[RWBY] RWBY Shorts

[AndrewJTalon]

Doctor' Knowall's first attack was a series of jabs, quick and calculated. Nothing fancy, nothing too complex. Thanh contemptuously blocked each one, then let loose a roundhouse kick at Knowall. Knowall took the hit to his temple, and skidded a bit from the impact. He heard his students and his younger self gasp in shock. He heard Thanh laugh, and saw the rest of his White Fang goons cheer.



"HA! Is that the best you can do, doctor?" Thanh sneered, "I'll enjoy making these girls my bitches while I gnaw on your bones!"



Knowall slowly turned back to Thanh. He cracked his neck. He spat out some blood. He resumed his terrifying smile.



"Thanks. All I needed to know," Knowall stated, "You won't be hitting me again."



Thanh laughed mockingly, and swung a clawed hand at him.



"I think not-!"



Knowall ducked under the swing and planted his fist into Thanh's floating ribs, shattering them with the blow. Thanh's laugh turned into a cry of pain, and the big Faunus punched and kicked furiously. With contemptuous ease, Knowall blocked, slapped away, or dodged every blow before he put an uppercut into Thanh's jaw, again knocking out a lot of sharp teeth and blood.



"Attend, students," Knowall said, almost conversationally, as he slammed a palm strike into Thanh's nose, "While Aura can protect you from many injuries, the proper application of force can still let you damage vulnerable areas on an opponent's body."



The Faunus roared and fell back. He swung around, cracking his tail like a bullwhip. Knowall caught it with one hand, not moved an inch.



"For instance, joints are always a potential target in a fight, and only require the proper leverage to exploit," Knowall went on, snapping several vertebrae in Thanh's tail. Thanh roared in pain, and swung back around as his face and mouth healed. He again attacked, this time swinging his monk's spade at Knowall.



The doctor calmly jumped over the swing at his feet, and delivered a kick right into Thanh's face with a bony crunch.



"Other targets are an enemy's eyes, nose, mouth," Knowall went on over Thanh's howl of pain, "Or anything else sensitive and external."



He dodged around Thanh's wild swings with his polearm, and calmly grabbed his wrist. He then thrust his palm against Thanh's elbow, snapping it and making him drop his weapon.



"AARRGGHHH!"



Thanh again retreated, breathing hard. His eye and face repaired itself, while his elbow returned to its previous state. Thanh snarled, bloodlust in his eyes.



"I WILL USE YOUR HEAD AS A CHAMBER POT!" He shrieked, lunging with his claws and sharp teeth. Knowall again dodged out of the way and slammed the people's elbow into the back of his neck, ramming him into the pavement so hard it shattered like glass.



"And of course, keep in mind other weakpoints you can exploit," Knowall went on. He grabbed Thanh's tail and held it out of the way as he stomped on Thanh's left thigh, "breaking the femur is almost always a death sentence to an enemy."



"GYAAHHHH!"



Thanh rolled and slashed at Knowall again. The doctor nimbly jumped out of the way, as Thanh staggered back to his feet. He was panting hard, his femur healing quickly. He snarled in rage at Knowall.



"I'LL EAT YOUR ENTRAILS! YOU CAN'T BEAT ME! I AM IMMORTAL! I AM-!"



His Aura flared around him... And then shattered. Thanh fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, his body twitching sporadically. Thanh gaped in disbelief at Knowall, as did the rest of the White Fang and the students.



"Wha... Whab dib you... Whab...?"



"Funny thing about automatic Semblances," Knowall said almost cheerfully, "If you don't have good Aura control, they'll just keep operating and draining away your energy. In your case, it's to regenerate from damage. So while I hit you, I inflicted a few... Shall we say... Status effects?"



Thanh's eyes bugged out in horror. He began to cough up blood as Knowall continued.



"Kidney disease here, lymphatic function disorder there... Your Semblance kept curing it all! But that all drains Aura." He paused. "Especially the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis I gave you from the start."



"A what?" Blake gasped, having gotten Jaune over to teams RWBY and JNPR (with Sun too, though he was still out). Jaune's eyes widened.



"It-It's a progressive neurological disease," he explains, "It destroys the nerve cells in the brain and nervous system..."



Thanh swung an arm desperately at his troops, drooling helplessly.



"KILL! KILV HIB!"



The White Fang stared at their leader, and then at the doctor. Knowall smiled unpleasantly.



"You have two options," Knowall stated coldly, "Surrender and turn yourselves in... Or you can join 'the Immortal' in the hospital ward of the local prison for the rest of your lives. You have ten seconds."



It only took a second for the terrorists to begin throwing down their weapons and putting up their hands. Knowall nodded in satisfaction.



"Wise decision."



- - -



Yes, Knowall did hit Thanh with the same disease that Doctor Stephen Hawking had.

Click to shrink...

The police came and took in all the criminals. Roman Torchwick had managed to escape despite Penny Polendinia doing her best. Knowall couldn't fault her for that, he supposed-She wasn't nearly as powerful as she had been in his timeline now... And even she had fallen to Salem. Even she had...



He did his best to not think about that. He stared out at the Azur Bay, leaning against a cargo crate and smoking a cigarette. He'd given his testimony to the police and now he and his students were waiting for a Bullhead to arrive.



Sun Wukong had suffered some injuries, but nothing Knowall couldn't fix up. He was resting some distance away, while the rest of Team JNPR watched over him with Penny. The orangette was excitedly talking to Nora, both energetic girls happy to converse. Pyrrha was talking softly with his younger counterpart, while Ren looked over Sun.



Team RWBY was some distance away, talking things out. Blake looked back at Jaune every so often, as though to reassure herself he was all right, before she turned back to her teammates. It seemed to be going well, for the most part.



He hoped he could avoid any further interaction before the Bullhead showed up...



"Doctor Knowall?"



A hope that was dashed. He looked over at Ruby Rose, standing there nervously. The doctor nodded.



"Yes?"



"Um... Are we in trouble for our little, uh... Fight?" She asked with a wince. "Is Blake in trouble for running off?"



Knowall sighed. He stared at her. He had never met her himself, but Yang had told him all about her little sister. How brave she was. How energetic.



He had seen her once. They called her the Silver Eyed Demon-A woman wrapped in ragged red and black robes with a scythe, fighting the Grimm everywhere. Unleashing the power of her eyes, and then running off to try and help others. In a world gone mad, she was a symbol of hope.



Knowall had seen those eyes in action once, the day after Yang was killed. The woman had appeared at the ruins of the church he'd been staying in. Where he'd buried Yang.



She'd stared at him with those eyes. He'd stared back.



They were silver like the moon, beautiful... And so empty. Like even the effort of trying to muster an emotion was too much.



Then she was gone, like a specter. He had never seen her again.



He stared at this young woman with the silver eyes. Ruby fidgeted.



"Doctor?"



"I can't promise you won't get detention for this. However..." He smiled gently. He reached out to rest a hand on her shoulder.



"You did the right thing," he said. Ruby blushed and nodded happily.



"Thanks! Also uh... Thanks for saving Jaune. And Blake."



Knowall shrugged.



"It's my job," he said.



"Also," Ruby began, "I have a few questions to ask you about-"



The Bullheads arrived. Glynda Goodwitch stepped out of one, looking cross. Knowall smirked a bit.



"Maybe later," he said.



- - -



He kept silent and pretended he couldn't hear any of the students' requests on the trip there. He even turned off his hearing.



Mainly because Glynda was giving them all an earful, which helped him stay in the background.



However, when they touched down, she gave him a look that would brook no argument or slinking away. So with a slow nod, he followed her to her office, while Professor Port led the students off. The older man gave Knowall an encouraging look and thumbs up, while the students all looked mortified.



Save for his younger counterpart. He kept staring at him intently. Knowall tried to ignore it.



Glynda didn't speak on the trip to her office. She opened the door and motioned him in. He went in, scanning around the clean but warm interior with its bookshelves and pictures of past classes. Glynda closed the door behind them. He took another drag off his cigarette. She walked past him and sat on the couch. She stared up at him, her expression a bit warmer than before.



"Are you all right?" She asked him quietly.



Knowall let out a sigh, smoke filling the air around his head.



"I don't know," he admitted, "I managed to restrain myself from killing them. I could have done so. Very easily."



He stared at the wall.



"I've done it before," he admitted quietly.



Glynda sucked in a deep breath. She crossed her legs as she stared intently at him.



"We can't have you running off and doing things on your own, Jaune," she said, "I know you survived that way, but you can't just head out alone. You could have at least alerted the rest of the staff about the situation."



"I did, when it was resolved," Knowall stated firmly.



"You know that's not how we do things-" Glynda tried, but Knowall glared. He pulled his cigarette out.



"Yeah, and if you did things like that in the old timeline, guess what? They didn't fucking work," he snarled. "I'm living proof it didn't work!"



Glynda remained unperturbed. Knowall took a few deep breaths, and a few more drags. He bowed his head for a moment, before looking back into Glynda's eyes.



"Sorry," he said quietly. Glynda nodded.



"I understand," she said in a soft tone. "Listen: Ozpin believes you. He believes everything you told us. So do I. I appreciate you have operated on your own for a long time and it was the only way you could survive. You're right: We clearly didn't do a good job back then. Which is why we need you to work with us. None of us can handle this war all on our own."



She stared into his eyes.



"Which means we need to be able to trust each other," she said, "We need to better understand one another."



Knowall stared back at her. Glynda held his gaze evenly.



"Which means," she said, "We need to talk. We need to bond more. So that we can trust one another. Because if you keep going off on your own without even informing us of the situation? We won't be able to trust one another. Which could potentially lead to disaster."



Knowall continued to stare. He took another drag off his cigarette.



"... I'm not really the touchy feely, spill my guts kind of guy."



"Neither am I," Glynda said, "But we need to start somewhere, don't we? You can talk to me about anything you want. You can ask me any question you want and I'll answer... Within reason. Same for you. We do this at least once a week. We can do it more often if you need to. We schedule it and stick to it. Would that be acceptable?"



Knowall sighed.



"And if I don't?"



"Then Ozpin will press the matter," Glynda said gently. "I feel that by making the offer myself, you'll feel less intimidated than if he was pushing it. I know he will push it. If I tell him I have the matter in hand, it will be less difficult for all of us."



Knowall stared at her.



"Why go that far?" He asked.



Glynda shrugged.



"Because it's the right thing to do," she said simply, "Do I need another reason?"



Knowall sighed.



"... Guess not," he admitted.



He walked over to the couch. He sat down on it next to her. He stared out into nothing, still smoking. He then looked over at her.



"Do you mind if I-?"



"I do," Glynda admitted, wrinkling her nose, "But if you need to? Go ahead."



Knowall smiled slightly.



"I appreciate the honesty," he said. He finished off the cigarette and held it out. Glynda used her Semblance to send it flying into the trashcan. He nodded and took a deep breath.



"I guess it started when I got caught by my parents trying to get on the train to Beacon..."



- - -

 

[SharkCultist]

Informational.

Welcome perspective Huntsmen and Huntresses to your first class on the deeper mechanics of Hunters and Grimm classifications.

Today's lesson will be on semblances. Due to the variety of semblances classifications are very broad, it's also possible for semblances to change classification.

First we have whisper semblances. These semblances are either very weak or show no combat potential. Most semblances in this classification take very little aura to use.

Next we have the general classification. This is where most semblances lie. Decently strong without being truly above and beyond.

Following this we have hereditary semblances. Though it should be noted that not all hereditary semblances are like the schnee semblance which are 1 to 1 copies of each other. Most are more like the pyrust family who's semblances all have to deal with flames in some way shape or form, a common theme without being completely the same.

Next we have the malevolent or broken semblances. These being semblances that are a negative impact to their holder and sometimes even fatal. These semblances are born out of trauma and deep seated psychological issues. It should also be noted that this classification can be in tandem with the others. It is possible to "fix" one of these semblances through changing of mindset and confronting trauma. Oftentimes this classification ends up on veteran hunters.

Finally we have Nobel Semblances. These are the semblances that stand above others. Either in power or mechanics they are exceptional. Some examples of Semblances in this category can be anything that can reshape a battlefield or something that effects the soul directly.

This concludes the end of the class. Any and all questions can be sent to your professor through scroll messaging.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Jaune was rummaging around in a cardboard box in the JNPR dormroom when Ren entered. The stoic ninja raised an eyebrow as Jaune looked up and smiled.

"Hey Ren. I got you a drink from my farm!"

Ren was not prone to a lot of emotions, but his soft smile was genuine.

"Really? Thank you. What is it?" Ren asked. Jaune held up a green glass bottle and held it out.

"It's tea. Well, a special kind of tea," Jaune replied, "My sister Verdy likes tea ceremonies and culture, and so she sends me some special blends every now and again.

"I see." Ren opened the Ice Dust cool bottle and sniffed the aroma. He recognized it instantly.

"Ah, Jasmine... And it appears to be carbonated." He smiled and nodded to Jaune. "Thank you."

"You're welcome man," Jaune said with a similar smile. Ren sipped it gently, as Jaune unfolded some papers that had come in the box. Ren swallowed, and nodded.

"It's very good, with a bit of a burn. What's it called?"

Jaune scrolled down the pages and smiled.

"Oh! Jasmine fizz? It's a cocktail made with..." He narrowed his eyes, "Vodka?" He shrugged and looked up at Ren.

"Well, it shouldn't be an issue if you're not a lightweight-"

He stopped short. Ren's face was bright red. He was grinning like a loon, and wobbling slightly.

"Haaa... Thish... Thish is grrreat, Jauunnne!" He began to chug the bottle as Jaune's face fell.

Oh shit, he's a total lightweight! Jaune thought in horror. He couldn't imagine how embarrassed Ren might be if anyone saw him like this!

"Uh... Hey, Ren?" Jaune asked, reaching for the bottle, "Maybe you should take it easy on that stuff-"

"Nuh uh!" Ren declared, "Thish ish like... Like... Dancing unicornsh... On my tongues... Shee?"

"Huh?" Jaune asked.

Just then, Nora barged the room, as was her wont. She beamed happily.

"Hey Renny and Jaune-Jaune-!"

"NORRRRRAAAAAAA!" Ren exclaimed. He grabbed her and kissed her deeply. "OMNOMNOMMMMMM~!"

"MMPH?!" Nora was taken by surprise.

Jaune quickly pulled Ren away from the dazed Nora, holding him tightly even as he kept swaying.

"Woah woah woah... Are you all right, Nora?" He held Ren back, who was giggling drunkenly. Nora's mouth was stuck open as she stared in shock.

"Um, sorry about that. My sisters sent me some alcohol and I didn't know it was alcohol-I thought it was tea! Well, it is tea but it's made with vodka and now Ren's drunk! I had no idea he was such a lightweight-You okay?"

Nora was silent for a moment, which was easily in the top ten most terrifying things Jaune had seen in his life. Then, she calmly shoved Jaune out of the room (thankfully via the door this time). She grabbed the bottle of alcohol, tilted Ren's head back, and poured more down his throat.

"DRINK MAN! DRINK FOR OUR VALKYRIE NINJA BABIES!" she exclaimed. Ren gave her a thumbs up.

Jaune stared at the situation and decided to make a command-level decision. He shut the door, locked it, and put a "Do Not Disturb" sign up. He sighed and shook his head.

"I... think I'll avoid the dorms for a while..."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

They spent the night at the hospital on cots. Jaune didn't get much sleep, but he did his best.



The next day, they went out to Vale's Central Square in the New Town district for lunch. In the center of a large roundabout was a huge fountain and statue, commemorating the brave people who had lost their lives during the War of the Thrush: A huge conflict between the nations of Vale a few decades before the Great War.



It was also near the main gates of Vale itself... Where the train would breach.



Pyrrha: "Jaune? Jaune, are you all right?"



Jaune: "Hm? Oh..."



Nora: "I mean, you haven't even touched your food!" Nora grabs one of his crepes and scarfs it down "Mmmm~! Lunch pancakes!"



Nick: "Nora!" scowl "No stealing from your brother's plate!"



Nora: contritely "Sorry Dad."



Nick: "That's better. Seriously though sport, what's up?"



Jaune: "Just... Ya know..." shrugs "A little concerned about stuff."



Jaune's Brain: Ruby should have called me by now... Why didn't she call me? I was supposed to get a transmission, garbled, this morning... Did I change the timeline too much? Did they stop the train?



Nick: "Ahhh... I get it." chuckles "Worried for your girlfriend, huh son?"



Jaune: "Yes."



Nick: nods "Ahh... I was worried about your mother a lot, too. She had a tendency to charge in to rescue people on impulse. And to stand her ground to defend her patients, even if she was all alone. And to go to places I dared not enter, for fear of death!"



Ren: "Such as?"



Nick: shudders "The fashion department."



Nora: "HORRORS!"



Nick: brightly "But this is a training mission! I'm sure everything will be fine!"



Jaune: "Y-Yeah... Fine..."



Which was when everyone's Scroll, and the large holographic billboard screens overhead, began to flicker. A static-y image of Professor Oobleck appeared.



Oobleck: "Citize-of Vale-Imminent dis~ster-activate the emer-cy-now-train-main gat---Under---you must-!"



The image flickered out, going back to advertising. Nick frowned deeply, put his money on the table, and stood up.



Nick: "Check social media, see if anyone else saw that. I'm going to talk to the police."



Nick headed over to some cops sitting in a nearby police car, pulling out his Hunter ID. They talked for a bit while Jaune, Nora, Ren and Pyrrha all scrolled through their Scrolls. Jaune checked the time: 11:50 AM.



Pyrrha: "Seems like it only affected the billboards in this area, near the main gate... Is that what he meant?"



Ren: "But where's the disaster? What kind of disaster?"



Jaune's Brain: In the show, the area around the main gates was deserted... But here...



There were hundreds, maybe thousands of people wandering around. Jaune took a deep breath.



Jaune: "Guys? We gotta get everyone out of here. Now."



Pyrrha: "Wha-?"



Jaune: "Get people out of here! That's an order!"



Jaune gets up, rushes to his father and the cops.



Jaune: "Start the emergency sirens, get everyone out of here!"



Cop 1: "What? Kid, we're still trying to-"



Jaune: "The attack is imminent! You gotta start the sirens and evacuate the area! NOW!"



Cop 2: "Listen kid, we're already dealing with-"



Jaune: looks to Nick "Dad? Please."



Nick looks very thoughtful... Then reaches out and hits the siren controls on the police car dash, which goes off loudly. Lots of people look in their direction.



Cop 2: "Hey! You can't just-!"



Nick grabs the mouthpiece on the radio and hits the speakers.



Nick: "EVERYONE! THERE IS A TERRORIST ATTACK IMMINENT IN THIS AREA! EVERYONE EVACUATE! GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!"



He punctuates this by holding up Blont Joyuese, and firing a round that cracks like thunder. People scream and begin to run. Pyrrha, Nora and Ren dash out, breaking up the crowds and managing them. The first cop glares at Jaune and Nick.



Cop 1: "The hell did you-?!"



Nick: Grabs the Cop by the collar and looks him in the eyes, while growling like an angry lion "Get everyone out of here now."



Cop 1: squeaks "Y-Yes sir!"



Jaune and Nick head out, helping to kepe people moving. Getting them out of cars, picking up anyone who gets left behind or trampled. The emergency sirens begin to blare as barriers appear across the intersections.



Jaune's Brain: In the show it happened earlier than they planned... It looked like it was the afternoon at least. Now? It's high noon... Why'd they change it? Why'd they-?



He's near the gates when he spots a little girl hiding under a car. He lays down and extends a hand.



Jaune: "Hey! Come on, we gotta get out of here!"



Girl: cries, shakes her head



Jaune: "We gotta get out of here, it's not safe!"



The girl continues to refuse. Jaune sighs, then yanks the car up and rolls it over. The little girl looks at him in astonishment, holding onto a stuffed bunny.



Jaune: "Come on!"



He grabs her in his arms and heads for the nearest intersection... When he feels it. The ground rumbles and shakes.



Jaune's Brain: Oh no-!



In the show, it was barely rendered. Here... It was like the entire world just upended itself. The ground erupted like a volcano going off. Cars and boulders flew through the air. Jaune ran, keeping the screaming little girl in front of him when SOMETHING big hit him and forced him down. He held the little girl tightly as hell rained down upon them. Last thing he saw was a clock on a billboard reading 11:59.



Jaune's Brain: Damn... Butterflies... It's early...



Then everything went black.

Click to shrink...

For a time, all Jaune could hear was the whimpering of the little girl he was protecting, and the beating of his heart. The weight over him was massive, but he channeled his Aura and kept himself on all fours, holding up the weight.

Jaune: "It's gonna... Be... Okay... I promise!"

Girl: "Y-You mean it?"

Jaune: "Yeah! Yeah... Don't worry... My friends will be here soon and they'll dig us out. So don't worry... My name is Jaune, what's yours?"

Ginger: "Ginger!"

Jaune: "Ah, like the cookie."

Ginger: "I hate those cookies..."

Jaune: "Really? I like them but only in small amounts. Guess I'm just weird... Nngh..."

He felt the weight shift overhead. He heard something clawing at the rubble. Jaune grinned.

Jaune: "Hey... Told you! Stay close to me... WE'RE IN HERE!"

Ginger: "HELP!"

Jaune: "HELP! WE'RE IN HERE!"

The rubble was brushed aside. Jaune could push up, roll the boulders off... And came face to face with an Ursa. The Grimm snarled at him.

Jaune's Mind: MotherFUCKER!

But fortunately, Jaune had the presence of mind to channel his Aura into his fist, rear back, focus on enhancing his strength just as Pyrrha and his mother had taught him... And punched the Ursa as hard as he could.

The Ursa howled and staggered back. Jaune forced himself up out of the rubble, holding onto Ginger. He quickly put her onto his back.

Jaune: "Hold on!"

He drew sword and shield as the Ursa recovered and charged. He blocked the Ursa's charge, stopping it dead, then swung his sword! The head of the Grimm came clean off. Jaune scanned around the square. He saw his team and team RWBY fighting several Grimm nearby. He ran towards them, making sure Ginger held on.

He leaped over the ruins of the fountain and roared as he swung his blade, taking out an Ursa and two Beowulves trying to flank his teams.

Yang: "JAUNE!"

Ruby: "JAUNE!"

Weiss: "JAUNE!"

Blake: "JAUNE!"

Nora: "JAUNEY!"

Pyrrha: "JAUNE!"

Ren: "Jaune!"

Jaune: "SITREP!"

Ruby: "Your dad is plugging up another wall bombing nearby! He told us to hold the line!"

Jaune: "Good plan! Let's keep doing that! HANG ON, GINGER!"

Weiss: "Wait-Wait-You brought a child into the fight?!"

Jaune: "She's just tagging along... And... Okay yeah. Ruby? Get Ginger her to safety please?"

Ruby: "ON IT!" Ruby grabbed Ginger and vanished with her Semblance, before she reappeared. "She's safe! Throwing up though!"

Jaune: "GOOD ENOUGH!"

And so, together, all eight of them charge into the hordes of Grimm. And... No, it's not going well. Jaune can see why they didn't dig him out.

Jaune's Brain: Seriously, where is CFVY?! Or CRDL?! Someone, anyone...!

Jaune: "Okay... Okay, we need to buy more time... Uhhh..." He stabs a Beowulf through the neck and kicks it into another "Okay! Weiss! Can you throw up an Ice Dust Wall?!"

Weiss: "I'm out of Ice Dust!"

Jaune: "Crap...!" He slashes through a Boarbatusk and fights back to back with Yang, rotating to deal with several Grimm trying to flank them "We need something to plug the hole... Hang on... RUBY! There's a Dust shop two blocks away! Go check it out!"

Ruby: "On it!" She flashes away in a burst of rose petals. Jaune rushes to a downed police car, and lifts it up with a grunt.

Jaune: "NORA!" He tosses it "BLAST IT!"

Nora lets loose a withering barrage of fire at the damaged car as it falls into the gaping hole in the square. It explodes, its Dust engine going up and killing a number of Grimm.

Jaune: "Good... That bought us a minute... Come on Ruby, come on...!"

Nora: "Jaune! I'm low on grenades!"

Jaune: "Ren?"

Ren: "Low too."

Jaune: "I seriously gotta start carrying more gear-Ungh!" He slashes through another Ursa "Weiss! If we got you some Earth Dust could you plug that hole?!"

Weiss: "M-Maybe! I'm low on Aura!"

Jaune: "Will you try?!"

Weiss: "YES!"

Jaune: "OKAY! Stay in the back! Cast with what you've got!"

Weiss pulls back and unleashes Fire Dust blasts, as everyone keeping fighting. They have to keep moving back though, as the Grimm keep advancing. There are tall roadblocks at all the exits of the square, but the Grimm are clawing at them.

Jaune's Brain: Well, good they have better defenses in this world than in the show... But geez, if any of them get through-!
Ruby: appears again "GOT IT!" She tosses some Earth Dust capsules to Weiss, before unleashing several shots from Crescent Rose through the hordes of Grimm

Weiss takes the capsules, tries to summon her Aura and a Glyph... She struggles as the energy wobbles.

Weiss: "Nnngh... I'm... I'm too low...!"

Jaune's Brain: Okay... Okay... Look... In the show, I activated my Semblance because Weiss was in danger... Please... Please, let me be able to do it... Please...!
He ran over to her and grabbed her hand.

And... Nothing happened.

Weiss: "J-Jaune?! What are you doing?!"

Jaune: "Come on... COME ON...!"

Nothing happened. He kept flaring his Aura but nothing happened. Weiss's face was bright red and everyone else was glaring or gaping in disbelief.

Weiss: "J-Jaune! What are you-Why-?!"

Jaune: "Oh to hell with-" He yanked out his last packet of Healing Dust and held her hand between both of his "Here!"

He channeled as much of his Aura as he could into her through the packet.

Jaune's Brain: Okay, thank God my stupid fanon invention is real in this world...! Come on...!
Weiss's Aura lit up. Her eyes glowed. She waved Myrtenaster and unleashed a WAVE through the Earth, causing it to surge like water. It crashed into the ground, crushing and burying dozens of Grimm that all roared and screamed as the hole was engulfed in rock, dirt and rubble.

Weiss passed out, and Jaune managed to catch her as her Aura broke.

Ruby: "WOOHOO! WE GOT 'EM!"

Yang: "And now we've just got all these bastards to fight!"

Ruby: "Language!"

Yang; "Really?!"

Jaune took deep breaths. He set Weiss down. He stood his ground. Everyone else came together around him as the Grimm gathered around them.

Jaune: "Well... Just want you all to know... I love you all. Let's kill these bastards."

Yang: "I'm not saying goodbye!"

Ruby: "Me neither!"

Nora: "BRING IT ON!"

Pyrrha: smiles and nods grimly "Yes, let's kill all these bastards!"

Blake: smiles sadly, nods

Ren: stoic, manly nod

Weiss, woozy, manages to stand up.

Weiss: "I... I'm here too...!"

Ruby: "Weiss..." smile

Weiss: "I... I won't back down...!"

Jaune: "We know."

They stand there, heroic, ready to face hell itself... When dozens of crystal arrows pierce through several Grimm. A Dust powered minigun spins up, and everyone looks to a Bullhead flying overhead. Coco Adel is firing on the horde with Yatsuhashi, Fox and Cinder providing additional support. Isabel Arc is also with them.

Ruby: "YEAH! THE CAVALRY IS HERE!"

The teens dismount from the Bullhead onto the nearby roof. Fox and Yatsuhashi jump down and engage in the melee, while Cinder and Coco continue to fire. Isabel Arc... Has the Bullhead go higher, higher... And she jumps out.

She dives like an avenging angel, and SLAMS her fist into the large Deathstalker that was leading the pack. It evaporates from the hit as a massive BOOM sounds through the city. Isabel stands up and grabs an Ursa, swinging it by its leg and smashing another.

Jaune: "MOM!"

Isabel: "FOCUS SWEETIE!"

Jaune: "RIGHT!"

With these reinforcements, RWBY and JNPR manage to kill all of the remaining Grimm. Cinder takes out the last three with several arrows. Isabel then has everyone sit down and she examines them for injuries, starting with Jaune first.

Jaune: "Mom, I'm okay. My friends-"

Isabel: "I'll be the judge of that!" She examines him and nods with a smile "You're fine..." She squeezes his shoulders "Your father's contained the other breach too."

Jaune: "Um... We got a little girl named Ginger out of here-"

Isabel: "The rest of Cinder's team is keeping watch on them, but they're all right. It seems someone managed to get the alarms going and evacuated everyone." She smiles proudly at him

Jaune: blush "I just... Well... I had a feeling if the message from Doctor Oobleck was coming here, it would be the target...?"

Isabel: "Good instincts... I-I guess... I guess I was wrong. I'm very proud of you, Jaune."

Jaune: "Mom... Everyone else?"

Isabel: "Hm? OH! Yes, sorry." She gets to work healing everyone else. She lingers with Weiss and Ruby for a bit longer. Pyrrha and Yang sit on either side of Jaune.

Yang: "Nice thinking, Stud."

Jaune: "You okay?"

Yang: grumbles "Some bitch with a parasol... She made me look like an amateur!"

Jaune: "Sorry."

Yang: sighs "And well... We tried to stop the train but... Sorry."

Jaune: "Don't be. If you guys hadn't gotten that warning to us in time, who knows what would have happened?" He smiles warmly at her, wraps an arm around her waist and kisses her "Mmm... I'm just glad we're all okay."

Yang kisses him back happily.

Pyrrha tenses, but looks away. Jaune and Yang keep making out.

Ruby: "Geez guys! Are you going to do that all day?!"

Jaune: "Mwah... I mean, it beats paperwork... Which we'll probably have to do a lot of."

Cinder approaches with a smile.

Cinder: "Glad to see you're all fine."

Jaune: "Yes, you too..."

Pyrrha stares intently at Cinder. Yang nods.

Yang: "Yeah. Geez, a whole White Fang base at Mount Glenn? We gotta keep a better eye on that place."

Jaune: "No kidding..."

Cinder: "Still... Could have been worse. I believe this will do much to discredit their current leadership and make them more... Amenable to other directions they can take."

Blake perks up and stares at Cinder. Cinder smiles and nods.

Cinder: "One can always hope for the future, yes?"

Jaune: "In the end, hope is all we have..."

Yang: "..." snickers "Geez dude. You sound like a Space Trek captain!"

Jaune: smiles and winks "Well, I do know someone who would be perfect as a green space babe. You up for the part?"

Yang: laughs and hugs him "Maybe if you're good..."

Jaune: "And what if I'm bad?"

Weiss: "WILL YOU STOP YOUR-YOUR LEWDNESS?!! JAUNE! YOUR MOTHER IS RIGHT THERE!"

Isabel: While healing Nora "He's doing fine. No need to be jealous."

Weiss: "I AM NOT JEALOUS!"

All the while, amidst the horseplay, laughter and catharsis from survival... Jaune catches Cinder's eyes. She mouths "We need to talk."

And he slowly nods. As does Pyrrha.

Jaune's Brain: Well... This should be good...

 

[SharkCultist]

We're cranking Jaune into Himbo Overdrive!

---

Jaune Arc was afraid. Today was the cursed day.

February 14th. He doesn't know what causes it but for some reason every single female friend and acquaintance he has goes absolutely crazy on this day.

Attacking each other, breaking into his house, randomly losing their clothes, and wasting so much chocolate.

He just doesn't understand it. But luckily this year he has Bros!

"Sorry Jaune I'm gonna be busy."

"You're kidding right?"

"Velvet would kill me if I spent today with you....or worse she'd get Blake to draw it."

What are the odds that all his male friends had dates planned for today?!

In the distance Jaune could hear the sound of his doom.

"Jaune~"

A tide of female flesh was headed his way and if he didn't get out of dodge soon Beacon was going to be host to The Great War part 2.

So Jaune enacted his brilliant plan.

He snuck his way out of beacon and down to the weird fair that popped up (seriously. so much red and pink. Why?) and mugged a mascot for their costume.

Nobody would ever suspect the blonde teddy bear was actually him! But just in case he put his armor and weapons on over the mascot suit.

You know, just to be safe.

 

[SharkCultist]

Not a Valentine's Day one but had a Ren idea.

---

Goodwitch decided to switch things up in her class. Weaponless combat and (if you knew it) you were required to use your semblance in some way, shape, or form.

Yang was thrilled. Ruby was not.

"Miss Xaoi-long and Mr Lie. Please enter the arena."

Most people would look worried getting into a brawl with Yang, especially when she's using her semblance.

Ren didn't seem that worried and judging by her shit eating grin neither was Nora.

"This is gonna be great!"

Jeeze Nora what'd Ren do to piss you off?"

"Huh? Oh you guys haven't seen Ren use his semblance in combat...you might want to grab a barf bag."

"Huh?"

Crack

The groups attention snapped to the ring where to their horror Yang had snapped Rens neck with a punch.

"Why didn't his aura stop that?!"

"Oh Ren turns off his aura shield when he uses his semblance."

With another crack Rens head snapped back into place.

"It's funny. You're stronger than me, have way better endurance than me and a ton more formal training. And you have absolutely no way to win this fight."

Yang was still in a daze thinking she had killed a friend.

"Nora? Make with the explaining please?"

"You got it fearless leader! So Renny's semblance is called deaden. Usually he uses it to turn off emotions but he can also do that with his pain thingies."

"Receptors?"

"Yeah pain thingies. So he turns off his aura shield and redirects all the aura into stuff like healing. He even had a guy break all his bones at the joints so he could have bigger range of motion."

"Huh?"

Ren took this opportunity to throw a punch at Yang. His bones popping out of socket to add just a bit more oomph and range to his punch.

"That."

"I'm beginning to see why we need Barf bags."

Luckily goodwitch called the fight soon after. But not before most of the class was looking a bit green and Yang was thoroughly traumatized.

Ren won.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

After the final battle with Salem, there wasn't a place in Vacuo that wasn't celebrating. People were cheering, drinking, dancing and laughing. The streets were filled, the bars were packed. Yang thought her smile would never fade away as she made her way through the crowds. Sure, she was one of the heroes who ended the threat, but thankfully the news hadn't spread too much. Otherwise, she would never be able to get anywhere without being swarmed by fans.

She had a very important destination in mind, with a very important person to see.

She made her way to a house Menagerie's forces had used as a base for the fight. None of the Faunus guards paid her any mind, too busy drinking and laughing. She spotted a familiar dark head of hair and black ears on the roof above. She made her way through the courtyard filled with singing Faunus right into the building. She went up the stairs, up to the roof.

Yang's elation was palpable as she rushed up the steps and emerged onto the roof, her voice brimming with triumph.

"Blake! So this is where… You… Went..." Her words trailed off as her eyes fell upon Blake, locked in a passionate kiss with Sun Wukong, who had wrapped his tail around her waist. After a moment, Blake and Sun looked to the side and their eyes widened as they pulled apart.

A stunned silence followed before Yang managed to stammer, "What... What is this?"

Blake, caught off guard, pulled back slightly, her expression a mix of surprise and awkwardness. Sun just smiled in his usual good natured way, though with an awkward tension in his shoulders.

"Hey Yang!" He greet her.

"What is this?!" Yang demanded angrily. If Sun had been forcing himself on her, that would have been one thing… But she had been into it.

Blake finally found her voice.

"Oh... Wow... Uh... Yang? This is what it looks like," she admitted.

Yang's shock morphed into incredulity. "What?! You-You're cheating on me-?!"

"What? No!" Blake scoffed. "Cheating is an outdated concept invented to keep Faunus down! I've just been seeing Sun and Illia on the side while I was with you! It's called Polyamory!"

"Hey, welcome!" Sun grinned. Yang gaped at Blake.

"You-You didn't think to mention that?!" She demanded. "Maybe once?!"

"What? It's no big deal," Blake shrugged, looking a bit nervous, "Set relationships are just-just human oppression-!"

"You didn't even ask me!" Yang growled "You-You said I was the only one! You're still-How long has this been going on?!"

"Oh, since Beacon," Sun explained, as Blake tensed, "Yeah! She wasn't sure about adding you but she wasn't going to turn you down! I can agree!"

"YOU DIDN'T TELL ME A THING!" Yang snarled.

Blake sighed.

"Yang, it's just a Faunus cultural thing. As the future leader of Menagerie, I'm allowed to have a polyamorous relationship!"

"A harem?!" Yang demanded.

"It's not a harem!" Blake huffed, "Harems are for humans! You're all just my lovers and subordinate to me! You should be honored! I mean, you'll be the first human who is in the relationship in a consensual capacity! Sort of."

"What do you mean, sort of?!" Yang seethed, slamming her fists together.

"Well, " Blake quickly explained, her hands up in a desperate attempt to keep Yang calm, "In order to become the ruler of Menagerie, I need to marry a man to give me children. And Sun's a Faunus so he won't be rejected! So I get the position and power and everything!"

Sun, grinning, chimed in, "Pretty sweet, huh? And Illia will be our first concubine!"

"... And me?" Yang managed faintly.

"Well…" Blake shrugged, "You'll have to pretend to be a Faunus. I'm afraid my people aren't fully okay with humans being in relationships with us. Especially not their leader."

Blake, turning back to Yang, offered a proposition with a casual air. "So... You can be my unofficial side piece? How's that?"

Yang's heart shattered as she recoiled in disbelief.

"Wha... I thought you loved me!"

Blake's response was dismissive, almost flippant.

"What? No! I mean, of course I love you! But there are different levels, you know? Sun's been there for me the whole time and he'll be my consort, Illia is completely devoted to me, so you're like… You started as friends with benefits, but it could be more. Like…"

Blake actually smiled almost wistfully.

"Like a wonderful forbidden love in Ninjas of Love! My hidden concubine of our sort-of former oppressors!"

She gave Yang a warm smile and held out her hand.

"What do you think?"

Yang's heart broke, and the rage simmering beneath the surface erupted as her Aura burned like the sun and her eyes glowed like pits straight to Hell.

Two Faunus-shaped projectiles flew from the roof and crashed through the walls of another building across the street. Sun weakly raised his head, then spat out a bloody tooth.

"... I think she's mad," Sun said.

Blake, being unconscious, said nothing.

- - -

The bar was probably the only one in the city that wasn't filled. Hell, the celebrations around it were subdued and furtive. Jaune Arc, one of the heroes who had helped saved the world, decided that was a good sign he was onto his quarry.

He entered the bar-Easy to do since the wooden doors had been smashed into kindling. The wooden floor had multiple holes stomped into it, the furniture was piled in pieces, and the bar was in ruins.

Two stools remained, one of which Yang Xiao-Long was angrily drinking at all alone. The bartender had wisely fled and the entirely stock was at the blonde brawler's disposal.

Jaune slowly walked up and slowly sat down at the stool next to her. Silence dominated as neither spoke. Yang just kept drinking, in between her sobs.

"Yang?" Jaune asked softly. "Yang…?"

Yang shook furiously, before she drove a fist through the bar. It added to the holes in it already.

"FUCK HER! I was... I WAS SO FUCKING STUPID!" Yang sobbed, her voice raw with pain. "She... She just... She ran away! SHE ALWAYS RUNS AWAY EVEN WHEN SHE'S HERE! RUNNING OFF ON ME! WHY DID I THINK I'D BE DIFFERENT?!"

Jaune, without hesitation, pulled her into a comforting embrace. She resisted at first, struggling against his hold, but eventually relented, her body slumping in defeat. Jaune pulled out one of Weiss' Schnee Black Lien cards and set it down on what was left of the bar-Hopefully it would settle the exorbitant bar tab in some way.

He then gently guided her out of the establishment, out into the night. The celebrations were more muted out this far from the city center, and the stars and broken moon were above and shining brightly.

"I was so stupid!" Yang sobbed, "I loved her! I really… I thought I did! It just… It happened so fast, I just… I went with it and it all… I was so angry but she seemed like she had changed and…"

"I know," Jaune murmured quietly. "Hell, I don't think we talked once until the Ever After."

"She was so arrogant and I just… I just…" Yang hiccuped and resumed sobbing. "Like everything we went through was for nothing!"

Jaune nodded, finally guiding them out to a small park. He sat them both down on a bench, and held up a handkerchief. Yang sobbed into it, and Jaune kept holding her tightly.

It took quite some time, but Jaune never let up, soothing her. She sniffled, looking up with her red, tear streaked face.

"I just… It's stupid," she sobbed, "I-I just… Am I just stupid?!"

"You aren't, Yang," Jaune insisted, "Okay? And Blake doesn't deserve you. Not a bit. Not after all we went through and all she put you through."

Yang sniffled, and Jaune used another handkerchief to wipe her eyes.

"... I'm like Dad and Qrow," she whispered, "I'm… I'm alone."

"No, you aren't," Jaune countered firmly. "I'm here."

"For how long?" Yang demanded, her voice cracking. "Why... Why haven't you gone back to Ruby? You... You and her... You're heroes... Weisscream's wet over you all the time...!"

Jaune's response was steady and unwavering.

"They don't need me right now. You do, Yang," he said, pulling her into another hug. "I care about you. All right?"

Sniffling, Yang looked up at him, vulnerability in her eyes.

"... You... You'll never leave me?"

"No. Not ever," Jaune assured her.

"How do I know that?!" she pressed, desperation in her tone.

"Because I'm here, Yang! I've always been here! I took it all! I did it... Because I care about you!" Jaune replied, his voice filled with conviction.

Yang continued to cry, but she leaned into him, nuzzling his neck as she whispered, "I'm sorry I was such a bitch... I'm sorry... I'm sorry about Pyrrha... I'm so, so sorry..."

"Shhhh... It's all right, Yang. It's all right..." Jaune soothed, holding her close. "It's okay… Bottom line: We won. We saved the world. And… Okay yeah, Blake is still Blake, but you will never be alone. Never again." He brushed his hands through her hair, which was soothing rather than infuriating. Yang sighed softly against his neck.

"... I should have fallen in love with you... I was so stupid..." Yang murmured, her voice barely audible.

Jaune chuckled and kept stroking her hair.

"It's all right. You weren't as bad as me."

"Stupid," Yang mumbled as she fell asleep. Jaune then pulled her up onto his back and headed for the house their team had been staying in.

It took a while but he found it through the still partying crowds. He kicked the door open and carried Yang through it. He headed up to the room she had been sharing with Blake… Then thought better of it. He headed to his room, opened it, and laid Yang down on the bed.

He tried to pull away… When her arms went around him.

"Please," Yang whispered, "Stay."

Jaune hesitated.

"Yang," he said softly. Yang had a desperate look in her eyes, warm and hungry.

"Please Jaune," she whispered, "Don't leave me…" She held his hand and pulled it towards her chest.

"I don't know if this is what you want-"

"And what do you want?" Yang inquired, searching his face.

"I want you to be safe and happy..." Jaune answered without hesitation.

"Then... Then be with me tonight...," Yang said, her voice raw with need.

Jaune hesitated, concern in his eyes.

"Yang, you're hurt, you're drunk—"

Her eyes were clear as her Aura flared.

"And I know what I want. Please, Jaune..." Yang insisted, pulling him closer.

The battle had been long and arduous. They'd all nearly died to Salem. He was so tired.

"Yang, I love Ruby-" Jaune began, but Yang silenced him with a deep, desperate kiss.

"Mmmm... We saved the world. Let's work out our regrets later..." she murmured against his lips.

Jaune sucked in a deep breath. He very gently pushed her away.

"You know Ruby's feelings for me, and my feelings for her, Yang," Jaune said gently. "You love her too."

Yang's eyes filled with tears. She trembled and stared down at her hands, still on Jaune. She pulled them away shakily. She looked back past Jaune and gaped in horror. The blond knight turned around and his jaw dropped.

Ruby stood there in the doorway, illuminated by the hallway light. She stared intently at them both.

""Ruby... R-Ruby, I'm... I'm sorry! It's not his fault!" Yang insisted, "It's not his-I did it-Please don't-!"

Ruby walked over and hugged her big sister tightly. She stroked Yang's back with a warm smile.

"It's okay, Yang," Ruby whispered, "Shhh... Yang. You're my big sister, and I love you. You did so much for me when Mom died and Dad shut down. You deserve so much better than what Blake did to you. Please. Let me do this with you. Let us love you."

Yang blinked rapidly and blushed.

"I… Wha-?"

"Huh?" Jaune gaped. Ruby turned and smiled lovingly at Jaune.

"Jaune, Yang... I want us to be a family. Don't you want a family?"

"Yes, but-" Yang tried, but Ruby beat her to the punch.

"So Jaune, you and I will make one. Won't it be wonderful? All of us together? I know we'll get jealous and unhappy from time to time... We always do... But I know that all together? You, me, and Jaune? We'll be happy. And we'll never leave you, or abandon you." She squeezed Yang's hand with a happy smile.

"Maybe even Weiss, if she's up for it?"

Yang gaped in disbelief at Ruby. She continued to smile. Jaune was not much better.

At last Yang managed to say something:

"... I... Oh wow... We are really fucked up, aren't we?"

Ruby giggled and nodded, looking over at Jaune.

"Yes... But we're together. We always will be. Don't you agree, Jaune?"

Jaune, now that he was over his shock, managed a slow nod.

"Yeah. Always," he said.

"So," Ruby grinned devilishly, reaching for Jaune's pants, "Let's make this a real celebration, hm?"

And they lived happily ever after…

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Some thoughts on the Silver Eyed Warriors and the worldbuilding I've done:

In the past there were probably a number of different clans of Silver Eyed Warriors-They wouldn't have survived for more than a few generations if they were just one tiny community. So there were a few such communities across Remnant and they may have been in competition. At least one intermarried with Arjun and May's ancestors and gave the Sarkara family their Hereditary Semblance of Aura Sight, and may have produced a few Silver Eyed Warriors every few generations. Maria's Clan was also in Mistral and may have been rivals of the Sarkaras. However, she might have been willing to try and breed with a member of that clan when she became the last of hers.

The Sarkaras still have the potential to breed more Silver Eyed Warriors (though they got rarer and rarer with every generation), but were integral to Pandu's political landscape and so Salem couldn't just destroy them as easily as she did the more independent communities. But she did almost manage it by backing the Kauravas.

Even after Arjun retook the throne though, he was effectively the last of the Sarkara Clan and Maria was past menopause. She also still remembered when her clan was at odds with the Sarkaras, so she continued to lay low.

However, this does mean that Arjun may have tried to court Summer Rose while at Beacon in order to produce more Silver Eyed Warriors for Pandu in order to retake the throne. So why didn't he?

More than likely he was, like Sasuke, hyperfocused on retaking the kingdom. That and, if he settled down as an exile and had children, they would be targets of the Kauravas. So he was saving having any heirs for after he retook the throne, and by then he was in love with Saia.

But it might be funny if he had made friends with Summer and he ran the idea of them getting married in the future past her at some point to make more Silver Eyed Warriors. How did that go?

(Obviously it didn't end in marriage but it might be fun to explore).

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Velvet was cleaning the lens of her favorite camera out in the ruins near Vale. She had just set up a perfect shot of a butterfly alight on a daffodil, and wanted to ensure it was taken properly.

She focused, adjusted the parameters, and took the shot. Her camera squeaked digitally, several shots transferring to the data card, before the butterfly flew off with a graceful flap of its wings. Velvet tensed, hearing footsteps nearby. She turned... And her stomach fell.

There stood Cardin Winchester, scowling at her.

"I..." He hadn't come after her for weeks. Not after Forever Fall. For some reason, he'd begun to give her a wide berth. So why... Why was he here?

He stood there, silent, glaring. He then reached behind him. Velvet cringed, drew back. She winced, closing her eyes. Yes, she could fight, but she just... He was so strong and big and her natural instincts made her want to flee, want to-

"Here."

She opened her eyes. She stared dumbly at the bouquet of sunflowers and dark Vacuoan chocolates being held out by Cardin in front of her. Cardin glared at her.

"Uh... Wh-What?" Velvet managed.

"Here," Cardin grunted again, "I got these stupid flowers and chocolates from... From my sister, and I don't know what to do with them. So... Here. You have them. They're your favorites... Right?"

Velvet blinked several times, her jaw hanging low. Was... Was she hallucinating? Dumbly, she accepted the candy and flowers.

"I... Y-Yes, but why would she-?"

"I don't really care, or-or anything!" Cardin continued, red crawling up the skin of his neck towards his face, "You're just a-a stupid rabbit and I don't like you! At all!"

Velvet again blinked several times. Cardin glared.

"What, you don't like them or-or something?!"
"N-No, I do! I do!" Velvet insisted, clutching the items to her chest. She did actually love these!

"Anyway," Cardin muttered, "Um... My sister also got me this stupid... This table at some stupid restaurant. This Friday night. And I don't have anyone to go with."

He held up his scroll. He'd gotten a reservation email. Velvet again blinked. It was to the Minerva, a very high class and romantic restaurant.

"W-Wait," Velvet tried, her eyes widening, "Is... Is this a date? Are you... Are you asking me on a date?"

"No!" Cardin insisted sharply, his entire face red now, "N-No! I-I don't like you! I'm just... I've been kind of a jerk and I want to make it up to you! Th-that's all! Y-You don't have to go! I'll... It's stupid anyway..."

Velvet stared for a very long time. Her mind put it all together. She let out... A laugh.

"You... You were trying to get my attention because you like me?!" She asked in disbelief. Cardin, bright red, didn't say anything and didn't look directly at her.

"I-I'm just... Trying to make up for what I did. Th-That's all."

Velvet was a bit dazed. It seemed utterly ridiculous. Yet she could hear his heartbeat pounding with her ears. She could see his terror, smell it.

It was... strangely empowering. She smiled. Now? Now she understood what was going on, and her other rabbit instincts came forward.

"... I mean," Velvet began slowly, "I guess I could..."

She took a step forward and looked up into his eyes. He couldn't quite meets hers, despite their height difference.

"But only," she stated, "If you're honest. Why are you really asking me out? Why did you bully me?"

Cardin mumbled something, even she couldn't pick it up. She held a hand up to her ear.

"Hm? What was that?"

"I said... Because I... Like you," he mumbled. "... I'm... Not allowed to like Faunus. My grandpa says so..."

Velvet blinked and blushed herself deeply.

"Wait, so when you were bullying Jaune-?"

"That was different!" Cardin growled, his face an even brighter red, "He's a weakling loser who needed to know his place! You I uh... Um..."

Velvet giggled. Cardin flinched. She felt a bit bad for enjoying it, despite all he had done. Still...

"All right," Velvet said with a slow nod, "I'll go with you."

Cardin's face lit up for a second, before he scowled and looked aside.

"W-Well, good! I... I don't want to waste my sister's money and shit," he huffed. Velvet giggled again. "Hey! It's not funny! She paid good money for this!"

"Of course," Velvet laughed, patting Cardin on the forearm, "You really are very cute."

She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. Cardin turned an even brighter red than she thought possible.

"Well I... Don't think you're beautiful or-or anything," he grumbled.

Velvet giggled again.

This was going to be fun.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

There wasn't much conversation at dinner. They all sat down in one of the hotel rooms and gobbled their food down: RWBY in particular eating like starving women. Even Weiss had thrown aside her usually impeccable table manners to happily devour the burgers, fries, and shakes.



Afterward, all five world saving heroes relaxed. Jaune had taken one chair, Yang, Ruby and Weiss the couch and Blake a small loveseat that she lounged on with some difficulty given its small size.



"Full stomach feels sooo good," Ruby sighed happily. She beamed at Jaune. "Thank you Jaune!"



"You're welcome, really," Jaune said with a laugh. Weiss nodded, tapping her fingers together.



"It-It's very kind of you," she added. "Though strangely enough, I miss the fire cooked meals we had on the road."



"Oh yeah, me too!" Yang enthused, "Especially that wild turkey! Mm! And the boar! You cooked it, didn't you Jaune?"



"Yeah, Ren and Nora caught it," Jaune confirmed with a smile, "Had to gather the herbs myself. Glad I packed the salt."



"We all are," Ruby enthused.



"It went better on fish," Blake opined. Yang snorted.



"You would think that, you stereotype."



Blake scoffed.



"I'm not a stereotype! I like fish! Lots of humans like fish too! Ren loved fish!"



"How are Ren and Nora, anyway?" Ruby asked quickly, more than likely trying to head off another argument between her sister and her ex. Jaune smiled warmly and helped his best friend out. Besides, he was glad to share more good news.



"They're great! They're living in Radian. They just moved into their new house. Ren is teaching Aura and martial arts at the hospital part-time, and Nora's serving in the militia and as a demolition company."



"Wait, it's just her?" Weiss asked. She then sighed at everyone else's looks and shook her head, "What am I saying? Of course it's just her."



"My sister Tangy helps with the finances and gets her jobs," Jaune said with a smile. "She and Ren are going to get married right after Lilac does."



"That's great!" Weiss enthused. "More weddings! I love weddings!"



"So," Jaune said with a smile, as his manners and instincts pushed him to a response he felt was a good idea, "How about your families?"



In an instant, the good mood vanished and all of RWBY seemed to sink into depression. Jaune could swear a dark cloud appeared over all their heads. He cringed, realizing his tactical misjudgement immediately.



"I-I mean we don't have to-"



"My parents lost the election in Menagerie to Shere Khan and Wile E. Coyote," Blake moaned, "By a landslide. Turns out they were doing some money laundering to get their big mansion. Not like, a lot? But enough they got sued. Plus the fact they couldn't act against White Fang because I was their hostage for years made them really unpopular when that got out. So um... They're still in the government but they're working to pay off their debt and uh... I'm avoiding them because I'm the one who found out about their money laundering and revealed it and um... Yeah."



She shrugged listlessly.



"Oops?"



Weiss bowed her head deeply.



"The Schnee Dust Corporation was essentially destroyed by the new anti-trust legislation the restored government of Atlas passed, and um, my father didn't actually leave me or Winter anything. At all. It all went to Whitley. He uh... He's still not happy about me pulling a sword on him and declaring we'd made up. He runs his own engineering firm now. Mother is um, is doing better. She's out of rehab. Winter is running the Atlasian military but uh, well... She wasn't happy with how I dealt with Whitley so things are uh, a bit strained? Eheh..."



Yang and Ruby tried to sink into the couch together.



"Dad ran off with some young hot millionaire heiress who wanted a DILF," Yang sighed, "He sends us money sometimes."



"Uncle Qrow won the lottery. He said he hadn't had a vacation in decades and so he ran off, we haven't heard from him since," Ruby mumbled.



Jaune very slowly nodded. He decided to choose his next words very carefully.



"That... That all sucks," he said. RWBY sank into a deeper depression. "But! But... This isn't as bad as when we were fighting Salem. We don't have to worry about her anymore."



He smiled and reached out his hands to them.



"And hell, I survived like twenty years in the Ever After," he said, "You didn't have to go through that!"



"We wouldn't have survived five minutes without you," Ruby grumbled.



"Doesn't matter," Jaune said firmly, "We're going to the wedding, and we'll sort things out after. I promise. Don't dwell on all that. It won't help. Let's look to the future, okay? It's been rough, but it's going to get better."



Ruby stared at his hand for a moment. She then slowly reached out and took it. Yang, frowning, reached out and took his hand too. Weiss, not wanting to be left out, wrapped both of her hands around his free one. Blake stared for a moment, making some kind of mental calculation... Before she got up, walked around and hugged Jaune from the side. Yang, Weiss, and Ruby all scowled. Jaune maintained his happy smile.



"Okay?" He offered.



"... Sure," Ruby managed, eyes narrowed at Blake.



"Okay," Yang agreed, her eyes glowing red as she shot Blake a very dirty look.



"Of course, Jaune," Weiss said, glaring daggers at Blake.



"We'll see, Jaune," Blake said, staring back at them intensely.



Some kind of silent conversation was being held between all the girls and Jaune didn't really know what it was about. They had been under a lot of strain and pressure lately. Again, probably something best nipped in the bud.



Jaune coughed to get all their attention on him.



"Well... Uh... It's getting late," he said. "Um... Anyway. Maybe we should get to bed and rest up?"



"Of course Jaune," Weiss said brightly. She got up and pulled Jaune to his feet. "Let's get to bed!"



"Yes! Let's!" Ruby added, also standing up and tugging on Jaune's hand. Yang got up and tugged harder, nearly pulling Jaune off his feet. She caught him, smiling strangely.



"Oops! Clumsy me!" Yang said, holding him against her chest, "But you had a soft landing, right Stud?"



"Uh, yeah," Jaune said carefully. He slowly stood up, pulling away from Yang. "Anyway, there are four beds. I'll grab the pull out from the couch and-"



"Nonsense!" Ruby insisted, hugging onto Jaune tightly, "We used to sleep in the same sleeping bag all the time on the road, Jaune! It'll be just like old times!"



"Um...?"



"I couldn't put you out like that, Ruby," Yang said, tugging Jaune her way, "As the big sister, I'll take the hit! You deserve a bed all to yourself!"



"Uh..."



Weiss joined the fray, yanking on Jaune's shoulder.



"Please Ruby! As your partner and friend, I will accept the burden of Jaune in my bed!" Weiss said with a gleeful smile.



"Er, that's not-"



Blake again intervened, hugging onto Jaune tightly around the waist.



"I've caused so much trouble," Blake said, "I'll handle this for you three. After all, I have the most experience."



"Yeah, like the alley cat you are," Yang snorted. Blake growled.



"You didn't want to do anything!"



"I didn't want to do anything you suggested because it was all from your porn books!"



"EROTICA!"



"I'm smallest, he'll have the most room with me!" Ruby growled.



"Please! I-I'm nothing next to him!" Weiss insisted, "I-I'll just get lost in his arms-!"



"Okay!" Jaune said loudly but calmly, pulling away from all of them, "I'll just go get another room. You all deserve to have beds to yourselves, and I've got the money. It's no big deal. All right?"



"But-!" Weiss insisted, but Jaune shook his head.



"You guys have a LOT of issues. Being at eachother's throats hasn't helped. So, we all sleep separately and we'll feel better tomorrow. That good with everyone?"



"I..." Ruby nodded, drooping like a kicked puppy. "Yes Jaune."



"Sure Stud," Yang sighed.



"Of course Jaune," Weiss murmured quietly.



Blake just nodded, still staring intensely at Jaune.



Jaune nodded back to them and smiled.



"Good. See you tomorrow," he said, "Good night."



They said their goodnights back. Jaune turned and went out the door. The moment it shut behind him, all four women glared daggers at eachother-Though three of them focused mainly on Blake.



"What the hell was that?!" Yang demanded.



Blake shrugged.



"Nothing you weren't thinking," she replied cattily, "Jaune's single. He's well off. He's dependable. And we'll be at a wedding. It's the perfect time."



"Perfect time for what?!" Weiss demanded. "For you to-to sink your claws into him?!"



"Basically, yeah," Blake shrugged.



"You-You shameless alley cat!" Yang snarled.



"How do you know he's single?!" Ruby demanded. "It's not like you searched through his social media accounts when he handed you his Scroll, is it?!"



"No," Blake smirked, "But you did."



Ruby went bright red. At everyone else's scowls, she glared back.



"S-So what if I did?!" She sputtered. "Just to make sure he was single! I-I'm curious about him! He's my best friend, despite, you know, everything!" She pointed an accusing finger at Blake.



"You just want him because you want an easy life!"



"Yeah, and so do the rest of you!" Blake shot back. "But he's also courageous, handsome, kind, and everything else a proper romantic lead should be!"



"You barely exchanged ten words with him during our whole adventure to stop Salem!" Weiss sputtered.



"Yeah, and I also didn't reject him when he courted me in Beacon!" Blake smirked.



"Yeah?!" Yang growled, "Well, you'll just run off on him the second things get tough or-or cheat on him with Sun!"



"WE HAD AN OPEN RELATIONSHIP!" Blake defended herself.



"YOU DIDN'T TELL ME!" Yang snarled. "Me? I'm going to stay with Jaune and-and build a proper home and family with him! I'll have twenty kids and we'll be happy!"



"Yaaaaang!" Ruby shouted, betrayed. Yang blushed.



"What?! You'll still be part of the family, Rubes! But you had your shot. I'm taking mine!"



"I'M TAKING MY SHOT!" Ruby snarled.



The argument continued... Until there was a knock at the door. Ruby scowled at her teammates turned traitors and stalked over to it. She threw the door open.



"WHA-Jaune?!"



Jaune stood there, looking disappointed. A hotel employee stood with him, looking annoyed.



"Guys," Jaune said, "This is why I said we should sleep and take care of this tomorrow, okay? Now everyone? Separate beds. Go. Now."



With his light beard and stern visage, he looked like the Rusted Knight again. All four girls nodded.



"Yes Jaune," they said meekly.



Blake and Weiss headed to their room, heads bowed, but still shooting dirty looks at eachother and Yang and Ruby. Yang and Ruby did the same, even after they were out of sight. Jaune shut the doors on both their rooms, sighed, and turned to the hotel employee.



"I'm really sorry about this," he said.



"Keep your harem in line, sir," the employee stated. Jaune scowled.



"They're not my harem!"



"Tell them that," he scoffed. "Also, you gonna tip or what?"



"For you responding to a noise complaint?" Jaune asked in disbelief. "Really?"



"Really!" The employee agreed. Jaune sighed and slipped some lien into his hand. He smirked saucily.



"Thank you sir... Though you know... If you and your ladies had a different sort of noise complaint, I could ignore it for a few more-?"



Jaune flared his Aura. It was like staring into the sun-A stern, powerful, angry looking sun in the form of a seven foot tall man built like a mountain.



The employee gulped nervously, handed the tip back, and tipped his hat.



"H-Have a good night, sir!"



He scurried off as Jaune glared after him. He sighed, released his Aura, and slowly shook his head.



"Some things never change," he muttered as he went off to his bed and his well deserved rest.



- - -



Yeah it's now a harem competition fic. It was going to happen eventually.



However, it's gonna require a lot more character growth to get to the happy ending.

 

[TheFabulousCustodes]

-RWBY and JNR managed to defeat Salem but she unleashed a final attack that killed off most of the world's population. So now the priority is: Have babies and rebuild civilization! I think humanity/Faunuskind is doomed with these idiots in charge.

Click to shrink...

Honestly?

Jaune probably wouldn't do a bad job.

The others though........

Jaune - "Why is the back of the truck only filled with tuna and cookies?!?"

Blake - "You said we needed to scavenge essentials for the Radian refugee camp!"

Ruby - "Yeah, essentials!"

Jaune - "Urrgh! Well, I'm sure Weiss and Yang were more sensible, and got those supplies & staff for the hospital."

Some time later.....
​

Yang - "Hey everyone, we're back!"

Jaune - "Oh, thank god! Ruby and Blake totally screwed up and..... what's that?"

Yang - "I got all the shampoo and conditioner the hospital pharmacy had. A girls got to look her best stud!"

Jaune - "Weiss, please tell me you brought back some doctors or nurses to help with hospital here in Radian...."

Weiss - "Why? There are already plenty. I found something far more valuable!"

Jaune - "Dare, I ask what?"

Weiss - "A baker, to replace my beloved cake butler!"

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Sixteen Years Ago...



Isabel was expanding every one of her senses with her Semblance, and speeding up her brain processing as quickly as she could. The stink of fear and Dust filled the air. The sounds of panic and gun fire were almost deafening. She could feel the heartbeat of the injured man she was trying to treat fading beneath her gloved hands, all in the wide railroad tunnel.



"Stay calm, stay calm," she insisted, pushing more Aura into the old, blood covered man, "It's okay, it's okay!"



She controlled her sweat glands to keep any of it dripping into her eyes. With one hand she pushed Aura through the Healing Dust into the man and with the other, she tried to stitch up his injuries. A nurse had plunged an IV into his arm to try and keep him going.



"I... I can't..." He whispered.



"Don't talk, it's okay, it's okay," Isabel insisted. The man shuddered.



"Did... Did my kids get out?"



Isabel didn't know. She hadn't gotten a name from the man. She sucked in a breath.



"I don't know," she whispered back honestly. The man shuddered, slumped. His heartbeat faded. She hissed, pushed more Aura into him.



"No, nonono, stay with me, stay...!"



Gone. The sensors she'd attached to his chest, linked to her Scroll, beeped in a low, mournful flatline. She took a deep breath, willed herself to stay calm.



"Doctor! More over here!" The beleaguered nurse cried. Isabel pulled the meager blanket over the man's body and headed over, already scrubbing her hands clean with antiseptic.



The barricade ahead was made of concrete traffic dividers. Valean Defense Force troops and militia members fired into the snarling darkness beyond as refugees tried to make it to safety. She tried to put it out of her mind, focus on her patients.



Two scraped up, crying children-She quickly sent them on ahead out of the tunnel with another refugee woman, they would be fine.



An old woman with a horrible thigh wound-She applied a tourniquet, a tiny bit of her Aura through Healing Dust, and had her loaded up on the train carts ferrying civilians out and troops in.



A man bleeding out, carrying his dead dog... She sat with him, gave him pain killers. He passed away. She kept her emotions off, stayed calm.



On and on and on it went. An endless stream of desperate humanity, fleeing from Mount Glenn, whose defenses were now gone. Her husband and her best friend, Mercer Sith, were in that same city, fighting desperately to protect people coming in. She hadn't seen them, smelled them, heard them, or heard from them over the Scroll in hours now...



No. Calm. The more she used her Semblance, the less Aura she would have. And she already had so little...



"Doctor!" One of the troops shouted. She turned-An Ursa had barreled through the gunfire and was clawing at the barricade. She sucked in a breath, summoned up some Aura, and charged. She had to save every iota of Aura she could, every drop-



She lifted up another concrete divider, and, using its mass, slammed it down on the snarling Grimm's neck, decapitating it. It began to dissolve, and the troops resumed firing as she pulled away and ran back to her patients.



Come on Nick, come on...!



She hadn't wanted to leave. Jaune had just been born, and he had been so weak! So frail! Even now, he was in a plastic bubble back at Arc-En-Ciel, not at home. She wasn't home, she hadn't wanted to come... But her baby was stable and Mount Glenn was falling. Every hand was needed.



So many people wouldn't be seeing their loved ones ever again today. More would if they weren't here. And yet...



I'm so sorry kids, I'm so sorry...



One of the soldiers (Captain Reynolds, her almost infallible memory provided) held a hand to his ear set. He shook his head. Even through the balaclava over his face and the helmet on his head, she could see he was outraged.



"They're what?!" He demanded.



He looked helplessly at Isabel.



"What?!" She cried.



"They say to pull back!" Reynolds growled. "They're collapsing the tunnel!"



Isabel's eyes widened and her jaw dropped.



"What?! They can't-There are still people in there-!" She shouted.



"It's too late!" Reynolds shouted, "They're sending a train!"



Isabel's heart pounded in her chest, her ribs rattling. She looked anxiously down the tunnel, praying, begging, she would see her husband and best friend.



"We have to go, Doctor!" Reynolds shouted, pulling back from the barricade while firing back. "Grab everyone you can, let's bail!"



"Get going!" Isabel shouted, "Go! I'm going to wait as long as I can!"



"Ma'am, we've all been ordered to retreat-!"



"You go then!" Isabel shouted, as calm as she could sound, "I'll help you load up everyone but get going!"



"Doctor, they said everyone-"



Reynolds placed a hand on Isabel's shoulder. She glared at him coldly, and grasped his hand firmly.



"I'm staying," she stated, flat and angry. Reynolds stared back at her, and slowly nodded.



"... Then I guess I'm staying too," he said. "BOYS! Covering fire! Everyone get out! GO!"



"But sir-!" One of the privates protested, but Reynolds glared. The private nodded hurriedly.



"Yes sir! MOVE! MOVE!"



Reynolds got back up on the line and continued to fire as his men withdrew. Isabel hurriedly used her strength and gathered up every patient she could move (and a number she shouldn't, but had no choice) up to the railcart. Her nurse was breathing hard, looking frantic (Inara, that was her name-Good girl, right from Radian), but was able to lay the patients on the cart properly even as the soldiers clambered around them.



"Doctor, that's all," Inara cried, "Are you really-?"



"YES," Isabel snarled. She summoned up a little more Aura, and kicked the railcart, sending it down the rail, "Now GO!"



She turned and picked up two discarded Auto Dust Rifles. She joined Captain Reynolds on the line, and opened fire on a few Beowulves heading for them.



"You can leave too!" Isabel shouted, "You need to go!"



"Lady, if you think I'm leaving the woman who kept us going behind alone, you're crazier than I thought!" Reynolds shouted back over his own rifle fire. Isabel allowed herself a smile, even as she stared down at the tunnel



Come on Nick, come on Mercer, come on...!



She could hear a train in the distance behind her. A loud, ominous whistle. She threw down her weapons the moment their magazines were spent, and picked up new ones, firing them on the Grimm.



At last she heard familiar fire-A railgun sword and a chaingun. Out of the darkness came Nick, running hard. He had a child over his shoulder. Mercer, the old cat Faunus, was right behind him, running backwards as he fired his heavy weapon behind them. A large crowd of people were with them, running for their lives.



"NICK!" Isabel screamed, "THEY'RE USING A TRAIN BOMB TO SEAL THE TUNNEL! HURRY!"



"A WHAT?!" Nick shouted back.



"HURRY!" She shrieked, grabbing another rifle to fire... And finding it spent too. She threw it at a Beowulf trying to pounce on one of the civilians, and the force of her throw split the Beowulf clean in half.



She wobbled. Her Aura flared around her, splintering...



Oh no, Isabel thought in horror, no, nonono, not now, NOT NOW-!



The train roared like an avalanche of steel. She collapsed to her knees and shook as her Aura shattered around her.



"IZZY!" Nick and Mercer screamed. Isabel grit her teeth, tried to stand...



Nick barreled through the barricade, smashing them aside. He picked her up and threw her over his other shoulder, running like a maniac. She held on for dear life, watching as Nick, Mercer, and Reynolds herded the civilians forward. Reynolds took the rear, firing furiously into the horde of oncoming Grimm as he moved backwards. Mercer sent out bursts as well, revving up his minigun to send more death back towards the monsters...



He looked back... His eyes widened.



"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" He bellowed, throwing himself to the side with a boy he managed to grab. Nick threw himself with the girl to the side. The civilians scrambled... A huge black mass barreled past her, so fast, so huge she felt the tips of rivets brush her hair...



The train charged on ahead, leaving death in its wake. It slammed into the horde of Grimm and kept going, undeterred by their numbers. She saw people all over the tracks, some dead, many injured-



"NICK! Nick, we can't-We can't just leave them-!" She shrieked.



Then there was a massive explosion. The world turned white, then black.



- - -



She awoke some time later-Her Aura was back, if weak. She was lying on a cot in a tent, judging from the smells and fabric flapping sounds. She opened her eyes.



Nick was sitting over her, looking grim. He squeezed her hand tightly.



"Izzy... Izzy, you okay?" He whispered.



Isabel nodded slowly. She sat up. Nick gave her water from a bottle, which she gratefully accepted.



"You... Are you okay?" She asked. Nick sucked in a deep breath. "Is Mercer okay? Is-?"



"I'm fine," Mercer grumbled, the grouchy old cat stepping into the emergency tent. He still wore his simple but garish outfit-Plaid pants, military boots, white undershirt with some tactical armor, and a khaki canvas duster. He scowled at her with his black eyes.



"You almost weren't," he stated, "Aura Breaking? You? An Arc? Your granny would be ashamed-"



"How many?" Isabel demanded, in no mood for Mercer's usual antics. "How many did we...?"



Nick bowed his head. Mercer sighed, and looked away as he lit a cigarette. Nick slowly raised his head and looked her in the eyes.



"We got the little girl out... A boy Mercer snagged... The rest..."



He trailed off. He bowed his head in shame. Isabel stared.



Her husband had almost never shown shame. Never seemed so... So lost, broken and sad. So defeated.



"... The tunnel collapsed," he whispered, "They... They wanted to be sure... We carried you all here but..." He shook his head. "I... Izzy..."



He sucked in a deep breath.



"I'm sorry, Izzy," he whispered, "I'm so sorry. I wasn't strong enough. I wasn't good enough... I'm sorry."



Isabel stared at her husband. Tears came to her eyes. She wrapped her arms around his big shoulders. He wrapped his arms around hers. Mercer sighed, smoking in silence.



There was nothing but the cold wind, and the dead so far below...

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Team CMEN (Carmen was the official title but some insipid idiots kept making the same tired joke) was sitting outside pretending to do some studying. Emerald didn't know why they bothered, but Cinder's reasoning that they couldn't let anyone suspect them was solid... Mostly.



"Hmhmhmmm... Mmhmm..."



Lately, Emerald suspected Cinder had other motives. Something even Mercury picked up on, as he sighed.



"You know Cinder," he said, "We could just leave you alone with the guy."



Cinder started, having been staring at... Him. She shook her head and glared at Mercury.



"Stop saying such ridiculous nonsense," she growled, "We are out here to maintain our cover!"



Mercury sighed. He glanced away.



"Oh look. Arc just popped a shirt button," he deadpanned.



Cinder glanced over... Then her cheeks turned red. She glared with fire in her eyes at Mercury, who, despite his fear, smirked.



Neo grinned and licked at her ice cream cone far more lasciviously than she had been before.



And Emerald seethed.



Emerald had devoted herself entirely to Cinder. Every waking moment of her existence was bent towards aiding her ambitions, in proving herself worthy of Cinder's trust and affection. No matter how terrible, how horrific, how difficult the task was, Emerald would accomplish it for her mistress.



And now, some ill-bred cowpoke was taking all of Cinder's attention!



"He's a potential threat to our operation," Cinder stated firmly, her cheeks still tinted, "And partners with Nikos. While his close range combat skills are poor, his ranged combat skills are very dangerous. The two of them could pose a significant threat, especially if Nikos obtained the Maiden Power."



"Perhaps we should test his skill then," Emerald piped up, barely hiding her anger and jealousy. Cinder raised an eyebrow and gave her a deadpan expression. Mercury smirked knowingly, while Neo tilted her head in a silent question.



"Oh?" Cinder asked flatly, "And how would you do that, Emerald?"



"Quite simply," Emerald stated. She stood up and turned, heading right for that guitar strumming lout. He was relaxing, as he often did, by a certain tall tree on the grounds. His hat was down over his eyes as he strummed away. His horse grazed nearby, though she poked her head up and stared at Emerald as she approached. Emerald paid the horse no heed, storming right up to stand ten feet in front of Arc. She glared and rested her hands on Thief's Respite.



"Jaune Arc!" She declared.



Arc poked his hat brim up to stare up at her. After a moment, he got to his feet, slid his guitar to his side, and tipped his hat with a polite smile.



"Miss Sustrai? What can I do for you?" He asked kindly.



It made her hate him all the more.



"I... Wish to see which of us is a better shot with a revolver," she managed, her calm tone somewhat ruined by her grit teeth. Arc blinked a few times.



"Well certainly miss," he said with a smile, "May I ask why-?"



"No," Emerald practically snarled. Jaune slowly nodded.



"Yes Miss. When and where?"



"Noon!" She spat. "The shooting range!"



Arc looked at her in concern. That it seemed be sincere just made her angrier.



"There something the matter, miss? I offend you in some way? If I did, I do apologize and would be happy to make amends-"



Emerald drew Thief's Respite and fired. Arc's hat flew right off his head. She fired a second time, then a third, then a fourth, making the hat sail higher and higher into the air. She then let it fall, like a crumpled leaf, right in front of him.



Arc blinked. He blinked again. The horse stared very intensely at the place between her shoulders.



"You... You...!" Emerald snarled. "You have this coming!"



Arc very slowly knelt down. He picked up his hat and examined it carefully, sticking a finger through the holes. He then calmly set it back on his head. He stood up. His eyes were shadowed... But the Aura surged through them, making his blue eyes glow. His face was as hard as stone, and his Aura felt like a thundercloud raging across the Vacuoan prairie before it unleashed its fury.



For a moment, Emerald was daunted, cowed... But she glared back in stubborn pride.



"Very well, Miss Sustrai," Arc stated, his voice as cold and hard as steel, "You've made your point. Noon. Tomorrow. We will settle this."



"Count on it!" Emerald growled. She turned and stormed back to CMEN's table. She took the time to calm herself, take deep breaths and regain her composure. She sat down, and bowed her head slightly towards the staring Cinder.



"This will allow you to truly gauge his ability, Miss Cinder," Emerald said, "And learn how to overcome him, even if he's paired with Nikos."



Cinder was silent for a few moments. She then slowly nodded.



"Inelegant, Emerald," she stated, and Emerald winced, "But effective. We will see what kind of fighter Mister Arc truly is."



Emerald smiled and nodded quickly.



"I-I will not fail you, Cinder!"



"Sure, that's one way to put it," Mercury muttered. Emerald punched him. "OW! What?!"



- - -



Part 2 coming soon...

 

[AndrewJTalon]

In Volume 5 after RWBY has reunited...

Ruby: "Yeah! We did it!"

Yang: "Yeah! We sure did!"

Blake: "Yes! RWBY is reunited! We're back together!"

Ruby: "I-Wait what?"

Blake: "What?"

Weiss: "What are you going what about, Ruby?"

Ruby: "I mean... Er... Yeah, we beat this bad guy and all but... Back together? As a team?"

Blake: "Yeah. I brought an army, we defeated White Fang and Lionheart-"

Ruby: "Yeah and that worked fine, but like, permanently?"

Weiss: "What do you mean? You're acting like you don't need us!"

Ruby: "I really don't."

Yang: "What?! Come on, I'm basically a Super Saiyan!"

Ruby: "Pfft. In short bursts, sure, but then you get carried away and then get beaten! Nora hits harder, her Semblance is easily recharged, and she's not making terrible jokes all the time!"

Yang: "They are NOT terrible! And who are you going to get for your tank instead of me, huh? Jaune?"

Ruby: "Yes Jaune! Did you NOT see him stop the Nucklavee? He's a freaking TANK! Also, Jaune's Defense and Support are super incredible! He's like a White Mage! He literally brought you back from the dead, Weiss!"

Weiss: "Which I appreciate but my Glyphs can-"

Ruby: "HA! His Dust Projector in his Shield lets him cast offensive blasts AND heal! And he can take a hit! You can't!"

Weiss: "I-I so can! I can move at super speed-!"

Ruby: "You did in your trailer. Never have since then."

Weiss: "I... I haven't needed to?"

Ruby: "Like when you almost died?"

Weiss: "HEY!"

Ruby: "Continuing on, Blake? Ren's way more useful than you as a ninja. He can manipulate emotions at range and while his weapon sucks, I'm gonna buy an upgrade for him in Atlas and he'll be complete. You? You just have your clones for a distraction and ninja tools that really needed an update."

Blake: "But come on, we have to get back together! We were separated for a while sure but-"

Ruby: "Oh? And why were were separated, Blake? Why don't you tell me? I mean, Yang joined me after she got over her PTSD... Weiss got kidnapped by her dad... And you...?"

Blake: "Umm... I ran off and... Kind of abandoned you. Um, but I had a good reason!"

Weiss: "Oh this should be good-"

Ruby: "We'll get to you too, Weiss. Blake?"

Blake: "Well, uh... I mean my psycho ex did maim my best friend and I thought you'd be safer if I wasn't... Around?"

Yang: "Oh gee, like he wouldn't have done to any other human?"

Blake: "It was personal!"

Yang: "He literally murdered a guy right in front of you! RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!"

Blake: "Yeah well... I still came back! With an army! To-To save you-!"

Ruby: "Yeah, sure that's great Blake, why didn't you bring your army to save Beacon? Huh?"

Blake: "Well I-"

Ruby: "You were still Menagerie's Princess! Why didn't you call in an army to help then?"

Blake: "I'm not really a princess-"

Weiss: "She's what?!"

Ruby: "Yeah, she's the daughter of Menagerie's rulers. Has been this whole time. No idea how we didn't figure it out sooner but she grew up in a mansion."

Weiss: "WHAT?!"

Blake: "It's not even that big a mansion! It's like half the rooms of yours, Weiss!"

Weiss: "YOU HYPOCRITE!"

Weiss has to be held back by Yang.

Ruby: "Plus, I would like to remind you all that during Vytal, Weiss got kidnapped, Yang got maimed, and Blake ran off. Even before then, none of you listened to me except when we were about to die! You all had your own personal dramas that were more important to you than the team or me!"

Yang: "That's not true! I totally rejoined you-"

Ruby: "After being in self pity and trauma for almost a whole year. I saw people DIE, Yang! I saw PYRRHA DIE! And I still got up and went off with Jaune, Nora, and Ren, who don't HAVE your drama queen bullshit! Hell, his trauma and quest for justice makes him sexier!"

Yang: "I mean... You're not wrong about Jaune."

Weiss: "That's fair."

Blake: "Bad boys are overrated."

Ruby: "ANYWAY! Team RNJR has been saving the day just fine and I'm sure if I max our gear and grind a little (especially on Jaune) we'll be able to handle it! You guys can stay in the backrow. Later!"

Ruby shoots off. Yang, Weiss and Blake stare at eachother.

Weiss: "... By that she means-?"

Yang: miserably "Back row... With the unpopular player characters nobody uses unless they're completionist weirdos."

Blake: "It can't be that bad-"

Cait Sith: waves his Mog arm "Hey."

Blake, Yang and Weiss: Scream in horror

- - -

Yeah I never liked Cait Sith in FF7 and after rewatching some of Volume 4-5? Jaune, Nora and Ren were ride or die for Ruby, whereas Weiss, Blake And even Yang... Weren't. Yang got a little better, sure, but their personal dramas still dominated over SAVING THE FUCKING WORLD. So I'm letting out my mean spiritedness a bit and playing up Ruby as a gamer for laughs.

Seriously, fuck Cait Sith in FF7 so much. His story is cool but the character in play? Uggggghhhhh...

If you like him, that's fine, but I'm old school about it and never found him useful.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Honestly?

Jaune probably wouldn't do a bad job.

The others though........

Jaune - "Why is the back of the truck only filled with tuna and cookies?!?"

Blake - "You said we needed to scavenge essentials for the Radian refugee camp!"

Ruby - "Yeah, essentials!"

Jaune - "Urrgh! Well, I'm sure Weiss and Yang were more sensible, and got those supplies & staff for the hospital."

Some time later.....
​

Yang - "Hey everyone, we're back!"

Jaune - "Oh, thank god! Ruby and Blake totally screwed up and..... what's that?"

Yang - "I got all the shampoo and conditioner the hospital pharmacy had. A girls got to look her best stud!"

Jaune - "Weiss, please tell me you brought back some doctors or nurses to help with hospital here in Radian...."

Weiss - "Why? There are already plenty. I found something far more valuable!"

Jaune - "Dare, I ask what?"

Weiss - "A baker, to replace my beloved cake butler!"

Click to shrink...

Some more time later...
​

Jaune: "Okay Ruby, first? Thank you for fixing all our vehicles and finding the spare parts."

Ruby: "Don't worry! I'll keep our fleet of vehicles running for years!"

Jaune: "But why did you turn one of them into a robot dog?"

Ruby: "His name is Zwei-II, and he's a good boy!"

Jaune: "He's humping the tractor."

Ruby: "He's young! He'll learn!"

Jaune: "He's going to wreck the transmission."

Ruby: "He's trying his best!"

Jaune: "We need that for food."

Ruby: "The tractor looked like a whore anyway!"

Even more later...​

Nick: "Well... That witch sure was a bitch. Unleashing an attack that devastated the planet. But hey! No more Grimm means we can rebuild! But we're gonna need a lot more people to do it!"

Jaune: "Sure are Dad."

Nick: "Which is why your mother and I are having another baby!"

Jaune: "Woah, really?!"

Isabel: "Yes! I used my Semblance and now I'm pregnant again..." Deep sigh "However, given how low the population is... Well..."

Willow: "HAHAHA! I WIN ISABEL!"

Nick: firmly "Willow."

Willow: "Ahem. I mean, I will be a loving and supportive sister wife?"

Nick: "Good."

Jaune: "What."

Isabel: "Well... I suggested that polygamy might be a valid method of increasing the population in the short term. We'll have to be very careful to avoid inbreeding or devolving back into a hunter-gatherer society ruled by harem keeping men, but it is something we'll have to make use of to ensure there is a tomorrow. So yes, Willow will be joining our family."

Willow: "I'm so glad, Jaune! Nick was... Well..." blush "I'm so glad I'll be here! Building a family! And having Nick's children!"

Isabel: "Just remember who was here first?"

Willow: "I'll try."

Glynda: "Ahem... I too will be joining the household, Mister Arc... I mean Jaune."

Jaune: "Professor Goodwitch?!"

Glynda: "It helps we're still friends. Plus, Nick is more tolerable than Qrow. Far fewer fart jokes."

Willow: "And he's hung like a horse!"

Glynda: blush "... That also helps."

Isabel: irritated sigh "Yes, well... It would be best to raise the children in a stable family unit so here we are."

Nick: "Don't worry Izzy! I love you! And I love you all!" hugs them happily "I promise, I'll love all of you and our kids until you get sick of it! Ahahaha!"

Isabel: blush, smile "Well... Maybe this won't be so bad..."

Nick: "And the rest of you young people will have to sort out things yourselves!"

Jaune: "Eh? You mean...? Um..."

Isabel: "Yes Jaune, you're probably going to need to take multiple wives as well. As will other surviving men."

Jaune: "Oh... Well... Can I talk to them one on one before that happens?"

Isabel: "Of course. This is a very serious discussion you need to have with the women in your life-"

Nick: "HEY LADIES! WE'VE DECIDED TO GO FOR POLYGAMY! YOU GUYS SORT OUT WHO WILL MARRY JAUNE AND IN WHAT ORDER!"

Isabel: "NIIIIICK!"

Nick: "What? Better to rip the band-aid off! Besides, I'm sure they're all very rational and reasonable young ladies-"

Weiss: "HE'S MINE YOU BITCHES!"

Ruby: "LIKE HELL! EAT SCYTHE YOU STUCK UP BITCH!"

Yang: "I'M NOT ENDING UP A LONELY LESBIAN WITH A CAT! TAKE THAT!"

Blake: "EXCUSE YOU BITCH?! HE'S MINE!"

Violence ensues.

Nick: "See? Totally rational!"

Jaune: moans

 

[TheFabulousCustodes]

Survivor's of Salem, Part 3

At a indoor cafe in Radian.....
​

Jaune - "Well, this is an certainly unexpected meeting. I didn't expect to see you again Winter, or you Fiona! That goes doubly so for you and May, Arslan!

Winter - "Yes, well, it may be somewhat presumptuous for me to say so, but I don't think any of us are where we expected to be in life. Atlas gone, and my mother soon to be married to your father, pregnant no less..."

May - "I'm grateful that you rescued me during the fall!"

Fiona - "Your town is very nice!"

Arslan - "Your dad was one of my childhood heroes, so meeting him honestly let me cross a longstanding goal off my bucket list..."

Jaune - "I'm glad that you all made it through everything these past couple years, but what's this meeting about?"

Winter - "Of course, lets not forget why we're here. Your are aware, of course, of the current gender imbalance the world faces because of the war."

Jaune - "It's hard not to be, my mother actually caved on Willow being together with my father. If that doesn't say "potential looming societal collapse", nothing does..."

Fiona - "Yes, well, we talked amongst ourselves as to who we could all find as an acceptable husband, and well...."

Arslan - "You were at the top of our respective lists. May's in particular."

Fiona - "The little hearts she put around your name were very well drawn!"

May - *blushes*

Winter - "We wanted to meet to make our case to you, as to why we four are superior marriagable material, as opposed to my sister and her friends."

Arslan - "We're less disaster prone!"

Fiona - "Winter and I are grown women, and bring maturity to the table!

May - " I think... what's that noise?"

A pile of thrashing, biting, punching, and kicking bodies rolls into view...
​

Weiss - "Back off you sluts, I saw him first. First, I say!"

Yang - "More like you were the first to abandon him! Left him for dead, pinned to a tree in the forest during initiation!"

Ruby - "You abandoned me, your younger sister that day too! I never abandoned Jaune, we exploded together, and we journeyed across continents together for justice!"

Blake - "Jaune's first girlfriend was a faunus, that means he prefers me!"

Team RWBY rolls out of view...
​

Jaune - "Girls, you had me at maturity. Let's get hitched before they find us again."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

RNJR ends up taking over all those side quests, usurping the rest of WBY's roles. Weiss is horrified when Jaune unlocks Whitley as a party member and, by proxy, the Winter route.

Raven and her tribe become a late game boss fight to unlock Ruby's final equipment tier and the last stage of personal side quests.

Menagerie becomes a new quest hub, after a relatively innocuous sidequest introduces Shere Khan.

Click to shrink...

Before that, they realize the obvious:

Yang: "GUYS! We missed a critical thing: A critical quest hub that Jaune unlocked early on!"

Weiss: "Stop speaking in nerd! What did he unlock?!"

Yang: "His hometown... IS WHERE HE, NORA AND REN GOT EXTRA TRAINING!"

Blake: "What?! They trained during the timeskip?! OF COURSE!"

Weiss: "Timeskip? What are you talking about-?"

Yang: "So we're gonna get Jaune in here to share what happened!"

Yang later drags Jaune into the room.

Jaune: "Uh, oh, hey girls! I don't know what's going on with Ruby but you're still part of the team! We need everyone!"

Weiss: "You-You mean that Jaune?"

Jaune: "Totally! Though... She's right, you guys do need work."

Yang: "We do, VB! Which is why we came to you! So... How did you train during the timeskip?"

Weiss: "Again, what is a timeskip-?"

Jaune: "Oh, well, my mom and dad trained me, Nora and Ren in Radian. We did some sidequests and worked hard!"

Yang: "Wait, really? But what about Saphron saying your parents didn't care-?"

Jaune: "Eh? Come on, that's silly! What parents would say they didn't care if their only son lived or died? That's like something a hack writer for an anime-esque show that lost its actual creator would come up with!"

Something breaks. They all look at Blake, who is standing next to a table. A broken vase is in pieces on the floor.

Blake: "Sorry. I had to do it."

Jaune: "But uh... Yeah. I mean, what were you guys doing during that the six months?"

Weiss: "Um... Well, I was kind of trapped in my mansion with no supervision except my loyal butler?"

Yang: "Recovering from losing my arm."

Blake: "Brooding in my mansion in Menagerie."

Weiss: "You bitch."

Blake: "I said I was sorry!"

Jaune: "So uh, yeah. That's how me, Ren and Nora were able to get stronger. You want to try?"

Weiss: "I mean... We did kind of want to go on to Atlas-" Yang grabs her "Urk!"

Yang: "The Atlas Arc can wait! WE NEED TO BACKTRACK! Jaune! WE'RE HITTING YOUR HOMETOWN!"

Jaune: "Wait, why me-?!"

Yang: "Because your broken Semblance will let us level up faster! COME ON! WE'RE SPEEDRUNNING THIS BITCH!"

Meanwhile, in Atlas...

Cinder: "... So... We do have an evil plot with an election... Shouldn't we get on with that?"

Salem: shrugs "Eh... I'm in no hurry. Watts? Find a way to delay the election. Maybe stir up some kind of subplot with some new villains. We've gotta have SOMETHING going on!"

Watts: "Why do you keep speaking like this is some kind of show?"

Salem: "If it is a show, it's a boring one! Get Doctor Merlot to make some evil monsters or something!"

Watts: sigh "Yes Mistress..."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

- - -



Things became a lot more peaceful at Beacon after Aqua departed. Jaune certainly appreciated it very much. He had enough to keep on top of, what with the Vytal Festival in a few months, homework, and training.



It didn't help his social life had suddenly become much more active lately. He was now training with Pyrrha, Nana, Papa, Mordred, his team, and RWBY! And all of a sudden more people were dropping in! Not that he minded hanging out with his friends and family, but sometimes a guy wanted a little time to himself!



So he'd hid himself away in the kitchen of one of the unused dorms. He'd closed the blinds and left only the basic lights on, to further conceal himself. His unpacked his groceries, arranged them neatly, then donned his favorite Pumpkin Pete's apron. His plan was to cook a nice chicken dinner for all his friends, and whoever else dropped in. He'd actually become very good at cooking, and doing that for his friends was the least he could do for all they had done for him.



He had prepared the chicken thighs, deboned and defrosted. He had them on a cutting board. He stood over them, checking them over.



He lifted up his knife, and brought it down slowly on the first thigh... Only for a hand to grasp his with an iron tight grip and hold him tightly.



"That's not the way," a man's voice rasped. Jaune trembled. Why hadn't he kept his weapons on him?!



"That's not the way," the man continued, his dark form leaning out of the shadows. A cigarette was held between his lips. He closed his mouth to puff on it, the end illuminating his face.



"... To hold a knife when you're cooking chicken!"



Jaune stared into the face of the older man. He was blond, tall, with a thin dark beard. One of his eyebrows was curled over his forehead, the other, along with his other eye, fully concealed by a shock of blond hair.



In an instant, Jaune relaxed. He held a hand up to his chest and grinned.



"Uncle Trey!" He exclaimed. "Geez, you trying to give me a heart attack?"



Trey chuckled, pulling back enough to slap his nephew on the shoulder.



"Nah, just wanted to have some fun. You're almost as stiff as your mom! Being tense while cooking ruins the food, you know?"



Jaune nodded.



"Ah."



"And cooking in the dark?" Trey scoffed. He walked over to the lightswitches and turned them all on, fully illuminating the room. Trey was dressed in a simple (if somewhat ruffled) black pinstripe suit with a maroon undershirt and black tie. Jaune grinned at him and shrugged.



"Sorry. Just trying to get some time to myself. It's been hectic!"



"Mm, so I've heard," Trey stated, taking another drag off his cigarette before taking it between his fingers. He held it as he scowled darkly at Jaune. "You've disappointed me, Jaune."



Jaune gulped. Despite the lighting, his uncle's face was dark with shadows. He walked back towards Jaune slowly, grim fury in his eyes.



"I-I mean, what did I-?"



"I can't believe you," Trey growled, shaking some ash off his cigarette, "after all I've done for you... All I sacrificed for our family... To be betrayed by my own flesh and blood...!"



Jaune shrank back, taking several steps away until he bumped into the oven. He looked back, and then looked forward. He held in a squeak of terror as his uncle loomed over him, face to face.



"But I-What do you-?!"



Trey then sniffled... Pulled back... And began to cry. He held up his arm over his eyes and sobbed.



"My own nephew! Collecting a harem when his poor uncle is still single!"



Jaune blinked. He blinked twice. He sighed heavily and his shoulders drooped as he stared in exasperation as his bawling uncle.



"Uncle Trey, I don't have a harem!" He insisted. "I'm very good friends with several girls but we're friends! That's it!"



Trey glared death at his nephew.



"Don't lie to spare your uncle's feelings!" He roared, "That's unbecoming of a man!"



Jaune held up his hands and waved them.



"No! Nonono! It's NOT a harem! We haven't done anything!"



"WELL WHY NOT?!" Trey demanded, shaking his fists, "ARE YOU STRINGING THEM ALL ALONG OR SOMETHING?!"



"N-NO! NO! OF COURSE NOT!" Jaune insisted.



Trey held up his Scroll and flipped through several images. Images of Jaune out and about with many of the girls in his life.



"WELL EXPLAIN ALL THIS!" Trey demanded, shoving the Scroll in Jaune's face. Jaune gulped and shook his head as he looked at the picture of himself and Ruby in cosplay as Knightmare and Vampire Girl. Ruby was hugging his arm very tightly as they posed for the camera.



"Those?! We-We just went out for fun! Ruby wanted to go to a comic convention!"



"AND THIS?!" Trey demanded, flipping to an image of him winning a stuffed animal for a happy Yang.



"Well there was a street carnival and Yang wanted to enter the dance contest!" Jaune explained, "And I got her a stuffed bear! As friends!"



"AND THIS?!" Trey seethed, flipping to an image of Blake and Jaune eating sushi.



"We just ate some sushi! She fed me some, I fed her some-As friends!"



"AND THIS?!"



"Pyrrha needed a ride to a meeting with her agent! Epona wanted to go for a ride! She held onto me because she doesn't know how to ride a horse! Again, all friendly!"



"AND THIS?!"



"I just made Weiss some cake to apologize for Cousin Alice weirding her out! As friends! How did you get all these pictures anyway?!"



"I have friends who are very good hackers when they're NOT MAKING OUT IN FRONT OF ME," Trey seethed. He scowled at Jaune and held his Scroll up again. "You seriously don't think any of this is more than friendly? At all?"



"NO!" Jaune exclaimed. "Not a bit!"



Trey stared at Jaune. He looked back over the photos. Each girl wore a blush, or a not-so-hidden look of longing or admiration. Even Weiss, though that may have just been the cake.



Trey sighed, and kicked Jaune in the face.



"OW!" Jaune yelped, rubbing his chin, "What was that for?!"



"For making life harder for the rest of us," Trey grumbled. He shook his head. "Still! Since we're blood relatives and I love you and your dear mother... I will help you out!"



"Er... Thanks Uncle Trey?" Jaune managed. Trey nodded firmly.



"Indeed... I have to admire you, Jaune," he said. He began to sniffle. "Like me, you have put aside love with beautiful women for a greater goal! For the greater good!"



Jaune blinked, but slowly nodded.



"Yeah... I want to be a hero, like Dad, Mom, Nana, Papa, Uncle Alex, Uncle Brand, Aunt Irene... And-And you!" He said earnestly.



Trey sniffled, manly tears running down his cheeks. He hugged his nephew and slapped him on the back.



"That's utterly inspiring, Jaune!"



He then tightened his grip painfully and Jaune yelped.



"BUT WHY DID YOU HAVE TO INHERIT YOUR FATHER'S OBLIVIOUS HAREM LEAD POWERS?!" He roared.



"I-I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!"



"EXACTLY!"



- - -



Second part will be up in a while. But how is this? I think I figured out how to fit Trey/Sanji in without too much bother.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Again, trying to keep many of my old ideas going and expanding rather than just getting distracted by anything new. So without further ado...



- - -



Blake stares at Isabel. Blake stares back. An old clock ticks in the background as the silence stretches on. Blake crosses her arms over her chest.



Isabel: "Blake, it's perfectly fine. Nothing you say will go beyond this room, and your identity is safe."



Blake: "What are you talking about? I'm Blake Belladonna, a normal human girl."



Isabel: very patiently "Blake? My Semblance allows me to enhance my senses. You're a cat Faunus."



Blake: "I'm just wearing perfume that emulates that-!"



Isabel: "But I thought you were a human? Why would a human want to smell like a Faunus?"



Blake: "It's a double bluff?"



Isabel: "Blake..."



Blake: huffs "I just don't see how this is supposed to be beneficial in any way, shape, or form. I know I'm not crazy!"



Isabel: "Well, that's a rather narrow minded viewpoint of mental health, Blake."



Blake: sniffs "How do I know this isn't an interrogation?"



Isabel: "You chose to come here, Blake. Headmaster Ozpin let you in so you could redeem yourself. But that requires you cooperating. Now, we can talk about anything you like. Or you can choose not to talk. It's up to you, but the law is that after a Hunter-in-Training has been involved in a violent incident, they need to attend therapy sessions for evaluation."



Blake: glares "Fine. Then I'll just sit here for an hour in silence."



Isabel: "If you wish to. I imagine it will get rather boring though." She holds out a ball of yarn



Blake: "Wha-That's racist!"



Isabel: "What? The Sith Family nextdoor enjoy playing with balls of yarn. It helps them relax. Poor Mercer especially likes to use them to de-stress."



Blake: scowls "It's stereotypical! And anyway, this isn't fun at all..." She looks down and realizes she's been playing with the ball of yarn. Her ears flatten against her skull "... Shut up."



Isabel: "I didn't say anything."



Blake: "Hmph..."



Silence for a bit while Blake plays with the yarn. Finally, she speaks.



Blake: "So you know who my parents are?"



Isabel: "Yes."



Blake: "Have... Have you called them?"



Isabel: "The Headmaster has made them aware you are here and safe. But that's all. I think you'd do better to talk to them yourself."



Blake: "I... I can't do that."



Isabel: "Why?"



Blake: scowls "It's none of your business! It's personal!"



Isabel: nods "All right."



Blake: "... Why don't you tell me more about yourself? I can ask you questions, can't I?"



Isabel: "If you would like."



Blake: "Your neighbors, the Siths... They own their own farm?"



Isabel: "Yes. Their family has lived in Radian for generations. They were subjects of my ancestors when the Arcs were royalty, then nobles. All the way back to Bertrand de Sith, who accompanied our founding matriarch, Jeanne D'Arc, on her quest to defeat the Witch Queen of Argus."



Blake: "Subjects?"



Isabel: "Sworn nobility. At their height, when the Arcs were the royal family of the Gallian Empire, they were the Dukes of Radian."



Blake pulls out her Scroll and looks it up. She blinked in disbelief.



Blake: "Faunus as nobility...?"



Isabel: "Yes! Nowadays of course they're just our good friends. They've worked the same farmland for generations. Mercer was my best male friend growing up." She smiled in nostalgia "He was like my big brother."



Blake: "I... I haven't seen any of this. I mean, I learned a little about Faunus in other lands... There were Faunus nobles?"



Isabel: nods "Not many, I'll admit, but yes." She holds out her own Scroll and flips to an image of an older man with feathery hair "That's Father Percival, the head priest of the church in Radian. He's a dove faunus and is very good friends with my entire family. I've gone to him for church my entire life. He helped my siblings and I after our parents died to the Grimm."



Blake: stares in disbelief "I..." shakes her head "I still have a... A hard time believing this. I mean, in the White Fang... I never saw any of this. We were told Faunus who rose through the ranks or gained wealth and power were traitors to Faunus. Pets of humans."



Isabel: snorts "Mercer would beat the crap out of any Faunus who spoke such trash. He's proud of his family, as am I. His eldest son is marrying my second oldest daughter, as it turns out."



Blake: "R-Really? And you... You're okay with it?"



Isabel: "Why wouldn't I be? Mercer Junior is a little rough around the edges, but he's a fine young man. A great mechanic, a great racer, and he's a good boy. I've known him since he was a child!" smiles "And I do look forward to having more grandchildren."



Blake: "I... I see." She bows her head in thought, brooding "Again, I'm just... It's hard. I know the White Fang did so many terrible things. That-That's why I left. But the more I learn, the more I... I feel like I was... Wr..."



Isabel: "Hm?"



Blake: "Wr.... Wro... Wro..."



Isabel: "Wrong?"



Blake: "NO! I-I mean... Um... Mistak... en?"



Isabel: nods "I see... It's all right to make mistakes, Blake. We all do. The most important part is learning from them."



Blake: scowls "Do you have to sound like my mother?"



Isabel: "I'm afraid it's hard for me to sound like anything but a mother, given I have eight children."



Blake: huffs "Bet none of them became violent revolutionaries."



Isabel: wryly "In some cases that might have been an improvement."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

RWBY was inspired by shonen anime and JRPGs. And a classic part of the genre is a rival for the main character. Cloud has Sephiroth. Naruto has Gaara, Sasuke, etc. Goku has Vegeta, then Freeza, then Hit, etc. And so on.



So it's odd that Ruby doesn't actually have one.



"But Talon you man child obsessed with an animated webshow!" You might say, "Of course Ruby has a rival! She has Cinder! And Salem!"



No. For there to be a rival there needs to be some kind of personal investment, as well as a heavy juxtaposition between their worldviews, personalities, and philosophies. As well as a driving element of change in the story.



Yeah Cinder set up Vytal and killed Pyrrha, but everyone has a grudge against her for that. And we never saw Ruby and Pyrrha interact in any meaningful way before she died. If anything, Cinder is Jaune's rival. Their fight is VERY personal, for both of them. It's why Jaune trains so hard, pushes himself so hard, to stop Cinder. To avenge Pyrrha and stop Cinder. It DRIVES Jaune's character growth.



Ruby? Doesn't really have that with Cinder. She's another bad guy to stop. Yes, a big one, but there's nothing that multiple other characters wouldn't have with her. Ruby doesn't really CHANGE that much to deal with Cinder, not really.



(Which is another issue but bear with me.)



Salem is too impersonal to be Ruby's rival or main enemy. She's the Big Bad. It's not as personal, as visceral, and isn't concrete enough as a driving force.



So I have three ideas.



First? Someone who deceives Ruby during Haven or Atlas. An infiltrator who gets close and hurts Ruby in a very personal way. Neo might fit there, and giving her more to do is always good. She also wants revenge on Ruby for "killing" Roman, which... Doesn't make a lot of sense but you could always fix that up somehow. Neo would also need to rise in importance to Salem and become a more important villain. Problems with this are that Neo is too free spirited and independent. Sure she wants to kill Ruby but the connection is very one-sided and always has been. So this requires the most work to make possible.



Second? Tyrian. He is antithetical to Ruby in every way. She cherishes life, freedom, and takes joy in the everyday. Tyrian is a misanthrope, who worships Salem and only enjoys killing for his goddess. Ruby is being mentored by Ozma/Oscar, Tyrian is guided by Salem. But how to make it personal? Simple: Tyrian killed Ruby's mother, Summer. He reveals this to her during his first attack on RNJR. He gloats over her, makes her feel weak and powerless. This enrages her and pushes her to fight on, to figure out a way to get out, to get stronger. He takes a personal interest in Ruby after she injures him-Slices off his tail. He also changes to some extent interacting with her-Not like a romance, but a good rivalry between characters often brings out new things in both of them. This could work pretty well.



Third? And this is the weirdest one... Summer. Not as a Hound, because that concept was rather... Meh? Rather, Salem did kill Summer... But kept her body. She used her magic to create an artificial soul to power the corpse and made use of her as a weapon. Over time this Summer revenant developed her own feelings and personality, a dark echo of the original. Salem uses her as a weapon against other Silver Eyed Warriors, and to defend her from them. The Red Reaper became a Dark Reaper. Now that Ruby has been revealed as a potential threat, Salem sends Dark Summer after her. But Dark Summer hesitates to kill her, due to some lingering parts of the original Summer. Then it becomes more insidious: Dark Summer begins to appear to Ruby, and Ruby thinks it's a dream. Dark Summer gains Ruby's trust, and reveals herself to be real... Then comes the reveal she is working for Salem. A revenant in thrall to the Dark Witch of the Grimm. You could play with a lot using this concept.



What do you guys think?

 

[AndrewJTalon]

You know, I like to imagine that once Jaune came out of the Ever After, he lost any sense of a filter. The man will say what he think when he thinks it.

Not because of any of the Afterains, but because he stopped giving a shit a long time ago.

Jaune's essentially an old man who stopped giving a fuck about what all the youngsters around him think and he's damn well going to make that clear.

(Basically he becomes a blond male Maria.)

Click to shrink...

At Vacuo...

Blake: "Blah blah blah Faunus rights blah feminism blah we're lesbians!"

Ruby: "Blah blah blah I've been reset again so cookies and adventure yay!"

Oscar: Blah blah blah glad you're safe blah blah Salem blah..."

Glynda: "Blah blah blah refugee crisis blah blah blah let's spend time on a sidequest about how people hate refugees despite it being entirely divorced from the real world context blah-"

Jaune: "ENOUGH!" He points at Ruby "No more abusing my best friend!" Points at Oscar "No more shitty fortune cookie platitudes from the possessed Twink!"

Oscar: "Hey!"

Jaune: points at Glynda "No more shitty political commentary!"

Glynda: "I-!"

Jaune: points at Blake and Yang "AND NO MORE OF YOUR STUPID MELODRAMA! YOU'RE LESBIANS! BIG FUCKING WHOOP! GOOD FOR YOU!"

Oscar: "But-You-I-!"

Jaune: "Hey, listen: Who has a Semblance that lets him never run out of Aura but also boost everyone else's to make them unstoppable? ME. Who has been fighting in a weirdass other dimension for twenty years refining it and his combat skills? ME. Who knows how to access said other dimension to finally kill Salem dead? ME."

Oscar: "But I've been fighting Salem for centuries-"

Jaune: "AND YOU'VE LOST. ALL THE TIME. So, you can either waste more time on BULLSHIT for a full volume, or we can call out Salem now and END HER SHIT. What's it gonna be?"

Ruby: "... I'm in!"

Weiss: "Hell yes."

Blake: "I am not melodramatic and you should care-"

Yang: "We both say yes!"

Glynda: "... Hell yes, Mister Arc."

Jaune: "GOOD! Nora?"

Nora: "Yes Captain?"

Jaune: "Ren?"

Ren: "Yes?"

Jaune: "Get me a Scroll. We're ending this bullshit."

Meanwhile, in Salem's Leviathan...

Salem: "What the... Who is calling-?"

Jaune: "Hey Salem! Ozma says you were frigid and your goth phase was lame. Didn't make you hotter, you just wanted attention."

Salem: "Why you-?!"

Jaune: "Come and get us, bitch! Rusted Knight, SIGNING OFF!"

Salem: "What in the...?! Ooh! Cinder! We're killing them all!"

Cinder: "Yes My Queen!"

They arrive at Vacuo... And a massive yellow Aura Slash erupts from the city and cuts the Leviathan in half. Salem and Cinder fall and land on the ground.

Salem: "... The FUCK?! Who has the balls-?!"

Jaune: "ME. I'm here to finally end your stupid ass!"

Salem: "HA! You and what army?"

A truly massive army of everyone left arrives, all supercharged thanks to Jaune's Semblance.

Salem: "Yes well, I have an army of Grimm-!"

Ruby unleashes her Silver Eyes, Supercharged, and every Grimm for miles is evaporated. Salem is badly hurt and shaking.

Salem: "... Um..." Holds Cinder in front of her "IT WAS ALL HER IDEA!"

Cinder: "WHAT?!"

Salem: "Medamnit I'm using your plot armor for me!"

Cinder: "YOU BITCH!"

Needless to say, after enough violence, Salem is persuaded to go into the Ever After to the Tree to die, Cinder is killed horribly, and all ends well.

Jaune: "Good! Now... I'm going home and I'm gonna sleep for the next ten years."

Ruby: "With me in your bed?"

Weiss: "I'm going with him!"

Yang: "Like hell! Just broke up with Blake and I'm getting a happy ending!"

Blake: "Not if I do it first! I'm a goddamned cat girl ninja princess, I deserve a happy ending!"

Ruby: "NOW YOU'RE FINE WITH GENDER ROLES?!"

Jaune: groans "I'll marry all four of you if you'll just SHUT UP?!"

RWBY: "... Okay!"

Glynda: "Um, Mister Arc-"

Jaune: "Fine, you too Miss Goodwitch."

Glynda: "That's not what I was going to..." stops "You know what? Sure."

Jaune: "GOOD! Nora, Ren? Card games after?"

Nora: "Strip poker, usual rules?"

Jaune: "Yes."

Nora: "WOOHOO!"

And they lived happily ever after...

- - -

Again, total crack, don't take seriously.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

There was a lot of paperwork, debriefings, and various other unpleasant tasks to get through... But eventually, RWBY, JNPR, and everyone else returned to Beacon to rest.

Jaune made it to an empty dorm bathroom to wash up. He loved his friends, really... But he told them he needed some time to decompress on his own. Though he did share a significant look with Pyrrha before he headed off.

Once at the dorm, He took a long, hot shower... Then emerged in just a towel. And Cinder was waiting for him.

Jaune: "Oh! Uh... Hey Cinder."

Cinder: nods "Jaune."

Jaune: "So... What did you want to talk about?"

Cinder: "Team RWBY interfered in the plan. They managed to send an emergency signal to Vale... One you acted upon."

Jaune's Brain: Okay... Play it cool, play it cool...

Jaune: "Yes. To do otherwise would have blown our cover, as Adam Taurus should well know."

Cinder: raised eyebrow "At no point did I mention Adam Taurus. However did you deduce it was him I was working for?"

Jaune's Brain: Crap! Crap crap crap! Gotta stay calm...!

Jaune: little smile "That was a guess, but there aren't many bull faunus in the White Fang you would refer to. He's also young, aggressive, and charismatic. And he would love to make the cities of Man fall."

Cinder: nods slowly "Again, I underestimated you. General Ironwood has been placed in overall command of security for Vytal, but that was a foregone conclusion. Ozpin being removed by the Council is a ceremonial act at best. We killed no one. While it has heightened tensions, that was brief and the Vytal Festival is still months off." smiles "Still, it was not a total waste. Adam is now willing to work with me with far fewer complaints."

She smirked at him and crossed her admittedly amazing legs as she sat on the bed.

Cinder: "And now? Now you are beyond reproach and above suspicion in Ozpin's eyes. He will grant you even more access which will be far better for our plans than Adam's little temper tantrum."

Jaune: nods and bows his head "I am but your humble servant, Cinder."

Cinder: "Indeed... You have done well." She rose and walked up to him. "A good servant deserves a reward, don't you think~?" Sultry smile, lays a hand on his bare chest

Jaune's Brain: Urgh... You know, usually, I like bad girls but Cinder? Eesh... Stay calm and neutral...

Jaune: nods "I appreciate it again, Cinder... But the mission must come first."

Cinder: pouts "Really? I would let you have Emerald, Pyrrha, and even your little girlfriend all at once? And still you reject me?" Her eyes glowed with fire

Jaune: "Not rejection, Cinder. Practicality. We got here because we have been careful and professional. The side that wins makes the fewest mistakes."

Cinder: "And if I were to make it an order?" Her other hand has a small fire ignite in her palm

Jaune's Brain: Damn my Arc Rizz! Think fast, think fast...!

Jaune: "That would not be nearly as satisfying as when we can truly enjoy ourselves... When Beacon and Vale lie in ruins and you have your full power."

Cinder: glares... But sighs and releases her flames. She pulls her hand back. "I suppose you are correct... Your self control is admirable."

Jaune: "Thank you, Cinder."

Cinder: "Honestly, I wish I had run into you instead of Mercury or Emerald. How much more could we have accomplished if Salem wasn't playing such ridiculous games? What a pity. Still... Now, we are together. And the world is in our hands."

Jaune's Brain: Geez... She is in full chuunibiyou mode... I feel bad for her but it's easier to reject her when she's totally crazy and evil.

Jaune: "Yes Cinder."

Cinder: chuckles "Why so deferring all of a sudden?"

Jaune: "I'm always polite to women who come to my bedroom when I'm in a delicate state."

Cinder: chuckles again "Good. Keep it that way."

She heads out. Jaune breaths a sigh of relief... Which is when Pyrrha pops in through the window.

Pyrrha: "Jaune!"

Jaune: "GAH!" He jumps, holding onto his towel "Pyrrha!"

Pyrrha: "S-Sorry..." Stares with a blush and smile "Um... So... Things went well?"

Jaune: "Yeah. You did clear the room-?"

Pyrrha: "Of course! So don't worry... Um... But we have another problem."

Jaune: "What problem-?"

Yang, Ruby, Weiss, and Blake fall out of the ceiling.

Ruby: "GAH!"

Yang: "OOF!"

Weiss: "URK!"

Blake: "Ow."

Jaune: "Wha-What?!"

Pyrrha: "They um... They followed me."

Yang is up first and glaring.

Yang: "What the hell is that chick talking about?! And-And why are you meeting her behind my back nearly naked?!"

Ruby: "YEAH!"

Weiss: "We should freeze her solid!"

Yang: "Then I'll shatter her!"

Blake: "Honestly, if you were going to cheat on us, you should pick someone better than her."

Jaune: groans

Nora: also comes in through the window "Did we miss the soap opera?"

Ren: also comes in "I don't think so."

Jaune: "Okay! Let me explain... Once I have my clothes back on?"

Yang: "NO!"

Jaune: "No to explaining or no to the clothes?"

Pyrrha: blush "Ummm..."

Once Jaune has his clothes back on, and Pyrrha and everyone else have done some sweeps... Jaune explained the situation.

Jaune: "Yeah, basically, Ozpin is using me as a double agent with Cinder."

Ruby: "But how did you know all this stuff?!"

Nora: "Yeah! You knew the attack would happen at the square!"

Jaune: "Oh, I'm sure Oobleck just send the message to just-"

Ruby: "No, it was all over the city."

Weiss: nods "Every electronic billboard."

Jaune: "Well, uh... Um..." sighs

Pyrrha: "It's okay Jaune. Tell them."

Jaune: "... Fine... I can... Kind of. Sort of. See the future. Or I saw one possible future. It might be my Semblance, it might be something else, but... I know what was going to happen."

Stares. Silence. Nora held up a hand.

Nora: "Do I marry Ren?"

Jaune: "I didn't see that far but I'm hopeful? Last I saw you two were taking a break...?"

Nora: "What?! Seriously?!"

Ren: blinks "A break?"

Jaune: "Yeah, I don't know why. Things got really bad, it might have been the stress."

Ruby: "Then... The future... If you're trying to change it-?"

Jaune: "It was bad. Really bad. End of the world bad. I managed to survive it, somehow. A lot of people didn't..." shrugs "That's why I've had to be very, very careful with what I say or do. If we change too much? We will lose our advantage, and Ozpin ordered me to maintain the secrecy."

Ruby: "So, um..."

Jaune: "I can't reveal more details. Not now. Hell, Ozpin's going to chew me out for revealing this much. But we need to be on guard. Things are still in motion... And Blake? Adam is involved."

Blake: tenses

Jaune: "But don't worry. We will NOT let him win. We won't let any of them win. I promise. I just... I need you all to trust me. I have to keep things secret but it's not out of malice. It's because I've been ordered not to by Ozpin and because a lot of it doesn't apply anymore."

Weiss: "... I see."

Ruby: "Wow... Time travel..."

Jaune: sighs "So, let's keep this quiet, okay? Nobody talks about this unless we've done a thorough sweep of the room first. Understood?"

Much nodding and agreement ensues. Yang is very quiet. Jaune sucks in a deep breath.

Jaune: "Now... I'd like to speak with my girlfriend alone, please?"

Pyrrha: "I... Yes Jaune."

Ruby: "Yeah."

Weiss: nods "Of... Of course."

Blake: "Sure."

Ren: nods

Nora: pats Jaune on the shoulder, then Yang "Go easy on him?"

Yang: "... Yeah."

Jaune's Brain: Crap she's mad...

Everyone leaves the room, leaving Jaune and Yang alone. Jaune takes a deep breath as the door is shut behind them.

Yang: "... So... Did we end up together in the future? Is... Is that how you romanced me?"

Jaune: blinks "What?"

Yang: "I-I'm not mad if that's the case. I mean, if I went back in time I'd have... I'd do the same thing. God, that would be weird wouldn't it?"

Jaune: "Um..." rubs the back of his head "Actually, in the future I saw? You ended up with Blake."

Yang: snorts "Blake?! Seriously?!"

Jaune: "Yeah. It was really spur of the moment for both of you. You only admitted your feelings when the alternative was to basically die? So I don't know how strong it was..."

Yang: "But you didn't, like... Carry a torch for me?"

Jaune: "I mean... I might have? I apparently simped over Weiss for a long time and didn't notice Pyrrha's feelings for me until... Well. Until she died."

Yang: frown "Oh..."

Jaune: "Crap. I shouldn't have said that..."

Yang: "Does P-Money know?"

Jaune: "Yeah. She figured it out. She's been helping me with Cinder... Nothing's happened-"

Yang: "I know it hasn't. That's not what I'm... That's not the issue."

Jaune: "What is?"

Yang: sigh "I mean... It's weird, okay? You saw the future and you've changed it and... And we weren't supposed to happen?"

Jaune: "In that future? Maybe? Maybe not? It's a moot point because the world was about to end. That future timeline isn't going to happen. I won't let it happen. And even if it still was, somehow, going to happen? My feelings are real. I... I do love you. It isn't out of defiance of the future or anything... I love you." sighs "And if you want to... To work things out with Blake, break up with me-"

Yang: snorts and laughs "Seriously? Blake? Hahahaha!"

Jaune: "Eh?"

Yang: "Heh... Hey, don't get me wrong, I like her. And well... I mean... I do like girls too. But Blake? She's got issues. Sun's been chasing her for so long and she's barely given him a date or two... While she's pining after you! And teasing us. Point is, I like her... But I don't think we'd last very long if we took that step."

Jaune: "Oh..." That's very mature of her, actually

Yang: "And... And I love you too."

Jaune: bright red

Yang: smiles "H-Hey... A girl appreciates a man who is loyal, kind, brave... And looks great with his shirt off. You really laid it all bare!"

Jaune: "Hahaha!"

Yang: "But still... This is really heavy."

Jaune: wryly "Great Scott."

Yang: "Huh?"

Jaune: "Nevermind. The point is... I'm trying to save everyone because I care for all of you... But you're the one I really truly love."

Yang: slowly nods "... I see. Just... I just need to think about this for a little bit."

Jaune: nods back "I understand."

Jaune's Brain: It was too much to hope she'd get over it instantly.

Yang: "Still, this explains some things..."

Jaune: "Like what?"

Yang: sad smile "Why you look so old when your guard is down. The future fucking sucked for you, didn't it?"

She hugs him tightly. He hugs her back.

Jaune: "Yeah... It sucked for all of us."

Yang: "Well then... Let's make a better one, huh?"

Jaune: smiles "Absolutely."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Yang and Jaune talk some more... Then come out. All their friends are waiting outside.

Ruby: "O-Oh! Uh, hey guys!"

Weiss: "We weren't eavesdropping!"

Pyrrha: "N-Not at all!"

Ren: deadpan "They were."

Nora: "REN! NOT COOL!"

Blake: "I was."

Weiss: "YOU COULD HAVE LIED!"

Blake: "I'm not bothering." She looks at Yang "Yang? I also find you very hot... But I also agree any romantic relationship between us would be short lived at best. We're just too different and want different things out of life. Also... I'm... Not in a great place right now." She sighs "I have... A lot to work on."

Yang: "Oh..."

Jaune: "Blake... We all do. I don't know all your thoughts from the future, okay? So... So there are no judgements here."

Blake smiles.

Blake: "But we are all friends, no matter what happens, right?"

Yang: grins "Of course!"

Ruby: "Yeah!"

Jaune: "Always."

Weiss: "... Yes."

Blake: happily "And when we all get married to Jaune as part of my royal harem, we'll be even better friends-!"

Jaune: bonks her "NO! Bad Blake!"

Blake: "Owwwww! What? I'll include everyone! Nora and Ren too!"

Nora: "I'M A ONE MAN KIND OF WOMAN THOUGH I ADMIT I HAVE HAD THOUGHTS OF THAT NATURE!"

Ren: red face

Jaune: deadpan "Thank you Nora."

Weiss: "Still... Um... That is a heavy burden. Especially given..." She looks over at Pyrrha uncomfortably

Pyrrha: smiles "I'm not worried. We won't let that happen. I know... I know you won't." She squeezes Jaune's hand

Jaune: smiles. He checks with Yang, who smiles back. He turns back to Pyrrha. "Definitely."

Ruby: "We're not losing anyone... And we're going to save the world." Hugs Jaune

Jaune: "Yeah..."

Isabel: "JAUNE MILES ARC!"

Jaune: "Oh crap..."

Jaune's Brain: That's canon?!

Jaune turns back to see his parents walking up. Isabel is angry and Nick is grinning.

Nick: thumbs up "Great job, son! I knew you could do it!"

Jaune: "Oh, well, it was a team effort and we all worked together-"

Isabel: "Not THAT! Did you teach your friends my Might technique?!"

Jaune: "Um, well... Yes? And a few other Aura techniques? It helped us win and it was the least I could do since they all helped me train and study-"

Isabel: sighs in exasperation "Back in the day, you could only share those techniques with women you intended to marry or have join the clan!"

Jaune: "Wait... Wha... You don't mean-?!"

Blake: gasps happily

Ruby: blush "What?!"

Yang: "What?!"

Pyrrha: "What?!"

Weiss: "N-No way! How is that enforceable?!"

Nora; "YAY! WE'RE FAMILY NOW!"

Nick: "COME TO MY ARMS, DAUGHTER NORA! WE WILL SMASH MANY THINGS IN CELEBRATION OF YOUR BROTHER JAUNE'S MARRIAGES!"

Nora: "YAYYYY-Wait. Can I still marry Ren if we're part of the clan?"

Nick: "SURE AS SHOOTING!"

Nora: "YAAAAAYYYY!" Hugs Nick

Jaune: "Mom... There is no way this is legal. In any way. At all."

Isabel: "No, of course it's not."

Jaune: sighs in relief

Isabel: "But you deserved a scare after all the torment you put your poor mother through!" Hugs him tightly "My brave son...!"

Jaune: "Urk... Well... Sorry Mom, but this is what I needed to do."

Isabel: sighs "I know... I know... I'll get used to it. Eventually... Of course, your Nana is very traditionalist so let's hope she doesn't hear about any of this."

Nora: "Awww... Does that mean I don't get adopted?"

Nick: "You do! But not your boyfriend! So it's less incesty!"

Nora: "HOORAY!"

Jaune: "Well at least someone's happy..."

Yang: "What? Marrying a lot of hot babes isn't fun for you, sweetie~?"

Jaune: "I'm not answering that."

 

[AndrewJTalon]

We need badass sky pirates in RWBY. We only got Tok, who sucks. So to that end, here's one I made:

While Winter and Weiss are on vacation in a resort town during the summer break (and where Team SSSN coincidentally took their vacation in):

- - -

Weiss had just settled in for the night, practically dancing on the air as she laid down into her comfortable bed in the Chateau D'Aulnoy. Her thoughts were light and happy, as she sighed and snuggled into her sheets.

A week. A week of romance with her first boyfriend, Neptune! He'd been such a gentleman! He had gone to the beach with her (she swam, he begged off to relax), explored the cliffs, toured the city, and they'd had so many meals together! He'd been endlessly warm and polite and complimentary! He had held her hand, and kissed it, and been so gallant and kind!

He had often seemed distracted at times, which had been a bit annoying. Especially around other women. She'd worked hard to keep his attention on her.

She should have been the center of his attention in all ways! Who did he think he was?

Though honestly, he was probably intimidated by Winter. Winter had followed them around, never overbearing but always around. She supposed she couldn't blame him. Winter intimidated her.

She appreciated her older sister's concern but really! She could handle herself!

Otherwise, it was a lot of fun. It was probably the most fun she'd had in a long, long time.

Even with Winter's overly protective tendencies.

Weiss was just about to drift off to sleep, hopefully with dreams of her wonderful first boyfriend… When the peace of the night was shattered by loud music and raucous singing.

"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me
We pillage plunder, we rifle and loot
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho
We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me~!"

Weiss groaned and sat up.

"What is going on…?"

She got up out of bed and stalked to the window. She cast open the curtains and glared out.

"Who is making all that… Racket?!"

A gigantic red and gold airship was hovering alongside Ponce, over the beach. It was long and large, at least 200 meters long from Weiss' quick estimation. It had a massive, sleek hull, dagger shaped, with large Dust-powered engines in huge nacelles near the aft with long, trailing wings to aid it in flight. It had intimidating triple gun turrets on the dorsal and ventral sides, with several smaller guns all along the hull. A tall, swept back, fin-shaped mast stood on the top deck, covered in antennas and sensors, which made the entire vessel resemble a gigantic, sky-going shark.

And lit up with lights, a large black flag with a skull and crossbones waved from the mast.

From her studies of history, Weiss recognized it as a Valean Montana-class air battleship, one of the last ever built for Vale. Only one had been finished, but it had been left in drydock for decades before they decided to scrap it. She knew this because the SDC had been contracted to scrap it while her grandfather and her uncle were still in charge.

When they'd come to the drydock though, the battleship had vanished. It had been stolen and christened with a name that would strike fear into hearts across Remnant:

The Jolly Roger.

Smaller airships, mostly commercial or light patrol models, darted around Ponce, all painted in similar red and gold colors. One flew past Weiss' hotel window with a roar, and she shrieked in surprise. Yet even louder than the engines was the singing!

"We kindle and char and enflame and ignite
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho
We burn up the city, we're really a fright
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho~!"

Winter burst into the room, already in her battle uniform and wielding her sword.

"Weiss! Get dressed, get your weapon, they're pirates!" Winter cried.

Weiss complied, yanking on her combat outfit and taking up Myrtenaster. She grabbed any stock of Dust she had on hand and got ready in a few minutes. Outside, numerous pirates were spilling out of Dustcraft, into shops, bars and across the Ponce boulevard.

Winter and Weiss leaped out the window and landed on the main thoroughfare of Ponce, just as one of the many dust craft landed before them: An Atlesian gunship, painted in red and black stripes. Several other dust craft flew around them, spotlights illuminating the two Schnee sisters. Weiss held up her hand and scowled against the brightness, even as Winter stood firm.

The hatch on the gunship opened, and several air pirates ran out. All dressed in combat armor vests, boots, with guns and swords at their sides over their multicolored clothing. They formed an honor guard around the ramp of the gunship, and stood at attention as a man stepped out.

He was tall-Almost seven feet tall. His hair was black and curly, tied in a tail behind him. His face was almost aristocratic with his high cheekbones and pointed chin, with an immaculately tended beard to frame his face. His eyes were black as the night and swept over the area with a keen gaze.

He wore a broad-brimmed burgundy hat, topped with a black Nevermore feather. His pants were black and his shirt white, underneath a deep red greatcoat, and his boots were well travelled and up to his knees. Pouches hung from his belt, along with a well used cutlass. His left hand was normal flesh, but his right was shiny and metallic, flexing at some unconscious musing.

He stepped out onto the pavement of Ponce, his gaze finally zeroing in on Winter and Weiss. He showed no fear, no malice-Just a hard, unrelenting determination. If the situation were not so dire, Weiss might have called the older man handsome.

"Ladies," the man spoke with a smooth baritone voice, "Captain Jim Silverhand, at your service." He doffed his hat and bowed.

"What does the most infamous Valean air pirate want with a resort town?!" Winter demanded, pointing her sword at him.

"Yeah!" Weiss declared, pointing her own blade at the man.

Captain Silverhand stood back up with an almost charming smile.

"Why… We are here to celebrate!" He cried, holding his arms up, "Isn't that right, lads?!"

"YAR!" Bellowed his crew, from the dust craft to the pirates with him.

"You won't get past us!" Winter snarled.

"But you must," Silverhand chuckled. "For if you don't, the consequences will be most… Dire."

The pirates with him tensed, their hands on their weapons. Winter shifted into her combat position, as did Weiss.

"Weiss, I'll hold them off. You run and raise the alarm," Winter muttered to her younger sister.

Weiss stared in shock.

"Sister?"

"I'll handle this, you need to-!"

"Dad?!"

The tension was broken as both parties turned to look over at Team SSSN. Scarlet was staring in shock and disbelief, as Sun, Neptune, and Sage stood ready with their weapons.

Silverhand's expression abruptly changed from shock… To joy.

The pirate captain moved, and Winter made to strike to protect the young man. Silverhook however moved too fast for her reflexes, and in an instant, he was…

Embracing the redheaded teenager?

"SCARLET! MY SON! How are you?" Silverhand laughed, patting the shorter man on the back, "Look at you! Are you eating enough, son? Are these reprobates taking care of you?"

"Uh, yeah, Captain Silverhand, sir," Neptune managed, as dumbfounded as anyone not a pirate or Scarlet. "We are.

"Totally," Sun said, raising an eyebrow. Sage looked almost amused.

"Son…?" Weiss managed.

Scarlet pushed Silverhand away with a scowl.

"I'm fine, Dad! Seriously, what the hell is going on?! Why are you all flying around and making a ruckus?! You're scaring everyone to death!"

Silverhand looked a bit embarrassed. He rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, I wanted to find you and celebrate the good news!" He looked over his shoulder. "SMIEGEL!"

A shorter man in battle vest over a blue and white striped shirt darted out from behind the taller pirates. His hair was white, his blue eyes magnified behind spectacles, and he carried a Scroll rather than a weapon.

"Yes sir, Captain!" Smiegel cried, skidding to a halt in front of Scarlet and his captain, "Young Master Scarlet, the good news!"

He held up his Scroll and projected a large legal form. Winter and Weiss read it quickly, Winter finishing first with a disbelieving scowl.

"'Letter of Marque, issued by the Valean Government?!'"

"That is correct," Silverhand said cheerfully, "My fleet have gone legit! We are now part of the Valean Defense Forces… Such as they are!"

"You and your gang of ruffians?!" Weiss cried in disbelief. Silverhand grinned.

"Absolutely! We've all received a blanket pardon, and can now go about as lawful citizens!"

"Let me see that!" Winter demanded, looking over the Letter of Marque with a scowl. Smiegel looked over at Silverhand, who then nodded.

"But of course! Miss Schnee, Miss Schnee, you will find the documentation authentic, and my crew's behavior beyond reproach!"

A pirate was thrown out of a nearby bar. The man snarled, stood up, and pulled out his gun.

"I'll teach you to-!"

"HAWKINS!" Silverhand barked. Hawkins winced and looked over to Silverhook.

"Captain, I-I was just-!"

"We shall comport ourselves as gentlemen, Mister Hawkings!" Silverhand barked, "Or I'll keelhaul you!"

Hawkins shook and saluted.

"Aye-aye, sir!"

Silverhand smirked over at Winter, who scowled angrily back.

"As you can see, Miss Schnee, unless we are violating any laws, we cannot be impeded-Certainly not by a foreign agent."

"You… You're violating airspace!" Weiss tried. Silverhand looked over at Smiegel, who checked his Scroll.

"Aye sir, we might be loitering."

"Ugh," Silverhand sighed, "Pay the bloody fine!" He looked back to his son with a bright smile. "So, how are you, my lad?"

"I was better before you dropped in," Scarlet grunted. "Seriously, what is all this?!"

Silverhand sighed and shook his head.

"Right… I knew you'd be upset," he said. He turned to his pirates. "Crew! The song!"

"Aye sir!" His pirates cried. They produced musical instruments, and Silverhand held a tuning pipe to his lips. He blew it, producing an A. He nodded.

"Right, begin men!" Silverhand shouted.

The pirates began to play a jaunty tune, and the lead began to sing.

"It's okay to be gay, let's rejoice with the boys in the gay way
Hooray for the kind of man that you will find in the gay way-!"

"NO!" Silverhand bellowed, as Scarlet gaped in utter mortification, "NOT THAT ONE! WE ALREADY DID THAT ONE!"

Smiegel smacked every one of the pirate musicians, who all took the punishment stoically.

Sun and Neptune were coughing suspiciously behind their hands. Sage shook his head. Weiss wondered when this had become her life.

"Right, the other song-"

"I DON'T NEED A SONG!" Scarlet growled. Silverhand stared.

"You used to love singing along with the crew!"

Scarlet swept his hand through his hair, irritated.

"Yeah, when I was eight! Seriously Dad, what the hell?! Why are you doing all this?!"

"I just wanted to celebrate with my beloved son," Silverhand shot back, "Come on, lad! Isn't this what you were so upset about? You went off to be a hunter because you didn't want to be a pirate!"

"I didn't!" Scarlet growled. "So what changed, huh?!"

Silverhand sighed, and doffed his hat again. He pressed it to his chest, as the pirate band began to play somber music.

"Last year, we ran across a lad trying to make his way to Vale to become a Huntsman," he said, "A plucky boy, running away from home, defying his family. It wasn't an easy decision for him to make, but he still stuck to it. He was impetuous, and got in constant trouble… But he was a good lad, and earned my respect. Because I realized…"

Silverhand looked over at Scarlet, his face dark with emotion.

"He had become a man. He was no longer a boy. And you must respect a man's choices."

He looked into Scarlet's eyes, somber and serious.

"You had become a man, and I didn't respect your choices," he said softly, "Can you forgive me, Scarlet? Can you forgive your captain, your father, his mistake?"

Scarlet's mouth opened and closed a few times. He coughed and looked aside.

"I… Of course, Dad," Scarlet managed.

Silverhand held out his arms. Scarlet sighed, and stepped up to hug his father. They embraced.

"Awww," the pirates all cooed. Smiegel sniffled and wiped his eyes. Weiss, despite the ridiculousness of the situation, felt a bit touched and jealous of the obvious fatherly love and care the pirate captain was showing his son.

"Brings a tear to the eye," Neptune snarked.

"So wholesome," Sun sighed.

"I am very moved," Sage deadpanned.

"You assholes can shut up!" Scarlet snarled.

Silverhand laughed and patted his son on the shoulder.

"Well! That clear everything up, Miss Schnee?" He asked Winter. He looked over at Weiss. "Miss Schnee?"

Winter sighed heavily.

"If your men cause any trouble, you will answer to me," she growled. Silverhook grinned and nodded.

"Of course, miss, of course. NOW! Let's go drink and sing! DRINK UP, ME HEARTIES, YOHOOOO~!"

They headed off to a nearby bar, along with the rest of the pirates. Winter followed with a scowl. Weiss watched them go. She looked over at Neptune, who was grinning.

"Neptune?"

"Oh! Hey Weiss!" Neptune said. He closed the distance between them and embraced her. "You weren't scared, I hope? I'd have fought all those pirates for you."

Weiss flushed. Sun and Sage both rolled their eyes. Ugh, boys.

"I uh, I'm fine, thank you," she said with a smile. She shook her head. "Honestly? This has just been too… Weird. I kind of want to just… Go to bed."

Neptune waggled his eyebrows.

"Oho? I like forward girls."

Weiss went bright red, and giggled nervously.

"I-I mean… I didn't mean… Well… I mean… We… We might-"

"Weiss!" Winter called. Weiss and Neptune looked back at Winter, who scowled at them.

"We'll be keeping an eye on the pirates tonight. Sun Wukong! Your team too," she stated, glancing at Sun.

Sun sighed, and shrugged.

"As you wish, miss," he said. "Come on men. And Weiss… And Neptune."

"HEY!" Neptune growled, as his two friends headed off after Winter. Weiss chuckled.

"It… It's all right, Neptune," Weiss said with a smile, "I-I'm sure we'll get the chance for you to show your… Manliness, later at Beacon?"

Neptune glanced at her, and put on a charming smile. He took Weiss's hand.

"Of course, Snow Angel. Anything you like."

Her heart fluttered as she followed Neptune along. Even amongst all these raucous, poorly groomed pirates, it was still an amazing time.

Still… She really did look forward to returning to Beacon. It was sure to be much quieter, if nothing else. Even with her ridiculous friends.

- - -

Naturally Captain Silverhand and Smiegel are basically Captain Hook and Smee from "Peter Pan" (And a bit to Long John Silver from "Treasure Island"). Since Scarlet is a Peter Pan reference, it seemed logical for him to have some pirate (adopted) family.

The Jolly Roger is named a Montana-class air battleship, after the last battleships ever designed for the US Navy, the Montana-class. Montana is named for the Spanish word for "mountain", so it fits into Remnant fairly easily. She is named for Captain Hook's ship from "Peter Pan", and for the Jolly Roger flag typically flown by pirates.

Click to shrink...

And here is the info file on the Jolly Roger herself:

Jolly Roger

Length: 210 meters
Beam: 140 meters
Draft: 78 meters
Displacement: 56,000 tons
Crew: 480
Armament:
-Six 16" Dust Cannons in Two Turrets
-Eight 5" Dust Cannons in Four Turrets
-Four Atlasian Point Defense Dust Autocannons
-Multiple machine guns and small arms
Defenses:
-8" Ablative Armor
-12" Dust Forged Steel Armor
-MistralTron Electronic Jamming System
Powerplant:
-Eight Howe and Pushton Dust Reactors
-Four Valean Electric Afterburning Turbothrusters
-Dust-Powered Quantum Levitation System
Performance:
-Top Speed: 150 miles per hour
-Range: 15,000 miles

The Jolly Roger is the first, last, and only Montana-class air battleship that was built for the Valean Air Navy. It was under construction during a time when the Great War Treaty was being reconsidered given the Faunus Revolution. It was based on a design from the Great War. It had fairly open architecture to allow it to be easily upgraded, and was focused on a big gun, all-or-nothing armor approach. Her protection was maximized around her engines, command and control, powerplant, and main gun turrets. An extensive fabrication system, based upon Atlasian technology, was put into the vessel to make it as self sufficient as possible. Up to 90 percent of its spare parts could be manufactured by the vessel using local materials.

With the end of the Faunus Revolution, the Montana Air Battleship Project was not immediately canceled but was put under review, as the first vessel was nearly completed. With the expansion of the Great War Treaty to have Atlas take over all military operations for the Four Kingdoms, the project was ultimately canceled and the lone example was to be scrapped without even being given a name. However, an enterprising young air pirate decided to save the ship from her fate.

In a daring raid, Captain James "Jim" Silverhand stole the vessel and named her the Jolly Roger. Over the next fifteen years, she formed the core of his ever growing pirate fleet, her fabrication facilities allowing for him to maintain not only the very large and powerful battleship, but also numerous other vessels (though Jolly Roger herself is the only real warship among them). Over the years, Jolly Roger has been upgraded with more advanced tech and weaponry, including a MistralTron Electronic Jamming System that is military grade and allows the vessel to go undetected by radar despite its large size.

Despite her sustainability in terms of maintenance, Jolly Roger is a considerable Dust hog and so Silverhand's fleet has focused upon raiding Dust shipments to keep her going. Silverhand has also assisted other pirate groups, rogue nations and factions to keep his beloved "Lady" in operation, working as mercenaries and even doing legitimate security work. Said Silverhand, "When I saw her lying there in her dock, about to be scrapped and picked clean without ever feeling the wind underneath her wings, I knew I had to liberate her. Because a ship is freedom, and seeing one in bondage is the most horrific thing imaginable."

 

[LordofBones]

Ghira must tap into the deadliest power of them all: racist parenting!

Click to shrink...

Alternatively, Ghira employs another strategy: complete and utter acceptance.

Blake being a teenager, it works.

Blake: "You...you can't accept Adam!"
Ghira: "Sweetie, you know I'll always accept whoever you-"
Blake: "No! Just look at him! You're okay with me dating some temperamental edgelord with no future job prospects?! How's he supposed to take care of me?!"
Ghira: "I'm sure love will find a way, dear-"
Blake: *lips quivering* "Love? LOVE? He spends more time in front of a mirror than I do!"
Ghira: "I'm sure you just need some adjusting-"
Blake: "He needed to look up 'female orgasm' in a dictionary!"
Ghira: *cringing* "Well, practice-"
Blake: *lips wobbling* "You don't love me anymore!"
Adam: "My love, we-"
Blake: "Oh, go moo in a field somewhere, you glorified cow! We're through!"

Blake: "Daddy, this is Jaune, my boyfriend-"
Ghira: "Oh, hell no! You will not sully yourself with a human!"
Blake: "Wha - how dare you! Jaune's kind and sweet and-"
Ghira: "What happened to that Adam boy? Now he was someone with potential-"
Blake: "Jaune has a hundred times more potential! The only reason he's not in medical school is because he wanted to become a Huntsman!"
Ghira: "Adam was a real man-"
Blake: "I thought Jaune was a horse faunus the first time I saw him naked! There's a crater in the Emerald Forest from our last quickie!"
Ghira: "You will not bear this...human's...spawn!"
Blake: "Oh yeah?! I'm going to choke on his mega-cock in my childhood bed, then he's going to breed me with gold-haired kittens! Suck on that, old man!"
Ghira: *cringes, but discreet thumbs up to Jaune*
Blake: *ranting* "Take my fat ass hard, Jaune! I want everyone to know who collared Menagerie's princess!"

 

[AndrewJTalon]

It took a few days for things to get better. RWBY and JNPR went off into Vale to help with clean up and aid. They even visited the Children's Hospital to see Ginger.

Ginger: "Jaune! Ruby!"

Jaune: "Hey!"

Ruby: "HEYAH!"

Ruby hugs Ginger. Jaune hugs her next.

Ginger: "Thank you for saving me! You're both the coolest!"

Jaune: "Thanks! You were very brave too, you know?"

Ruby: "Yeah! You only threw up once!"

Ginger's mother show up-An attractive older woman with ginger hair.

Ginger's Mom: "Oh thank you, thank you, both of you!" She hugged Ruby... Then hugged Jaune for much longer. "You-You saved my little girl!"

Jaune: "Er, well, it was a team effort ma'am."

Ginger's Mom: "Oh please, I'm-I'm not that old! Ma'am!"

Jaune: "Um, Miss?"

Ginger's Mom: blush "Oh my~..."

Jaune's Brain: Oh shit, it still works on MILFS?!

Ruby, thankfully, was on the case. She pulled Jaune away and pushed him out the door.

Ruby: "We'll see you later Ginger! And her mom!"

Ginger: "Do-Do you think I could be a great Hunter like you two some day?"

Jaune: smiles "Totally..."

Ginger: "HEE!"

Ruby pushed him out. Jaune sighed as they went down a hallway towards a maintenance area.

Jaune: "Thank you... That was getting weird-"

Ruby then shoved him by his shoulders against the wall. She glared up into his eyes.

Ruby: "Jaune..." Her eyes glowed "I've checked around. There's nobody, and I'm wearing a jammer system."

Jaune: "Is that why I've heard a buzzing sound? Is it gonna interfere with the medical equipment-?"

Ruby: "Jaune... I... I need to know about the future."

Jaune's Brain: Oh boy...

Ruby: "I... Look, I'm not great at social stuff but I've seen you look at me. Like you were so sad. And-And you've been my best friend and... And I just... I have to know!"

Jaune: "Ruby. That future isn't going to happen. I will never let it happen. We won't let it happen-!"

Ruby: "But I have to know! I have to... I mean... W-Were you my friend then too?"

Jaune takes her hands between his and looks her right in her silver eyes.

Jaune: "Ruby... There will never be a timeline where we aren't best friends. Where I don't love you."

Ruby: bright red "J-J-JAUNE!"

Jaune: "So we were best friends."

Ruby: "So... What happened? What are you so sad about?"

Jaune: "A LOT of things made me sad about the future, Ruby! There was no limit! Why do you want to know-?"

Ruby: "I-I just want to know! I just..." She closed her eyes "I just... I have to know."

Jaune: "But..."

Ruby: "Please Jaune?"

Jaune: "You won't... You just..."

Ruby: "Did... Did I hurt you? Did I... Did I break your heart? Did I... Did I...?" Her eyes began to fill with tears

Jaune's Brain: Goddamnit... How do I put this and explain it?! The explanation is that the writing was terrible and her character development was reset every damn season until she killed her duplicate and reset her character AGAIN! Come on, think, think...!

Jaune: "... Ruby. You took on everything. You tried to be strong for everyone. You kept going no matter what and... And it weighed on you. It hurt you to keep going. At some point, you couldn't... Couldn't take it anymore. You just weren't able to handle all the pain, the loss, the heartbreak, and you... You..."

Ruby: sniffles "... Did I... Break?"

Jaune: "... Yes. Yes, you did. It's complicated and involves magic stuff but you... Basically killed yourself. Or rather you killed a copy of your darkness and bad memories and reset yourself."

Ruby: confused "... Eh?"

Jaune: "I don't really get it myself... " Mainly because the fucking writers sure as hell didn't... He sighs "Look... The point is? That's not going to happen. Because we're not going to let it happen, okay?"

Ruby: "I... Y-Yeah..."

Jaune hugged her tightly. She hugged him back.

Jaune: wince "I didn't want to tell you because... Because I don't want to hurt you, Ruby. I want to help you. But... Not talking to you in the old timeline is what made things go so wrong and... Sorry... God, I made everything worse..."

Ruby: takes a deep breath "No! No... I... I mean... I'm realizing there's a lot I just don't know about... About so much. I've had to keep a lot inside because... Because I wanted Yang and Dad to be happy. Because I've had to keep the team going. Because... A lot of things."

Jaune: "Then let me make things clear, okay? You can talk to me about anything. Absolutely anything. I will never judge you, Ruby. I won't."

Ruby: "W-Well... Okay. Not now though, I..." shakes her head "I can't do it now."

Jaune: "No, I get it." pats her on the head "But I swear... We will get through this together. All of us."

Ruby: "... And you? What happened to you?"

Jaune: "... I'm... Not ready to talk about that either."

Ruby: nods "I-I get it... But I'm here for you too."

Jaune: smiles "I know. Thank you, Crater Face."

Ruby: pouts "Ugh... Did you have to ruin it like that, Vomit Boy?"

Jaune: "Pretty much!"

Ruby: "Ugh... You don't have any kids but you make so many Dad jokes!"

Jaune: "So, I'm a bit premature? Like a baby?"

Ruby: "UGGGHHH! You're lucky I love you!"

Jaune: "I know."