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rwby-diaries · 4 years

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Bumbleby Week 2020!

Day 6: Sun/Moon

Art Piece and Ficlet (under the cut) by @bosiphas and edited by @altheminotaur

Yang groaned as she laid atop her bed in her team’s dorm room. “I don’t wanna go anywhere today…” she whined. When her partner didn’t respond she continued to complain. “I know Ruby wanted to play Remnant, but I’m not really up for it,” She rolled over onto her stomach grumbling into her pillow.

Blake sighed. “We did say we’d meet her and Weiss in the library,” She said, her tone flat. She wasn’t really up for any games today either. She wanted to stay in the room reading her book. Though she knew if they stayed she wouldn’t be able to read either. Yang would likely rope her into doing something that took her away from her reading. Not that she would mind.

Yang sat up and folded her arms, pouting. She quickly changed her expression to a beaming smile though and swung herself forward over the edge of her bed gripping the frame to not fall. As Yang’s head came down to peek at Blake who sat in her bed beneath her, her messy curls all flowing down from her face, Blake giggled at her upside-down partner. “What if we did something… like, uhm…” Yang trailed off, not thinking far enough ahead. “…like… uhmmm…” She curled her lips to the side and shut her eyes to think.

Blake watched her intently, forgetting to read the book in her hands almost instantly. Her partner had a talent of doing that, making her forget what she was doing. A small smile crept upon her lips when Yang’s eyes shot open and exclaimed.

“I know!” Yang shouted suddenly. She did not elaborate as she jumped down from the top bunk, grabbed a face towel from her drawer, and ran out of the room.

Blake was left by herself in the room, not sure what to expect. Yang was always surprising her. And always in a good way. She was predictable in that she was unpredictable, but despite that Blake knew Yang was reliable. She could always count on Yang to make her laugh.

After only a few moments, Yang returned to the room, carrying the same face towel but wet.

“Uhm…” Blake paused. “What’s the wet towel for?” She asked, watching Yang run around the room looking for something.

After grabbing some scissors, Yang opened her backpack with a jerk and dug her hand in, rustling around to find the item she wanted. After another second of digging around, she found it and yanked it out of her backpack dramatically. “Ah HA!” She yelled and lifted the item above her head triumphantly.

Blake only stared at the item, unsure of what the small sheets wrapped in clear plastic were. “What is that?”

Yang smiled smugly and hummed. “Temporary tattoos,” She declared, bringing down the clear package to her face to examine. “Scoosh your boosh,” Yang commanded, walking over to Blake’s bed and crawling over to the inside corner with the wet towel, scissors, and temporary tattoos in hand.

Blake obeyed and moved over slightly to make room for Yang. It was only a twin size bed, and even moved over to give her space to sit next to her, Yang was right next to her. “U-uhm, temporary tattoos?” Blake asked for confirmation as she set her book aside and tried to settle next to Yang who was already tearing open the package.

“Yeah!” Yang smiled, and pulled out the few sheets of options. “It’s fun!” She handed over a couple of the sheets for Blake to look at. “You pick first.”

Blake took the sheets from Yang’s hand, their fingers brushing slightly and neither noticing the small blush creeping on the other’s cheeks. Blake peered at the tattoos, there were a lot of bird silhouettes. The card suits were also present, a few flowers, one rose in particular that reminded Blake of Ruby’s emblem, and some pretty butterflies that had a rainbow of colours in their designs. “I’ve never done this before, what should I choose?” Blake asked looking back over to Yang.

Yang’s smile froze, surprised by what Blake had said. “You’ve never done temp tattoos? Ruby and I used to do them all the time, sometimes all over our faces! One time our Uncle Qrow was asleep on the couch and we put a bunch of flowers on his face,” Yang paused to laugh. “We just kept adding them thinking the next one would wake him up! Our Uncle Clover wouldn’t stop teasing him about it for days!”

As Yang continued to laugh, Blake only watched her and smiled. The sound of Yang’s robust, hearty laugh spreading a tightening warmth in her chest.

“You can choose whatever you like,” Yang sighed happily, finally stopping her giggles. “Or whatever you’re, like, drawn too.”

Blake looked back at the sheets of temporary tattoos and found one. “I like this one,” She stated, pointing out a yellow sun tattoo. It reminded her of Yang, warm and strong, burning brightly with an unwavering shine.

Yang beamed a smile. “Then I choose,” Yang looked at the couple of sheets she had in her hand, instantly finding one. “This one!” She pointed at the purple crescent moon tattoo. That way she’d match Blake, and Yang found it reminding her of Blake as well, gentle and calm, glowing beautifully in the dark night.

Yang started to cut around the two tattoos they’d picked out. “So, you take off the plastic stuff, then you put it where you want,” She then took off the thin plastic cover on them and placed her moon tattoo on her right wrist as she explained to Blake. “Then you hold it there with the wet towel on top of it for one minute, try not to let it slide around though,” Yang instructed. “It might ruin the tattoo.”

Blake brought her knees up to her chest and leaned over slightly to watch Yang, too curious about this new thing she was trying to realize their shoulders were touching.

Yang stiffened at Blake’s touch, she didn’t dislike it, but it was surprising. Blake was normally very reserved and distant. Yang tried to not let it show on her face, how aware she was that their skin was touching. She stared intently at the towel she had pressed over her wrist, feeling the minute drag on. Finally, when the minute was up, Yang removed the towel and took off the wet paper from her wrist, revealing the purple moon now painted on her skin. “Then you blow on it, drying it before anything, otherwise it might smudge,” She said before starting to blow.

“My turn?” Blake held out her left wrist to Yang, her head resting on her other arm propped up on her knees.

Yang smiled outwardly, but inside she was nervous as she took hold of Blake’s wrist and placed her tattoo choice on her wrist and pressed the wet towel onto it.

Blake pressed her lips together slightly, her cheeks warming from Yang’s touch. She’d finally snapped back to attention when Yang grabbed her wrist. She once again became very aware of how close they were. Blake’s eyes darted around the room, she could feel her ears twitching under her bow and her tail itching to unwrap around her waist. She tried her best not to look at Yang, shifting slightly in her spot on the bed, but her eyes always fell back onto the blonde. Blake watched Yang’s hand, her eyes travelling up her tanned arms and to her face wrapped in her messy curls. Blake never noticed how long Yang’s eyelashes were.

“Done,” Yang announced, taking the wet towel off and setting it aside. She removed the wet paper and the sun tattoo came to view.

Blake gazed at it, glossy from the wet towel still, the yellow flames of the sun curling out. She loved it. She smiled from ear to ear.

Yang chuckled to herself and started to blow on the tattoo. She startled under Yang’s breath but she didn’t say anything. As she finished drying the tattoo, Yang sat back and lifted her right arm and held it next to Blake’s left, their tattoos finished. “We match!” Yang beamed as she leaned ever so lightly into Blake.

Blake stayed quiet, running her fingers over both their tattoos. “Yeah…”

~~~

Blake bit her lip, anxiety washing over her. She wasn’t sure how ready she was for this, going back home. Waiting to be able to board the boat she booked passage on, she stood there at the dock, fidgeting and flinching at any small sounds. She just needed to get home, then she would be safe.

Home…

Blake frowned, pressing her lips together. She lifted up her left arm and looked down at it. Pulling her white coat down from her wrist, she was met with a faded and rubbed off sun tattoo. You wouldn’t know it was a sun just by looking at it, but Blake remembered every detail of the simple temporary tattoo, every part that had been rubbed off or faded away. As much as she yearned to be around the person who this reminded her of, she couldn’t. It was her fault, everything, all of it.

Tears pooled in Blake’s eyes as she tugged her sleeve back up to cover the tattoo. She had to leave it all behind, but she still couldn’t bring herself to remove the tattoo from her wrist.

~~~

Yang’s brows furrowed and she clenched her jaw in frustration. Ruby didn’t understand. Blake ran. After everything, Blake ran away.

As she laid in her bed at home, Yang’s mind was a storm of doubt and negativity. Her arm ached, she could almost feel the parts that were no longer there. She bit her lip at the thought. It was missing and she could still feel it. Just like how Blake was gone and Yang could feel the empty space she would occupy. It stung too.

Yang didn’t want to look to her right, but she did anyway. She always did, she had to. It was a reminder, a terrible one. A piece of her cut away and gone forever. Along with Blake and the last thing she would have had of Blake after she ran. The moon tattoo that was on her wrist. Gone. He had cut away more than a piece of herself. Yang’s lip trembled and tears stung her eyes. A piece of herself and of Blake she’d never get back. Yang snapped her head away as she started to sob.

Why did she run?

#rwby #bumblebyweek #bmblbweek #bumbleby #bmblb #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #rwby art #rwby fic #rwby v7 #rwby volume 7 #rwby rewrite #rwby rewritten #bumblebyweek 2020 #post #canon #bo

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spahhzy · 3 years

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"Oh if your here then that must have meant...you failed, oh well I guess we can just start again"

"I can fill you in on the details I guess while we wait for the rest of the group"

"no no! sit down! We are going to be here for awhile! Look I even have it book marked! Now sit, grab a cup of coffee or whatever it is your kind drinks and relax"

"How are they doing?" Asked qrow as he took a swig from his flask. The question given to the eldest schnee, Winter.

"If by 'They' you mean the team of Oscar, Nora, Ren and your niece Ruby physically they are all healed...no long lasting damage after the mission but mentally..." Winter trailed off not looking up from her paperwork.

Qrow sighed before taking another sip from his flask, this was all one big fucked up headache.

"If you insist on drinking could you please do so away from here..." Winter said to him to which qrow just looked at her before capping the flask and walking out of the office without so much a rebuttal.

Once the door closed, Winter let out a frustrated sigh before slamming her fist onto her desk.

-WBY- Vacuo general Hospital.

The room was quiet. all three girls laid on their respective beds both thinking and reflecting on the days that had passed.

It wasn't long until Blake spoke out.

"So...now what do we do?"

Ah yes what do they do indeed.

"I...I don't know" came Weiss as she too didn't know the answer to that question.

"We can't just sit here and do nothing!" Came the frustrated voice of Yang.

"In case you forgot Yang...we got outclassed and outmatched by Salem I'm not sure their is anything we can do right now" Spoke Weiss to which Yang just grabbed her pillow in frustration.

Silence fell over them again.

"How...how is Ruby?" Weiss asked to the older sister.

Yang just looked at Weiss and Blake and just shook her head.

"She's asleep; she was taking it pretty badly"

The fall of Atlas, Ironwood's desperate actions (some would disagree), and now this...

Ruby's hospital room.

Ren, Nora and Oscar all looked like a mess.

All three were sitting in chairs bandaged and bruised but all staring at the sleeping form of one Ruby Rose.

"What changed for things to be like this?" Spoke Ren while voicing his thoughts the question was mainly for Ozpin.

Oscar remained silent.

"He started acting differently back at the Schnee manor when we rescued yiu from the whale" Ren said calmly eyes still on the sleeping Rose.

"Things came to a head in the desert after Cinders defeat" he stopped trying to relive that horrible memory.

"he was ready to carve her up and in his words 'slice her apart so he could expose her rotten innards so she can be judged for what she had become' that's not him, that's would never be him" Ren stated as Nora agreed.

Oscar remained quiet.

"Things blew apart more when I stopped him...I could feel his anger Ozpin, that hatred and when he told me to 'stand aside' that gaze he sent me..sent us?" Ren shivered at the memory.

"We got into a fight, as in fight-fight headmaster but he seemed to stop and freak out a bit before healing us and apologizing profusely" Nora said allowing Ren to follow up

"All that hate and anger...gone. as if it was never there and I realized we had our brother back"

"So if there is anything you need to say tell us now...please"

Oscar remained silent. Just staring at Ruby sleeping.

"Is that all you can do? Be silent!?"

Ren just clutched at the arm rest in anger.

"Ren please calm down maybe even headmaster doesn't know why she did what she did!"

Ren scoffed. A trait not usually found within the young man. He turned his head to face the boy.

"You know something... I can see the gears turning up their but you don't wanna say anything"

Oscar still remains silent.

"Damnit Ozpin tell us something, anything!" Ren all but pleaded to which Oscar said nothing.

Ren sighed before getting up and with Nora in tow left Ruby's room without another word.

Before leaving Nora turned and spoke "he was right not to trust you" and closed the door.

Leaving Oscar to just stare at the still form of Ruby as she slept before shifting his eyes to one object that was laying on her bed with her.

A broken Crocea Mors.

Ren punched the wall in frustration outside of the hospital leaving small cracks.

"Ren!"

" I'm fine Nora just.."

"Your mad...I know I am too, I really...really wanted to break his legs but it's Oscar legs too" Nora said before hugging him from behind.

"We'll get him back Ren" she said as Ren sighed.

"I know Nora...I just can't help-" he was interrupted by a sudden rumble in his scroll and a beep signifying a new message.

Oddly enough Nora's scroll beep as well.

With a sigh he and Nora pulled out their scrolls.

"Did you get a message as well?" Nora asked

Ren nodded.

It was a video from an unknown number.

The video being titled 'Have you heard the good news?'.

"Did you guys get a video message too?" Came the voice of Qrow as he walked towards them with his scroll out as well.

" Yes which if you got it...then I wonder if Weiss, Yang and Blake got it as well" Ren asked and Qrow rubbed his chin thinking.

"If they did then this couldn't be by random coincidence let's go to their room and find out" Qrow said to which Ren and Nora agreed.

The trio headed out to find the other three.

As the footsteps faded from the room Oscar, still looking at the sleeping form of Ruby, sighed.

'Why couldn't you tell Ren anything?'

'What would you want me to say?'

'Something just...something'

'Somethings are better left unsaid'

Oscar rolled his eyes, Ozpin was hiding something that much was clear.

His scroll went off.

He had received a video message from an unknown number.

Oscar opened the message and pressed play.

"Today....today is a wonderful day!" Oscar eyes widened at the voice it was...

"Yes its me Tyrian the ever faithful servant to our goddess!" He said dramatically hands spread out wide in stage like fashion.

"How is all of you by the way...and by you I mean those receiving this video hmm?" He asked tilting his head.

"Ah you must be fine physical wounds heal and such" Oscar just glared at the mad scorpion on the screen mocking him.

"How is Miss Rose? Hopefully not taking it too bad?" Again more mockery. What is the damn point of this video?

"Ahaha, enough I can guess your all pretty upset but why? Why be upset?...haven't you heard the good news?"

What good news can come from a psychopath who blindy follows the devil herself?

"Well before I can give the good news allow me to give you some bad news!" Suddenly a crude drawing of stick figures graced the right side of screen while one gracefully drawn person was on the left. The one on the left was undeniably Salem.

"My goddess has deemed you all , and by that I mean humanity and faunus alike,as disgusting bacteria; a bacteria that only infects and destroys!" Some of the stick figures Oscar noticed had some distinguishing features, 3 had capes, 1 had a yellow arm , 1 had a big gun, alot had animal traits and some had white hair and surrounded by money.

"So it with a heavy heart that I must tell you that you all will be released from this level of existence by the mercy of my mistress!" He said as he put a hand over his heart as if paying respects.

That was before a large crazed grin etched onto his face.

"Now with the bad news gone! It's time for the good news!" He all but squealed as he then held up another two pictures.

The one on the left was again a portrait of Salem her arms spread open, while the picture on the right was of four stick figures.

One figure with blonde hair in front of three others. The other three were on the ground defeated almost. One had black and a pink line in its hair, the other had a hammer and orange hair and the last the one closest to the blonde had a red cape.

"I knew their was a reason I found him so...interesting!" He said which made Oscar shudder.

"But did YOU know this Ozpin hmm?"

Did Ozpin know what?

" is that why you accepted him into Beacon and not the whole 'untapped potential' jargon you preached?" Tyrian question before long his face cam back to the screen.

" I've learned some very crucial information...information that makes me wonder who really is the good side in all of this" Tyrian said acting as if he was putting on his thinking cap before snapping his fingers.

"You really tried to keep him from her...and how far did you go to achieve that I wonder..."

Tyrian was rambling trying to rile Ozpin up, because Oscar could feel a slight tugging on his consciousness.

"But fate works in strange ways...you of all people should have learned that" he said before motioning to a big portrait of Salem.

"She dances and sings in the light, she lurks in the shadows and she always gets her way" the scene changes this time.

"I've berated you enough...I think I'd like a quick chat with those three closest to him"

Oscar looked away from the screen too the sleeping form of Ruby. Then back to the screen. If he got this video then possibly everyone did too.

"Too the Valkyrie, the Calm One, and to Miss Rose especially..." a dark grin marred his face.

"Your words mean nothing to him now!" He stated sinisterly before a series of pictures flashed on screen.

It was of a blonde haired man with striking deep blue eyes , his armour worn out and cracked and his shield discarded as he held a broken sword.

Another photo but this time it was a photo with a women banged up , bruised her cape in tatters and her eyes reflecting despair. She was in the background, on the ground arm outstretched trying to reach the blonde haired man in vain.

"Now he only hears...her truth"

Before finally one more photo appears and this time it makes Oscar's and in extension Ozpin's blood run cold.

It was a photo of the blonde man and a pale woman who had red eyes and black veins.

"No it can't be" this time it was Ozpin who spoke.

It was of Jaune Arc and Salem embracing.

"Now...he's home"

The video ended and remained on that image.

"This isn't right that's too far ahead! No this won't do! Stupid bookmark ugh"

"Well just have to start from the beginning my bad buddy!"

[Here we go, off to a bad start.]

#jaune arc #rwby salem #lie ren #nora valkyrie #ruby rose #oh no

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doneses · 4 years

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Who were the Schnee’s meant to be?

So with V7 having drawn to a close, I wanted to try and sort out my thoughts on how the Schnee’s that we know in the show today, might not be the one’s that Monty had originally intended to make.

This is not meant to be a dig at CRWBY or to say that CRWBY are mangling Monty’s vision. Monty was constantly introducing different ideas to RWBY (like the Maidens) so it is entirely possible that the Schnee’s we got are one’s he would have ended up making, it’s impossible to say for certain.

But looking over V1-2, some behind the scene information involving Monty, and later volumes, you begin to see evidence of where things appeared to have been... reshuffled.

The Winter Issue

Most of the ‘changes’ that occured in the Schnee family can be traced to a single character; Winter Schnee, as what we are presented about her character and her relationship with Weiss in the first two volumes is wildly different than V3 and onwards.

In V1/2, what Weiss mentions about her home life is vague and she generally tries to avoid that subject due to unhappy memories. In V1, after seeing how serious about leading Ruby is, Weiss brings up how she wanted to have bunk beds as a child, but what’s interesting is the sad look she gets before telling Ruby this.

While one could say that Weiss and Winter weren’t able to have bunk beds due to Winter being much older than Weiss, however, I think it might be less due to an age difference and more just due to a more distant relationship between the two sisters, a relationship that Weiss wished was more sisterly.

The reason I think it is due to Weiss and Winter being distant is due to one of the best scenes in V2, and arguably the entire show.

This scene in V2, and the follow up, show us Weiss’ entire relationship with her family members involved in the SDC; she’s nervous, she’s scared, she has to fake happiness and put on a face to interact with them.

Seconds before the line goes through, you get to see how awful the prospect of interacting with her family is for her.

And here is where thing’s get interesting.

Why would Winter be at an SDC building alongside her father? And as Weiss specified, it isn’t any random SDC building but

The main headquarters of the entire SDC.

Given what we know about canon Winter, she actively despises her father and arguably the entire Schnee family outside of Weiss given how distant she keeps herself and buries herself in the military. Given how close she is to Ironwood and how aware he is of her volatile relationship with her family, he most likely wouldn’t be having her do missions with the SDC, which I’m not sure what Ironwood would even need done at the SDC headquarters back in Atlas at the time of V2. On top of that the way that the secretary mentions Winter seems to imply that she works there.

The other interesting aspect of this scene, is Weiss’ face after getting the information she needed from the SDC and refused to talk with her family.

She looks miserable. Just as miserable as when she was mentally preparing herself for the possibility of talking to them.

The reason I find this so interesting, is how Weiss in V3+ is the complete opposite when it comes to Winter.

She’s excited, the mere sight of Winter’s ship sends her running from the arena and across Beacon’s campus.

And it’s here we learn Winter is part of the military, and can infer that she’s the one who trained Weiss prior to her leaving for Beacon.

So why does Winter being different matter?

This change in the relationship between Weiss and Winter is the reason why I think Whitley even exists as a character, and why Willow is an alcoholic.

Did you notice that throughout the first 3 volumes, when discussions about her family, Weiss never mentions having another sibling? A sibling who would be of a similar age to her and would be able to share a bunk bed with her?

Unless of course, said sibling was close to their father, and was rather cold and distant with Weiss.

I remember that there was a lot of confusion back when V4 first aired at who Whitley was; everyone was confused that Weiss had this other sibling who she had never mentioned before.

As we have seen, Whitley has a closer relationship with his father than he does with the rest of the Schnee family, and is more involved in the actual business aspects of the SDC than his siblings. Hmmm. Now that seems to line up a bit with what the implication for Winter was in V2.

And as we can see, Weiss isn’t as friendly with Whitley as she would be with Winter; she doesn't enjoy talking with him or being around him.

Now the next source should be taken with a grain of salt given who it is from, but in Shane’s letter, he mentions and covers a lot of things that were changed from the original script for V3 that Monty had done (Jaune seeing Pyrrha die, Yang fighting Adam before losing her arm, etc), and what CRWBY made.

V3 had begun pre-production in 2013, shortly after V1 finished airing. And the main thing to take away from that part of the letter is that the Winter that Monty had originally created, was changed. Whether it was just her design or her character as a whole is left unclear but, I do believe that this change in Winter’s character lines up with the change in Weiss’ behavior in relation to Winter, and why Whitley was not mentioned until V4. If this original version of Winter was meant to be a Whitley like character, a sibling that is groomed by their father and hostile toward Weiss, then when they changed Winter to being a military woman, they needed to create a new sibling to still fulfill that character role in Weiss’ story.

How does this affect Willow?

From Pyrrha’s voice actor, we know that a lot of story elements, like the Fall of Beacon and Pyrrha’s death were moved from V2 to V3, and that Monty was working on V3 content while V2 was airing. We know Monty was working on content for V3 due to his tweets in 2014, sharing character files that were on his computer.

Do you see it? The names listed?

Willow Schnee, and Winter Schnee.

It’s through this list of character files that we were able to learn Willow’s name prior to V7 and also how we learned Taiyang’s name prior to V3. Monty is very much a ‘pants’ style of creator, he makes things up as he goes along and tosses things in because he thought it would be cool, just look at Neo or CFVY. The entire reason that M&K were brought into to the show and help him with the writing was due to him needing people to help him with getting the plot to each of its major plot points, as he (like most content creators) just had the major plot points thought out.

Which is why I find the inclusion of Willow on the list of character files that were being worked on for V3 and shown during V2 to be interesting. Why would Willow be on that list of characters meant to show up soon or are in the current volume if Willow would be a minor character who wouldn’t appear until near the mid- to end of the show? And if Whitley is meant to be Weiss’ rival for control of the SDC as the show seems to be setting him up to be, then why is he nowhere to be found on that list of character files?

Winter in canon for the most part took over the maternalistic role in Weiss’ life after Willow fell into depression and started drinking. It can be assumed that she is the one who trained Weiss in her glyphs, swordplay, and attempted to do so with summoning, as shown in the V5 character short.

Winter helped train Weiss so she would be strong enough to leave home.

But if Winter was originally meant to be a rival to Weiss and have a strained relationship with her, then who would have been the one to have trained Weiss in her semblance and weapon?

If my theory is correct, I believe Willow was meant to have taken the role Winter had in V3, to have visited Weiss for a bit and help teach her summoning like she had done so with her glyphs and swordplay. That Willow was originally meant to have been a mentor figure for Weiss, instead of being uninvolved in her life.

But why change Winter so much?

Now this is something I do not have an answer for as I don’t work for RT, and honestly this all entirely speculation on my part just based off bits of behind the scenes info that we’ve been given and what I’ve noticed during my own watchings of the show. If I am correct and Winter’s character was changed and took the role Willow was meant to have and her own character was given to Whitley, that is indeed a pretty drastic change, and from an outside perspective seems like it’d be creating a lot more work for a writer instead of having the more simplified version that Monty had (if I’m correct).

And the only answer I can think of, is from this scene.

While it might sound nice to have Weiss be trained by her mother, and her sister be her rival for control of their family company due to them being their father’s favorite and Weiss being abused by him, it does create the question of “If Willow is so skilled at Huntsmen things, why doesn’t she defend her children, or simply get a divorce?”

And I think it’s due to that question, of how to keep Weiss being abused by her father and it playing out realistically, that led to the decision to have Winter’s character cut out and made into new character, and for Willow’s role to be grafted onto this new Winter, and the remnants of Willow being turned into a neglectful alcoholic to add more drama to Weiss’ life and make her difficult childhood even harder.

I didn’t know Monty on a personal level nor will I claim to know how his mind worked, but I do believe based off the evidence I provided that the Schnee family that we have in canon are different than what Monty might have originally envisioned and was working towards in V1/2. And that’s not to say it’s a bad thing if I am correct about these changes, as the Schnee’s are arguably the best part about RWBY and the intense family drama is something that draws a lot of people into the show.

#rwby #weiss schnee #winter schnee #willow schnee #whitley schnee

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jadekitty777 · 4 years

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Where the Heart Is

*Looks at the 80% of entries so far being in some vain about that moment*

*Holds out her own overly cutesy entry* I-I can still join the party, right?

More seriously, I’ve been super stoked to get to this day! This entry is one my favorites, with tomorrow’s being my absolute favorite. I hope you all enjoy!!!

Day 5: Hurt/Comfort

Rating: K+

Pairing: Qrow/Clover

Word Count: 4.6k

Ao3 Link: Where the Heart Is

Summary: After facing off against Salem's hordes and managing to secure some of the relics in Vacuo, the team stops in Patch for some much needed rest and recuperation. It was meant to be relaxing. So, why was Clover more troubled than usual?

Qrow isn't sure, but he is determined to figure it out. With, maybe, a little bit of help from his family along the way. [Canon Divergent from V7C12]

A series of shouts snapped Qrow awake in an instant and he was already half out of bed with one hand around Harbinger before his sleepy brain caught up with his body and reminded him that he was home and safe. He settled back on the mattress with a groan, running a hand over bis face. A quick glance told him the space behind him was empty and from all the noise downstairs, he surmised he was probably the last one up.

Not that it bothered him much. He so rarely got to curl up under the ridiculously soft sheets and warmth of a real bed, especially his own, why wouldn’t he take the opportunity to lounge around in it for a few extra minutes? Or hours.

Still there was definitely no going back once something got him up, so he resigned himself to preparing for the morning.

By the time he was making his way downstairs, the game the kids were playing was in full swing. Yang and Nora were both standing on the coffee table, scrolls in hand and trading off insults as they tried to decimate the other’s character in Grimm Fighters 3. Ruby was cheering them on in the background. Removed from them, Penny was settled against the far wall, a charger plugged in the back of her bow, but she seemed intent on watching the proceeding battle from her corner.

As he hit the last step, the TV proudly proclaimed, “Fatality! Player 2 wins!” And Yang gave a yell of fury, dramatically falling to her knees while Nora started doing a jig and proclaiming how she was still queen.

“Isn’t this a little much for nine in the morning?” Qrow asked them once the victory shaming had ended.

Instead of an answer, he got a chirpy, “Morning Uncle Qrow!” from Ruby.

“Wanna join us?” Yang waved her scroll invitingly.

“Maybe after a dose of caffeine.” He left them to their own devices, slipping into the kitchen.

Despite the room’s smaller size, it was just as energetic and even more packed. Jaune was wrist deep in an argument with the juicer, while Ren was rolling out dough on the counter beside him. Tai was whipping eggs in a large bowl. Weiss was the only one going about her vegetable chopping task with a bit more slowness, concentrating hard as she tried to coordinate her hands into doing a task unfamiliar to them.

Acting as silent observers, Blake and Oscar were sipping on their respective drinks of tea and coffee. Or, he realized as Oz gave him a friendly nod, hot chocolate. “Good morning Qrow. I hope you slept well.”

“If he’s the last one up, that’s always a good sign.” Tai jabbed, instantly earning forgiveness when he added, “Tea and coffee’s made if you want any.”

He nodded his thanks, hiding a yawn as he carefully reached over Weiss to get a mug. It felt like a coffee day.

So close, he didn’t miss the whisper of, “Am I doing this right?” her tone having a note of frustration to it.

He glanced down at the potatoes she was trying to cube, none of them matching in size or width. Certainly wouldn’t win any of the many awards the Atlas Elite was accustomed too. “Looks good to me.” Her surprise reminded him of another thing she never had – easily won praise. “Maybe cut the bigger pieces in half so it’ll cook the same.”

She didn’t respond, maybe just not sure how to, but the shift to her knife told him she was taking his advice. Qrow left her to it, going across the kitchen to pour himself a cup. As he added the sugar, he finally asked, “Where’s Clover?”

“Patio, with Zwei.” Tai pointed his whisk in the direction of the open back door.

“Got it. Let us know when breakfast is ready.” He said, heading that way. The commotion starting up again from the living room followed after him.

Despite only a few days having passed since their arrival, it all felt exceedingly normal. It almost didn’t belong after all the senseless tragedy that had plagued them on their journey. Haven. Mantle. Atlas. When they finally secured a small victory in Vacuo, managing to seal two relics away, it seemed time to take a breather. To recuperate and plan their next step. What better place for that then home?

He’d like to say Patch had been mostly untouched by the calamity the rest of the world had been facing – but Signal’s provisional closure and the shrinking shelves in the grocery store told otherwise.

While no one in the general public understood why huntsmen-focused schools were being attacked, no respectable headmaster could justify continuing to place their youngest generation in danger until a more permanent solution to the massacres were devised. Likewise, supplies were becoming scare as less people felt safe to travel and even less eager to trade among kingdoms. With less to go around, it only increased more devastating problems – like crime, sickness and starvation. Which brought Grimm. And with fewer huntsmen and huntresses able to come to arms and the ones that were left being stretched beyond thin and past their limits…

Well, the new scars on Tai’s forearm was a precautionary warning about just how bad it was really getting.

If the new blemishes bothered his brother though, he certainly didn’t show it. Then again, he’d been on a permanent cloud nine since their return so it was hard to tell anything right now, but it sure was nice to see him smile so much. Just like it was nice to see the kids enjoying a bit of peace and quiet enough they felt okay to be rowdy and young again.

For once, Qrow also felt like he should take advantage of it all – to enjoy the little pleasures in life while he had them. He knew their break was temporary, maybe only a week or two more before they finally set out again. But right now, all he wanted to do was drink his coffee while snuggled in Clover’s arms.

As he stepped out onto the patio though, he came to the conclusion things might not go as planned.

Clover was seated on the porch swing, motionless beyond the idle hand petting down Zwei’s furry backside. His face was a troubling puzzle of drawn down eyebrows and a seldom-seen frown set in place. His eyes seemed to be far beyond the little grass field he was looking at and, so lost in thought, he didn’t notice Qrow at all until Zwei lifted his head.

If he’d been suspicious before, he knew without any doubt that something was wrong when the former soldier took one look at him and smiled way more widely than necessary and said with a voice full of false cheer, “Oh! Morning Qrow.”

He only did that when he was purposely trying to hide something from him.

“Hey.” He returned levelly. “Room for one more?”

Clover pat the space beside him. “Of course.”

He settled down in his spot, accepting the dog that flopped over both their laps. He propped his feet up onto the firewood rack, the movement rocking them a bit, and languidly sipped at his coffee as he tried to plan out his method of attack.

This was one of the more unfortunate things they shared in common. Neither of them had had an upbringing that encouraged them to get all ‘touchy-feely’ with their feelings, though their circumstances were widely different. In Qrow’s case his was all self-disciplined to deal with the pain of constant rejection whereas for Clover it was the Atlas academy that conditioned students like him into refusing ‘unwelcome’ emotions like sorrow or hurt.

It was one of the reasons he was never crazy about the military. It was like looking at a bunch of hims, and no one wanted to be like him.

“Been up long?” Qrow decided to test the waters carefully first.

“Lil’ before sunrise, I guess.”

So, first one to wake. It wouldn’t have been so terribly unusual for the early riser, if not for the fact they were still readjusting from their more night-based timeclock in Vacuo. The unforgiving desert heat had meant traveling in the dark kept their energy stores higher and their water supply more under control.

Still feigning casualness, he followed up with, “Well, until my ugly mug greeted you this morning, what’d you do?”

“I’ll have you know that I find your face quite lovely.” Clover chuckled, stretching an arm out across the back of the seat. “Honestly not much. Watched the news. I don’t recommend, it was all reruns.”

So, no distressing headlines they hadn’t already heard. That was good.

“Did some warm up exercises with Penny.”

Nothing too unusual there.

“Took a walk.”

That rose an alarm bell. “Alone?”

But he already knew the answer – Clover didn’t take walks. He sprinted. He jogged. Hell, if time allowed, he’d do a mini marathon. But he never walked. The only person in this household who did was-

“No, no. With Tai and Zwei. It was nice.”

Oh Brothers no. What thoughtless things did his best friend spout that had made Clover look like his whole world had suddenly flipped upside down? Did he tell him the skirt story? Please let it only be the skirt story.

“Okay look, whatever terrible things Tai said about me, they’re only half true.” Qrow defended.

“Uh, okay?” Clover only seemed confused. “Actually, we didn’t talk about you. Well – except for the typical ‘You hurt my brother I hurt you’ spiel but, I think I’m pretty used to that one by now.”

He turned away, hiding his embarrassment. “Oh.”

“Guess it was a missed opportunity.”

“Get that evil smile off your face.”

“You’re not even looking at me!”

Qrow looked. It was even eviler than he’d imagined. “Careful, you might give Salem a run for her money.”

Clover barked a laugh, abrupt enough to startle Zwei. His arm fell from the back of the bench to his shoulders, pulling him in just enough to drop a kiss on his temple. “Whatever you say babe.”

No amount of self-control could prevent him from melting into that touch. Looks like he was getting that snuggling session in after all.

But, at the back of his mind, the question still nagged at him. If it wasn’t about him, then what had it been?

He didn’t get a chance to investigate further until a little after noon, when he got the chance to corner his brother-in-law in the shed.

“Sorry, but we didn’t really talk about much. I’m not sure what could have upset him.” Tai told him as he sorted through his gardening equipment.

Qrow sat across from him on one of the stools, leg bouncing impatiently against the footrest. “Are you sure?”

“Maybe I should be more offended here.” He waved a trowel at him. “What makes you so certain I caused the problem?”

“Because you’re you.”

“Oh, you’re right.” Tai placed a hand over his heart, tone full of theatrics, “I, as the better looking one among us, probably made him swoon and now he’s contemplating eloping with me.”

He threw a screwdriver at him. “Not. Funny.”

He grinned cheekily back, setting aside the tool he’d caught between his fingers. “Why don’t you just ask Clover what’s bothering him?”

“In the decades we’ve known each other, have I ever been able to be that direct about this kind of shit? Now, work with me here!” He shifted backward until his shoulders rested against the edge of the table. “Go over with me what you two talked about. Maybe I can figure it out from there.”

“Really not gonna let this go, are you?” He straightened up, stretching out his lower back. “I really meant it though, most of it was small talk. He asked me a lot of questions about Signal and what it was like to be a teacher. We thought up some ideas how to strengthen the Grimm defenses around Patch before we all leave.”

He tried to hold back his disappointment. “That’s it?”

“Yeah? I don’t know what else you’re looking for.” Qrow must have been doing a poor job, because Tai’s expression shifted to something more sympathetic. He wrung a hand through his dulling blond hair, trying to find an answer he didn’t have. “Uh, we talked about Misty Ridge for a bit?”

Qrow snorted. That certainly had been nothing more than idle chitchat. Misty Ridge was just a small mountain range that ran through the island, given its name from the near permanent mist that clung to the cliffs. He wouldn’t argue that they were beautiful to look at; he never failed to admire them from above whenever he went for a fly. Especially this time of year, when they were-

They were dusted in snow.

His eyes went wide as his brain finally made the connection.

“Figure it out?” Tai asked.

“Yeah.” He sighed. “He’s homesick.”

“Oh.”

Qrow fidgeted with a stray nail, spinning it around between his fingers. “All of us have been running from town to town for weeks now. We’ve barely had time to catch our breath, let alone our thoughts. I should have figured when we finally slowed down, something like this would happen.”

It was something he certainly had to contend with on the norm – but at least he had the peace of mind knowing his home would welcome him back. Not so much for the guy who was court martialed out of his position.

What must Clover be missing? The novelty shops he used visit? The sandwich place he brought Qrow to on their first date? The two-room apartment, with his clover-potted plants and paintings of the seas? Or maybe it was the things ingrained in his heart – like the routine of motions he was used to when he got ready for a day full of Huntsman missions and the people he used to spend it with.

His friend hummed, crossing his arms. “So, what are you gonna do about it?”

He shrugged, looking up at his friend. “What can I do? It’s not like I can stuff Atlas and Mantle in a travel bag and bring them here.”

“Very astute.” Tai remarked. “Now that you’ve ruled out the impossible, how about something smaller? Maybe make his favorite Atlesian dish? Or there might still be some wares from Mantle at the trader stalls in the market.”

“I’m not much of a cook. And he can’t exactly take a bunch of junk with us.” Qrow reminded.

He rolled his eyes. “Brothers, I hope Clover doesn’t think he’s dating a romantic.” He waved his hands outwards. “It’s not about him lugging it around, it’s just about creating a familiar space for him. Something he can look at and feel a little less out of sorts.”

Qrow tossed the idea around his head. Would Clover be touched by such a gesture? Or would it just put a bad taste in his mouth? Never mind that he didn’t even have half a clue what to get him if he could find anything.

Maybe he could just bring him up to the mountains? Or- wait! That was it!

“I got it! Come on.” He said, jumping up from his stool.

“Uh?!” Tai flailed as he was shoved towards the door. “You gonna tell me what it is first?”

“In a minute, we need the kids.”

The most accurate thing to say about the way Qrow’s life operated was that even his best laid plans never went perfect. That’s why he clung to the background as a spectator while everyone else did the task he’d set them out on, mostly limiting himself to occasionally running messages between the groups.

It was probably for the better anyways – he certainly didn’t have Weiss and Yang’s knack for detail or direction for something like this. Or their general enthusiasm.

“No, no!” The ice princess pointed at the tallest Maple in the center of the yard. “A few more on this tree Penny!”

“Ruby, bring the hose over here!” Yang called from the east side of the backyard, a shovel propped on her shoulder.

The request fell on deaf ears as, with a wicked cackle, Ruby aimed the nozzle at Oscar and blasted him in the back. His resounding screech could have caused an avalanche.

“Young lady!” Tai bellowed over the poor farmhand’s shouts, “If you can’t handle that hose responsibly, I’m taking it away from you.”

Her silver eyes glinted, pointed it his way now. “Just try it dad! I’ll get you next!”

As the war for the gardening tool got into full swing, Blake looked up at him from where she was tacking down the last of the fabric to the porch railing, her smile fond. “I believe that’s the sign for we’re ready.”

“Seems more like a sign to get started before they ruin the surprise.” Qrow replied, watching Oscar wrest the hose free while Tai threw his youngest up over his shoulder, ignoring Ruby’s shrieks and cries for her other teammates to avenge her. He stood from the bench, calling over the field, “I’m gonna go get Clover. So, chill everyone!” He shot a look at his eldest niece and brother-in-law when they both started cackling. “Clam it you two!”

“Go get him Uncle Qrow! We’ve got this!” Ruby encouraged.

Too bad he wasn’t sure if he was ready. The nagging worry that Clover may not like this at all continued to tangle around him like a buckthorn bush. It only sunk its thorns in deeper as he made his way inside and back into the living room area.

It seemed he’d come just in time, because Clover was just finishing up wiping the floor with Team JNR over their friendly round of Remnant: The Game.

“Ugh.” Jaune’s forehead thunked on the table top. “How do you always get the best trap cards?”

“Guess I’m just lucky.” Clover earned every bit of the scathing glare the younger team leader sent his way. “Wanna go again?”

“Might want to pause on that.” He intervened before anyone could speak up, striding forward. “Ruby’s looking for you three. She’s out back.”

Taking their obvious cue, the kids got to their feet, heading out with one last ‘We’ll get you next time!’ from Nora. Clover only chuckled at the baseless threat, beginning to pick up the game pieces.

Qrow collected some stray cards strewn along the floor, eyeing the placement of the board. “Controlling Atlas, huh?”

He shrugged, setting some of the tiny plastic soldiers back into the box. “What can I say? I know it best.”

“’Suppose you do.” He rubber-banded the rest of the stack together, choosing his next words carefully. “You’ve been thinking about Atlas a lot, haven’t you?”

“No more than usual.” He replied, tossing the dice in their little tray.

“Really?”

He wasn’t sure if it was his tone or just his insistence, but Clover suddenly paused, meeting his gaze, pushing that same unerring optimism to the forefront of his smile, “Hey now, what’s with the 4-1-1?”

If there had been a stenographer detailing every moment of Qrow’s life from the beginning to now, the record would show he was not in any way good at these things. So, when he finally explained himself, it sounded harsh even to his own ears. “Cut the act already. You looked miserable this morning.”

“Well, miserable’s not the word I would have used.” He turned away from him, focusing on folding up the game board instead. “Nostalgic, maybe.”

Yep, screwed that one up. He exhaled softly, wishing he could just borrow the other’s softhearted patience for the next five minutes. He rounded the table, taking residence in the spot beside him, tapping their knees together. “Sorry. I just know you have some heavy stuff on your mind and I don’t know how to ask about it without sounding like an insensitive jerk.”

Clover took his time to put the box top on before he responded. “No, it’s not you. Not really. I have been feeling pretty lost lately, but I was hoping you wouldn’t notice. Heh, guess I should have known better then to get something past Oz’s best spy.”

“Damn straight.” His chest swelled with pride. “I don’t get it though, why wouldn’t you want me to know?”

As rare as his frown, the other was suddenly hesitant as he ran a hand over the back of his head. “Because I didn’t want you to think I was regretting coming along with you.”

“I wouldn’t think that.”

He rose an eyebrow, and in a tone nearly identical to the one Qrow used on him, said, “Really?”

“I’ll – try not to think that.” He amended. “But I don’t want my stupid inhibitions to stop you from talking to me about stuff like this.”

“They’re not st-”

“Sshh, stop being my personal therapist for a sec and just listen.” Qrow placed his hand over one of Clover’s, taking a deep breath to calm his own nerves. Nothing to lose, right? “When we started to get to know each other, you saw right through all my bullshit almost immediately. It was – kind of annoying, actually. I’d been building up those walls my whole life and you just leapt right over them. Or, maybe you busted through ‘em with that hard head of yours.” He chuckled softly. “I didn’t know how to handle someone like you. What I really wasn’t expecting was that I’d grow to like it.”

The hand he was holding rotated, until their palms where touching instead, strong fingers squeezing his.

A smile tugged at his lips, the simple touch encouraging him to go on. It was funny. Eight months ago, he never imagined himself speaking like this, open and raw. “There are things I’ve been able to tell you that I’ve never even admitted to my own family before. It’s been so unbelievably freeing.” He rose his eyes, staring into deep teal. “But I don’t want this to be one-sided. What’s happening between us, it’s important to me. I know I’m not as good with this stuff as you, probably never will be, but I still want you to feel the same safety and ease I do.”

“Qrow…” Clover murmured, but words seemed to fail him. Instead he shifted towards him, enough so he could cup his jaw with his free hand and lean his body forward.

Qrow’s eyes slip closed as their lips touch, the lingering caress gentle yet searing. He could have stayed in that moment forever.

So, of course, his scroll buzzed and broke them apart.

He pulled it out, seeing a message from Tai.

What are you two doing? Making out?

Cheeky bastard.

He tapped back a response, reassuring him they were on their way. “I uh, heh, I got so caught up I kind of forgot I have a surprise for you.”

Clover’s face lit up immediately. It was rather cute. “What kind of surprise?”

“You’ll see.” He got to his feet, tugging him by their clasped hands.

It didn’t take more than that to convince his partner to his feet. He led him to the darkened kitchen, the shades drawn to keep the gift hidden just a little longer. As they came to stand in front of the door, he placed his hand on the knob, but didn’t turn it quite yet.

“I know there’s probably a lot you miss about Atlas and Mantle. Things I can’t really bring back.” Qrow started, trying to cool his nerves. “But I wanted to try to give something to you, even if it’s just for today.”

He kept his eyes on him, even as he opened the door – meaning he didn’t miss a second of how Clover’s expression shifted from curiosity, to shock, to, finally, absolute wonderment as he took in the transformed backyard.

“SURPRISE!” Everyone shouted from their places around the winter wonderland they stood in.

With Penny, it hadn’t been quite as difficult to pull off as Qrow had feared it might. A few sheets of ice, and suddenly they had enough chill to make snow stick. Between boulder-sized ice chunks that the various blade-oriented fighters could shear into shavings and Tai’s old pressure nozzle that turned buckets of ice water into flakes, they soon had the majority of the yard covered – enough that they could shovel the snow into great big mounds. The overhang of the roof and all the nearby trees had real icicles hanging down. For the places they didn’t have time to reasonably cover, swathes of shimmery, white fabric were used instead, ribbons of it spiraled over the porch railing or along the still leafy tree-tops.

As they stepped out into the temporary, magical world, for the second time that day, Clover seemed a loss for words. “I… This is… How?”

“Do you like it? We worked all afternoon on it!” Ruby asked, perched onto one of the many snow mounds Yang had shoveled together.

Penny lifted a finger, adding methodically, “We followed all the exact specifications of a snow day for optimal fun.”

“It’s, incredible.” Clover said, grinning ear-to-ear. “You all didn’t have to do this for me.”

Weiss waved him off first. “Don’t be silly. Of course we did.”

“You’ve become a vital member of our team. If we can show our appreciation of that with such a gesture, then it’s our honor.” Ren surmised wisely.

“Yeah! Now get down here so we can kick your butt at a good ol’ fashioned snowball fight!” Yang pumped a fist in the air, the sentiment quickly echoed by Nora and Jaune.

Qrow smiled at the sound of his partner’s laughter, the mirth wiping away any doubts he’d had that this wasn’t the right call.

Blake glanced around. “Shouldn’t we make teams then?”

“Right! Teams of three!” Jaune called.

“Uh, maybe I’ll just sit this one out-” Oscar tried to back away.

“Nice try lil’ Ozcar!” Nora swept him into a chokehold. “Me, you and Ren are gonna take home the gold!”

“Qrow’s with me and Ruby!” Tai claimed.

“Yes!! You’re all going down!” Ruby cheered.

Yang threw her arms over Blake and Jaune’s shoulders, boasting right back, “Hah! Not when we’ve got Mr. Strategy!”

As everyone continued their false taunts, Qrow squeezed the hand he held one last time, before letting go and hopping over the railing to join his family.

“Hey wait! What about me?” Clover protested. “Don’t you want to be on a team with me?”

He turned around, smirking. “And miss the opportunity to bean you right in that perfect face of yours? No way.”

He looked mockingly hurt, which was quickly wiped away as Weiss announced “That’s fine.” She made her way over to Penny, the android practically beaming over being chosen. “He can be on ours. This is our element after all.”

Clover looked from them, back to Qrow, a smirk of his own growing as he made his way off the porch. “Well babe, you had your chance. Don’t regret it when we utterly thrash you.”

“We’ll see lucky charm. We’ll see.”

The battle lasted until the sun was going down, when the icicles had long ago dripped and fallen from their perches and the snow and ice underfoot was little more than slush and mud. They trekked inside, sitting around the roaring hearth and trading stories over a meal of soup and bread. As the night waned, one by one they started to turn in until only Qrow and Clover were left, lounging on the couch together while the embers faded in the fireplace. Head pillowed against the other’s clavicle, Qrow was content enough he started to drift.

On the edges of sleep a faint ‘I love you’ breathed over his hair.

As he slipped into his dreams, he smiled, because he realized that even if he could never truly give Clover back his old home, things would be alright.

They could create a new one together.

#qrow branwen #clover ebi #fair game #fairgameweek2020 #rwby #fanfiction #Chase Firekitten's Tale

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razorblade180 · 4 years

Text

Rosebud prep 11

They say time heals all wounds. Ruby wasn’t sure how much truth was in that saying but right now she could be swayed to believe that achievement should go to love. It’s only been several hours and yet being Jaune’s arms as they sat in her old house enjoying the company of her family has done so much for her than anything else she’s done all year. That being said, listening to other’s talk and smile was more to her liking than actually talking. Everyone understood though. The fact that Ruby wasn’t passed out from emotional exhaustion was pretty impressive to say the least.

Periodically the reapers arms would tighten around Jaune’s waist like if she was worried he’d fade away. Her head laid comfortably on his chest to listen to his heartbeat. It was calm and soothing. ‘I had forgotten how nice this was. His arms.....his scent....’ A tiny of red came across her face as she eased into him a little more. The display of affection didn’t go unnoticed.

Yang:Uh oh, someone is falling in love all over again. I haven’t seen that look in Ruby’s eyes since you both started getting serious.

Jaune:*blushing* Yang! You’re dad is the room!

Tai:I’ve walked in on both of my girls in awkward situations unfortunately. Words don’t shock me anymore.

Yang:You should’ve learned to knock.

Tai:It’s my house! Excuse me for not expecting my respectful daughters to sneak people into it while I’m not looking.

Yang:If it makes you feel better you got me back a few months ago.

Ruby:What happened a few months ago?

Yang:I went to visit dad and casually walked through the front door to see him and mom were....catching up.

Tai:Once again, it’s my house. You should’ve been the walk knocking or text first.

Ruby:The two of you are back together.

Tai:*Rubs head* Well....we’re talking again.

Yang:*mumbling* I didn’t see much talking.

Tai:Yang!

Weiss:Still doing better than me. Neptune might have gotten is act together but work tends to take most of my time.

Blake:If I can take time away for my organization to get married and have a honeymoon, then you can have one day off.

Ruby:She’s right. Spend time with him when you can. You could’ve invited him here with you.

Weiss:Ha! Ruby, time hasn’t given him the ability to read the room yet. He’s a sweetheart but wasn’t risking him saying something that’s still a touchy subject like-

Ruby:*raising eyebrow* I was wondering if you were gonna catch yourself or slip up.

Weiss:I’ve spent too much time around him.

Yang:Ooooo, anything worth noting?

Nora:You’re the only person here not married Weiss. How’d that happen!?

Ren:Time is ticking.

Weiss:Ticking!? I’m only twenty five!!!! I don’t feel the need to nose dive into love like everyone else.

Blake:Hey when you know, you know. Haven’t even been married a month yet and I know it’s the best decision I’ve made with Yang.

Yang:Awwwww

Everyone:Eeeeeeeewwwwwww

Yang:WOW!!! I can understand Weiss be really, my married friends and father?

Jaune:Being married has nothing to do with it. You two have been doing the mushy thing for years and we’ve always cringed.

Ruby:*giggling*

Yang:Y’all are haters.

RNJR:We’re married.

Tai:And you I’m definitely not hating.

Yang folds her arms and turns her head away from the teasing to pout. It was her plan to stay like that for a good minute until her attention was drawn to the window. What used to be the orange glow of a sunset turned into a sky with stars.

Yang:Holy crap it’s night already!?

Blake:What!? we still need to unpack and there’s people expecting me tomorrow!

Nora:Pfft, how did you let time get away from you like that. Very irresponsible of you two.

Ren:Nora, we have to be back at the orphanage by daybreak tomorrow....

Nora:...........Weiss can you give all of us a ride please?

Weiss:Don’t know. I’m twenty five and apparently getting up there in years.

Nora:Weiss I am older than you! Take a joke please!? Children’s lives are on the line!

No one had payed attention to those words too hard. Except for Jaune of course. He looked down to see Ruby staring up at him . They both caught a little sting from Nora’s words but knew it unintentional. It was not worth bringing it to everyone’s attention that they stepped on the land mine that they desperately tried to avoid.

Weiss:I suppose since I have to go soon anyways that I can give you freeloaders a ride. The more I think about it, maybe I am getting old. My back is really starting to hurt helping you guys.

Yang:Oh here we go.

Weiss:I’m just saying. *opens door* You all never fall when I’m by your side. I could make a list from our time at Beacon and it would still be impressive. Top of that list, saved you from a train crash. You’re lucky I’m talking about Beacon days because I could put that on list twice.

Jaune:I saved your life before.

Weiss:I know, I’m grateful everyday. Would you and Ruby also like a ride home? I’d be more than happy too.*smiles*

Yang:Someone is playing favorites.

Blake:Jaune and Ruby are all of our favorites.

Yang:.....Yeah, yeah you’re right. Weiss is still petty though.

Weiss:All who asked for a ride had ten seconds to get in the airships before I change my mind.

Nora grabs Ren’s hand while Yang too Blake’s. They weren’t about to test that bluff and were in the ship with eight seconds to spare.

Ruby and Jaune still sat on the couch however. Going home finally sounded nice in concept, but there was a slight problem. From the way Ruby felt Jaune grip her hand firmly with worry, it was obvious they were thinking about the same thing. She reached for his face and gave him a gentle smile.

Ruby:We can stay here a little longer if you need to. Yang told me the reason you left. All the reasons.

Weiss:All...the reasons?

Jaune:Yeah. Dustin’s room.

Weiss:*bites lip* Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t-

Jaune:It’s okay. Sigh... I’ve been here for some time now. I like to believe I’ve made a bit of progress here but I’ve been informed that recently I’ve been spinning my wheels.

Ruby:What!? Dad!

Tai:N..now hear me out. I told him a change of scenery was nice but he still wasn’t really doing anything. You both are more than welcome to stay longer. Just don’t get stuck wallowing. Try and do things.

Jaune:Yeah I could’ve paraphrased better.

Ruby:So what do you wanna do. You’re the one who needed space. I won’t go back if you aren’t ready to.

.......

Jaune:*interlocks fingers* Through a lot of points in my life I found myself coming to a stand stil when life threw its worst at me; Then like clockwork, you walk by me and I can’t help but feel inspired and chase after you. I always was surprised that I managed to keep up. Then I realized, you were never gonna leave me in dust; any of us. You walked just enough ahead to show us it was possible to keep going but looked back in case you had to slow down.

Ruby:*smiles* Nah, I never looked back. More often than not everyone was beside me. You all were only one step away when you weren’t. I knew you guys could keep up.

Jaune:Then why start changing things now. I’ll take the steps towards home with you.

How could he be so talented at moving her. This is the second time today she’s tried to support him and then he pulls a roll reversal and inspires her. Maybe that was the key to their victories? It was obvious when she thought about it. They always called each other a team unlike any other but Ruby was surprised how deep that actually ran. It was hard not to feel a little invisible around him.

Ruby leaned in to kiss his cheek before standing up and guiding him towards the door. Weiss was proud of the two and even gave a slight bow as they exited the house. She waved to Tai and almost closed the before he walked outside as well and gave Ruby a surprise hug that made her laugh. He carefully looked at Jaune and shifted his eyes towards the ship. It took a minute before Jaune got the message that Tai wanted a quick chat. A wink and a nod then the blonde boy continued to walk with Weiss.

Tai:I’m so proud of you.

Ruby:Me too. About you and Raven I mean. That’s nuts.

Tai:Should I be offended by that?

Ruby:You know what I mean. It’s just unexpected but I’ve been gone awhile. Things are bound to happen.

Tai:It was us working to help you that made it all possible.

Ruby:Then I guess....it wasn’t a total loss. I’m glad.

Tai:Believe me, I got a feeling from all this you’ll gain something beyond belief. The world works in mysterious ways. If you look closely then you can see them.

Ruby:Why do I have a feeling this isn’t only a comfort talk?

Tai:I didn’t want to say anything since Yang did not bring it up but she’s also been having trouble and really wants the chance to talk to you about it. Her and Blake have been talking for a long time, way before the incident about-

Ruby:Kids. They’ve thought about kids. And between what happened with Dustin and with how I am now....

Tai:She’s scared. Not only about a potential attack but hurting you too. We both know that’s the last thing Yang ever wants to do.

Ruby:.....Heavy stuff. Didn’t realize how much this affected her.

Tai:Don’t bring it up if you’re not ready to have that conversation but I thought you should know.

Ruby:Thanks dad.

Tai:Safe journey home. *kisses forehead*

xxxx

The flight home had been a bit longer than expected. Geographically they were closer to Vacou and should’ve been the first stop home but that’s where changes were made. Nora had been real anxious of the orphans despite them being watched over, so a trip to Anima was the first drop off. Nora and Ren had felt a little bad but was assured by everyone they understand.

Next stop was Menagerie. It had been well into nighttime by the time the island was in view. The island was mostly lit up with lanterns though which proved very helpful. Technically there was no formal landing spot and finding a clear space was more annoying at night than it has a right to be. So that only left one real option....

Weiss:Okay you two, think you can jump from here? *opens door*

Yang:Yep!

Blake:You know I never thought Ozpin’s training on landing strategies would come up so frequently. Go figure... *jumps*

Yang:Well it’s been f-

Ruby:Hold on one second. *standing up*

Yang:Hmm?

Ruby:Yang I just want you to know that I love you. You’re the best sister I could’ve asked for. Actually, if I’m being honest with myself, you’ve also been like I mom to me more times than I can count. Don’t....don’t let me stand in th way of you becoming a real one.

Yang:*eyes widened* Dad told you, didn’t he?

Ruby:*nods* I know you’ll always consider my feelings in whatever you do in life. We’re both grownups now though and married. Take those leaps in life when Blake when you two are ready. It’ll be a little rough but I’ll back you up. I’m your sister and your leader; that’s sort my job. *smiles*

Yang was at a loss for words. The wind roaring from outside wasn’t doing her any favors either in terms of thinking. So she did what she always does when words fail her. Yang got physical. Her arms opened up and Ruby already knew what that meant. Ruby walked right into hug and enjoyed the warmth of her sister’s embrace before breaking apart and giving her nod. The older sister kissed her forehead and gave a nod back before hopping out the airship.

That conversation had taken more energy out of her than expected. It was short and to the point yet somehow managed to stir something in her. Maybe Tai was right when he said it was okay to wait to have that talk. Yang had been waiting a long time though and Ruby couldn’t bare the thought of hindering her sister’s life any more than she already had. Maybe what she needed was rest. Ruby found herself cuddling up under Jaune once again. His hand lulling her to a blissful sleep as it rubbed her head.

Ruby:Jaune....I....I......

Jaune:Ssssshhhh rest for now. I’ll wake you when we get there.

Ruby:*blushing* Okay.....

xxxx

Jaune:Ruby? *shakes her*

Ruby:Zzzzz

Jaune:*chuckles* Worn out to the bone.

Weiss:I can park a little closer to your house if you have to carry her.

Jaune:Nah it’s alright. I don’t mind a tiny walk.

Weiss:If you say so. You two take care now. You deserve it. Call me for anything.

Jaune:Awwww

Weiss:Yeah yeah, I’m a softie who cares. Honestly why is that still surprising?

Jaune:It’s just really satisfying.

He scooped Ruby up into his arm and walked towards the door. Weiss opened it for him and gave him a warm smile. “Have a nice night.” Jaune smiled and gave the heiress an unexpected peck on the cheek that made her do a double take while he walked off. “Fly home safe.”

She didn’t respond. Instead she let out a small chuckle and closed the door. Weiss was never one to turn down a little affection from her friends. Especially Ruby, Ren, Blake, or Jaune. Something about it was always nice and innocent.

Alone, Jaune walked to his home. Well, technically he wasn’t alone; just the only one conscious. He did not mind though. It was actually pretty nostalgic. Carrying Ruby had become one of the little requirements of knowing the girl for as long as he did; even before they started dating there were many times the girl had found her way into his arms. It’s been some time since last he had to do it however. She seemed lighter than usual. All those missions most likely had something to do with it. If he hadn’t stopped training then no doubt she’d feel like a feather to him. ‘I should get back to my routine soon. I’m lucky Nora didn’t say anything about my health or else she might’ve put me on her work out routine.” He shuttered at that thought.

The trek home had finally ended at his door step. Only a few weeks has passed but the house had already seemed a bit foreign. No lights were left on, no mail at the door, no anything. Just a simple house looking over a town from their rocky and sandy landscape. It was supposed to be their little world with room to do anything. Train, picnics, or whatever. He had hope his future child could feel free to stretch wings. Now this place seemed lonely and a reminder of what could’ve been. He continued to stare blankly at the front door before the click of the door knob snapped him out of the daze. Ruby had woken up and was unlocking the door from his arms.

Jaune:Y..You’re awake.

Ruby:Yep. About five minutes now. I’m surprised me wrestling with the keys didn’t startle you.

Jaune:Five minutes? *frowns* I’ve stood here that long?

Ruby:*pushing open door* Yeah. I’m actually happy you did. It gave me time to think.

Jaune:About?

Ruby did not answer. Instead she hopped out of his arms and grabbed his arms to slowly lead him in. Jaune flicked on the porch light and the living room to get a nice look at everything. A bit dusty to be expected. The kitchen and dining room looked undisturbed except for a chair slightly out of place. Jaune had been told Ozpin had been waiting for Ruby a couple days and. He expected that’s where the man sat. How he got into the house is an entirely different question he’d have to make sure to ask later.

All in all the first floor was fine. No doubt the second floor was as well, but it was that floor that made his blood freeze up. There’s a room up there that should have a his son in a crib but remains empty. Empty because he was too slow to find him. Cinder had taken two very important things from his life now. No amount of healing will change that fact.

Jaune:Ruby I-

Ruby:I’ve kept a secret from you.

Jaune:...What?

Ruby:I’ve kept a secret from you. For a little over a year now. I told you how I was scared how my life might change the day I told you I was pregnant. I never told you that the entire month before I told you I was debating. Debating on getting rid of it.

Jaune:......

Ruby:I still would’ve told you before I went through with it but that day never happened because my dad made me realize what I could possibly be throwing away. All that joy and experiences. It out weighed my previous fears and the thought of never knowing what I was giving up. *tightens grip*

Jaune:Why are you telling me this now.

Ruby:Because for a year I’ve had a nagging question in my head. Would losing my child by my own decision hurt less than someone else taking them away? Did I have the right answer the first time around? I’ve achieved my first dream of being a legendary huntress. That was always what I wanted then parenthood seemed to be tagged on in the last minute. I should feel a certain level of happiness from completing the one I wanted to do for so long but I don’t. Instead it feels like I’m only halfway to getting what I want. Reconnecting with you, standing in this house, I think I finally have my answer.

Ruby turns around to face him. Tears well up a little as she extends her left fist until it rests on his heart. Her eyes remain dim but filled with a since of purpose that Jaune watches slowly build until it forms into words.

Ruby:I may have only held Dustin once in my arms but there is no doubt in my mind that the feeling it gave me will always be a moment I don’t regret gaining; no matter the sorrow that followed after. So as long as you are with me and feel the same way I do, then one day when we are ready, we’ll get another chance to have that feeling. You and I will try again and put a baby in that crib I watched you struggle to build. *crying*

Jaune:*crying*.....hehe

Jaune:I did not struggle just so you know.

Ruby:Yeah sure you dummy. *sniffling*

Jaune:Have I told you I much I missed you.

Ruby:Show me instead.

Jaune:All I needed to hear.

To hell with the pain, the fear, and sorrow. All of it numbing as long as they stood by each other. Jaune pulled Ruby into a kiss she might as well jumped into; their tears being wiped by the other. There was no fever behind the kiss but an intense passion. A promise to keep going. Ruby pulled him down to her level and walked towards the couch where she stumbled backwards and Jaune fell on top of her. All while never breaking the kiss. Yeah they had a bed but it was also upstairs and right now that was still the last place they wanted to go. Finally they separated for air and they got a good look at each other. Puffy eyes and flushed faces. Not to mention a deep desire to not stop.

Jaune:Are you sure?

Ruby:Yang was right earlier about that look in my eye earlier. Except I wasn’t falling in love all over again; I never stopped loving you in the first place. Somewhere along the line, I guess I just forgot how good it felt to be with you. In your arms, kissing you, under you....I miss all those feelings. Please give them all back to me. I won’t squander them again.

Jaune:You never lost them in the first place.

He gave her a chaste kiss before working his way down to her neck. The subtle scent that came off her body. The tiny gasps of air that escaped between her lips when he bit down and the whimpers from his hands outlining her frame through Ruby’s clothing. Jaune had missed many things as well from being separated from his wife. Ruby wasn’t completely docile during this rekindling of affection. She had already placed her legs on each side of him and managed to fumble around with his belt long enough to finally unbuckle it.

Before she could get any farther, Jaune had guided her hands back up to the bottom of his shirt and then over his head. Workout or not, Ruby missed seeing the sight of her man shirtless. Even though it brought a pout to her face that he had stopped her from what she really wanted to see. “I was kinda in the middle of something you know?” He chuckled at his beautiful and flustered rose. “Someone is a bit eager.”

“Believe me when I say I’m more than ready for you know.” Ruby didn’t think her own words could make her any more flushed than she already was but she could feel her face get redder as her breath became more ragged. Jaune brought his left hand to her face and watched her lovingly lean into it. Everything she did managed to make his heart jump but Jaune was on a personal mission and no amount of beauty was going to prevent him from achieving it. He bent down towards her ear until she could feel his breath brush against it.“I’ve barely seen you all year. I’d like to change that and take my time with it. What’s a few more minutes of waiting?”

There was a base in his voice that made the girl gulp.That voice let him get away with a lot of things on a regular day; he might just get everything he asked for tonight. Ruby could tell that Jaune was teetering on the edge of restraint and it excited her. It was nice to know he was still interested in her on a physical and emotional level after everything. That made this all the more intense. The bottom of her dress was already bunched up way past her waist while he slid the top down along with her bra.”Well...?” Ruby said a bit anxiously as he burned the image of her into his mind. She knew he loved her but it was impossible to not got flustered when he looked at her so expose. “You’re beautiful.” Those words made it worth it. “Then stop teasing me already. The night is gonna be long enough already.” She had a point. He had is fill of foreplay and took one last look into Ruby’s eyes before he continued. “Let me know if you need a break.”

“Hehe, same to you my knight.” Indeed, it was gonna be a long night.

Part 10

#rwby #rwby rosebud #ruby rose #rwby lancaster #taiyang xiao long #lie ren #nora valkryie #renora #jaune arc #yang xiao long #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #bumbleby #rwby au #rwby ships

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thecousinsdangereux · 5 years

Note

bumbleby with this as a prompt: tatsuyamashiro(.)co(.)vu/post/183085155981/the-lock-jammed-on-the-front-door-of-my-shitty Yang is the drunk neighbour Blake is the one locked out

Campaigning is hell.

Blake had long ago accepted it as a necessary evil of enacting any sort of long-term change, but after too many days like this one, full of canvassing and idiots and bigots and disappointing poll numbers, she had perfected a three step process for coping. It involved a lengthy bath, a large glass of wine, and the longest stretch of sleep anyone on the planet has experienced through conventional means.

It probably went without saying that a jammed lock on the front door of her outrageously antiquated apartment building did not fit into that process. At all.

“You have got to be kidding me.”

She wiggles the handle, gently at first, but with increasing desperation, gripping it with two hands and letting out a stupidly loud grunt, when nothing happens.

“It’s broken.”

She doesn’t immediately recognize the voice, but when she turns, she does recognize the woman, and it’s a clear sign of Blake’s single-minded focus (bath, wine, sleep) that she hadn’t noticed her sitting on the corner of the stoop earlier.

Because honestly? Normally, Blake has a hard time not looking at her new neighbor (at her bright eyes and wide smile and wildly curling hair, at her often-bare arms and curving jaw and defined legs). She’s never had more than a few conversations with the woman and her roommate (Ruby, Blake vaguely recalls), but it’s not like it’s ever taken her much time to realize someone was her type to a level that was almost insulting.

“Yeah, I — I got that.”

The woman — Yang — grins, lazy and lopsided, and twists sideways on the steps, stretching a leg out in front of her and leaning back. Blake jerks her eyes away, desperate to find a focus point other than the lift of Yang’s tank top, and finds her eyes drawn to the large glass placed just to the side of the woman. It could be soda, but the garnishes on top makes Blake think otherwise.

“I probably should’ve said something earlier, but every time we see you in the hall, you’re like, super put together or whatever. So it was kinda funny to see you go all Incredible Hulk on the door like that.” This is followed by what Blake can only assume is Yang’s Hulk impression — it involves a lot of flexing and growling and is cuter than it has any right being.

Blake blinks. “Are you drunk?”

“Tipsy,” Yang corrects, leaning further back, propping herself up on her elbow. “And you’re cute.”

The unexpectedness of it makes her laugh, short and loud, and Yang grins again, pleased with herself. For a second, Blake imagines herself returning the compliment, but Yang speaks again before she can.

“I’m Yang,” she says.

“Blake.”

“I know. I remember.” She lets her head roll back, as though it’ll help her get a better look at Blake, still several steps above her. “Blake the activist. We’ve seen your posters and stickers and stuff. That’s cute too. Or — ” Yang’s lips twist. “Wait, that makes me sound like a condescending jackass. Um, that’s cool, I mean. Like, that you’re actually doing something about the stuff that pisses you off.”

“Yeah, well, sometimes it’s a lot like this door.” She turns back to it, wiggles the key around a little more.

“Broken as fuck?” Yang asks.

“Frustrating,” Blake corrects, feeling the corner of her lips quirk upwards in amusement. “But that too.”

“Well, that makes it even more badass, right? ‘Cause it sucks sometimes. Or a lot of the time. But you’re doing it anyways.”

The words have more impact than they should, maybe, coming from a girl she hardly knows, who’s drunk and sitting outside their busted apartment building, but Blake figures after the day she’s had, she deserves the surge of pleasure they bring.

“Um. Thanks, Yang.”

“I know what’s up,” she returns with a sage nod. “Full of wisdom, or something.”

Turning once more to look down the steps, Blake laughs. “Uh huh. So what’s all that wisdom telling you about this door? Any hints?”

Yang considers this, brow pinching, for a long moment.

“You should kick it.”

“Kick it.”

“Yeah. Try — try kicking it. Really hard.”

Blake stares at her. Yang, unblinking, stares back.

Well. It’s not like worse ideas didn’t exist.

Leaning forward onto one foot, Blake brings her knee in, twisting, and snaps it back, flat of her foot connecting with the door with a loud thud.

No effect. (Outside of a slight stinging sensation in her foot.) Of course.

She looks at Yang and shrugs, but Yang just continues to stare, perhaps a bit more wide-eyed than before.

“Oh, uh. That was — more torque. Than I expected. You’ve got a surprising — uh — torque to size ratio.”

Another surprised laugh. And, weirdly, a blush. “What?”

“Just, I mean, if I was that door, I would’ve opened like, out of respect for a kick like that.” Her smile returns. If Blake didn’t know better, she might call it a little lovestruck. “Damn, Blake, we should go to the gym together sometime. Or go anywhere. Sometime. ‘Cause this is fun, being stuck out here together, watching you kick down a door like some kind of SWAT Team Lady or whatever.”

“I — I didn’t kick it down,” Blake returns, unsure how else she can possibly respond.

Yang waves her hand, unconcerned. “Eh. Almost. But if that didn’t do it, nothing will.” She pats the stoop next to her. “Come on. I’ll share my rum and coke.”

“That’s… a very big rum and coke.”

“Which is why I can share.”

Blake pauses, but only for a moment. Yang slides her leg back around, sitting up and making room for Blake to sit down right next to her, which she does, closer than she means to. Or maybe that’s Yang, scooting towards her before she fully lowers herself down on the step.

Whatever the cause, the result is the same, and Blake can’t say she minds, not when Yang smiles at her, crooked and cute, and offers her drink. Taking a sip, Blake realizes it’s mostly rum, which checks out.

“So this is the plan? Sit and drink and wait for someone else to figure out the lock?”

“I mean.” Yang shrugs. “That’s what I was doing before you got here. And I was rewarded pretty well, I gotta say.”

“Yang,” Blake begins, amused. “The door’s still shut.”

“Well, yeah, but now I’ve got you for company. I’ll take that over getting back into the apartment any day.” She nudges Blake, shoulders brushing together, and takes her glass back, fingers sliding against either with the sort same effect.

(A jolt. It’s stupid, but Blake thinks she might feel a jolt.)

“I guess I can think of worse ways to spend a night.”

—

Ruby finds them a while later. By that time, Blake not only knows that Ruby is Yang’s sister, but also that her favorite color is red and she’s a mechanical engineering student and Yang loves her more than Blake’s ever seen anyone love anyone else ever, maybe. She also knows that Yang is hot and sweet and someone that Blake is definitely going to go somewhere with, sometime.

“Yang! I’m so sorry! Someone let Nora have a lighter and she started setting drinks on fire and then the fire alarm went off and Weiss got up on the bad chair to try to wave the smoke away and it tipped over and I had to catch her and we didn’t realize you were — ”

Ruby stops, hanging off the door she’d somehow finagled open, and stares down at them.

“ — Finally talking to the neighbor you’ve had a crush on since we moved in here,” Ruby finishes. “Okay! The door isn’t stuck any more so you can come up whenever you’re ready!”

She vanishes behind the door, only to reappear a second later.

“Nice to see you again, Blake!”

Blake waits, making sure she’s actually gone this time, before turning to Yang.

“A crush, huh?”

Yang doesn’t blush, and she doesn’t hesitate.

“Huge crush. Embarrassingly huge. Even my friends know.” That same grin returns, this time with a touch of earnestness, and Yang offers her hand. “Wanna meet them? And get dinner this Friday night?”

Blake takes it and stands, pulling Yang with her and wearing an earnest sort of smile of her own.

“Yes. And yes.”

—

Over the years, Blake had perfected a three step process for alleviating stress: a lengthy bath, a large glass of wine, and the longest stretch of sleep anyone on the planet has experienced through conventional means.

But after an hour outside with Yang, she thinks maybe she can narrow those three steps down to one.

(She looks forward to putting the theory to test.)

#Anonymous #this prompt was cute as helllll bless you anon #bumbleby #rwby #writing #prompt madness!

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dyde21 · 5 years

Text

Aquarium

So @mrk50 and I decided to collaborate on a little project! I know it’s been a hot minute since I’ve written anything for Arkos but I was feeling up to it and it felt like a good opportunity. So here’s a one shot I wrote! Also: HERE is the song I listened to while writing it. xD

XxXxXxXxX

Jaune paced back and forth in front of the aquarium, trying to calm the butterflies in his stomach. He had shown up fifteen minutes early, knowing he still had a bad habit of being a little late to appointments. This was much more important than any appointment so far though, he was on a date with Pyrrha. Just thinking those words made him stop pacing and he felt another wave of nerves wash over him. His scroll buzzed and he saw a message from Pyrrha.

P: I'm sorry! I'm on my way! Yang and Weiss kept fighting about my hair.

Jaune just smiled and sent her a thumbs up emoji in return. At least her delay would give him a chance to compose himself.

It was still hard for Jaune to believe that he was actually about to go on a date with his amazing teammate. It had taken a while, and a lot, a lot, of not so subtle hints from his teammates and friends before he finally started to get a clue. The dance had kinda helped him get over his crush on Weiss, and it was subtle, but he had started to look at his partner differently. Once his crush had passed, and after an honest talk with Yang and Pyrrha, he had even gone and apologized to Weiss for taking so long to get the hint and they were on good terms properly. Of course, this now meant that all those nerves were starting to blossom around his partner. But after an extremely awkward confession from both parties involved and one wonderful but confusing night, they were about to go on their first date.

Their friends had been extremely supportive, and apparently relieved that they were finally going out, and had kidnapped Pyrrha in order to help “prepare” her. This left Jaune alone, but Blake apparently had already thought about that since Ren wasn't exactly the best person to ask for advice on what to wear, and Sun and Neptune had shown up at a request from her. Soon enough Neptune had helped him pick out something that was “totally cool.”

Fidgeting the with the zipper on his zip up, he hoped he had been telling the truth. It wasn't too different from what he normally wore, jeans, high top shoes, and a zip up hoodie. Jaune had wanted to dress up in his dress shirt but Sun had just brushed off the idea, mentioning how “Pyrrha liked you for you, so don't try and be someone you're not.”

A part of Jaune reminded himself to make sure to make it up to them, they had really helped calm him a bit before his date.

“Jaune!” Pyrrha's voice called out from across the courtyard. Looking up, Jaune felt his face flush and his mouth suddenly felt very dry. Pyrrha was making her way towards him, an apologetic and worried smile on her face as she waved. Stopping a few feet in front of him, he saw her eyes trail up and down him once and her own face went a shade closer to her hair. “Sorry for being late! They wouldn't let me go, Ruby had to sneak me out to get them to stop bickering over what to do with my hair.”

“They did.. wow. You look won- beautiful. Just... wow.” He fumbled, wincing as he realized the very first chance he had to make a good impression on this date was blown. Most people couldn't blame him though.

Pyrrha was wearing a beautiful sundress that was a gradient from gold to white. Over it she wore a simple brown jacket and a red sash clipped by a pin of her emblem. Over a pair of stockings she was wearing a pair of high boots and Jaune could only really think of one way to describe her outfit. Cute.

Jaune felt his throat go a little dry as he met her eyes again, and she was just staring at him with a cute, curious smile, if not with a little blush on her cheeks. “Are you ready to go in?”

Jaune blinked and nodded, glad for an excuse to stop talking for a moment. I already got the tickets, so we can go straight in.” Pyrrha nodded and turned, starting to walk towards the doors. Taking a deep breath, Jaune put a hand on his chest. “You can do this.” He muttered to himself. He wasn't going to screw this up.

“Jaune?” Pyrrha called, confused as she noticed he wasn't at her side.

“Coming!” He called out as he quickly jogged to her side. Pyrrha just smiled and, thanking him as he held open the door for her. Immediately walking through the door, they both gasped as they looked around. Right in the center there was a massive towering aquarium filled with thousands of small, brightly colored fish. The scale of this aquarium was already impressive. “It's so pretty.” Jaune said after moment.

“Gorgeous.” Pyrrha agreed. Looking over, she saw Jaune stepping forward and she had to admit the childish look of awe on his face was unbearably cute.

Jaune rested a hand on the glass as he saw the myriad of colors swirling around in the water. His eyes were drawn to a slightly larger scarlet fish, which instantly reminded him of his partner. With a start he turned around, seeing Pyrrha watching him with a strange smile he couldn't quite place. “Uh... sorry. I got a little distracted...”

Pyrrha just smiled, walking next to him and brushing some bangs behind her ear. “Don't be. We're here to enjoy ourselves after all. I don't blame you, it's like it's own little world in there.” She said, her own eyes getting lost in the aquatic world. Jaune bit his lip as he looked at her, finding her look heartwarming.

After a moment they looked around. “This place sure is big.” He mumbled after a moment.

“Let's see... there should be...” Pyrrha said, scanning around. “There!” She said, quickly hurrying her way to a stand. Jaune saw her walk back a moment later, unfolding something. A map, apparently.

She leaned into him, showing him the map too so they could both get a good look. Jaune would be lying if he said half of his mind wasn't solely focused on the fact that Pyrrha was leaning into him so much, that her shampoo smelled like strawberries, and it was a little hard to focus until he saw one of her fingers point at an exhibit. “Otters!” She squealed excited, causing a smile to grace his lips again. He recognized that tone of voice, where the usually stoic but friendly Pyrrha was pushed aside from the easily excited girl that she usually kept repressed. “We have to see them.” She pleaded, her eyes shifting to his. He nodded quickly, trying not to get lost in them again. “Of course.”He said, scanning the page properly. “Penguins!” He exclaimed as he pointed, feeling Pyrrha shift slightly as she chuckled. “We'll make sure to see those too.” They spent a minute or so huddled together as they both pointed out exhibits they wanted to make sure to see and debated the best path to take.

Eventually they decided on a good path, making sure to time it so they can check out the Otter show, and started off. As they walked off, Pyrrha lead the way, commenting on the tropical section they were going to first. Jaune saw her hand dragging a bit behind her as she pointed with the other one. He was suddenly overcome by a desperate urge to hold her hand. Something that had been on his mind since their confession. Sure it had happened occasionally on a mission, or if leading someone somewhere from day to day but never in a romantic sense. It suddenly felt like a massive leap of faith. Hesitating, his hand inches from hers, he slowly pulled his hand back and caught up to her as they walked, checking out each of the tanks. They had gotten their rather early in the day, so they weren't really in any rush. They took their time enjoying the exhibits, and Jaune soon learned Pyrrha was actually very interested in the plaques that gave information. Her curiosity was adorable to him, and he found himself eagerly listening as she would read out facts she saw interesting.

A little further in, they had a mini aquarium with a little tunnel that you could climb through and pop your head up to look like you're in the center of the tank. Smiling, Pyrrha immediately started pushing him towards it. Jaune was a bit confused as to why she was trying so hard to get him in there.

Still, Jaune wasn't about to ruin her fun so he waited for the little kid to leave before he crawled through the small hole. When he poked his head up, he immediately two things. One, seeing fish swimming all around him was actually really cool. The second was he saw a distorted picture of Pyrrha on the other side, holding scroll up. It took him a moment to realize she was taking pictures, then what looked like a video. His eyes widened, before he offered her a small smile. After a moment, he climbed back out, joining her as he saw her scrolling through the photos, uploading a few.

Then he pulled out his scroll and Pyrrha stared him confused for a moment. “Your turn.” He offered plainly, and he saw her eyes widened before a blush creeped on her face and she nodded. Waiting patiently, and even letting another kid go first, she climbed through the tunnel and poked her head up. Jaune took a generous amount of photos, saving one especially where she through up a peace sign.

Pyrrha climbed back out and looked at them, blushing slightly.

That set them off though, soon they were taking photos everywhere.

It pretty much became a game between them. Every little plastic animal was posed next to, they both take turns posing in front of various tanks, and Pyrrha had even asked someone to take a photo of them two together. Once they had finished the second wing of the aquarium, they both decided they had been feeling a bit hungry.

As they pushed their away against the growing crowd to try and make it back to the food court, Jaune trailed a bit behind Pyrrha letting her part the crowd. He saw her hand trailing behind her a bit, and his eyes were locked on it as he bit his lip. He really wanted to reach out and hold it again, but it was still their first date. Was it too forward? Was he rushing things? He knew Pyrrha was as inexperienced as he was with relationships, and really didn't want to ruin the day for both of them. His hand hovered a few inches from hers, before he sighed and pulled it back. As he was moving his hand back, he felt Pyrrha's grab his wrist tightly as she looked at him with a smile, apparently unaware of the fact they were almost holding hands.

“Stay close, it's busy and we don't want to get separated.” She offered.

Jaune nodded, his gaze lingering on where she was holding his wrist. Eventually they breached through the crowd and managed to get in the food line, taking a deep breath.

“I'm glad we got here early, we had plenty time to see some of the exhibits before it got crowded.” She offered, before her gaze followed Jaune's down to where she was still holding his wrist. She quickly let go, holding her hands behind her back and she smiled at him, that dust of pink on her cheeks again.

Jaune just took a deep breath, forcing the nerves from his face. “We just have to make sure to get to the otter exhibit before the show with enough time to find seats. We-” He was cut off as his stomach let out a massive growl. He flushed, but Pyrrha just giggled. “We can worry about that after lunch, I'm starting to get hungry too.” They continued to chat idly about the exhibits they saw, checking out the photos they took. As they neared the end of the line, they both looked up at the board, debating what to get. Eventually their turn came up and they both looked at each other to go first, finally Jaune stepped forward. “I'll have a hot dog, a lemonade and... a chocolate muffin.” Pyrrha stepped up next, pausing. “I'll have... a BLT, a side of fries and...” Jaune noticed her gaze lingering on the desert section. He leaned over and whispered. “Do it.”

“A chocolate milkshake!” She blurted out suddenly, before covering her mouth like she had something scandalous.

Jaune just laughed and stepped forward, pulling out his wallet at the same time Pyrrha did. They met eyes for a moment while the guy working the counter just sighed at the lovey dovey antics the couple in front of him was going through, glancing up at the clock to figure out when his shift was over.

“Let me.” Jaune said, a challenging look in his eyes.

Pausing for a moment, Pyrrha stared at him and he honestly expected more a fight but she just smiled and put her purse away. “Thank you.”

Jaune smiled and handed him the Lien as they paid.

They got their number and waited off to the side for it to be called. Jaune's scroll buzzed and Jaune pulled it out for a moment, before he glanced at Pyrrha and put it away. Pyrrha just tilted her head curiously. Jaune's scroll then buzzed four more times in the next minute and he let out a frustrated sigh and punched his pocket as if to stop his scroll.

“Why don't you check it?” Pyrrha asked, her brows furrowed.

Jaune shrugged. “It's cause I'm on a d... date with you.” He said, only pausing for a moment when he actually said it out loud. “I don't want to be rude.”

Pyrrha looked at him with a smile that made his heart feel way too warm. “You're very considerate Jaune.” She said, resting a hand on his shoulder. “But it could be important, it's okay.”

Hesitating a moment, her words of course planted the seed of doubt in his mind and he had to check it. Opening his messages, he sighed and hurried typed up a reply.

“Everything all right?” Pyrrha asked.

Jaune just forced a smile to his face. “Yeah. My sisters are a little... eager to hear about how the dates going.”

This caused Pyrrha to laugh at his expression. “And what did you say?”

Jaune shrugged, ignoring another round of buzzes from his scroll. “That it's going amazing so far, and they're ruining it.”

His redheaded partner just giggled. “I'm sure we'll get just as many questions when we get back to the dorm as well.” Jaune nodded, before shrugging. “I'm in no rush to go back.”

This caught Pyrrha by surprise for some reason, confusing Jaune and slightly worrying him until he saw a smile creep onto her face. “Neither am I.” Their number was caused and Pyrrha glanced at him, a playful look on her face. “I think the date's going amazingly as well.” She offered with a wink, before she quickly walked off to get their food leaving a blushing Jaune behind.

Jaune followed her after a moment so she didn't have to juggle all the food herself, catching up and taking a tray and his drink. They made their way to a table after stopping for utensils and sat down. It was a small two person table, and while their proximity was very close, he had to admit he didn't mind. If they started to play footsie under the table after he kept accidentally bumping her knee while they ate, then their friends didn't need to know about that.

Their conversation fell into a comfortable lull as they both quickly devoured their food as they finally realized how hungry they actual were now that the pre-date nerves were settling. Jaune stole a fry as he listened to Pyrrha talk about one of her trips to an aquarium as a kid in Mistral. He loved hearing stories about Pyrrha growing up. While not all the stories were exactly pleasant, they all helped illuminate a little of the life that lead to the creation of the wonderful woman he was falling deeply in love with. Pyrrha just finished her story, before she glanced at her scroll. “We need to go! We'll be late!” She said, standing up quickly and piling their garbage onto the tray. Jaune joined her, tossing the trash as the ever-proper Pyrrha tidied up their table before they quickly hurried across the space. Jaune was a little lost, but Pyrrha must have planned it out earlier because she knew the way perfectly and hardly a minute later they were heading to a decent pair of seats for the show as they saw the trainer starting to get ready and prepare the otters.

Jaune could practically see the energy radiating from his partner. Her eyes were as wide as saucers as she looked at all the cute creatures swimming happily in the water. She had pulled out her scroll and was taking what could only be described as an alarming number of photos of them. Jaune just smiled, and even when the informative show started, Jaune had to admit he was too distracted to pay proper attention. In his opinion, his partner was far cuter than those critters.

The show wasn't too long, but Jaune did learn a lot about the creatures, and had even seen them preform some tricks. The crowd was leaving the seating area, but Pyrrha seemed interested in staying until the show was completely over and Jaune didn't mind. His main goal was to ensure she had the most fun she could after all. Eventually the creatures were herded back to their normal habitat and Pyrrha stood up, stretching out her back. “I take you enjoyed the show?” Jaune asked, unable to keep the smirk from his face. Pyrrha nodded, brushing some bangs back. “Yes, very much so. I'm sorry for being so distracted.”

Jaune just laughed. “It's fine, you were very cute.”

The compliment lingered in the air for a moment as they both realize what was said again. Jaune realized it would probably take them both a little getting used to open affection like that. Feeling the need to move the conversation along he coughed once. “I need to use the restroom so before we head to the penguins, we should stop somewhere.”

Pyrrha nodded. “I agree.”

They made their way off to the side of one of the main paths. They found a single person bathroom, and of course Jaune had insisted she go first, so Jaune waited outside, taking the chance to reply to the myriad of messages his sisters had sent him, ranging from encouragement, jokes, to advice, and even a request for a souvenir.

Before long Pyrrha emerged again and Jaune smile, before walking in.

XxXxXxXxX

Pyrrha took a deep breath as she sat on the bench, taking the brief moment she was away from her crush... boyfriend to calm her nerves. The date had just been... wonderful. She couldn't really think of any other words to describe it.

While Pyrrha had always tried to stop herself from being lost in childish dreams of “perfect dates” with a knight in Shining Armor, now that she was with Jaune, she had to admit it felt a lot like that. Only... more natural. While they both definitely still had some nerves, today felt like all the wonderful days she had spent around him, only more intense and... personal. Jaune was hers, the same way she was his. Their attention was on each other, for these few hours Grimm weren't their problem, they didn't have to deal with teasing friends, she didn't have to suffer through an unrequited love. They were just enjoying themselves, together.

Just thinking about it brought a smile to her face. After how long she had yearned for it, it was finally hers and it felt more satisfying than her shelf of trophies. Especially since her partner was someone she had come to admire so much, seeing him grow from a clumsy boy in way over his head as he slipped into beacon, into the man she saw work harder than everyone else to be the man she saw deep within him. Plus, she had to remember to have Blake thank Sun and Neptune for her. She always found Jaune cute, even hot sometimes, but today he looked even cuter than normal.

He had been behaving so sweetly too. Even with his dorkiness she had grown quite fond of, he still treated her with respect and acted like a gentleman. Not babying her, but she had to admit some part of her liked being treated like someone special by someone who cared for her, not because of her accolades but because of their bond.

She sent a quick response to Ruby assuring that the date was going well, knowing Yang and Nora were too risky to try and talk with at the moment.

Jaune emerged not long later, smiling that same goofy smile that caused her heart to skip a beat.

“Ready?” He asked.

Pyrrha nodded and followed him as he lead their way to the start of another path. Things were a bit more crowded so they had to be a little more patient in order to check out all the exhibits, but Pyrrha was just happy being there. They were both much less hesitant about taking photos by now so they were both giving into their more childish whims and taking photos of all the exhibits. As they made their way towards where the Penguin show would start in a bit, Pyrrha noticed a few life size statues of large penguins. Immediately she gasped and pointed, and Jaune followed her gesture, until he saw and understood the message she was trying to get across. Immediately he moved over towards them, getting place to pose with them. He was smiling, but Pyrrha pouted, shaking her head and staring at him challengingly. After a moment he seemed to get the hint, and pause for a moment before he leaned and straightened his body to look like he was waddling too. Pyrrha laughed and took a few pictures for good measure. She paused, quickly sending one to her mom, and another to Ruby, figuring she'd get a laugh out of it.

Jaune seemed to get the idea of what she was doing and rushed over, nearly tripping over a baby penguin statue on the way. “You didn't send those!” Pyrrha just laughed, covering her mouth. “I'm sorry! You just looked so cute.”

Jaune groaned, though the smile never left his face. “I look like a dork.”

Pyrrha saw him pout slightly and couldn't resist. She reached out, tussling his hair slightly. “Maybe, but you're my dork.”

This caused them both to blush, but she saw Jaune's smile grow and she decided it was worth it. Then Jaune pulled out his scroll and she decided fair was fair. Moving over, she posed next to the penguins as Jaune took a few photos. They heard an announcement over the intercom about the show starting soon, they quickly hurried over to the bleachers to get some good seats. They sat down, and this time Jaune was the one who was incredibly excited. He was taking some pictures of the penguins, and Pyrrha had to take one of him. It was a little unfair how cute she found him.

The show was brief, but interesting for sure. A lot of explanation of how Zoo's were important for animal research, and preserving wildlife that human and fannus expansion had threatened their habitat in conjunction with the Grimm. Plus seeing them waddle around was just adorable. Almost too soon, the lady leading the show bid them all good bye and soon the crowd was leaving. Jaune just looked at her, a smile resting on his face and Pyrrha was happy to see his unbridled joy.

While they had both obviously been enjoying their date, it was clear Jaune was carrying with him a sort of expectation of making this date great for her. She was just happy to be with him. She was afraid to confront him about it, worried she'd just make him more nervous.

Things were going well though, and she was sure she'd remember this day the rest of her life.

“That was the last of the events, right?” Jaune asked, pulling out the map and checking it. Pyrrha nodded, leaning over to check it with him. She may have leaned a little closer than she normally would, but she was pretty sure neither of them really minded. “One path left.” Jaune offered.

“Then let's go!” Pyrrha offered, smiling as she started to walk towards the start of it. While she was sad their day was starting to wind down, it had been a long day and she almost felt greedy with how many wonderful memories and photos had come from it. What almost felt overwhelming was the fact that there would be plenty of more days like this now that they were together.

They went through this last path a little slower than usual, but neither of them seemed too eager to change that. They took plenty of pictures, reading each of the plaques on the various creatures.

Near the end of the path there was a massive tank. They both slowly walked up to it, jaws dropping. It was massive, and there were a lot of species swimming around. The room was dim, so the light from the tank was bathing everything in a soft blue. A massive sting ray was swimming along the side of the tank and Pyrrha felt an overwhelming peace. She nearly jumped when she felt Jaune's hand snake into hers, gently squeezing it. Her face flushed red, but looking over she saw him looking at her with a worried expression. He was clearly nervous and asking for permission. Pyrrha just smiled and squeezed his hand in return, running a thumb reassuringly over his knuckles. They both realized things were fine. Even better than fine. Pyrrha leaned a bit closer to him as they both looked up at the massive sting ray swimming by. They were quiet for the first time in a while, neither of them really having anything to say. Just being around each other was enough for now.

They weren't exactly sure how long they had been watching the fish swim at that tank, but eventually they both realized they should be moving along. They both turned and started walking, and for a fearful moment Pyrrha was worried he was going to let go of her hand, but she seemed content on holding it, and she found she was getting greedy for his touch.

They paused by the center tank again, looking up at it. They just enjoyed each other's touch again, feeling like they were in their own little world but they knew they had to get back soon. They had been gone for quite a while, and life wouldn't stop for them to just enjoy their date forever. They made their way to the gift shop and Jaune released her hand, making her pout for a moment, but he looked at her with an understand smile. “I want to grab a souvenir for my sister.” Pyrrha nodded, and an idea of her own formed in her head. A few minutes later and they both met outside the gift shop, holding their own bags. When she walked up, Jaune was turned away, holding something.

“Jaune?”

Jaune turned around, and his face was red as he held out a little creature for her. It was a stuffed Otter. Her eyes went wide and she nearly dropped her own bags. “Is this for me?” She asked, slowly reaching for it. Jaune nodded.

“I know you love them, and I thought... maybe to remember today...” He offered, stumbling a bit over his words.

Pyrrha couldn't quite find the words to express the joy and warmth she felt in her chest. All she did was reach into her bag and hand him a stuffed penguin. “I was going to wrap it, but... I also wanted you to remember today.” Jaune stared at the penguin like it was gold, before he took it and smiled, hugging it. Pyrrha instantly wished her hands weren't full because she desperately wanted a picture of that, finding he was once again unfairly cute hugging the penguin.

Pyrrha just buried her face into the otter, already debating on names for it. “I will never forget today, I now it.”

Jaune just grinned at her. “I won't either.” He shifted his penguin to one hand so he could hold hands with Pyrrha as they walked away from the aquarium. Right before they reached the shuttle that would take them back, Pyrrha suddenly turned and lead them a bit off the path. Jaune looked at her confused, but she stepped forward and leaned up to kiss him quickly. Fueled by passion, the kick was quick, chaste, a little clumsy, but full of love before she pulled back.

“Sorry, I...”

Jaune just smiled, and leaned forward to quick for a quick kiss.”It's okay. I... really wanted to do that too.”

Pyrrha couldn't help the blush on her face so she buried her face into his neck until she could calm her heart. Jaune just laughed and wrapped an arm around her.

Eventually they had to get back on the shuttle to head home, but they were definitely closer together now, and if they had shared a kiss or two on the trip no one would blame them. They knew they both would have to field plenty of questions when they got back, but today was one of the best in Pyrrha's life, and she was glad she was finally with her partner, and judging by Jaune's look, he was feeling the same. Resting her head on his shoulder, Pyrrha smile and squeezed his hand. Things were good.

XxXxXxXxX

Thank you for reading! Make sure you check out their work! This was fun to write. I know I don’t post here as much any more but I hope you enjoy this old writer’s dip back into arkos for a moment!

#arkos #rwby #Jaune Arc #Pyrrha Nikos #mrk50 #It's been ages since I wrote for RWBY #Still probably won't write much for them any time soon #But it was fun writing for these two #I hope you enjoyed it #and MRK50 is amazing #I love their art

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itsclydebitches · 5 years

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RWBY Recaps: The Shining Beacon Pt. 2

This is the last (!!!) reposting from March 26, 2018 in an effort to get all my recaps onto tumblr. Thanks!

With Volume Five completed and the latest season of RWBY Chibi underway, I thought it time to start these recaps back up again. Yes, we're jumping around a bit--back to Volume One--but we'll get to all the episodes eventually!

In fact, the simple days of Volume One feel pretty wonderful right now...

We begin with a pan across Beacon's entrance (our shining Beacon as the title attests), giving us another good look at the school that's presumably the best Huntsmen academy in Remnant. We're not told exactly how much time has passed between this episode and the last, but I guess it's been a couple of hours? When we last saw Ruby and Jaune they were lost, looking for a food court, and when they meet up with Yang she asks Ruby how her day has been. I'd love to read some fics exploring their first few hours together before they finally figured out where to go.

So it's presumably late afternoon when all the freshmen gather in a large meeting room, the same one that will later be used to welcome the other academies and allow everyone to choose their first missions. For now though it's chock full of shadow people and Ruby immediately abandons Jaune once she spots Yang--which is pretty rude of her? I get that Ruby is supposedly bad at making friends, but contrary to that we've always seen her as incredibly sensitive towards others and she was just abandoned by Yang earlier that day. She calls her out on it two seconds later too, so I actually find it a little hard to believe that Ruby would ditch the one new person who's been nice to her when he clearly has nowhere else to go. Jaune literally lurks in the background being awkward.

I’ve been there, Jaune. It sucks.

Nevertheless, it allows the writers to flesh out his Nice Guy mentality that we'll see him working to overcome over the next two volumes. As Ruby leaves, Jaune wonders where he'll find another "nice, quirky girl to talk to." We're not in a YA novel, Jaune. There are no manic pixie dream girls to sooth your manly angst.

Oh, except for the redhead that's conspicuously revealed when Jaune walks off screen. Not that I would ever disparage the glorious Pyrrha Nikos with such a title.

Yang: "I saved you a spot!"

You... did? In the giant room with only a handful of people that Rooster Teeth had the time and budget to animate? Oh yeah, I'm sure it was real hard claiming that spot for Ruby.

As Ruby tears into Yang for ditching her and recaps all the shit she went through that morning, Yang develops an expression that is the very embodiment of yikes and asks if Ruby is having a "meltdown already?" Interesting choice of words. It could just be exaggerated, sibling teasing--to match what Yang assumes is an exaggerated tale--but I do wonder if Ruby has had "meltdowns" before. We don't know much about their lives pre-Beacon, but I can imagine that a socially awkward girl growing up in a world infested by grimm, who lost her mom too early, dealt with a depressed father, and was in part raised by a sister just two years older than her might have had a tantrum or two.

I do find it a little hilarious though that Yang doesn't believe her at first. Given everything Ruby is going to do in the next week alone, it’s 100% believable that she would explode on her first day of school. Classic Ruby.

As she recounts the whole debacle, who should overhear but scary, shouting Weiss? I absolutely love that they have her literally creeping up behind Ruby only to yell "YOU!" at the end of her speech. If Weiss really hated this girl she could have easily ignored her. But no. Weiss' dramatic ass has to re-introduce herself in the most extra way possible. As Ruby throws herself into Yang's arms (adorable) Weiss gives a sped-up, high-pitched legal info dump about what the Schnee Dust Company is and is not responsible for. At the time this was pretty funny--another one of the cutesy edits that characterize Volumes One through Two--but now that we know more about Weiss' home life? About her abusive father and how the dignity of the Schnee name has been ground into her since birth? The fact that Weiss can rattle this off and feels like she has to suddenly isn't very funny anymore.

Ruby tries to salvage the situation by starting things over and asking to be friends, and of course Weiss is an absolute brat about it. She mimics the cliched, air-headed girl, saying that she and Ruby can "Try on cute clothes and paint our nails and talk about boys!" throwing in an insult at poor Jaune while she's at it ("scraggly"). The fact that Ruby happily agrees tells me two things: 1. She shares a lot of those traditionally "feminine" interests (which is great considering we usually only see her geeking out over weaponry) and 2. this is some of the first evidence we see for headcanoned autistic!Ruby. Weiss' tone is very clearly sarcastic, but Ruby reads it as quite earnest, honestly surprised when it's revealed she's being duped. Before these three can start a real fight though Ozpin takes the stage to make, in his own words, a short announcement.

Now this is by far one of the most fascinating moments in Volume One. Especially after Volume Five's world building. A lot of fans have speculated that Ozpin isn't... well, Ozpin here. That one of his other souls (perhaps the man whose body he currently inhabits) is the one speaking to the new students. This is based mostly off of Ruby and Yang's comments that he "seemed kind of off" and, crucially, that is was "almost like he wasn't even there." Admittedly there are a number of holes in this theory (If a full merge is a thing, wouldn't Ozpin's latest two souls already have merged by now considering that he's possessed that body for years? How does Yang know when he's "off"? She's never even met the guy), and ultimately I'm inclined to think that these were lines that perhaps were supposed to go somewhere, but were then dropped. Or just generic ‘oooh look Ozpin is mysterious’ characterization.

Regardless, there is something pretty fishy about this scene, most notably the cinematography. Ozpin is animated primarily in close ups with half his face (his eyes) cut off, he's shot once from behind, and only once do we get to see his whole expression. As said, he's filmed as if he's this mysterious, shadowy figure that we're just meeting; like we hadn't already had a whole conversation with him over cookies two episodes back. If you wanted to make a case that someone other than Ozpin is speaking here, the cinematography might be one way to do it. But, more likely, I think it’s RT pushing for the ‘he’s super morally gray!’ aspect, even though we actually learn too much about Ozpin to really make that work.

His dialogue is just as interesting though. Ozpin tells the kids that all he sees is "wasted energy," that no matter how driven they might be to succeed it means nothing without proper effort. Dreams alone won't cut it: "Knowledge will only take you so far. It's up to you to take the first step." Ozpin is far from one to shy away from reality, but he's usually kinder than this too. This is perhaps additional evidence that a part of Ozpin--one we don't see very often--is in control here; a personality not as inclined to sugarcoat things.

This word choice also tells us a lot about his motivations. As we'll learn later, Jaune forged his transcripts to get into Beacon and a lot of people wonder why the hell Ozpin would let an untrained kid get away with that. Ultimately though Jaune isn't in much more danger than anyone else. As Pyrrha's death makes abundantly clear, even the strongest of them can easily fall when up against the sorts of enemies they face. Thus, Ozpin prizes determination--the drive to do good--over talent or current levels of strength. Jaune was let in because he took his own first (admittedly illegal and arguably immoral) step and Ozpin, like with Ruby, rewards his resolve. This reminds me of Raven who has the knowledge of the threat Salem poses but refuses to do anything about it. Already we’re seeing characters who have internal motivations (a need to do good) and later we’ll meet others who just... don’t.

Again, Pyrrha showed us that being a prodigy is not a guarantee of success. Ozpin reminds everyone of that here.

But that horrible episode is still a ways off!

For now the kids shrug off his ominous speech and crowd together later that night in the dining hall for a sleepover, considering that they still haven't passed initiation and haven't found their teams yet. Yang jokes that Dad wouldn't approve of them sleeping with all these boys, though it's clear that she does. (Bi Yang, bi Yang!) Ruby continues writing a letter to "the gang back at Signal" which honestly kind of drives me up the wall? Yang ran off with her shadow friends and Ruby is writing to Signal friends and neither of these groups are ever heard from again. Yes, obviously the show is about their new friends at Beacon, but past friendships are important too, particularly for Ruby. She's been uprooted two years early and is supposedly really bad at forming new relationships. Theoretically we should have gotten something touching on all this: Yang torn between her new team and old loyalties; Ruby avoiding trying to get close to Weiss by texting Signal buddies. It would have rounded things out a whole lot more and, once we expand beyond Beacon in Volume Four, would have given us a lot of opportunities to see how these girls are connected to Remnant as a whole.

They're certainly determined to make friends now though. Ruby spots the girl from earlier in the courtyard (Blake) and before she can stop her Yang quite literally drags them over with a hilariously drawn-out, "Hello!" Too bad Blake isn't interested in pleasantries. Especially when Yang draws attention to her bow. She won't shake their hands and is pretty damn blunt about how she wants them to leave. We have a clear divide down the team between the social butterflies (Ruby + Yang) and the abused girls who haven't had the chance to figure out how to talk to people yet (Weiss + Blake). It makes for a well-balanced dynamic and later a whole lot of conflict.

Blake will always have a soft spot for books though. She opens up a bit when Ruby asks the title of hers and explains that it's about “A man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body.” Ha. THAT'S not significant or anything.

We have some lovely setup for Volume Two/Three in which Blake lectures Ruby on how real life isn't like a fairy tale. Ruby already knows this. She just wants to work to make it as close to one as possible. A lot of viewers forget the difference between naivety and optimism when it comes to her characterization and though Ruby will prove short-sighted in many respects later on, she’s never thought the world was perfect.

As Ruby and Yang get into another cartoon fight (a visual technique we won't be seeing for long), the commotion draws over Weiss who is not pleased that the troublemaker is Ruby again. She yells that Ruby is a "hazard to my health!" and I cackle at what a little drama queen she is. As they continue their fight Blake blows out her candle, ending our episode with the first shot that contains all of Team RWBY.

Other Details

When Weiss yells at Ruby she cries, "Oh god it's happening again!" 'Oh God' is such a common phrase in the English language that it only makes sense we'd use it to help characters express themselves, but it still raises some interesting, in-world questions. Is there a lot of organized religion? We know Qrow mentions people believing in various gods, but is it common enough to create this same phrase? Meanwhile, poor Ozpin has to cope with knowing that gods do exist and they're absolute assholes.

Ozpin doesn't even introduce himself to the kids. Like yeah, obviously everyone already knows who he is, but he could have at least started with a "Hey, I'm old as balls Ozpin" instead of jumping straight into a lecture about how pathetic their work ethic is. I’m torn between the “That wasn’t Ozpin” theory and just a straight up, “The man is SAVAGE at times hell yeah.” Granted, this is the guy that’s gonna chuck his students off a cliff in a few hours, so I’m leaning towards the latter...

We see Ozpin making use of his cane despite the fact that he doesn't appear to need it 99% of the time. Easiest way to walk around with it, or was this particular body injured once?

Love how horribly offensive Yang is here lol: "Yeah, this girl is a lost cause." Like damn Blake's right there!

Ruby is dressed in a tank top that I think has an Ursa on it. Made all cute of course and with a face mask with matching, red slitted eyes. It's a great bit of world building and says a lot about Ruby's personality. (Honestly I wouldn't be surprised to see Nora in those PJs either.)

#rwby #mymetas #RWBY Recaps

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blckandbruises-a · 6 years

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tagging for mention: @nowgrim, @fataltune (Qrow)

Cobalt almost spat his coffee, the bitter taste hanging on his tongue. Blue eyes flashed red as he glared at the man on the other side of the screen. “You two are where?”

Qrow Branwen raised a finger on the other end of the call, blue-tinted visage in the scroll hushing his son. That only seemed to make Cobalt’s blood boil more. “Yell louder, why don’t ya. You’ll get thrown out and give away our position.”

Cobalt bit back a stern reply. His messy dark hair hung around him, a large coat covering his outfit. The sleeves were folded back to let Sinister and Dexter breathe, the gauntlets freshly tuned just for this little adventure. But it was an adventure in trying to keep up with his family, apparently, which just made him all the more furious. Still, he took a deep breath, settling deeper on his ride side into the booth of the café. Distant announcers called for the departing flights to Atlas, a word that still made his stomach tight.

Atlas. Where it had all gone so wrong. The beast inside growled furiously somewhere near his heart, and he could feel it writhing angrily as if stirred. Of course he was tense. Every memory of Atlas was painful, and those were the ones that came to him in quiet moments when he closed his eyes and was drawn back to the slab, machines overhead...

His coffee was getting cold. He took it in hand and took a sip, trying to ignore the burn. Airport coffee was the worst. “You didn’t wait? You didn’t even bother telling me?”

“Call it fatherly impulse,” Qrow said looked back at him through the screen, hunched over his scroll in a bar. Cobalt could hear the distant sounds of the trains outside, of commuters going hither and yon, and, most painfully, a familiar pair of voices chirping in excitement. For a moment, as they both heard them, their faces softened in that same way. It was like looking into an aged, more haunted reflection of himself. “I didn’t want to drag you back there.”

“I’ll be okay,” Cobalt said, but Qrow’s brow only furrowed. His father was always good at picking out lies. Cobalt was forced to look away, compounding the guilt. “It’s not your baggage to carry, Pop. It’s mine. I’m not gonna burden you, Rubes, or Yang with it. Alright?”

Qrow sighed, a hiss through the signal. “That’s not how that works, kiddo,” He said, Cobalt looking back to his scroll at last, “Ruby won’t let you hold that weight yourself. Neither would Yang. And sure as Hell me. We’re family. Family looks out for each other.”

“There’s a but coming, isn’t there?”

Qrow frowned. “But, it’s more than just us on this mission. The sooner ‘it’ is safe, the better. We couldn’t delay, or make a detour. And I know where you’d want to go. It’s the last place you should. You leveled that lab, anyway, right? What could you possibly get there?”

Cobalt froze up. Suddenly, he was back on the slab, the light shining down, the machines pumping something evil into him. The result snarled protectively in his stomach. What business was it of Qrows? He was too much trouble, was that it?? “Closure, maybe,” Cobalt finally said, lowering his head as his messy bangs hid the red bleeding into the blue of his eyes, “or a way to get better.”

His father didn’t speak for the longest time. Cobalt could tell Qrow was weighing what words to say. “Then wait until we finish this. Okay? We’ll come get you once this is over.”

Cobalt snorted, raising his eyes again. Fury boiled in his blue hues. “What did Professor Ozpin call it? The never-ending battle?”

Qrow snorted, a smile creeping onto his weathered face. It wasn’t sly or cheeky-just a genuine, sad smile. “Doesn’t mean I’m leavin’ you outta the fight. Someone’s gotta keep an eye on the homefront.”

“Uncle Tai can do that. So can Aunt Raven, or just about anyone else. Don’t pretend this isn’t about you not wanting me to tear myself apart over what they did to be in that lab.”

The smile faded. “It’s what I’d do. And you didn’t fall far from the tree, kid.”

“No,” Cobalt said, his throat tight, “neither of us did.” They were quiet for a long time. And then, Cobalt looked to his father. “Can I see her?” Qrow lifted the camera, the screen rising to show the top of his head, and in the distance, a familiar flash of red. Ruby and Yang were busy conducting tug-of-war with a bag of some kind, Weiss sitting with them, along with their friends. For a moment, the most agonizing pride and happiness came into his chest. “It’s not fair.”

Qrow pulled the camera back to his face. “Cobalt, we’ve already discussed this-”

“Not that.” Cobalt choked a little on his words. His eyes burned, but with another sort of red this time. A smile broke his face wide in half-just like his father’s. “When did she get so big, Pop? Now she’s off saving the world. Remind you of anyone?”

Qrow laughed a little, but it felt held back. “Yeah. She’s a dead ringer for Summer, alright.”

“Yeah. But she’s not the only parent she took after.”

Qrow smiled, just a little. He opened his mouth to say something, but a voice cut instead. “Cobalt Branwen?” Cobalt turned, looking up to meet a sea of white. A clean-cut, dark-haired man stood in a clean, immaculate white suit, the symbol of Atlas’ Specialist Corps on his black tie. A battle harness was over the suit, various weapons sticking out of it. He was flanked by the newer generation Atlesian Knights, some of the patrons recoiling from them. No wonder, after how they saw what they did in Vale.

Cobalt scowled. “I’ll call you back.”

“Hey,” Qrow barked over the line, “don’t make a scene, alright? No need to, y’know, go Beast Mode.”

Cobalt whirled, giving his father an incredulous look. “I am not calling it that.”

“Why not?” Qrow shrugged, grinning through the screen, “It works. You could even put a hashtag in front of it.”

“Dad.”

The Specialist cleared his throat. “Mr. Branwen.”

“Tell ‘em I’m busy,” Qrow said, chuckling. A glass clinked out of frame, before he pulled it to his lips. “Remember: no Beast Mode.”

“Dad!” But Qrow had already hung up, the screen timing out to his background. A picture of Ruby, Yang, and Cobalt looked back at him. Better days, when Yang had just been accepted into Beacon. When the world was as young and innocent as they were, at least to their eyes.

“Mr. Branwen,” the Specialist repeated more sternly, stepping forward.

Cobalt slowly looked to him, turning off his scroll and pocketing it. He was pretty much cornered in this booth. Maybe this was why Dad stuck to barstools instead. “Just hung up, remember? But if you want me to pass a note along, I’ll try to remember it.” He picked up his coffee, taking a sip. Ugh, it’d gotten lukewarm. Somehow it tasted even worse.

He heard the Specialist bristle. Good. “Cobalt Branwen, my name is Lance Corporal Wilhelm Braun of the Atlas Specialist Corps, Asset Retrieval Division. By order of General Ironwood-”

“Wait, what?” Cobalt said, looking shocked at the Specialist, “Dude, I am so sorry to hear that.”

The Lance Corporal blinked big brown eyes. He must’ve been new, or not properly filled in about Cobalt’s disposition. “Excuse me?”

“Your parents must’ve hated you. Who the hell names their kid Lance Corporal?”

Wilhelm balked. Cobalt saw his spine stiffen and shoulders tense, and heard gloved hands ball into fists. It drove his predatory smirk wider. “I-It’s not my name, it’s a rank! Now, by order of-”

“-General Ironwood and the Council,” Cobalt parroted, speaking in perfect synch with the Specialist (but in a much more deadpan tone, “you are hereby placed under arrest to be returned to Atlas to face charges of vandalism and murder’. Yeah, yeah, Will, I’ve heard this bit before. So, what, I get charged for my work now that I’m not a Specialist?”

“Vandalism and a bad attitude will not be tolerated-” Wilhelm paused. “Wait, you were a member of the Special Ops?”

Cobalt blinked big blue eyes. He snorted into Dexter, trying to cover his laugh with a hand. “Did you even read the file on me?”

The Lance Corporal’s blush went to the tip of his ears. Customers had already started to file out behind him and the machines. The well-collected Specialist was ruffled now, looking to the side. “I...may have skimmed it. It doesn’t matter!” He said, looking back to Cobalt as he furrowed his brow. “Knights! Seize him!”

A knight reached out a robotic hand, electric handcuffs open for his wrist. Cobalt reached out his right hand to meet it, turned his palm to face it. There was a flash and eruption of blue energy as his palm repulsor fired once, the beam taking the Knight’s head clean off. Turning as the knight fell backwards, neck smoking and sizzling from where it’s head used to be, Cobalt grabbed the warm coffee and tossed it at the Lance Corporal. Wilhelm yelped and recoiled, his suit stained with the dark ichor, giving Cobalt enough time to slip past him and start towards the door.

“Freeze!”

A knight grabbed the back of his coat as Wilhelm barked, stumbling as he tried to recover from the shock of the soaking defense. Cobalt turned into the machine’s grip, Sinister and Dexter’s claws deployed. Sinking six long blades into the robot’s middle, Cobalt tugged hard and grunted. The Knight fell into two pieces, it’s hand vainly gripping at the coat and tugging it from Cobalt as it fell. The final machine lunged forward, and Cobalt met it in a flurry of strikes. One slash went through it’s head, another through it’s outstretched hand, shoving it into it’s own chest. In a frenzy of cuts and slices, the Knight fell, maimed and ruined. Cobalt turned to face Wilhelm.

He could feel the Lance Corporal’s fear. His eyes were wide, pupils shrunk in delicious terror. Fear. Despair. Shock. So good. So very good to the Beast. It smelled blood in the water, and wanted a taste. Cobalt bit back a sigh, trying to remember who he was. The Grimm in him felt those negative emotions, drawn to them like a moth to the moon. But Cobalt could resist it.

For now.

Cobalt turned back to the door, only to freeze at once to take it all in. Lines of Knights and Specialists met him, making a wall between him and the rest of the airport. Cobalt stepped to the door, as humans and robots raised their blades and rifles. “Cobalt Branwen!” A voice snapped amid the crowd, “By Order of General Ironwood and the Council-”

“He already said that!” Cobalt snapped, looking back to the Lance Corporal. Seemingly, Wilhelm had recovered, enough to take in the large force outside.

“I-I don’t understand. I thought it was just me and a few Knights.”

Cobalt looked to the Lance Corporal, so eager to prove himself, to the massive force outside. For just one man, this was gross overkill. But for Cobalt, for what he was inside, it was a proportional response. But Wilhelm hadn’t been told that much. “Because you were the lure, Lance Corporal,” Cobalt said, blue eyes becoming a more solid red as he looked to the scared man once more, “You, scared and in over your head, with all those negative emotions-you were bait. It’s how the Special Corps operates.”

Wilhelm looked to Cobalt, eyes shrinking again. “But I-”

“Freeze!” The voice snapped over the speakers, “Lance Corporal, stand down! We will open fire!”

“But I’m on your side!” Wilhelm said, shocked and terrified. So much terror, so much despair.

The Beast in his stomach growled, and it came out of Cobalt’s lips. It echoed off of the empty airport, silencing everything with it’s inhuman delight. Cobalt’s body began to shake, skin growling pale, veins growing black.

No Beast Mode. No Beast Mode.

“Fire at will!”

Okay. Beast Mode.

It happened all at once. Cobalt leaped at Wilhelm, skin turning to deep black fur, white horns growing out of his lengthening mane. His face elongated into a muzzle, white fangs flashing as his fingers turned to claws. His clothes grew with him, legs growing digitigrade as a long, tufted tail grew from his back. He was on Wilhelm in an instant as the rifles opened fire. His body soaked up every blast as the Beast shielded Wilhelm from the initial onslaught. But the terror, the fear-it was so much. It was so close. His mouth opened, a sigh leaving him with steam on his breath. He needed it, need to taste more-

A blast shook his side, and Cobalt turned to face the tide. The Beast rose to meet them, a roar on his lips as he charged forward. He shoved his head downwards into one soldier, goring their middle with a horn. The screams went up as Cobalt cut through machines and men alike, a flurry of fur and claw. Repulsors were forgotten in favor of tearing through everything between him and the exit.

For a moment, Cobalt lost himself in his berserk fury. But his senses came back slowly, as he slammed a line of robots into a wall. Four paws hit the pavement as he loped down one long tunnel. There were too many negative emotions here. He tried to clear his head, the Beast racing into the shadows, out of sight of cameras and soldiers. The monster slipped away, and began to shrink in the shadows. Cobalt dived into a pile of luggage as he shrunk to his human form, the Beast boiling away into ashes. The huntsman tried to catch his breath, feeling sick to his stomach at his delight, even as the monster roared inside him.

Cobalt looked up as soldiers and machines swept by the luggage bay. In the distance, he could make out a military transport, sparsely guarded. They’d deployed everything to find him. He watched as the soldiers began to spread out, searching for him. One came near, armor hiding his features. He was just about Cobalt’s size.

Perfect.

With both of them out of sight, Cobalt tugged the soldier into the pile, wrapping an arm around his neck. His other hand slid under the helmet, pushing it off as he covered the man’s mouth. He kicked and shook, but then slowly stopped, unconscious. Cobalt looked around, and started to take apart the man’s armor. He tried not to think about the fear and anxiety surrounding him now, like a woman’s perfume or the tempting flavor of drink. He tried to ignore the sick feeling in his stomach, the need to pounce, to strike, to kill. He placed the armor on over his clothes, and pulled hard on one thought, one single objective: Ruby.

He had to get to Ruby.

And he had to be better than this when he did.

#t: prose #t: brawl in the branwens (Branwen AU)

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rwbyremnants · 6 years

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NOTES: Sorry for letting two weeks pass, didn't mean to lose track of time. Hope you like the update! Things are gonna start moving a little quicker plotwise now; not NECESSARILY because of what happens in this chapter, but it will affect things. More to come!

=Chapter 13

“Hey, Snow Bunnies! Check out where I am!”

The camera panned over to the backdrop of Times Square. Lights flashed and blinded the viewer, turning everything into a smear of colours as it slid back to Weiss’s poorly-lit face, grinning from ear to ear. Her other hand nipped a strand of white-blonde hair behind her ear as the first raised the phone on its selfie stick a little higher.

“Big things are gonna happen in the Big Apple! I’d say more, but who wants all their surprises spoiled? Certainly not me! See you soon!”

As she waved vigorously before tapping the button to stop recording, Yang approached from behind the camera and chuckled. “You sound like the biggest cheeseball.”

“Quiet, you. The fans like to see that I’m happy and my energy is up. Don’t ask me why, but it’s kind of… reassuring? Just watch Demi Lovato’s stuff, it’s all either silly or inspirational. They expect me to be positive and they have every right to expect it by now. I can’t let them down.” Then she put the phone and the selfie stick away. “Now let’s go before someone watching my Insta realises where I am and tracks me down!”

Even as she said that and they turned toward the Yamaha, there came a squeal of several young female voices from deep in the crowd. “Uhhh, too late – get on! Now!”

Yang didn’t wait, but picked her up and stuck her on the seat. They were roaring away from the curb just as a knot of superfans broke through the rest of the throng, starstruck looks in their eyes. What a lucky near-miss.

“Are you sure you’re going to be alright?” she asked Weiss as she dropped her off at the bus a short while later.

“Stop worrying,” her principal sighed with a roll of her eyes, handing her helmet back. “I’m fine. You are not our entire security team. Go see your sister.”

“Okay.” Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, she darted in for a quick peck on her lips, making sure it didn’t turn into anything longer just in case they were caught. “See ya soon.”

“I’ll be counting the seconds.” The smirk made sure that Yang didn’t know whether or not she was being sarcastic.

The streets of Manhattan were terribly busy at all times, and almost impossible to navigate. However, equipped with her bike and the GPS on her phone, Yang did manage to find her way without losing herself in the shuffle. Also, without having to untangle the clusterfuck that was the subway map. Now that they had taken care of Weiss’s little social media check-in, they could get on with the rest of their night.

A quaint little place in the upper east side was where Ruby and Penny had selected for their meeting – at Penny's insistence, her being the native. Chinatown would be the more desirable place for dining, since it would remind her of her dad’s cooking, but it was a lot further away from both where the tour bus was parked, and Penny's home in Astoria. A reasonable compromise.

Finally, she managed to find a decent place to park, pretty close to the small bubble tea establishment for which Penny gave her the address. Yang had never tried bubble tea herself, but when Penny and Ruby insisted, she couldn't exactly say no. She had chosen the very same outfit that Ruby and Weiss helped her purchase the first time they met up, a small token that she hoped Ruby would recognise.

As she stood on her toes to try and find the two, she spotted the same mess of ginger hair in a corner booth, sat beside what she thought was Ruby. So right away she headed over, sitting herself down on the seat opposite.

"YANG!" Ruby gasped, then grinned as she threw her arms forward – and was stopped by the table between them. "Hllgg! Whoops, heh…" Scratching the back of her head sheepishly, she sank back down next to Penny. "But I'm so glad to see you, sis!"

"Right back at you, nerds! Happy Easter!" Yang grinned, settling herself down opposite Ruby. The other two had already gotten their drinks, but Yang wasn't too concerned. She just wanted to catch up with her sister. "I still can't believe you're here! How the heck did you pay for your ticket?"

That caused Ruby to blush slightly, and she glanced at her companion out of the corner of her eye – who was currently sipping tapioca pearls up into her straw. "Well… Penny paid my way. One of her dads is a lawyer, so…"

"Hmm?!" Accidentally swallowing one of the bubbles unexpectedly, Penny had to cough and beat her chest to try and force it down right. Once sure it had settled, she quickly looked around to Yang. "S-sorry. Yes! Dad paid for one half of her flight, and I've offered to pay the rest out of my savings. I get more allowance than I usually need, so I was more than happy to!"

"Cool. Well, as long as you both don't mind! I'm so glad you’re in town." Quickly bringing out her phone to check the time, Yang scratched the top of her head nervously. It would be four hours till she could see Weiss again. No matter how confident she was that Weiss would be alright on her own, she was still worried.

"Wow, are we that boring already?" Ruby attempted to joke when she noticed Yang checking the time. But when Yang didn't answer immediately, her smile slipped a notch. "Wait, are we?!"

"Huh? Oh! Nononono! I was just seeing if Weiss messaged. I'm just… it’s my job, y'know?"

As Yang rested her cell phone on the table, Penny stood up, looking over at both of them. "I'll fetch Yang a drink while you two catch up on things, shall I? You did say you had lots of Weiss-related questions."

"Oh! Um, sure! Yang, what'll you have? I like the melon one," she added in a whisper.

"Um… I've never actually been to these kinds of places before. Y'know what, fuck it – surprise me!" As Penny nodded politely and left, Yang looked over to her sister again, quickly flipping her cell phone over so the screen was down – proving she was giving Ruby her complete and undivided attention. Where to start?! There was so much she wanted to say about their touring together that she hadn't had time to before. About the attack that happened, about Weiss in general, about Blake…

In the end, she settled for something else. "So… Penny's pretty nice, huh?"

Both of Ruby's cheeks lit up as she grinned, pushing her glasses further up her nose. "Oh yeah, she's totally the best! I can't believe I got so lucky with her as my roomie - I mean, she's cute, she's smart, she's nice, AND she actually cleans up sometimes instead of being a slob like-" Her words clipped off when she realized she was about to say "like you", but she had the good grace to look slightly abashed for the near miss.

Yang simply smirked at the near slip. Ruby tended to only ramble this much about a subject if she was very passionate about it, like with Weiss, or her studying, or Zwei. Things were beginning to add up in Yang's mind…

"So being here instead of home, that was your idea? Or Penny's?"

"Penny's. I mean, we both kicked around the idea of hanging out in New York sometime, like, a lot, but she was the one that asked if I'd wanna do Spring Break here and stay at her family's place and all that." Then she grinned. "Isn't it exciting?! I'm in New York City!!!"

"Yeah! It still blows my mind that we're the other side the country, and you're here at the same time!" After taking a glance to see how far Penny was down the queue, she turned back to Ruby, slinging an arm over the empty chair next to herself. "So, what are her parents like?"

"Oh, her Dad's super nice, really chill and homey!" Then her expression turned a little more uncertain. "Um… her Father, on the other hand… it's not that he's mean to me or a bad person, he's just kinda strict, and hard to warm up to, I guess."

"He really does sound like Weiss's dad…" But as soon as she let that slip, she quickly snapped her eyes open. Yang wouldn't know that unless she was extra close to her idol, and that was the last thing she wanted Ruby to suspect. "I-I mean, like, he's pretty strict with the rules I have to follow. No photos, no unscheduled signings, yadda yadda."

However, Ruby wasn't quite that thick. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Yang, contemplating. "Why are you acting so funny about Weiss's dad? Is he being mean to my sister?" Suddenly, she shot to her feet. "I'll show him a thing or two about how my sister gets treated!!!"

"Ruby! Ruby!" She held her hands outward, trying to gesture for her to sit back down before any more attention was drawn to them. Checking the coast was clear, she laughed before whispering, "I meant mean to Weiss. Like… she's not allowed to do what she wants, dress how she wants, think for herself. She may be a popstar, but she still has so many rules set by him that she kinda feels boxed in sometimes."

"Oh…" That didn't seem to cheer her up much, but she did at least sit back down. "That's really not cool; I mean, she's such an awesome person – and obviously she's accepting of you, and she was so nice to me! She’s great how she is! So what's the point in him being so, so… control-ey?"

Yang shrugged her shoulders. "That's what I don't get; she’s got a better head on her shoulders than most people ten years older than her, and yet he treats her like she’s five. I mean…" She looked around a moment. Sure, she wasn't about to let the fact that Weiss and her were an item out of the bag, but there was a factor she remembered Weiss's father telling her before the tour began, one that Yang always cringed at when she remembered. "Even if she wanted to, I'm not allowed to let her, y’know, take anyone back to the van. If that's not controlling, I don't know what is."

"You mean she can't even have friends over? To her own tour bus?!" A little slow on the uptake, she seemed to eventually catch on to what Yang was implying, and the little sister blanched. "Ohhhh, you mean- WOW, that is SO none of his business! Geeze!"

"I know, right? He has no right to dictate that kinda stuff…"

But the blush was only growing against Ruby's cheeks as she fidgeted with her cup, staring into space. "I mean, if Weiss happens to find somebody she likes, and wants to take them back to her room… kiss them, play with their hair… maybe even let them give her a back massage… or I could go lower than her back…" Then she sat bolt upright, mortified. "THEY! They could go lower than her back! Not me, I didn't mean me!"

Shit. Of course, how could she forget? Ruby had a huge crush on Weiss. Considering the more recent circumstances between them, that made her big sister start to feel very awkward. After all, this was now her girlfriend Ruby was talking about – but she definitely couldn’t say she felt weird hearing her talk that way about her now, since their relationship was on the down low. Curling a finger through her hair, she tried to look to one side to shield her own blush.

"Y-Yeah… I mean, she can do what she wants. None of her dad’s business."

"Exactly! Up to and including massages! Or more!" Whispering to herself, she added, "No, don't think about 'more' - you promised not to do that!"

Yet again, Yang couldn't look at her sister. She'd give this all away if she asked her to stop, but to let her continue was only making things more and more uncomfortable. Scratching her head, she said quietly, "Don't tell her dad, but I… tend to look the other way when her… partner visits."

"Partner? Oh, so she…" Then her eyes went really round, and she leaned as close as she could, hissing under her breath, "Y-you mean Weiss has a secret lover?! And the tabloids have no idea?!"

That only caused her blush to intensify. Thankfully, she figured Ruby wouldn't suspect a thing. "Oh yeah, for a little while… somebody already close. But I can’t say anything – and you didn’t even hear this much from me, okay?!"

Something like a tiny squeal sounded deep in Ruby's throat, but muffled enough so that no one from other tables would probably notice. "I'm so freaking jealous! Wait, so who is it? No no no, don't tell me – I shouldn't know, oh I shouldn't know about this, but I wanna know so bad!"

Finally managing to handle herself enough, she looked back around, letting out another small nervous laugh. "Maybe when the tour is over. It's… really no one special. But she wouldn't want that info getting out anywhere – and I know you would never do anything with it, but you can't be too careful who hears."

"Who hears what?" Penny asked, placing the drink down in front of Yang. From the looks of things, she'd chosen orange juice to go with melon bubbles. Sitting herself by Ruby's side, she went straight back to her own tea, even though most of the bubbles had gone.

“My point exactly,” Yang snorted.

"N-nothing!" Ruby laughed nervously. "Just, you know… stuff! And things!" She gestured between Yang and Penny. "So, um, this is my sister; Sister, this is my Penny!"

Instantly Penny's eyes were just as round as Ruby's were, a blush joining the freckles on her cheeks. One of those words was certainly the cause. Leaning in toward Ruby, she nervously whispered. "R-Ruby, I thought we weren't telling her about that yet…"

"About what?" Her eyes crossed slightly as she ran back over what she had said, and then she slapped herself in the forehead. "D'oh! Th-that wasn't what I meant, I just got my words all mixed up!"

"So… your Penny, huh?" Yang could turn it to her advantage this time. At least it shifted the subject away from Weiss for a little while, and eased Yang's worries. As a bonus, she loved watching her sister get embarrassed.

And Penny wasn't helping at all when she just covered her face instead, groaning loudly into her hands. "Gosh darn it, Ruby, she knows!"

Slowly but surely, Ruby started melting down into her chair, covering her head with one of her various hoodies; today, it was a green one with a big white symbol in the middle from some comic book series or other.

"So I take it Ruby's the dominant one in this relationship! This just gets better and better!" Yang was teasing, quickly drinking a large portion of her tea. It wasn’t bad, even if the sensation of the tapioca pearls sliding down her throat was a little weird. But mostly, she was just glad to have it as a welcome distraction.

Although it seemed the other two needed it more. Penny especially, who could only cover her face with her hands. Although realising Ruby was vanishing under the table, she quickly pulled her back up. "Don't leave me alone with her! It was you that made it obvious!"

"Well… well it was… OH SHUSH, I didn't mean to and you know it!" All that was visible was her nose and mouth, and even then you could still tell she was beet red.

"Come on, your big sister wants details! Who asked who? When did it start? Were you roommates before or after it happened?"

Yang was going to keep insisting until one of them gave an answer. And now that she had ran out of drink and was left with just the few bubbles, Penny knew it was going to be her. Clearing her throat, she looked over to Ruby nervously as she held her hand under the table, and then back to Yang. "Well… Ruby and I were roommates from the beginning. We got along rather well, liked many of the same movies and books and things… and the relationship developed into a more romantic one from there."

"Yeah," Ruby added quietly, finally peeking out now that Penny had made it acceptable for them to be more open. "Um, I mean, I've never had a girlfriend before, so this is super new to me, so… but I mean, um… I can't imagine life without her now. Is that weird, this soon?"

Oh, the things that Yang wanted to say about her own experiences. Especially those recently. But for now, she had to smile, and simply shake her head. "That's not weird at all. First love makes people feel all kinds of ways. I mean, you know what I was like with Blake…"

At that, her sister tilted her head slightly. "Yeah, you said in a text that you saw Blake again, right? Was that… I dunno, awkward? Not awkward? Like I said, this is all new to me, so I don't know how it is seeing old girlfriends or anything…"

"No, actually! I think… I think we both needed it. I mean, we left on a somewhat bad note before; not fistfight bad but… heartbreak bad. But we're almost to the besties level again now. She has a new boyfriend now who seems pretty cool."

"Aww," Ruby sighed. "Was meeting the boyfriend weird? Yet again, another thing I know nothing about, but that seems like it would be worse than just seeing her again by herself."

Yang was half way through chewing one of the bubbles as she shook her head, swallowing before continuing. "Well… At first it was, sure. But after a while, nah. He seems like a down to earth guy, reminds me of me before I came out. Guess Blake has a type!"

At that, Ruby smiled slightly. "Really? You think maybe he's…"

She gestured to Yang with her cup, a very non-specific gesture that would make nothing obvious to anyone who didn't know about the bodyguard's gender history. It took Yang a moment to realise, until she gasped, "Oh! No. Least… I'm pretty sure he's not." But on that note, she gazed into nothing for a moment, trying to remember what she could about him. Specifically, a comment about sizes. "Aaand from something Blake said, I don’t think he’s a trans dude, either."

"That'd be cool, though! You could be buddies!" Then she glanced at Penny slightly nervously before adding, "And, um, maybe you can give him some… tips? With Blake? What she, uhhh, enjoys?"

"Ruuuubyyyy!!!" Yet again Penny was hiding her head in her hands, cheeks as red as Ruby's usual hoodie. All of which was making Yang smirk and chuckle to herself. Penny was just as much fun to wind up as her sister was!

But nonetheless, she leant in toward her, whispering, "Never underestimate the power of some dedicated foreplay. That's all I'll say in public."

Which was plenty to make Ruby turn even redder than Penny. "Ummmmm I have go to the bathroom!" she squeaked as she hopped up, sprinting for the corner of the establishment.

"Hey, don't leave me alone with her! Ruby!!!" But Penny was left with no choice as she watched her girlfriend vanish into the bathrooms, left only with a red face, and the now laughing older sister. As she ran her hands through her mass of ginger hair, she laid her head on the table and groaned. "This dinner is going to be so embarrassing…"

A very self-satisfied Weiss Schnee strolled into a mid-sized music store in Midtown Manhattan. By all online reviews, Williams Music was known for having top-of-the-line instruments, even if they didn't have a lot of variety due to space constraints. However, she was after was one specific instrument – which they definitely stocked. She had called ahead to be completely certain.

Spotting an employee lingering by books of bass tabs, she said in a polite-but-frank voice, "Excuse me. I need to purchase a guitar."

"Other end of the store," was the abrupt response of the store clerk. Her look was fitting for this type of establishment; bright green hair swept to one side, with a purple hoodie on top to hold it together. She certainly seemed the type to spend many hours tuning her bass under a blacklight. But despite the fact that all she was doing for the moment was chewing gum and reading, she didn't even stop to look at who asked her.

"Yes," Weiss began again, mood only slightly dampened by the attitude of the clerk. "I'm sure that's where they are located. But I'd like to make sure I get the best you have."

The employee finally set her book down. Of course, her attitude was still no better as she first looked her form up and down, before she started to pace toward the back of the shop. She didn't even stop to check if she was following! After all the preferential treatment she had received the past couple of years, Weiss was sorely tempted to whip off the sunglasses and the beanie she had stuffed her hair into. Why shouldn't her star power command a little respect? But she had promised Yang she wouldn't take unnecessary risks, and she aimed to keep it. Besides, it was kind of nice to have someone treat her just like anyone else for a change.

Finally, they arrived at an array of guitars along one wall. Most of them were various high-end electric models, racked up next to electric basses. However, there were six or so acoustics on display, and they all looked nice enough.

"Excellent! So… which one would you recommend? I'd pick the most expensive, but that's not always the same as buying the best."

"If you got money to burn then go for the Epiphone, I don't care." Turning back around toward her, she gestured to the black guitar, one that had a few white markings painted over it. There was no immediate response. Picking up that she was unimpressed, the clerk sighed. "What skill level is the player at? Unless it’s you." The last was tacked on purely for spite, insinuating that Weiss couldn’t possibly be a musician.

"Expert on Guitar Hero." After a few seconds, Weiss folded her arms. "Fine. She's got some real talent that I want to encourage – and I intend for the guitar to reflect her talent level. Also, I want it to last a long time, so nothing made with flimsy parts."

Looking at the racked up guitars again, the punk paced down slightly to the plainish yellow guitar, one that had a mottled brown-and-red pick guard below the sound hole. "Then you want a Yamaha JR1. Pretty mid-range pricewise, durable. For her skill level, it'll be the best choice."

"Hmm, that particular brand would be quite fitting…" Brushing over the surface with her fingertips, Weiss eventually took it from the employee and hefted the weight. "Seems solid enough.” Then she played a couple of easy chords, tuned a peg very slightly and tried again. It piqued the employee’s interest a little more, though she didn’t comment directly. “Does it come in any other colours? This finish is nice, but seems a bit… common. If the sound and quality will be the same, I would rather get her something that shows I put more thought into the gift."

"Nothing stoppin' you gettin' a paint job. But we have a catalogue of the ones we offer right… here." Picking out a small book from the shelf under the display, she quickly flicked through the pages until she found the Yamaha section. Then she handed it over to Weiss.

After a few seconds, Weiss took her sunglasses off and clipped them to the front of her shirt as she glanced down the selections. There weren't many besides the yellow finish; a natural one, a cherry red one, and one that seemed to take the yellow one and add a dark stain around the edges. That one appealed to her the most, and she had a suspicion Yang would appreciate it, as well.

"Do you have 'Tobacco Sunburst' in stock at all?" she asked as she looked up.

"Maybe, but I don’t- don’t…"

When her eyes caught those of her customer, she found herself completely freezing solid. She knew that face, those eyes, the white hair… even the voice. It'd snapped just who she was talking to at last. Weiss Schnee! THE Weiss Schnee was there in that very music store!

But she couldn't let her know that. Not yet. First, she had to be sure this was her, and do her job. So instead, she nodded. Voice now a slightly higher pitch, along with an awkward smile, she tried to sound as detached as before – and failed. "Sure! Let me just go fetch one from the back room for you!"

"Uhh… thank you. Oh, and if there's a matching case for it, I'll also take one of those!" But the woman was already retreating, so she simply hoped she had heard her request and turned to browse through a potpourri of guitar picks that were littered about in a basket.

As her assistant wandered into the store room, her mind was completely abuzz. Even though she was set on her task, she couldn't stop thinking about what she had just saw. 'That was Weiss! Holy shit, that was actually her, in the flesh! You've been trying to get into one of her concerts for well over a year and she walks in, and you treat her like crap – way to fucking go, Reese! Why are you like this?'

When she found the selection of guitars, she grabbed the finish she had asked for. The nicest one in the stockroom; it was the least she could do. And on her way back, she went to look for a case that would match it fairly well.

'Okay, calm down… It still might not be her. But if it is her, she'll have a tour bus or something, right?' She picked up a yellow ones that had a tribal dragon design over its casing. Something was telling her this would be the one she would want. 'That's it!' she thought as she made her way out with both items. 'Get Arslan to ring her up, then you can sneak out and follow her on your break! If it's not really Weiss, you come straight back. If it is, can you imagine the stuff you'd see?!'

When Reese returned from the stockroom, Weiss had selected two or three picks that struck her fancy and was inspecting a tuba out of boredom. When her eyes alighted on the case, complete with guitar tucked inside, she began to smile.

"Ooh… you know, I think that complements the guitar quite well."

'That's her, definitely. You've listened to more than enough interviews to know her voice.' She handed both items over to her seemingly famous client. Now she just had to get away for a while.

"I figured it did, y'know, the whole torched thing, plus a dragon. Now if you head over to my friend at the counter, they should be able to put it all together as a package deal for you; we’re having a promotion for guitars bought with cases. Knock off a few bucks."

"Ah," Weiss said with a polite smile as she took the case. By now, they both knew that the money didn't matter to someone like her, but Weiss didn't know Reese knew. "Well, that is much appreciated. Thank you for the assistance." Then, with a slight nod, she headed off toward the counter to complete her transaction.

"No, thank you…" She spoke quietly to herself as Weiss headed to the counter. Her plan was in action. As Weiss was being served, she made a quick dash to the staff room to sign herself out for break, then grabbed her skateboard and headed out the main doors into the hustle and bustle of the outside crowd. If she blended in, she knew Weiss would never have any chance of noticing her…

Sure enough, by the time Weiss was through talking to the dark-skinned woman with bleached-blonde hair at the counter, signing warranties and declining to become part of their mailing list, she had forgotten about Reese entirely; she was too focused on having made one of the most important purchases of her life.

"Yang is going to love this," she whispered to herself as her burly security guard motioned to the cabbie who had kept the car idling for her as she shopped. The man hopped out and helped her situate the large giftwrapped case in the back seat, where Weiss would still have plenty of room to sit next to it on their way back to her bus, the guard taking the passenger seat.

Thankfully, the traffic was rather slow in the area. Which meant that she couldn't easily keep up with the taxi in the traffic without having to get her own, but she managed – even if she did have to hastily warn some of the bystanders to jump out of the way. Every time there was a red light, Reese had caught up again, even if it had managed to get a few metres down the road.

Within twenty minutes or so, they were back to the parked bus. As the guard assisted Weiss with her things once more and Weiss tipped her cabbie generously, Reese was keeping an eye on them from a distance. It was definitely her, and the bus proved it one hundred percent. Now was the next issue: getting in unnoticed.

The guard held the door open so Weiss could struggle with the overlarge case. It wasn't all that bulky, but then again, Weiss was not an especially big person. Then she was inside and out of sight, the guard remaining outside of the door.

'This is gonna be a little tougher than I thought,' Reese mused as she hid her skateboard nearby. What were her options? She could hardly pay off a guard, not when she was barely making enough to afford an apartment in the Bronx. Nor could she fight him down. The only other option was…

A window. Weiss had left one of the windows at the rear of the bus wide open, presumably to let in the fresh air while she was out. It wasn't in the eyeline of the guard, and so pacing to it was simple. Keeping out of sight of him, she walked around to it, listening out for any possible sign that Weiss would be out of the way so she could enter, or at least just have a look…

A light humming was coming from the window. Not loud enough to signal that she was in that room itself, but she was definitely in the bus. Then the sound of running water gave away her location. It didn’t stop, which meant a shower, not just washing her hands; perfect. She wouldn't be coming out for a while.

Hauling herself up and straight through the window; she tried to make no noise whatsoever. And landing on the sofa meant she did that with ease. She'd done it! She was inside Weiss's tour bus!

"Oh man, nobody's ever gonna believe this," she whispered quietly, heart pounding in her throat. Where to start? What was she even doing in there?! The main room didn't have much to offer of value; just a few tables and seats, the wrapped guitar in its case, a couple of pairs of boots… though she happened to notice one pair seemed a bit too big for the diva herself.

Curiosity was getting the better of her, and when she looked toward the main bedroom area, she couldn't resist. As quietly as possible, she made her way inside, nudging the door closed behind her to make sure she was hidden that while longer. Yet even there offered very little in actual items that would make for a really cool memento. Was Weiss as pure and dull as everyone believed?

However, one thing did catch her eye in an unexpected place. In anyone else's household, she would have turned her nose up at the sight, but here, there was a story to tell in the laundry basket. One she couldn’t believe. On top lay a pair of black shorts, stained with the telltale remnants of a wild night. That added with the bigger boots she'd seen…

‘Weiss isn't the innocent, All-American sweetheart everyone thinks she is,’ she thought to herself with a quiet chuckle. ‘Shoulda seen that coming…’

Suddenly, the sound of running water stopped. There were shuffling sounds from inside the bathroom; it wouldn't be long now before the diva emerged, and the bedroom was her next likely destination. Eyes snapping wide open, the intruder realised she didn't have much time left. She needed to take something if she wanted people to believe her! Some kind of trinket that wouldn't be noticed, but enough to prove it.

Spotting the hairbrush on the small dressing table, she quickly nabbed it, forcing it into the large pocket of her hoodie and making her escape to the door. That would have to do. But as she opened it, she realised her escape plan had come too late.

Standing before her was Weiss herself, one towel tucked around her torso, and another wrapping up her hair in a makeshift turban. Those were the only things covering her flawless white skin. For a few seconds, she merely blinked at the girl who was somehow in her bedroom – and blushing from being this close to a nearly-nude celebrity. Then she opened her mouth, and the first words out of it were almost inane.

"Um… can I help you?"

Her intruder didn't even have any words. All she could do was stare back at the underdressed diva in front of her, blinking herself a few times to try and focus. Her mouth did work for a second, as if she could come up with anything to say that would fix this situation.

Until she made a quick dash toward the open window again.

"HEY!" Weiss shouted loudly, pelting after her. "Wait, wh-what are you doing in here?! And where are you going?!"

She almost cut off her retreat, but not fast enough. The intruder had already thrown herself out the window, dashing away from the scene. The damage had already been done; a complete stranger had been in her home, raided through her things, and made off to tell the tale.

But what she didn't consider was the bike pulling up just by the bus from the opposite side. Yang had managed to get back early, with the thought in mind of using the shower herself before they headed for dinner at Penny's. But upon dismounting, she could hear a strange amount of shouting…

All Weiss could think to shout while half of her torso was hanging out of her living room window was, "STOP! THIEF!!!" One arm held her towel over her chest while the other was levelled in the green-haired punk's direction as she snatched up her skateboard from where it had been stashed behind a trash can.

There was no hesitation. Instantly Yang was in pursuit by foot, dashing right past the van and heading the same direction as the green haired thief. In the busy streets, it was a difficult chase, especially when numerous people were looking around at them, curious of what was happening.

But having barely made it past one block, the chase was over. Yang had launched herself forward, latching her arms around the green haired thief and tackling her to the ground, sending her skateboard flying backward in the opposite direction. Despite her requests to be let go, Yang held firm, managing to adjust her position to pin the girl's hands behind her back, where she held them firm.

"What's the big deal?! I didn't take anything valuable! I just looked around!"

"You can talk to the rest of the security team about that. Now move it!"

Unconcerned about the growing crowd around them, Yang had hauled the green haired thief to her feet despite protest, keeping her hands restrained as she walked her right back to the bus's location. At least that way, the security could hold her until authorities were phoned, and Weiss could get answers she needed.

By the time Yang returned, Weiss was wearing a simple white dress and green flats that didn't particularly suit each other, but they had been pulled on in a hurry. Her hair was still in the turban. A crowd had gathered outside the bus, one or two people snapping pictures with their phones, and she certainly didn't want to be caught with a towel that could fall off at the worst possible moment.

"Thank you for grabbing her," Weiss sighed in relief. Then she fired back up at once. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself – and I can't believe you followed me here from the store!"

Teeth gritted in mild pain, Reese struggled in Yang's grip. "Hey, what do you expect?! Not every day a popstar comes in. Real question is, someone as big as you, why'd you leave a window open?!"

The comment only made Yang angry for Weiss. Right away, she pulled the girl's arms in tighter behind her back, growling lowly. "Because she's still a person? An open window ain’t an open invitation into somebody else’s home! You ever consider that before you did this?!"

"Exactly!" Weiss agreed heatedly, hands on her hips. "You have broken the law, and I'm afraid you're just going to have to live with the consequences!"

"Come on, anyone would have done what I just did! It doesn't matter if I broke some dumb law or not! Anyone would have jumped at the chance to get a sneak peek into Weiss's life – which as it turns out ain't so innocent after all!"

That response earned a few gasps from their gathering crowd, not to mention, a rather horrified look from her bodyguard. There wasn't anything to give things away inside the bus, was there?

"Wh… I don’t understand, what are you talking about?" Weiss breathed, quietly enough that the others gathered would not overhear. Her blood was running cold, her palms tingling.

"Some of the clothes in there aren't yours, and some of your laundry is… extremely dirty."

Right away, Yang knew. She remembered leaving the shorts she had used to wipe away the remains of that night in Weiss's laundry basket. But what angered her more than this intruder knowing that business was knowing that she had been in her bedroom. It was such a violation. Before she could reflect on that for too long, she forced her toward the nearest security staff to hand, trusting them to hold onto her instead. Any longer and she knew she would have ended up doing something she regretted.

But Weiss wasn't above a low blow. She followed, keeping an eye on Yang's clearly upset features out of the corner of her eye. As the police sirens began to reach her ears, she leaned in and grasped the collar of Reese's hoodie.

"Listen, you. Maybe I do have a personal life outside what I let my fans know about. But it's still my personal life – and you're still the one who broke into my bus AND went rifling through my laundry! How can you stand there and judge me?!"

"Because everyone else is gonna do it anyway. You really think cuffing me’s gonna change that?" Reese shook her head. She looked scared, but also angry at being forced to own up to her own actions. “God, all I wanted was to get a souvenir and a story! You really forgot where you came from. Well, good luck sweeping this one under the rug.”

Those were the last words the scorned fan spoke before the security staff hauled her away toward the oncoming police cars. An ominous warning that this was going to change Weiss’s life. But she didn’t know anything – not really. Whether it was the ramblings of a crazed fan or not, Yang didn't care. All she did was glare at the woman as she was forced into the back of a squad car.

But upon noticing how big of a crowd had actually gathered around them, that seemed to be the last straw for her. Raising her hands upward, Yang practically spat, "What's everyone gawking at, huh?! Show's over!"

Once the suspect was in custody, an officer had taken Weiss’s statement, as well as Yang's; finding out she was employed to protect Weiss's interests seemed to be enough to satisfy their curiosity as to why she had chased down Reese on foot. They did turn up the hairbrush in her pocket, but it could not be returned yet; it was evidence now. The fingerprints from her window provided only one clear set; there were others inside, but they were so muddled up with her own and Yang's that it didn't matter. None of the police even gave the laundry a second glance – luckily for them both. It was such a cut-and-dry case of a fan breaking in to steal a single item that there seemed to be no need.

But now they had to deal with the consequences of Reese’s outburst. It may be just a minor inconvenience for everyone else, but for Yang and Weiss, this would have widespread effects. Even if Yang's reputation was completely unharmed by the transpiring events, Weiss's was potentially under threat. All it took was one silly rumour to potentially ruin her reputation, and get her in major trouble with her father. Yang cared more about that than anything else.

Taking a seat in the sofa, she hesitated a moment before she asked, "You okay?"

"No," Weiss sighed, face in her hands. "I feel so stupid – I shouldn't have left the window open, but I wanted to air out my musty bus, and it was only… I thought the guard being with me at all times would have been enough, he should have been enough! Why can't people just… just let me live my life?!"

Rather than say anything else, Yang sighed deeply, wrapping her arms around her and pulling her body in close. The very idea that this whole thing happened was enough to make Yang's blood boil. But she couldn't let that feeling take over. Weiss was her priority. And she was going to do everything in her power to make her feel safe again.

"You're right, it should be enough." Yang repeated, stroking her shoulder softly. "Don't blame yourself, you're allowed to have a window open, it's not like you're a prisoner."

"But I shouldn't have to post a guard at every corner of the… oh, never mind. I just hate this." Sighing, she leaned back against the couch. "And now I don't feel comfortable here, I… god, I just want to be home in Nashville for once."

Looking around the bus a moment, Yang count understand why. The idea someone had been in here without either of their knowledge, even if no harm came to her… the thought of someone rooting through their personal belongings was enough to make Yang's skin crawl.

"Well… we could always book a hotel room or something. I mean, we're here for all your gigs, right? It’s gonna be a while."

"Suppose you're right. And… and maybe that sounds okay, but I don't want to draw undue attention to this by having people camp outside the hotel, trying to figure out why I'm there instead of my bus."

"Ugh… you're right about that. What else can we do?" Leaning forward, she ran a hand over her face as she tried to think. The bus wasn't the best place to be at the present, and hotels would draw attention. It was a shame that they didn't know anyone in the city that had a place of their own-

Then Yang suddenly snapped her fingers instead. They did know someone in New York City. Perhaps not with a place of their own, but it didn't hurt to ask. And with that knowledge in mind, she pulled her cell phone back out of her pocket, quickly typing away.

"Let’s try for a plan B."

#white noise #freezerburn #freezerburn fanfic #rwby fanfiction #rwbyremnants

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therubyritual · 7 years

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0177

0177: No one wants to go first? Then we will. Get Weiss, Blake and Yang to come out as well, and we'll begin the talking, even if it seems uncomfortable to do so. Once we're done, floor's open, but no one leaves the room until everything's been talked about. And you mean NO ONE LEAVES until EVERYTHING is said.

0177: Maybe you can go first? Help ease things in. If Weiss, Blake, and Yang want to share, that might also help.

...To tell the truth, you don't particularly want to go first either. But you're the leader, so you should probably lead.

“I saw my mom.” You tell them. “She was so… real. I wanted to go to her so badly. But… My mom is dead, so it couldn't have been her. The dream had me in some kind of trance or something, so it was hard to snap out of it, but I managed somehow. It’s all a bit hazy though...”

“Geez… That sounds rough.” Says Ren sympathetically. “I was lucky enough to not see my parents in mine.”

“What happened?” You ask.

“...When Nora and I were young, our village was attacked by demons. It was basically a repeat experience of that.” “That sounds horrible.” Says Pyrrha.

“It was, but I’ve had enough nightmares about that day that I was able to figure out it was all fake fairly quickly. After that I went to find Nora, and… Nora do you want to tell them about this bit?”

Nora hesitates for a moment, but then nods. “I was in Beacon, only everything was made of storm clouds. I walked around, trying to find someone else, but I didn’t find anything until I went to the cliff where we fought The Spark…” Oh boy you think you see where this is going.

“I saw… me. Only it was like you took a hurricane, zapped it with ten bajillion volts, and then stuffed it all a mould that looked like me. She said some stuff about needing to beat me so that she would be ‘the number one Valkyrie,’ and then she attacked me. I almost feel sorry for all the Grimm I’ve smashed if that was the expression I had when I squished them… Almost.”

“What happened next?” You ask.

She scowls. “I lost. I think I might have been able to do it if I hadn’t been so freaked out. If Ren hadn’t shown up when he did I would have been a goner. Together we were able to hold her… me… whatever the heck she was, off until you ended the dream.”

“Ok so I wasn’t the only one who tried to kill myself in the dream.” Weiss mutters inside your head. “That’s somewhat comforting.” “Oh yeah! Weiss, Blake, Yang: you guys should also tell the others about what happened to you.” You exclaim.

“I… guess that sounds like a good idea.” Blake says hesitantly. “I’ll go first, get it over with.” Everyone in the room listens in horror as Blake recounts the experimentation and imprisonment she went through before her transformation. You don’t feel as queasy, on account of having heard it all before, but nevertheless the fury that you feel towards Blake’s captors has not diminished.

As Yang begins her turn, you listen up, as you still don’t know the full details of what happened to her.

“Everything played out exactly the same as the day of the forest fire. I was out on my morning jog through the woods, when I heard some weird chanting. I went over to check it out, and stumbled on a bunch of cultists doing a ritual. Most of them were wearing the usual cultist robes, but there was one guy off to the side who was wearing a suit, and was just watching. I didn’t get a good look at his face. In the middle of the ritual circle there was some kind of bowl…” “Wait what?” You exclaim. “A bowl? That sounds like what happened with me!” “Bowl-like ritual vessels are not uncommon.” Comments Weiss. “It’s possible that it might just be a coincidence.”

“It’s just as possible that it isn’t.” Responds Ren. “Let’s not just ignore the connection here.” “Well in any case,” continues Yang, “it went about as well for these guys as it did for those dumbasses who kidnapped Ruby way back then. They finished their chant, the runes on the bowl started glowing, and then BOOM! The bowl blew up, and the cultists got mulched by the explosion. Mr suit might have survived though, he was pretty far back, but I was too preoccupied with the giant flaming arm that was worming its way through the tear in reality that the explosion made to be paying attention to him.”

“That sounds freaking awesome…” Nora murmurs.

“It would have been if it hadn’t literally knocked me through a tree. I passed out, and next thing I knew I was with Weiss.”

“Your demon half dragged you to safety.” Says Weiss. “We talked for a while, she said that once everything was over I should ask you about…. Well I think I should probably save that until we’re done digesting our current series of traumas. In any case, I think it’s my turn…”

After Weiss finished telling everyone about her daddy issues and attempted murder/suicide, there was only one person who had not talked about their experience in the dream.

“Alright Pyrrha, you’re up.” You say.

“Alright…” She says, and takes a deep breath. “My experience was similar to Ren’s. I was in a village that was under attack by demons, mainly Grimm. I was the only person there who could fight. I tried my best to stop them, but as soon as they started coming over the walls it was all over. If the dream hadn’t ended when it did I might have been killed. I’m not really sure where my part of the dream came from, since I’ve never been in a village like that before. Maybe it’s because I haven’t gone through anything in my past like the rest of you all did.”

You notice that Pyrrha’s arm scratching has drawn blood.

Is it time to wrap things up? (If yes, then timeskip to your meeting with Miss Goodwitch)

The number is 0178.

AN: Been a while huh? Finally have a bit of a holiday. Now the only thing between me and writing is the time absorbing black hole that is breath of the wild.

#ruby ritual update #rwby #rwby fanfiction #rwby fanfic

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play-read-write · 7 years

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C(h)at

Fandom: RWBY Words: 1962 Characters: Team RWBY Description: Ruby tells her friend Weiss about her ability to talk to animals. However when she meets her friends cat things get even stranger.

“So that’s your big secret?” Weiss asks, “You can talk to animals?”

“Well, actually anyone can talk to animals, I can just understand them too.” Ruby says.

“How is that even possible?”

“No clue.” Yang says, “She’s always been able to. Not like she’s the only person in the world with strange abilities.”

“Comes in really handy with Zwei.” Ruby says, “Always know what he needs.”

“So what, you just have conversations with them?” Weiss asks.

“Not really.” Ruby says, “Most aren’t very smart by human standards. Pretty much translates to things like ‘I’m hungry’ or ‘play with me’ or ‘I need to pee’ and other stuff like that.”

“Maybe I should get you to talk to my cat.” Weiss says, “I swear that is the strangest animal.”

“Why, cause she hasn’t run away yet?” Yang jokes.

“No, of course not. It’s just, she seems to hate other cats, and most people, and all dogs, she hates the wet cat food, which is supposed to be the good stuff, and I swear I’ve walked in on her reading books.”

“Well, she’s a cat.” Yang says, “Picky and aloof sounds about right. The reading though, that one’s weird.”

“I guess I could.” Ruby says. “I’d love to see your house anyway.”

“I was just kidding.” Weiss says, “You’re welcome to come over, but you don’t have to interrogate my cat. Wow, never thought I’d say that.”

“Sweet, party at the rich person’s house.” Yang says.

“No.” Weiss says, “No party, just a couple people.”

“Alright, I can go now.” Ruby says, “I bet your house is huge.”

“It is pretty large.” Weiss says.

“So,” Ruby starts as Weiss leads them away, “What’s your cat’s name?”

“Belle.”

…

“Your house is huge.” Ruby says, looking up. “It’s gotta have like, four stories.”

“Five above ground.” Weiss corrects her, opening the door.

“Wait, there’s more than one below?” Yang asks.

“Three actually.” Weiss says, “Would you care for anything to drink?”

“How about a glass of hundred Lien bills?” Yang asks.

“Oh ha ha.” Weiss mocks.

“You got any soda?”

“We have cola, citrus, grape, orange, strawberry-“

“That.” Ruby calls out.

“I’ll take an orange.” Yang says.

“Very well.” Weiss answers.

“Let’s see…” Ruby says, “Here kitty kitty kitty.” She calls out, looking around.

“Strange though she may be, she’s fairly smart.” Weiss calls out. “Just use her name.”

“Uh, alright.” Ruby says and cups her hands around her mouth. “Belle!” She calls out.

“Yo pussy cat, you in here?” Yang calls.

“Yang she said to use her name.” Ruby says. She raises her hands to call again before she notices a sleek black cat walk into the room. “Oh there she is.”

“Alright I’ll leave you to it.” Yang says, patting her shoulder and heading off after Weiss.

“Hey there.” Ruby says, crouching low and holding a hand out. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Wonderful, new people.” Belle says.

Ruby blinks a bit in surprise. It certainly didn’t sound like a normal cat. “I’m Ruby; I’m a friend of Weiss’. How are you?”

Belle jumped onto a nearby couch. “Another rich girl probably, and one who talks to cats.”

“Uhhh…” Ruby says, standing up again as Weiss walks in, handing her a soda.

“How’s it going?”

“Weird.” Ruby says, opening it.

“I told you so.” Weiss says, “Weird even for a cat.”

“Says the girl who talks to her mirror.” Belle says, causing Ruby to snort soda.

She coughs a bit as both Weiss and the cat look at her. “Oh wow, sorry.” She says.

“What just happened?” Weiss asks.

“Nothing.” Ruby says and laughs as she wipes her chin.

“Alright. I’ll let you two chat then. I told Yang she could make a sandwich and I don’t want her messing something up.” She says and leaves.

“Welp, you and me again already.” Ruby says, sitting on the couch beside her.

“Oh joy.” Belle says, “You’re probably a petter too.”

“Not if you don’t want me to be, though you are pretty cute.” Ruby says.

“Wait what?” Belle asks, looking over at her.

“I said you’re cute. Pretty kitty, but I won’t pet you if you don’t want me to.”

“You can… you can understand me.”

“Yep. Took you long enough to figure it out. Though I was pretty surprised, you’re WAY more uh… what’s the word, better at talking than other animals?”

“More articulate?”

“Yeah, that.” Ruby says, “Like, a thousand times more. No wonder they thought you were a weird cat.”

“Oh my god you really can understand me. This is amazing.”

“It sure is.” Ruby says, “Wait, cats have religion?” She asks looking at her.

“Not as far as I know.” Belle says, “But I’m not a cat.”

“Um, what?” Ruby asks, “You look like a cat.”

“I’m not. I used to be a person. I got caught stealing food from some old woman and I guess she knew magic because she turned me into a cat. I’ve been stuck like this since.”

“You were stealing?”

“I was starving. Not the point. I can’t do anything like this, I’ve read every book I could find to fix it but I can’t. You might be able to help me though.”

“Okay, we’re gonna need to talk to Weiss. This is not what I expected when I came over.” Ruby says.

“Definitely. Maybe I can tell her now that I have a translator. Nothing worked before.” Belle says, jumping down and leading the way as Ruby follows.

“So wait, is your name really Belle?” Ruby asks.

“No.” She says, “That’s what they named me. My name is, or was, Blake.”

“Alright then, Blake it is.” Ruby says. She follows her into the kitchen where Yang was eating a sandwich and talking to Weiss.

“Hey Sis.” Yang says through a mouthful before swallowing. “See you made a friend.”

“Uh, sort of.” Ruby says, “We gotta talk.”

“About what?” Yang asks.

“Weiss, your cat is really articulate. Like more than me cause she just taught me that word.”

“As if that’s hard.” Weiss says. “Is that strange?”

“Super strange.” Ruby says, “Then she told me why.”

“Because she reads?” Weiss asks.

“Because she’s human.” Ruby says.

Weiss and Yang share a look before looking at Ruby. “What?” Yang asks.

“I’m not the only person with weird powers. Apparently Blake, that’s her real name, used to be a person and was changed by someone into a cat.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.” Weiss says.

“Tell her something only I would know.” Blake says.

“Okay, Weiss, she’s gonna tell me something I couldn’t possibly know. Then I’ll tell you so you know it’s true.” Ruby says.

“Fine.” Weiss agrees.

“Tell her…” Blake pauses, “Tell her she shouldn’t hide her magazines under her mattress.”

“Um, okay.” Ruby says, “She said you shouldn’t hide your magazines under the mattress. Though I don’t know why you would anyway.”

Weiss’ eyes went wide and Yang’s jaw dropped before she doubled over laughing. “Oh my God, Princess, I didn’t know you had it in you!” She says through heavy laughter.

“She had it in her last night.” Blake says. “Did not need to hear that.”

“Had it in her last night?” Ruby asks, “I don’t even know what that means.”

Yang laughs louder, clutching at the counter for support as Weiss turns bright red. “Oh my God, oh wow, too good.”

“I… well… Moving on.” Weiss says, “I believe you, what now?”

“Wait I’m confused.” Ruby says, “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.” Blake says, “So will she help?”

“Right.” Ruby says, “Blake wants to know if you’ll help her turn back to normal.”

“Uh, sure.” Weiss says, “Whatever. My friend talks to animals, my cat is a person, and they’re spilling private information. Today is weird enough anyway.”

“Awesome.” Ruby says, “Now we just need to figure out how to change her back.”

“Done.” Blake says.

“Wait really?” Ruby asks.

“I told you I’ve researched it. Read every book I could find. It requires casting a spell though.”

“So you need a voice, gotcha.” Ruby says, “Guess what, problem solved already!” She says with a grin.

…

The problem was not solved already. In fact it took over a week of gathering ingredients and preparing the spell to get everything ready. Ruby, of course, spent a lot of time at the Schnee manor, both as a translator and as Blake’s only conversation partner in years. Eventually though, the day came.

“Who wants to do the honors?” Yang asks.

“I will.” Weiss says. “It seems only fair. She was my cat for a long time now.” She steps up to the table with a bowl in it, ingredients mixed in. In the middle of the room was a complexly drawn symbol, with Blake sitting in the middle. “Here we go.” She grabs some matches and takes a deep breath. “By the dark and by the light, what is true is not what’s right. Reveal the truth and make it whole, return the body to the soul!” She chants and lights the matches, throwing them into the bowl of ingredients.

There’s a flash of light, bright enough cause them all to shield their eyes. As it fades and they cough on all the thin smoke all eyes look up. “Did it work?” Yang asks as they look around.

When the smoke finally clears the answer is obvious. Standing in the middle of the circle was a young woman, about the same age as Weiss and Yang. Long black hair hung down and golden eyes looked back at them. As they looked Ruby began to blush deeply and covered her eyes again, Yang smirked and cocked her hip out to the side, resting a hand on it, and Weiss followed Ruby’s lead, blushing and turning her head.

“What is it?” Blake asks, “Wow it’s good to hear my own voice again.”

“That is a nice voice.” Yang says, “Body ain’t bad either.”

“What do you mean?” She asks, looking down. “I mean it’s good to have it back but I-“ She looks up as she realizes and tries to hide herself. Yang finally chooses that moment to turn around when she’s sure Blake wasn’t just being immodest.

“Here.” Ruby says and takes off her hood, tossing it to her blindly.

Blake grabs it and puts it on, pulling it around her, though it barely covered her. “Thanks.” She says, “I hadn’t worn clothes in years, I didn’t realize for a moment.”

“It’s fine.” Ruby says, looking back now. “How does it feel to be… back?” She looks at Blake with her jaw hanging a bit. No longer distracted Yang and Weiss both notice as well.

“What is it now?” Blake asks, a bit worried.

“I think we might have done something wrong.” Weiss says.

“What? How?” Blake asks, a touch of panic in her voice.

“You, uh, you can’t tell?” Yang asks.

“I was a cat for years, I’m not exactly used to it enough to tell.” Blake says.

“Touch your ears.” Weiss says, “Can you?”

“Of course, they’re right here.” Blake says, reaching up and touching the two cat ears on top of her head. “See now what’s wrong with… oh.”

“We could always figure out how to turn you back into a cat and try again.” Yang suggests.

“NO!” Blake says, “I mean, I’ll live. Better hearing right? I’ll deal with it.”

“Good. It all worked out then.” Ruby says, “So what if there are ears? They’re kinda cute.”

“She’s not wrong.” Yang says.

“Now let’s get you some clothes.” Weiss says.

“And then some grub.” Yang adds.

“Sweet, what does everyone want?” Ruby asks.

“Anything but cat food.” Blake says as they leave the room, earning a small laugh from them all.

#RWBY #Ruby Rose #Blake Belladonna #Yang Xiao Long #Weiss Schnee #February Challenge #My Fanfic #ugh took too long to write now its late and messed some stuff up cause its passed midnight #oh well here it is

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trainsinanime · 7 years

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RWBY Vol 4 Episode 11 Notes

I’m putting this post on a time-delay fuse because some people I know haven’t seen the episode yet, and it’s much more fun to really discuss it than go „seen my post?“ - „yeah, agree with it“ - „good talk“.

This is basically a glue episode. It only exists to get all the players in position for the finale, or at least on the road to their positions. And for that, it’s doing pretty well.

The part that surprised me is that Blake’s arc is already coming to an end. Previously I expected much more investigation here, which always confused me about the rest of the pacing - Weiss’s stuff could certainly be extended further by giving her some sabotage tasks, but I have no clue what else there was to do for Yang. But if Blake’s dad simply hands her a Star Trek P.A.D.D. with all the information she was looking for, then all the pacing fits. On some level, it’s a bit of a cop-out, but the scene is well written, and anyway it’s good to see the girls on the path back together. Even if Blake is probably the one who could most easily be the star of a spin-off solo series.

Not really much to say about Weiss, Yang, JNPR or Team EVIL as individual arcs (Yang's new arm does look a lot like Sister's from Red vs Blue, though, right?). I do like the parallels that are drawn throughout here between the characters, especially the less obvious ones. Yang and Cinder are an interesting pair, both having been maimed, both having to relearn how to live, but in two very different circumstances with very different parent figures. There’s also a Yang/Tyrion parallel here, where both went out of their way to fight for a team mate, and got mutilated for their work. Of course, for the good guys, they are all working on a basis of trust, love and friendship, while the bad guys are based off lust for power, greed and mutual hatred, which is why the good guys end up coming out of this much better. Even the Borg Queen herself is shown maybe as the warmest presence on the team, but still fundamentally a very good manager, not the slightest bit a parent figure for Cindy. Not that this murderous asshole deserves any better.

Elsewhere, I like how even though this is an arc about Blacksun, they take care to keep the Bumblee ship tease going on low. Sure, Kali has her preferred ship, but even Sun keeps pointing out how important Yang is to Blake. I consider myself a bit of a Bumblee shipper over here. By a bit, I mean that I actually like Sun. I think his easy-going nature works well as a foil for drama-queen Blake, he is a good target for exposition dumps, he can deal with Faunus-specific stories (from the context it seems reasonable to assume that it would be incredibly offensive if Yang were to put on fake horns to join a White Fang meeting undercover), and, you know, the two of them are cute together. If they ever decide to make this canon and have the two kiss, I could live with that.

But the connection between Yang and Blake is much stronger and much more personal. It started in season two, when Yang was able to connect with Blake about her personal drive in a way no-one else could, and it got really into overdrive at the end of season three. Now Blake’s fight and ongoing storyline against Adam has officially become Yang’s fight against Adam as well, not just as a friend but as someone with grief with Adam in her own right. Plus, look at those two holding hands at the finale of season 3.

I’m perfectly happy if that love triangle simply doesn’t get resolved in the end. After all, they resolved Arcos, and we all know what a big bundle of joy that has been. The way things are going right now is fine. The only problem I have now is that Sun has already said pretty much everything I expected Yang to say when she meets Blake again.

(Bonus note: I love how when Sun wakes up, Blake's first reaction isn't "you're awake!" or "how do you feel?", but "my life is drama!" Oh Blakey-Blake, never change.)

Going forward, I am wondering whether team RWBY will rejoin in a big explosive finale in Mistral, or whether the finale will see them all heading for Mistral for a huge explosive season opening there. If I absolutely had to guess, my money would be on the latter. Team RNJR still has enough to do to fill the finale. Ren has to face his childhood fears and Qrow has to spout some cryptic exposition before heroically sacrificing himself to save the kids. There might also be room where Oscar has to prove himself for the first time. For team WBY, I expect just shots of them all headed to Mistral. Once they rejoin, expect RWBY to reform as always, and Sun to join JNR to form RSJN (pronounced raisin). Okay, I’m not serious about that last one.

On a more general note, I’ve heard people say that Ruby is suffering from PTSD over Pyrrha’s death this season, because we see Jaune deal with his pain, but her, not so much. I can see where that interpretation is coming from, but I don’t read it that way. Ruby is dealing with her pain by going on a mission to Mistral to stop the people responsible and prevent them from doing it again. She’s like a multi-fuel engine, takes whatever you give her and turns it into propulsion, both physically and metaphorically. It is, after all, a recurring plot point that she is not all that hard to figure out. She’s a heroic character in pretty much the most straight-forward form there is. „Victory is in a simple soul“ and so on.

Anyway, my prediction is thus: The finale will not even try to be as big as the one of season three; it will be a small affair that focuses much more on the people. I think that Ren and Nora will survive (and team RWBY anyway), Qrow won’t, and I have no clue on Weiss’s father. If team RWBY reunites, it will be in the last 80 seconds before the credits, but my money is on not at all.

#rwby #rwby4

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razorblade180 · 5 years

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Lasting Embers pt21: Wariness of battle

[Menagerie]

*Blake still on the phone with Yang. Sun and Ilia are in the room.*

Sun:So, what’s the situation?

Yang:Nora got attacked in the Emerald Forest by what looked like to be at least fifteen cult members. They new when to get her, what time to take out Mercury and Emerald, and also knew about Tenzen despite them being out of the fight for so long.

Ilia:Are Mercury and Emerald okay? Those two aren’t the kind to just simply go down easily.

Yang:They were ambushed and said before they could really do anything they were overwhelmed by grimm. If it wasn’t for Tenzen then this story would have a pretty horrific story. He’s the only reason we even know about the attack; the only reason we made it in time.

Blake:Where is everyone now?

Yang:We’re all at my dad’s house recuperating. Emerald wounds were bad but not life threatening while Mercury is currently bedridden. He got pretty roughed up but he’ll pull through. Nora is up and active thanks to Jaune. Tenzen however, he’s unconscious. Things got dicey for him at the very end. I’m told he’ll be fine. Everyone should pull through.

Sun:Blake, this seems to be way too coordinated to be the acts of a dying cult. Whitley, Jacquelyn, now Nora. I hate to say it but-

Blake:We missed something huge; something detrimental.

Yang:I hate to ask but it would be really nice to have you here. Ruby’s is on edge about this and frankly so am I. Weiss already said she’ll head out as quick as possible.

Blake:As much as I would love to hop on a airship right now I can’t. The festival here is in honor of my return and I have to attend; honestly everyone knowing I’m back is gonna make everything from here on out difficult for me. I’ll show up first chance I get when it’s all over though. I’m technically not in power again yet.

Sun:That role is still on me miraculously. *making a call*

Ilia:Who are you calling?

Sun:All these attacks on families yet I’ve heard nothing from Neo in Argus. It has me concerned.

Yang:Don’t you mean “text?” Last time I checked she wasn’t really chatty.

Ilia:Oh she’s pretty chatty these days. Adam’s eye wasn’t the only thing the creation relic was used for. Neo can talk and next chance you get you should tell Mercury to roll up his pants. Seemed like a fair trade for working in our organization.

Yang:I can see why you were a team leader; you’ve been busy.

Sun:Just making the most of crappy situations.

*a hologram pops up with Neo standing there waving. There’s blood on her clothes*

Neo:Sup boss, I was just about to report in actually. The Arc family was attacked yesterday.

Ilia:WHAT!?

Blake:This just keeps getting worse...

Neo:Relax, everyone is fine. Adrian had a construction job and thought one of the buildings listed seemed a bit off. He notified me about it and sure enough 45 members using it as a place to hide until they captured everyone.

Sun:Why am I hearing about this only now!?

Neo:I’ve been busy being your top operative that’s why!

Ilia:You’re ranked number three; only behind myself and Adam because you’re a bit.....of a wild card.

Neo:Regardless, I’m arguably the best around; especially with assignments like these. My report is late because I moved the entire family to a safe place on the Atlas base then made an identical copy of their house for the cult to raid with my semblances. Shit like that takes time that can’t be wasted.

Yang:*shocked* 45 members? That’s extremely excessive and more than a few stragglers.

Neo:They were all basically fodder. The only reason for their numbers so high has to because either they wanted the family captured in one fell swoop, or they thought that would be enough to stop me. I guess they might’ve feared the military being close by too.

Sun:Where are the members now?

Neo:They walked into the decoy house only for it to be an abandoned building with me inside. All of them fought their hardest but ended up the same; tortured for information and killed. Now they’re buried deep under rubble because it “just so happened” that building was set for demolition and destroyed by Adrian. Simple as that.

Blake:You tortured and killed 45 people....

Neo:infiltration and information gathering is why I’m ranked so high. Not to mention I did it all alone. I’m a wild card for sure. I’m sort of a badass.

Sun:Focus Neo, what did you learn?

Neo:Nothing important; like I said they were fodder. Given orders by some boss they don’t even know the name of. I thought they were bluffing but annoyingly they were all just pawns. Not even an actual member here looked like they could lead for a second or even the grimm using type. Now someone like that might know something of use.

Ilia:What are chances any of your assailants are still alive Yang?

Yang:Surprisingly, exactly one. He lead the attack and Jaune wanted answers to. He isn’t saying anything though; he’s been trained real well or still in too much pain from his broken legs.

Neo:I bet I could get him to sing like a bird if I had a moment with him.

Yang:More than welcome to try. Frankly I’m tired of looking at the guy and I don’t have the stomach to do what you do.

Neo:Well you might have to because unless you ship him over here I can’t leave. The Arc family is safe for now but I don’t them alone.

Ilia:They won’t be, I’ll take your spot and you can go to Atlas to catch a ride with Weiss to Vale.

Sun:Are you really okay with that? You just got back.

Ilia:Eh, this is very important. Besides, festivals were never really my scene anyways. *smiles*

Blake:I guess it’s settled then. Let’s keep everything about this between us for now. That includes Adam; I don’t want him involved in this if I could help it.

Ilia:You’re the boss. Well, former boss. *leaves* I’ll pack my things and head out.

Neo:I’m gonna go clean up. Blood takes forever to get out. *hangs up*

Sun:Sigh, this sure kills the festive mood a bit. I’m gonna triple check all set ups and just make sure everything stays peaceful for tonight. *kisses Blake and leaves*

Yang:You want to keep Adam out the loop?

Blake:You can call me soft or sentimental but I don’t want him wondering around the world more than he needs to. His family really missed him.

Yang:I know how that goes. This whole thing is gonna blow over right....?

Blake:We can only be so lucky. Be safe alright?

Yang:You too Blake, I’ll call back later. *hangs up and starts walking through her childhood home*

Despite the countless years, things remain the same. From the scuffs on the wooden floor to the photos on the wall leading to her old room.

Yang:*slowly opens the door to peak in on Tenzen.*......

Tenzen:*laying in her old bed asleep. A purple bruise across his nose and on his left cheek. Bandages across his bare chest and slightly bruised ribs*

Yujin:*sitting by his bed on the floor. Placing the bracelet he gave her back into his hand and holding it tightly* I think you need jade dragon luck more than I do right now....

Yang:Sigh.....

Jaune:*behind Yang* She’s not gonna leave his side until he wakes up you know? Hopefully it won’t take too long.

Yang:Can’t you help speed up the process a little? I mean the kid still has some pretty bad bruises.

Jaune:Tenzen’s semblance and mine don’t really compliment each other. I’ve done all I’ve can for now; natural rest is the best thing for him now.

Yang:How’s our special guest?

Jaune:See for yourself *gestures outside*

*Jericho tied against a tree as he’s propped up on the ground as the remaining friends and family of Yang rest outside*

Nora:*watching him like a hawk*......

Jericho:You know is this really necessary? *looks at his crippled legs* I couldn’t escape even if I wanted to. You worried I might almost kill you again.

Ren:Talk to her again and I’ll snap your neck.

Jericho:That would make you really bad at interrogation. I guess your mind has gotten weaker with your body.

*Before Ren gets the chance to walk over to him he’s stopped by Nora. Quelling his anger and preventing him from doing anything he’ll regret*

Jericho:Honestly both of you are a little disappointing. I thought huntsmen where supposed be honored by civilization and feared by villains. I don’t feel very afraid of-*cresent rose wraps around the tree as the blade presses against his neck*

Ruby:If you’re gonna talk then it better be about something valuable. Otherwise I’d recommend you keep quiet.

Jericho:So the Red Reaper finally speaks. I’ll admit that you are the only one that’s worth being afraid of around here. After all, you’re the only one here with nothing to lose. *smirks*

Ruby:*adds more pressure, cutting his neck slightly*

Jericho:Ooo did I strike a nerve?

Tai:Don’t let him get to you Ruby.

*Jaune and Yang finally come walking out the house. Jaune’s sword drawn and ready to strike*

Jericho:Someone looks a little-AH!!

Jaune:*stabbing his leg* I can understand a lot of things like attacking people who are actively going after you. But please explain why the hell I was just told my family was almost murdered?*digs the blade in*

Jericho:*grits teeth* Hehehe so I guess that means they screwed up the job. How *spits blood* unfortunate.

Jaune:Honestly what the hell is wrong with you bastards!? Why rope kids into this? Why go after distant relatives and people who don’t know anything about how the world really works.

Jericho:Aren’t you supposed to be the smart one? Can you truly not grasp the simple concept of our warfare? I know one of you probably gets it as clear as day. *looks at Raven*

Raven:....Sigh, it’s psychological and emotional torture. However, I’ve never known anybody to commit to that kind of tactic for over a decade.

Jericho:True but what choice do we have? You’re all too damn strong for your own good. No well we could move the way we want to when you people are at your best. So we use fear.

Ruby:*stares him down* No one here is afraid of scum like you.

Jericho:Mmmm such hate in those eyes. We aren’t trying to make you afraid of us my darling, you’re fear lies in living another day knowing things will never be the same.

Everyone:......

Jericho:Does it haunt you often? Knowing tomorrow is another day without the intimate love you once had? The mentor’s warm embrace you grew up with ripped away from you? Are you even sure how they died?

Ruby:*eyes slightly soften as she takes a step back* What are you going on about.

Jericho:It’s a simple question I know you’ve had to talk about. I bet you like to think it was as painless as possible but that’s impossible to know. The screams of your late husband as he burned alive, or maybe it was quiet gasps as he crushed by the debris of your burning home.

Ruby:Shut up.....

Jericho:Did your Uncle put up a valiant fight and almost won? Not likely, he probably screamed as the grimm ripped him apart and dragged him into his flames! Both of them wishing you were there to save them. I bet silver eyes would’ve saved them!!!

Ruby:I SAID SHUT UP!!! *she drops to her knees crying and covering her ears*

Yang and Tai:Ruby!!! *rushes to her side*

Jericho:Oh she looked so dangerous just a few minutes ago and now look at her; far from her best.

Jaune:.....

Jericho:Loved ones, children, family, and friends. It doesn’t matter how strong you are when you have these ripped from you. Knowing that you’ll never see their face again eats away at a persons mind. Awake, asleep, everyday life, or on the battlefield of war. Even just a close call messes with people’s head. *looks at Ren* ever wonder how much your wife might blame herself for your condition? Seeing you in pain everyday thinking how she should’ve been better.

Nora:*stares at the ground clenching her fist* Someone shut him up already please.....?

Jaune:*walking over to him*

Jericho:Have a said too much? Hehehe I didn’t even get started on how this involves all of your kids.

*Everyone freezes in place for a moment*

Jericho:You do everything for them, including leave them. Believeing it’s the best option to stop people like me. Praying you don’t come back home to find them dead and not even by us. Ten years is a long time, any natural disaster could’ve happened. A simple car or mugger is all it takes and next thing you know is the person you fought ten years for died seven years ago. These plans all of you make are simply the works of people clinging on to what little hope they have. Stop us all you want; when the fighting is over you gotta live with what you lost until you die and-

Yang:*picks him up and slams him against a tree. Her eyes a deep blood red* You can stop spouting all of your crap now. You’ll have plenty of time to talk later when our friend gets the information we want out of you. Then all of us can finally move on from this nightmare!

Jericho:Are you *cough* sure you want to know how many of us are left? It could be 50 or it could be 500. Do you think you can take another indefinite journey; I wonder how your daughter would feel about her mom leaving again?

Yang:.....*drops him*

Jericho:HAHAHAHA! Oooo boy! If she doesn’t hate you now then she’s definitely going to after that! So much for coming home to loved ones; if you both live long enough to see each other that is!!! HAHAHAHA- *knocked out by a punch from Jaune*

Jaune:The moment he wakes up....knock him out again. I don’t wanna hear his voice for the rest of my life. *looks around at everyone*

Ren holds a crying Nora in his arms to comfort. Both of them obviously shaken by the man’s words. Raven proceeds to hug her daughter who’s eyes still haven’t calm down her body heaving out rage and fear of the future. Then there’s Ruby, wailing and trembling on the ground until she can barely breath. Tai holds back his tears as he holds his youngest daughter close to him. The sun is finally going down but nobody seems to care. It helps hide the pain on their face. So Jaune doesn’t say anything; he just walks back upstairs to Yujin.

Jaune:*peeks through the door*.....

Yujin:*Fast asleep and still clinging to Tenzen’s hand*Zzzzzz

Jaune:*picks her up and places her in bed* sleep tight*

Yujin:*barely awake* Dad? Hey, how is everyone doing?

Jaune:They’re....they are doing just fine. Gets some rest okay? *kisses her forehead*

Yujin:Alright dad; feel bad though. Not like I’ve been doing much. *yawns* at least.....it’s almost over....*passes out*

Jaune:........*tears well up as he leaves the room* Damnit *sniff* stay strong Jaune. You have to be the strong one right now. You have to keep things-*looks at his wedding ring*.......

*he slides down the wall and just sits on the floor*

Jaune:For crying out loud *tears finally start running down his face* she’s gonna leave again isn’t she?

#rwby #sun wukong #lie ren #nora valkryie #renora #ilia amitola #rwby neo #neo politan #jaune arc #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #taiyang xiao long #raven branwen #yujin xiao long #lie tenzen #rwby blacksun #rwby dragonslayer #rwby lasting embers #ruby rose

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play-read-write · 7 years

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RWBY Phantom Jack O’ Lantern

Fandom: RWBY Words: 1899 Description: Danny Phantom AU. Ruby and her friends find a grimm, a malicious creature from the Ghost Zone, robbing a shop and intervene to try and stop it.

Ruby walked down the street taking exaggerated steps and humming to herself. Her friends walked with her, Weiss on one side, her sister Yang on the other, and Blake pulling up the rear as she read and walked. It was a simple journey, a time out with friends as they headed down to Wok In The Park for a bit to eat. At least that’s what it would have been, if it hadn’t been rudely interrupted.

A woman ran past them from the direction they were headed. She was screaming as she ran, and was soon followed by a couple more people doing the same.

“You don’t think…” Ruby says.

“Isn’t it always?” Blake says.

“Let’s go check it out.” Yang says and they take off running. Soon enough they find the cause, just as expected. The windows of a shop were shattered and money floated around an eerily glowing figure of a man in hat with a cane.

“Weiss?” Ruby asks.

“I’m looking.” Weiss says, already on her scroll. “No information. Either new or too small to know about.”

“Well, guess there’s one way to learn.” Ruby says. “I’m going ghost.” She runs into an alleyway nearby and looks to make sure no one can see her. With a burst of power two rings form at her waist, one rising up and the other going down, changing her appearance.

Her usually black hair takes on a blood red look, her hood turns pure white and her clothes beneath it change to black and white with only a few splashes of blood red. Then for a finishing touch her eyes begin to glow with a green light.

Jumping into the air she turns and flies back out of the alleyway and towards the shop. “Hey.” She calls out, “What are you doing?”

“Oh my, oh my, what have we here?” The ghost says, leaning on his cane despite his feet not touching the ground. “I must ask, why does it look like I’m doing?”

“It looks like you’re robbing that store.” Ruby says.

“Right in one, wow you are good.” He says, pointing at her. “It’s almost like I’m a thief.”

“Who are you, why are you robbing them? You’re a Grimm, a ghost, you don’t need money.”

“To answer your first question, the name’s Roman Torchwick, and as for the stealing…” He looks at the things around him, “Well that I just enjoy.”

“Not anymore you don’t.” Ruby says.

“And just why is that? Who are you to tell me not to, little girl?”

“I am Phantom, and I’m here to stop you.” Ruby says.

“Oh we’ll see.” He says and raises his cane, pointing it at her. A moment later a ghostly laughing jack O’ Lantern shot out of it, right at her.

Her eyes went wide and she turned, flying around, barely ahead of each shot as it impacted things around her. Making herself intangible she flew through a wall, hearing the shots impact it. Turning around right where he wouldn’t expect she flew back out of the wall and fired off green beams from her hands, hitting him in the chest and sending him backwards.

Flying at him she drew back her fist, ready to hit him again, only to be caught in the chest by a sudden shot. She tumbled backwards in the air and fell to the ground. Just before another one could hit her she sunk into the ground. Moving through the ground out of sight she came up behind him and blasted him in the back.

“Oh now that is it.” He cries out. Pulling the cigar out of his mouth he raises his foot and stomps down on it. As he does there’s a bright flash of light, causing Ruby to shield her eyes. When she looks back again he’s gone.

“Dang it.” She says, looking around. Not seeing him anywhere she turns and dives down into the ground. A few moments later she rises up behind her friends, invisible for a moment before reappearing with a loud “Boo!”

“Gah!” Weiss says and jumps. Yang on the other hand turns around with a right hook that passes right through Ruby. “Don’t do that!” Weiss says.

“Scaredy cats.” Ruby says with a giggle, turning back to normal. “Well, we’ve got a new ghost to deal with, this one with a few tricks up their sleeve.”

“I’ve saved the name.” Weiss says, tapping on her scroll. “Roman Torchwick. I’m also already working on comprising a list of his abilities. So far we’ve seen those strange jack o’ lantern blasts and a bright flash.”

“Technically we didn’t see the flash.” Yang says, “Wait. Oh no.” her eyes go wide.

“What is it?” Ruby asks, suddenly worried.

“That terrible old ghost dude just flashed my little sister!” She says before grinning.

Weiss face palms as Blake groans and Ruby pouts. “I was worried for a minute!” Ruby says.

“Oh come on that was a good one.” Yang says.

“Let’s just go help the shop owner clean up.” Ruby says, “We can go get the food after.”

“Yeah yeah, let’s go.” Yang agrees as they head over to lend a hand.

…

“I’m still not used to all this.” Weiss says as she sits down at the lunch table with the others, students moving all around them.

“What, public school food?” Yang asks, “Yeah you never really do get used to it.”

“No not that.” Weiss says, “Though this… stuff is still strange. I’m not even sure it qualifies as food.”

“You can eat it without dying, so it’s food.” Blake says.

“Really?” Ruby asks, “Cause I ate it and now I’m a ghost.”

“Nice.” Yang says, giving Ruby a high five.

“That is what I’m talking about.” Weiss says, “You’re half grimm now.”

“Half ghost.” Blake corrects.

“What’s the difference?” Weiss asks.

“Grimm are malicious beings of darkness from the ghost zone.” Yang says, “They’re bad guys. Like, there are good ghosts, beings from there that don’t want to destroy humanity and steal stuff and whatnot, but the Grimm are the bad ones. They’ve got some kind of different energy apparently.”

“Right, your father’s a Grimm hunter, of course you’d know.” Weiss says.

“Well duh.” Ruby says as she eats.

“It’s still weird to me though.” Weiss says, “You can shift between dimensional phases at will and we battle beings from an alternate plane of reality. What kind of people have these problems?”

“Us, apparently.” Yang says, taking a bite. “I mean, it’s kind of odd, but odd things happen around our house so you get used to it.”

“Well what about you?” Weiss asks Blake, “You’re not there all the time, you have to find this weird.”

“There was an accident, Ruby got super powers. Get used to it, Weiss.” Blake says, “She’s still Ruby.”

“You’re all odd.” Weiss says.

“Yep.” Ruby says with a grin. “Oh, and since we’re talking about it, does anyone know anything about that Torchwick guy?”

“I did find something.” Weiss says, “Apparently a few small shops have been hit as well. It appears our new ghost is a petty thief.”

“So we need to keep an eye on small shops with a few pricey things?”

“Awesome, stake out.” Yang says, pumping a fist.

“Well I have picked out a few choice targets.” Weiss says.

“I’m game. I’m a night person anyway.” Blake says.

“Sweet, let’s hatch a plan.” Ruby says.

…

A crash echoed through the night as a window shattered. “Gya ha ha ha. Oh this is too much fun.” Came Roman’s voice. “Ohh, shiny.”

“Ruby I’ve got him.” Yang says into her scroll from her spot hiding across the street.

“On my way.” Ruby says, closing her own. Jumping up she turned on her powers, turning invisible and intangible as she flew through the air towards Yang’s location. Luckily Yang was the closest one to her.

“Let’s see let’s see, where to go next?” Roman says as he floats down the street, headed for another store, bills and change floating around him.

Ruby comes flying down the street and doesn’t even bother warning him. Drawing back she throws a blast forward, knocking him down. “How about back to the ghost zone?” She says.

“Ugh, the little punk again.” He says, firing off a few blasts from his cane at her as he got up.

This time Ruby met them with shots of her own, causing them to burst in midair. Through the small explosions she didn’t see him rush forward, swinging his cane down to hit her to the side and then pinning her against the wall with it.

“Just a little girl who wants to be a hero.” He says, “Well not for much longer.”

“Oh yeah?” Ruby says and goes intangible. She couldn’t phase through ghostly matter, but the wall behind her was normal so she could step back away from him easily. As he fell forward from the sudden loss of resistance she raised a knee and caught him in the face. Then she let off another blast, sending him flying back.

“Ruby, catch.” Yang called out, throwing her a rectangular hunk of metal. “Dad finished it!”

“Awesome.” Ruby says. With a flip of the switch it transformed, shifting into a large scythe.

“What are you gonna do with that, prune me?” Roman asked, getting up.

“Better.” Ruby says with a smile. She flies forward with it drawn back, swerving around his blasts. When she got close enough she swung down with the heal of it, striking again and again. Swinging it around her she fought, each of them striking out and deflecting each-other’s strikes. Finally she spots her chance.

Swinging upwards he leans back to avoid it and she lets go, letting the scythe get tossed into the air as she throws her hand forward with a blast. He’s caught off guard and knocked back as she jumps into the air, catching it again and flying down at him. “Grimm reaper!” She cries out as she flies past him, swinging the scythe blade down across his middle.

The technology imbued in the scythe activate at the contact, sucking the ghostly energy into the blade with the strike. Spinning it around she collapses it back into the other form, trapping him inside. “That was awesome!” She cries out gleefully while spinning in flight.

“Go Ruby!” Yang calls, coming out of hiding.

“Did you guys see that?” She asks, seeing Yang, Weiss, and Blake walking toward her.

“Weiss and I just caught the last part.” Blake says, “It was cool.”

“So that’s the new ghost catcher you came up with.” Weiss says.

“Yep.” Ruby says, “Worked with dad to finish it. Pretty cool huh?”

“Super cool.” Yang says.

“It’s certainly going to work better than luring them back to the portal.” Blake says.

“Speaking of which.” Ruby says, deactivating her powers, “Let’s get this guy back.”

“Good idea. After that, bed.” Yang says.

“We do have class tomorrow.” Weiss says.

“I’m just tired.” Ruby says, “I had to get hit with a stick.” She complains as she leads the way back.

“At least we took one out.” Blake says.

“Yep, now just to see what we face tomorrow.” Yang says.

“We’re going to do this more often aren’t we?” Weiss says.

“Yep.” Ruby says, “I always wanted to be a hero after all.”

#RWBY #Ruby Rose #Yang Xiao Long #Blake Belladonna #Weiss Schnee #Roman Torchwick #RWBY Phantom AU #My Fanfic #February Challenge #third fic of the challenge #almost didn't make this one in time

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