointing!"

Pyrrha got up and attacked again. This time the figure was forced to fight a bit more seriously, having to parry and counter and even evade Pyrrha's furious assault. Pyrrha managed to get a hit on her helmet, cutting off the tip of her horn. The figure traps Pyrrha's blade against hers.

"Ooh... I may have misjudged you. You might be fun-" the Figure said, a feral grin in her voice.

At last, Jaune got up and yelled a threat.

"DAMNIT MORDRED! STOP IT RIGHT NOW OR I'M CALLING NANA!"

Mordred gasped and turned her head to look at Jaune.

"YOU WOULDN'T!"

Jaune held up his Scroll. Mordred huffed, and pulled back from the panting Pyrrha. The rest of RWBY and JNPR got up. Ren was slightly tense. Nora was curious. Ruby was scowling. Yang and Weiss were glaring hot death at Mordred, and then at Blake.

"You SAID you were gonna back me up!" Weiss accuses.

"Well, I-!" Blake tried to defend herself.

"I thought you were gonna do the same!" Yang interjected.

"Would it have actually mattered?! We all got clobbered!" Blake retorted.

"YES! YES IT WOULD! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU AND WHY DID YOU ATTACK?!" Ruby demanded.

The woman's helmet slid open with mecha-shift technology, revealing a rather strikingly beautiful older blonde woman with blue eyes, a ponytail for her slightly white streaked locks, and a cocky grin.

"I am Sir Mordred Arc! Knight of the Round Table! Heir to the throne of Albion! And... Jaune Arc's great-uncle." Mordred declared.

"WHAT?!" Weiss cried.

"Wha-You're Jaune's unc-but you're a-!" Ruby stammered, but Jaune held up a hand.

"DON'T! Don't! It's not worth it! Just call her-um, him, Uncle Mordred." Jaune sighed.

"Did you really have to attack us as a greeting?! Are you insane?!" Weiss demanded, shaking her fist.

"YES! It is how one should properly greet Hunters-in-Training! And given I mopped the floor with you all except the redheaded Lancer, you clearly need a lot of work! Jaune I can understand-His parents forbade him from training and he is catching up! But YOU! How the mighty have fallen!" Mordred exclaimed, standing at attention with her blade held downwards between her hands.

"Mordred, you are literally 80 years old and have seen more combat in a week than most of us have in a lifetime." Jaune pointed out, exasperated.

"BIG DEAL! If you'd worked together you might have stood a chance! Well, nothing for it! I shall have to train you myself!" Mordred declared.

"Oh wow... Jaune? Your uncle is cool and super hot!" Nora expressed in awe. Ren raised an eyebrow.

"DAMN RIGHT I AM!" Mordred boasted.

"She's a lunatic-" Weiss started to say before Mordred held a sword to her throat, "Urk!"

"Don't call me a woman, damnit! Just because I have a husband and have borne him children does not MAKE ME A WOMAN! It merely makes me very manly!" Mordred clarified.

"I-You-!" Weiss stuttered. Jaune again reached out and pulled Weiss away. He shook his head.

"Please. Don't. You'll only make things worse." Jaune warned. Weiss sucked in a breath and slowly nodded.

"S-Sure, um, Mordred. You are... Very manly." Weiss reluctantly acknowledged.

Mordred withdrew her sword, "EXCELLENT! Now, all is not lost! You have promise! But back in MY DAY, we were fighting bandits and Grimm beasts every single day for classes! None of this cushy boarding school nonsense! We shall go get alcohol-!"

"AHEM. Underaged? Ahem?" Jaune coughed.

"In Vale?!" Mordred demanded. Jaune nodded sadly. "DAMNIT! FINE! We shall go get drinks of some sort! And then perhaps get our nails done! I like the star designs on my nails, that's extra manly!"

"I like stars on my nails too!" Ruby said cheerfully. "I just learned how to do them!"

"WONDERFUL!" Modred declared with a grin.

Nora held up her hand.

"Question!"

"Yes?" Mordred responded.

"Why that old music?" Nora asked.

Mordred huffed.

"It's catchy and I enjoy listening to music while training!"

Nora gasped, her eyes bright.

"IT IS SUPER CATCHY! Right Renny?"

"The catchiest," Ren agreed in his usual deadpan.

"Why can't there be a normal Arc?" Weiss muttered. Blake grumbled in agreement.

Jaune looked over at Pyrrha, who was looking very intensely at Mordred.

"Pyrrha? You okay?"

Pyrrha turned to Jaune. Her eyes were sparkling, "That was the most intense fight I've ever had, Jaune! I can't wait for your uncle to train us more!"

Jaune sighed. He wore a wry smile.

"Yeah, me too..."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Since I established Arslan and Neptune as childhood friends (but not romantic at all, more like siblings), one possibility for their relationship is tension over who Neptune's leader is. Arslan was able to perform so well that Lionheart couldn't sabotage her team as he did others-At least not as easily. Team SSSN though is an utter disaster. And Arslan would have opinions on that.

Arslan doesn't hate Sun, but she does think he is a terrible leader.

In the past... At Haven... Arslan meets with Neptune halfway through their first semester..

Neptune: "Hey Arslan. You know, if you wanted to join my team, you already rejected my offer. And to be my girlfriend, too! That hurts as much as it did the five hundredth time as it did the first but-"

Arslan: "You should switch to my team."

Neptune: "Selections are final, but if you really want to try dating we could-"

Arslan: "Your team leader is dangerous, Neptune. He's unreliable. Reckless."

Neptune: "Sun? Nah... He would never! Sure, he's a flake sometimes-"

Arslan: "All the time."

Neptune: "But he would never abandon us when we most needed him! You gotta have faith! I mean... You've devoted your life to faith!"

Arslan: "I have faith in God. Faith in mortals is another matter entirely. Faith in Sun? No."

Neptune: sigh "You're really making a big deal out of this-"

Arslan: "He's going to get you killed, Neptune."

Neptune: "Yeah well... I'll just have to prove you wrong, won't I?" snorts "You can stop acting like I'm the snot nosed brat you picked on. I'm basically a man and I'm gonna do great!"

Arslan: "..." nods "Then I will pray you are right, and I am wrong."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Vale, Dockyards

- - -

Cinnamon Berahard was nearly seven years old, and she was super bored. Her mama and papa had told her that a trip up to Vale would be fun and exciting! But most of the trip had been about Papa buying and selling and talking to boring old people. Mama had at least bought her a dolly. It was a beautiful china doll, and she'd named her Priscilla.

She held onto Priscilla tightly as she sat in the back of the car, bored. Their front left tire had gone flat and Papa was fixing it. She watched Papa and Mama work on it together while they argued. The world outside was dark except for street lights and big, grim looking warehouses. They were creepy, so she focused her attention on her parents.

"I told you we were lost," Mama sighed, "Why didn't you just buy a proper Scroll?"

"Feh!" Papa snorted. "My old Scroll works just fine! We just took a bit of a detour, that's all."

"A detour, he says," Mama groaned, "who knows what kinds of thieves and cutthroats could be around here!"

"Please," Papa chuckled, "This is a civilized city! There ain't no bandits or thieves or-"

There was a loud explosion nearby. Everyone jumped, especially Cinnamon. She saw a gout of flame rise up behind the buildings. She gasped in amazement.

Maybe it was like her CCTV programs back home! Hunters and Huntresses on the street, fighting against bad guys!

"... Let's call the police," Mama suggested. Papa nodded.

"I think you're right." He pulled out his Scroll, and made the call. "Hello, Vale Police? Yes, I'd like to report a-"

A ragged looking young Faunus with cat ears, black clothing, and a white mask jumped through a window in the building across the street. He landed hard on the pavement and sprang towards them faster than a horse! He slapped Papa and Mama, sending them both sprawling to the pavement.

"MAMA! PAPA!" Cinnamon shrieked. The Faunus man opened the door and checked the keys. He groaned.

"Great, I gotta fix the tire..." He glared at Cinnamon, and she shrunk back. "You're really fucking slow, you humans!"

"I-I-!"

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

Cinnamon and the Faunus looked back. Four young women in yellow, black, white and red leaped down, landing on the street. In an instant, the Faunus seized Cinnamon and yanked her in front of him. She screamed in fear and began to cry as he held a gun against her head.

"One more step, and goodbye little human!" He snarled. The girl in red, with black hair with red tips and a huge red scythe, froze. She shook her head.

"Y-You're bluffing!" She cried. "You're not gonna kill her!"

The Faunus grinned and jabbed the gun against Cinnamon's head. She whimpered. She wet her pants. She shook and trembled violently.

"You think I care?" The Faunus scoffed. "You'd better back up, nice and easy. Even you aren't fast enough to get to me before I pull the trigger!"

"Let her go!" The girl in black offered, "The White Fang is better than this!"

"FEH! Where have you been, Princess?" The Faunus scoffed. "Now, back off! Weapons down!"

"You're a scum sucking scoundrel!" The girl in white cursed, while the girl in yellow with blonde hair snarled angrily. The Faunus laughed.

"It keeps me breathing, darling. Now, you-HEY!"

Cinnamon stared through her tears. A man had appeared, jumping down from the same window. His poncho waved dramatically as he held onto his cowboy hat. He stared intently at Cinnamon and the Faunus as he stood up. The Faunus growled.

"YOU! Same thing, cowboy! You try anything and-!"

BANG!

The Faunus' body went limp even as Cinnamon's ears hurt. The Faunus dropped like a puppet with its strings cut. In an instant, the girl in red appeared and caught Cinnamon as she felt. She buried her face in her chest, sobbing loudly even as the girl in red rubbed her back.

She glanced up: The man was holding a revolver and pointing it at the Faunus. The Faunus had crumpled to the ground. He wasn't moving.

Cinnamon shivered and buried her face back in the girl's chest.

"Mama... Papa...?" She managed.

"They're okay," the girl said softly, "They're just... Just asleep."

"... The bad guy?" She asked.

The girl in red was silent as police sirens filled the air.

- - -

Yang was the first to recover from the abrupt end of the pursuit. Jaune barking orders into his Scroll helped take her eyes away from the dead Faunus.

"Pyrrha, Nora, make sure nobody else gets away, we caught one straggler," he stated, "Ren, sweep the area one last time. All of you, come to my signal location ASAP."

"Roger," Pyrrha spoke.

"Okey dokey Jaune-Jaune!" Nora replied.

"Understood," Ren said.

Jaune closed the Scroll as the cops arrived. He holstered his weapon, his face grim and stony.

"You... You killed him," Weiss said, soft and disbelieving.

Jaune very slowly nodded.

"Yes miss," he said, his voice devoid of its customary warmth. He glanced at the corpse briefly. "Let's check on the adults, make sure they're all right. Weiss, you got Healing Dust, right?"

Weiss kept staring.

"Weiss?" He pressed.

"Y-Yes, I'm on it," Weiss said, turning and heading over to the two groaning humans. Blake continued to stare at him intensely. She walked up close, her yellow eyes narrowed.

"Was that necessary?" Blake asked, quiet but angry. Jaune let out a soft sigh.

"... I hope so," he muttered.

Yang walked up and rested a hand on his shoulder. She gave Blake a very stern look.

"Threatening to murder a child is rarely something a good person does, Blake," Yang stated in a flat, angry tone.

"He was desperate, he was scared-" Blake tried. Yang glared.

"He had a choice. He made the wrong one," Yang practically spat.

Blake stared intensely at Jaune, who was still as blank faced as a cube of marble. A few moments later, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora jumped in. The cops were securing the area. One, a sergeant by her stripes, walked over to look down at the body. She then turned to look over the assorted Hunters-in-Training.

"Which one of you shot him?" She demanded, brushing a few stray black hairs behind her ears as she scowled.

Ruby opened her mouth-To what end, Yang didn't know. Jaune shook his head and stepped foward.

"That would be me, ma'am," Jaune replied calmly. Pyrrha's eyes widened. Ren and Nora stared intensely. Ruby shook her head and dashed forward, still holding the weeping girl.

"He was holding a girl hostage, he was going to shoot her-!"

The sergeant held up her hand and Ruby fell silent. The Red Reaper glanced at Jaune, looking distraught but over what, Yang couldn't tell. She could guess a few things, though.

"You can all give your full statements at the station," she stated, "What's your name, son?"

"Jaune Arc."

"Sergeant Matty Dillon," she introduced herself, "Under city policy when it comes to Hunters-in-Training, I'm going to have to take you into custody pending assessment of the incident and interviews with the witnesses." She held out her hand. "I'll need you to surrender your weapons and come with me."

"Hey! Hang on a second!" Yang argued, "That bastard was going to kill a little girl! You can't just arrest Jaune for that-!"

"It's all right, Yang," Jaune said quietly. He undid his gun and swordbelt, and handed it over to Sergeant Dillon-His revolvers and Crocea Mors hung from it. He pulled out a knife from his boot, and pulled his shotgun off his shoulders and handed it over too. Dillon raised an eyebrow.

"Anything else?"

"No ma'am," Jaune said politely. He held out his wrists. "Do you need to cuff me?"

"Yes," Dillon said, slapping them on, "It's just procedure."

"But he didn't do-!" Ruby tried, but Jaune shot her a look.

"It's all right, Ruby. I've..." A look of shame came over his face, before his determined expression returned.

"I've been through this before," he said carefully.

Ruby's jaw dropped. Yang gaped. Blake gasped. Weiss, still tending to the wounded, still shot a shocked look back. Pyrrha's eyes widened. Ren closed his eyes while Nora shook her head.

"You can all come along in another car," Dillon stated, "We'll try to get this sorted out as quickly as possible. I'll read you your rights on the way."

"Yes ma'am," Jaune said. He looked around at his friends.

"It's gonna be all right, I promise," he said, as Dillon escorted him towards one of the police cruisers. Ruby stared in shock, even as the little girl stared after him.

"Is... Is he gonna go to jail?" She asked.

"Not if we can help it," Yang growled.

"Cinnamon!"

The little girl looked over. She beamed as she saw her parents standing up, smiling.

"MAMA! PAPA!"

She dropped from Ruby's arms and ran over to them. They embraced the little girl happily.

"Well," Yang muttered, "I can think of a few people thankful Jaune took his shot."

Blake just scowled deeply.

Weiss approached, looking anxious.

"We-We should go with him," she said, "After all... He'll need our testimony... R-Right?"

"Let's go," Pyrrha said grimly, as they headed towards a second police cruiser.

- - -

I'm working on the other Cowboys of Remnant bit, but I wanted to try something a bit darker. Any thoughts so far?

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Jaune and his friends sans Blake were studying in the library.
Weiss: "And that is why you need to mix Dust in this exact ratio, Got it now, Jaune?"

Jaune: "Ohhh... Geez! It's really simple now that you showed me this!"

Weiss: "Haa... Finally!"

Pyrrha: "Don't be so cruel, Weiss. Jaune has worked very hard, and your explanations were, um... A little complicated."

Nora: "Until I brought out my crayons!"

Jaune: "Yeah, the crayons helped out a lot. Thanks Nora!"

Nora: "HEE!"

Weiss: "I..." sighs "Yes, they were a big help."

Ruby: snoring

Weiss: "RUBY!"

Ruby: "ACK! What?! What?! I was taking notes!"

Yang: chuckles "Little much for you, Rubes?"

Ruby: "No! I was just up all night working on a new upgrade for Crescent Rose and I'm tired for totally different reasons!"

Yang: "Rubes... I told you to get more sleep!"

Ruby: "I'm sorry! I was really into it and I lost track of time! JAUNE! Back me up!"

Jaune: "You should listen to your big sis, Ruby. Leaders do need their sleep."

Nora: "Yeah! Listen to Dad!"

Jaune: "Nora, for the last time, stop calling me that."

Nora: "What?! Is it because Pyrrha and Yang want to call you 'Daddy'?"

Pyrrha, Ruby, Weiss and Yang blush.
Jaune: "... Partially."

Ren: nods "Mm. The intricacies of language."

Jaune: "Totally."

Blake rushes in, wearing a happy smile.
Blake: "Jaune!"

Jaune: "Blake? You okay? Something wrong?"

Weiss: "Wha... You're smiling. Why are you doing that?"

Blake hugs Jaune.
Blake: "The test came back positive! Our family will have a new member!"

Dead silence ensues. Jaune chokes.

Jaune: "WHAT?!"

Yang: enraged, eyes burning red, hair burning "WHAT."

Pyrrha: terrifying smile as everything metal around them creaks ominously "What."

Weiss: "WHAT?!"

Ruby: "WHAAAAAAAAT?!"

Nora: "WHO?! WHY?! HOW?! WHEN?!"

Ren: drops his pencil in shock

Blake: "My mother is pregnant!"

Jaune: "Again, WHAT?!"

Blake: "Your mom helped heal her, and my dad just told me she's going to have a baby! I'm going to be a big sister!"

Jaune: immensely relieved, he laughs and hugs her back "Oh! Th-That's wonderful, Blake!"

Everyone else calms down and congratulates Blake.

Blake: "My mother was poisoned, probably by Sienna Khan's agents. It made her... Well... She couldn't have any more children after. But thanks to us meeting, your mother was able to do some surgery and therapy and bam! Again, thank you Jaune! If it wasn't for you, none of this would be possible!"

Jaune: "Again, that's great, Blake! And uh, I didn't do much-"

Blake: "Jaune. If it wasn't for you, I would have run off and... And just done something stupid. Now? I'm actually connecting with my parents, and we're friends, and... And... I'm going to be a big sister!" hugs him "Mmm... Thank you!"

Jaune: "You're welcome... Really."

Weiss: "Did you have to announce the news like that, Blake? Really?"

Blake: "I don't know what you mean~. Why wouldn't Jaune be happy to hear me say a test was positive~? And that our family was going to get bigger~?"

Jaune: bonks her "No. Bad Blake. None of that."

Blake: "Owww...! You shouldn't be so violent..." Sexy smirk "Unless we set up a safe word, first."

Jaune: blushes bright red, chokes

Jaune's Brain: Holy crap! She's turned into a total troll! A sexy, sexy catgirl troll! Holy crap!

Yang: "NOPE!" She grabs Blake by the scuff of her neck and her skirt and tosses her out the window "Scat, cat!"

Blake: "That's racist!"

Yang: "So is the sexy Faunus trying to steal a human girl's boyfriend!"

Blake: "Only if it's NTR, not harem genre!"

Ruby: "It's still NTR if you don't convince the girlfriend to share!"

Yang: "Wha-HOW DO YOU KNOW THOSE WORDS, RUBY?!"

Ruby: "Blake."

Yang: "BLAAAAAAAKE!"

Weiss: "YOU'RE PERVERTS! ALL OF YOU!"

Pyrrha pats Jaune on the shoulder as violence ensues.

Pyrrha: "You all right, Jaune?"

Jaune: "I'll... Recover... Somehow..."

Ren: deadpan "The mysteries of language, indeed."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Lord of Bones I would appreciate some help on expanding this one. My concept is simple:

- - -

Pyrrha and Jaune were doing some training on the roof of their dorm. The sun was setting, painting the sky in purple and orange as the first stars began to come out. It was peaceful, maybe even romantic.

Jaune managed to catch her blade and knock it aside, while sliding into her guard. He brought his sword up to her throat. They both panted hard, but Pyrrha was smiling.

Pyrrha: "Wonderful, Jaune! Much, much better!"

Jaune lowered his weapons and smiled.

Jaune: "All thanks to you, Pyr. I... Am I actually getting better?"

Pyrrha: "Much! You know how many people could actually get their blade on me?"

Jaune: "We are just training-"

Pyrrha: "Jaune..." She rested a hand on his chestplate "You're really doing well. Please, take the compliment."

Jaune: blush "Pyr... Thank you. Thank you for everything."

???: "KISSSSSSS!"

Jaune and Pyrrha start and back away, scanning around.

Pyrrha: "Who was-?!"

Jaune: "Oh no..."

A beautiful woman, blonde, wearing a veil and a black dress floats down. She huffs.

???: "Is that any way to greet your great-great Auntie, Jaune?"

Jaune: "Hello, Aunt Morgan."

Pyrrha: "O-Oh? Um... Hello."

Jaune: "This is-"

Morgan: "Of course I know who she is! Pyrrha Nikos! And you two could make some amazing babies together!"

Pyrrha: bright red "I-We-You-!"

Jaune: "AUNTIE! You do this every time! Stop it! You're weirding out my friend!"

Morgan: "Well it's not MY fault that your bloodline would allow your progeny to become immensely powerful and let me reclaim the throne of Albion and rule the world! Of course, I could always use a Black Knight!" Beams as she hugs Jaune "What do you say, Nephew? You'd be at my side, helping me conquer all the world! And you'd give me not only lands, but grandbabies!"

Jaune: "For the last time, NO."

Morgan: "Ugh. Pretty please? I'd let you have as many women as you liked! How about the blonde brawler with wide hips? Or the silver eyed girl? Or the cat princess with the nice behind? The white haired heiress? I could give them all to you, dear nephew, and so much more!"

Jaune: sighs "Can't you go bother Uncle Gingalain? Or Cousin Gray? Or even Uncle Lancelot?"

Morgan: "They keep throwing salt at me! And cold iron! Can you imagine the nerve?!"

Jaune: "Yes. Yes I can."

Morgan: "Come onnnn! Ever since the divorce with Lot I had to do Only Fans just to make ends meet!" She falls to her knees and begs "Please be my Black Knight?!"

Jaune: "You have so many other skills, Auntie! Why are you doing THAT?!"

Morgan: "It feeds my ego and my capricious vices!"

Arturia: "MORGAN!"

Morgan: "ARTURIA!"

Arturia: "GET AWAY FROM MY GREAT-GRANDSON!"

Morgan: "NEVER! HE WILL BE MINE!"

The two begin to fight furiously. Jaune sighs and pats the still blushing Pyrrha's shoulder.

Jaune: "I'm really sorry about that. she's been really hurting ever since the divorce and falling out with Nana... You okay Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha: "S-So many babies..." coughs "I-I'm fine!"

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Jaune and Weiss are talking and it's nice out...

Weiss: "... So that is why I really want to reform my family company."

Jaune: "Gosh Weiss. I'm so sorry. I must have come off as a gold digger-I'm really sorry-"

Weiss: "No! No, it's fine. I'm... Trying to be nicer. Though frankly you haven't made it easier."

Jaune: "Er, sorry? But how has my family made things bad for you? They haven't been bullying you, have they?"

Weiss: "NO! It's just that... Ugh... How could a dolt like you be related to so many incredible and insane people?!"

Jaune: shrugs "No clue. But I mean... It's not all roses."

Weiss: sigh "You just... You know... My own family is..."

Jaune: "Weiss. Just because your family is... Dysfunctional, doesn't mean you are. And all my family members think you're great! Honest! Not because of your name but because of who you are!"

Weiss: "Except for Mordred."

Jaune: "Yeah but she's Mordred. She actually told you ways to improve, so she does care about your well being."

Weiss: "Really? Well... That's pretty nice, I suppose."

Jaune: smiles "Don't think of it as what you don't have. Just think of it as proof that... That you can have a happy family, one day."

Weiss: blush "O-Oh?"

Jaune: "Yeah."

A truck beeps and approaches them. Jaune smiles.

Jaune: "Oh hey! He's here!"

Weiss: sighs "So, who's your newest crazy family member, Jaune? A vampire? A witch? A-A witch who is a zombie?!"

Jaune: "No. He's not biological family. But he is a good family friend."

Weiss: "Oh?"

Jaune: "Yeah! He's a truck!"

Weiss: "You mean a truck driver?"

The truck transforms into a gigantic humanoid robot.
Jaune: "Nope."

Optimus Prime: "Hello Jaune. Hello Weiss. It's nice to meet you. I am Optimus Prime."

Weiss: crying "Whyyyyyy?!"

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Up next, Yang and Blake react to the real Bumblebee.....

Click to shrink...

Bumblebee would definitely get along well with the Arcs, Jaune in particular.

Yang: "So Jaune... You also named your car Bumblebee?"

Jaune: "Er, he came with the name-"

Yang: "Well! Let's see who's the best Bumblebee, hmmmm?"

Jaune: "Oh boy..." low voice "Buddy? Um... Should we win? Or lose? Because I'm not sure which would be worse."

Bumblebee: Plays Manual's "Gas Gas Gas".

Jaune: "All right, let's go for it."

ONE RACE LATER...

Jaune: smiles politely as the winner "Good job, Yang. You almost had us a few times."

Yang: scowls

Jaune: "I mean... I'm up for a rematch! We both need to keep getting better and improving our skills?"

Yang: scowls

Jaune: "... I'll buy you dinner first?"

Yang: "... We'll go dancing too?"

Jaune: "Sure?"

Yang: "Good. I'll wear something nice. You'd better do the same."

Jaune: "No problem?"

Yang: "GOOD! You're giving me a ride home after I drop off Bumblebee at the garage!"

Jaune: "Sure?"

Yang drives off with red cheeks. Jaune blinks.

Jaune: "... What just happened?"

Bumblebee: Plays "I Want You".

Jaune: blush "THAT'S NOT HELPING!"

 

[AndrewJTalon]

- - -

It was a tight fit in the rocket locker, but Jaune was all too familiar with making calls when trapped in them (thanks Cardin). He got his Scroll out and dialed the first people on his call list even as he was jostled and slammed around. Still, he got his message out:

"Ruby! Weiss! You need to go help Pyrrha out! She's fighting Cinder alone! And Cinder's got-She's got some kind of power boost! They're at the top of Beacon Tower, help her! Please!"

Thankfully, Ruby answered-Apparently for both herself and Weiss.

"We're on it, Jaune! Just hold on, we'll-!"

The rocket locker landed hard on the ground. Jaune barely stayed on his feet and was slammed around. He cradled his Scroll in his arms, trying to protect it. The locker shuddered to a halt, and Jaune sucked in a deep breath. He summoned up his Aura and punched through the door. He stumbled out into the light. He winced against the light, but his vision soon cleared.

He had landed in Hell: Grimm were rampaging all over the outer courtyard. Civilians were running and screaming. The smell of blood and smoke filled the air. Jaune looked around, taking a few deep breaths.

He was squeezing his Scroll tightly. A few Grimm Beowulves turned their red eyes and snarled at him. Fear filled him, and all of his old fears and insecurities reared their heads.

"I can't lose you… I love you. Goodbye…"

He shouldn't be here. He was never supposed to be here. Even Pyrrha didn't think he would. Why else would she send him away?

He was useless.

The weak link.

Nothing had changed, had it?

Nothing at all-

He saw a familiar Huntress-in-Training sitting against a nearby wall. Her head was bowed. She held onto a sniper rifle but she wasn't using it. A pack of Beowulves were advancing on her, yet she didn't seem to care.

Jaune took one last deep breath. He tucked his Scroll away and pulled his weapons out. He charged for the nearest Beowulf. It lunged for him, but he stunned it with his shield and slashed its head off. The rest of the Beowulves tried to flank Jaune, but he swung his blade hard and fast, his anger fueling him as Pyrrha's training guided him through every step and strike.

One two three… Four five six… Six three one…

In moments, the Grimm were all dusted. Jaune turned to the girl. She looked up, revealing her red hair and single visible blue-gray eye under her bulky hoodie.

"May, right?" Jaune asked quietly. She stared at him.

"Come on," he said, "We gotta get out there."

"I…" May trembled. "M-My team… They're all…"

Jaune looked around. He saw some remains in a pile some distance away. He covered his mouth and tried to focus on staying calm. He could recognize the clothes through the blood.

He took another deep breath. He turned back to May.

"I know," he said quietly, "I-I'm sorry. We can't change that. But we can save other people. Someone I really care about is fighting for her life-For all of us. We need to help her. I-I can't do it alone."

He held out his hand. May stared at it like it was something utterly alien.

"Come on," he said, "We can't… We can't let anyone else lose what you have."

May shivered for a moment. She took a deep breath. She took Jaune's hand. He yanked her up to her feet. Her eyes glowed gently and she gasped.

"DUCK!"

Jaune dropped instinctively as May pulled her sniper rifle and opened fire. Jaune looked over his shoulder: Two Grimm Ursas were falling apart. Jaune stood up, and looked back at May. She was panting hard, but stared at him intently. Jaune smiled.

"Good job," he said.

"I…" She nodded. "Y-Yes…"

She still couldn't look at what was left of her comrades. Jaune couldn't blame her… But he couldn't let her focus back on that.

"Come on, let's go," he said, pulling out his Scroll with one hand, while taking her hand with the other. He dialed his friends as he led her away to some pillars for cover.

"Nora, Ren! Pyrrha's fighting against Cinder at the top of Beacon Tower! We gotta back her up!"

Static blared at him, before Nora's voice came through.

"Jaune-Jaune?! You're okay?!"

"Yes," Jaune said, "We're near the outer dorms! We'll meet you at the library!"

"Gotcha! We'll see you there!" Nora cheered. "Don't worry, we've got this!"

Jaune nodded. He turned to May and held his sword and shield up.

"Can you make it to the library?"

May trembled, but managed a nod. Jaune nodded back and smiled even as it seemed like the world was falling down around them. His father had always met every battle with a big, bright smile.

A warrior never lets anyone see how scared he is. If he looks like he has no worries and they can win? Then victory is always possible.

"All right. Let's go!"

- - - -

"That's…" Yang gaped at Jaune before turning to May with a heartbroken expression. "May… I can't even…"

May slowly nodded, her eyes still down on the table. Arslan squeezed her hand tightly. Jaune for his part was able to reach over to squeeze May's other hand. May didn't look up but she seemed a little less tense.

Isabel cleared her throat.

"We can stop at any-"

"No," May murmured. "We… We keep going… I'm sorry."

Jaune looked over at Ren and Nora. Nora had tears in her eyes but she nodded.

"Renny and I were at the cafeteria," she said, "So we headed off to go and help Jaune-Jaune. We headed off and fought through a lot of Grimm and some White Fang jerks."

Ren nodded. He glanced over at Cardin, who was holding Velvet. The tall redheaded boy took a deep breath. He tightened his grip around the rabbit Faunus girl.

"At the same time…"

Velvet grimaced deeply.

"We… Well…"

- - -

Cardin Winchester's head was ringing when he came to. He pushed himself to his feet, panting softly. He shook his head to try and clear it. He looked around.

Dove, Sky, and Russel were lying on the floor. Just where that Mercury dick and that Emerald bitch had left them after clobbering them at the entrance to the main tower. Cardin headed over to Russel: The Dust specialist had to have some Healing Dust. He dug into Russel's belt pouches and pulled out some white cartridges.

"Good," he muttered. "Shit… Okay, uh…" He channeled his Aura to try and heal up Russel first. He was better at this kind of crap, after all, and-

He heard the loud whistles of rockets. He looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened in horror. Several rockets screamed right for them! He summoned his Aura and got in front of his team to try and protect them.

Gotta time this just right-!

"YAH!" He swung Executioner and unleashed a Fire Dust blast. Several rockets went up in huge explosions… But two got through. They hit the tower overhead. Cardin looked up and gaped as the outer superstructure began to fall.

"Shit shit SHIT!" Cardin shouted. He ran as hard as he could, throwing himself out of the way of the debris as it fell behind him with a cacophony of booms and crashes. He was blown out of the way by the impact, landing in a tumble. He again struggled back to his feet and looked back at the flaming wreckage. He stormed back in, holding his arm up to protect his face.

"Damnit, damnit…!"

Gunfire erupted nearby, and bullets shot around him. He glared at the White Fang troops and ran for it as the rounds whizzed over his head. He clenched his free fist as he sprinted away.

"Damnit, damnit, damnit…!"

These animals had… Had killed his team… His team…!

They were working with the Grimm! How in the hell could someone work with the Grimm?!

What the hell was going on?!

He just kept running. An Ursa charged in front of him, but he slammed Executioner down on its skull and it fell apart as it died. He kept running, as fast as he could, until he came to a stop near some pillars. It was the library. He could see people running and screaming, fires burning, Grimm snarling and attacking while Hunters and Huntresses and even police fought White Fang terrorists. He panted for breath.

He could see Team CVFY fighting nearby. Adel was unleashing hell with her gatling gun, while Fox and Yatsuhashi covered her at close range. Velvet was over trying to help some fallen civilian, an old woman, with her injuries. Everything was muted, as though he was underwater.

The same White Fang troops opened fire with more rockets. Coco tried to shoot them down, but they slammed into the ground nearby. Massive explosions went off, consuming Coco, Fox and Yatsuhashi. Velvet and the civilian were blown away, Velvet trying to keep herself between the blast and the old human woman.

Do something, Cardin's mind screamed, even as his body remained frozen, Do something…!

Velvet looked up shakily, and gaped in horror at the flaming ruins. Cardin couldn't see anything beyond flames, smoke and rubble. Just like his team…

Do something!

Velvet looked over at the White Fang troops approaching her, holding up guns and swords. Her eyes were blank in shock and horror. The White Fang troops raised their guns.

DO SOMETHING!

"RAWRRR!"

His yell got their attention. He slammed Executioner down and unleashed a Fire Dust blast at the ground underneath their feet. The tiled ground bucked and shattered from the force, sending debris up like shrapnel. Several of the White Fang troops fell screaming, while others opened fire. Cardin charged through, his Aura flaring, as he swung Executioner around. He unleashed more Fire Dust blasts, blasting the White Fang troops away.

One wielding a large chainsaw sword dodged around the blasts, and swung for Cardin. He held up Executioner and blocked the hit. There was enough force that it shoved him back. He took another hit, and another, and another. The chainsaw wielding Faunus was fast, and had full Aura. Cardin couldn't keep up, and another hit to his gut slammed him back into the rubble. Cardin grit his teeth and struggled back up. The White Fang Faunus held his chainsaw sword up overhead, a smug, bloody smirk on his face.

He couldn't see Velvet anywhere.

I've gone fucking insane, he thought, I'm dying to save an animal… After failing my team… Failing everyone…

Cardin summoned up some saliva, and spat it at the White Fang trooper as he swung down on him.

Well, he thought grimly, At least… I saved someone. At least… I did one thing right in my-

"AAUUUGHH!"

A hail of bullets tore the White Fang trooper apart. Cardin gaped, then looked to his right. Velvet jogged up, holding up a Hardlight Dust version of Coco's gatling gun. She was trembling, but her face was set. She reached down to Cardin. He took her hand as she pulled him up.

"Th-Thanks," he managed between labored breaths.

Velvet nodded back shakily. Her eyes were hard despite the tears in her eyes. They both looked and saw more White Fang troops and Grimm advancing.

"We'll hold them here," Cardin decided, looking around. "Can't let them get any further."

"And we won't leave a single bloody fuck alive," Velvet snarled, tightening her grip on her hardlight weapon.

As strange as it sounded… Cardin's heart skipped a beat and his cheeks turned red when he heard her accent come out.He shook his head.

"Not a single one," he agreed.

Fuck, I really am going insane, he thought, reloading Executioner and getting ready for the next wave of enemies.

- - -

 

[AndrewJTalon]

A good friend of mine has commented I often write a lot of "sketches" that would work well as stories in their own right, but don't develop them. So I'm gonna work more on doing that and taking things a step at a time. Here is a one shot sketch I put together and had a few more snippets for, but now I've put it all together into a very still one shot. Here is the revised and finished version of "Innocence":

- - -

Pyrrha and Jaune had returned to the dormroom after enough training session on the roof. Jaune groaned a bit as Pyrrha helped support him through the door into the dorm.

"Thanks Pyrrha," Jaune managed, "Ugh... I feel like I got hit by a truck."

Pyrrha blushed then smiled.

"Um, sorry..."

"No! No, that's good," Jaune said with a nod, "No pain... Ugh... No gain, r-right?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that's entirely untrue," Pyrrha said gently, "Though you have been getting a lot better."

"Yay," Jaune sighed. Pyrrha smiled encouragingly at him.

"No, really! You have improved a LOT!" She said happily. "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself."

"Trying, but it's how I've been since I can remember," Jaune sighed. They stopped in front of Jaune's bed. Pyrrha frowned deeply, studying the bed carefully. Jaune looked at her, and then back at the bed.

"Uh... You okay Pyr?" He asked. Pyrrha flushed and nodded quickly.

"O-Oh! Yes! J-Just fine! Um... Hmm..."

Jaune cast about in his mind for things that might bother Pyrrha.

His bed was spic and span, he made it properly every morning... That couldn't be it... So...

He decided to take a shot in the dark.

"Is it about the Dance?" Jaune asked. Pyrrha turned bright red.

"Um, er, uh... S-Sort of?" She managed. Jaune blinked.

Damn. She looked cute when she was nervous. It was nice to see, to be honest. Sure, she was gorgeous, but this felt more... Real, somehow.

"Well, don't worry about it," Jaune said with a grin, "You'll gonna have to beat the boys off with Milo! So many of them are going to want to ask you out!"

Pyrrha fidgeted and looked aside.

"Oh... Um... Y-Yeah, you bet," she murmured quietly.

Jaune frowned.

"What, you think otherwise?"

"It's just... Um... Well, the big reason is that uh... I-I mean... I think I intimidate a lot of people," she admitted.

Jaune stared.

"Really? I..." He thought about it. "Oh... Um, I guess that makes sense. You being a celebrity and all."

"Y-yeah," Pyrrha said quietly, "You... You're one of the few people I've met who can actually... Y-You know... Talk to me like I'm a person."

Jaune smiled widely.

"Well, you are. To me. A great person!"

Pyrrha's cheeks burned an even brighter red. She seemed a bit unsteady. Concerned, Jaune forgot about his fatigue and reached out to her.

"Pyr? You okay-?"

"EEP!"

Pyrrha tried to move her foot forward, while Jaune moved his back. She grabbed hold of his hand and he was pulled forward as he remembered how tired he was. The end result of this lack of coordination was predictable if you've ever watched romcom anime.

"ACK!"

"EEEP!"

Jaune landed on his bed, on his back. The pain of his aching muscles was again forgotten as Pyrrha laid on top of him. Her wide green eyes stared into his wide blue ones as she perched atop him.

Her face soon turned as red as her hair, and her lip wobbled. Jaune took a deep breath to calm himself.

After all, this was his friend Pyrrha. They'd just fallen together. Nevermind his rapidly beating heart or his red cheeks, he was not going to freak out. Not when Pyrrha looked close to tears.

"Pyrrha, are you okay?" He asked.

Pyrrha sobbed, and fell off the bed onto the floor. Bewildered and terrified, Jaune knelt down with her.

"Pyrrha? Pyrrha, what is it?! Are you all right?!"

"Oh noooo... I'm... I'm..." She sobbed. "I'M A SLUT!"

Jaune blinked. Of all the things he had ever expected Pyrrha Nikos to say, that was... That wasn't in the top one hundred things he'd anticipate. Hell, it wasn't in the top thousand. It may as well not even be on the list!

"H-Huh?" Jaune managed, his jaw dropped. Pyrrha sniffled, and wiped her eyes. She looked up at him pleadingly.

"This... This isn't how I wanted it to go... B-But... You're a good man, Jaune. I-I know you are! You... You'd forgive the mother of your child for being... Being loose, r-right?!"

"My what?!" Jaune exclaimed, falling back in his crouch and slamming back into the bunk. Pyrrha continued to weep.

"I swear Jaune, I'll be the best wife you ever could ask for! I-I'll do anything you want! The-The most lewd, depraved things imaginable! I'll-I'll have twenty of your children if you wanted! I'll financially support us-!"

"WOAH WOAH WOAH!" Jaune cried, gettiing his rapidly stampeding thoughts all together into something approaching calm, before he grabbed her hands between his. He looked her in the eyes.

"Pyrrha?! What are you talking about?!" He demanded.

Pyrrha sniffled.

"I... I laid on a bed with a boy! That means... I'm pregnant now!"

Jaune blinked. He blinked again. He blinked a third time.

"I... Wha... You think... That's how it works?" He asked in utter disbelief.

Pyrrha sobbed again, and nodded.

"Isn't it?"

Jaune stared at her for a long time... Before he snickered.

"Hahaha! Oh, that's a great one, Pyr! I'm so glad you've loosened up enough to joke! Haaa... Wow, that is unconventional but... Y-yeah! You as a sheltered girl, not knowing... HAHAHAHA! Oh wow, you got me! That's hilarious!"

Pyrrha continued to sniffle, looking uncomprehendingly at Jaune. Jaune slowly stopped laughing.

"... You... You are joking... Right?"

Pyrrha huffed, and looked aside.

"I-I can't believe you're treating our child as a joking matter, Jaune!" Pyrrha sniffled again. "How could you?! What-What kind of a man are you? To-To just have a girl in your bed and then treat her like a joke!"

The door was opened. Ruby and Weiss entered, with Blake looking in curiously. Ruby looked concerned while Weiss frowned deeply.

"Is everything all right?" Ruby asked.

"What did you do, Arc?! You made Pyrrha cry!" Weiss growled.

Jaune opened his mouth but for once, Pyrrha interrupted him.

"I'm pregnant and he thinks it's a joke!"

"YOU'RE WHAT?!" Ruby and Weiss shrieked. Blake's jaw dropped as her hair bow perked right up.

"He got me pregnant," Pyrrha declared, "When we sat together on the bed! I only did it with him, I swear!"

Jaune relaxed a little. After all, surely, no one could believe that-

"You-You scoundrel!" Weiss snarled. "You had better take responsibility!"

Wait what?! Jaune thought in disbelief.

"Wow! Can I be an aunty?" Ruby grinned. "Congratulations!"

Jaune stared at them for any hints that this was a joke. A terrible, terrible joke being played at his expense.

Blake's eyes widened… And then narrowed as she smirked devilishly. The punchline was not forthcoming.

Jaune slapped a hand over his face and sighed.

It's gonna be a long night...

Blake spoke up with a hint of mischief, "That's not the only method to make babies."

Everyone's eyes snapped to the smirking black cat Faunus. She continued:

"Remember that time during Initiation when he caught you, Weiss?"

Weiss's response was a stutter of shock that grew into a screech.

"W-W-W-WHAT?!"

Blake's smugness was palpable.

"Congratulations."

Ruby, suddenly alarmed, went paler than usual.

"W-WAIT! WE'VE SAT ON THE SAME BED BEFORE PLAYING VIDEO GAMES?!" She covered her bright red cheeks. "OH NOOO...!"

"Oh yes. You've been very busy, haven't you Jaune?" Blake teased.

Jaune shook his head and held up his hands in a vain effort to restore order and sanity.

"No, wait, that's not what-!"

"YOU-YOU LITTLE HUSSY!" Pyrrha snarled, glaring death at Ruby.

"I-I'M NOT A HUSSY!" Ruby defended herself. She looked to Jaune and fell to her knees, begging him.

"Oh, Jaune, please! We're besties, r-right? You'd never abandon me in my time of need?"

Jaune attempted to calm the situation, "Of course not but-!"

Weiss grabbed Ruby and pulled her away. She then stepped in between Pyrrha and Jaune and spread her arms wide.

"BACK OFF! CLEARLY I'M THE ONE HE'S GOING TO MARRY AND TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR! N-NOT YOU HARLOTS!"

Jaune, bewildered, could only manage, "Wait what?!"

"YOU DON'T EVEN LIKE HIM!" Pyrrha snarled.

"WELL HE'S GONNA TAKE RESPONSIBILITY AND I'M NOT SHARING!" Weiss retorted. Ruby pouted angrily as she shook her fists.

"THAT'S NOT FAIR, WEISS! HE'S MY BEST FRIEND!"

"Well he liked me first!"

Pyrrha, now bright red, confessed, "W-WELL I'VE BEEN IN LOVE WITH HIM SINCE THE DAY WE MET! I-I'VE HAD TO HOLD MYSELF BACK BECAUSE I WAS SAVING MYSELF FOR MARRIAGE!"

Weiss scoffed.

"HA! You're the one who unlocked his Aura! You're clearly just a slut!"

"ME?! Y-You-You-You treat men like dirt and then treat them nice!" Pyrrha trembled and clenched her fists. "You-You- TWO-FACED WHORE!"

"BITCH!" Weiss snapped back.

"WEISS YOU TRAITOR!" Ruby shouted, back on her feet and glaring at Weiss, "WE'RE PARTNERS!"

"NOT WHEN IT COMES TO THIS!" Weiss cried.

Jaune, trying to regain control, pleaded desperately:

"Nonono hold on! HOLD ON! Let's all calm down..." He sat on the bed with a sigh and noticed someone was holding his hand. He looked to his side, "... Blake?"

"BLAKE?!" Weiss, Pyrrha, and Ruby all exclaimed in unison.

Blake, feigning embarrassment with her hands over her cheeks, said, "Oh noooo. I'm pregnant toooo! You really are quite the playboy aren't you Jaune?"

"YOU-YOU HORNY NO GOOD ALLEY CAT!" Weiss seethed.

"HOW COULD YOU JAUNE?! ANOTHER?!" Pyrrha sobbed, "Ohh I had to fall for the most amazing man ever didn't I?! No one woman is enough for him!"

"HE'S INSATIABLE!" Ruby added as she too sobbed.

"BLAKE!" Jaune bellowed in anger and confusion.

Blake, barely holding back her laughter, teased:

"Please be gentle~?"

Jaune, having had enough, stood up and pointed angrily at the smug catgirl.

"DAMNIT BLAKE THAT'S NOT FUNNY!"

"NOTHING ABOUT THIS IS FUNNY," Weiss shouted, near tears, "YOU TWO-TIMING BASTARD!"

"What's not funny?"

Everyone looked over at the door to the dorm. Yang was standing there, drawn by the commotion. She looked concerned. Jaune opened his mouth and held up a hand to try and get some semblance of control back.

"No wait-!"

"YAAANG! I GOT PREGNANT THANKS TO JAUNE!" Ruby wailed.

"HE GOT ME TOO!" Weiss cried.

"HE GOT ME FIRST!" Pyrrha claimed, a tad smugly.

Weiss scoffed.

"HA! Please... He lusted after me and wanted me more than you two! I-I'm clearly the one he wants the most! You were just side pieces!"

"THAT'S NOT FAIR, WEISS! WE'RE BESTIES!" Ruby sobbed, but Weiss was unrepentant.

"EXCUSE YOU?!" Pyrrha snarled. "You're going to challenge ME?!"

"Yes I am!" Weiss declared, "And Blake is-is just a wanton slut!"

"What? I'm perfectly happily marrying Jaune!" Blake added, in between her snickers.

Yang's hair blazed gold and her eyes burned red.

"... I'm sorry, Jaune, but I'm gonna have to kill you now."

Jaune sighed and held his hands up.

"I DIDN'T-!" He took a deep breath, then continued, "I didn't... Okay. Let me explain before you kill me, please?"

Yang punched her fists together ominously.

"You have ten seconds."

"They think sitting on a boy's bed with them makes babies. That's all I have done, nothing else, I swear," Jaune explained, well within the time limit.

Yang blinked. She blinked again.

"Hwhah?"

Pyrrha, Ruby, and Weiss were still arguing in the background.

"BUT I WAS IN LOVE WITH JAUNE FROM THE MOMENT I MET HIM!" Pyrrha declared. "I-I'll do any depraved, debauched thing he could EVER want a woman to do!"

"I-I would do more!" Ruby shouted, "Plus I'm younger than you two hags!"

"EXCUSE YOU?!" Weiss snarled.

"Besides, I SAW HIM FIRST!" Ruby finished.

"But I happen to be a princess so Jaune would be my King," Blake interjected, smirking like the smug troll she was, "That means I'm a better choice of wife than all of you."

"WHAT?!" Weiss, Pyrrha, and Ruby exclaimed in unison, glaring at the cat Faunus. Blake smirked over at the distressed Jaune.

"Don't worry Jaune, I'll let you keep them as part of our Royal Harem... Though only I get to sleep in your bed full time. That way we'll make even more babies!"

"I WANT TO MAKE MORE BABIES WITH HIM!" Pyrrha and Ruby shouted.

Yang, who had been watching all of this while dumbstruck, finally snickered.

"... okay, that's frickin' hilarious."

"NOT TO ME!" Jaune shouted. Ruby nodded quickly.

"THERE'S NOTHING FUNNY ABOUT THIS, YANG! YOU'RE GONNA BE AN AUNT! AND NO KILLING JAUNE! HE'S GONNA BE MY HUSBAND!" She hugged him.

"Not if I break every bone in your body you won't," Pyrrha threatened.

"I'll bury you all in an icy hell for eternity and CASTRATE Jaune before I give him up to you SLUTS!" Weiss seethed.

"Oh my, that's a lot of aggression!" Blake snickered. "I had no idea you could inspire such feelings in women, Jaune! I just might fall for you!"

"BLAAAKE!" Jaune wailed.

"YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM!" Weiss shouted. She turned to the laughing blonde brawler. "YANG! I'LL PAY YOU A MILLION LIEN TO PUT THESE-THESE HARLOTS IN THEIR PLACE!"

"Money wasted," Pyrrha hissed, wearing a psychotic smile,."I'll just have to beat you all to death-"

Yang interjected, finally getting control of her laughter.

"O-Okay, okay! Everyone let's calm down before this stops being funny!" She sighed and then admitted, "Okay, Jaune? I... May have dropped the ball and not told Ruby about babies."

"YA THINK?!"

"Oh gee, sorry for not being the best underaged surrogate mother!" Yang retorted sarcastically. Jaune groaned and rubbed his face. He looked at the other women in the room.

"I just... How do you NOT know how babies are made?!"

"OF COURSE I KNOW HOW THEY'RE MADE!" Weiss shouted angrily. "You lay together in a bed or-or a man holds a woman in his arms and nine months later you get the baby from the stork! It's all very simple!"

"Oh? There's a bird involved?" Pyrrha asked. "I suppose that would make sense."

Ruby frowned.

"Dad told me I was a blue light special from the store! The mommy and daddy start the baby with a hug in bed, and then they need to get the rest to assemble it properly! And Yang said that whatever Dad said was true and to not bother her!"

Jaune shot a furious glare at Yang. Yang coughed.

"... Okay, at least when it comes to Ruby? This may be my bad."

Blake started laughing her ass off, holding in her giggles with both hands over her mouth.

Yang, pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"... I'm probably going to regret this, but Ruby, Weiss, Pyrrha? You three come with me. Time for you to learn where babies really come from."

Blake somehow laughed even harder.

"I don't know why you're laughing, Blake. You're helping," she growled.

Jaune sighed in relief.

Yang wheeled on him and glared.

"And you are, too!"

"Me?!" Jaune squeaked.

"You're in this damn mess and team leader so yes, you're gonna help me! Besides, you're a farm boy! You know how this works!"

Jaune grumbled, but slowly nodded.

"Fine..."

"W-With... Demonstrations? Snrk!" Blake teased.

"I SWEAR TO GOD BLAKE!" Jaune shouted.

"Don't yell at me, I'm in a delicate condition~!"

- - -

Two very awkward hours later…

"... And that's that!"

Yang smiled at her audience, a plethora of health books, posters, and holographic projections behind her telling the the story of human reproduction. Plus a few of Blake's hentai doujins, but they were in there under protest from Jaune.

Pyrrha, Weiss, and Ruby were sitting on a bed. Jaune was wisely standing apart from the women. Blake was in a chair, and still snickering while writing things down in a notebook.

"And... And that's... How it works...?" Weiss asked, her voice tinged with disbelief.

Yang nodded with a smile.

"Yup!"

"Really?" Pyrrha asked, also red faced. Jaune nodded.

"Absolutely."

"... I need to have a chat with my mother," Pyrrha growled softly.

"And my father, with my boot," Weiss growled.

The Schnee heiress then looked at Jaune, her face bright red.

"So um... That... That's what you wanted to do with me, Jaune?" She asked very quietly.

Jaune, avoiding eye contact by looking at the ceiling, coughed.

"Um, I-I mean... Yes? Only if you wanted to."

"R-Really? You... You don't want my money or-or status? Just... Me?" Weiss asked softly. Jaune nodded.

"I-I mean, more than just physically! But... Uh... Yeah? If-If we really fell in love and... Junk?" He offered, a bit lamely.

Ruby chimed in, looking hopefully.

"What about me?!"

At Yang's glare, Jaune chose his words very carefully.

"Ummmm... Only if you wanted to... And you were legal? But yes?"

Ruby's cheeks flushed.

"R-Really?!"

Pyrrha cleared her throat.

"You-You want to do that with me too, r-right Jaune?! Right?! Since... Since I do love you!"

Jaune blushed and nodded quickly.

"Yes! If we went out on dates or-or something and we grew close enough and romance and-You get what I mean!"

Blake smirked.

"What about me, Jaune?" She asked in a playful tone.

Jaune snapped.

"LIKE HELL YOU TROLL!"

Blake pouted.

"Honestly, so cruel! But I like how harsh you can be, Jaune. It's exciting~!"

"Why are you like this?" Jaune groaned.

"Come now, this is the most fun I've had in ages," Blake chuckled. "But seriously? How do you feel about me?"

Jaune groaned.

"YES YOU'RE ALL VERY ATTRACTIVE! Including Yang!"

Yang blinked and her entire face went red.

"Wait wha-"

"Not just physically! All of you are beautiful on the inside and out!" Jaune went on, oblivious to Yang's growing blush, "You're all brave, kind, smart, determined, and-and wonderful! Even with your flaws! Some more than others!" He glared at Blake, then looked back at the room in general.

"You'd all be great wives and mothers! But there's a-a lot of stuff between just-just dating and-and that!"

Silence fell. Yang in particular was blushing hard and having trouble looking directly at Jaune all of a sudden. Even Blake's cheeks were red, as Weiss and Pyrrha's faces burned like torches.

Ruby, ever the quickest, seized the opportunity to leap up and grab onto Jaune's arm. She smiled up at him sweetly.

"Buuut, being best friends means I'm closer to it than Weiss, Blake, Yang or Pyrrha, right?"

"I uh-" Jaune tried.

"WHAT?! Like hell you are!" Weiss growled. Pyrrha scoffed.

"You didn't even like him, Weiss! Besides, I'M HIS PARTNER!"

"Yeah but now that I know he's not after me just for money but... You know…" She trailed off as she blushed deeply, "A family and love-"

"FAMILY AND LOVE ARE THINGS I'VE WANTED MY ENTIRE LIFE!" Pyrrha declared, "I WANT TO HAVE THAT WITH JAUNE RIGHT NOW!"

Jaune, in an attempt to calm things down, held up his hands and smiled nervously.

"Only after dating for a really long time and if we were both fine with it-!"

"And that means I'm still doing better than you all!" Ruby declared, maturely sticking her tongue out, "HA!"

Yang, clenching her fist, growled, "Jaaauuunne...!"

In sheer desperation, Jaune got up and took Yang's fists in his hands, stating, "I'd want to do that with you too, Yang! After dating and if we fell in love!"

Yang, again bright red, was caught off guard for a second time.

"WH-WH-WHAT?!"

"WHAT?!" Weiss, Pyrrha, and Ruby all exclaimed, fire in their eyes.

Blake was laughing so hard she was rolling on the floor, tears streaming from her eyes without any attempt to hold back.

Jaune looked around at the furious females around him, gulped, and came up with the only plan he could to try and escape his predicament.

"So now that that's all out there, I think my mom's calling me. This was great, let's never do it again LATER!" He turned and leaped out the nearest exit.

"SHIT IT WAS A WINDOOOOOW-!"

There was a loud crash, and silence. All five girls stared at the window in shock.

After a moment, Jaune called out, "... I'M OKAY!"

All five young ladies looked at one another.

"... I'm taking him for myself and I'm kicking all your asses to do it," Yang declared.

"LIKE HELL YOU ARE!" Pyrrha snarled.

The five young ladies were left to bicker or, in Blake's case, to continue laughing herself sick.

Jaune returned to his dorm, sighing. Nora and Ren were waiting, sitting together on Ren's bed.

Nora beamed at her leader.

"Jaune! Great news!"

Jaune sighed, hoping that Nora's usual madness would improve his spirits after the very long day he'd had.

"Yes?"

"Ren finally got me preggers!" She beamed as she held Ren's hand. "Right on our bed!"

Jaune stared. He then shook his head.

"... Not falling for it, Nora."

Nora pouted.

"SHOOT! I always mess up the punchline!"

"I thought it was funny," Ren deadpanned.

"Were you just watching that whole catastrophe?!" Jaune demanded in exasperation. Nora beamed and nodded cheerfully.

"Eeyup!"

"And you didn't think to intervene once?!"

Ren shrugged.

"It was like a ten car pile up involving clowns and jets. Of course we weren't going to intervene, Jaune."

"Yuh huh!" Nora chirped brightly.

Jaune sighed and collapsed face first into his bed.

"I hate you both," he moaned.

"We love you too, Jaune-Jaune~!" Nora cheerfully responded, eating from her popcorn bucket.

"Next time we'll share our popcorn." Ren added.

Jaune, bewildered, sat up and stared at them.

"Wait, you had popcorn on hand to watch the whole thing with?! How-Why...?"

He stopped and shook his head.

As Nora opened her mouth to explain, Jaune cut her off.

"Forget it! I don't want to know."

"A wise policy," Ren concluded.

- - -

It is as I intended: Extremely silly. But I hope you enjoyed it.

 

[SharkCultist]

Yang Xaoi-long is a simple woman

She is not however a stupid one.

Indeed she's actually quite intelligent. But her first default to solving a issue is usually to punch it, and when that doesn't work? She finds a new way to punch it.

Her entire long life and many achievements has all been working towards one goal.

From gaining the magic of a maiden and developing it past simply throwing elements around like a child throwing a tantrum.

To learning advanced engineering and mechanical forging.

Even chaining down Ozma, Cinder, and Penny to study their unique souls all came for one great purpose. A purpose that she was 450 years 8 months 2 weeks and a handful of hours into completing.

Before her laid her great creation. A crimson metallic arm, slightly bulk and cylindrical but a gleaming work of art.

And in front of that laid a much less beautiful creation. A chaotic mess of wires and crystals roughly shaped like a circle standing upright in front of her. Dangerously shaking and sparking. It's highly unstable and yangs pretty sure it's going to explode in about 30 minutes.

Good thing she only needs 5.

Any scientist who saw the gate would be simultaneously awed and horrified by it. The use of hardlight dust to create components that were currently impossible to forge was brilliant.

Stabbing enough gravity dust into the thing to cause gravity to double while inactive is insane. Especially once you add in the multiple energy dust reactors included in the design.

The damn thing is liable to rip a hole in the fabric of space and time.

Which is exactly what Yang wants.

She puts on the glove and links her soul to it, and with a smile on her face that hasn't been seen since Ruby died Yang finally does what she's been asking to for almost 500 years.

Yang throws a punch.

And the world goes white.

---

Ruby Rose is ten years old and she wants to be a hero. She wants to save people and punch bad guys. She....wants anything exciting to happen on a boring Sunday.

Which is right about when the sky rips open and shoots something red at her general direction and makes everything explode.

Be careful what you wish for.

Once the dust clears and the world stops spinning and ringing Ruby drags herself over to the crater to see what it is.

It's a fist. A big red fist. It's shiny and cool and Ruby definitely has to try it on!

So she slides her arm inside.

And with a yellow glow (the same shade as yangs aura) the armored fist shrinks until it fits like a glove except nicer. It feels like a hug. Like it was made just for her.

And then it spoke to her.

{Hey there!}

"Ah! Scary glove ghost!"

{Wait wait wait, no ghost here I'm....a hero tool?}

"That sounds like a question."

{Well I'm your tool now, you do want to be a hero right?}

"Heck yeah I do!"

{Great! Then you'll be the best dang hero this world's ever seen.}

"Cooooool! Oh, wait right. My name's Ruby. Do you have a name?"

{...you can call me.... Burning Heart.}

---

Ruby never caught on to that little distinction and Yang never cleared that up. She just let Ruby think she was a friend.

But she was always there helping Ruby in the only way she knew how.

Punching.

Cinder stole someone's magic? Punch it out of her.

Silver eyes people stuck inside goopy Grimm monsters? Punch them out of the goop. (Hi mom!)

Immortal grimm witch causing problems? Introduce entropy directly into her soul. Through the medium of punches.

Truly every problem could be solved by punching.

Well almost every problem.

{You got a date?!}

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Vale, Dockyards



- - -



Cinnamon Berahard was nearly seven years old, and she was super bored. Her mama and papa had told her that a trip up to Vale would be fun and exciting! But most of the trip had been about Papa buying and selling and talking to boring old people. Mama had at least bought her a dolly. It was a beautiful china doll, and she'd named her Priscilla.



She held onto Priscilla tightly as she sat in the back of the car, bored. Their front left tire had gone flat and Papa was fixing it. She watched Papa and Mama work on it together while they argued. The world outside was dark except for street lights and big, grim looking warehouses. They were creepy, so she focused her attention on her parents.



"I told you we were lost," Mama sighed, "Why didn't you just buy a proper Scroll?"



"Feh!" Papa snorted. "My old Scroll works just fine! We just took a bit of a detour, that's all."



"A detour, he says," Mama groaned, "who knows what kinds of thieves and cutthroats could be around here!"



"Please," Papa chuckled, "This is a civilized city! There ain't no bandits or thieves or-"



There was a loud explosion nearby. Everyone jumped, especially Cinnamon. She saw a gout of flame rise up behind the buildings. She gasped in amazement.



Maybe it was like her CCTV programs back home! Hunters and Huntresses on the street, fighting against bad guys!



"... Let's call the police," Mama suggested. Papa nodded.



"I think you're right." He pulled out his Scroll, and made the call. "Hello, Vale Police? Yes, I'd like to report a-"



A ragged looking young Faunus with cat ears, black clothing, and a white mask jumped through a window in the building across the street. He landed hard on the pavement and sprang towards them faster than a horse! He slapped Papa and Mama, sending them both sprawling to the pavement.



"MAMA! PAPA!" Cinnamon shrieked. The Faunus man opened the door and checked the keys. He groaned.



"Great, I gotta fix the tire..." He glared at Cinnamon, and she shrunk back. "You're really fucking slow, you humans!"



"I-I-!"



"STOP RIGHT THERE!"



Cinnamon and the Faunus looked back. Four young women in yellow, black, white and red leaped down, landing on the street. In an instant, the Faunus seized Cinnamon and yanked her in front of him. She screamed in fear and began to cry as he held a gun against her head.



"One more step, and goodbye little human!" He snarled. The girl in red, with black hair with red tips and a huge red scythe, froze. She shook her head.



"Y-You're bluffing!" She cried. "You're not gonna kill her!"



The Faunus grinned and jabbed the gun against Cinnamon's head. She whimpered. She wet her pants. She shook and trembled violently.



"You think I care?" The Faunus scoffed. "You'd better back up, nice and easy. Even you aren't fast enough to get to me before I pull the trigger!"



"Let her go!" The girl in black offered, "The White Fang is better than this!"



"FEH! Where have you been, Princess?" The Faunus scoffed. "Now, back off! Weapons down!"



"You're a scum sucking scoundrel!" The girl in white cursed, while the girl in yellow with blonde hair snarled angrily. The Faunus laughed.



"It keeps me breathing, darling. Now, you-HEY!"



Cinnamon stared through her tears. A man had appeared, jumping down from the same window. His poncho waved dramatically as he held onto his cowboy hat. He stared intently at Cinnamon and the Faunus as he stood up. The Faunus growled.



"YOU! Same thing, cowboy! You try anything and-!"



BANG!



The Faunus' body went limp even as Cinnamon's ears hurt. The Faunus dropped like a puppet with its strings cut. In an instant, the girl in red appeared and caught Cinnamon as she felt. She buried her face in her chest, sobbing loudly even as the girl in red rubbed her back.



She glanced up: The man was holding a revolver and pointing it at the Faunus. The Faunus had crumpled to the ground. He wasn't moving.



Cinnamon shivered and buried her face back in the girl's chest.



"Mama... Papa...?" She managed.



"They're okay," the girl said softly, "They're just... Just asleep."



"... The bad guy?" She asked.



The girl in red was silent as police sirens filled the air.



- - -



Yang was the first to recover from the abrupt end of the pursuit. Jaune barking orders into his Scroll helped take her eyes away from the dead Faunus.



"Pyrrha, Nora, make sure nobody else gets away, we caught one straggler," he stated, "Ren, sweep the area one last time. All of you, come to my signal location ASAP."



"Roger," Pyrrha spoke.



"Okey dokey Jaune-Jaune!" Nora replied.



"Understood," Ren said.



Jaune closed the Scroll as the cops arrived. He holstered his weapon, his face grim and stony.



"You... You killed him," Weiss said, soft and disbelieving.



Jaune very slowly nodded.



"Yes miss," he said, his voice devoid of its customary warmth. He glanced at the corpse briefly. "Let's check on the adults, make sure they're all right. Weiss, you got Healing Dust, right?"



Weiss kept staring.



"Weiss?" He pressed.



"Y-Yes, I'm on it," Weiss said, turning and heading over to the two groaning humans. Blake continued to stare at him intensely. She walked up close, her yellow eyes narrowed.



"Was that necessary?" Blake asked, quiet but angry. Jaune let out a soft sigh.



"... I hope so," he muttered.



Yang walked up and rested a hand on his shoulder. She gave Blake a very stern look.



"Threatening to murder a child is rarely something a good person does, Blake," Yang stated in a flat, angry tone.



"He was desperate, he was scared-" Blake tried. Yang glared.



"He had a choice. He made the wrong one," Yang practically spat.



Blake stared intensely at Jaune, who was still as blank faced as a cube of marble. A few moments later, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora jumped in. The cops were securing the area. One, a sergeant by her stripes, walked over to look down at the body. She then turned to look over the assorted Hunters-in-Training.



"Which one of you shot him?" She demanded, brushing a few stray black hairs behind her ears as she scowled.



Ruby opened her mouth-To what end, Yang didn't know. Jaune shook his head and stepped foward.



"That would be me, ma'am," Jaune replied calmly. Pyrrha's eyes widened. Ren and Nora stared intensely. Ruby shook her head and dashed forward, still holding the weeping girl.



"He was holding a girl hostage, he was going to shoot her-!"



The sergeant held up her hand and Ruby fell silent. The Red Reaper glanced at Jaune, looking distraught but over what, Yang couldn't tell. She could guess a few things, though.



"You can all give your full statements at the station," she stated, "What's your name, son?"



"Jaune Arc."



"Sergeant Matty Dillon," she introduced herself, "Under city policy when it comes to Hunters-in-Training, I'm going to have to take you into custody pending assessment of the incident and interviews with the witnesses." She held out her hand. "I'll need you to surrender your weapons and come with me."



"Hey! Hang on a second!" Yang argued, "That bastard was going to kill a little girl! You can't just arrest Jaune for that-!"



"It's all right, Yang," Jaune said quietly. He undid his gun and swordbelt, and handed it over to Sergeant Dillon-His revolvers and Crocea Mors hung from it. He pulled out a knife from his boot, and pulled his shotgun off his shoulders and handed it over too. Dillon raised an eyebrow.



"Anything else?"



"No ma'am," Jaune said politely. He held out his wrists. "Do you need to cuff me?"



"Yes," Dillon said, slapping them on, "It's just procedure."



"But he didn't do-!" Ruby tried, but Jaune shot her a look.



"It's all right, Ruby. I've..." A look of shame came over his face, before his determined expression returned.



"I've been through this before," he said carefully.



Ruby's jaw dropped. Yang gaped. Blake gasped. Weiss, still tending to the wounded, still shot a shocked look back. Pyrrha's eyes widened. Ren closed his eyes while Nora shook her head.



"You can all come along in another car," Dillon stated, "We'll try to get this sorted out as quickly as possible. I'll read you your rights on the way."



"Yes ma'am," Jaune said. He looked around at his friends.



"It's gonna be all right, I promise," he said, as Dillon escorted him towards one of the police cruisers. Ruby stared in shock, even as the little girl stared after him.



"Is... Is he gonna go to jail?" She asked.



"Not if we can help it," Yang growled.



"Cinnamon!"



The little girl looked over. She beamed as she saw her parents standing up, smiling.



"MAMA! PAPA!"



She dropped from Ruby's arms and ran over to them. They embraced the little girl happily.



"Well," Yang muttered, "I can think of a few people thankful Jaune took his shot."



Blake just scowled deeply.



Weiss approached, looking anxious.



"We-We should go with him," she said, "After all... He'll need our testimony... R-Right?"



"Let's go," Pyrrha said grimly, as they headed towards a second police cruiser.



- - -



I'm working on the other Cowboys of Remnant bit, but I wanted to try something a bit darker. Any thoughts so far?

Click to shrink...

Things were, from a certain point of view, very straightforward from then on. They were all taken to the police station, which was a stately old building in downtown Vale leftover from the Post-Great War Construction Boom, with high vaulted ceilings and gothic exteriors.



They got to stay in a waiting room, while, one by one, they were each taken to an interview room to be interrogated separately. They didn't say "interrogation", but Blake knew more than enough by now what this was.



They didn't talk much. She told them it would look bad if they seemed to be coming up with a collective story. Yang and Weiss glared, but they acquiesced. They each kept quiet, Yang hugging Ruby to keep her calm.



Each of them went in, talked for a while with Sergeant Dillon, then came out. The sergeant was nonplussed by all of them-Even Nora.



Then came Blake's turn. She silently walked into the interview room and sat down on the far side of the desk. The walls were covered in white wallpaper, and a camera watched silently from above. The sergeant sat down across from her, eyes narrowed.



"Miss Belladonna," she said.



"Sergeant," Blake greeted in a neutral tone.



Dillon checked her Scroll, then looked up at Blake. The clock ticked away in the background-An intentional touch, Blake knew, to make suspects nervous.



"I believe you've been told not to go on vigilante excursions in the past?" The sergeant asked dryly. Blake slowly nodded.



"In this case, I was trying to speak with some... Some friends of mine," she decided on, "Who were going to a White Fang rally. I was hoping to talk them out of it... Then things escalated."



"Not as badly as last time," Dillon stated dryly. Blake shook her head.



"If the police aren't stopping them from bringing in military grade equipment, then it is up to the common citizen to do what they can," she said quietly, her tone neutral but her eyes narrowed. Dillon sucked in an angry breath, then let it out as a frustrated sigh.



"... Your heart is in the right place," Dillon agreed, "Even if the rest of you isn't. But let's look at the incident tonight, shall we? You broke up the rally-"



"They opened fire first," Blake said, "We tried to keep it from escalating-!"



"But the White Fang always escalates, Miss Belladonna," Dillon stated flatly, "Has since Sienna Khan took over."



Blake winced. She kept her ears from flattening out of sheer willpower.



"They-They didn't mean to-"



Dillon scoffed.



"They've threatened any Faunus who became a cop with harassment and worse. All so it looks like humans beating up Faunus. My partner was a Faunus, best I ever had." Dillon glared angrily at Blake.



"Until they burnt his house down. His family was safe... But he got the message. Loud and clear." She shook her head, and took a deep breath.



"That was unprofessional," the sergeant said quietly, "Forgive me."



Blake didn't know if she was being manipulated or not. Dillon's body language seemed too genuine to be a lie. The anger in her voice...



No. She had to stay focused.



"I... Y-Yes," Blake managed.



"So," Dillon said, looking over her notes, "You engaged the organizers of the rally. One set off a Dust Bomb-That's when we got the 911 call from the Berahards. The perpetrator ran out onto 12th street. Correct?"



"Yes."



"He struck Mister and Mrs. Berahard."



"I didn't see it for myself but they were lying on the ground when we arrived, yes," Blake said carefully. Dillon stared at her and nodded.



"All right. He took the girl hostage though, correct?"



"... Yes," Blake said quietly.



"Held a gun to her head?" Dillon pressed.



"Yes."



"What did you do?" She asked.



"We tried to talk him down," Blake said quietly.



"Do you know how high his Aura was?" Dillon asked. "If he had a Semblance?"



"We believe he was Aura unlocked given his speed, agility and strength," Blake said quietly, "We're not sure how strong it was. If he was taking a hostage, I... I suppose it may have been low?"



Dillon nodded.



"Then what happened?"



"Jaune caught up," Blake said softly, "The... The perpetrator threatened him... Then..."



She took a breath.



"Then Jaune shot him," she finished.



"Where?" Dillon asked.



"Between the eyes," Blake said softly, tensing up slightly.



Dillon stared at her.



"Do you think he acted wrongly?" She asked.



Blake was silent. She sucked in a breath.



"I believe that, given how the situation looked-"



"Yes or no, Miss Belladonna," Dillon stated. She leaned forward and lowered her voice.



"It's all right to disagree with his actions," she said, "To be uncomfortable with killing. I prefer Hunters who can be honest about it."



Blake let out a hiss.



"... If we'd had more time, we... We may have been able to talk him down," Blake said quietly. "I-I want to believe we could have done it."



Dillon made a note.



"I see..."



She asked a few more questions, taking down a few more notes, before she nodded.



"Thank you. You're free to go," she said, "We'll have a decision shortly."



"Of course," Blake said with a slow nod. She slowly stood up and exited the room. She walked back to the waiting area, where the rest of RWBY and NPR were waiting around. Yang and Weiss shot her suspicious looks as she sat down.



"I didn't tell them anything they didn't already know," Blake said quietly.



"Did they ask for your opinion on things?" Yang asked. Blake winced.



"They did..."



"And?" Weiss demanded.



"I gave them my opinion," Blake said.



"Which was?"



"Guys, please," Ruby said, shaking her head, "Don't. It-It won't help."



Blake scowled, a feeling of self righteousness swelling in her chest.



"We could have talked him down," Blake hissed, "If we'd had more time-"



"He had his gun to a child's head, Blake!" Yang growled. "You really think he could have been talked out of it?!"



"He was scared, he was desperate-" Blake tried, but Weiss shook her head.



"Criminals often are," Weiss growled.



"You don't get to say anything-!"



"White Fang terrorists murdered members of my family," Weiss shot back, "Did they deserve to be killed? Should I be killed because of my family's crimes?"



"No!" Blake whisper-shouted, "Of-Of course not! But your history with Faunus-"



"And your history with White Fang makes you no better," Weiss growled. "If he was a human holding a gun to a Faunus child's head, he still should have been taken down!"



Blake looked over at Ruby for support.



"Ruby? You were trying to talk him down, right?"



Ruby nodded shakily.



"If we could have... Yeah... But..." She sighed. "L-Look... I... I don't like that we had to shoot him. I don't..."



Her eyes opened with a steely determination.



"I also got the same horror stories and attempts to discourage me from becoming a Hunter that Yang did," Ruby insisted, "How-How we fight people sometimes. Bad people. And some people can't be talked down. I..." She shook her head. "I don't like it. I wish we could have-have done something else..."



Tears came to her eyes.



"It's my fault," she whispered, "I'm team leader. If-If I'd thought of something else-If I'd come up with a plan, he wouldn't be dead and Jaune wouldn't... Wouldn't...!"



She began to sob. Yang hugged her tightly. Weiss shot a glare at Blake. Blake bowed her head, feeling low.



"Ruby," Nora said softly. The ginger walked over and sat down on the coffee table between the cheap couches. She reached out to hold Ruby's hands.



"Ruby, look at me," Nora said quietly. Ruby sniffled and looked into her eyes.



"Sometimes there is no good choice, just the least worst," Nora said softly. She nodded over at Ren, who was sitting quietly in a cheap armchair. The stoic ninja nodded.



"Yes," he said, "We've experienced that many times in our lives."



Pyrrha sucked in a breath. She nodded stoically.



"I know this too," she said quietly. She shrugged. "If we'd been there sooner... If you'd had more time... We can't change what happened. All we can do is deal with it."



Ruby sniffled again. Blake looked away for something, anything else to focus on.



"Jaune?" She blurted out. The cowboy emerged from the backrooms, his face like stone. Sergeant Dillon accompanied him, carrying his weapons. She handed them over.



"Everything you handed in," Dillon stated. Jaune put his gunbelt back on without a word. The sergeant looked back.



"You'll probably be getting hell from your professors," she said, and everyone winced, "But you're clear. No charges will be pressed. Just try to avoid anything else like this in the future, huh?"



With that, the Sergeant turned and headed off. Jaune looked at his friends. He saw Ruby still crying. She got up and hugged him. He returned it.



He sighed and patted Ruby's back comfortingly.



"Let's go home, huh?"

- - -



Even back at Beacon, and even after suffering through Professor Goodwitch's wrath (two weeks detention), Blake couldn't sleep. She felt too restless, too nervous. The tension in the dormroom was almost suffocating.



She climbed out the window and up to the rooftop. She heard the faint sounds of a guitar being played over the wind. She sniffed the wind, and followed a familiar scent. She jumped off the roof, landing easily. She dashed after the scent in the direction of the music.



She made it to the stables. A campfire was going just outside the paddock. Jaune was there, playing his guitar, staring into the flames. Orleans was asleep, and softly snoring in her stable. Blake stopped short of the fire, and listened to the tune for a while.



He began to sing softly.



"Hard time here and everywhere you go

Times is harder than ever been before..."



She hesitated, then cleared her throat. Jaune looked up, his fingers still plucking at the strings.



"Miss Blake," he returned quietly.



Blake worried her lower lip.



"May... Can we talk?" She asked softly.



Jaune nodded. He kept playing and stared back into the fire. Blake sat down on the log next to him, fidgeting a bit.



Jaune kept playing, a gentle acoustic. He would sing softly under his breath every now and then.



"And the people are driftin' from door to door

Can't find no heaven, I don't care where they go..."



Blake finally took a deep breath.



"I... I'm sorry."



Jaune kept plucking away quietly. He looked over at her in curiosity.



"What for?"



"I..." She winced. "I told the police that... That I didn't think you... You should have killed him."



Jaune was silent save for his guitar strings. He snorted softly then looked back into the flames.



"That's fair," he said.



Blake started.



"You... You aren't mad?"



Jaune shrugged.



"If Pyrrha or Ren had gotten there sooner, we could have brought him down. If I'd given you more time, maybe..." he sighed, "But I had a choice: Kill him, save the little girl... Or kill him after he'd shot her. I didn't want to bet her life."



Blake sighed and shut her eyes.



"... I've been where he was," she confessed.



Jaune stared at her. Blake shook her head.



"I-I never... I never took a child hostage. But I've used underhanded means, bluffs, violence... All to get what I wanted. I thought... I thought I was justified, as part of the White Fang. I thought I was righteous. I thought... I thought that almost anything was justified for freedom."



She stared down at her hands.



"... And I was wrong," she whispered, "I realized I was just making people fear and hate Faunus more than they already did. That-That I was making things worse. I realized that. I made the right decision."



She bowed her head.



"... And I can't stop asking myself: Could he have made the right decision?" She whispered. "Would he have realized what he was doing was wrong, and... And made a better choice? If... If..."



"If I didn't kill him," Jaune murmured. Blake looked into his eyes. He was grim, his eyes as hard as flint. He then closed them and sighed, looking very tired. Very old.



"I asked myself that too," he admitted. At Blake's look, he shook his head. "I... I've had to kill before, Blake. To defend my friends. To defend others. I... I looked into the eyes of those men, just before they..."



He steeled himself.



"Before I killed them. And I wondered the same thing. Could they have changed? Become better men if I'd let 'em live?"



Blake stared at him, her eyes reflecting the firelight.



"What happened?" She asked softly.



Jaune shifted a bit, setting his guitar to the side. He sighed and looked up at the stars.



"My pa and Mister Duke told me that our choices determine where we end up in life. Their choices led them to attack innocent people. My choices led me to stand between those men and people who needed protectin'. We all suffer the consequences of our choices. Theirs were to die... And mine is to live with the fact I killed them."



He looked intently into her eyes.



"You chose to get out. To run. To try and do better, to make up for what you did," Jaune said quietly, "And I... I'm choosing to believe I ain't a bad person. That the evil I do won't outweigh the good. That's what... What I'm choosing."



He looked back into the flames.



"No matter how hard it is to do that," he whispered.



Blake stared back. She slowly took his hand.



"We both will," she murmured.



He squeezed her hand back.



They watched the flames in silence underneath the star filled sky.



- - -

 

[SharkCultist]

Had a kind of funny idea of team RWBY running into a guy who looks like a edgy bitch/square enox character and assuming he's gonna be bad or fight them. But it just turns out it's all for practical reasons


Weiss: "Your outfit is seventy percent belts. Why? What possible reason could you need that many belts for? You can't have a good reason."

Hunter:"Semblance effects my size. Belts and oversized clothes was cheaper than constantly replacing stuff and having to pay back for indecent exposure."

Weiss:"Ok that might be a good reason."

Yang:"Why's he dressed in more black than a my chemical romance concert?"

Hunter:"I'm a faunus."

Yang: "I'm not making the connection here. Blake am I being racist?"

Blake: "Probably."

Hunter: "My faunus trait is being cold blooded. The dark clothes help trap heat."

Ruby: ok, maybe we were a little judgy about those things. But explain the bloody bag and knife!

Hunter: "I work at a butcher shop and I'm tossing out the scraps at a farther away dumpster so it doesn't stink near the shop or attract wild animals."

*Hunter leaves team Ruby alone so he can finish his shift and then get back to his true passion.

Being a nemesis to team CRDL*

 

[AndrewJTalon]

A fun premise for a crack fic that was posted on the SB thread was team RWBY, being disaster prone and rather self destructive, are in bad financial shape after defeating Salem. Especially if there are no more Grimm. Jaune though is doing well for himself and so...

- - -

Jaune Arc checked the address. He looked at the apartment building that had definitely seen better days. He checked the address again. He shook his head.



He walked up to the door, and knocked on it. He waited.



The door opened a crack.



"H-Hey, so, um, the rent's gonna be a little late and I know you're angry but-"



"Ruby?" Jaune asked. The door fully opened. The girl's silver eyes widened. She was in nothing but her panties and what looked like her old uniform shirt from Beacon-Which had been patched several times.



"Jaune?!" Ruby gasped. Her face brightened, and she hugged him. "JAUNE!"



He hugged her back tightly, laughing. He swung her around. He then set her back down. Ruby pouted up at him.



"You keep getting taller! It's not fair!"



"Sorry, it's how it works," Jaune said with a shrug. Ruby beamed.



"What brought you here?"



"Oh, well, uh, my sister Lilac is finally getting married and I wanted to invite you all," he said, "I couldn't seem to find your Scroll number anymore, so I tracked you down."



"Ruby? Who is it?" Yang's voice echoed from inside. "If it's the landlady, I'll handle it! What's one more concussion to her-?"



She came around the corner and gaped. She too was in very little.



"J-Jaune!" Yang gasped happily. Jaune waved, keeping his eyes on her forehead.



"Hey Yang!"



"Jaune?!" Weiss gasped. She poked her head around the corner. Her eyes widened. She then sped up to him, dressed in a house dress that had seen far better days. "Please! Come in! Don't mind the mess! Or our state of dress! Have some tea!"



"Hey Weiss! I uh, sure, no problem...?" Jaune managed. He took in the state of their dwelling with a growing sense of disbelief every step he took. Spartan was a good word for it. Cluttered as well: Pieces of weapons, mending or drying clothes, and endless job applications. It was amazing how it seemed so barebones and so messy at the same time.



Blake was outside on the cluttered balcony, sunning herself in her bra and panties. Weiss scowled at her.



"Blake! We have a visitor!"



Blake rolled over and paid Jaune with an intense stare.



"Jaune?" She gasped.



"Ah, hey," Jaune said with a smile as Weiss set him down at their ragged table. Blake got up and pulled on her yukata-Which had also seen better days.



"What are you doing here? N-Not that it's not nice to see you, and all," Blake managed.



"It's amazing you know his name," Yang snarked, "Given how little you talked to him since we met."



"It's amazing you treat him nicely, given how you barely acknowledged his existence, too," Blake growled back. The two began to bicker as Weiss brought over some tea and Ruby sat with Jaune.



"They broke up, it was messy," Ruby confided in him. Jaune slowly nodded, and took tea from Weiss with a strained, polite smile.



"Ah. Thank you, Weiss."



"Anything for you, Jaune," Weiss said with a smile.



Jaune sipped the tea and hid his grimace-He'd had to endure his sister's experiments in tea for a long time, after all. An ironing board fell out of the wall, which Ruby caught just in time before it brained him.



"Ah, sorry!" Ruby said, shoving it back into place, "You okay?"



"Yeah, just fine," Jaune said with a smile. "I uh... So..." He looked around, "This... Doesn't seem like where I expected you all to be."



Blake and Yang paused in their fighting. Ruby's smile became very brittle. Blake coughed.



"Ah, well... I mean, with the Grimm vanishing and all... And my parents being voted out of office for gross incompetence..." Blake shrugged.



"What a shocker that was," Weiss snarked. Blake glared death at the Schnee heiress.



"Like you can talk! Your father's entire empire collapsed overnight and left you nothing!"



"Well-I-You-!" Weiss sputtered before she huffed.



"At the very least, we're not Yang and Ruby!"



"HEY!" Yang and Ruby growled.



"So what if he's a deadbeat?!" Yang demanded. "He wasn't pure evil OR a politician!"



"And I'm sure he's totally happy with that rich heiress who won't get bored of him when she gets out of her DILF fetish!" Weiss sneered.



"Why you-!"



Ruby cleared her throat. Very loudly. Yang and Weiss stopped but kept glaring at each other. Blake was also angry but kept silent.



"So... How are things with you?" Ruby managed with forced cheer.



Jaune sipped his tea and debated internally about how to break this... And decided to be tactful.



"I'm good. I'm almost finished with medical school, and my mom's got a residency lined up for me at our hospital," he said.



Four pairs of eyes all looked intently at him.



"You-You're a doctor?" Weiss sputtered.



"Well um, I got into medical school before I ran off to Beacon," Jaune said, "Pretty sure I mentioned it a few times?"



Blank stares. Even on Ruby. Jaune sighed.



Well, it's not like I remember everything they told me about their lives, right?



"But I wanted to be a Huntsman so bad... But uh, yeah. My Semblance makes it pretty easy, too. I've been staying at the family farm while I studied and I've also been working at the brewery."



"You... Your family owns a brewery?" Yang asked. Jaune nodded.



"Yeah. A big one. We expanded it along with the farm last year..."



"Oh... That... That's great, Jaune," Ruby said with a smile, "That's super great! Good for you!"



"Very," Blake muttered, staring at Jaune with a strange expression. Yang blinked rapidly, then looked to the side.



"So uh..."



"Um..."



"Er..."



Jaune looked at all the girls. He really did care for them, honest! Even after everything. How could you not be fond of the people you saved the world with?



"Right, well," Jaune coughed, "Like I said, I'm inviting you all to my sister's wedding." He held out the invitations. Each girl took one.



"Oh, wonderful," Weiss sighed, "I got to work a wedding once! I got to take home some of the cake leftovers... Er... Um..." Her eyes dipped.



"Least you got to keep your leftovers," Yang grumbled. "I came out of a cake at a bachelor party. Couldn't keep anything..."



Silence fell. The ironing board fell onto his head. Naturally, his Aura protected him. But as the ironing board had none, it snapped in two and fell to the floor.



"Oh no!" Ruby cried, falling to her knees. "I'm so sorry Jaune-Oh no! How do I fix this?!"



"We could steal the neighbor's ironing board," Blake suggested.



"They added more pitbulls," Weiss whined.



"And those bites hurt," Yang groaned.



Jaune finally came to a decision.



"You know what? There's a cottage on our land," he said, "That you all can stay in, since we've got so many guests in the house. It's small, but it has four bedrooms. You all can stay."



Four pairs of eyes again stared at him. Jaune smiled.



"I mean, you girls really could use a vacation, with how hard you've been working," he said, "And uh, you'll have to clean it and maintain it. And maybe do some chores around the farm. But other than that? You'd be fine to stay while you... You figure things out."



"We-We wouldn't want to impose," Weiss said, her manners coming into play, "Or be a-a burden-"



"Do you have hot water?" Yang asked, direct as always. Jaune nodded. Yang cheered. "YES! We're in! Um, for the wedding! N-Not that-I mean, work will just have to get along without us!"



"Weddings are more importan than our careers after all!" Blake nodded furiously. "We-We can help with that too!"



"Only if you want," Jaune said with a smile, "You're my guests, after all."



"Absolutely!" Weiss gushed. "I love weddings! Do you think I can keep leftovers?"



"All you like," Jaune said with a nod.



Ruby hugged Jaune tightly. She sniffled.



"Thank you," she whispered into his ear, "Thank you...!"



Jaune patted her on the back with a smile.



"Hey... We world-saving heroes have to stick together, right?"



After all, they were his friends. They'd been there for him in his darkest hours.



... Well okay, Nora and Ren had been there for him in his darkest hours. And sometimes Ruby and Yang. Once Weiss... Never Blake... But the point was, they were his friends, and he was definitely not going to let them stay in a ratty apartment if he could help it. Heck, being here with them like this? It felt like old times.



If he had to massage the truth a little to let them keep their pride? He would do it. It was worth it.



There was a very insistent knock at the door. All four girls of RWBY's eyes widened.



"Crap, it's the landlady!" Yang hissed.



"Out the back window!" Blake wailed. "Take everything you can carry!"



"Don't forget the coupons!" Ruby cried. "Or my tools!"



Yup. Definitely just like old times.



- - -

 

[AndrewJTalon]

- - -

It was a tight fit in the rocket locker, but Jaune was all too familiar with making calls when trapped in them (thanks Cardin). He got his Scroll out and dialed the first people on his call list even as he was jostled and slammed around. Still, he got his message out:

"Ruby! Weiss! You need to go help Pyrrha out! She's fighting Cinder alone! And Cinder's got-She's got some kind of power boost! They're at the top of Beacon Tower, help her! Please!"

Thankfully, Ruby answered-Apparently for both herself and Weiss.

"We're on it, Jaune! Just hold on, we'll-!"

The rocket locker landed hard on the ground. Jaune barely stayed on his feet and was slammed around. He cradled his Scroll in his arms, trying to protect it. The locker shuddered to a halt, and Jaune sucked in a deep breath. He summoned up his Aura and punched through the door. He stumbled out into the light. He winced against the light, but his vision soon cleared.

He had landed in Hell: Grimm were rampaging all over the outer courtyard. Civilians were running and screaming. The smell of blood and smoke filled the air. Jaune looked around, taking a few deep breaths.

He was squeezing his Scroll tightly. A few Grimm Beowulves turned their red eyes and snarled at him. Fear filled him, and all of his old fears and insecurities reared their heads.

"I can't lose you… I love you. Goodbye…"

He shouldn't be here. He was never supposed to be here. Even Pyrrha didn't think he would. Why else would she send him away?

He was useless.

The weak link.

Nothing had changed, had it?

Nothing at all-

He saw a familiar Huntress-in-Training sitting against a nearby wall. Her head was bowed. She held onto a sniper rifle but she wasn't using it. A pack of Beowulves were advancing on her, yet she didn't seem to care.

Jaune took one last deep breath. He tucked his Scroll away and pulled his weapons out. He charged for the nearest Beowulf. It lunged for him, but he stunned it with his shield and slashed its head off. The rest of the Beowulves tried to flank Jaune, but he swung his blade hard and fast, his anger fueling him as Pyrrha's training guided him through every step and strike.

One two three… Four five six… Six three one…

In moments, the Grimm were all dusted. Jaune turned to the girl. She looked up, revealing her red hair and single visible blue-gray eye under her bulky hoodie.

"May, right?" Jaune asked quietly. She stared at him.

"Come on," he said, "We gotta get out there."

"I…" May trembled. "M-My team… They're all…"

Jaune looked around. He saw some remains in a pile some distance away. He covered his mouth and tried to focus on staying calm. He could recognize the clothes through the blood.

He took another deep breath. He turned back to May.

"I know," he said quietly, "I-I'm sorry. We can't change that. But we can save other people. Someone I really care about is fighting for her life-For all of us. We need to help her. I-I can't do it alone."

He held out his hand. May stared at it like it was something utterly alien.

"Come on," he said, "We can't… We can't let anyone else lose what you have."

May shivered for a moment. She took a deep breath. She took Jaune's hand. He yanked her up to her feet. Her eyes glowed gently and she gasped.

"DUCK!"

Jaune dropped instinctively as May pulled her sniper rifle and opened fire. Jaune looked over his shoulder: Two Grimm Ursas were falling apart. Jaune stood up, and looked back at May. She was panting hard, but stared at him intently. Jaune smiled.

"Good job," he said.

"I…" She nodded. "Y-Yes…"

She still couldn't look at what was left of her comrades. Jaune couldn't blame her… But he couldn't let her focus back on that.

"Come on, let's go," he said, pulling out his Scroll with one hand, while taking her hand with the other. He dialed his friends as he led her away to some pillars for cover.

"Nora, Ren! Pyrrha's fighting against Cinder at the top of Beacon Tower! We gotta back her up!"

Static blared at him, before Nora's voice came through.

"Jaune-Jaune?! You're okay?!"

"Yes," Jaune said, "We're near the outer dorms! We'll meet you at the library!"

"Gotcha! We'll see you there!" Nora cheered. "Don't worry, we've got this!"

Jaune nodded. He turned to May and held his sword and shield up.

"Can you make it to the library?"

May trembled, but managed a nod. Jaune nodded back and smiled even as it seemed like the world was falling down around them. His father had always met every battle with a big, bright smile.

A warrior never lets anyone see how scared he is. If he looks like he has no worries and they can win? Then victory is always possible.

"All right. Let's go!"

- - - -

"That's…" Yang gaped at Jaune before turning to May with a heartbroken expression. "May… I can't even…"

May slowly nodded, her eyes still down on the table. Arslan squeezed her hand tightly. Jaune for his part was able to reach over to squeeze May's other hand. May didn't look up but she seemed a little less tense.

Isabel cleared her throat.

"We can stop at any-"

"No," May murmured. "We… We keep going… I'm sorry."

Jaune looked over at Ren and Nora. Nora had tears in her eyes but she nodded.

"Renny and I were at the cafeteria," she said, "So we headed off to go and help Jaune-Jaune. We headed off and fought through a lot of Grimm and some White Fang jerks."

Ren nodded. He glanced over at Cardin, who was holding Velvet. The tall redheaded boy took a deep breath. He tightened his grip around the rabbit Faunus girl.

"At the same time…"

Velvet grimaced deeply.

"We… Well…"

"We came back to see the finals," Cardin said quietly, "My team I mean. When the attack happened, we were trying to defend people in the arena." He paused, his expression very dark. Velvet squeezed his hand tightly.

"We were trapped. We had two options: Hole up and hold out, or try to break through. So…"

- - -

Cardin growled as he held up the Executioner, crouched down behind some seats in the bottom row. Dove was at his right, Sky to his left, and Russel was behind them in support. A large crowd of civilians were behind them, as Grimm, Atlas drones and White Fang troops fired on them from all around the arena. Griffin Grimm were flying overhead.

"We gotta get out of here," Dove suggested, "We're pinned here."

"We could hole up, wait for reinforcements," Sky suggested, adjusting his goggles.

Cardin shook his head, slapping his mace against his palm.

"We can't! Atlas' fleet has left, we're on our own!"

"Yeah!" Russel growled. Cardin nodded.

"Besides! We can take 'em! What are a bunch of Grimm, tin cans and animals gonna do to us?" He smirked. "We're gonna smash through!"

Russel slammed his weapons together and grinned.

"Let's do it!"

Dove sucked in a deep breath and nodded.

"All right. It's better to not stay here."

"Russel!" Cardin ordered, "Let's open up a hole! Dove! Sky! Get 'em moving! On three! One! Two! THREE!"

Cardin and Russel stood up and unleashed Blast Dust shots at the nearest concentration of Grimm and White Fang. The resulting explosions blew a lot of chairs and bodies up into the air.

"COME ON! LET'S GO!" Sky shouted, and the civilians, with some encouragement, got up. Cardin and Russel charged ahead, as Dove and Sky opened fire on any other Grimm or White Fang who popped out of the smoke. They raced up the stairs of the arena, and made it out the gate into the concourse. Cardin swung Executioner and unleashed another Fire Blast, blowing through several drones. Dove unleashed several precise shots, leaping up into the air to fire several shots through drones.

Cardin looked around. He spotted a food stand with reinforced concrete walls around it. He swung his hand forward towards it.

"That way!" He shouted, over the cries of the civilians, "We'll use it for cover! RUSSEL! COVER!"

"ON IT!" Russel unleashed Ice Dust blasts, sending ice shrapnel ahead. He wiped out several Grimm in quick succession. Sky fired to the left, as Cardin led them towards the food counter.

"More incoming!" Sky shouted. Cardin looked behind them: Multiple drones and Grimm were charging from behind. The wide concourse meant they were out in the open.

"KEEP FIGHTING!" Cardin shouted. He ran ahead, as several drones charged at them. He swung Executioner and smashed through the first, then slammed his elbow into the next's head. He grabbed a third and threw it with a grunt at another group of Grimm.

"Cardin!" Dove shouted over the gunfire and shouts, "We're out in the open! We gotta go back!"

"NO! KEEP GOING!" Cardin barked, as Russel unleashed more Fire Dust blasts into a pack of Grimm. "WE GOTTA KEEP GOING!"

He looked out from the concourse railing to the grounds below. He smiled broadly: There weren't a lot of Grimm or other enemies down there. It would be tough, but they could make it! They just had to get down, find some shelter-

A massive metallic shape stomped through the grounds. Its huge rocket boosters ignited, and the form flew up through the air. Cardin's eyes widened as he scrambled back.

"FALL BACK! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" He shouted.

The gigantic Paladin mech landed on the concourse with an earthshaking thud. Concrete rained from above as the giant robot stomped and turned towards them, its huge guns coming to bear.

The civilians screamed and panicked, running back. Sky tried to keep control but they fell into a chaotic rabble. He had to jump up over them to stay out of the way, landing with the rest of the team.

"TAKE IT DOWN!" Cardin shouted, charging in. The Paladin's gatling gun opened up, and he held up his arms and Executioner while powering up his Aura to protect himself. The shots bounced off him at first, but the giant robot unleashed a cannon blast next and Cardin was sent flying.

"CARDIN!" Russel shouted. He swung his revolvers and sent Ice Dust sheets against the Paladin. The ice crawled up the legs as Sky and Dove fired on it repeatedly. The Paladin struggle through the ice, but continued to fire.

Cardin got up, shook his head free of his daze, and charged again. Dove and Sky fired repeatedly as they flanked the Paladin, while Russel unleashed more Dust blasts. Cardin rammed the Executioner into the side of the mech's leg and unleashed Blast Dust at point blank range.

The metallic knee of the Paladin exploded. Cardin unleashed another blast, and another. The Paladin turned and opened fire. Cardin ducked and dashed between the robot's legs, running behind it and pointing the Executioner at the small of its back while Russel unleashed another Blast Dust shot at the chest of the Paladin.

The Paladin shuddered.

"RUSSEL! LIGHTNING DUST!" Cardin shouted.

Russel unleashed a blast of Lightning Dust at the Paladin. It shuddered again before collapsing. Cardin grinned. Sky cheered. Russel whooped.

"YEAH!" Cardin cheered. "We did it!"

"We have the tools, we have the talent!" Russel whooped.

"OH YEAH!" Sky laughed.

Dove frowned.

"Guys? I think this is very bad."

The Paladin began to shake and shudder. The Dust reactor began to glow and heat up. Cardin's eyes widened.

"RUN!" Cardin shouted. Dove, Sky and Russel turned, rushing back towards the civilians who had been hiding in the gate. Cardin tried to run around the Paladin… When its right arm cannons fired off a leftover round.

The blast erupted right under Cardin's feet and sent him flying off of the concourse. He fell from the balcony down to the ground. He slammed in hard, breaking the concrete underneath him, face first as the Paladin exploded and everything went black.

Cardin groaned. His ears were ringing and his despite his Aura, he was sore all over. He was covered in rubble. He surged his Aura. He pushed himself back up, shoving the concrete aside. He looked back up at the arena. His jaw dropped.

The entire side of the arena facing him was on fire, with a massive hole in multiple levels. Debris fell like rain while the levels sagged and shuddered.

"Guys! GUYS-!"

He pulled out his Scroll and hit the radio mode.

"DOVE! SKY! RUSSEL!"

Static was his only answer. Cardin grit his teeth.

"GUYS!"

His Scroll stuttered and he heard Dove's voice.

"Cardin… Get out… We'll-!"

The transmission cut out. Cardin shook it furiously.

"Dove?! DOVE?! ANYONE?!"

He stared at the rubble. It was like there was just nothing. All he could see was flames and rubble.

Then bullets whizzed by his head.

"Shit, shit!"

He looked over to see White Fang troops and Grimm advancing on his position. He turned and ran for it as the rounds whizzed over his head. He clenched his free fist as he sprinted away.

"Damnit, damnit, damnit…!"

These animals had… Had killed his team… His team…!

They were working with the Grimm! How in the hell could someone work with the Grimm?!

What the hell was going on?!

He just kept running. An Ursa charged in front of him, but he slammed Executioner down on its skull and it fell apart as it died. He kept running, as fast as he could, until he came to a stop near the Elpaba courtyard. He could see people running and screaming, fires burning, Grimm snarling and attacking while Hunters and Huntresses and even police fought White Fang terrorists. He panted for breath.

Which was when a Grimm Ursa roared. He looked to the right and saw the Ursa charging him. He stared, his entire body feeling numb.

A stream of red Dust bullets tore through the Grimm and it evaporated. Cardin looked over at one of the stone fountains. Coco Adel glared at him over her gatling gun.

"WINCHESTER!" She barked, as the rest of her team fought furiously nearby, "MAKE YOURSELF USEFUL!"

Yatsuhachi swung his sword furiously, taking out several Grimm with every blow. Fox dashed about, taking out Grimm with punches. Velvet was treating an injured civilian woman behind the fountain.

"M-My team is at the Arena!" Cardin tried, "They need help-!"

"So do we!" Coco shouted. "BEHIND YOU!"

Cardin turned and swung Executioner. He unleashed a Dust blast at point blank range, blowing apart two Beowulves. He panted hard. Coco let loose with more Gatling gun fire, tearing apart numerous Grimm and Atlas drones as they kept advancing on the evacuation route.

Cardin ran up, swinging hard to take out any enemies he could see. He made it to where Velvet was treating the old woman, providing her cover. The rest of Team CFVY advanced away from the fountain near some of the marble pillars, keeping Grimm and drones at bay.

Cardin looked up and saw several White Fang troops advancing on the courtyard. They weren't carrying rifles or swords alone though: They were hefting up rocket launchers.

"GET DOWN-!" He shouted. It was too late: They fired a massive barrage of rockets right at Team CVFY.

Coco tried to shoot them down, but they slammed into the ground nearby. Massive explosions went off, consuming Coco, Fox and Yatsuhashi. Cardin threw himself in front of Velvet, covering her with his body. Rubble and debris flew through the air and rained down on him.

"Guh…" Cardin groaned. Velvet pushed away and stood up. She looked behind him in horror. Cardin looked back. His face fell.

"GUYS!" Velvet screamed. The pillars had fallen, reduced into a pile of burning rubble.

"FOX! COCO! YATSU!" She shrieked. She tried to charge in, but Cardin pulled her back. "LET ME GO! LET ME-!"

Bullets whizzed over their heads. Cardin shoved her down behind the fountain. He grimaced as he peeked up over the fountain: The White Fang were coming through, targeting the civilians. The old woman nearby was gasping in desperation.

Cardin couldn't see anything beyond flames, smoke and rubble.

Just like my team… Just like…!

Velvet broke free of his arms and charged again. She ran up to the rubble, screaming the names of her teammates.

"COCO! FOX! YAT-UGH!"

A Dust round hit her, and she was slammed down to the ground. A White Fang soldier, leading a full troop, advanced on her. She struggled back onto her elbows. The White Fang trooper held up his rifle and pointed it at Velvet's head. As did the rest of them.

Do something, Cardin's mind screamed, even as his body remained frozen, Do something…!

Velvet looked up shakily, and gaped in horror at the soldier.

DO SOMETHING!

"RAWRRR!"

His yell got their attention. He slammed Executioner down and unleashed a Fire Dust blast at the ground underneath their feet. The tiled ground bucked and shattered from the force, sending debris up like shrapnel. Several of the White Fang troops fell screaming, while others opened fire. Cardin charged through, his Aura flaring, as he swung Executioner around. He unleashed more Fire Dust blasts, blasting the White Fang troops away.

One wielding a large chainsaw sword dodged around the blasts, and swung for Cardin. He held up Executioner and blocked the hit. There was enough force that it shoved him back. He took another hit, and another, and another. The chainsaw wielding Faunus was fast, and had full Aura. Cardin couldn't keep up, and another hit to his gut slammed him back into the rubble. Cardin grit his teeth and struggled back up. The White Fang Faunus held his chainsaw sword up overhead, a smug, bloody smirk on his face.

He couldn't see Velvet anywhere.

I've gone fucking insane, he thought, I'm dying to save an animal… After failing my team… Failing everyone…

Cardin summoned up some saliva, and spat it at the White Fang trooper as he swung down on him.

Well, he thought grimly, At least… I saved someone. At least… I did one thing right in my-

"AAUUUGHH!"

A hail of bullets tore the White Fang trooper apart. Cardin gaped, then looked to his right. Velvet jogged up, holding up a Hardlight Dust version of Coco's gatling gun. She was trembling, but her face was set. She reached down to Cardin. He took her hand as she pulled him up.

"Th-Thanks," he managed between labored breaths.

Velvet nodded back shakily. Her eyes were hard despite the tears in her eyes. They both looked and saw more White Fang troops and Grimm advancing.

"We'll hold them here," Cardin decided, looking around. "Can't let them get any further."

"And we won't leave a single bloody fuck alive," Velvet snarled, tightening her grip on her hardlight weapon.

As strange as it sounded… Cardin's heart skipped a beat and his cheeks turned red when he heard her accent come out.

He shook his head.

"Not a single one," he agreed.

Fuck, I really am going insane, he thought, reloading Executioner and getting ready for the next wave of enemies.

- - -

Velvet was softly crying into Cardin's shoulder as Yang stared at them. She looked back down at her hands. She again clenched her fists and unclenched them. She shut her eyes tightly.

All the while… I was unconscious, she thought, her guilt stabbing deeply into her chest.

"Maybe," Yang tried, "Maybe they survived? Mister Arc said they-they weren't listed as dead, right?"

Cardin sucked in a breath. He tried to speak, but Velvet turned her head from his chest and glared at her.

"No," she stated angrily. "No… I know. They were murdered."

A taut, awkward silence fell over the living room. Ruby bowed her head again. Ren was stoic as always, but his sorrow was evident in his body language. Jaune exhaled through his nostrils.

Nora cleared her throat softly.

"After that," Nora said quickly, though in a very quiet tone, "Renny and I fought our way towards the library. And we ran into Jaune-Jaune and Maya…"