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#how did she know to save yang's life in the train. is this part of her kindred link too?
gaymakima · 2 months
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Two theories I have (well, one theory and a headcanon) regarding Raven.
Headcanon: Raven's kindred links can influence her own emotional state, depending on the intensity of the other person's emotions.
Theory: Raven left to spy on Salem for Ozpin, with the specific purpose of getting close enough to Salem to create a kindred link with her. This plan succeeded. The mysterious portal in the V9 flashback was to Salem. Raven spent enough time by Salem's side to bond with her. Kindred links can only be broken when the other person is dead.
Conclusion headcanon: Raven, as we see her in canon, has been emotionally linked to a whole range of people, none of who have particularly positive opinions on her that don't come with a caveat (namely Taiyang and Qrow being heartbroken and bitter, Yang's feelings of abandonment, Ozpin's guilt, Vernal might be the only exception but, uh... decoy). And then you add in Salem's emotions to the mix, which have been stewing in Raven for over a decade by the time we see her.
Bonus: if kindred links can only be broken when the other person is dead, and Summer has turned into a Hound, what would Raven feel from that?
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lara635kookie · 8 months
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Ship Analysis pt.8:
I think this image summarizes my thoughts to why Red Crackle and Carmivy are better than Carulia(for me):
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Gray and Carmen are light and darkness, yin and yang, perfect balance, soulmates, opposites attract, different but same and I just have it in me as a headcanon the impression that Chief is a Red Crackle shipper. For me, she's the president of the Red Crackle fan club. She says Gray is a smitten sap for Carmen(In the Portuguese and Spanish dub she legit says he's a fool/idiot in love) and when talking about Carmen and Gray having coffee together she says Carmen and Calloway are, makes a pause, like she's thinking on what to say next, and says "friendly", in a different voice tone than before. I think she knows.
Carmivy while is not my favorite ship, it's almost as great as Red Crackle for me. They are just so good! Ivy is such a simp going "I will beat you up if you say anything to upset Carmen" to Zack or "We're here for Carmen" to Shadowsan. Or asking herself multiple times what would Carmen do. She's Carmen's biggest fan. In some things, Carmivy was even superior to Red Crackle. But doing the overall average, for me, Red Crackle just end up winning, but Carmivy got close. I think this shows what I'm talking about:
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They are such simps for her. They both knew her so well. Ivy always knew what Carmen would do and tried to do it and Gray in the train scene he says:"You've proven yourself, that's all you ever wanted, wasn't it?" it shows how well he understands her. While it wasn't ALL she ever wanted, it was definitely something she wanted a lot and Gray realized even before Carmen herself did. At the Lucky Cat Caper(I don't remember if that's really the name but okay) when Carmen has a nightmare about the coat exam she says to Player:"I guess I still feel like I have something to prove." Another thing it gets me is how Carmen and Gray prioritizes each other's safety and well being. Like, sure, Carmen prioritizes these two things of a lot of people, but the way it's with Gray, they prioritize those things from each other on top of pretty much almost EVERYTHING. In the episode Carmen goes to rescue Gray from the jail in Reykjavik, she had a choice:Go get the stolen crown or get to Gray. She chooses Gray first. Of course she also gets the crown but she still chose Gray first. She set an alarm for him if he ever got in trouble because she wants to get him out of trouble and have a good fresh start. Also, we know Maelstrom likes to melt gold. I just can picture perfectly Maelstrom convincing Countess Cleo to have only the crown's precious gemstones to do other jewelry and then Maelstrom would get the crown gold to melt and do whatever he wants with it. And then Carmen would have lost the crown forever and would have totally failed for the first time. Carmen isn't dumb. She knew the faculty members, she lived with them almost her whole entire life. Even with that risk, she STILL chose Gray without even hesitating or thinking more carefully about it. That's how much Gray matters to her. She stole for V.I.L.E. to save Zack and Ivy and she never did something like that, against her morals, for Julia. She threatened to throw that V.I.L.E. artifact in that hole but the artifact was something that would help V.I.L.E. to find more things and steal them and she knew if she threw it, one day someone would find it or it would be hidden forever. So she had absolutely nothing to lose throwing it. She actually had something to win. It wasn't a sacrifice she was willing to do for Julia, like it was the case for Gray, Zack and Ivy.
And this was the final part of my ship analysis. The next thing related to ship will be a ship ranking, where I get all the Carmen Sandiego romantic ships and judge them from first to last place. Bye and see you soon!
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pluto-projectorrr · 1 year
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Hi tumblr, let me give this page kind of a little note. Perhaps sometime i'll re-read this note.
2022 such an amazeeeng year, actually. So much lesson i earn that year and yes, it maybe same for next day or maybe i'll modify or have a new pov, so dynamic.
First, every destiny is good, even we need time to realized it. Like i mention before, that year i moved to small city near forest and lake. It takes more than 12 hours to reach provincial capital. Tbh this place good for vacation like 2-7 days, but u'll get boring so i felt it. Until i realize that is not so bad. I feel more alive here, no more overtime and no more impromptu task. I have time for myself, reading, writing, or do sport. I was thinking, it's litterally such on Quran 2:216, maybe u don't like it, but it's good for u, yes, He knows, always.
Second, there is out there we can't control. We have plan, but it doesn't work, we need to accept it, fast or slow, may God help us. Someone left me that year which is good for both of us. At first, so many question in my head, but i choose not to search that answer. For some case, ignorance is bliss. I remember the wise word, from Al Ghazali: what is destined for u, it will be urs even if it is under two mountains, and what it is not urs, u'll not get it even if it is already between ur lips.
Third, for some case, telling ur boundaries and telling ur intentions will save both of u. Several months ago, i know that beautiful lady, look like good girl, with adorable character. We know each other, like yea just know actually, not like "know" each other. How i explain it? So, i try to confess with her, her reaction is good, but yeah nice try, is okay. Couple weeks later, there is someone who i think, likes me (tbh i dont know if she try to reach me or what, but many friends and people around us told me that she is likes me). For beginning, she asked me about work-things, and i don't know, i just respond usually, like other friend ask me. But, maybe she think i interested to her as couple, but no. Sorry if i hurt u. One of my friend said, "way, u r so kind, too friendly, maybe if we have a same age or u r older than me, i'll fall in love with u", oh i got the point. I'll not change my personality, but i'll set boundaries. I feel sorry for the broken lady, but it give me lesson, so thank you.
Fourth, being surrounding positivity is sooooo f powerful. This lesson i take from the lady i adore couple months ago. She is always look happy, even i know she's not. Do u realized, our world full of complaining, in real life our co-worker complain, in social media (especially twitter) full of complain, so much people think this is the bad life but actually there is only bad day. Complaining is natural, is humanist. I did several times, but rarely right now (haha). If some sh*t happen to me, i'll try to see from other side or being positive thinking like 'it must be good for me, maybe later i realize it'. Afterthat, i feel more relieved. So i just live it. Remembering Kartini's word: it is better to seek the light than to curse the darkness.
Fifth, myself is more more more important. I really love myself right now, i love my life, and everything on me. Alhamdulilaaah, God give me perfect body-part, have a healthy brain, beautiful eyes, and everything. Mazkun was right: yang sebaiknya kau jaga, adalah dirimu sendiri (the things that u better take care of, is urself).
Yes, it is. Maybe i'll adding some note later, but yeah, let face 2023 with brightly smile, optismistic, and more "Alhamdulillaah". 2022 was a tough year, but alhamdulillaah i'm safe and sound.
Ps: video is my very very 1st time try airport train🚄
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aspoonofsugar · 3 years
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Jaune: Zero to Hero
Pyrrha: It's not about why; it's about knowing. Understanding dark and light helps us manifest our Aura. Everyone has some of both.
Knowledge, Creation and Destruction all lead up to Aura. This is just another way to say that they lead up to individuality, which is something Grimms lack:
Pyrrha: They are creatures of Grimm, the manifestation of anonymity.
Individuality is conveyed through Choice. This is why Choice is the most important and final gift. It is symbolic of self-actualization, which is what our characters are pursuing in their coming of age story.
Jaune’s personal arc comments the group’s collective journey and marks each stage very clearly.
In which way does it happen? And what do these stages mean for Jaune’s growth as an individual?
THE IGNORANT WARRIOR
Pyrrha: Jaune, do you... know what Aura is?
Jaune: Psch! Of course I do! Do you know what Aura is?
Jaune is introduced as inexperienced and ignorant. He lacks combat experience and knows nothing about key concepts like Aura, Landing Strategy or Semblances.
His journey starts because Pyrrha shares her knowledge with him:
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She awakens his aura, his very soul and later on trains him, so she helps his body get stronger:
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In other words, Pyrrha is the one who puts Jaune on the right path to become a true “hero” and a “warrior”.
This is Jaune’s objective since the beginning, but he initially pursues it in the wrong way:
Jaune: I don't want help! I don't want to be the damsel in distress! I want to be the hero!
He is fixated on an idea of hero which is outdated and has its root in toxic masculinity:
Jaune: Cause this is always what I've wanted to be! My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one, too. I was just never good enough.
This is why symbolically Jaune wants to be like his male ancestors. He wants to grow into “a real man”:
Cardin: Let's see how much of a man you really are...
And this is conveyed also through his Weapon:
Jaune: It's a hand-me-down. My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war.
Jaune did not forge his own Weapon, but he inherited it. Crocea Mors initially represents the legacy he wants to live up to. However, this legacy, instead of driving him, slows him down because he can’t grow until he remains in his ancestors’ shadow. Jaune needs to develop his own individuality instead.
In order to do so, he needs to grow not only as a figther, but as a person too.
As a matter of fact, Jaune’s ignorance is not only limited to the world he has stepped into, but also to the people around him:
Jaune: That's easy for you to say. You've probably got guys clamoring over each other just to ask you out.
Pyrrha: You'd be surprised.
He is so self-focused that he does not notice others’ feelings and hurts them unintentionally.
However, Pyrrha teaches him once again:
Pyrrha:Tell her exactly what you said. No ridiculous schemes, no pick-up lines. Just... be honest.
 It is thanks to her that Jaune manages to become a better man:
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He is even able to call Neptune out the way Pyrrha did with him:
Jaune: Then just go talk to her. No pickup lines, no suave moves, just be yourself. I've heard that's the way to go.
And as a result, even Jaune’s relationship with Weiss gets better:
Weiss: You said you were embarrassed at first. What made you come talk to me?
Neptune: You're looking at him.  You got some good friends looking out for ya.
Because the girl realizes Jaune is not only after her money or her romantic attention:
Weiss: All my life, boys have only cared about the perks of my last name.
But wants to genuinely be a good friend to her.
In short, Jaune starts the story as immature both as a fighter and as a person to the point that he is considered unfit and annoying by other characters:
Glynda: I don't care what his transcripts say. That Jaune fellow is not ready for this level of combat.
However, thanks to Pyrrha, he is given the chance to mature.
Not only that, but while other characters see a weakness and a nuisance in Jaune’s ignorance and inexperience, Pyrrha sees it as a possibility:
Weiss: Jaune, is it? Do you have any idea who you're talking to?
Jaune: Not in the slightest, snow angel.
Weiss: This is Pyrrha.
It is specifically because Jaune is new to Pyrrha’s world that he is free from bias:
Pyrrha:  That's what I like about you. When we met, you didn't even know my name. You treated me just like anyone else. And thanks to you, I've made friendships that will last a lifetime. I guess, you're the kind of guy I wish I was here with. Someone who just saw me for me.
This is why Pyrrha feels she can forge a genuine bond with Jaune. What is more, the girl has faith in his potential:
Pyrrha: It's all right. I used my Aura to unlock yours, but the energy that protects you now is your own. You have a lot of it.
She sees in him what others do not and helps him develop both as a man and as a warrior.
This is well highlighted by the metal motif the two characters share.
As @hamliet explains here Rwby has several characters linked to the seven metals of alchemy.
The goal of alchemy is to create gold thanks to a process of refiniment that purifies the metal and has it go through several transformations. 
The seven metals are nothing, but a scale that goes from the heaviest and most raw metal (lead) to the most purified (gold) passing through the others (tin, iron, copper, mercury, silver).
For a story, it simply means that a character goes through a process of change that leads to self-actualization.
In Rwby this idea is conveyed through specific characters embodying a metal (Ironwood, Penny, Mercury) or even thanks to metal motifs commenting a specific part of a character arc.
For example, Yang is associated with gold:
I am the golden one Who burns just like the sun
But Adam takes her arm away and has her regress in the scale of metals to iron. This regression is not simply physical, but psychological as well:
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However, Yang re-affirms herself and moves forward. The first step of this process is to symbolically make her new arm “gold” again:
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When it comes to Jaune, I think that he may be the character associated with lead aka the “prima materia” that needs to be molded into gold. Even if this is not true, metal is at least definately still a motif in his arc, as it is in Pyrrha’s. This is why both characters wear metal armors, differently from others.
Pyrrha is already close to her self-actualization and she reaches it in the climax of the Vale arc, where she completes her (tragic) arc and dies a Maiden.
This is why her armor is gold, while Jaune’s is white and gray. Pyrrha is at the top of the metal scale and close to the end of her journey, while Jaune is respectively at the very bottom and at the very beginning.
He is the embodyment of the prima materia that has potential for greatness, but only if he is rightly guided and if he himself works hard.
Pyrrha takes over herself the duty to help Jaune mold himself.
This is underlined also by Pyrrha’s semblance:
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Pyrrha: Well, Ruby has her speed, you have your glyphs. My Semblance is polarity.
Pyrrha can control and bend metals and she shows her power for the first time when she helps Jaune against the Ursa, so that he can overcome his self-issues.
So, Jaune starts the story as the lead and is going through a path of self-refinement which will lead him to become gold, so more similar to Pyrrha herself.
Pyrrha offers him the basic knowledge to start this journey, but unluckily leaves him too soon and now Jaune has to move forward on his own.
THE CREATIVE AVENGER
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Pyrrha: I want you to know that I'm just happy to be a part of your life. I'll always be here for you, Jaune.
Even after Pyrrha’s death, this stays true:
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Blacksmith: That was some fine metal you brought me. Accents the white nicely. Where'd you get it from?
Pyrrha has become a part of Jaune.
This is a recurring motif in Rwby:
Penny: I won’t be gone, I’ll be part of you.
It is the idea that grieving is a process that leads to acceptance, but also to integration with a lost one. It is a way to have the deceased keep on living through the survivors.
In Jaune and Pyrrha’s case, this is conveyed through Pyrrha’s metal being used to enrich Jaune’s Weapon.
As stated by Ruby:
Ruby: Just weapons? They're an extension of ourselves! They're a part of us! Oh, they're so cool.
Weapons are symbolic of the self, just like Semblances.
What is more, Weapons and Semblances are also a declination of the dychotomy of body and soul, presented by the series.
Weapons are wielded by bodies, while Semblances are a materialization of the soul.
In other words, Pyrrha’s gold becoming a part of Jaune’s Weapon is symbolic of Jaune’s first step in a painful process that will lead him to overcome his partner’s death and to inherit Pyrrha’s legacy.
Jaune must keep on learning from Pyrrha and become more like her. As noted by @hamliet​, this is symbolized also by Jaune’s design aquiring more golden details as he goes on in his journey:
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Jaune: Guess I was going to grow out of it eventually.
Ren: A sign of progress.
Jaune: Progress.
That said, grieving is not easy and Jaune must struggle with much pain and negative feelings.
This is why the changes he makes to Crocea Mors are finalized to increase its attack power:
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It is because Jaune feels anger over Pyrrha’s death and wants revenge.
In the Battle of Haven he gives in to his fury and tries to kill Cinder. He is trying to superficially imitate Pyrrha’s sacrifice:
Jaune: If I die buying them time, then it's worth it. They're the ones that matter.
However, he is not doing it out of bravery or necessity, but out of recklessness and self-hate. This is why his actions lead to this:
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Once again, Jaune risks to lose another loved one:
Jaune: No, no, no, no, not again! Weiss, c'mon, please!!
However, this time he is able to save Weiss thanks to his Semblance:
Jaune: My Semblance?
Nora: How else do you think you're healing her, dummy?
Jaune gives up on using his Weapon to fight and chooses to use his Semblance to cure. He chooses soul over body and Creation over Destruction.
At the same time, Jaune’s activation of his Semblance is meaningful on two levels:
Jaune: No. I don't think I'm healing her. Our Aura heals our bodies. It feels... it feels more like I'm using my Aura to amplify hers!
Nora: Wait, aren't you worried about running out?
Jaune: Pyrrha once told me I've got a lot of it. I still believe her.
First of all, Jaune’s Semblance is rooted in the idea that people heal themselves. His power is not to cure others, but to amplify others’ auras, so that they can become stronger and can heal. It is about bringing out the best in others. It is a power fit for a leader, but also an ability symbolic of Jaune’s own process of healing. He can heal himself through helping others to heal.
Secondly, Jaune’s Semblance is in itself a nod to Pyrrha. Pyrrha used her own aura to awake his and Aura Amp is simply an evolution of this idea. It is not about activating others’ auras, but it is a power that lets Jaune share his. It also makes good use of something Pyrrha noticed immediately aka Jaune’s huge quantity of aura.
In other words, Jaune ends up acting like Pyrrha in the Battle of Haven, but not because he fights Cinder, but because he shares his gift with others, just like Pyrrha did with hers.
Pyrrha is a part of Jaune both in body (Crocea Mors) and soul (Aura Amp), but Jaune must still truly understand what this means.
He makes progress in Lost:
Red-Haired Woman: She understood that she had a responsibility... to try. I don't think she would regret her choice, because a Huntress would understand that there really wasn't a choice to make. And a Huntress is what she always wanted to be.
This is the essence of Pyrrha’s sacrifice. Jaune comes to understand it and chooses to make a similar choice together with his team:
Jaune: I think... I think she knew she wasn't going to win. That she might not come out alive. But... she also knew she was the only one that could try.
Ren: So she did.
Nora: Maybe we should too.
Jaune: Yeah, we should.
In this way, it will be as if Pyrrha were fighting together with them:
Nora: Pyrrha may not be by our side anymore, but we can fight like she is.
Jaune: And in a way... she will be.
Jaune tries to overcome his anger and his sadness for Pyrrha’s death in order to keep fighting like she did.
So, once again he chooses this:
Ruby: I wanted to protect my friends.
Maria: Precisely! It is the desire to preserve life which fuels the light inside you. And to make no mistake, it is light. Preservation is an extension of creation, or, at the very least, an enemy of destruction. The Creatures of Grimm were made by the God of Darkness, but your light comes from his brother.
He chooses to protect life and this is the essence of Creation.
Once he confirms this choice, he is free to explore Creation’s potential and he does so in the land of Creation itself, Atlas.
He strengthens his shield instead of his sword:
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And he trains his Semblance:
Oscar: Nice, your recovery is getting faster.
This all leads him to become stronger psychologically:
Ren: Him on the other hand... There's no fear at all. I can see it, he believes we're going to get this done.
That said, Jaune starts meeting limits to his new found strength rooted in Creation:
Jaune: Ah, sorry. No matter how much I boost you, they won’t go away.
Jaune: Did... I stop the virus?
Penny: No. It’s still there.
Jaune’s way to move forward is to heal himself through healing others. Still, what to do when this is not possible?
THE DESTRUCTIVE HEALER
Penny: No… there’s not enough time to heal me…
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Penny: But there is something you can do…
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What happens in Atlas is an inversion of Haven.
Penny pushes Jaune’s Semblance away and touches Crocea Mors.
Jaune is asked to give up on healing her and to speed up her death instead. He is asked to choose his Weapon (body) over his Semblance (soul) and Destruction over Creation.
This marks the characters entering the Destruction phase:
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Leaving Creation (Penny) behind.
For Jaune, this means that his own self image that he has worked so much to build and to make his own:
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And that has been enriched in Anima thanks to Pyrrha...is shattered:
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At the same time, he is once again put in a similar spot as Pyrrha:
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They both become unwilling agents of Penny’s death because of Cinder (and Emerald and Mercury in the first case):
Pyrrha: Ruby, I... I'm so sorry.
Ruby: Me too. But it wasn't your fault.
Jaune: She's right. Whoever was on that microphone... they're the ones that did this. And we have to make sure they don't take anyone else.
So Jaune’s journey to integrate with Pyrrha, to understand her and her struggle continues.
What now?
It is too soon to say because we have yet to properly start our journey through Destruction and what it is about.
That said, there are two things that are worth highlighting. The first is a motif Rwby is following, while the second is a general theme found in many stories.
1) As @hamliet​ has stated in many metas and as I have written here, Rwby is an alchemical story. Alchemical stories are usually marked by three important deaths. Each death is symbolically linked to a color. They are usually black, white and red. However, sometimes there can be yellow instead of the white or the red. This is the case here, where a resonant death is the yellow death aka Penny’s.
It is a death that happens while the characters are surrounded by yellow:
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And it happens through a weapon called “Yellow Death” (Crocea Mors’s meaning). So, it is really not subtle. Penny’s death is meant to mark an important passage for our protagonists, just like Pyrrha’s one (the black death).
2) It is common in stories that deal with healers to explore the concept of death as well.
The basic idea is that a healer is a person meant to cure. That said, they will meet people impossible to cure and that will die on their watch. This is an unescapable truth a true healer must live with.
Let’s highlight this theme is found in works very different for genre and culture.
Let’s have two examples.
Scrubs aka an American comedy about doctors deals with this theme multiple times. In many episodes the characters must simply accept they can’t save a life, but must still not lose hope and keep on living themselves.
Yosano from the manga BSD says so:
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Her backstory explores the link bewteen life and death further since it is shown that a power that cures fatal wounds can be used to cheapen life itself:
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It is too soon to say if Rwby will explore a similar theme, but the fact that Jaune, (the healer) is the one that has to speed up Penny’s death might be a very powerful and poignant choice. This is true especially because Rwby does not refuse Destruction (and so does not refuse death), but presents it as a principle equal to Creation (so as a part of life).
THE CHOOSING HERO
Jaune’s arc is about living Pyrrha’s death over and over again with different scenarios and outcomes. This happens so that in the end he can finally overcome it.
So far, it has happened three times and each time has been in the climax of an important battle.
The Battle of Beacon has him witness powerlessly to Pyrrha’s death (lack of knowledge and passivity).
The Battle of Haven has him saving Weiss (creation).
The Battle of Atlas has him killing Penny (destruction).
What is more, every time Jaune becomes more proactive and conscious of what he is doing.
In Beacon he has no idea of what is happening. He works with little information and things happen to him without him being able to do anything.
In Haven his actions lead to Weiss being in danger, but he manages to save her. That said, he does not do it consciously. He unlocks his Semblance because of emotional stress. It is an unconscious choice and not a conscious one.
In Atlas he makes a specific conscious choice, but it is a choice that is forced on him because of external circumstances. It is also a choice that is meant to challenge and temporally break him.
In other words, he is slowly and painfully approaching Choice aka self-actualization. Right now, he has to face the consequences of Penny’s death, but this will probably lead him to finally enter the Choice stage and to complete his arc by becoming a “hero” aka gold (probably).
At the same time, this final choice will also be about healing and overcoming grief. It will be the final integration with Pyrrha and him being able to honor her legacy.
After all, we have been told from the beginning what Pyrrha’s fate would have been. We’ve just failed to notice:
Pyrrha: For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee.
June and Pyrrha’s bond is eternal and she is meant to be the key character in Jaune’s arc. It is only through confronting and finally overcoming her loss that Jaune can finally self actualize and become the person Pyrrha has always known he could be. Pyrrha will symbolically be with him in this struggle. Her memory will protect and inspire him. 
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razorblade180 · 3 years
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Interdimensional Moms pt3
Part 2 right here! <-
Team RWBY continue their interesting chat about their respective worlds. After the emotional roller coaster that was Weiss’s, a bit of light hearted stories would be welcomed.
Yang:Okay, does anyone have some real feel good things to talk about for their world? Just run of the mill pleasant life?
Ruby:Guess I’m going last....
Yang:Oh no!
Weiss:We’ll circle back to you then. Blake, I guess you’re up.
Blake:Wouldn’t you want calmer stuff at the end?
Yang:Blake, I would very much like to go at least ten minutes without wanting to cry.
Blake:Hmmmm I can guarantee you like...six I think.
Yang:I’ll take it! Blake Belladonna, tell me about a world where you and Jaune Arc are happily married. How did such stars align?
Blake:You make it sound crazy?
Weiss:Blake, there’s list of people I could see you with. Now I’m not saying Jaune couldn’t be one of them, but he’d have to fight his way up that list.
Blake:You...that’s kinda fair. It’s a bit hard to explain really. It happened back at Beacon initially, or our bonding did. Some days his team was busy and I didn’t tag along for the crazy antics you three wanted to do all the time, so we occasionally bumped into each by circumstances. He’d go to the library for a book, I’d do training and he was there, or sometimes he’d knock on our door and not realize I was the only one around.
Weiss:Was he trying to sing to me?
Blake:That plan did show up at our a few times, yes. One of those times I asked him out of nowhere to sing the song anyways because I just had to know if it was any good. Hehe, it wasn’t sonically pleasing at times, but you could tell it was genuine. Eventually though...he just sort of gave up on you. It was actually a little sad to see, even you thought so. It was strange. Jaune was definitely stumbling through his flirting and it came off as childish, yet the day he gave up, it was easy to see his heart was breaking a bit. Like all his insecurities ate even the faux confidence away.
Yang:Ma’am, it has barely been three minutes and I’m getting sad about thinking of Jaune being sad.
Weiss:Yeah don’t tell me I broke his heart!
Blake:Whoops, sorry. It’s important though. Jaune kinda kept to himself a little more after that. He still chatted pretty regularly but it was easy to tell he dived more in studies as a way to keep his head clear, which lead to us being on a project together. I was the only person in our friend group that wouldn’t actively try to make him open up about how he feeling. At first I thought it was a bit rude when he told me that, but I didn’t room to talk when it comes to socializing.
Yang:One more time for the people in the back.
Ruby:I’m the back.
Blake:*smirks* I was very against socializing about my feelings at Beacon.
Ruby:Yeah you were.
Weiss:I couldn’t even ask if you slept well without a lukewarm answer sometimes.
Blake:I’m better now. That’s all that matters. Romance and feeling love is a personal thing and talking about it is uncomfortable. I think we both recognized that in each other during our project. Trouble is, there’s only so many conversation starters and small talk subjects. Talking only about the project was dry and eventually all the facts a person could say about themselves ran out. Favorite food, color, hobbies, etc. We eventually had to dig a little deeper into those topics. To our surprise, we actually more in common than we thought when it came to how we felt about certain pieces of literature and music.
Ruby:Awwww, bonding over smut.
Blake:*red* It wasn’t all adult literature! Some were poems and stuff. Even when the project ended, we began being less formal around each other and hanging out. We went to the bookstores we mentioned and he even got us tickets to bands I liked. It...it was nice. I never really got to have just a normal teenage experience before without it being political. He always felt bad about being average compared to everyone but average was so foreign to me that I welcomed it. I liked having a normal time out. It was a thing we all took for granted. Especially when Beacon fell.
Yang:Yeah, that probably put a real bind on your relationship.
Blake:Actually....we technically never officially started to date.
Ruby:What? You courted each other all of Beacon.
Weiss:Ruby, who the heck says courted? I’m a Schnee and even I have never used the word courted.
Ruby:Hush, I read a lot of bed time stories to a five year old.
Blake:We were a bit shaky on labels. Me for obvious reasons. As for Jaune, it’s really true about what they say about guys when they get heart broken.
Yang: “Never again.”
Blake:Hehehe, it’s funny to look back at it but he’ll tell you it’s a bit cringy. He was so on gaurd. I could tell all the time when he was mentally telling himself to not be excited whenever we hung out or I complimented him.
Ruby:Hey it takes guts to shift feelings to a teammate of your first crush. That could blow up in your face.
Blake:Yeah...about that. *looks at Yang* you...were another reason why nothing was official. You uhhh, we actually had some jumbled up emotions.
Weiss:*sarcastic gasp* You and Yang, liking each other? Who could’ve seen that coming?
Yang:Was it mutual or...
Blake:Very mutual. Also...intimate at times.
Yang:*red* Oh....yeah. Yeah that tracks.
Blake:That jumbled mess was only more confusing after you got hurt trying to rescue me from Adam. Meeting up with-
Ruby:Question, so was Sun just not on your radar?
Blake:Sun? We’re just friends. He’s cute and I’m glad he was there for me when I needed help but things between us were always pretty calm. I think he noticed how confused I was with other people in my life and chose to not add to it.
Ruby:Bless him. Please continue.
Blake:Learning about Salem and reconnecting with you all was a lot. I’d really been out of the loop and my Yang and I were on....shaky ground.
Yang:That’s what happens when you leave someone who’s been left their entire life.
Blake:Sigh...yeah. It was a trying time, but not with JNPR. It’s funny, Oscar and I also hit it off quite well from the jump. I think we were both glad to have each other learn on the craziness at once. Even with readjusting, Jaune and I fell back into a groove naturally. Instead of doing average things we day dreamed of the things we did. Once again we become this little slice of simple life in this crazy adventure. Still didn’t date.
Weiss:What is this, a slow burn!?
Yang:Weiss, you literally didn’t date your Jaune until Atlas.
Weiss:There’s a difference. I didn’t make any heart eyes at him until around Atlas. I say I may have been a little quick. These two were “courting” for over a year at this point.
Ruby:Stop making fun of me!
Blake:Well anyways, I wouldn’t say much was too eventful in terms of romance with world destroying things happening. Salem, she was way too much to deal with. Every move age did was calculated and unrelenting. Keeping our head above water wasn’t easy. In fact, it was boarder line impossible. Yang and I barely beat Adam after all.
Yang:How’d you two feel about that?
Blake:Relieved. Huge weight off my mind, and yet...a piece of me still wishes things never got so dire. At least now I know that in another world, things aren’t.
Ruby:Sounds like your world was put through their paces? You survived though.
Blake:Not conventionally. I gotta say, hearing the ages and how you beat Salem so far makes me feel more than a little embarrassed. To be frank, we didn’t have this grand battle that involved the entire world making a final stand. We had Atlas, and then we had Haven. With their might and a plan to gain more time, we managed to seal Salem in a vault.
Yang:*chokes on water* Y- cough what!?
Ruby:You put her in a vault!?
Weiss:Thah sounds harder than a last stand honestly.
Blake:No matter what way we looked at things, we just weren’t ready for her, so we locked her away until we were. Two years on constant defense from her followers and grimm until Ruby had trained enough to use her silver eyes and we were all strong enough.
Ruby:Two years!? How old was I then?
Blake:Twenty I believe.
Weiss:Hey, you beat mine by a year.
Yang:Not mine, I think we either tied or just narrowly beat yours by like a year. Honestly it hard to keep track of birthdays and stuff.
Ruby:Wow. No offense to myself, but that’s a little disappointing. I guess being the same person really doesn’t mean we were all at the same level.
Blake:Hey, my Ruby put everything she had into saving the world. There wasn’t a second she wasn’t trying her best to defend it!
Ruby:My point exactly. If that was her at her absolute best then by all accounts, she doesn’t hold a candle to me; at least back then anyways. But I have no reason to believe she would be at my level now.
Yang:Okay little miss prideful, care to tell us when you saved the-
Ruby:Seventeen.
The reaper took a long swig of coffee while the others processed that information. It took a her a couple of seconds to realize she may be acting just a tad bit arrogant.
Ruby:Uhh, sorry. I think I was tooting my own horn a bit there.
Weiss:Seventeen....why so soon?
Yang:Why? Don’t you mean how?
Blake:That’s....almost unbelievable.
Ruby:Really? I don’t think so. I’ll dive into it when it’s my turn but for now all I really gotta say is people needed help, and I was going to answer those cries. I bet your Ruby had a similar urgency in her, but for some reason or another just had different limitations. I got hurt a lot as a kid. Maybe an injury did more damage in one universe than another? Who can say?
Blake:I...wouldn’t know. Odd, I know if my Ruby heard this, then she’d probably be more than a little upset. Saving lives is still what she’s all about. I know when she put everything she had into fighting Salem when the day came. All that training paid off. Her skills were polished and her silver eyes eradicated the grimm essence in Salem.
Ruby:Wait, she’s not dead?
Blake:No. Salem roams Remnant with Oz keeping an eye on her until one day she can finally grasp the lesson the gods wanted her to have.
Yang:That uhhh sounds risky.
Weiss:Yet oddly okay?
Blake:Funny, my Weiss said that too. Those two get checked on in secret. Can’t be too careful. With Salem beaten though, Remnant entered a state of...let’s call it average chaos. All in all, it’s way more peaceful but you know, people will be people. Downside about a secret war is you don’t get the unity of the masses. Atlas and Haven working together was still a great step in the right direction though.
Yang:Woah, I’m a little jealous. My world felt like a race against the clock. The pressure either broke you or made you harder than diamond, with most people crushing under it.
Weiss:Yeah. The tension and meet of extremes I had on the frontlines was beyond imagination. The unity was great, but to feel it on the battlefield against the odds was feeling with way too much adrenaline and stress. Can’t say I enjoyed it. I simply lived through it.
Blake:Well it isn’t like I had a walk in the park. But I guess in comparison, my experience was a tad more mellow. Still, people were lost and hurt. Oscar isn’t himself anymore, don’t have Penny, former classmates and a few enemies turned allies fell in battle. Family.... it took a bunch to get the plan of containing, then it took a lot more to do it. In a way though, the two years of training is time I can’t regret. It tested bonds, strengthening and reestablishing others.
Ruby:I take it since love couldn’t bloom on the battlefield, it bloomed in the training yards?
Blake:*red* You can say that. That’s when Jaune and I got serious. *frowning* But.....
Yang:We fell apart?
Blake:Yeah. I didn’t learn my lesson well enough the first time about the potential problems of dating a partner. Only difference this time was I felt like I was the one being cruel. We had gotten into arguments and apologized more than once. Your fear of being left and my own insecurities just kept butting heads. I’d cry, you’d cry, our friends would be concerned. Then the day came where you put it all on the line. You confessed genuinely how much you loved me and how you felt a bit jealous when it came to Jaune. I had never seen you look so vulnerable; letting your gaurd completely down. And though a piece of me loved you and wanted you in my life for ever....this sense of genuine comfort Jaune gave was something I want-needed for so long. So I did the one thing I didn’t want to do. I broke your heart. I hurt you again.
Yang:Sigh....*leans back in chair* Okay, let’s see how well I know myself. My eyes went red automatically, followed by tears. I lashed out at you angrily out of pain and embarrassment until I was probably blue in the face. But to take make things worse, somebody probably overheard. No matter who it was, I yelled at them too for trying to calm me down and then I eventually run off leaving everyone unhappy. A good old meltdown. Sound about right?
Blake:To the letter. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so distraught.
Yang:Of course not, I’ve never been in love before meeting you. I....did a similar thing with my Blake over the stupid Adam shit. *covers face* of all the things to be similar, it had to be my temper. Please tell me our team didn’t suffer too harshly?
Blake:The good thing about two years of training was it didn’t have to be together all the time. Team RWBY didn’t fall apart, but it didn’t feel comfortable either. Outside of missions, the four of us didn’t hang out as much. It was three at the most. Nobody pinned blame on me or Yang for it but it was obvious.
Ruby:I mean how can you blame someone for feeling sad or not in love with someone? Pointing fingers doesn’t do anything. However, I bet missions were rough.
Blake:Bumblebee was shelved. We did any other team up we could. When push came to shove, Yang and I did put feelings aside. Neither of us wanted our feelings to get anyone killed. That’s probably what kept us connected for awhile, especially with Salem. I don’t think we questioned each other when it came to watching one another’s back. Slowly, our relationship got a bit better. Until....we stopped speaking to each other altogether about a couple years later.
Yang:Wait, why!?
Blake:I got pregnant.
The three listeners’ faces scrunched up and they let in a sharp breath like they just got cut. No one had considered that bombshell.
Blake:Marriage was rough enough. Having Jaune’s kid and starting a family just...cut deep I guess. You didn’t make a scene or anything if that’s what you’re worried about. One day you told me “I just can’t do this” and exited my life. I wanted to keep you close to me, but you wanted to be closer. That was a thing I couldn’t do. Hehe, I can’t tell you how weird it is talking to you like this again.
Yang:So that’s it!? We just don’t see each other at all!?
Blake:Certain events and celebrations have us in the same room, but that’s all. Ruby is the only thing that regularly links us, but she’s busy living life too.
Ruby:Is it a good life?
Blake:The best. You’re the huntress you always wanted to be and a hero to many.
Ruby:*smiles* Really? That’s good. May she ride that high for as long as she can. Though I bet she wished she had a special someone to share that with.
Blake:Huh? Oh, you married Weiss.
Weiss:*red* What!?
Ruby:Aye, nice.
Weiss:Weren’t you upset about thinking of other people with Jaune besides you!?
Ruby:Yeah, but I won’t deny if I am going to be with someone that isn’t him, I’m very happy it’s the other special person in my life. I mean come on, the only reason we don’t get weird in your universe is because I married your brother and you already invited my sister.
Weiss:I mean...it’s mainly the brother portion. The second part...
Ruby:Weiss, that’s weird.
Yang:Eh...
Ruby:IT’S WEIRD! YOU CANNOT TELL ME OTHERWISE!
Yang:*sips coffee* Eh.
Blake:Anyways, Weiss, you’re running your company. The Schnee Dust Company was scrubbed top to bottom to remove as much corruption as possible. No department was overlooked. In times of money, there’s a notable decrease in how much the company used to make.
Weiss:Gee, I wonder if that’s because the other me is doing oh let me guess, paying all their workers and not cutting corners in safety?
Blake:The SDC people approval has gone up considerably, just so you know that too. Turns out people like it when the company they buy from have good morals.
Weiss:Am I happy though? I make time for my social life and hu- I mean wife?
Blake:Yea, you’re happy. In a way I think we’re all happy, but....
Yang:We’d be happier if we were all happy together? Yeah, that’s how it works. You’re only as happy as the most miserable person in a family or group; if you all care about each other that is. Ugh, I wanna punch the other me. I get how she feels but it’s fucking immature to just ignore years of teamwork and family. At the end of the day, team RWBY is a family! Can’t believe I’d runaway from it instead of figuring out...I don’t know! Something!
Blake:*small smile* Well if you feel that way then there’s no reason to believe she doesn’t. My Yang just struggles with it more I guess, but I hope she can come around one day. Not really for my sake, but for her own peace of mind. As well as Lucas’s.
Ruby:Lucas? Your son I take it?
Blake:Mmhmm. My strong and lazy young man. He got his father’s hair but my eyes and ears. I can’t think of a person who warms my heart quite like him. He acts uninterested in a lot of things, but his heart is so big.
Weiss:Ah, so he’s just you?
Blake:More or less hehe. Though I’d say I was passionate about things all my life. Lucas will sleep all day if he could and doesn’t like going out without a reason.
Weiss:Still sounds like you if I’m being honest. Teenager?
Blake:Seventeen, almost eighteen.
Yang:You said he’s need peace of mind too? I’m not...hostile towards him am I?
Blake:No, not by a long shot. On the occasions you two have meant, you were polite. It’s just he knows why you don’t visit or talk to me. That’s rough, knowing your parent’s closest friend stopped being apart of their life because you were born. I think sometimes he believes it’s actually his fault.
Yang:I really, really want to meet this other me and have a few words. She needs to know she isn’t trying hard enough. I’m proof.
Ruby:Yeah, but you’re only well off because the person that helped you get over Blake, was Jaune. Yeah she still can find love, but who that person will be would be uncharted territory for everyone.
Blake:Also I’m not entirely sure exactly if my Yang is even bi like you.
Yang:Sigh....
Weiss:Love.
Blake:Huh?
Weiss:As long as a person shows your Yang genuine love and a place in their heart where she’ll remain forever, Yang would fall for them. They just have to make it a point to make her feel like they’ll stay. Yangs are softies like that.
Yang:Wow, you an expert on me and all the versions of me now?
Weiss:No, you’re just a bleeding heart that’s super emotional. Let me guess, you fell for Jaune the moment you realized just how relaxed and vulnerable you could allow yourself to be around him.
Yang:*red*.......he holds me when I’m overwhelmed.
RWB:Awwww
Yang:Shut up! Blake, take the heat off me.
Blake:Not too much more. Lucas is a smart kid who generally stays out of trouble. Unfortunately, trouble finds him. Mainly because of his semblance.
Ruby:Don’t tell me...
Blake:No no, it’s not bad luck like your uncle, but Lucas can’t always control it so their similar in that regard. Premonitions, that’s his semblance.
Weiss:Like...the future? You child can see the future?!
Blake:Yeah. *sips drink* it’s terrible.
Ruby:What? That sounds so handy! Man, if I could someone fighting me before it happened, I’d be a monster on the battlefield.
Blake:Lucas isn’t a fighter. Well, he’s not aspiring to fight. He can fight, pretty dang well in fact.; but randomly seeing the future is not a gift. Imagine picking up a book and you suddenly know the ending, or watching a movie and you start seeing the middle of it right after you press play?
Yang:Ahhh, that’s why he’s lazy and unmotivated. His semblance is massive spoiler alert. Half the fun of new things is not knowing what will happen.
Ruby:Oof, you have a point. I’d be paranoid to no end.
Blake:To a point, he was. Ever since he was ten. Disasters happen at the drop of a hat. Lucas isn’t the kind of person to watch bad things unfold, so whenever it was possible or even if it was risky, he’d do whatever he could to prevent said disaster. But.....there’s only so much anyone person can do. There’s only so much information he sees. The constant strain and guilt that came from failing ate him up. The. There’s the incidents he’s seen that didn’t show him how it began or how it will end. *rubbing her hands* It’s bad...
Weiss:Hey, I...I’ve noticed your hands and frankly even your face are a bit....slim. Your skin isn’t as colorful as I’m used to either. Almost like it’s regaining color.
Blake:Hehehe.......I guess you were bound to notice of all people.
Weiss:Of course. I may not run a a company in my world but I keep tabs on my brother and have had my fair share of visits to a doctor. Why wouldn’t I notice.
Yang:So can we talk as if there are people who have no clue what’s going on?
Weiss:Blake has had one of two things happen to her. She’s either worked way too hard to the point she’s not taking care of her health, or she’s fallen very ill and her body is still recovering.
Blake:Yeah, it’s more of the second one, but probably because of the first one as well. Forwarding equality, I was overzealous with it. One day Lucas just started shaking and crying when he was twelve and I couldn’t understand why. Turns out he kept seeing me bedridden and unconscious without a reason. Day in and day out he simply cried and tried his best to get another premonition to learn more, but couldn’t. A week later I started feeling a little dizzy, and then blacked out after vomiting. At first I thought maybe I had the flu or something. Nope, a tumor.
Weiss:What?
Ruby:Blake!?
Yang:Oh shit, are you-
Blake:Perfectly fine! *smiles* I’m fine. Liver cancer, but it was caught early. No more tumor what so ever, but the meds and the entire process was really draining. Got sicker a couple of times. Not once did I feel like I was dying necessarily, more like...slipping? I felt myself getting drained. The whole time Lucas was so scared; blaming himself for not preventing this or knowing how to fix it. Though simply knowing he saw me like was a warning most people wish they got. I know I said seeing the future is terrible, but the scariest part through all of this was not knowing how it ended. Choosing medicine, doctors, surgery possibilities, it made me crack under pressure a little. I think he noticed that. I wasn’t sure if I picking an option that lead me dying or getting better. The stress alone may have killed me. Ever since then Lucas hasn’t been so outgoing.
Ruby:....
Weiss:....
Yang....It was already said, but there was no way this wasn’t going to get sad was there?
Blake:Take it from me, there’s joy in pain. So many people came to visit me when I was recovering. Even Yang dropped by for a bit. After I got out, I don’t think Lucas ever hugged me so hard. Jaune tried to stay calm through the whole ordeal but it was rough for him too. He was all but spent emotionally when I came home.
Weiss:I’m surprised Lucas didn’t become an older brother.
Blake:The last thing a recovering patient needs is a pregnancy, but as far as missing me goes...
Ruby:You can stop right there with that tangent.
Yang:We’ll talk about that in private. I wouldn’t mind that story.
Blake:*playfully rolls eyes* These days I try not to over do things. I’ve only officially been deemed completely cured for about a year. I can feel that I’m still not entirely up to strength. It’s fine though. It gives me an excuse for Lucas to dote on me a little. He’s a mama’s boy at heart. My biggest worries these days is peeling him out of this shell his semblance had put him in. At the very least I want him to smile like he used to and find away to live in moment when possible. His entire life is ahead of him. Hopefully he doesn’t see all of it.
Ruby:I guess too much of anything really is bad. Knowledge included. I hope things work out.
Yang:Me too. A happy life is something you definitely earned.
Blake:Thanks. That seriously means a lot, which is why I made sure to not end this on a sour note.
The happy faunus pulled out her scroll to scroll through pictures and her friends eyes lit up. The first one was a beach photo. This Jaune was different from what they were used to. He let his hair grow a little bit longer and the back went down his neck, but it was definitely still him. This jaune was pretty toned and went for a lean look than bulky like Weiss’s, but a tad slimmer. On his shoulders was an adorable toddler with wide amber eyes and big blonde cat ears. Both men were enjoying the sunset on the waves.
The next photo was more recent with Blake right in the middle of hopping into Lucas’s arms. Weiss noticed the girl still had on the hospital bracelet. She must’ve just gotten cleared. Lucas had grown like a weed. He was now roughly Jaune’s height. His hair was messy and looked like Jaune’s in his younger years. Also like his father, Lucas was jacked! His sleeveless purple shirt should off his biceps as they wrapped around Blake’s torso for a hug. His baggy purple shorts had black and gold trim through the seams and the shorts stopped right below his knees; but showed of his well defined calves. A smile of pure joy and what could’ve been a few tears were visible as he looked lovingly at his mother. It warmed all of the ladies hearts. Still, the girls also could tell under his eyes were a little dark. Lucas must’ve been very tired.
The final picture had to be the most recent. It was Blake and Lucas sparring. Both looked at each other with excitement and ease as their wooden blades clashed. Their clothes mirrored one another by being black and white kimonos. They even wore the traditional shoes and everything.
Weiss:Yeah, that’s your kid.
Blake:Damn right. Unfortunately that makes him a little too stubborn. But I guess that’s okay. Without a doubt, someone’s gonna break through that shell of his.
Yang:Oh? It sounds like you already know who?
Blake:Well....I have a hunch.
xxxxx
RING! RING! RING! Lucas’s scroll chirped, in the middle of the night. The boy let out a long, agitated groan of sleepiness as he rolled over in bed; reaching for his scroll on the nightstand to answer.
Lucas:Hello?
???:Did you know you are mathematically more likely to choke on a hotdog than get attacked by a shark?
Lucas:....Serenity, who gave you my number?
Serenity:Your parents, and it’s Serendipity!
Lucas:Too many syllables. Also a bit ironic given who you are. With the way you act though, my name for you is better.
Serenity:Ooooo so we’re moving on to pet names? How forward of you.
Lucas:Five seconds before I hang up. Three...two-
Serenity:You’re late! You promised to guide me around the beach at twelve. That’s now.
Lucas:.....P.M. Twelve P.M. Serenity. Why in the world would I mean midnight!?
Serenity:It’s romantic and personal. Nobody else is around. I thought you were trying to use that Belladonna magic on me by acting all cool and aloof in the moonlight.
Lucas:.....
Lucas:Please delete my number.
Serenity:Not on your life, my whiskered bodyguard!
Lucas:Don’t have whiskers-
Serenity:If you don’t wanna move that butt of yours to hang out with a pretty girl in a floppy hat and sundress with a bikini underneath, that’s your loss. I’m still going for a dip.
Lucas:Do not go in the water when nobody is around.
Serenity:Pfft, I’m a strong swimmer.
Lucas:Sharks.
Serenity:It’s more dangerous to eat a hotdog.
Lucas:Sharks feed at night.
Serenity:Are you trying to tell me the statistics aren’t as reliable just because it’s nighttime.
Lucas:That’s exactly what I’m saying.
Serenity:Then you better move your butt just in case. Either you get a snack or the sharks do. Either way, I get attention.
Lucas:Difference is one wants to eat you.
Serenity:My goodness Lucas, oh brazen of you.
Lucas:......
Lucas:Tell the sharks I said hi.
Serenity:Okay! Byyyyyyeeeee! *hangs up*
Lucas:(She’ll be fine.)
..........
Lucas:*putting on shoes* This is bullshit. Who thinks midnight!? *walking down stairs* Can’t have a peaceful day or night....
Jaune:*watching tv* Hey Lucas, going some-
Lucas:I’m giving out your phone number to a homeless man the first chance I get! *walks out door*
Jaune:.....(Whatever gets you outside more.)
It took about fifteen minutes of aggressive walking for Lucas to wrap around to the back of his house towards their section of the beach. Where Serenity walked around humming and collecting seashells without a care in the world.
Lucas:The next shell you grab will have a crab in it.
Serenity:Huh? Oh hey you’re finally-ahhhh! Ow ow ow ow ow ow!
Lucas:Should’ve listened.
Serenity:Have a better warning!!!! It won’t let go!
Lucas:Pull it off.
Serenity:That’s hurt!!! Lucas, help!
Lucas:Fine, if you delete my number.
Serenity:*sniffling* Stop being mean!!! This really hurts, it’s breaking the skin. Isn’t a young and pretty girl’s tears payment enough!? I thought you were getting paid to-
Lucas:Oh my goodness! Okay, just shush. I’m too sleepy for this.
Serenity:You’re mean when you’re sleepy. At least your waking up voice sounds handsome though.
Lucas:Please....stop. Stop everything. *removing crab* Happy?
Serenity:No, you’re not happy. Also my finger is bleeding.
Lucas:Yep, looks like you can’t go swimming now for real.
Serenity:Eh, I lied anyways. I’m not getting in that water. There are sharks in that watery grave.
Lucas:So. Why. Did. You. Wake. Me. Up?
Serenity:....*red* I...don’t really, have friends here. Besides you. Umm *points to pail and shovels* sandcastles?
Lucas:*inhales*......I’ll get the water.
Serenity:*smiles* Yes! I’ll delete your number later.
Lucas:*red* You....can keep it of you really want.
Serenity:....Kek, okay Mr. Tsundere
Lucas:You can remove the next crab alone.
Serenity:Don’t joke like that! That was a joke, right?
Lucas:Welp that pail isn’t gonna fill itself. *leaves*
Serenity:What!? Lucas!!! You were joking right!? Right!? *looking around the sand* you’re a lousy bodyguard!
Lucas:Good, fire me.
Serenity:I...you....ugh!
Lucas:Cheer up, I’m happy now after all. *smiles*
Serenity:*pouting* This is why I’m a dog person.
190 notes · View notes
Cupid is stupid (Or Weiss asks a lot of questions and finds love in all the softer places)
Falling in love, Weiss discovers, rather inconveniently in the middle of a fight, is a lot like wielding a weapon.  
There’s the push and the pull, the drawing blood and taking of it. Weiss is rather inclined to think of it as a violent, bloody dance — the way she’s almost constantly tripping over her own feet trying to follow her partner when she has no idea what her next move will be. Then, of course, there’s the fact that whoever she’s dancing with is equally as clumsy as she happens to be, which Ruby definitely is.
“Thank me later,” she quips, after she’s done saving the idiot’s ass for the millionth time in her life. And then it hits her right in the chest, not a Grimm’s blow, not a weapon, and worse that Cinder’s fiery spear that had impaled her a couple days ago — this is affection. Not the kind she feels for Yang or Blake or any of their other friends, it’s the kind that turns her inside out whenever she so much as sees a malevolent force heading towards Ruby. The kind that automatically reaches out to touch Ruby when she’s near, that draws her eyes, unbidden to search her out in a fight.
Ruby catches her a while later, holding onto her hand as she hangs off a moving train, and Weiss can do nothing other than blink back at her — at her bright eyes, and her hair whipping around in the wind. She then proceeds to whisk them both to between two train carriages, in a flurry of red. When Weiss tries to step away, to catch her breath, she finds she’s stuck to the ground, or more accurately, entangled with Ruby. They’ve got their arms wrapped tight around each other, and with every movement, strands of Ruby’s hair land onto her face. Weiss doesn’t know it then, but all of her molecules have indeed just been rearranged. She has a feeling that stupid thing in her chest has been put back together to form Ruby’s name instead.
*****
It’s almost offensive how easily she feels the cold when she’s supposed to be the Ice-Queen. Yang would say something stupid about her not having a thick skin because she grew up in the literal lap of luxury (and she would be right, but that’s beside the point) and Blake would probably punch her in her arm, but thankfully, nobody’s noticed yet. So she stands in the corner of the porch, looking out at the rapidly falling snow outside the creepy house.
“You’re cold,” Ruby murmurs when she sidles up to her.
Of course. Of course Ruby sees. “Everyone’s cold,” Weiss says back.
Ruby shrugs, gently reaches for her hands, her eyes on Weiss’ the entire time. Is this okay, she seems to be asking, and Weiss, helpless, can only nod.  
Ruby covers Weiss’ hands with her own, raises it to her face and like it’s a secret, breathes warm air into their cupped palms. She’s no longer looking right at Weiss, instead focusing her attention onto their hands, and Weiss, like any other time she’s lucky enough to get to stare at Ruby freely, takes this opportunity to do so. The cold in her bones has instead been replaced with warmth — Ruby warmth, the particular shade that she can only find around Ruby — and even the tremendous crash of Qrow and Jaune breaking down the door registers to her as though coming from far, far away.  
Ruby blows one last gust of warm air into their hands before they make their way inside. She doesn’t let go, though. Weiss realizes she didn’t want her to, anyways.
*****
There are around ten people in the house besides the three people who actually live there, and not enough beds. It’s a logistical nightmare.
“Or,” Nora says, smirking in a very wink-wink-nudge-nudge way while she side-eyes Ren, “it’s an opportunity.”
Ren colors, fiddles with his collar until he’s sunk half into it. They’re all polite enough to look away; the sight of Ren, embarrassed is physically painful to witness.
“We’ll — we’ll manage, won’t we?” Ruby pipes up, smiling brightly, and Weiss sees them all smile back in reflex. Sometimes she wonders if she’s the only one Ruby can twist around her little finger — other times she is reminded that she just has that effect on people. Why else would they follow her to the ends of the planet? When Ruby talks, people believe.  
(When Ruby talks, Weiss physically feels her heart careening out of control, skidding into a blind curve with no idea what lying ahead. On and on and on, like Ruby’s running up ahead and Weiss follows, with just her voice for company)  
They end up cramped in two rooms — Maria gets the bed in the guest room, in honor of her being practically a fossil, a fact that gets Yang’s ears boxed when she says it aloud. Oscar, Jaune, Nora and Ren plant mattresses on the free space on the floor and are snoring in fifteen minutes. Qrow claims he won’t sleep much, and finds a rocking chair that he pulls close to the window, and he sits there, swigging rum ominously every once in a while. The rest of them decide to concede the couch in the living room to Ruby, who looks the most exhausted. And when Weiss gets up because she can’t sleep, she sees Blake and Yang snoozing next to each other, their hands loosely held close to Blake’s chest.
“Can’t sleep either, huh?” she hears from somewhere beside her when she goes out to the porch, and whirls around, only to see Terra sitting in the corner. Adrian is perched on her lap, watching the soft snow drizzling outside.
Weiss smiles at her, feeling a little awkward about the entire thing. Shrugs. “Shouldn’t he be.... asleep?” A quick glance at the clock confirms her suspicions. It’s almost one.
Terra chuckles. “He conked out at seven. He wakes up in the middle of the night at least once. This — this helps him go back to sleep. Plus,” she pauses to bend a little and deposit a tiny kiss on top of his tiny head, “it’s one of the few minutes I get to spend with him in the day.”
Weiss thinks of her own childhood, of nightmares and staying up all night terrified, because there was no way, absolutely no way she was allowed to wake her parents up for any reason besides imminent death. The Schnee estate was vast, confusing and filled with entirely too many showpieces no one would ever use, full of winding staircases that lead nowhere close to comfort.  
This house is tiny and full of love. Every dent on the couch talks of tickle fights and places someone was so happy that they bounced their way into almost breaking it; the lower parts of the walls are scribbled over with crayons and blue hearts and stick figures of smiling people. She thinks back to dinner when Oscar and Nora burned whatever pie abomination they were supposed to be baking and then they’d all crammed into that tiny space to try to salvage it, and Weiss could’ve sworn even the tiny gaps between them were overflowing with love.
(This is a house someone would want to walk into at the end of the day. A place of shelter. A home)
“Jaune did mention you, you know?” Terra says, after a while, and Weiss is startled out of her train of thought. “In his letters to Saphron when you kids were at Beacon. He was particularly effusive in his description of you.”
“Oh dear lord,” she says, burying her face in her hands because that phase of her life seems so far, far away now. “I’m so glad he got over it. Not before singing an awful made-up song on his guitar, though.”
Terra laughs, softly, and Weiss notices that Adrian’s fallen asleep against her chest, his head resting on the arm she’s moved awkwardly to brace him.  
“Saph worries about him,” Terra says. “He makes sure to text her updates, but she can tell when he’s left a lot out. He’ll text her something like roadtrip and she knows to translate it to we’re on the run and have no idea where our next meal is coming from. He’s her only brother and kinda the baby of the family. And she.... she frets.”
“And when she worries, you worry,” Weiss completes.
When Terra looks up at her next, it is with all of her emotions plain on her face to see. Weiss reads consternation, affection, helpless desperation and blinding, blinding love before she bites at her lip and wipes it clean. Nods.
Weiss goes back inside a couple of minutes after they do, Adrian’s head hanging off his mother’s shoulder as they make their way to his room. When she walks in, she catches a glimpse of Qrow, snoring with a blanket now thrown across his torso, and movement off the corner of her eye. Oscar gives her a boyish grin, holds up a finger to his lips, before he disappears back to the guest room. She climbs over Yang and Blake, and finds her way, inexplicably, to Ruby’s side.
At some point in the night, Ruby had apparently kicked off her sheets and they now lay half-thrown over her legs. Weiss kneels at her head, looks on. At her impossibly young features, and her mouth that has fallen open, and the few strands of hair that are strewn across her forehead. Weiss wants to kiss the spot where they meet, wants to kiss the tiny freckle just beside her nose, her snoring mouth. She flushes, and balls her hands up into tight, wanting fists.  
When the urge passes (passes in a way that thirst in the desert passes, always there beneath the surface, just pushed back down enough so one can concentrate on more important things), she pulls the sheets up over her body, and tucks the ends, carefully over her shoulders. Her fingers wander, unprompted, to Ruby’s face, where they trace the path of her hair, and brush it away. Once. Twice.
And Ruby stirs beneath her hand, and then is staring at her, wide-eyed. There is no fanfare to how she wakes up, no protracted sigh or stretching. Weiss guesses it’s a product of their on-the-run lives — when there is no time to breathe, one gets used to waking and sleeping easily. In the end there they are, with Weiss kneeling next to Ruby, their faces shrouded in moonlight, staring at each other.
“I’m sorry I woke you up,” she whispers, after a beat. Her hand is still resting on Ruby’s face. When she moves to bring it back, Ruby stirs. Her hand comes up to cover Weiss’, keeping it there.
“It’s okay,” Ruby whispers back, still holding her goddamned hand close to her face. Weiss can feel her breath tripping all over itself, like it’s not sure what to do in such close proximity. It’s almost intimate, she imagines, the both of them with their heads huddled together. If she leaned forward a smidge, their foreheads would touch. A head tilt — and here the thought makes her feel hot all over — and they would be kissing.
(The distance suddenly feels almost awfully unbearable to her)
Ruby’s still staring up at her, her eyes still wide and serious. When it all becomes too much, Weiss moves her hand to cover her eyes.
Ruby’s lips curve up in a sleepy smile. “What?”
“Stop,” she says, flustered, “stop looking at me.”
“But I like looking at you,” Ruby tells her, sounding amused and Weiss is one hundred percent sure she is going to die tonight.
(She doesn’t mean it she doesn’t mean it she doesn’t mean it she doesn’t — then — she means it in a different way than what you’re hoping for so shut up shut up shut up)
“Shut up,” she says, finally, then adds. “Dunce.”
Ruby giggles, then her mouth stretches open into the hugest yawn ever. Weiss laughs, boops her nose, because she simply must.
“Sleep, okay?” she says, one last time. Then, without thinking too much about it, she leans down and presses her lips to Ruby’s forehead.
She’s not sure, but Ruby looks a little like she’s blushing. She blinks a few times, then says: “Now I will.”
Weiss’ mattress is just below the couch. Five minutes after she lies down on it, she feels Ruby’s hand travel down and rest on her head. It is to the continuous motion of her hand through Weiss’ hair that sleep finally takes her when it does.
*****
Winter is all angles and bones. Not just physically, but also in the way she carries herself. She is sharp edges and words that cut easily. Weiss knows it’s not just her — the Schnee family tends to make knives out of people and then set them upon the rest of the world to hurt and maim. Weiss knows that better than anyone else, knows that some blades draw blood unwillingly.  
Also knows that Winter is trying her very best to change.
But her posture is still ramrod straight, refusal to relax written into every single one of her cells. They’ve all split up after their celebration for their newest promotion to Huntsmen and Huntresses: Yang and Blake having disappeared on a trip to explore the city, Ren, Nora and Jaune off to gorge on Atlesian delicacies, and they’d left Oscar practicing sparring with Ruby. Winter had dropped in to invite her out to a celebratory dinner at Atlas’ finest dining establishment, and so here they were, sitting awkwardly in front of each other, eating whatever was on their plates.
Weiss wonders if Winter would die of shock if she dared to reach over and steal one of the dumplings on her plate. The Weiss of two years ago wouldn’t even have entertained the thought.  
Today, she thinks about it maybe five seconds before picking one up and shoving it into her mouth.
Winter’s eyebrows are arched. “You know Father would disapprove of the declination of your table manners.”
“Good thing I don’t care, then,” she replies, flippantly. “Do you?”
Winter rolls her eyes, takes a sip of her wine. “You’re my sister, Weiss. You could take half my liver and I’d only call you a boob. Or something equivalent.”
That’s how Winter Schnee loves. In casual gestures, in standing behind Weiss, ready to sacrifice herself at a moment’s notice. It is not the unwavering, adoring devotion of Yang and Ruby — Yang wouldn’t even entertain the thought of a potential hurt coming her sister’s way, jumping into action to save her before she even asks. Winter, however, needs to make sure Weiss can take care of herself, only hanging back in case things get too dire.
She smacks her hand with the chopsticks when Weiss reaches for another one. “I offered up a liver, you go looking for my heart? Behave, Weiss.”
It makes her laugh.
And it’s this foreign.... ease, for lack of a better word, that has Weiss’ tongue loose enough for her to shoot Hey, Winter, you ever been in love before an hour later, when they’re walking back to the military complex.
Her sister seems to be choking on thin air — she coughs and squawks and makes all sorts of undignified noises, before smacking Weiss on her head to make her stop laughing.
“I’m sorry,” Weiss says, when that hysterical bout is over. “Just wanted to see the look on your face. You don’t, you don’t have to answer that if it’s too personal.”
“Imbecile,” Winter mutters, but she turns to face her anyway. They’re almost at the building that has their apartment, and they stop almost simultaneously, standing in front of each other and trying very hard to avoid looking into each other’s eyes.
Winter hesitates, then speaks again. “Really want to know?”
Oh. Wow. Okay. “Yes,” she nods, trying to look casual about the whole thing.
“Once,” Winter tells her, running her hands through her perfectly coiffed hair in a very uncharacteristic move. “Before I joined the military.”
“And what happened?” Weiss asks, after a prolonged pause.
Winter’s smile is both sad and amused. “Father found out about her. What do you think?”
And she doesn’t know if it’s the easily dropped pronoun, or the way she can still read the utter loneliness in her sister’s eyes, but Weiss finds herself taking a step forward and wrapping Winter up in a hug.  
(Winter is all angles and bones)
And stiff limbs. “What,” her sister says, hesitantly, “Weiss, what are you doing?”
“Hugging you.”
“We don’t do that,” comes the prim response.
“We also don’t steal food off of each other's plates, Winter,” she replies, easily, still acutely conscious of the way Winter is just pressed against her stiffly. “As far as major changes go, I personally wouldn’t mind seeing a lot more of this.”
Winter’s arms come up, finally and hang loosely off her shoulders. As far as hugs go, it’s not the most comfortable one.  
(As far as hugs go, it’s one of the best Weiss has ever had)
And that’s' the moment, she becomes aware of movement from somewhere up high. Winter’s back is facing the building, so she’s in the perfect position to tilt her head up and see—
(What in God’s name?)
Oscar, Jaune, Nora, Ruby, Blake and Yang and crammed into the same window, peeking out at them, and appear to be giggling furiously. Ren, thankfully, seems to have enough dignity to not stoop to the level of these utter pains in her ass.
“What the—”
“Weiss?” Winter asks, still awkwardly hugging her. “Something wrong?”
She laughs. “Depends on what you define as wrong,” she says, and disentangles, so Winter can turn around and see for herself.
“Oh dear.”
A chorus comes sailing from above. “Hi, Officer Winter!” they all say, and then disperse, laughing madly. Only Ruby remains in the end, waving at them shyly.  
Winter, to her utter surprise (and really, it shouldn’t have been. If the evening had taught her anything, it was that she didn’t give her sister enough credit), waves back. When she turns back to Weiss, she’s even smiling a little.
“I like that one,” she tells her, eyes glinting with what Weiss can only define as mirth.
“Everyone likes her,” Weiss replies, shrugging.
“Do you?” Winter’s eyebrows are raised, and Weiss cannot help dropping her gaze, bringing a hand up to rub at the back of her neck. Winter’s hand falls on her hair, ruffles it up a little.  
Her parting words are Be careful, you boob. Weiss pretends not to understand.
*****
Blake and Yang are easy to figure out. Even Weiss, who has a general tendency of being clueless in these matters, can see the way Blake kind of — withers, when Yang isn’t around. There’s a light in her eyes that’s only visible when Yang’s close to her, a subtle confidence in her shoulders that says Yeah, I’m good now. Blake and Yang carry their love in their bodies, always moulding themselves to the other’s relative position. Weiss is sure even they don’t realize it yet, the way they always seem to come together when they’re in the same room, this unconscious meeting of opposite poles that ends in relief. They’re tangled hands, arms resting around shoulders, feet nudging each other, eventually leading up to secret smiles in team meetings.  
Sometimes, Weiss is sick of the whole thing.
Oftentimes, Weiss wants them to be happy so, so much that she fights the urge to push them into a room together for two hours.
“They’ll be back soon, you know?” she tells Blake, who hasn’t moved from the window since they finally made contact with the rest of the team. Blake whirls around, relaxes, then accepts the coffee Weiss is holding out to her.
“Thanks,” Blake says. “I just—”
“I know, I know. You worry.”
“I just,” she says, tugs at her hair with her free hand, “I just, I don’t know how anyone does it. Stay away, I mean, I — it’s like I can’t breathe properly when I don’t see her.”
And Weiss has done it once, a long time ago, although the magnitude of her feelings wasn’t known to her back then. Back when her father had locked her up in an ivory tower and she had no idea what Blake or Yang or Ruby were doing, if they were even alright. But she still stayed up all night, wondering if Ruby was okay, if she had eaten, if she was thinking about Weiss.
She imagines having to leave Ruby for a moment now, and the melancholy that washes over her almost brings her to her knees.
“Some hypocrite you are,” she says, teasing Blake gently, “with all the find yourself schtick you gave Nora earlier.”
She laughs, and Weiss finds herself hoping it’s taken her mind off of Yang for at least a little while.
“I like your brother,” she says, then. “He’s adorable.”
“Can you say that to him, please?” Weiss begs her. “And can I please be in the room when you do so?”
There’s another moment of levity. “Hey,” she starts, frowning a little. “Do you know where he is right now? Haven’t seen either him or my mother after the whole Grimm debacle.”
“I last saw him with Ruby,” Blake says. “I think he’s.... quite taken to her, actually.”
Weiss sighs. “Of course.”
(Ruby is the pied piper, after all. Everyone would follow her to the ends of the planet)
(Weiss? Weiss would walk with her beyond it)
Blake grins at her.
“What?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she says, mischievously. “Seems he’s not the only Schnee who’s quite taken with her.”
(Blake deserves the massive bump running headlong into the glyph Weiss conjures up in the next second. No doubts about that)
*****
The end of the world comes after the night before the end of the world.
Like a protracted moment of utter calm before the cacophony starts, they all comes together, and eventually split up to the places that give them the most peace. Weiss takes a tour of the house once. Her mother’s sleeping on a chair next to Whitley’s bed; Weiss covers her with a blanket before she moves on. Jaune and Oscar are sitting guard over Penny, next to Ren, who has squeezed himself in beside Nora. Yang smiles at her warmly when she comes upon her and Blake in another room. Blake’s fallen asleep with her head resting on Yang’s lap. She wanders around for a little while more, until she finally comes upon Ruby in her bedroom.
“Why is it,” Weiss says, “that most of the time I meet you, I have to tell you to go to sleep?”
Ruby turns, smiles at her, but the smile is fractured in places. Weiss takes a step forward, closer.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
“Nothing, nothing, I,” Ruby takes a deep breath, looks around. “I can’t believe you lived here.”
Weiss lets her change the topic. “What’s so unbelievable about that?”
“Just doesn’t look like you, that’s all.”
“That’s because I don’t exactly belong here.”
“Where do you belong then?” Ruby asks, looking right at her.
With you. “With all of you,” she says. It’s true. “Blake and Yang. And Jaune and Nora and Ren and Oscar. And even — that stupid alcoholic uncle of yours. And—”
“—and?” she asks, a lopsided grin on her face.
“And you.”
Ruby sighs, steps forward so they’re in each other’s personal space.  
“Weiss,” she says once, quietly.
Weiss closes her eyes, takes a step forward of her own, blindly, feeling Ruby’s steadying hands on her shoulders, her back, her hair. She feels a hand carefully moving against the scrunchie holding her hair together.
“Can I?”
She nods, feels her hair pulls free. Ruby helps detangle it, the braid, and ends with tender hands, smiles.
“I like your hair,” she says, then makes a soft sound in her throat, urgent, wanting. “Weiss.”
“Yes, Ruby?”
“Weiss, Weiss, Weiss,” Ruby says, again, and now her forehead is tipped against Weiss’.
“What, darling?” Weiss murmurs, and feels Ruby’s shuddering breath in response. There’s a small, desperate kiss pressed to her hair, then her forehead, and amusingly enough, her nose.
“Weiss, I have to tell you—”
“—wait!” she says, not moving. It’s not like she could. A Grimm could be standing in the room right now and it couldn’t draw her away from Ruby. She touches Ruby’s cheek gently, feels Ruby sigh and sink into her palm. “Please — please don’t say what you’re about to.”
(A part of her, the stupid, hopeful part knows what it is and craves it, dreads it, mourns it already)
“And what am I about to say?” Ruby asks, her eyes burning with something Weiss can’t find the words to define.
“Something incriminating, I fear.”
“You fear?”
“Yes. But I also — I hope.”
“Then let me say it,” Ruby implores. She removes her arms from around Weiss, grabs her hands and raises them to her lips. Kisses her knuckles carefully. “Weiss, you know already. You must know.”
“I do, sweetheart, I do,” she says, resting her head against Ruby’s collarbone. The two of them have been circling each other in some dance that Weiss hasn’t been able to pin down yet, have been hurtling, at alarming speeds towards unknown cliffs, and the same way that Ruby has to know that Weiss would split herself end to end for her, that if cut into pieces, Weiss would bleed for her happily, Weiss knows.
(All love is violence. She knows that better than anyone)
“Tell me,” she starts, “tell me when there is peace.”
“But there will never be peace!” Ruby says, and her voice cracks. Weiss raises her hand blindly to press at her cheek and feels the warm moisture sticking there.
She rises on her toes so they’re level again. “There will be.” Weiss would make sure of it. For Yang and Blake, who need time to get their fledgling love off the ground. For Ren and Nora and Jaune who have lost too many friends already. For Oscar, who deserves a chance to grow up and for Qrow, who deserves a chance to feel young again. For Penny and Maria and Pietro and her mother and Whitley and Winter.  
For the girl she loves.
For Ruby.
When they kiss, Weiss thinks she’s shattering into a million pieces, like she would never be the same again, even if reformed into someone who resembles Weiss Schnee on the surface. How could she, with the memory of the movement of Ruby’s lips now imprinted on hers, her fingers tracking indelible marks through her hair — tomorrow, she will remember, a week later, she will remember, if somehow, she couldn’t see Ruby for another thirty years, her skin would remind her, every day.
*****
The end of the world comes before the day after the end of the world.
Weiss wakes up in the woods, empty handed. She wakes up, and thinks of Ren and Nora and Oscar, hopes they got to safety. Of her mom and Whitley and Winter. She thinks of Jaune who tried carrying her to the door. Of Yang who fell infinite miles into the void before Blake fell an equal distance to her knees, of finding Gambol Shroud and trying her very best to gather her courage to honor her teammates best.
Weiss wakes up in the woods, stumbles to her feet, looks around. There’s water to be searched for, and sustenance to be gathered. She’s got a long journey ahead of her, after all.  
Ruby’s waiting for her.
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vecnawrites · 3 years
Text
Two Flavors Of Delicious Chocolate
Jaune Arc was a normal guy, if one asked him. He was moderately strong, reasonably intelligent at most things, skilled at a few. If one had asked him if he would have two girls fighting for his attention, he would have laughed. However, the fact of the matter was, he DID have two women wanting him. And they would do what it took to get that fact into his head...
(Hooooolllllyyyyy Fuuuuucccckkkkk...this one got away from me! This is my second commission, from The-Wayward-Arc. I loved the idea, and it became this! An art piece is connected to my AO3 page for this one, and more should be coming when I can commission the artists!)
Jaune Arc liked to think that he was a reasonably intelligent individual. After all, he always scored at least middling in both Grimm Studies and History, and the highest in Tactics and Situational Defense and Assault. Even Weiss was admittedly (and more than a little begrudgingly) impressed by that.
...so how in the name of any God or Gods listening did he not notice this!? He looked back and forth between the two, admittedly extremely beautiful women glaring at one another before him.
One was Emerald Sustrai, a chocolate skinned, carmine eyed, mint haired beauty, with thick curves that drew the eye of every male, and even some of the females, as she walked (even him. What? He treated women well, like he had been taught. He wasn’t fucking blind), her hips swaying back and forth and bringing attention to that absolute shelf of a rear end she had. That wasn’t to say her chest had nothing to offer, as her breasts looked perfectly sized for his hands, perky and firm.
Her personality was confident, and a bit sarcastic and snarky, although that usually came out only when faced with people she wasn’t too fond of, like Cardin or her own teammate, Mercury...although in the latter, he was pretty sure it was part of how they acted with one another. Like how Yang teased Weiss.
The other was May Zedong, another incredibly beautiful classmate of his, with muted maroon colored hair styled in a way that covered her left eye, leaving only the right gray-blue orb visible, and a black beanie keeping her hair in place. She had that wallflower air about her, generally going around unnoticed by most unless a teacher asked a question, even by her own teammates (something that made him seethe), but he had always noticed her and sought to talk, even if it was only some minor casual conversation over class notes. He wasn’t going to let her feel as alone as he did before coming to Beacon.
One would think that the girl was nearly flat, maybe a double-a cup (like Weiss supposedly was, don’t ask how he knew), but that was a lie. The girl was more stacked than Yang and even Professor Goodwitch were! Her breasts had to be as large as her own head! Again, it wasn’t like he was a pervert, but having seven sisters made him able to tell when a woman was binding or stuffing her bra to either remove attention or gain it.
And he could understand why, honestly. May was almost cripplingly shy, more nervous than Ruby or Velvet when called upon by staff or someone else. She seemed to revel in being invisible and unnoticed.
But now they were both before him, glaring at one another; Emerald looked like she wanted to, as his elder sister Saphron liked to say, “Slap A Bitch”, and even the shy and bashful May looked ready to try and claw out Emerald’s eyes with her fingernails.
“If you think your shy ass can make him happy, you’ve got another thing coming! What are you two going to do, hold hands while hiding in the shadows?” Emerald snorted, popping her hip and placing her hand on it, smirking darkly at the beanie-wearing sniper.
May glared, only one being visible doing nothing to hide the intensity. “At least I didn’t have to flaunt myself like a whore to get Jaune’s attention! He always noticed me, even without knowing about my tits!”
He could see them about to fight, and his body moved before his brain did, placing himself between them and giving them both a stern look (something perfected by dealing with mischievous younger twin sisters), silently telling them both to stop.
Both huffed, curling into his sides and glaring at one another, static seeming to form between their gazes.
He tugged the two girls who had captured his heart over the semester close to him and closed his eyes, recalling exactly how this started…
Start Of The Week
Emerald Sustrai had known little in the way of happiness or of comfort for most of her life. Growing up an orphan in Vacuao, she had lived on the streets and been forced to scrounge and steal in order to survive. She had been tempered and hardened by such a thing, her heart steeled to do what was necessary, even if it wasn’t right.
She had managed to steal, scrimp, and save enough to catch a flight to Vale, and apply to Beacon. She hated Vacuao, and wouldn’t set foot in Shade for a second if she could help it. She knew that they held a ‘survival of the fittest’ ideal, and after living it for most of her life, she wasn’t going to be going through it at school, where she was supposed to be able to trust the people who she teamed up with to watch her back!
Getting to school and getting through initiation, she had been partnered with Cinder Fall, an enigmatic, but intelligent and resourceful woman who used a bow and arrows and Fire Dust. Her other partners were Mercury Black, a silver haired smart ass with prosthetic combat legs, and Neopolitan, a mute midget with a weird ass reinforced parasol for combat of all things. But even Emerald couldn’t deny that they were skilled and effective at killing the Grimm in the forest.
But she was still missing something...or rather, someone. She wasn’t an idiot, she knew that she was more likely to die before retiring, so she wanted to find someone...maybe they would last, maybe they wouldn’t. But before the year’s end, she would be free of this pesky virginity!
But...surveying the available males made her wince. Mercury? No, it was a bad idea to have sex with a teammate. She had enough to worry about, she wasn’t going to have to worry about her own teammate as well.
Brawnz Ni? Arrogant, and full of himself. She wasn’t going to give him a bigger ego. Roy Stallion? He was okay, but not her type. Nolan Porfirio? Too passive.
Lie Ren? Nice, but taken, going by the ginger with the hammer constantly hanging off of him. She would not ruin a relationship, thanks...or risk having her kneecaps obliterated by a combination War Hammer/Grenade Launcher.
Team CRDL?...Pfft, she’d sooner stick a slim teasing vibe in her pussy and seal it up to be tormented for the rest of her life before letting one of those slimeballs touch her.
But Jaune Arc...he was interesting. Kind, but not to the point of being walked over, as evidenced as he corralled his (possibly certifiably crazy) teammate, Nora Valkyrie. Not the strongest, but not the weakest, reasonably intelligent, although his strongest points were tactics and applied strategy, being the only student to be actually acing the class. He...he would work. He was handsome, in that goofy, awkward way, messy blonde hair, bright blue eyes, awkward, charming smile...and always doing small acts of kindness, even if he never got thanks for it.
The one problem? His partner, the Invincible Girl. She couldn’t tell if they were together, hell, she couldn’t tell if the redhead even liked him in that way! She looked at him softly, but it wasn’t seemingly the way that a lover looked at another lover.
An elbow nudged her, and she looked to see a head of multicolored hair, heterochromic eyes and a cocky smirk. She deadpanned at Neo. “What is it?” she asked, scowling as the shorter girl wagged her eyebrows as she glanced over at Jaune, making her scowl deepen.
“Don’t even, Neo…besides, aren’t you a card carrying member of the ‘Lady Lover’ society?” she asked, knowing that Neo much preferred females, having seen her eyes roaming over the stacked blonde on Team RWBY, Yang Xiao Long. She couldn’t see it, but she wouldn’t mock the pink, white, and brown haired girl for her interest.
Neo shrugged, almost saying “I can appreciate looks, can’t I?” before nodding over to the corner. Following, she felt her heckles rise almost instinctively, lip curling up in anger as she saw what Neo was referring to.
In the corner was the quiet May Zedong. Now, Emerald had nothing against the quiet girl who hid herself in the corners and hardly ever spoke up unless she was directly spoken to. One would think herself a complete and utter wallflower, non-threatening. But, May Zedong was a sniper. She preferred to wait and strike when it was best for her. And right now, her lovesick blue-gray eye was locked right on her future man. This would not stand. “I’ll be back to the dorm later, Neo...I have to...talk...with someone.”
Neo tapped a finger against her lips as she watched her teammate stalk off, an intense look in her crimson eyes, before shrugging and heading back to the dorms. On one hand, she hoped her teammate knew what she was doing...on the other, she would take her amusement where she could get it.
May Zedong was used to going unnoticed among a crowd. She knew she wasn’t the beauty that most huntresses-in-training were, feeling as though she had really plain features. Slightly narrow face, only one eye (a grimm attack when she was young taking the other one), she felt even her hair was limp and unappealing, even if it was a unique maroon color. Even her own teammates paid her no second glance, instead preferring to fawn over the likes of Yang Xiao Long, Cinder Fall, and Pyrrha Nikos.
A small, extremely bitter part of her knew that she could get any boy’s attention if they knew what she hid under her hoodie or uniform top. She had been extremely ‘blessed in the chest’ as it were, going from almost flat bee stings to Double-G cups in the span of her teenage years, and was only able to hide the damned things by an expensive, dust enhanced binder that made her look like she was barely a B-cup.
But while she could easily get any guy, she didn’t want to rely on her tits to do so. She’d only attract creeps to her, who only wanted her for her breasts. She’d never let that happen. She wanted to be liked for who she was, not her chest.
She had come to Beacon with her clothes, some personal items and her Sniper Rifle/Climbing Axe, Opening Gambit, hoping that she could find some happiness with a boyfriend while at Beacon, the risks of her survival until she was thirty drilled into her head by her mother.
So far, she had dealt with nothing but disappointment. Her own teammates glossed over her as a woman without so much as a second glance, even her own partner, Nolan. Hell, Brawnz had thought she was a boy until she had said otherwise. CRDL were assholes. Mercury Black gave her the creeps. He just...stared at people sometimes. Without blinking. Lie Ren was cute, but he was claimed, even if he didn’t know it yet. Nora Valkyrie clung to him like a baby koala did to its mother.
But Jaune...he...he was nice. He was kind. He noticed her, always went out of his way to talk to her, even if it was a simple ‘hello’ in the halls! Her heart beat faster and she could feel her cheeks heat up as she thought of being held in his arms, just being accepted for who she was-
“Zedong.” May was cruelly ripped from her fantasy by the curt voice of Emerald Sustrai, a dark skinned beauty that turned more than a fair few eyes with her teasing smile and swaying hips. But currently, there was no smile on her face, instead there was a severe look that made her heart race, this time not from a happy fantasy with a potential boyfriend, but from adrenaline flushing through her body as her fight or flight instincts went wild. She swallowed.
“Y-Yes, Emerald?” she asked, cursing internally as she stuttered, despising the weakness. She flinched as a cocoa skinned hand slapped right on the wall next to her.
She leaned close, allowing her to smell her scent (cherry blossoms, very pleasant), and carmine eyes narrowed. She leaned even more forwards, until May could feel the verdette’s nose poking her own. “What are you getting at, staring at my future boyfriend like that?” she growled.
May blinked, before the words registered in her brain. She scowled back, her body making more adrenaline and scowling at the surprised looking Sustrai. “You. Don’t. Own. Him.” she growled angrily. “I know he’s not dating anyone right now.” despite her anger, she felt worry when she saw a glint appear in Emerald’s eyes, her lips turning up in a smirk.
“Really…?” Emerald murmured to herself, tilting her head, “I figured, but its nice to have confirmation...that will make it much easier...especially since I don’t have to worry about potentially ruining a relationship…” she licked her lips. “Thanks for the information, wallflower. Do yourself a favor: stay away while I go for him. I’m not cruel, but you’re honestly bound only for disappointment if you go up against me.” she smirked. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a boyfriend to go claim.”
Pulling away from the beanie-wearing girl, Emerald turned and walked away, making sure to sway her hips and let the girl know what she was dealing with.
May breathed harshly as the adrenaline slump kicked in, not unlike when she was out of combat. She flushed, not only from shame that an altercation from a fellow student made her feel like she was going against a Grimm, but from anger. To be told, ordered, not to pursue the one boy that gave her the time of day, that held her interest...that wouldn’t fly. She obviously couldn’t use her tried and true method of waiting for the right moment to strike. She would have to go out of her comfort zone and attempt a strike normally…she glared at the retreating Emerald, her blue-gray eye narrowing. It was on. Tomorrow, the battle would begin!
~x~x~
Emerald smirked as she looked herself over in the mirror. She had ‘borrowed’ a few skirts from both Cinder and Neo, who were both smaller in the hips than she was, and loved the effect it had when placed on her thicker frame.
The material of the skirt clung to her ass nicely, even coming up a bit and showing off just a bit of her plump cheeks. A quick sway of her hips made her chuckle, as it showed off more of her ass, just enough that it could confuse...and arouse...those who saw her. Especially since she had forgone normal panties, instead wearing one of her thongs, the string being swallowed up by the split between her cheeks.
Sure, she had only one person in mind, but teasing others was good fun too. She knew enough that Jaune didn’t have the best self-image, either, so when they got together, it would do his ego a bit of good that he had a girl on his arm that everyone else lusted after.
“So this is what you wanted to borrow our skirts for…” a dash of red dusted Emerald’s cheeks as she looked up to see her partner, Cinder, leaning against the door frame, her arms crossed over her chest, watching her.
Emerald cleared her throat and forced the redness away from her cheeks. She knew that she had nothing to be embarrassed about. Cinder wasn’t loose, but she had shared her bed with a few boys before, generally civilians from Vale on the weekends. That way, she didn’t have to worry about them ‘getting attached’.
“So, who’s the lucky boy that managed to catch your attention, my dear Emerald?” the inflection of Cinder’s tone was more that of ‘leader’ than ‘friend’, meaning that Cinder wanted to know to make sure it didn’t affect the team. They may not be number one team of the year (that belonged to JNPR), but they weren’t far behind it.
“Jaune Arc.” she replied, her tone soft, watching her dark haired team leader close her eyes and nod, lips tilting upwards a bit. “Hmm, not a bad choice...you could certainly do worse…” opening her golden eyes, she smirked. “Best of luck. I know many others have been eyeing him, not just the girl you spoke to yesterday. If rumors are right, even a second year is interested in him...that rabbit faunus, Velvet something.” she hummed, her smirk growing a bit even as Emerald stiffened. “Go get him, girl.”
~x~x~
May Zedong stood in Team BRNZ’s locked bathroom, gathering her courage. She knew that this was going to be risky, but the potential payoff was worth the potential discomfort.
She stood naked in front of the mirror, looking over her body critically. Her large breasts, larger than her own head, jutting form her chest proudly. Most girls would consider it a point of pride, she however, considered them a point of shame and embarrassment, to be hidden away.
Carefully, she gently cupped the heavy swells, hefting them and contemplating them. The skin was smooth, not a single flaw to it, not a blemish nor a beauty mark. Her nipples were large and puffy, a horizontal slit showing that they were inverted, another oddity of her body that she disliked, along with how brutally sensitive her chest was. She always got wet simply by rubbing them, and playing with them intently could make her cum.
Letting her breasts go, she slid her hands along her sides, trailing them along her flat, toned belly and to her hips, twisting her upper body this way and that, glancing at her breasts from profile, a weak smile forming on her face as she saw the jiggle.
Glancing between her legs, she looked at her freshly waxed core. She had never liked more body hair than necessary, something she knew was shared by almost all Huntresses-in-training. Turning around fully she looked over her shoulder and pushed her butt outwards, taking a look at her rear. She knew it had nothing on Emerald’s, or even several other girls, like Velvet Scarlatina’s from second year, but it was a nice shape and firmness, something that maybe Jaune would like to grab? Spank it as he played with her sensitive tits and fucked her soaking pussy, turning her into a gooey puddle of lust in his skilled hands?
She shook herself out of her fantasy and straightened up, grabbing her panties and slipping them up her legs and covering herself, then her uniform skirt. Turning back around, May gnawed at her lower lip as she looked at her binder. She glanced at it, then down at her chest, before sighing and grabbing it, beginning the process of flattening herself down to look ‘normal’.
But as she did, a naughty thought, a wicked thought, filled her head. She would gradually start loosening her binder, until she could proudly go without the damned thing...or at least have it loosened enough that people-that Jaune-saw her as the young woman she was.
Strapping it on, she tightened it until she reached her normal almost flat state, before loosening it a bit, her breasts pushing the material a bit more outwards. Grabbing her uniform blouse and tie, she put them on, looking at herself in the mirror.
A hint of redness formed on her cheeks. She looked...she looked feminine. Her shirt bulged a bit, going from nearly flat to respectable. Was...was this what she could look like? She smiled softly as she brushed her hair, making sure her bad eye was covered before putting on her beanie to keep her hair down.
“You can do this, Zedong.” she whispered to herself, steeling herself for the day, and the battle, to come. “It’s no different than combat...time to hunt.”
~x~x~
Jaune Arc woke up feeling odd that day. Not like he had forgotten to study for one of Oobleck’s tests (thankfully, Pyrrha and Ren helped remind him and Nora of those), but more that something...interesting...was going to happen to him. He wanted to hide in his bed and just believe the world outside the dorm room didn’t exist, but knew that he couldn’t do that.
“Jaune?” he glanced to see Pyrrha, his partner in arms, and closest friend at Beacon, looking at him worriedly. He gave her a weak smile. Both he and Pyrrha knew each other’s darkest secrets. For him, it was his falsifying his transcripts and sneaking into the school untrained.
For Pyrrha...it was a more touchy subject. She had been forced to be this perfect girl, someone untouchable, indomitable...she hated it. She also feared how people would react when they learned that she had never felt any type of romantic feelings nor had ever felt sexual desire. Never even found joy in masturbation, even. They had both been blushing hard as she admitted that.
The reveal to one another had only brought the two closer as both friends and partners, and they both felt comfortable telling one another everything. So, he decided to tell her the truth. “Just have this weird feeling that today is going to be interesting…”
Pyrrha hummed. “Interesting? Or...interesting?” she asked, sending a look over at Nora, who was happily chatting with Ren. Jaune shuddered. “It feels between that, but I hope to god its not the latter…” he said softly, making Pyrrha nod. They both loved Nora dearly, but she was a handful, and they didn’t need more than one of her.
Shaking their heads, both redhead and blonde gathered their things, preparing for the day.
~x~x~
Jaune sighed as he made his way to Study Hall. Once again, Oobleck had managed to speak so fast during his class that he was going to have to do extra studies for it. As he was about to enter, he stumbled a bit, his arm lashing out to catch whoever knocked against him, although his breath still left him when he hit the wall, and (the bigger reason) something soft pressing against his groin. Opening his eyes he glanced down to see one of his year mates, Emerald Sustrai, pressed against him, her...ample...rear settling between his thighs perfectly, pressing against where his cock was sure to bulge if she kept moving like that, wiggling that ass of hers! He watched as her eyes opened (a beautiful red shade, he thought), and she looked back at him, a small gentle smile forming on her face.
Emerald smirked to herself. Step One was complete, ‘accidentally’ stumbling into Jaune and making it so her best ‘asset’ was pressed against him. Now for Step Two, Teasing.
Putting a small smile on her face, Emerald made sure to subtly shift her backside against him, wanting to see what he was packing. She knew he wasn’t small, god knows that she heard Winchester bitching about how that size ‘couldn’t be possible without drugs’.
“Thank you for grabbing me...your name’s Jaune, right? I’m Emerald...sorry for being so clumsy!” she chuckled awkwardly, inwardly loving the red hue to his cheeks...and the pressure she could feel start being placed on her ass. She was surprised. From what she could tell, he wasn’t even truly hard yet, but she could feel him pressing quite firmly between her ass cheeks! Redness seeped into her own cheeks, this...this was something special.
Before she could say anything more, her world spun as she was picked up and gently placed onto the floor again, hearing Jaune frantically apologize before taking off in almost a sprint, leaving her there, shocked and soaking her thong.
A smirk formed on her lips. “Stage one and two, complete...now for stage three later on…” she hummed happily, knowing that she could have great fun with that. She knew what fun she wanted to do next...and her semblance could surely help with it…turning, she walked away with a skip in her step, already plotting how the second phase of her plan was going to unfold…
Jaune darted into the Library, holding his books in front of him to hide his straining erection, face flushed as he made his way to the back of it, to his preferred table for studying. That had been mortifying. He desperately hoped that he wouldn’t be getting looks later due to his ‘perversion’. It would be his luck.
Setting his books on the table, he took a seat and sighed, willing his erection away so he could focus on his studies. Jaune cracked open his history text, knowing that the dry words within would slaughter any arousal ruthlessly.
“...Jaune?” he lifted his head, hearing the voice of May Zedong, a girl that he was reasonably well acquainted with. Her voice was soft, and he didn’t know if it was because they were in the library, or because of her natural shyness. But he smiled softly.
“Hey May, how are you…?” he blinked as he noticed that she had loosened her binder (he knew she wore one, but he hadn’t known it was that tight), her chest protruding more outwards, giving her a generous looking C-Cup. He gave it the barest glance (he wasn’t going to apologize for being a guy. He knew girls looked too) before locking eyes with her. He could tell she was embarrassed, but her smile was genuine.
May’s heart was beating faster than it had ever had. She felt all the eyes on her as she moved around her day, and she had only loosened her binder a bit! She could only imagine how people, how Jaune, would react when they saw her true size. She felt her heart skip a beat as he glanced at her chest, but her feels swelled even more as his eyes were only there for a second before locking on her face. “Do...do you mind if I sit here?” she asked, nervously fumbling with her own book for Tactics class. It was Brawnz’s, but she had ‘borrowed’ it so she could actually have something to talk with her crush about.
Her heart warmed as her crush nodded with an affirmative, now, it was time to make her initial chink in his armor. “W-would you mind helping me with Tactics? I could help with History in exchange?” she offered. Fortunately, she was a fair hand in History, being in the top five of the class.
Jaune swallowed. “S-Sure!” he stuttered a bit, his nerves jumping a bit at being alone with a pretty girl. Hopefully this would go better than just before he entered the library?
Jaune was wrong. It was worse. May had always felt comfortable around him, and it showed; she sat next to him, scooting her chair as close as she could get it, practically leaning against him, squishing her chest against his arm. This had the additional effect of getting him to notice that her blouse wasn’t buttoned all the way, giving him a tantalizing view into her cleavage, something he knew no other man saw.
He hated himself. He knew that May was afraid of being objectified, just like Pyrrha, but here he was, having the urge to stare at her. Every glance he made not only made his cock twitch, but his embarrassment and shame grow.
May was pleased, very pleased. She could see the subtle shifts in Jaune’s body, his cheeks flushing like her own were. She wasn’t going to make her final strike now, that would come later. She pressed herself more firmly against him. “...thank you for helping me, Jaune. It helped and I really enjoyed spending time with you.” she said honestly. “...can we study together again?” she asked hopefully, looking into those startling blue eyes.
She smiled as he nodded. “Thank you!” she grabbed him in a hug, although she failed to immediately notice that she pulled his head down to her chest, pressing his face against the exposed tops of her breasts. But even when she did, she only hugged him tighter, despite the redness on her cheeks.
Jaune stiffened, in more ways than one. For not the first time, he bemoaned being so large. Why couldn’t he have been more normal sized like Ren was? Her scent invaded his nose, vanilla and cinnamon, and his cheeks burned, even as his cock swelled and began making a distinct shape down the inner thigh of his uniform slacks. He had to act fast, before she thought him nothing more than a complete pervert!
May squeaked as Jaune quickly slipped out of his arms (unknowingly putting a delicious pressure on her sensitive nipples, making her panties soak. In a flurry of activity, Jaune collected his books and notes, rapidly saying, “It’s been great, May! We should study together again sometime! Sorry, I just remembered I had something important to do! Talk to you later!” he blurted out, before dashing off, leaving an aroused May sitting at the table.
She licked her lips, having seen the distinct ‘manprint’ that her crush had running down his inner thigh. She rubbed her thighs together. She knew that he was big, but not that big…
She swallowed and grabbed her things, standing and deciding to head back to the dorm. Walking away on slightly shaky legs, she knew she would be taking a long personal shower when she got to the dorm room.
Reaching the dorm, Jaune threw himself face first on the bed, face red and eyes wide. Had...had that really just happened? Did two beautiful girls just...what had happened?! Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he forced his aching cock to calm. One good thing about being surrounded by so many beautiful girls all his life, he gained an almost semblance-like ability to force his cock down.
He sighed as it thankfully shrank down and calmed, even though his balls still felt the effects of the arousal that had flooded through him not too long ago. He closed his eyes and sighed. Hopefully, this would just be a one off thing...something that he could laugh about year later on.
Poor Jaune. He had no idea what he was in for.
~x~x~
Two days had passed since the initial incidents, and Jaune had attempted to put them form his mind. Granted, it was impossible really when the two subjects of his thoughts were constantly there, smiling, waving, greeting him.
Considering neither of them were screaming ‘pervert’ or spreading rumors about him, he guessed things were good between them, leading him to wave back and smile awkwardly. Of course, Yang had to make jokes about it, acting as though him getting female attention was something noteworthy…
...and he supposed it was, considering his luck with Weiss. That didn’t mean he needed to hear the jokes about how he was finally getting attention from the ladies.
Rolling his eyes, he sighed and stood. “Very funny, Yang...now, if you’ll all excuse me, I’m going to head off and go anywhere but here.” he said, standing and heading off, distantly hearing Ren, Nora,  Pyrrha, and even Ruby going off on her sister. Bless them.
As he left, he failed to notice carmine eyes watching him, following his every move. And both failed to see the calculating blue-gray eye.
Jaune sighed as he placed the barbell back down on the rack, wiping sweat off of his face and neck with his workout shirt. His muscles burned nicely, and he felt pleased with himself. He had come a long way from the unmuscled noodle that had sneaked into Beacon.
Now, while he wasn’t the best warrior, he could certainly hold his own, no thanks in part to his wonderful Partner and teammates. He knew that he would have been dead by now without them.
“Oh, hi Jaune! You decided to get a workout in too?” his eyes widened as he turned and saw Emerald walking up to him. His mouth went dry and he bit his tongue to try and stave of the twitch in his shorts as he saw what she was wearing.
A tight sports top held her sizable breasts snugly in almost a shelf, while she wore sinfully tight black shorts that looked almost painted on. And he was only seeing her from the front. He both desired, and dreaded, seeing what they looked like from behind. ‘Danger, Danger, Jaune Arc! Abandon The Area!’ his mind screamed as the beautiful young woman walked forwards, her hips swinging.
“H-Hi, Emerald…” he mumbled, eyes darting everywhere for help, but heart sinking when he realized they were alone in the gym. He quickly scrambled for an excuse. “Sorry, but I have to go…”
Emerald pouted. “Are you sure? I need to do some squats, and it would really help if someone spotted me...would you, please? I don’t want to overdo it…” she bat her eyes a few times, not overdoing it, but still pulling the ‘sweet demure girl’ act.
She barely resisted the urge to smirk when Jaune nodded, instead cheerfully going, “Great, thanks! Only going to do a few sets today, since I know classes aren’t far away, but there’s enough time to get a quick workout in, along with a nice hot shower! That’s always nice after a workout to ensure you don’t cramp, right? Feeling the hot water running over your body...there’s nothing like it!”
Jaune bit the inside of his cheek as the beautiful girl put the image of her standing under the shower head, the steaming water running over her trim, curvy body...he could feel himself getting hard in his shorts.
Emerald smiled as she slowly turned around, making sure to highlight her ass in these sinfully tight shorts of hers. She had honestly outgrown them, but had kept them around for reasons even she didn’t know...until now, at least.
Bending down and grabbing the barbells, making sure to push her ass out, she smirked when she heard a stilted intake of air. “Ready?” she asked, raising herself up, not waiting for an answer before dropping herself, pushing her ass out hard, quickly falling into a rhythm of rising and falling, making sure to showcase her ass and thighs.
Jaune was hard, unable to stop his cock from getting fully hard and stretching out his shorts lewdly. As embarrassing as that was, he preferred that to it sliding down his leg and peeking out to say hello to the world. He was just very grateful she was facing away from him, otherwise he knew this would end badly.
Emerald smirked widely as she performed her squats. Jaune had apparently not noticed the mirror across from them, and she had a perfect view of how hard he was staring at her ass...and how hard he was in response. She licked her lips and her core tingled, warmth bubbling up in her belly as she imagined being speared by that cock.
Despite loving the fact that Jaune was captivated by her ass, she knew she had to finish up sadly. But she wasn’t going to let that end her fun, there would be plenty of chances to tease him later. So, as she went down for her final squat, she rocked backwards, letting out a squeak as both she and Jaune hit the mat, her ass squashing against his cock.
Jaune groaned piteously as his cock was pressed down by those soft cheeks, just like two days ago, as Emerald rubbed her head and-oh god-squirmed on top of him, his balls going haywire. He bit his tongue to avoid making any sound that could tell Emerald exactly what was happening underneath her.
Forcing his eyes open, he saw her rubbing the back of her head, before glancing back, although not down, much to his relief. He twitched as she shifted more, her ass rubbing against his cock. ‘Oh, fuck, she needs to stop!’ he thought, panicked.
Emerald had to hit Jaune with her semblance, she couldn’t keep the smirk off her face anymore as she subtly wiggled her plump ass on the thick meat stick underneath her. “Ow…” she whined piteously, rubbing the back of her head, “Are you okay, Jaune? I hope I didn’t hurt you!” she asked, forcing the weight of her ass on his cock more, loving the panicked look on his face. She was glad that they were alone and that her ass was facing him; she was soaked.
The groan that hit her ears made her smirk, more teasing to be had then. “Did I hurt you?! Hang on, let me see where I landed!” she slowly dragged her ass down Jaune’s cock and placed herself on the mat, turning around-
-only to see Jaune up already and rushing to the showers, hunched over. She blinked, before she smirked, standing up and slowly following, intending to find him and watch what she knew he was doing. Maybe even ‘help’.
She herself failed to notice her follower, the blue-gray orb narrowed in anger.
Jaune groaned as he stood naked under the shower spray, one hand on the wall and the other performing what was known as a ‘tactical jerk’, rapidly tugging at his cock, trying to bring himself to orgasm before anyone else arrived.
“Fuck...why...how did she not notice?” he groaned, his cock and balls aching terribly as he pumped hard on his cock. “She can’t have not felt it…” even now, he could feel the warm squeeze of her ass on him, almost a phantom sensation that drove him wild.
He moved his hand for a moment, only for his eyes to snap open as a warm squeeze seemingly did envelop his cock, a tight warmth that made pre spurt from his tip. Looking before him, he saw nothing, but sniffing, he smelled the scent of cherry blossoms, just like the girl who he had been spotting. The sensation began to move, confusing him utterly, but the pleasure made him quickly forget thinking about it too hard.
Emerald smirked at a job well done. Jaune was wrapped in the throes of her semblance and she had stripped and slipped in front of him, capturing that massive cock in her ass. She hummed to herself as she began to rub that hot hard flesh, her ass moving along it, her own honey leaking down her inner thighs. She knew they would have to be swift, after all, people could come into the gym or its showers anytime. But she knew enough that Jaune had to be close. She just needed to...make...him...cum!
Jaune released a broken sound as his balls finally began to release, his cock spitting his copious seed all over the wall in front of him, much to his shame, his cock throbbing and balls pumping out a massive amount of cum, utterly painting it white.
Shame filled him, and after a quick rinse, he swiftly dried off, dressed and made his way out.
Under the spray of the water, Emerald hummed to herself as she rinsed herself clean. While she couldn’t see how much cum was on her backside, she could definitely feel the warmth that coated her. She chuckled. “Step three, complete…” she murmured. She would hunt him down again and next time, she would ask him out. She was sure he’d be all for it.
Hidden in the shadows of the corner, a tear-filled blue-gray eye stared at Emerald in rage. May knew about Emerald’s semblance, and she knew that Jaune didn’t see what had really happened. Slipping away, she wasn’t going to give in. No, she was going to fight for Jaune!
Creeping back, she May skulked out of the showers, already preparing for her next move. She needed to do something special.
~x~x~
Jaune sat in Survival Class, an elective course, but one he found damn useful. Even as he looked over the diagrams that they were working on today, he knew his mind wasn’t in it, it going back to the scene in the Gym earlier with Emerald. Glancing around, he supposed it was okay, though...after all, there seemed to be low turnout for the class today. As an elective, you came when the class had something you wanted to learn in it.
He sighed as he felt his cock, still semi hard, twitch in his slacks. He still felt phantom feelings of her rear on his lap, like when he was in the shower…
“Hi, Jaune! Can I sit with you?” he looked to the side, hearing May’s voice, only to choke as he turned. May’s chest had grown again, and now matched Yang’s size. He quickly shook himself though, knowing that she would hate gawking. “S-Sure, May.” he stuttered, watching as she happily took the seat next to him, her breasts bouncing slightly as she settled. Glancing around, Jaune noticed that they were the only two in the classroom, which filled him with a bit of trepidation, but he trusted May. He knew she wouldn’t do anything to embarrass him.
He heard the door opened and a flush filled his cheeks as he saw Emerald enter in her uniform, looking up and waving at him, although her smile seemed...dimmed. He didn’t know what caused that and would have thought more on it, but he was distracted-incredibly distracted-by May leaning into his arm again as she pointed out something in the book. If anyone asked, he wouldn’t be able to tell them, since his entire focus was on the softness pressing against his arm.
While Jaune was...preoccupied, both Emerald and May were having a stare down, giving one another very ugly looks, unimpressed with the fact of what the other was doing or did. Their eyes were cold, and if one looked closely, it would seem like lightning was crackling between the two beauties. May was happy that she had arrived first and foremost and was able to sit next to Jaune, while Emerald was incised for the same reasoning.
After a moment, Emerald smirked, immediately making May stiffen, wondering what the devious verdette had in mind.
Heading over to the table that held the books they used for the class, Emerald wasn’t going to let Zedong get in the way of her snagging her future boyfriend. She’d just get the sight that Jaune was going to be able to enjoy whenever he wanted, too! She laughed to herself as she stretched straight out over the table, feeling her skirt rise and rise, cool air brushing over the skin of her ass...the dual gasps made her smirk and glance over her shoulder, using her semblance to hide the blatant action, her cheeks red, even though she thought this was so hot…
Both Jaune and May stared in shock as Emerald’s skirt moved up more and more, until the entirety of her ass was completely exposed, the smooth chocolate skin taut and unblemished. More to the point, she was lacking underwear, letting them see everything.
May was horrified. She had no idea that Emerald was going to be that blatant with her wants! She knew that it wasn’t an accident, either! She could see her shifting her stance (subtly, of course) to arch her rear up and make it spread a bit! Glancing at Jaune, she was disheartened to see him staring with a dark blush on his cheeks, although she could understand it. Acting quickly, she did the first thing that came to mind to get his attention back.
Jaune’s mouth went dry as he saw her cheeks spread, allowing him to glimpse the darker circle of skin between the half moons, and the plump, pouty lips just beneath. He lost his battle keeping his cock soft, the shaft swelling with blood and pitching a massive tent in his slacks. He didn’t know how long he stared at the enticing image before he heard a squeak, and the wind was knocked out of him as he fell out of his chair and onto the floor, something warm landing on his crotch, making him freeze in horror.
Glancing down, he saw May, planted face down on his crotch, her cheek rubbing up against his hard shaft, her warm hand on his thigh, her breath seeping through his clothes and brushing over his balls; his cock ached.
May had attempted to put her hand over Jaune’s eyes, but slipped and slammed into him, taking them both to the ground. As the dizziness faded, she felt something hard poking her cheek and noticed that she was taking in a wonderful, musky scent. One that made her pussy clench in her panties. Opening her eye, her face burned as she realized somehow she had ended up face first in Jaune’s lap. Her eyesight grew hazy and stung as tears of humiliation filled them. She hadn’t meant for this!
She threw herself up and back, looking down at the ground and tried to take in a breath to calm herself, but all that came out was a loud ‘Hic!’ as burning hot tears began to stream down her face, falling onto her skirt. She couldn’t bring herself to look up at her crush, knowing that she would see the most disgusted look on it-she froze as strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her close to his chest. “It’s okay, May...its okay...it was an accident…”
May buried her face into her crushes chest, taking deep breaths of his scent, her emotions settling and her love for Jaune growing as he comforted her after that humiliating experience. She snuggled against him, letting herself relax to the powerful thump, thump, thump of his heartbeat.
Neither noticed Emerald stomping out with a scowl.
~x~x~
Another two days had passed, and while things had been slightly awkward between him and May, it wasn’t bad enough that they couldn’t interact with one another. However, today was an off day for classes (something about a staff wide meeting? He didn’t really care enough to confirm it), so he was planning on heading to one of the indoor pools. Oddly enough this meeting coincided nicely, since the team had reserved it today anyway. Now, instead of a few hours after classes, they had the entire day to laze away in it if they wanted. Which they were going to.
Nora laughed as she changed into her swimsuit in the middle of the room, uncaring if her teammates saw her naked. None of them batted an eye, used to Nora’s wild side by now. “This is going to be great! How often do we say that we get to just sit by and swim in a pool all day?” she asked.
“We don’t, since the pools are always filled up on the weekends, and we don’t want Pyrrha in a swimsuit appearing in the tabloids. Its bad enough people are taking photos of her in classes, for God’s sake.” Jaune sighed, shaking his head as his closest friend and partner blushed.
“I’m sorry!”
“No, Pyrrha, don’t be sorry that other people don’t know boundaries.” Jaune said, patting her on the shoulder. His partner looked very attractive in her modest two piece bikini, but he knew that people would only be able to admire from a distance. After all, most of them never had the nerve to speak to her, and even if they did, Pyrrha, being on the Aromantic Asexual side of the spectrum, wasn’t cruel enough to lead them on.
A knock on the door drew their attention, and glancing to make sure his teammates were decent, Jaune moved over to the door, opening it to see…“May? Hey, what’s up?” he smiled as he saw his shy friend in front of their dorm room.
May blushed brightly as she saw the boy she loved without a shirt and wearing only swimming trunks, her mouth going dry as her eye roamed over her muscled form. Feeling warmth bubble up in her belly, she cleared her throat and spoke, hoping her voice didn’t crack. “I...I came to see if you wanted to hang out...but I can come back later?” she asked hopefully, hoping that she got some time with her crush today...without her trying to muscle in.
Pyrrha blinked. While she may not feel it herself, she could see that May was attracted to Jaune. Hell, she likely would be attracted to Jaune if she was capable of feeling those types of emotions. He was a great man. She smiled and moved forwards. “We’re going to the pool, May. Would you like to join us? The more the merrier?” seeing the beanie-wearing girl’s surprised look, she winked from behind Jaune’s shoulder.
May had to bite the inside of her cheek to avoid the face-splitting smile she wanted to reveal, instead managing to say, “A-are you sure? I don’t want to be a bother...or get in the way of team time.” she nearly winced, since most of the time she was left out of ‘Team Bonding’ stuff in BRNZ, since she was the only girl.
She didn’t see Jaune’s eyes soften, but she did hear him. “It’s not bother to spend time with a friend, May. You’re welcome to come. We’d be glad to have you.” she couldn’t keep the joy off her face this time as she smiled wide. “Thanks! I’ll go get my suit! Which pool are you heading to?” she asked. This could be her chance! And it looked like Jaune’s own partner, Pyrrha freaking Nikos, approved of her going for him!
“The smaller one on the West side of the dorms. More private.” left unsaid was they chose that one to make sure Pyrrha had peace, since it was one of the few of them that didn’t have windows to the outside, meaning no loiterers attempting to hide with cameras. It may have been against the rules and punished harshly, but that didn’t stop perverts in their attempt to get pictures of swimsuit malfunctions.
“Thanks! I’ll go grab my suit!” in a burst of emotion, she hugged him, before darting off back to her own dorm to get her suit. She had thankfully bought one in case she ever had the courage to do something like this.
Granted, it wasn’t ideal, since preferably, it would just be her and Jaune, but at this point, with what Emerald had been pulling, she couldn’t afford to stay her usual self anymore...besides, worst came to worst, she had her semblance to fall back on.
Entering her empty dorm, she dug her bikini out of the bottom of her dresser, blushing at the thought of Jaune seeing her in it, wondering what he would saw when he saw how large her breasts were, before shaking her head. Now wasn’t the time for talk, it was time for action. She wouldn’t allow anything to stop her.
May was pouting. Honest to god pouting. Why? Apparently, Team RWBY had overheard Pyrrha and Jaune inviting her to the pool, so they invited themselves! And what’s worse, Emerald had found them and gotten an invite too! But she wasn’t going to let an extra five people stop her! She was going to get Juane’s attention!...right after her knees stopped trembling.
She stood before a mirror in one of the small changing rooms, wearing her bikini. The bottoms were a pretty lavender color, and a modest side-tie in style. The top, however...well, it was a bikini...in theory. The two tiny triangles covered her puffy, inverted nipples for sure, but a good portion of her pink areola was still visible.
Her blush was dark, almost taking over her face, but she wasn’t going to be deterred! She was going to go and show her crush what she had to offer!
Knock! Knock! May looked at the door, seeing the outline of someone’s shadow underneath it. Part of her hoped it was Jaune, but she knew he was too much of a gentleman to do such a thing unless someone else was there. “Hello?” she was proud her voice didn’t crack.
“May? Are you okay?” her shoulders relaxed when she realized it was Pyrrha and not Emerald here to taunt her. She had seen the smug look that the verdette had on her face as she went into one of the changing stalls herself.
“Yes, thanks! On my way out!” she called, gathering her clothes and putting them into her bag, making sure that they wouldn’t go ‘missing’ mysteriously. Standing and moving to the door, she opened it to see the redhead standing outside.
Despite the embarrassment, she couldn’t help but feel amused when Pyrrha’s eyes went wide, the normally reserved girl blatantly staring at her chest. She chuckled, making her breasts bounce. “Take a picture, maybe?” she teased, getting the redhead to rapidly shake her head and back up, looking incredibly flustered.
“I’m sorry!” Pyrrha yelped, before calming and taking a deep breath, looking May in the eye. “May, are you sure you feel comfortable wearing that? I mean, there’s more than just Juane out there…” May felt her eyes widen. “I can tell you like him, and honestly, on some level, I think he likes you too, but Juane...he’s not unintelligent, but he has a very low sense of self-worth.”
May nodded. Anyone could honestly see it. The blonde seemed to hold himself to an impossible standard. “But, I think you’re good for him, so let’s go and you can make his eyes pop out.” Pyrrha chuckled, and May nodded, her heart rising as she realized she had a great ally in Pyrrha.
As they headed back to the pool area, they could hear voices, Yang talking predominantly. “Damn, Em. How do you hide that? It’s bigger than Blake’s?” May’s expression soured, knowing exactly what Yang was talking about.
Emerald had happily shown off her thong bikini to May, revealing the same amount of ass that she had shown off in Survival Class the other day. She knew that Jaune was likely just as embarrassed as he was then...but he was likely to be more when he saw her.
“Oh, its a bit difficult, but a good skirt or pants does wonders!” Emerald’s voice was cheerful, but she could hear the hidden dislike within it; then again, May knew that Emerald had no real respect for those who flaunted themselves. Hell, she could honestly say that she had never seen Emerald act like this before until she decided she wanted Jaune.
As Pyrrha reached for the door, May took a deep, calming breath and nodded. Showtime.
Emerald smiled to herself. It was so easy to tease Jaune like this! And with the little wallflower out of the way, she had full access to him! Just a little longer and she was sure he’d be interested in spending some time alone with her on their free day…
The door opened and her jaw, and she was sure everyone else’s jaws dropped. Where had the shy little wallflower gotten the courage to wear something like that? Off to the side she heard huffing and jealous murmurs from Schnee, which at any other point would make her laugh, if she wasn’t so shocked.
Instead of being downright flat, like she had thought, the mousy girl had tits bigger than Xiao Long! When the hell did that happen?
May ignored everyone’s expression, from Yang’s shock, to Weiss’s not so little amount of jealousy, to even Nora grabbing Ren by the head and shoving his face into her own sizable chest; her attention was solely on Jaune, who was staring at her with awe. Filling her with strength.
Walking up to him, she sat down next to him. “H-How...how do I look?” she didn’t care what the others thought of her, Jaune’s opinion was the only one that mattered. If he didn’t like it, she had wasted her time!
She watched his throat bob as he looked over her body, making the warmth bubbling in her lower belly grow, wetness beginning to form in the bottom of her swim bottoms. “Y-You look wonderful.” she smiled as his voice cracked a bit.
“Thank you.” she said, relieved. She was happy that he wasn’t disgusted by how lewdly...large...her breasts were.
Time passed, the group having fun, or as much as they could have while stewing in jealousy over Emerald’s and May’s attributes.
Both Jaune and May were swimming together, making Emerald frown. There were too many people to use her semblance effectively, but maybe she could make it so they were misdirected...a smirk appeared on her face as she moved slowly through the water, weaving her semblance.
May was enjoying herself greatly, she and Jaune had stopped for a few moments and relaxed, Jaune sitting on the edge of the pool, and May floating before him in the water. She smiled at him, happy that this was going well. But now, she needed to talk to Jaune. “Jaune...I need to tell you something.”
Jaune looked down at May with a smile. “Yeah? What is it, May?” he asked. This...this was very comfortable. He truly enjoyed spending time with her, and even Emerald; she had sat with her and May and they had just talked. And despite the embarrassment of all this week, he found himself attracted to Emerald, just as he was May. It had been a very pleasant day.
May looked up at Jaune. This was it, she was going to do it! “I wanted to tell you-” her eyes widened as she felt her top slipping. Cheeks turning dark she saw Jaune’s eyes widening so she knew he noticed it to.
Before panic set in, she activated her sembalnce and pushed herself closer to Jaune as her top slipped off and began to float away, pressing her breasts onto his lap. She took several deep breaths as her heart rate calmed down. Looking up, she blushed more as Jaune was definitely noticing her now, especially if the poke on the underside of her breasts told her anything.
Jaune glanced around rapidly, waiting for the laughs, the shrieks, the mocking, the perverted jokes, but nothing came. In fact, none of them were even looking their way. Looking back at May (doing everything he could to not stare at those magnificent breasts, massive with puffy, inverted nipples, the flush from her face extending down to the top of them), he gave her a confused look. “H-How?”
Emerald agreed with Jaune. ‘Yes, how?!’ pulling off her top was supposed to embarrass her! Not basically make her set her tits on their crush’s lap!
May blushed. “I...it’s my semblance. When activated, anything surrounding me is...normal, for lack of a better word. It helps during combat, or in embarrassing situations like this, but I really don’t like using it much...but I left you and Emerald out of it...because…” she swallowed. “We both like you, and Emerald used her semblance on you in the gym showers!”
Jaune’s head spun. “I...what? You...you like me?” he asked, stunned. A nod from May. “Emerald does too?” another nod. “Sh-she used her semblance on me in the gym showers? How?” he asked. He was fairly certain he would have would noticed her doing something to him…
May blushed. “Her...her semblance is Hallucinations...she made it so you didn’t notice her in the shower with you…” his cheeks burned as he remembered the incredible heat and tightness that wrapped around his cock, bringing him to a swift orgasm. “Th-that was her?” he asked, mortified.
May bit her lip. “She does like you, just like I do...she just doesn’t...well, neither of us have ever...tried to get a boy, you know?” she glanced to her side, seeing a shocked Emerald looking at her, holding her top in her hand. Looking back up at Jaune, she smiled weakly. “Can we talk? We...we can go to one of the empty study dorms?”
Looking between the two beauties, Jaune swallowed and nodded. “Y-Yeah...I...I think that would be a good idea.” he said, quickly reaching over and plucking May’s top from an unresisting Emerald’s hand and handing it to the maroon-haired girl to put back on.
After May’s breasts were covered up (a part of Jaune mourning the loss of the beautiful sight), the trio gathered their things and left the room, uncaring that the moment that the door closed and May dropped her semblance around them, the room descended into confusion over where the three went.
~x~x~
Now, here the three of them were, in a student study dorm, the girls having swiftly gotten into another argument when they settled in here before he stopped them. He wasn’t going to let this ‘competition’ for him go on any longer. He wouldn’t deny that the two girls were beautiful, and he felt for both of them...his eyes hardened. It was time to take charge. Clearing his throat, he looked between the two of them.
“Now, both of you have been enjoying teasing and tormenting me this past week...that means, both of you are going to be fixing this.” he gestured to his tented pants, his hard cock jutting outwards. “Are we understood?” Jaune growled. “Now, don’t waste my time...clothes off.”
Neither Emerald nor May would admit it out loud, but they were soaked. Jaune taking charge and demanding that they finish what they had started by teasing him so was...hot. Instantly, they began tugging at their own clothes, shirts being tossed to the side, bra and binder falling to the ground, skirts, thong and hip hugger panties following, leaving both naked and dripping before their lover’s, hopefully boyfriend’s, eyes.
Jaune licked his lips, his cock straining in his pants as he looked over their bodies. They really were beautiful, and some part of him still couldn’t believe that they were truly interested in him...but the eager looks on their faces...those weren’t fake. They were real.
He walked around them, close but not so close her touched them, reaching out and just brushing his fingers along her backsides, watching with lust as goosebumps rose up from their skin. Jaune’s nostrils flared as he smelled a sweet fragrance wafting up from below, making his cock throb.
While Emerald’s ass was larger and more soft, his fingertips sinking into the fat cheeks, one couldn’t that deny the firm heart shape of May’s rear end was delightful as well.
Moving around to their front, he hummed, placing a hand on each girl’s hip, slowly and teasingly drawing his callused hands upwards. He chuckled at their their trembling, smirking at their needy whines. “Really?” he chuckled, “You two are begging for it already? I mean, you both tormented me all week...maybe I should leave you both on the brink for an entire week before finally taking you?”
Jaune didn’t know where all this confidence was coming from, but he did know that he felt empowered by the looks of panic and fear the two girls had, followed by immediate pleading to not do something so cruel to them, that they couldn’t take a whole week of being on edge-
“Like you had no problems letting me?” he asked. “You have a weeks worth of teasing and blue balls to make up for. I’m not cruel, so...if you promise not to tease and then refuse to follow through anymore after tonight, I can forgive you.”
Both May and Emerald breathed a heavy sigh of relief as they realized they weren’t about to be as teased and tormented as Jaune had been. It would have been hell! They were both already dripping down their inner thighs with need! Both shivered, releasing keens as Jaune’s hands moved down again, cupping their soaking cores. He did nothing, just cupped their slits. It didn’t take either of them long before they were grinding themselves shamelessly against his palms, shuddering and moaning as the callouses on his fingers and palm rubbed over their slick, sensitive skin.
It didn’t take long for them to break, both keening and trembling as they came hard, squirting along his palms, faces flushed darkly as they both realized they had cum in less than three minutes, but Jaune looked...he looked amazed, not amused.
Both slowly came down from their intense orgasms, watching with flushed faces as their lover contemplated their juices on his fingers, before tasting them, licking them clean and making their pussies clench.
The girls looked at another, and nodded. For now, they were on the same page. They had drove the man they both wanted to fits, and it was up to them to make it up to him.
Jaune blinked as he saw Emerald whisper rapidly to May, who blushed fiercely, but nodded. Before he could ask, both acted, moving him and having him sit on the bed. Glancing between them, the both looked at him softly. “We did you wrong, Jaune...we treated you as though you were a prize to be won, although among all the men here, you are one…” May began, looking ashamed, her blue-gray eye looking down, before it snapped back up as she realized what she was staring at.
Despite the situation, both Jaune and Emerald chuckled, before Emerald sobered and continued. “We’re going to make it up to you...be the best girlfriends we can be. We promise.” seeing Jaune’s shocked look, she smirked. “You heard right...you hit the jackpot, tiger!”
Glancing at May, Emerald nodded again, and May slipped down onto her front, her upper body held up by her elbows, while the verdette girl turned around, setting her plump rear on his thigh. “We couldn’t decide who would get to please you first, and well, our assets are quite opposite to one another, so I thought, “Why shouldn’t our forgiving boyfriend get the luxury of a titjob and an assjob at the same time?”...oh! I can tell some part of you likes that thought!”
Both May and Emerald giggled from how hard Jaune’s cock was twitching, obviously imagining what they were about to do. Locking eyes with their new boyfriend, both moved, sandwiching and engulfing Jaune’s large shaft between their impressive endowments.
Jaune groaned darkly, his cock feeling as though it was being utterly smothered by four large, warm pillows. Opening his eyes, he saw both Emerald and May looking at him with equal amounts of lust, and glancing down...he barely saw his tip emerging through the twin cleavages. He huffed, his fingers digging into the sheets by his body. He could feel his balls churning already, but knew that he was nowhere close to cumming.
He took deep breaths, as they started to move in tandem, in such a way that he was wondering if they hadn’t practiced this beforehand. “Fuck...you two…” his voice was almost a growl, something that disturbed him, but he could see the effect that it had on his two new girlfriends. Both were looking at him with lust in their eyes, their movements getting even more frantic, his cock slipping in their cleavages, his tip popping up and out between them as they fell, Emerald’s rear and May’s breasts squishing against his thighs.
“Like it, lover?” Emerald asked, eyes hooded halfway. “I...I won’t lie...I’m getting wet just feeling this thing between my cheeks...how about you Zee?” she asked.
May blinked at the nickname, but smiled softly. “Y-Yeah...this...this is really turning me on…” she was mortified at saying that out loud, but she wasn’t going to lie about the fact that her juices were streaming down her inner thighs. It didn’t help that her sensitive nipples were dragging along the soft skin of Emerald’s rear end.
Jaune groaned as both of them worked harder and faster, getting him closer to his end, growling as both stopped their movements, leaving him on the brink again. He scowled lightly as both moved off of him, although it lessened a fair bit as they leaned over and kissed him. “Don’t worry, baby…” Emerald smirked, “We’re going to get you off, we just don’t want to waste all that’s in here,” Jaune hissed as two different hands cupped his large balls, rubbing the swollen and packed spheres gently. “by letting it spit out onto our tits or ass, that’s all. We want it in us…”
May hummed softly, kissing Jaune again and getting lost in the addictive feel of his lips. Pulling away from his lips, she rubbed her nose against the blonde’s, pressing her tits against him. “We want you to fill us up...I tasted it before, I want it in me. No condoms, I’m on the shot...I...I want to feel it raw…” her cheeks burned, but Jaune only smiled softly, reaching down and cupping her cheek.
“If you’re sure...is it alright that she goes first, Em?” Juane asked, giving the cocoa-skinned verdette a glance, knowing that May had far more self-image issues than she did. The carmine-eyed girl pouted, but nodded. It would give her a chance to contemplate her own problem.
Emerald hadn’t hadn’t renewed her birth control. She hadn’t bothered resuming the shot; after all, why get something that you weren’t going to use at all? Now she was kicking herself. She’d figure out something. There was no way that May was going to be the only one fucked tonight!
Jaune kissed May again, which the buxom beauty accepted eagerly, moaning softly as Jaune’s tongue prodded at her lips. Clutching at him, May slid her body over his, enjoying the feel of his body pressing against her own. A small whimper escaped her lips as her sensitive nipples rubbed against his chest. Her pussy clenched around nothing as she pulled back from the kiss, a thin line of saliva stretching between their lips several inches before breaking. “Make...make love to me, Jaune...please don’t make me wait…”
Jaune kissed her again swiftly, rolling them over so May was on her back and he was looming above her.
May blushed, completely exposed before Jaune’s gaze. Her GG-Cups were on full display, her areola puffy and engorged, although her nipples were still tucked away in their little slits. Her trim legs were spread wide, exposing her soaked core. Even her milky, scarred eye (a testament to a Grimm attack when she was young) was uncovered from its hidden shield of her hair. She should have felt mortified. But with Jaune’s hungry gaze on her...she only felt...desired. Like a woman. She released a keen as Jaune leaned down and pressed kisses along her neck and collarbone, his fingers roaming her sides.
A squeal erupted from her mouth as Jaune’s firm hands grasped and toyed with her breasts, the callused digits almost sinking into the soft flesh. She squirmed and shook beneath him as his fingers rubbed over her sensitive areola, teasing the sensitive nubs.
Pulling back, Jaune stared into her visible eye as her face scrunched up, feeling her hips arching and rubbing up against him. He chuckled. “Sensitive there, are we?” he asked letting his index fingers and thumbs trace around the protruding flesh, his hard cock throbbing hard as he watched the busty girl squirm and writhe. This was breathtaking.
May was mortified! She couldn’t cum from just having her nipples teased! She wouldn’t, she wouldn’t, she wouldnnnnnn’t-a shameful keen escaped her mouth as Jaune’s fingers pinched, her nipples popping out of the small slits they hid in; her core clenched, her pussy squirting her fluids onto her thighs and on the sheets. With a whimper, she covered her face with her hands, not wanting to see the laughing expressions that she was sure both had.
Jaune was the furthest he had been from laughing in a while. He had never remembered be so hard in his life. Sharing a glance with Emerald, who looked just as shocked, Jaune grinned and slipped his hands down to May’s toned thighs, gripping them and spreading them a bit wider, slipping between them, the tip of his cock a hair’s breadth away from her soaked core.
Emerald, sick of being left out, leaned down and gently pulled May’s hands away from her face, looking into her embarrassed...sister-girlfriend?...she looked into May’s eye. “Come on, Zee...Jaune’s about to make you his...don’t hide behind your hands for this…” she smiled as she watched May’s eye immediately shoot down to see Jaune’s cock moments away from breaching her core.
Jaune smiled softly as he moved just a bit, allowing his head to touch her sticky lips. “Are you ready? I want confirmation…” he looked May directly in the eye, refusing to move further without her okay. He watched May nod, staring directly down at their potential joining.
That wouldn’t do. “I need you to tell me with words, May…” he said softly, rubbing his cock along her soaking lips gently. “I want to hear your beautiful voice telling me you want me to fuck you…” he hummed, turning his head and planting kisses on her toned calf muscle, running his nose along the smooth skin as May released small squeaks of sound, but nothing resembling words. He was patient. He had waited this long, he could wait until she found her ability to talk.
Fortunately, Jaune didn’t have to wait long. Emerald hummed and gently cupped one of May’s tits. “If you don’t tell him, he won’t fuck you. If he won’t fuck you, there’s no need for him to be where he is. It will be my turn. He’ll be fucking me. You wouldn’t want me to go first, now would you?” she asked, seeing May’s eye widen in panic.
“NO! Fuck me, Jaune! Don’t fuck her first! Please, I want it! I need it! Fill me with your cum!” May cried out, bucking her hips upwards, trying to take Jaune’s cock into her core. There was a beat of silence before her her lightly tanned face turned dark red, her cheeks resembling dark cherries.
“Heh, such a naughty girl, and a screamer to boot!” Emerald chuckled, gently fondling May’s breast, feeling heat flow off of her. “Don’t worry about it sweetie, its just us. But you heard her, stud; fuck her and fill her up!”
Jaune took a deep breath. While both had used their semblances to please him before; Emerald giving him that assjob in the gym showers while hidden from him and May had used her own to rest her breasts on his lap in front of everyone at the pool, he had never done this. He wanted it to go well.
“Looking at May, he smiled as he slowly began to push his way into her core. Huntress-in-training she may be, but she was a virgin and he wasn’t small. So he was slow to enter her and spread her open. He watched her face as she mewled and squirmed underneath him, digging her fingers into the sheets, gasping for air and whining for more.
Finally, Jaune bottomed out, his hips pressing against May’s, his own face tense as her walls were rippling and flexing tightly around his cock. She was hot, scorching even. Combined with her internal movements, it felt like she was constantly cumming around his cock. The look on her face only made him think more that she was cumming.
Slowly he pulled back, watching May’s face pinch and hearing the weak mewl coming from May’s mouth, feeling her thighs trembling in his hands. He watched her arch as he thrust back in, pleasure hitting him hard as well.
Seeing May starting to relax, Jaune knew it was time. Shifting his grip in her thighs, Jaune began to move faster, making May’s visible eye widen as he suddenly began to pound into her, loud smacks and claps filling the room as flesh smacked against flesh, pale hips colliding against tanned ones, Jaune’s swollen balls smacking into May’s toned ass.
Emerald stared jealously at May’s ecstatic face, before deciding that May shouldn’t be the only one having any fun. Sitting up, she carefully shifted so she was kneeling over her face. “It’s only fair I get off too, you know…” she teased, before plopping down and placing her pussy on May’s mouth, her ass covering the rest of the girl’s head. She moaned as May immediately started lapping away at her core, her tongue surprisingly skilled for a girl who had never eaten pussy before. She smirked as she saw Jaune’s eyes fill with lust, but she had to readjust herself as she nearly rocked off of May’s face as Jaune began fucking her even harder, his grip on the maroon-haired girl’s legs shifting a bit more.
Her eyes widened as Jaune lurched forwards, almost bending May in half, locking her legs down, putting her into a mating press and slamming into her. She threw her head back, a choked cry escaping her mouth as May screamed into her pussy, sending vibrations along with the sensations of that surprisingly wicked tongue. She released a choked cry as she came hard, squirting over May’s face.
May could see and hear nothing, could only smell Emerald’s intense scent of cherry blossoms and natural musk, could only taste her sweetly tangy arousal, and feel...oh Gods above, could she feel Jaune fucking her, bending her in half, making her his breeding bitch-her slick pussy clenched around him in sudden orgasm, a wail of pleasure leaving her mouth, being muffled by the slick flesh that hadn’t moved from her oral cavity. She thrashed underneath her two lovers, bucking upwards and trying to get more and more pleasure, to receive Jaune’s cum and become his woman.
Jaune growled as May clenched and flexed and squirmed around him, her juices leaking around him and dribbling down onto his pulsing balls. He knew that he wasn’t going to be able to hold back too much longer. This was, these two were too erotic to maintain calm. “C-Cumming!” he groaned, hearing May squeal eagerly as his balls rose and fell, his sack squeezing as his thick cum spurted out of his tip, forcefully filling up the maroon-haired girl’s core.
May cried out into the soaked flesh above her, heart singing as Jaune filled her up, claiming her body as his, and his alone. No other man would stretch her out, would fill her up...no other man’s seed would ever take root within her.
Feeling Emerald slip off of her face, she inhaled deeply the sweet air and stared at her lover. Feebly, she raised her arms, wordlessly asking for a hug. She moaned as she found herself scooped up into strong arms and smelling Jaune’s musky scent, her core flexing and rippling around his still twitching cock. “...Love you…” she moaned, nuzzling against him. “Love you too, May…” he hummed.
Jaune slowly, very slowly slid his still hard cock from May’s body, both staring at the veritable waterfall of semen that spilled from her pussy and onto the sheets. May managed a giggle. “You really did fill me up…” she whispered in an awed voice. Looking up at Juane, she kissed him. “You’re going to be doing that again soon...”
Emerald let the two have their moment, before she pouted, reaching down and gently squeezing Jaune’s balls, quickly gaining his attention. “I...I haven’t renewed my birth control yet, but I want it raw too…” she pouted. She cursed herself at the fact that she hadn’t thought of something as simple as birth control. Her eyes brightened. “You can fuck my ass.”
The blunt manner of speech made both May and Jaune gape at her, although Jaune’s sticky, twitching cock told Emerald that he really liked the idea. She slowly spun around on the bed, pushing her ass out and giving it a wiggle. “I know you want to~” she teased. “I don’t mind...after all, it is my best feature~”
Reaching back, she grabbed her cheeks and spread them, revealing her winking little pucker to her audience of two. Glancing over her shoulder she smirked, seeing both her boyfriend and fellow girlfriend staring. “You’re nice and lubed up due to Zee, so c’mon, lover...claim what every boy’s thought about!”
She watched with amusement as Jaune reached out for her almost zombie-like, his hands grabbing her ass and squeezing tightly, making her moan as his strong fingers sank into her flesh. “Yeeeasssss…don’t be afraid to get rough with it…” she groaned, getting wetter and wetter from Jaune’s rough handling.
SMACK!
A guttural moan spilled from her lips as Jaune’s strong hand slammed against her bubbly backside, making the cocoa-colored flesh ripple and sending a pleasant sting through her body. SMACK! Another one on her opposite cheek made her juices start sliding down her inner thighs.
Repeated spanks covered her ass, falling in a random pattern, sometimes going from cheek to cheek, other times he spanked a single cheek several times, the sting building until it became almost painful, the fire between her thighs growing and growing and growing until-
Jaune stopped.
A piteous whine escaped her lips, looking over her shoulder desperately at him, seeing him smirking. “You’re not going to get to cum that easy, Emerald…” she felt a slick feeling, and knew that it was Jaune’s cock. It slid between her cheeks, the cum slicking up her crease and covering her tight little pucker. A bit of adjustment and she felt his tip poking the small circle. Her pussy quivered. “Please…” she keened.
Jaune thrust.
Emerald’s eyes widened as Jaune bottomed out in one go, hips slapping her stinging rear as all ten inches of cock spread her wide. “Fuck!” she groaned, gripping the sheets as Jaune drew back until just his tip was still inside her, then plunging back in again. Smack!
Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Jaune’s thrusts were rhythmic, and every time he bottomed out her ass cheeks were spanked hard by his hips. Broken moans spilled from her lips even as her own juices dripped down from her pussy and onto the bed, dark spots forming and growing in size.
Seeing May looking at Emerald hungrily, Jaune smirked and spun them around, much to the dark-skinned girl’s shock. Her carmine eyes widened as May spread her legs, revealing her cum stuffed pussy. “Eat me, Emerald...you made me do it to you, so its only fair...and hey, you get to taste Jaune! Won’t that be great?” she teased.
Emerald could smell it, the tangy, slightly bitter scent of their mixed arousal, her mouth watering as she found herself leaning forward…
...only for May’s legs to wrap around her head and drag her in, smushing her face against the maroon-haired girl’s cream-filled core. “MMMMMPPPHHH!” she whined, only making the one-eyed girl moan and Jaune rail her ass even harder.
May watched as her boyfriend railed her sister-girlfriend, and said sister-girlfriend sucked and licked and slurped away at her soaking pussy, sending pleasure through her body.
Jaune slammed into Emerald’s ass, enjoying watching the ripple of her flesh jiggle as his hips slammed into her, watching May moan and clutch at the Verdette’s hair as she was eaten out. He fucked her hard and powerfully, giving her all of the aggression that he hadn’t given May. He could tell she loved it, just like he did. She was already cumming, her anal walls squeezing bearing down on his cock, her juices spilling down her thighs.
He knew that he was close too, but he wanted to wait, hold out for May to cum again...lurching forwards, he began to slam himself against her, his balls slapping against her pussy, sending droplets of her cum flying as he slammed his lips against May’s.
“MMMMMMHHHHPPPPPHHH!!!” the trio moaned in unison, their screams of passion drowned out by their flesh.
May squirted hard, covering and almost drowning Emerald in a mix of her cum and Jaune’s, while Emerald sprayed the sheets with her clear cum as they came in unison.
Jaune, however, growled as his balls snapped taut and he began to pump his cum deep into Emerald’s backside as he devoured May’s lips, their tongues tangling against one another.
Slowly breaking the kiss and moving away, all three panted for air. “F-Fuck…” Emerald gasped, her head slumped on May’s inner thigh, licking her lips of May’s and Jaune’s cum. May was speechless, her massive chest heaving as she fought to get back her breath.
Jaune rolled his hips slowly, letting the last drops of his cum side from his cock as he slowly pulled back, watching in awe as Emerald’s ass gaped, his cum spurting out as the formally tight little hole struggled to close.
Grabbing his lovers and shifting them, Jaune slumped in the bed, followed by two female bodies, May and Emerald each grabbing an arm and pulling it close, his limbs being swallowed up by May’s massive cleavage and Emerald’s more modest one. Their legs entwined with his as they relaxed, their heartbeats finally calming down and breathing returning to normal.
“Ah, hah...that was...that was…” Emerald slumped against Jaune, trailing off, unable to come up with the words necessary for what she honestly was feeling. May hummed, nuzzling against Jaune’s shoulder. “...Perfect…” was the only word she said, and despite the fact that she had been Emerald’s worst enemy not two hours ago, the mint haired girl found herself agreeing.
“Yeah...perfect…” she hummed, closing her eyes and resting against her new boyfriend as fatigue finally hit her. She knew that she wasn’t done, not by a long shot. She may have agreed to work together with May tonight to make sure they both got what they wanted, but that didn’t mean that she was going to be passive all the time...the next morning, she was going to wake her boyfriend up with her mouth.
...little did she know, May had the same idea, dreaming of driving Jaune wild with her own talented tongue.
A Week Later
“Jaune? Are you okay?” Pyrrha asked, looking at her closest friend in concern as they studied in one of the study dorms. His face was flushed and a fine sheen of sweat was on his forehead. He looked at her and smiled, although it seemed strained. “I’m just fine, Pyr. T-Thanks for asking!” he said, although his voice was tense. Tilting her head, Pyrrha nodded and going back to her work.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, despite the immense pleasure that flooded through him. Looking down, he narrowed his eyes at a naked May beneath the table as she swallowed the head of his cock in her mouth, while her breasts swallowed the shaft, eyes bright as she looked up at him happily.
That wasn’t the only thing happening. Before Jaune in the middle of the study dorm, on top of the table he and Pyrrha were sitting at, was a naked Emerald. She had changed positions several times already, from doing exercises in booty short that showcased her magnificent ass, like Yoga and squats (reminiscent of the teasing she did to him in the gym), to belly dancing, to stripping herself of her bottoms and twerking, clapping those fat cheeks together, to the position she was in now, sitting on the table before him, legs spread lewdly and cupping one of her breasts as she openly fingered herself in front of him.
Jaune wondered how he had gotten so lucky. He had two beautiful girlfriends, both of them surprisingly adventurous...to the point of Emerald using her semblance to keep his partner from noticing anything odd as they both played with him...and each other.
Jaune bit his lower lip to contain the groan as he came hard, coating May’s face and tits in a thick, gooey mask of his cum. Eyes brightening, Emerald turned and hopped off the table (making sure to wiggle her ass in his face as she did so), crawling underneath it and immediately attacking May, kissing her deeply as they both began to scoop up his cum, moaning happily as they devoured his seed.
His cock, having lost none of its rigidity even with the massive cumshot he had painted May with, twitched. As he watched, both his girlfriends leaned forwards, pressing their lips to the head of his cock. Right next to his partner. Who remained oblivious due to Emerald semblance.
God...he loved his life right now.
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theseerasures · 3 years
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For the meta thing, how about big sisters with absent mothers: Winter and Yang? Like, how they dealt with things differently and what a friendship between them would look like
anon i just want you to know that as soon as received this ask i barged into my girlfriend’s room to be like “is this you???” because this ask is so EXQUISITELY tailored to my personal interests that i was like “literally who else would cater to me like this” and it was not her, apparently!!! so thank you very much for this ask.
of course i have SO MANY thoughts about this topic that it took me a complete month to marshal them into something faintly coherent, if staggeringly long, so. i hope it’s worth the wait.
S(chnee)-side: how to lose brothers and alienate sisters
let’s start from some well-trodden ground: the season 5 character shorts, and their subsequent caricaturization via Chibi, which posit the Yang vs. Winter dichotomy as something like “Yang loves Ruby by diving into a monster’s mouth for her, and telling her she always has her back, and Winter does the same for Weiss by...siccing monsters on her, and telling her that she won’t always be around to save her from them.” much hay has already been made about the reasons why the two of them would act in the ways they did, so for the purposes of my own meta i’m going to skip over those, and concentrate on how content since season 5 has updated these conceptions.
and on Winter’s end of things, these conceptions have been updated by showing that she’s, uh.
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...full of shit.
we’ve now had TWO instances of Winter going above and beyond to protect someone vulnerable. the first time was for Penny, with whom she has a sisterly bond, and the second time was for Ren, with whom she has...exchanged a few lines of dialogue. if she’s so ready and willing to hurl herself bodily into the path of an aggressor for someone who is basically a stranger, then why all the pageantry with Weiss about how she can’t (or won’t) save her? did she carve some kind of blood relative exemption into her saving people thing? does it only apply to people who wear a lot of green?¹
to properly address this question--and to bring in the Willow of it all--i think we should step back and ask: how does Winter actually feel about the Schnee name?
not Jacques’ name, mind. nor anything he did to besmirch it. Willow’s name, and Winter’s birthright.
because what has always been interesting to me is that while Weiss has talked about reclaiming or rehabilitating the Schnee name from their father’s meddling and still clearly wants to reconcile herself with it, even after being disinherited, Winter has only ever talked about distancing. it’s entirely possible that she had similar aspirations when she was around Weiss’ age and was just more thoroughly disabused of them, but my point stands: Winter shows a discomfort with the Schnee name overall in a way that Weiss has yet to. you don’t have to look any further than Winter’s combat style to see how this discomfort is telegraphed, as she barely uses any Dust, or Glyphs, and the one aspect of her Semblance that she does use and tout are Summons, which just so happens to be the part that emphasizes her own individual ability to conquer foes. something about the Schnee name feels irreconcilably tainted for Winter,² and while i’m sure a large part of it has to do with her father, who can make her explode into emotion confetti by just being in the same room as her for thirty seconds, a not-insignificant part can probably be chalked up to the fact that...
Willow Schnee was probably never all that good a mother.
granted: we’ve have exactly one scene (two if you count the 8.2 sneak peek) with her, so i’m fully ready to be called Boo Boo the Fool if we get a flashback and Willow was some kind of crusading super-mom prior to her descent into alcoholism, but. the idea that she hasn’t ALWAYS had to compromise herself and her children just to get by feels facile. this is not to victim blame, but to say that Willow is an imperfect person (in that she is. a person) placed into a horrific situation, which means that she could not always deal with the situation perfectly. it’s important to remember her agency--both before and after she became an alcoholic--but it’s just as important not to idealize it into something it’s not. Willow was by no means a co-abuser to her children, but she was probably always inconsistent, because living with your abuser for years on end does that to you. personally, i’ve always envisioned pre-alcoholism Willow as...well-meaning and much more perceptive and intelligent than people give her credit for, but beset with her own flaws that grew in proportion to her hurt and bitterness. she was capable of shielding her children from her husband’s worst excesses, and often did; but she was just as capable of retreating when she might have fought, of excusing Jacques’ actions to try to keep the peace, even of lashing out at those who shouldn’t have to handle her negative emotions.
her descent into alcoholism exacerbated these tendencies, but Willow has always been a complicated woman, and the idea that there was a prelapsarian time when Willow was an unmitigated good, before...idk, her Good battery ran out and she became Drunk Victim Non-Mom, is...well, it’s definitely something that a ten-year-old who had an ENORMOUSLY traumatic birthday would believe (and blame herself for), but Winter might disagree. i don’t think her view would be any more objective, if only because the day Winter Schnee has an un-myopic thought is the day i pass gracefully into the West, but her view is probably more complicated and less flattering, because Winter knew her mother more as a person, and that’s something we’re gonna talk about more with Yang and Ruby, later.
the point i want to make now, with Winter, is that her determined inconstancy, where she’ll readily jump into the jaws of a monster for her siblings in one breath and berate them and caution them against needing her in the next--that comes from her experience with Willow. the lesson she wants her siblings to learn is not just “the people who are supposed to love you are cruel, so get a helmet,” but “the people who are supposed to love you disappoint you, which is worse, so it’s better to not rely on them at all.”³ better for them to learn it from her than firsthand, but also--better for herself, because when she does disappoint them (and she did. she left.) at least she can take comfort in the fact that surely it doesn’t hurt as much; she warned them, after all.
in Winter’s mind, this kind of disappointment is an inevitability, so what’s paramount is to make sure that when it does happen her siblings are at least prepared for it. in the face of that the fact that she would actually risk life and limb to help them if they ever need it falls to the wayside; i don’t think it was a mindful decision that Winter consciously made--like, i don’t think she ever thought “i’m going to withhold the fact that i would die for them because that would contradict the whole social Darwinism thing i’m trying to drill into their heads,” because Winter’s just...not that kind of deliberate rational actor, in any arena. rather--and maybe even more damning--i think she just assumes that Weiss and Whitley already KNOW, that it’s a given for them the sacrifices she’d make for them in the same way it’s a given for her. but they don’t! because you have to say these things, and Winter has been force-feeding them the precise opposite.
ultimately all of these contradictory impulses stem from Winter’s deep-seated need for control--both of herself, and of the environments around her, and those in turn come from the fact that she was a) repeatedly wounded as a child and b) had to shoulder responsibilities far beyond her own ability as that same child, which...continues to this day. from this perspective, what matters is less keeping her siblings safe, and more her own ability to save them. she knows that’s imperfect, so she compensates by enforcing what worked for her onto them, and also by keeping them away from anything that could harm them, without their input. i never thought much of the contrast in environments for the character shorts--like of course Weiss would spar with Winter’s Summons at home like the untested shut-in she was--but what did take me aback was that in season 7, after Weiss has waltzed across an entire continent and been promoted to a full Huntress, Winter...still exclusively trains Weiss with her Summons up in Atlas, while Ruby and Yang are traipsing across Mantle killing ACTUAL Grimm. i have no doubt that this was for foreshadowing reasons, but still: it points to the fact that for all Winter loves Weiss and would fight giant monsters for her, there’s a part of her that...doesn’t trust Weiss, and wants to maintain control over her.⁴
this, i think, is part of the reason why Whitley treats her basically like an un-person: it’s not just that she left when he was too young and Jacques filled in all the gaps with lies and slander, it’s also that even when Winter was around the bigger age gap made it much easier for her to reconcile keeping him out of the loop, for his own good. she can’t ever be vulnerable around either of her siblings, but especially not Whitley, because he’s too young; he might let something slip when they’re around Jacques, and she shouldn’t be putting that kind of burden on him anyway. if he resents her when she’s just trying to protect him--except you said that you wouldn’t, Winter you absolute moron--then that’s his prerogative. it doesn’t change her own responsibilities. they can be miserable and Byronic in their own separate cubby holes and it’s fine.
(it’s not fine.)
R(ose)⁵-side: tonight, the role of Replacement Goldfish will be played by...everyone
let’s get one thing out of the way: Yang is a GOOD big sister, and some of the ways that she is good can be chalked up to the fact that she had a better home life, but only some. her character short ends with her promising Ruby that she’ll always have her back after spending the short proving it, and she has--until recently, and we’ll get to that--lived up to it. people get caught up on how much time Yang spends with Blake nowadays, but it’s important to remember that the entire impetus for Yang reuniting with anyone during the Mistral arc was about Ruby. so is the thing that separates a Yang from a Winter is that a Yang preaches what she practices, and isn’t firing a million zillion mixed signals at all times?
well--yeah, basically, but we’re gonna make a big thing out of it anyway.
what made Yang and Ruby different from the Schnees--even before the character shorts--was a sense of parity. in contrast to Winter insisting on maintaining a) the most unapproachable facade in the world, and b) a death-grip on every situation at all times, Yang was characterized from the outset as...chill (ironically). despite her Semblance being LITERALLY hotheadedness, Yang’s passionate energy never manifested in any real desire to take charge. the fact that she was fine (even happy!) with Ruby being bumped up to her year and then becoming leader speaks volumes to how much Yang trusts and respects Ruby’s judgement. rather than try to mask her flaws, she exudes this kind of...radiant fallibility and lets Ruby take care of her, or keep her in line. they complement each other: Yang takes care of more grounded concerns like individual fights and making friends, while Ruby--again, until recently--set more abstract goals and gave them moral direction.
a lot of this can be attributed to the smaller age gap, but i think it also comes from growing up as two motherless free-range children on an island--and the motherlessness is obviously a huge deal for both of them. when i started writing this i honestly thought i’d talk more about Raven, since she’s the mom who’s actually a character already, and her absence plays a huge role in how Yang deals with her abandonment issues in the present, but to be honest: the loss that cut the deepest for Ruby AND Yang is Summer, because Summer was actually around enough to be lost. despite the show frequently dividing custody of Team STRQ right down the middle between Ruby and Yang, where Ruby “gets” Summer and Qrow and Yang “gets” Tai and Raven, it’s the admixture of Rose and Branwen that makes the two of them who they are.⁶ Yang spent more time with Summer, but Ruby spends more time with Qrow, who is Yang’s blood uncle, so the dichotomy between nature and nurture is fascinatingly blurred.
i know this is an unpopular opinion, but i hope Summer really is dead, because the ways that her daughters interpellate their own identities from her absence drives so much of the story. that SUMMER was the first mother Yang lost--not Raven, because Yang didn’t even know about Raven until Summer died--is what shapes her relationship with Ruby, but also her relationship with Raven. what’s always simmering just below the surface of any Yang-Raven confrontation is that the person Yang actually wanted to find the whole time she was looking for Raven was Summer, because she wanted a mom, and a mom looked like Summer. Raven’s not stupid--it might be her one redeeming quality--so it’s likely that she’s always known and resented this. it’s not an accident that the moment Yang stopped looking for Raven for Raven and started looking for her for an easy conduit to her real family was the moment she actually found Raven.⁷ it was the first step to Yang outgrowing her old habits, of waiting for a mother to return--a classic “she needed a hero so that’s what she hurdy blah”
in a way that’s what she’s been doing this whole time. in contrast to Winter, who compensated for her mother’s flaws by ratifying them into universal law, Yang did the same by defying their supposed truth: people might leave her, but she won’t leave Ruby, and Ruby won’t leave her. it’s telling that whenever Yang leaves--even as a literal child--she always took Ruby with her, even if she planned on coming back. (it’s just as telling that when Winter left she didn’t.) she’ll always be there for Ruby, to give her the boost she needs to become the Summer they all want her to be, which means being a little of Summer herself--the part of Summer that baked cookies and slew monsters. and in return Ruby gave her...a sense of certainty, i think: that Ruby needs her and therefore won’t leave, but also that Ruby has the parts of Summer that Yang can’t muster herself--the grand heroic ideal, the moral certitude, etc.
...and now we’re finally gonna talk about the Schism, which i honestly think is the best thing that has happened to their relationship, development-wise. by the end of the Mistral arc Yang has arrived at a healthier perspective with respect to her relationships with everyone: now it’s not about indiscriminately giving herself away to people in the hopes that they might not leave her, but about choosing to give herself away to the people she loves and trusts. on one level this should not conflict with her relationship with Ruby at all, because Yang loves Ruby, but on another...the fact that Yang no longer feels obligated to perform unending support, to be the grounded complement, to fill in the parts of Summer that Ruby can’t--of COURSE that’s going to bring about conflict. because it turns out Yang never needed Ruby to give her direction or discipline. she’s now had time to think of the things she herself values, and those...don’t exactly match up with Ruby’s--or Summer’s.⁸ Yang, having known Summer as a mother, having been confronted repeatedly with the fallibility of mothers, is starting to outgrow Summer, and grow separately from Ruby.
but growing separately doesn’t have to mean growing apart, and i think Yang, at least, knows this. she clearly feels Some Kinda Way about their disagreement (and Blake’s implicit alignment with Ruby), but she’s also confident enough in her own beliefs by this point to commit to them. Yang’s taking charge instead of deferring to Ruby, and it turns out that...she’s actually not a bad leader herself, since she and Jaune have pretty much split a lot of those responsibilities. for her it’s not a question of losing faith or love in Ruby as a person, but about discovering what she herself fights for.
Ruby...sees it differently, because Ruby sees Summer differently. if Yang has always defined herself against Summer by deciding that she can NEVER fully be Summer, so she’ll make do with what she can, then Ruby’s always defined herself against Summer by marking Summer as the endpoint of her personal trajectory. what Ruby knows of Summer--that she was a person who enjoyed life and did not believe in original sin, that had a magical special destiny that was totally fine and awesome and didn’t drive her to her death, that she was a baker of cookies and slayer of monsters--is what Tai and Qrow--and Yang--told her about Summer, because Ruby was too young to remember the real Summer. so Summer for her is this abstract paragon to live up to, and no more. she can’t possibly exceed Summer, because the Summer Ruby knows encompasses literally all that is good.
when Yang tells Ruby “i’ve always got your back” in the short, a lot of it is about Yang, and the ways Yang needed to be there for other people so they’ll be there for her in return. but it’s also something Ruby really needed to hear, because Ruby needed the security and comfort of knowing that even if she screws up there are people around her who can help shoulder the burden. that security already took a serious hit after Yang lost her arm, but Ruby, kind and generous person that she is, was able to reconcile with that, because YANG HAD JUST LOST HER ARM. it would be ridiculous to expect Yang to have her back the way she used to, and besides--it was time she grew up, and growing up means becoming more like Summer, all of Summer, by herself.
and...she gets pretty far, is the thing, because Ruby IS a lot like Summer, and is incredible and amazing all by herself to boot, but the point is that no one should feel this much pressure to be All That Is Good, especially when you’re a teen. Ruby’s not ready to recognize that, partly because at this point so many people are looking to her for leadership, but also because being Summer’s heir is the only real link she has to her mom.⁹ so she hunkers down and does the best she can, in a situation that has far spiraled beyond anybody’s control...and then Yang tells her that it’s not working out, that this time it’s not that she can’t have Ruby’s back, but that she won’t. in Ruby’s mind, this could only mean one of two things: either Yang no longer believes what Ruby believes--what Summer believed, or...Yang no longer believes in Ruby, because she wasn’t good enough.
and well. it’s Ruby. it’s not hard to guess which reason she’s picking right now, especially since she pretty conspicuously refused to call the shots during the Amity heist.
but this is of course a false dichotomy. it’s not about which one of them is right, or even more right, and the show does a very good job with the framing to show that both of them have a point. similarly, what Ruby needs right now is neither confirmation that her long-held beliefs are objectively the best ones, nor that she is good enough to become Summer after all. no; what she needs instead is the knowledge that she’s allowed to fuck up, to deviate from what people have told her about Summer, to become what Summer never was. that’s something Yang can--and will--help her work out.
oh no this analogy is breaking apart: how they’d get along
...oi.
look, even beyond the fact that Winter doesn’t get along with ANYONE over much, i don’t think there’s any universe where she wouldn’t immediately rub Yang the wrong way. not only because Winter’d initially treat Ruby with the same cold tyranny that she (up until very recently) treats Weiss, but also because Yang’s partner is Blake, and--to say nothing of Atlas/Schnee-on-Faunus oppression--she was personally made collateral during the fallout with Blake’s abuser.¹⁰ i myself wouldn’t say that Winter abused Weiss, but to Yang’s protective and skewed view...
well, can you imagine Weiss trying to explain the way Winter ~~~trained her to the Bees? “oh, she sent a pack of Beowolves to hunt me! it was a meant-to-lose fight and when i started doing well she just moved the goalposts. one of her wolves almost ate me before i begged her to stop but it...probably...wouldn’t have...it was fine! my Aura didn’t dip THAT much. Winter’s the best!!” Yang’s hair would have been on fire after the first sentence, is all i’m saying. this coupled with the fact that Yang would very likely view Winter leaving Weiss and Whitley through the lens of Raven doing the same thing to her, and i think it would take a pretty long time for the two of them to see eye to eye on anything.
which is not to say that they have nowhere to go but antagonism, because at their cores Winter and Yang both have a) no hesitation whatsoever when it comes to protecting the people they care about and b) a tendency to define protection literally, often bodily. the difference is that Yang’s Semblance weaponizes these protective instincts for her, and she learned the limits of taking that too far. Winter...doesn’t, and hasn’t.¹¹ that COULD lead to some interesting conversations, but i don’t think Yang has quite the emotional clarity and generosity to reckon with that yet, and they’re not about to talk about it inside the Giant Whale.
a necessary part of Winter’s development is learning to respect the people around her instead of instantly categorizing them into boxes labeled “to fight” and “to protect and order around.” her friction with Yang could be an intriguing way to explore that; i have no doubt, for example, that Winter would have hurled herself between Elm and Yang just as readily as she had between Elm and Ren. similarly, i think if Winter ever were in the same room with both Raven and Yang she’d last about ten seconds before trying to rip Raven’s hair out with her teeth, because Raven is neglectful and casually demeaning in ways that are instantly recognizable to Winter (in the same way they were to Weiss).¹² the issue is that her doing any of these things for Yang--y’know, the same Yang who IMMEDIATELY gave Blake the cold shoulder when she tried to pull the whole “i’ll protect you” crap--is that she would only find it confusing and frustrating, and likely wouldn’t mince words expressing that.
Yang’s a big sister herself, and therefore knows all the big sister tricks, and Yang has a consistent pattern of not wanting to rely on other people, particularly people she sees as adults. so the best path toward a Winter and Yang friendship is probably not the head-on approach, but obliquely through someone else. that someone else can’t be Weiss, because Yang would be already hypervigilant about the way Winter treats Weiss--but it could be Ruby. even putting aside the fact that she is now one of the most important people in the world for BOTH her sisters, Ruby herself is very easy to love, and Winter loves very easily, despite herself. what they have in common--idealism and a martyr complex--would also engender some cool interactions, and Ruby would let Winter take care of her, if only to make Winter feel better.
i could see that being the impetus for Yang tentatively, grudgingly forming her own friendship with Winter, because there ARE things that Winter can give Yang, even if Yang can’t (or won’t) admit she wants them. it’s nice to try out being the kid sister, once in a while.
still, even if they get that far: i can’t imagine their relationship as anything friendlier than this.
¹ tbh neither would actually surprise me; what Winter does and doesn’t let herself do is only knowable to the Gods Who Have Forsaken This Land, and they’re certainly unknowable to Winter herself.
² maybe she knows that the whole “the Schnees were up-from-bootstraps-good-capitalists until that guy Jacques came along” thing is stupid!! i don’t care that he’s Santa Nicholas Schnee ain’t shit
³ this i think is why the current thing with Ironwood is such a bitter pill to swallow, because...she thought she’d been so careful. not in thinking that she’d chosen a man who couldn’t disappoint her, but in caring so deeply about him and investing so much of herself into him, despite the fact she’s only ever let herself call him “sir,” or “General.”
⁴ though i will say, to give Winter some credit: she actually accepts the fact that her sister is totally her own person now with a lot more aplomb than i’d expected, both in the “you stole an airship” scene and during all of Sparks. i wouldn’t be so generous as to read subtle treason into her disclosure of Ironwood’s Winter Maiden plans, but it does point to Winter’s desire for control being much more easily unlearned than that of her boss.
⁵ geddit? it’s a joke about handed-ness because now they both have the Hand Tremor
⁶ Tai is, as always and on purpose, the stabilizing agent. “appropriately underwhelming,” as Winter might put it, but absolutely essential.
⁷ of course then Raven had the gall to resent THAT too, because she’s the worst, and...see above, about Winter Schnee’s self-unknowing.
⁸ curiously, the values that Yang most espouses now--the importance of knowing what you’re getting into, protecting what is tangible, what is within your ability--are a) hard-won from years of taking care of Ruby and b) ones that she shares with Raven. the only difference is that Yang’s circle of protection extends far beyond Raven’s, which only includes herself.
⁹ weirdly enough the best person to talk to Ruby about this might be Raven, who has a very skewed perception of Summer herself (because Raven’s perception of EVERYONE is generally fucked up), but probably won’t hold back when talking about Summer’s flaws. Ruby won’t want to hear any of it, but i think she needs to.
¹⁰ i do think Blake and Winter would have some interesting conversations, if Blake ever...was generous enough to deal with *gestures at all of Winter.* it’s easier to compare Blake to Willow given the shared nature of their interpersonal abuse, but Winter on the other hand knows what it’s like to be hand-picked and groomed by a charismatic man with a singular vision who ended up wholly compromising that vision for the sake of their personal ego. that the White Fang are a good force perverted while the Atlesian Military is rotten to the core would...make the conversation more lively? it’s probably fine?
¹¹ “i’m Winter Schnee and i have maladaptive coping mechanisms that i am currently clinging to, as a maladaptive coping mechanism”
¹² though there...probably IS a world where Raven and Winter end up getting along after the initial skirmish, and it disturbs Yang and Qrow to no end
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thatsgay-writes · 3 years
Note
Leah x reader who is know to be the calm and nice one until she snaps when she found out Rachel held Leah underwater
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You were the yang to Leah’s yin. The eye of Leah’s own personal hurricane. Literally one of the only reason Leah had managed to stay some what sane after everything that happened with Jeff. Overall, you were her saving grace. You fell, literally fell, into her life on a cloudy but bright Sunday afternoon.
---
You had just been jogging through the park, training for a marathon that your father made you run. Your dad was an over the top sports fanatic and forced you to do sports or things you didn’t want to do. If you didn’t comply, you got beat. One thing he never taught you was wrestling or MMA fighting because he didn’t need you to learn how to defend yourself. So you got it taught to you and joined an underground fighting ring to make money since your dad wouldn’t let you get a job. Fighting was a way to let out all the pain and anger in your life in a productive way, it also let you get out all the pent up negativity in your body. Outside of the fighting cage you were a bubbly person, you had decided from a early age that the world had enough negativity in it and that you wouldn’t participate in it.
Anyways, you had been jogging through the park on Sunday finally hitting your five mile mark and were ready to turn around when you ran smack into a person. You wrapped your arm around the girl, you could tell it was a girl after practically body slamming her, and turned your body so you would hit the ground instead of her. “Oof...” You let out as the gravel digs into your back. “Are you okay?” You ask as you look up at the girl laying on top of you. The brunette above you shook her head a little before looking at you. Her eyes widened comically as she took you in. A blush shone through as Leah realized she was laying on top of a beautiful girl... Laying on top? Laying on top! Leah realized she was still on top of you and immediately got up. “I am so sorry!” Leah says as she puts out a hand to help you to your feet. “Oh shit.” Leah says as she realizes her ice cream cone had been crushed between the two of you. Not even caring about her own ice cream covered shirt, she uses the napkins that had survived the fall to wipe your stomach clear of ice cream. You look at her in shock as this random girl you just ran into was now wiping your bare stomach clear of ice cream. Leah froze after a few minutes as she realized what she was doing. “I--- Um...”
---
You ended up getting a beating that night for taking too long on your run but you didn’t care. You had gotten the number of one of the most pretty girls you had ever met. After the first meet, you and Leah started seeing each other a lot more. You didn’t know how you missed that Leah went to your school but you definitely surprised her one day when you came up to her in the hallway, abandoning your jock friends and invited her to spend lunch with you. The rest was history.
---
You had only been on the island for three days before you got into a fight. It had started as a normal morning. You woke up next to Leah and gave her a kiss on the head before getting up. You sat down next to Fatin near the fire as Dot kept it going. “You two are cute.” Fatin said with a smirk. You feel your face heat up and gave a small shrug with a smile. “Well I love her so...” Fatin gave you a nudge causing you to laugh. Your brightness was one of the only things that kept some of the girls sane. Sure, Martha was bright as well and Shelby tried to stay upbeat, but something about you had seemed so pure and good and it put all the other girls at ease... Except for Rachel. She seemed to have a problem with you for no reason. Rachel just didn’t believe in your enthusiasm about staying positive. She also didn’t like Leah because of what happened with the phone and how suspicious she seemed of everything.
There had been a few moments where Rachel had angered you and made you mad but you managed to calm yourself down, like with what happened on the mountain. But you had remained calm after Leah reassured you multiple times that she was okay. Leah still didn’t know about your underground fighting but she would soon. “Rachel is fucking psychotic.” Leah mumbles to you as every sat in their own little groups doing whatever. Fatin and Dot sat with the two of you. “What happened?” Fatin asked, over hearing Leah. “She almost fucking drowned me for that black box.” Leah continues in disgust. “I tried to come back go back up for air after we had gone up and down twenty times and she grabbed my ankle and pulled me back down.” “She what.” You state deadly calm as Rachel finally hit the last straw of your patience.
All three girls looked at you in shock, they had never seen you so serious or quiet as you were at that moment. Leah was surprised to see anger flash through your eyes before you stood up. “Oh shit.” Fatin mumbled as she they watched you walk towards Rachel. The three girls you were just with stood up, concerned about what was going to happen. You walked by Martha, Shelby, and Toni as well who all watched you in concern as they noticed the other girls had stood up. Now you had a whole audience as you walked up to Rachel and Nora and tapped Rachel on the back. “What?” Rachel ask annoyed at being interrupted by you. “Stand up.” You said trying to seem as calm as possible. “Why?” Rachel asked, really testing your patience. Don’t break her nose, don’t break her nose... You kept repeating over and over again in your head as you repeated yourself. “Stand up.” Rachel rolled her eyes and stood up right in your face, eye to eye. Nora had stood up as well but moved away some when she noticed the tension between you and Rachel.
Without warning, and to everyone’s shock, you reared your fist back and punch Rachel hard across the face causing her to fall. You shook your hand as you started to walk away from her. “What the fuck!” Rachel roars as she stands back up. “What the fuck was that!?” You stop walking and turn around to face Rachel, ignoring the shocked and frozen looks from the other girls. “Well you almost drowned Leah earlier today at the plane wreck, that wasn’t about to let that go unchecked.” You stated, voice still icily calm. “It’s not my fault she can’t hold her breath long or whatever. Maybe she should learn how to swim correctly or some shit.” Rachel fires back annoyed. “Oh yeah? Says the girl who lied about going to Stanford for diving.” You say in a mocking tone as Rachel’s eyes got wide. “Yeah, you and Nora talk kind of loud.” You say with a smirk that got bigger as Rachel attempted to bum rush you out of anger. You dodge a upper cut aimed at your face and move to the side as Rachel stumbles past you.
You let out a chuckle and grin from the adrenaline rush you were getting, you hadn’t fought someone in weeks. “This is going to be fun.” You state with a big smile, causing Rachel to get even angrier. You took off your shirt, not wanting it to get ruined, and Fatin let out a low wolf whistle getting a elbow to the stomach from Leah. Leah on the other, not gonna lie, was turned on. Her girlfriend fighting for her, shirtless? Leah was in paradise. Rachel bum rushed you again but this time instead of dodging, you caught her fist and gave her a solid punch in the stomach. The two of you fought for what seemed like seconds but what was really a few minutes as Rachel tried to get the upper hand on you. Finally, you had gotten Rachel pinned down again and was holding her arm in position that could dislocate it if you pulled to hard. “Tap out.” You grunted as Rachel tried to get out of your hold. She had blood dripping out of her nose and on to the sand and also sported a black eye. You had gotten her good but made sure not to hit place that would cause anything to break. Nora had wanted to help her sister but had backed up after Rachel sent her a deadly glare. “Tap out or I’ll dislocate your shoulder.” You state again, you knew how to put it back in so it didn’t scare you to do it. “5... 4... 3... 2...” You start counting down and slowly pull on Rachel’s arm.
“Alright alright! I give up!” Rachel screamed out as the pain got too much for her and you immediately got off of her. “Good, now don’t do some dumb shit like that again... To any of the girls, got it?” You ask as Rachel nods her head and holds onto her shoulder. You gave a nod and walked to pick up your shirt that had gotten sand on it during the fight. “Damn...” You stated as you went to the ocean to wash your shirt off and cool down. The ocean salt stung some scrapes you had gotten but was cool against your hot skin. It took a while but the girls all split away after the crazy event they just witnessed. Leah opting to give you some time before talking to you.
---
You had been in the ocean for a concerning amount of time. You honestly didn’t want to return to the girls in fear that their opinions about you might have changed. The other girls, void Rachel and Nora, were worried about you. “I think you should go talk to her.” Fatin says as she whispers to Leah. “I think she’s cooled down enough.” Fatin continues as she see’s Leah bite her lip in thought. Leah nods her head and gets up before heading towards you. “Tell y/n I want boxing lessons while your down there.” Toni throws out, being completely serious and ignores the glare she gets from Rachel.
You sat in a shallow part of the ocean, staring out into the endless sea. “Penny for your thoughts?” Leah asks as she sits beside you, as close as she can without touching you. You give Leah a quick glance before looking straight ahead. “Are the girls mad at me?” You ask, voice filled with nerves. “Just Rachel and Nora but that’s understandable.” Leah let’s out a laugh, “Toni does want you to teach her how to fight though.” You smile and turn to look at Leah before getting serious again. “Are you okay with what happened? I know I kind of went all Incredible Hulk and all but hearing what she did was just the last push...” Leah cupped your face with her hands. “I am okay with what happened... It definitely shocked me but, not gonna lie, it was kind of hot.” Leah says with a smirk and your face heats up immediately. “I, um... woah.” You say with a nervous laugh as Leah lets go of your face and leans her head against your shoulder instead. “Thank you though, for protecting me and defending me... Even before the whole place crash happened.” Leah said as she let herself fully relax against you for the first time since the plane crash. “Always.”
NEXT
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lillotte17 · 3 years
Text
Blossoms on a Bough
Fix-it/filler for the end of episode 36!!!
~
The first thing Wen Kexing notices, once his mind has floated up towards any sense of consciousness, is a bright cool light shining on his face. His brows twitch downwards in irritation, the intensity of it stinging his eyes even while they are still closed. His body feels like lead, and his thoughts are thick and muddy. He just wants to ignore the light and drift back off to sleep.
Wherever he is, he seems to have landed on something relatively soft and warm. It is surprising, since his general ideas about the netherworld involve darkness and cold, but he is certainly not going to complain. Perhaps, given the long list of his transgressions, his soul flew right past the Yellow River and dropped straight into hell, and now he is being fried in a pot just like that chicken that had chased Chengling around the Four Seasons Manor. The thought makes him want to laugh, but there is an odd tightness in his chest, so the best he can manage is an incredibly weak cough.
A faint rustling of cloth sounds by his ear as whatever he is reclining on shifts slightly. There is a vague sense of presence nearby, but he cannot tell more than that. Almost against his will, he cracks his eyes open to see who might be trapped in the stew pot with him, but there is only a dark looming blur surrounded by pale watery light. It makes him think of Zhou Zishu; his face bathed in sunshine, in moonshine, in starlight. He always seemed to glow with something intangible and dream-like. And Wen Kexing -helpless little month- could do nothing else but follow after it.
“Ah Xu,” he exhales in the barest of whispers.
A scent lingers in the air around him, crisp and lightly musky. It reminds him of burying his fingers in long dark tresses. Of the tenderness and care taken combing the tangles out of them afterwards. Of sliding his own hair pin into the carefully twisted knot at the crown of Zhou Zishu’s head. He should have brought him a different one to replace it, he thinks blearily. The key was most likely lost or broken in all of that snow, and now he will have nothing to remember him by.
This place is strange, wherever it is. Soothing and disorientating all at once. Is it some sort of hallucination? Did his soul get lost somewhere between life and death? Is he a true ghost now, doomed to wander the world in hopeless despair, witnessing joys he can no longer take part in? Thoughts spin around in his head in a billion tiny fragments. He cannot quite seem to catch hold of any of them, or arrange them in a pattern that makes sense.
“Am I dead?” he wonders aloud, his voice thin and raspy, not expecting an answer.
“You fucking better not be,” a cross reply rumbles out from somewhere above him.
Wen Kexing blinks. The sun still burns his eyes, but after a few moments of intense squinting, the dark blur leaning over him reconfigures itself into a familiar and beloved face. Zhou Zishu, leaning back against a dusty wall with Wen Kexing pulled more than half way into his lap.
“What…happened?” Wen Kexing wonders, head positively spinning in bafflement. Now that he is waking up a bit more, he is becoming more aware of his body’s aches and pains. It feels like a horse kicked him in the chest and then he fell into a river and drowned. Even wincing hurts.
“Something went wrong with the ritual,” Zishu tells him. His voice is raw and his eyes are bloodshot. He looks as haggard as Wen Kexing feels. “You collapsed. Your heart meridians were severely damaged, and your hair turned white. You must have used too much of your internal force. It has been more than three days since you lost consciousness and…I thought…”
His voice splinters and he trails off, looking away from him for a moment.
“But…it worked?” Wen Kexing presses, trying to feebly grip at Zhou Zishu’s sleeve, “You can hear me talking again now, so that means that it worked, right? The rest is fine, so long as it saved you.”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” Zhou Zishu answers, the first traces of a smile pulling at his lips.
“Yes. You are here.” Wen Kexing echoes, as though he still cannot quite believe it, “And…I am here, too.”
“You are.” Zishu confirms, his arms tightening around him, carefully tugging him up until he is all but leaning into his chest. “It was a near thing, though. My medical knowledge is limited, and even with the Yin Yang book, I was not certain that I could heal you.”
“Rong Xuan’s wife allegedly used the teachings in the book to heal his heart meridians and other serious injuries when he was near death several times over,” Wen Kexing hums thoughtfully, casually tilting his head against Zishu’s shoulder, “But she was an experienced physician. You have had no training, and yet you saved me on the first try. You must possess some kind of natural affinity for it. Ah Xu, you have so many talents, I am having a hard time keeping track of them all.”
“It had nothing to do with affinity,” Zhou Zishu huffs, sounding exasperated and perhaps even the tiniest bit embarrassed, “It was pure dumb luck.”
“Eh?”
“The Four Seasons Sect has a special technique that cripples someone’s heart meridians,” he explains somberly, a humorless smirk on his face, “I used it against Prince Jin to keep him alive, but bedridden. My master taught it to me, and as far as I know, I am the only one left alive who knows how to perform it.”
“That is very interesting, Ah Xu, but I am not certain I understand what it has to do with dumb luck,” Wen Kexing says smilingly.
“My master…he also told me how to counter the technique, so that the person’s heart meridians could be healed again and their qi could flow properly,” Zhou Zishu continues, turning his head slightly to directly meet Wen Kexing’s gaze. “I did not have much hope when I opened the Yin Yang book. You were slipping away, and there was no time for in-depth research. But…when I found the section detailing how someone with damaged meridians might be cured, it was obvious that…the techniques I learned from my master were based on this knowledge.”
“So…that means…my parents…?” Wen Kexing looks a bit lost at the revelation.
Zhou Zishu nods.
“It is likely that Lady Yue Feng’Er and your parents shared this precious knowledge with their friends, and possibly even helped my master develop this skill. I was only able to save you because of this.”
Wen Kexing furrows is brows, his thoughts whirling and his emotions complex. He seemingly stares at the dark blue of Zhou Zishu’s lapels for what feels like ages, looking but not seeing, pensive and moody. Finally, he lets out a very tired-sounding sigh.
“And I only managed to save you because that dumb bastard Rong Xuan stole the manual for the Six Cultivation Techniques,” he says, sounding bitter, “But maybe no one would have needed all this saving in the first place if that old monster had never let his idiot disciple leave the mountain to begin with.”
Zhou Zishu frowns down at him.
“I know, I know,” he mumbles, a bit sulky, “The past is past. Zhao Jing was punished and the rest are dead. There is no point stewing on it now. I have just…been angry about it for so long, sometimes I forget that I don’t have to be anymore. Be patient with me, Ah Xu.”
“Hm?” Zishu blinks, as though suddenly coming back to himself. “Oh, it wasn’t about that.”
“Then what?”
“I was just thinking that…it really could not have been anyone else,” Zhou Zishu tells him slowly, intensity burning in his dark eyes. “I said it was only dumb luck, because I never believed in destiny all that much before. If you want to achieve something in this world, you have to be willing to create it for yourself. But…for things to end up this way… It had to be you, and it had to be me, didn’t it?”
Wen Kexing bursts out laughing, utterly delighted.
“I always knew you had a soft heart beneath that tough exterior,” he grins, slightly breathless, with an almost pleasant ache in his ribs, “But Ah Xu, I never imagined that you were secretly a romantic.”
“Shut up,” Zishu grunts, pinching his arm until he yelps, “Who is romantic?”
“Ai, there is no need to be shy about it now, is there?” Wen Kexing says pleadingly, giggling to himself all the while, “There is no one here except us.”
“That’s right,” Zhou Zishu agrees blithely, a truly terrifying expression stealing across his face, “There is no one on this entire mountain except for you and me.”
“Ah Xu, don’t do anything rash,” Wen Kexing cajoles with a hint of genuine nervousness, “I only teased you a little bit, and I am still in such a delicate state of health. If you throw me out in the snow and beat me, I really won’t be-”
Zhou Zishu kisses him then, and whatever he won’t be promptly flies out of his head like a startled flock of birds.
The kiss is softer than he would have guessed, if he had gotten a moment to anticipate it. Clumsy, but tender. Hasty, but sincere. The mouth pressed so suddenly against his own trembles just slightly right before it pulls away. A thousand years too soon.
It is nowhere near the first time they have kissed each other, but Wen Kexing is almost always the instigator. It suits his own preferences to take the lead in most physical forms of intimacy anyway, so he would never complain about it. However, it does make the times Zhou Zishu reaches for him first feel more…something. Something that makes his heart full, and his eyes itch.
It makes him feel as though he is not only being accepted by this man, but chosen by him, too. As his partner. As his equal. As his friend. Lovers and soulmates and all the rest.
Wen Kexing is not certain that anyone else has ever chosen him before.
Not when there were other, better, options on hand, at any rate.
He swallows thickly, gazing up at Zhou Zishu with wide, startled eyes. Little flecks of cold mountain sunlight catch in the dark sweep of the other man’s hair almost like snowflakes. His grin is wide and fierce. Buoyant and hopeful in a way he has never been in all the time they have known each other. He looks impossibly beautiful, and horribly pleased with himself for managing to derail Wen Kexing’s usual babbling. There might be the slightest touch of pink to his ears, though.
“Ah Xu,” Wen Kexing chokes out.
I love you.
But the words get stuck in his throat.
“What?” Zishu laughs, “Do you ever get tired of calling me?”
“No.” Wen Kexing offers him a weak smile in return, shifting out of his hold a little so they can sit facing one another.
Zhou Zishu heaves an exasperated sigh, but his eyes remain bright, his expression one of incalculable fondness.
“Is that all you were saying during the ritual?” he wonders, half joking, “You just sat there calling my name?”
“Huh?”
“You said earlier that you had tried speaking to me, but my hearing had gone,” Zhou Zishu reminds him, “What did you say?”
“Oh, yes, it was mostly just your name over and over,” Wen Kexing nods, “Plus a few embarrassing personal anecdotes I felt like sharing. Once I knew you had no way to stop me, I really couldn’t help myself.”
“Lao Wen.”
“Yes, Ah Xu?”
“After all we have been through together, what could you possibly still have to tell me that you think I would be unwilling to hear?”
Wen Kexing makes a face, caught outright.
“It…is not so much a matter of thinking you would not hear me out,” he admits carefully, “It is more that there are just things that are difficult to say to someone. The more important they are to you, the harder it gets, so between you and me… But when a man feels his end has come, all sorts of things seem to tumble out unwillingly.”
Zhou Zishu looks positively stricken.
“You could tell that the cultivation technique was backfiring?” he hisses out, gasping Wen Kexing by the shoulders, “And you still kept going?”
“What else could I do?” Wen Kexing asks helplessly, “If I had stopped wouldn’t we both die? Would it be better if I had starved to death with your corpse in my arms? Besides, that old monster promised me that this technique could save you, so no matter what the cost was going to be, of course I-”
“So, you knew there would be a cost already?” Zhou Zishu cuts him off, expression like a brewing storm cloud, “You knew this was likely going to injure you, and you did not even think to warn me first? We could have prepared beforehand! You could have looked through the Yin Yang book and point out things that I could use to help you in an emergency! Dammit, Lao Wen, I thought you were supposed to be smarter than this!”
“Was there really time for things like that?” Wen Kexing argues back, “Your senses were already dying out one by one, if we did not try the technique as soon as possible, you might not have been able to complete it! If I told you how risky it is, would you agree to it? Would you still let me try to save you?”
“I deserve the right to make that choice!” Zhou Zishu shouts hoarsely.
“You do!” Wen Kexing agrees just as hotly, “But I owe it to Chengling to save his family. And I owe it to our master to save his teachings. And I owe it to you most of all. I ruined your chance at happiness. To rebuild the Four Seasons with Chengling and the other new disciples. You threw it all away to try and avenge me… The number of people in this world who have been good to me are few enough to count on one hand. I would do anything for them, and you most of all. How could I live without repaying this debt?”
“And what if I hadn’t been able to save you?!” Zhou Zishu demands thunderously.
“I didn’t expect you to save me!”
For a few moments, the words seem to echo of the cold walls of the armory, bouncing back at them over and over. The silence that follows after them is deafening. Zishu’s eyes are red, and his hands are trembling on Wen Kexing’s biceps, but he looks as though he is about to breathe fire.
“Good,” he says finally, his voice low and deadly, “Very good. You feel like you owe me so much, but all you want to do is torture me.”
“What?” Wen Kexing baulks, “No! Ah Xu, that’s not what I-”
But before he can finish the thought Zhou Zishu has already pulled him into a bone-crushing embrace, his breathing erratic, and his face buried in the side of his neck. Wen Kexing makes a pained grunt, his ribs still tender from previous injury. It only makes Zishu’s grip on him tighten, however, holding onto him with a furious desperation.
“In such a short stretch of time, I have had to see you dead or dying before my eyes over and over again,” he mumbles thickly into the silk of Wen Kexing’s robes, “You spent all this time chasing me down, pestering me to let you stay by my side, begging me not to die, and telling me to find things to feel hopeful about. But now it seems as though you are set on leaving me behind.”
“I never wanted to leave you,” Wen Kexing protests, but his voice seems to have lost all of its strength, “I just wanted to keep you safe. Even if I died, and you had to be sad for a while, you have so much left to live for, and I wanted you to have it. I just wanted you to be…happy.”
“Bastard,” Zhou Zishu laughs wetly, “Wen Kexing, you really are…the absolute worst sort of person.”
Wen Kexing sags in his embrace, his heart plummeting down into the pit of his stomach. His head droops, white hair falling across his eyes. Utterly defeated.
“I know.”
Zhou Zishu finally pulls back from him. There are obvious tear tracks down his cheeks, but he still looks fierce, regardless. He takes Wen Kexing roughly by the chin, forcing him to meet his eyes.
“You are also…my happiness.”
Wen Kexing gapes at him, for once in his life completely at a loss for words. Seeing an opening, Zhou Zishu takes the opportunity to kiss him again. Harsher this time. Brief and chaste and biting. It does not seem to help the other man’s sense of bafflement in the slightest. Indeed, Lao Wen looks as though his soul might have just flown straight out of his body.
Zishu smiles at him again, but there is still something sharp and wounded at its edges.
“Eternity would be an empty place without you,” he says quietly, “How could you leave me to bear it alone?”
“I…I’m…sorry,” Wen Kexing sputters, as though he does not know what else to say. He finally reaches back for Zhou Zishu, cautiously taking hold of his wrists. The ache in his chest seems to have spread outward, and he is shaking so badly that he fears he might not be able to sit up straight much longer. “I’m sorry. I just did not… I did not know how else to save you.”
“Mn,” Zhou Zishu nods in understanding, “I suppose I can forgive you for it this time, although some part of me still would like nothing so much as to throw you outside and beat some sense into that thick skull of yours.”
“I will accept any punishment you want to give me,” Wen Kexing tells him earnestly.
“Alright,” Zhou Zishu grins, “Then pay me back with your whole life. Stay alive, and stay with me. Always.”
Wen Kexing blinks in surprise, but the next moment he is laughing. Dizzy with relief and unexpected joy. Marveling at the gifts that fate has blessed him with after so many years of hatred and heartache.
“I can do that.”
~
When Zhou Zishu wakes up later that night Wen Kexing is sitting at the opposite end of their makeshift bed in nothing but his under robe. His back is facing him, and he takes a moment to stare at the snowy cascade of his hair. The living proof of what Lao Wen would sacrifice for him. It looks beautiful on him, as everything else seems to, but Zishu thinks he prefers the rich dark brown that he was born with. This new color comes with a twinge of guilt.
Not that he would ever say so.
“Lao Wen,” he calls softly, “What are you doing?”
Wen Kexing’s shoulders stiffen in surprise.
“Don’t come over,” he replies, “I’m not finished yet.”
“Ai,” Zishu grins, scooting close enough to lightly tug at a few strands of that bone white hair, “But that just makes me want to come over even more.”
“I have a knife,” Lao Wen says coolly, “I will use it if I have to.”
“You left our bed in the middle of the night to play with a knife?” Zishu laughs, not intimidated in the least. “Why?”
“If you stop pestering me for a few minutes maybe you’ll find out,” Wen Kexing snaps. Zhou Zishu is not fooled, though. He had caught the sharp inhale of breath when he had said the words ‘our bed’, and he is all but certain that Lao Wen’s threats are empty.
“But you’ll catch cold,” he coaxes, slipping his arms about his waist and pressing a kiss into his shoulder. He obligingly resists the urge to peek at whatever secret Wen Kexing is fiddling with, though. The other man sighs, but does nothing to discourage him, as expected.
“The next time you accuse me of being insufferable, I want you to remember this conversation,” Wen Kexing says wryly.
“It must be your bad influence,” Zhou Zishu chuckles.
Wen Kexing hums noncommittally, going back to whatever he had been working on before. Zhou Zishu sits patiently behind him, leaning into the warm curve of his back, listening to the steady beating of his heart and the faint scraping sound of a blade chipping away at something. The proximity is comfortable, and the quiet almost meditative, and before long Zishu is already half way back to being asleep.
“Alright,” Lao Wen says finally, carefully pulling himself free of Zhou Zishu’s arms and turning to face him, “You can look now.”
Zishu has to shake himself a little to wake up again, but once he does, he finds that Lao Wen is holding out what appears to be an oddly shaped icicle.
“…What is it?” he asks after a few moments of trying to puzzle it out for himself.
Wen Kexing frowns.
“It’s a hair pin,” he tells him, as though it should be obvious.
“Ah.”
“What do you mean, saying ‘ah’ with such a doubting face?” Wen Kexing huffs in annoyance, “Of course it is a hair pin, what else would it be? You lost the one I gave you before, so now I have to give you a new one to replace it.”
“I lost the one you gave me before?” Zhou Zishu laughs.
“That’s right,” Wen Kexing nods seriously, “But I promise not to be mad about it.”
“Philanthropist Wen is too kind.”
“It’s true,” Lao Wen sighs dramatically, “People are always taking advantage of my generous nature.”
He firmly places the hair pin in Zhou Zishu’s hands. Upon closer inspection, it looks to be roughly shaped like a tree branch. There are two lumpy circles that might be meant to be flowers attempting to bloom from it. The finished product is crude, but the ice is clear and crystalline. Pretty, even despite the skill level of the craftsman.
“It is meant to be plum blossoms,” Wen Kexing admits somewhat sheepishly, “One bloom for each of us. There was meant to be a bud for Chengling, too, but I accidentally broke it off. Hopefully, that is not an inauspicious sign for him.”
“I see,” Zhou Zishu says, because he does see, and just like the morning he had woken up to find the Four Seasons Manor cleaned and Wen Kexing diligently repairing his master’s old painting, he feels very much like he wants nothing more than to pull the other man into his arms again.
“Ah Xu, will you accept it?” Wen Kexing asks, slightly trepidatious at his lack of reaction.
“Of course,” Zishu smiles easily, “But it’s made of ice, after all. If I wear it, it will likely melt or break in a day or so.”
“If it breaks, I will just make you a new one,” Wen Kexing says, his eyes soft. He plucks the hair pin from Zhou Zishu’s fingers, reaching up and carefully sliding it into the loose knot at the base of his ponytail. “I can make you a new one every day, if I have to. With any luck, they will eventually look less ugly.”
He takes Zhou Zishu’s hands in his own.
“There are still things I am not good at saying,” he tells him, “Things that I want to share with you. Things that you deserve to hear. Right now, my skills are not enough, but just like with the hair pin, if I keep working at it every day, eventually I can give you something worth having.”
Zhou Zishu tugs him down into his embrace. He thinks about kissing him. About pushing him down and pulling his robe open and showing him, again, how very much he is wanted. But Lao Wen is still recovering from injuries, and it would be a shame to snap his new hair pin tussling around in the sheets. So, he makes do with holding him close, for now. Tangling his fingers in hair the color of starlight.
“Say them, or don’t say them,” he says quietly against the shell of Wen Kexing’s ear, “Whatever they are, they have no bearing on your worth to me.”
“Doesn’t that seem like my current value is lower than mud?” Wen Kexing laughs nervously.
“It means you are treasured,” Zishu corrects him firmly, “There is no price that I would sell you for.”
“I suppose that means I can stop living in fear that you would truly try and sell me to a brothel.”
“You really are a brat.”
“Ah Xu?”
“Hm?”
“I love you.”
47 notes · View notes
surveyhoursss · 3 years
Text
127.
Bold the ones that you know of!
2000
1.Who Let The Dogs Out? -Baha Men
2. All The Small Things -Blink 182
3. Amazed -Lonestar
4. Oops, I Did It Again -Britney Spears
5. Graduation -Vitamin C
6. Bye, Bye, Bye -N*Sync
7. Independent Woman -Destiny’s Child
8. Let’s Make Love – Tim McGraw and Faith Hill
9. Zombie Nation – Kernkraft 4000
10. I Turn To You – Christina Aguilera
11. I Knew I Loved You – Savage Garden
12. It’s My Life – Bon Jovi
13. Breathe – Faith Hill
14. Shake Your Bon-Bon – Ricky Martin
15. Blue (Da Ba Dee) – Eiffel 65
16. Goobye Earl – Dixie Chicks
17. Let’s Get Married – Jagged Edge
18. The Bad Touch – Bloodhound Gang
19. The Real Slim Shady – Eminem
20. Say My Name – Destiny’s Child
21. It’s Gonna Be Me – N*Sync
22. Party Up – DMX
23. Sexual (Li Da Di) – Amber
24. Country Grammar – Nelly
25. Aaron’s Party (Come Get It) – Aaron Carter
2001
1. Hanging By A Moment -Lifehouse
2. Allin’ -Alicia Keys
3. All For You -Janet
4. If You’re Gone -Matchbox Twenty
5. I’M Real -Jennifer Lopez ft. Ja Rule
6. Drops Of Jupiter (Tell Me) -Train
7. Let Me Blow Ya Mind -Eve ft. Gwen Stefani
8. Thank You -Dido
9. Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!) -Blu Cantrell
10. Independent Women Part I -Destiny’s Child
11. Again -Lenny Kravitz
12. It’S Been Awhile -Staind
13. Stutter -Joe ft. Mystikal
14. It Wasn’T Me’ -Shaggy ft. Ricardo “RikRok” Ducent
15. U Remind Me -Usher
16. Where The Party At -Jagged Edge With Nelly
17. Angel -Shaggy Featuring Rayvon
18. Ride Wit Me -Nelly Featuring City Spud
19. Peaches & Cream -112
20. Follow Me -Uncle Kracker
21. Drive -Incubus
22. What Would You Do? -Alicia Keys
23. Survivor -Destiny’s Child
24. Lady Marmalade -Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya & Pink
25. Ms. Jackson -OutKast
2002
1. A Moment Like This – Kelly Clarkson
2. Hot In Herre – Nelly
3. Complicated – Avril Lavigne
4. Girlfriend – N Sync & Nelly
5. Sk8er Boi – Avril Lavigne
6. Can’t Fight The Moonlight – LeAnn Rimes
7. Dirrty – Christina Aguilera
8. A Thousand Miles – Vanessa Carlton
9. Heaven – DJ Sammy
10. Gimme The Light – Sean Paul
11. The World’s Greatest – R Kelly
12. Jenny From The Block – Jennifer Lopez Featuring Jadakiss & Styles
13. Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American) – Toby Keith
14. Goodbye To You – Michelle Branch
15. Can’t Get You Out Of My Head – Kylie Minogue
16. The Game Of Love – Santana Featuring Michelle Branch
17. Young’n (Holla Back) – Fabolous
18. She Hates Me – Puddle Of Mudd
19. Starry Eyed Surprise – Oakenfold Featuring Shifty Shellshock
20. The Middle – Jimmy Eat World
21. Say I Yi Yi – Ying Yang Twins
22. Just A Friend 2002 – Mario
23. Hey Baby – No Doubt and Bounty Killer
24. Work It – Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott
25. U Don’t Have To Call – Usher
2003
1. In Da Club -50 Cent
2. Crazy in Love -Beyonce w. Jay-Z
3. Get Busy -Sean Paul
4. When I’m Gone -Three Doors Down
5. Ignition -R Kelly
6. Baby Boy -Beyonce w. Sean Paul
7. This is the Night -Clay Aiken
8. Bring Me To Life -Evanescence
9. Right Thurr -Chingy
10. Unwell -Matchbox Twenty
11. Picture -Kid Rock w. Sheryl Crow
12. Drift Away -Uncle Kracker & Dobie Gray
13. Get Low -Lil’ John & The East Side Boyz
14. Beautiful -Christina Aguilera
15. I’m With You -Avril Lavigne
16. Miss You -Aalyiah
17. 21 Questions -50 Cent & Nate Dogg
18. Shake Ya Tailfeather Nelly -P. Diddy and Murphy Lee
19. All I Have -Jennifer Lopez & LL Cool J
20. I Know What You Want -Busta Rhymes & Mariah Carey
21. Magic Stick -Lil’ Kim w. 50 Cent
22. Bump Bump Bump -B2K and P. Diddy
23. Flying Without Wings -Ruben Studdard
24. Here Without You -3 Doors Down
25. Work It -Missy Elliot
2004 (my birth year !! )
1. Yeah! -Usher
2. Burn -Usher
3. This Love -Maroon 5
4. The Way You Move -Outkast
5. If I Ain’t Got You -Alecia Keys
6. Hey Ya! -Outkast
7. I Don’t Wanna Know -Mario Winans
8. The Reason -Hoobastank
9. Confessions Part II -Usher
10. My Immortal -Evanescence
11. Naughty Girl -Beyonce
12. Let’s Get It Started -Black Eyed Peas
13. My Boo -Usher and Alecia Keys
14. She Will Be Loved -Maroon 5
15. The First Cut Is the Deepest -Sheryl Crow
16. Toxic -Britney Spears
17. Someday -Nickelback
18. I Believe -Fantasia
19. Breakaway -Kelly Clarkson
20. Slow Jamz -Twista
21. Dirt Off Your Shoulder -Jay-Z
22. Freak-A-Leek -Petey Pablo
23. The Way -Clay Aiken
24. Numb -Linkin’ Park
25. Dip It Low -Christina Milian
2005
1. We Belong Together -Mariah Carey
2. Let Me Love You -Mario
3. Since U Been Gone -Kelly Clarkson
4. Hollaback Girl -Gwen Stefani
5. Boulevard of Broken Dreams -Greenday
6. Don’t Cha -The Pussycat Dolls and Busta Rhymes
7. Candy Shop -50 Cent
8. 1, 2, Step -Ciara and Missy Elliot
9. Gold Digger -Kanye West
10. Don’t Phunk With My Heart -The Black Eyed Peas
11. Drop It Like It’s Hot -Snoop Dogg
12. Shake It Off -Mariah Carey
13. Disco Inferno -50 Cent
14. Behind These Hazel Eyes -Kelly Clarkson
15. Beverly Hills -Weezer
16. Just a Lil Bit -50 Cent
17. Lose Control -Missy Elliot
18. How We Do -The Game & 50 Cent
19. You & Me -Lifehouse
20. Soldier -Destiny’s Child
21. Rich Girl -Gwen Stefani
22. Mr. Brightside -The Killers
23. Oh -Ciara and Ludacris
24. Pon De Replay -Rihanna
25. Hate It Or Love It -The Game and 50 Cent
2006
1. Sexyback – Justin Timberlake
2. Hips Don’t Lie – Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean
3. Promiscuous – Nelly Furtado featuring Timbaland
4. Everytime We Touch – Cascada
5. Temperature – Sean Paul
6. S.O.S. – Rihanna
7. Beep – Pussy Cat Dolls
8. Waiting On The World To Change – John Mayer
9. Pump It – Black Eyed Peas
10. You’re Beautiful – James Blunt
11. Maneater – Nelly Furtado
12. Single – Natasha Bedingfield
13. What Hurts the Most – Rascall Flatts
14. Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It – Dem Franchise Boys
15. Walk Away – Kelly Clarkson
16. It’s Goin’ Down – Young Joc
17. Dance, Dance -Fall Out Boy
18. Smack That – Akon & Eminem
19. I Write Songs, Not Tragedies – Panic! At the Disco
20. We’re All In This Together – High School Musical Cast
21. Ms. New Booty – Bubba Sparx
22. How To Save A Life – The Fray
23. Rompe – Daddy Yankee
24. Check On It – Beyonce Featuring Slim Thugg
25. Chasing Cars – Snow Patrol
2007
1. The Sweet Escape -Gwen Stefani & Akon
2. Girlfriend -Avril Lavigne
3. Irreplaceable -Beyonce
4. Before He Cheats -Carrie Underwood
5. Crank Dat -Soulja Boy
6. Rehab -Amy Winehouse
7. Umbrella -Rhianna
8. Hey There Delilah -Plain White T’s
9. Glamorous -Fergie
10. I Wanna Luv U -Akon
11. Bubbly -Colbie Caillat
12. Walk It Out -Unk
13. Don’t Matter -Akon
14. Fergalicious -Fergie
15. Lip Gloss -Lil Mama
16. Candyman -Christina Aguilera
17. Break It Off -Rhianna
18. S.O.S. -Jonas Brothers
19. Stronger -Kanye West
20. Thks Fr Th Mmrs -Fall Out Boy
21. Pop, Lock and Drop It -Huey
22. Shut Up and Drive -Rhianna
23. Because of You -Ne-Yo
24. Home -Daughtry
25. Tattoo -Jordan Sparks
2008
1. So What – Pink
2. Just Dance – Lady Gaga
3. Leavin’ – Jesse McCartney
4. I’m Yours – Jason Mraz
5. Gives You Hell – All-American Rejects
6. Damaged – Danity Kane
7. Shake It – Metro Station
8. Love Story – Taylor Swift
9. When I Grow Up – Pussycat Dolls
10. I Kissed A Girl – Katy Perry
11. Don’t Stop The Music – Rihanna
12. Burnin’ Up – Jonas Brothers
13. Low – Flo Rida featuring T-Pain
14. Calabria – Enur featuring Natasja
15. Love Like This – Natasha Bedingfield and Sean Kingston
16. 7 Things – Miley Cyrus
17. Lollipop – Lil Wayne
18. Pocketful of Sunshine – Natasha Bedingfield
19. Circus – Britney Spears
20. Summertime – New Kids On The Block
21. Our Song- Taylor Swift
22. All Summer Long – Kid Rock
23. Closer – Ne-Yo
24. Viva La Vida – Coldplay
25. See You Again – Miley Cyrus
2009
1. Boom Boom Pow – Black Eyed Peas
2. I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas
3. I Know You Want Me (Calle Oche) – Pitbull
4. You Belong With Me – Taylor Swift
5. Lovegame – Lady Gaga
6. Don’t Trust Me – 3OH3!
7. Please Don’t Leave Me – Pink
8. Right Round – Flo-Rida
9. Poker Face – Lady Gaga
10. Goodbye – Kristinia Debarge
11. Say Hey – Evan Taubenfeld Michael Franti & Spearhead
12. New Divide – Linkin Park
13. The Climb – Miley Cyrus
14. Best I Ever had – Drake
15. Good Girls Go Bad – Cobra Starship Featuring Leighton Meester
16. Lucky – Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillet
17. Waking Up In Vegas – Katy Perry
18. Paranoid – Jonas Brothers
19. Wanted – Jessie James
20. Fire Burning – Sean Kingston
21. Not Meant To Be – Theory of a Deadman
22. Love, Sex and Magic – Ciara & Justin Timberlake
23. Use Somebody – Kings of Leon
24. Day N Nite – Kid Cuti
25. Hoedown Throwdown – Miley Cyrus (they let us learn the dance at res)
33 notes · View notes
silvanable · 4 years
Note
OMG I'M SO HAPPY I SEE U AGAIN ON MY FEED AND NOW YOU ALSO TAKE REQUESTS FOR TWST💞💗💕💓❤️❣️🧡💙💚💗💕💕💞💘💝Uhmm... i need to calm down🥺. Can i ask for a hc for Leona, Jamil and Ruggie with a gn s/o who is basically the twst version of mulan? Sorry if i ask for too much🥺 Love you and take care of yourself❤️
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bless you, you wonderful doll! please don’t calm down. i found twst right before halloween and by the following morning it had consumed what remained of my soul.
i’m so glad you’re coming with requests and i absolutely adore this idea. mulan was one of my favorite disney ‘princesses’ as a kid because she was absolutely badass.
i’m literally taking this as is, so the boys’ s/o is mulan 2.0 with a twist wink wonk.
and a bonus at the very end for all you lovelies about twst mulan!
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↪  GUIDELINES
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— JAMIL VIPER
jamil never honestly paid them much mind in the beginning, mostly because he was babysitting watching over kalim.
he probably started to notice them more when they started participating in club sports and the magishift tournaments.
the reason they start interacting because one of their lizards, their asian water monitor to be exact, ended up getting out and saving jamil from a beetle.
queue them running up, heaving a massive lizard in their arms, and apologize for starting jamil mistaking his yell of fear for the beetle for their fear of their scaly baby.
the two strike up a conversation and sort of hit it off after that point, more or less because they constantly come up to him when they see him and start talking afterwards.
jamil has the underlying inferiority after constantly having to put himself below kalim, therefore doesn’t do well with those who look down on him or challenge his worth.
with his s/o, they understand that feeling because everything they have done in life was to fight and prove themselves of being someone worthy.
knowing about each other’s pasts and how each of them has to fight to be even glanced at as someone worrying is part of what brings them together.
the both of them have a lot of untapped or unrecognized potential but it would get better.
the two of them compliment each other in many ways and tend to be the leverage the other can use to bring out the best of themselves.
jamil is the type to actually train with his s/o, while he might not be trained in the same swordsmanship art as them, it’s an enjoyable moment for him because it’s just him and his s/o.
most time it happens he just stumbles upon his s/o practicing and joins in, as much as he loves watching it feels far more intimate to participate in their training because it’s almost like a dance between opponents.
jamil braids his own hair with magic and having a s/o who also has long hair, he would offer to do their hair for them rather happily, be it with or without magic, but he does enjoy running his fingers through their dark hair.
if his s/o asks him if they can braid his hair, he might just pass on to the next life right then and there. catch his s/o decorating his hair with unique trinkets from their home too.
jamil has grown up at the constant service of other people, so his s/o offering to do something for him is not only surprising but extremely heartwarming.
and sharing similar backgrounds he and his s/o would do small services for each other as a sort of show of their affection for one another.
as a person who keeps lots of reptiles, they introduce all of their scaly babies to jamil rather early on, if only to say they have a special fondness for even their beloved viper.
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— LEONA KINGSCHOLAR
of course he found them annoying at first but it’s also not every day someone dares to square up with him. he’s used to submission and compliance from others out of fear.
he finds them overly annoying but they always seemed to run into each other until one day they actually got to talking.
turns out they were quite dedicated to their family.
leona has never had a great relationship with his family, so he doesn’t quite understand how someone could be so devoted to their family to put themselves in harm’s way for them.
is not always the most respectful of his dearest s/o but when he steps too far out of line you can bet they’re setting him straight again.
leona is extremely impressed with his s/o skills, particularly their swordsmanship.
these two are literally yin and yang when it comes down to it, opposites but they perfectly balance each other out to keep each other in check.
he likes to watch them practice on the ground after classes when he’s lounging and napping. they always have such an adorably serious expression and appear almost as if they’re dancing.
absolutely will drag his s/o from their practice to nap with him in the gardens.
other times he just plops in their lap while they’re reading or studying.
is actually very impressed, if not a little jealous, of their defensive magically abilities.
leona’s specialty is ancient curses. his s/o specialty is defensive magic, particularly against curses.
not that he would ever throw a curse at them but his s/o has already proven to break more than a few of his little testers for them.
learns about their background somewhere down the line of being together.
his s/o was very reluctant to talk about it given that he was a prince, so trying to explain the work and hardships they had to endure to support and protect their family, particularly their father, seemed like a bad conversation.
leona is actually very attentive when they finally open up and it makes more sense to him the more he hears.
he understands to a degree, but again he never had to struggle with wealth or safety, nor did he have the same dedication to his family due to childhood complications. 
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— RUGGIE BUCCHI
found them interesting right off the bat. they were peculiar in ways he couldn’t quite place.
really started to like them when they told leona off one time. ruggie expected them to back down from the savanaclaw dorm leader when he started growling but they did not.
much like leona and his s/o— these two are a balance of each other, yin and yang, and his s/o often likes to remark.
his laid back and carefree nature does clash with their dedicated nature though. it’s a problem sometimes, especially when it comes to why his s/o works so hard.
it’s times like those that ruggie finds he doesn’t know a lot about his s/o, particularly their past. which he understands, as he’s sensitive about his own too, but still his s/o is a mystery to him.
it does take a lot for his s/o to open up about what they’re so focused and determined to become a great mage. and it turns out it’s all for their family, particularly their father.
that brings a new side of them to light for ruggie, brings him to admire them that much more because all their goals were never really for them.
genuinely sees a lot of similarity between him and his s/o’s pasts, sure they’re different but both of them had to learn and adapt to survive—whether it be for themselves or for those around them.
loves his s/o unique magic, being quite a prankster himself, ruggie has thought of 101 uses for his s/o magic that does not involve its usual purpose like roasting marshmallows.
however he does not like being in it’s path as he has been singed by it before ( of no fault of his s/o since they did warning him ).
in awe at his s/o swordsmanship and talent at defensive magic but doesn’t admit it.
he likes to watch but tries to be sneaky about it. getting caught causes his cheeks to tint pink and he will absolutely brush any and everything his s/o says about him staring off.
his s/o culture is vastly different from the one he knows from the afterglow savanna. so he’s curious.
will absolutely ask his s/o to prepare him tea or cook a dish from their home, whether or not they are a decent cook he will eat whatever the offer.
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— HEADCANONS ABOUT THIS TWST!MULAN
dresses rather ambiguously leaning masculine but can absolutely slay a skirt and heals.
everyone at night raven college actually thought they were a guy for the longest time until a conversation struck up and they mentioned they were actually nonbinary.
everyone swears their unique magic is shapeshifting because they change their presentation, style, and outfits so beautifully but literally everyone never knows what they’ll look like next.
luxurious, soft hair that’s darker than a starless night. often tied up to keep it out of their face.
red is their signature color.
their father is very frail and was deemed medically unfit to preform his job, so his dear child took his place to support their family.
the only reason they’re even a nrc is because their family persuaded them to go & eventually they agreed if just to have a way to support their family and make them proud.
from an ancient line of warriors in the war against dark magic, users were renowned for their skill with a blade and their magic against curses.
best class is obviously defense magic, more grounded in combat against curses, but no one has beat them on the defense yet anyways.
also exceptionally skilled with a sword. practices daily before or after classes to keep those skills sharp.
floyd calls them “sea dragon” ( shīdoragon-chan ) after the leafy sea dragon.
reptiles freaking love them. is constantly being stalked by some scaly friends. and yes, they absolutely do talk to them all.
on that note they also have so many reptiles in their room. whoever their poor dorm leader is, better pray for them, because it’s not uncommon for a scaly friend to get out of their enclosures and wander around looking for their master.
is a member of the horse riding club.
unique magic would be called dragon’s guidance and it’s incantation is: “ancestors hear my plea, bring honor to my family and watch over me. dragon’s guidance.” 
the magic brings to life a chinese dragon made from the sparks of fireworks from their hands. ( if you’ve ever seen the fellowship of the rings, imagine the firework dragon merry and pippin set off. or a similar firework dragon george & fred weasley from harry potter set off in the fifth movie ).
it acts as a sort of ‘guide’ towards their goal ( for example, finding the way out of the woods if they are lost ).
however their unique magic also has other purposes, as it can act like a signal flair, works well for parting thick crowds ( no one wants to get burned after all ), or a light source briefly before the sparks fizzle out.
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160 notes · View notes
jauneda1 · 3 years
Text
RWBY
The New War AU
"Author's note" This Au is a little different from the original RWBY adaptation, with slight character changes, and well War.
After Initiation and team selection
Jaune has already slipped away into the background in order to get away from everything going on in the ballroom. He soon finds himself writing in his notepad while silently thinking out new moves and ways to improve his swordsmanship. "I got nicked more times then I wanted during initiation. So much happened I tried to hide my true strength but that beowolf knocked my sword away I had no choice but to engage in hand to hand thank you dad for make the shield sharp around the edges and point. Atleast Yang is okay. I saw her get tossed by that deathstalker. Wait why am I worried about her she can handle it " Jaune let in a breath and then continued to walk around campus. Sooner or later he was going to have to face his team. He knew he wasn't ready for that also giving that he was the leader. " Man I can't believe I'm the leader of my own team, big sis owes me an apology. Saying I would never make team leader. Ricky would have made team leader."
Jaune had made his way back to the dorm room. Greeting his new team, he learned that outside of Pyrrha his other two teammates where pretty chill. Lie Ren being some sort of ninja or something close to it. Nora being bubbliey but lade back."Funny I was expecting the two of them to be completely different people but they act the same. Nora is like one of my little sister's." Pyrrha spoke up greeting Jaune and him to her even though they become partners in the forest they really didn't say much. Well Jaune didn't say much. When they crossed paths it was simple she saved him, he saved her round and round it goes. " Sorry if I came off distancing while in initiation. I was just focused on getting a high scoring." Pyrrha spoke to him and said oh no it's fine she had just hoped she hadn't rubbed him the wrong way.
After a few greetings a knock had came from the door. It was team RWBY who where they're neighbor's to Jaune's dismay. It wasn't really the fact of they're team but it's brawler. Yang Xiao long was one of Jaune's childhood bullies/crush she used to tell me to be a man back when we where in elementary. Then as we got older she would pick at my hight I used to pick at her boobs being huge and how they could be saggy if they get any bigger. But we've grown closer over the years. Her jokes and puns are funny too.
Group had a little get together party with Yang and Jaune sharing stories about the other from when they went to signal. Ruby would chime in to keep the two from fighting. Since there's a rivalry between the two. No one understood why till Jaune spoke. "It started on the first day at signal it was combat class and Yang underestimated me and got thrown out of the ring. This was before my father entrusted the family sword and shield to me so I would occasionally use boxing and simple judo, and jujitsu fighting style's." What Jaune didn't tell everyone was he has an intermediate almost advanced knowledge in Wing Chun fighting style. This is after he picked up the family sword he always made sure that if he were to every lose his sword in battle he would need a way to beat any and all enemy types. From Grimm to thugs and even other huntsman. Since so many have gone rogue his father thought it was necessary.
"Yang rushed me and it cost her a bump and a bruise when I grabbed her arm and used her momentum to throw her over my shoulder and into the ring out." Yang then spoke up and she had venomous spite in her voice. "Jaune now you know our combat class was always first to three. I beat you two times after that." Jaune spoke up now a bit agitated at the blonde beauty in front of him. " And yet I still beat you in the long run. Or did you forget that after all this this time?"
Ruby finally got in-between the two because they looked like they where gonna go at it again.
"Jeez you two are always like this, just hurry up and get back together already. You both know it's inevitable." Everyone in the room besides the three of them were shocked and surprised to say the least. Ruby finally explained while the two blondes turned they're heads away out of embarrassment. "It's been like this for about 3 years. During a house party they feuded with each other till Jaune had said something to her which made both of them leave the party together. The next thing people knew was that the Dragon and the White knight of Signal were dating."
Weiss spoke up. "Wait wait wait... You two are the Dragon and white knight of Signal academy? Do you two have any idea how well known you two are.?" Both Yang and Jaune looked at each other then back at Weiss not knowing what she was talking about. "Look at every pre-huntsman school they're are 5 students who are picked and given nicknames so that Huntsman Academies would know who to scout out in initiation. To get put in this top 5 you literally have to beat out everyone else in your school both academically and physically in training."
Blake have spoke up just to see if she understood what was being said. "So basically what your saying is that Yang and Jaune are in a league of their own?" Ruby then explained fully to Blake. "Well to be fair Me, Jaune, Yang, and Pyrrha. Are in the same level cap in a way of saying." Nora spoke up saying "oh so like a video game." With Ren saying "In a sense yes it is." Pyrrha took everything that everyone was saying and informed them that. "This is how Beacon has always done there team make ups. With two high grade fighters being budded up. The Initiation is held with an even amount of high grade students and low grade students. If by any chance r high grades come together they are split up. So for our team JNPR, Jaune and Myself are the high grades, and from what I gathered in skill wise from earlier Yang and Ruby are team RWBY'S high grades."
After everything was said the group noticed that Jaune and Yang weren't even there. Ren informed them that they left a while ago. Ruby said "Well this is normal they're always ditching lectures and class together, regardless if there together together or not."
On the roof our blondes were sitting with there leg's over the edge and leaning on each other, Yang spoke up. "Your not as talkative as much as you used to be."
Jaune responded with a low mutter which caused Yang to look more his way in hopes of getting a better response out of him. He finally succumbed to his feelings and brought up stone they were together. "Remember that time you told me it wasn't my fault."
Yang knew what was coming and was preparing to comfort her friend, the one and only man she loved.
"Ricky's death was my fault and always will be my fault and you getting hurt the way you did back then was." Jaune was cut off when Yang had pulled him into an embrace pulling him and herself away from the edge of the building. "Jaune..." Yang noticed the tears that are flowing down his face and she hated seeing him like this. It would hurt her more when she couldn't stop those tears. "Yang I know what your gonna say and ask. And yes the past year of me training and getting ready for this moment in my life. I've done nothing but think about how Ricky deserved to be here aswell that this was his dream school and all because I wanted to rush to get stronger H-h- ... He died saving me from my stupidity." Yang held him comforting him. Little did most people know was that Jaune may come off as a strong individual but he is very mentally weak with his life constantly pushing his mind to a break and collapse. Yang has always been there to keep that from happening. She has looked out and after him like he was a little brother and she started dating to do this more but also because she truly cares for him.
Jaune stopped his talking and embraced Yang back. "I'm sorry Yang I've just been lost in thought for so long that I've forgotten." "Jaune that's why I'm here to crack jokes and be by your side" Jaune thanked his fellow blonde with a kiss which was reciprocated. It wasn't long but it was enough to start a fire in the dragon as she pulled him down and got on top of him.
"So does this mean where together-together again or just a friend's with benefits thing."
"You tell me you kissed me first?"
The two began to embrace each other on the roof while secretly they where being watched by ember yellow eyes. "Huh they're bond is way deeper then Ruby told us."
That's a wrap part 2 should be out by tomorrow hopefully.
Hope you all have enjoyed
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howlingday · 4 years
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About Jaune ships...
I have opinions. You may not agree, but they are mine. They may change in time, but not now.
LANCASTER ( RUBY X JAUNE )
The old tried and true. I mean, what's not to like? Cute girl falls for first guy she meets at Beacon? Classic romance trope, and after reading how much Ruby loves romance stories (I consider certain parts in the manga canon), it makes sense. In fact, after Arkos sank (A moment of silence, please . . . Thank you), many moved to Lancaster, which isn't bad. Happens all the time in fandoms. Sad thing, though, is far I think she'll last. If we're talking Volume 5 or earlier, then maybe. However, I feel if Ruby were to have an endgame in romance, it would be RoseGarden (I have opinions on that as well, but today isn't the day to discuss that), mostly because Oscar bumped Jaune's role from male lead to male side. Not to mention that while Jaune is becoming a beast in his own right, Ruby is a different creature altogether and evolving her character more rapidly and chaotically than anyone else (Must be all that screentime).
TLDR: I want it to be canon, but I might just be hoping.
WHITE KNIGHT ( WEISS X JAUNE)
Doofus in tin foil meets princess who hates daddy (Am I in the romance section of the library? You know, the corner for adults only?) No, but I do like this ship. I'm always a sucker for the fantasy genre, and using a zero to hero male makes it relatable. I also kind of ship it because the same reason I ship NaruSaku in the Naruto fandom: he likes her and he's willing to go the distance. But enough about that; instead let's talk about canon. Will they hook up? It's a soft maybe for me, for two reasons. 1. Rosegarden is most likely to be endgame, and after Ruby and Pyrrha, I'd say Weiss is Jaune's next to be his love interest. 2. Weiss has warmed up to Jaune. Sure, not lover or crush level (Yet), but she's definitely changed her opinion on him. In Volume 1, Jaune was bugging her, like all the time, which I could see as him getting mixed signals on (Exhibit A: Tall, blonde, and scraggly). When Volume 5 came around, everyone jumped onboard because he saved her life (Don't lie, because I'll admit that I did it, too). Not the best reason, but still reason enough, I'd say. Then in Volume 7, she hangs out with him and Oscar to the movies (It was either that or awkward Bumbleby all night. I feel ya, sister). Nothing romantic happens, but it does show how much their relationship has developed. If Weiss is Jaune's endgame, then they have set the pieces up perfectly to do so.
TLDR: High likelihood to be canon and I'm a sucker for Knight/Princess ships.
KNIGHTSHADE ( BLAKE X JAUNE)
This is the part where I say definitely not. Not in a million years, but I'll explain why I like the ship, though. As for why it won't work, the answer is Bumbleby. They haven't kissed yet, but you know they're going to eventually (Because if they don't, the fans will attack like a swarm of hornets). But here's the question you might be asking now: why do I ship this? Well, it's part of the allure of "opposites attract" ('Cause I'm dressed like a cat!). Blake is an intelligent, outspoken, and agile ninja with a criminal history of terrorism who spends her free time reading novels. Jaune is a B at best on his tests, soft-hearted, and ground-based knight who's worst crime is fraud (Still a crime, but peanuts compared to literal terrorism) and spends his free time hanging out with his team. Day and night. But they also tried that with Sun for a season and a half and it didn't last (BECAUSE BEES).
TLDR: Not even a snowball's chance in the summer sun, but so much story potential if you do (Which I do)!
DRAGONSLAYER ( YANG X JAUNE )
This, I would say, is the opposite of Knightshade, where Jaune is the day and Blake is night, here Yang is the Sun and Jaune is the Moon (Like their crests! Remember those? Y'know, when they were relevant?) Will it work? Even less so than Knightshade. However, it does open up some interesting paths considering how... provocative Yang can be, and Jaune, compared to the other guys, is the nerdiest, geekiest dude at Beacon. It's like the cheerleader/nerd romance, except the cheerleader is the captain of every sports team... and rides a motorcycle. The Volume 8 preview introduced us to Yang and Jaune riding motorcycles and we went nuts over it. Yang was back in her element, roaring down the street, riding on walls, popping off tricks with Oscar riding- Back to what I was saying, people were asking, "How did he know how to ride a motorcycle?" and the elementary answer is "He didn't." He almost fell off his bike from a small box in the road. True, anyone would, but look at how he reacts: he stiffens, he refocuses on the road. This kid literally started riding at breakfast, and I DARE you to prove me wrong. But hey, great fic material right there, though, eh?
TLDR: Never gonna happen, but I don't care. All I care about is writing that they love each other. And they also fu-!
ARKOS ( PYRRHA X JAUNE )
I'm sorry, I need a moment. . . . Alright. Do it for her. This ship... was perfect. Probably the best ship out them all. I legit almost cry every time I think about Volume 3. Pyrrha was everyone's favorite. Her background, her interactions, her choreography, everything! But, of course, like everything in our lives, she was too good to be true. But let's honor her memory by talking about her ship, Arkos. Pyrrha was the champion of the world, the Brothers' and Oums' gift to Remnant. She could do no wrong and she HATED it. Her plight was with how she was seen. Everybody knew her! Everybody, except Jaune. And he only figured out she was "a big deal" was because Weiss had to spell it out for him! As time went on, they became the best of friends, two peas in a pod, the perfect odd couple! They worked together and trusted each other, they cared for and supported each other, they lo- No. No, I can't say it. It's been years, and it still hurts. So, I'll explain something else: the reason why Jaune SHOULD NOT be shipped right now. That reason is Pyrrha. Jaune was helpless to save her. He's suffering from survivor's guilt and he's still grieving. In Volume 4, he would sneak away and train until late at night to scroll recording of her. In Volume 5, he confronted Cinder and got Weiss almost killed because he let his grief for Pyrrha take control of him and let his emotions run wild. In Volume 6, he finds the Pyrrha statue and he... I don't know how to say this, but he let's go. He accepts that Pyrrha is gone and he's starting the healing process. He's finally ready to move forward.
TLDR: T.T I never felt that it was wise to wish too much~
MARTIAL ARCS ( REN X JAUNE)
I'll be honest, I don't really ship it. Yeah, it's cute, and it falls perfectly into the "if I had to pick a guy" part of me, but to be honest, I don't ship it. 10% because Renora and 90% it just doesn't click with me. They both just seem too soft, too quiet, too introverted. Best friends? Yes, definitely! But lovers? Eeeeeh, not really.
TLDR: I will only ship as neccessary.
NORA'S ARC ( NORA X JAUNE )
I've only just got in this deep with the fandom only recently, so I don't know if a lot of you know me. Heck, I'm probably just some RWBY fan you happen to spot as you move through your dash. However, old or new, I want to be made absolutely positively clear on this. Of all the ships here, this has got to be my-
O T FUDGIN' P
Wow! Never thought I'd feel so strongly about a crack ship like this. And yes, as sad it is to say, this is a crack ship. Renora was planned from day one, so it can't be helped. At least it didn't blast me in the face all of the sudden (OH NO, NOT THE BEES! AAAAARGH! THEY'RE IN MY EYES!). But why this ship? Well, for one thing, it's that whole opposites attract thing with Nora as the bubbly, outspoken, airhead powerhouse and Jaune as the soft spoken, introverted, nerd tactician. But wait, there's more to this trope, because it can go deeper: Order VS Chaos! Who makes all the messes? Who cleans up those messes? Who follows all the rules? Who makes their own doors? It's just. So. Damn! GOOD! One sad thing about this ship though is that it's not only not canon because of Renora, it's anti-canon because Renora. Every fan fic of Nora's Arc requires an explanation for Ren and Nora to not be together-together, like you have to write a formal apology to the FNDM for liking something that's different from what is canon or commonly accepted. If that's the case, then I'll be the anarchist here!
TLDR: I LOVE IT! What's that? Not canon? Who gives a damn?! I just explained why Jaune won't be shipped anyways! Now, if you'll excuse, I have some fan fics to find.
ARCFALL ( CINDER X JAUNE )
Oh, here it goes! Now, if we're talking ships that'll never happen, this is where we find better reasons than "it's not canon" and "character development". No, this... This is a declaration of war. Allow me to explain. Cinder Fall is evil. Like, down to her core. She wants power and she'll cut through anyone to get to it. Including Pyrrha. This woman sank Arkos by means other than "X and Y kissed, so..." She killed X, leaving Y alone. And her interactions with Jaune tell me she wouldn't even be worth a hate-bang. But, as Momma always, there's a thin line between love and hate. This is where the appeal comes in. Cinder is evil with no past, which leaves the previous chapter's of her life story blank to be filled in. Jaune is good with a troublesome, albeit easy past, but untapped potential for more. It's another opposites attract, but different from INTRO VS EXTRO and CHAOS VS ORDER; this is GOOD VS EVIL. Who will win this battle of wills; will our hero purify the tainted heart, or will he slip deeper into darkness, never to return to the light?
TLDR: Should be a NOTP, and yet the allure pulls me in.
What do y'all think? Do you agree? Let me know!
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mxtxsblog · 3 years
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Happy Birthday Xue Yang (Fix-it)
On Twitter there is a delicious event for Xue Yang Birthday: https://twitter.com/hashtag/GiftsForXueYang?src=hashtag_click&f=live and https://twitter.com/hashtag/HBDXueYang?src=hashtag_click.
But I don't create fan content and I don't know anything about Chinese sweets, so you see the problem.
Anyway, this spring I was absolutely delighted by Shen Jiu Good End Festa, https://twitter.com/hashtag/ShenJiuGoodEndFesta2021?src=hashtag_click, so I will celebrate XY in this way.
Writing fix-it ideas where XY ends up happy.
So, Day 1:
When XXC interrogates XY about his master plan, why did he stay with them for so long, what he was planning... the conversation goes differently.
XXC doesn't grasp it, he is horrified by what XY did, but... Instead of dropping the "disgusting" bomb, he marches on. He asks him whether anybody helped him, he is horrified by XY's tale of a 7-yo cutting his dead finger with a rock.
He listens to XY while he retells how many ppl tried to take advantage of a child with a hand he couldn't use. He is stricken to learn that XY learned to use demonic cultivation so young, without formal training. XY had incredible potential, and the world destroyed it and XY both. XY laughs: that world tried to destroy him, but it didn't manage to. XY lives, his revenge complete, his enemies dead.
Anyway, XXC can't kill him, can't arrest him. Because XY is a human being, he's a person, he isn't the beast, the thing, the it XXC thought. He can't. He doesn't want to fight him. He... really liked XY's company, his cleverness, his dark humor, his abilities to narrate stories. When they went out together for night hunts... he felt a sense of completeness, of attraction, he didn't think was possible.
XY sees that XXC isn't condemning him, and so here goes the truth bomb: XY stayed because for the first time in his miserable life somebody treated him as a human being, not a beast or a monster or a murder weapon.
XXC tells XY that he has lots to think about but... he doesn't want to fight him, he doesn't want to kill him. But XXC begs XY to tell him the truth, and XY, elated, swears he will be truthful, anything XXC wants to know. So XXC asks him who tried to kill him. XY spills the beans about JGY, everything. The murder of NMJ (XXC already knows he's killed lots of ppl), the murder of JGS, everything.
So XXC is like... This can't be allowed to continue. We have to do something. We need to take JGY down.
And XY is like: ok, yes, I'll follow you to hell and this seems good!
So in the end:
- XY and XXC working together to take JGY down
- A-qing is found some time after (I think in CQL she really escaped) and is baffled at seeing them working together. She spills the beans about SL's murder and... yeah, that's really hard, XXC almost kills himself, but XY makes force corpse SL appearing and he's like conscious, and XXC can't. But in the end he decides to go on, because he has lost almost everything, he can't lose XY (and SL?) too.
- Yes, some time after there is also the bomb about killing peasants. XXC almost can't, but XY manages to talk him down, reminding him those killings were 100% XY's faults, he's innocent. XY did it while he considered XXC an enemy who already tried to kill him, but stopped when he decided XXC wasn't an enemy anymore. He stopped, even if XY didn't gain anything from this. Because it doesn't work anymore.
- It's really hard, but in the meanwhile they do progress! They discover NMJ's parts, they enter in NHS's radar, etc. So yes, XXC is doing good for the cultivation world. More good he's ever done. With XY's help. Without it, he wouldn't have been able to do anything. This is hard to think about, really hard.
- Plot plot plot (you can think SL and A-Qing are with them or they went away to heal, your choice).
-Happy ending: JGY is beaten, NMJ is vindicated, NHS's revenge plan went way easier, the cultivation world is saved, XXC is acclaimed like a hero and nobody thinks much about XY, who was last seen pardoned and legally working with the Jins. XXC and XY fall in love and decide to love each other, and go away to live a simple life, like in Yi City, but way better.
The end.
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sinqrowithascythe · 3 years
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Torn Families, a RWBY story
Hello there! it has been a few days now and the story is ready, so here it is!
Just a warning first though, this story does feature gore, character deaths and angst.
Everyone had their reasons for attending Beacon academy, and most would tell you without so much as a second thought.
“As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the story books... Someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves!” Ruby Rose, 15yr old combat prodigy and leader of team RWBY.
Others, however, aren’t as comfortable in disclosing the truth about their circumstances, like: The beautiful, yet closed off Blake Belladonna, Faunus in hiding and secret Ex-White Fang agent.
“The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided Faunus.”
Most would assume that this is where the list ends, but there is another. A third option, or category, where they’ve been truthful but they just haven’t shared the full truth.
This is where the scraggly hero of our fable is found.
When asked for the reasons behind which Jaune Arc has strived to be a Hunter and train in Beacon (which is a regular occurrence among the student body, it’s pretty obvious why), our bumbling blonde will reply with something along the lines of “To become a hero” …. “To become a great Hunter, like the warriors in my family” or “To help people” which is true….
But…there’s more to it, there always is.
Rarely does someone ever question the reason he chose this path or after any event that led to such a decision, but it does happen occasionally. Some of the first conversations with his friends and even Ms. Goodwitch herself raised the question, with Jaune himself being quick to dismiss it or just repeat himself. Forcing the subject to be left alone question, with, replacing the young Arcs would-be interrogators interests with dissatisfaction and a quick change of topic. This is where the truth remains hidden, a burden laid heavily on our young Knight’s shoulders, where he intends to keep them.
But that wouldn’t make an interesting story, so here we go!
This tale sheds light upon that which our very own Jaune Arc would keep hidden, partially for the sake of his friends, but also to keep Jaune from crying himself to sleep… again…
Long before Jaune was launched from the school’s cliff faces into the emerald forests or the acquisition of his “Vomit Boy” moniker, as courtesy of Yang, the Arc found a burning resolve to fight the creatures of Grimm and protect those who could not protect themselves that rivalled the very star he stood under.
The Arc family estate was a large, dark brick house held deep within a forest, found on an island located beyond the western coast of Sanus. Close enough to still be considered a part of the kingdom, but also far enough for people to be left in relative peace from large city environments, bandits and any extremely dangerous Grimm.
Here, the Arc family lived and prospered, laughed and loved for days and years on end, with the only real worries being the evil bath times and dreaded bedtimes, family’s patriarch receiving minor wounds from guarding the small island village (But everyone just said he looked cooler anyway, so it’s a win!) or the sisters engaging into yet another fight over something that seemed to shake the very foundations of reality to them at the time.
“That’s MY hairbrush!!”
“You have, like, 10, just let me borrow this one!”
The house was run by the matriarch and the eldest of the sisters when their father was away, keeping Grimm from presenting danger to the village where they lived. The younger sisters and Jaune often played their days away, when their mother wasn’t home schooling them in the study where she spent most of her time, even outside the education of her children.
One sunny, beautiful day, with the sun was streaming through the leaves and trees and bringing light and life to all the woodland, waking to every insect, animal and plant found within, this family would be shattered.
The green glow of the forest created a feeling similar to a protective aura of warmth and protection. Here, the four youngest Arcs find themselves running past all manner of compassionate and cool streams with looming, yet comforting trees, hiding amidst the natural playground formed by the rocks of landslides long past and prickly piles of twigs that once held strong to their larger companions. The day was not unlike any other the children had been allowed to previously play in, perfect.
The juvenile Arcs were playing their usual rounds of “Hide and Seek” or “Tag” or some of their own invention, when the eldest of the assembled four found an oddity, one which had never caught her attention before. The Arc estate held no boundaries, save the forest itself as it was separated by a long stripe of a field before another forest began, not five meters away from their own, yet the children had never travelled, nor noticed this odd circular emptiness beyond their own patch of trees. “Yeah, that is weird” The three younger members of the Arc clan agreed, “Let’s try playing in that other forest! I bet there’ll be even better hiding spots and even bigger trees to play in!”
And so, they did just that.
Back at the Arc family homestead
The eldest four daughters of the house were treated to a rather large shock while preparing lunch as their mother had, seemingly from no-where, screeched “NOO!” like a banshee might and flung herself out of her chair, falling to their kitchen floor. You see, Jaune’s mother was paralysed, on the account that after her thighs reached halfway down, they were missing, an incident that predated Jaune’s memory and of which she refused to speak, hoping she never had to tell her children and shatter their innocence. And though it placed her within a wheel chair that stopped her from performing the tasks that the oldest of the Arc spawn find themselves occupied with most days, her smile was as radiant and genuine as when her first child was born, finding real purpose in her role as a mother.
Each did their best to help their fallen mother, only to be thrown aside, much harder than they even knew their mother could push. “One of you, run to the village wall as fast as you can, find your father, tell him that Jaune and the triplets have left the stave!”
“Why?” “What does that mean?” “Huh?” Each questioned, their faces twisted with confusion and fear.
“Just GO! Right now! We don’t have time!” The oldest among the females of the home all but roared at her children, her terror evident on her face, scaring the 4 younger women. Pushing her fear aside, the eldest to ran out the door and sprinted down the trail into the town, where the guard and her father stood vigilantly, while her younger two sisters helped their mother back into her chair and checked to see what had happened.
“Mom, what’s happening?” “You scared us” “Why’d you tell Saph to get dad?”
“I’m fine, but your siblings are in danger…”
“How? We thought they were playing outside” “Yeah, they play in the forest every day! Why’s it so dangerous all of a sudden?”
“Hmmmmm…. The forest that surrounds the house is… special, you’ve seen how there’s something of a circle-like-field around the house cutting us of from the rest of the woods?” She questioned, obviously impatient and uncomfortable, much to the dismay of her daughters, never before seeing her so scared in their lives.
“Yeah” “uh-huh” They replied in kind.
“Well, your mother has a special power and can sense, and almost see, what happens in this circle, if you can imagine” Chuckling the last part, the nerves still very present in her voice. “Normally, your siblings always play in this circle, where it’s safe and where I can see them, but, because we live so far from town the woods next to ours can be filled with scary, dangerous creatures. I don’t know why, but, the triplets and Jaune have wandered into that forest and your father needs to find them, before something bad can happen.” looking away through the kitchen window, into the picturesque scene of the serene forest outside.
Meanwhile, Jaune and his elder sisters were playing a renewed game of tag in their new playground, their eldest sister rushing for her father, while the three under her found comfort in their mother, as a new found fear grew for their youngest sibling’s lives. This new version of tag involved a “Strength in Numbers” strategy, where the title of tag didn’t pass on to another player after contact, but spread so that the match only ended when everyone was ‘it’, basically creating two teams of ever-growing chasers and continually dwindling chase-ies.
Jaune, despite taking part and enjoying himself immensely in the game, found himself growing rather nervous, as he could have sworn, he had heard his mother mention not to go into the forest beyond their own at some point before, but none of his sisters could remember and said he just imagined it. Which inevitably led to them teasing him and saying he was a “Scaredy cat!” which, to a seven-year-old boy, was an offence of the highest order. So, with new resolve and determination, Jaune played with his sisters in the forest, running deeper and deeper into the unknown woods, finding a new and magical parts of the surrounding nature with each new game.
Nothing, it seemed, could go wrong for out four young Arcs, however, we all know what follows these kinds of observations.
The fight had started as nothing more than a simple debate. “I SO DID tag you!”
“Nu-uh! You only got my dress!”
“Did not! I tapped your shoulder! You’re it too now!” “Nu-uh” “So, too!”
This repeated for a few minutes, the two eldest of the triplets bickered back and forth until…
“Jaune!” Both shouted in unison, the fire in their eyes and voices startling the poor boy “Y-yeah?” His anxiety growing, as each girl looked ready to throttle one another all the way home.
“I totally got her, right!?” “No, she sooo missed me, you saw right!?”
“Uhhh…” Was his only response. Truth be told, Jaune hadn’t seen the incident in question, he was too busy trying not to get caught himself, he only came up to them when he saw they were fighting again, wanting to help.
“C’mon! I’m fine, right!?” “No, I definitely caught her!”
Jaune was not comfortable in this situation. In fact, he was scared, scared that his sisters were fighting and felt useless that he couldn’t do anything about it. This is until an idea came across his mind.
“What about Rock, Paper, Scisso-!” “AAAGGGHHH!!!” The high, piercing wail that blocked Jaune’s solution had come as a shock to everyone. They were all frozen in place, the fear and pain that filled that scream had turned them all to stone. And a sudden realization donned upon Jaune, one that only seemed to strengthen the anxiety currently lacing his blood.
“W-w-wait, th-there’s only three of u-us here…” Upon a quick count, they found that they were, indeed, one sibling short. “The scream must have come from her! We have to find her, she’s in trouble!”
“Maybe she just found a big spider! She’s terrified of them!” The oldest of the group stated, a fact which was well known within the Arc household.
“We just have to find her and get her away from wherever she found it!” The younger of the girls offered. This conclusion helped each of them relax, as spiders were the most dangerous of the creatures that they knew to inhabit the forests that surround their home. It brought them comfort, but they weren’t in their woodlands anymore.
They moved quickly towards the origin of their sister’s scream, until they unfortunately found her.
In a small secluded area of the forest, a clearing in the trees where the river widened considerably and was surrounded by large stones that easily dwarf the giant that was their father (as far as they were concerned), where the sun seemed to shine atop the water so bright that you could swear it was fragmented like the moon and resided in the river itself. This was where they found her.
However, the beauty of nature wasn’t what made them stop, nor was it the sight of their sister happily frolicking in the water after overcoming her original fear and relief flooding the trio of loving family members. No, it was the exact opposite to all those beautiful and much more preferable sights (Hell, they’d prefer to have found a spider, really).
What stood in the clearing, over their sister, was a monster.
A monster so dark, it made the moonless night sky seem bright. With markings so red, the blood that splattered its maw seemed pale by comparison. All of this packed onto a fur-skinned nightmare product between man and wolf. And their sister… stuck underneath.
No, stuck wasn’t the right word.
The creature didn’t hold her down, it didn’t need too, the girl below it simply couldn’t move. She was missing large chunks of her little body. They could see her shoe on the other side of the clearing, her foot still occupying it. A few feet from her there was some bloody assortment of meat, maybe something from inside, no-one could tell. Her neck had also seemed to disappear and had replaced itself with bloody chunks of something.
Each child, each one that still had a beating heart, remained completely still. No movement, no thought and no emotion, still enough were to make a statue jealous. The shock they felt was all they could feel, their brains refusing to process the sight before them. The first to break free of the paralysing chains holding his mind was Jaune, still looking into the large, half lidded and dull eyes of his older sister. The eyes that had once been so full of colour and everything right with the world, Jaune had found comfort and happiness in those eyes’ countless times before, being the two youngest of the family had created a close and tight bond between the two. And now, they laid in the red, stained grass, upside-down, staring at him with nothing, endless nothing, a perfect void, drained of any and all life.
Fear and sadness welled within Jaune, faster than the tears that had decided to occupy his eyes could, with his sister’s emotions following in turn.
The negativity had come crashing out of them in waves, comparable to a landslide, only cursing them further. This alerted the creature, its posture bolting upright slouching over the corpse of the young girl turned lunch. It turned at the waist, revealing just how long its arms really were, easily twice Jaune himself, each one holding a different end of the girl’s right arm. What was most terrifying was its canine-shaped head. The lupine resemblance almost uncanny, the bloody maul full of teeth as long as it’s claws and wet with a liquid that Jaune tried his best to forget the source of. The ears atop the skull of the creature pointed toward the sky, looked sharp and swivelled around, until stopping, pointed at the children.
What scared them the most were its eyes, the cold, harsh eyes that were the antithesis of its prey. Where the girl’s eyes had been full of life, joy and hope, the creature’s own orbs reflected hate, despair and death. It’s fitting really, that the eyes of love and hope had been filled with the deepest and most alluring of azure blues and the ones that killed them were as red and terrifying as hell itself would be.
The creature dropped its piece of lunch on top of the rest of its forgotten meal and lowered itself onto all fours, its impossibly long arms stretched forwards and its rear in the sky behind it, as a low yet rumbling growl escaped from between its teeth. Now, instead of pure shock rooting our children to the ground, it was the very fear and anxiety that told the beast they were there. And, in the space it took for Jaune let go of the breath his fear forced him to hold, the creature pounced.
In the few precious seconds, it took for Jaune to turn and push his sisters, the nightmare before then had covered the distance between them and stood right behind Jaune. This registered for Jaune as three large, ragged, diagonal cuts in his tiny back. Falling into the grass of the forest, quickly watching the green around him fill with his own red.
The creature ran after the girls, desperately attempting to flee, knowing its second victim had no chance of moving now. The two remaining girls were screaming and running, terrified of the lupine monstrosity behind them, not knowing that the very fear fuelling their escape them was exactly what made them even more delicious prey.
Jaune watched from his position, chin first in the dirt, as the beast caught up to them and doubled their pace, springing forward and turning to face his sisters, seeing the very same claw that had Jaune glued to the ground tear one of them in half, before she could even stop running. Her pieces staining the grass red in front of her remaining sister. The final sibling came to a stop before the stalking nightmare. Sobbing messily, she looked up from her tattered sister into the eyes of the monster that killed some of the best people in her life and seemingly paralysed her only brother. She began to beg, praying to the brother gods that, by some miracle, some stretch of the universe, that she would survive and make it home to her loving mother, sisters and father.
Her prayers and begs fell upon deaf ears as the beast shot forward, grabbed her temples between the daggers that made up its teeth and separated the top half of her head, sounding off with a sickening crunch mixed with a strangled cry of pain and torment.
And just dropped her body to the ground, discarding her like a toddler drops a toy they’re bored with.
Jaune watched the entire scene in front of him, unable to move or even think, terrified beyond all action or comprehensible thought, not that the he would have been able to move anyway, as the creature made its way closer to him, no longer moving in leaps or flashes, but walking, as its prey was rendered immobile by the large injury in its back. Jaune closed his eyes, tightening them as he braced for the pain he knew was coming, just as it had come for his sisters.
Jaune was so focused on biting back anything he felt and so drowned in his own fear and blood, that he didn’t hear the gut-wrenching scream of agony and desperate sorrow. Nor did he hear the heavy foot falls as something approached him and the beast, racing from elsewhere. What he did hear was the sound of his father’s shield deflecting the bloodstained claws, he heard and watched as his father, blinded by pure animosity and heartache forced the creature of death back and, eventually, decapitate it. In that moment, time had seemed to freeze, Jaune saw the fury and heartbreak on his father’s face, twisted into a cruel grimace, the image burned into his memory, alongside the corpses of his sisters.
Time only began to move again as Jaune’s father let out another cry, louder than all his previous screams, as he began to hack, slash and break any part of the Grimm before him, only stopping when its corpse had fully dissipated, as all Grimm do.
Only then did his father stop, drop his weapons and fall to his knees, weeping at the loss of his four youngest children, screaming and sobbing with his face in the dirt, almost seeming to burrow into it, wanting to find the blood of his children. Jaune watched as his father broke apart, small pieces at a time, tears flowing down his face, almost unending. But, as all things must ends, so too did the tears, sniffles and sobs of the town guard, his face steeled into a grimace of loss and sorrow, the piece of himself being replaced with a resolve, a vow to return his children to their home and never let thing happen again.
The Patriarch of the Arc family stood to survey the damage done to his blood. And here he froze, seeing the unsteady rising and falling of his son’s chest, missing pieces being filled properly again as new tears of joy and relief flood the father’s features. Sprinting to the wounded boy’s side, screaming his name and asking question he already knew the answer to, Jaune’s father dropped to his knees once again, but this time to help his damaged son, searching himself and the land around for any way to comfortably bring his son home. With the frantic search proving to be utterly fruitless, he simply, yet gently, picked Jaune from the ground and placed him on his unarmed shoulder.
Jaune’s father began the trek back to the family home, creating false promises, repeating apologies and crying, for the duration of the trip, moving as fast as possible, without causing the silent boy on his shoulder any more pain that what was already silencing him.
Jaune, however, heard none of these promises, “sorry” ‘s or sobs, only seeing the gleaming, blood-spattered shield, collapsed around the sword at his father’s hip, only able to focus on the warmth his father spread and the thought “That would have been useful” while staring at the blade’s handle, before the pain took his consciousness from him.
Jaune spent the next few days drifting to and from the conscious world.
He knew that he had been taken home, he remembered hearing gasps and cries upon his return, pain from the dressing of his wounds and more crying. Curiously enough, he also heard shouting, which would be normal enough in a house of ten... now seven. But this was different, most shouting normally came from his sisters, arguing about one thing or another or when his parents needed to discipline them, these bouts of shouting, however, came from his parents. They seemed to be arguing over something called “aura…?” Jaune wasn’t sure what if was or even if it was a word, but he did hear his mother scream “I CAN’T LET WHAT HAPPENED TO ME HAPPEN TO THEM, ESPECIALLY HIM!!” To which his father pleaded. “CAN’T YOU SEE IT ALREADY HAS, WE CAN’T LEAVE HIS LIFE IN DANGER JUST BECAUSE YOU FEEL HE SHOULDN’T KNOW ABOUT YOUR PAST OR THR WORLD!!” This is where the screaming stopped, hearing only loud and quiet sobbing and whispering coming from wherever the shouting had. All he really knew was that it scared him.
Jaune also remembered a doctor coming from town once or twice during those days. It was probably more, but he couldn’t stay awake half the time, what with the pain in his back knocking him out every few minutes after he woke.
It wasn’t until a week and a half had passed since the deaths of his family members that Jaune regained consciousness properly. He awoke to the tearstained face of his mother, the tears seeming to have cut long furrows down her face. She almost squealed with joy upon being woken up by her son trying to brush the tears from her face, the pure elation of her son being alive and awake causing more water to leaks from her eyes.
When the rest of Jaune’s remaining family burst into the room, each had similar reactions upon seeing his mother hugging him gently, with him awake this time. Which was then preceded by the inevitable questions, Jaune explaining everything, each detail clear in his mind, when the tears from his own eyes didn’t impede his speech as the emotions finally caught up to him. Often his family sat together for hours at a time, waiting for Jaune to finish crying before he continued.
No harsh accusations followed his tale, nor any blame, simply hugs, tears and promises from his family.
After that day the house flowed back into normalcy, albeit quieter, until three full years had finally passed. The wounds Jaune had received were not lethal nor debilitating, the claws not digging deep enough and missing anything important along his spine, “a small miracle!” The town doctor had claimed.
The town’s people had helped organise and set up, even pay for the funerals. Everyone knew the Arc children and none showed any particular hatred, only the same small loving-malice that followed mischievous children’s pranks and activities. Any and all real hate was directed towards the Grimm that resided in the forest, evident by the furious stares many levelled towards the trees beyond thew village walls.
Eventually, the dull gleam that seemed to cover the eyes of each family member, the same gleam that held the stars and oceans contained within their eyes at bay, disappeared as they could finally move on.
But, never forgetting.
Whenever the children played, they were always supervised, never left alone. Their father had managed a change in occupation and now worked from home as a writer of sorts. Their mother had grown more possessive of her family and Jaune’s elder sisters followed this attitude when it came to him, never letting him be by himself. At first, Jaune was okay with this, even feeling happy and safe from this caged lifestyle due to having seen the reason for its inception.
However, this did not last. Whenever Jaune had asked about the creature, his father only bitterly replied to ask his mother, to which she would say “an evil creature, but, as long as you stay here, you’ll be safe and not have to worry about it”. This never sated Jaune’s mind, but, was the only definition either parent would ever give him. When Jaune would ask to be trained like his father, to protect and kill the “Evil creatures” in the forest, his mother would shoot the idea down in the exact same way, forever denying combat to her remaining children. On this, his parents agreed and Jaune began to lose his feeling of comfort in his protective cage.
Jaune would eventually learn more of his family’s legacy through omitted records of their deeds in the study and from stories his mother told her children and discovers his own drive to become one of the Arc heroes, prompting him to become a Huntsman, despite his great lack of knowledge on the topic (What’s worse is that he doesn’t know just how much he doesn’t know about it).
He finds a way into Beacon and creates some of the best memories he’s ever had, the best friends he’s ever had and even a new family.
And everything happens as we know it will. Friendship. Growth. Happiness. Accomplishment. The Fall. And new beginnings.
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Hiya again!
thank you for reading my first actual piece of RWBY fanfiction. I made this concept up a few years ago, back when I was (possibly) obsessed with why Jaune knew so little of the world around him, despite a lot of it being vital to being a Huntsmen, So i wrote this little number (I don't know why i made it so dark of a story, but eh).
After rediscovering it, I thought I'd fix it up and post it here and thus, here we are indeed.
I know this doesn't answer how he got into Beacon, but that's not the point of the story in the first place. Please leave any notes of criticism, I'd really love to hear what you though about my story
Anyway, Thank you so very much for reading my work.
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