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palaceofpassion · 3 years

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Tempverse: Episode 1:The Desert Flower

Sooo there is a special reason I’m reposting this.

Alone, that’s how this girl felt, no one in this world to talk to on one to be her friend. Throughout her years she found herself unsociable, unable to start up the simplest of conversations with her peers. She found herself eyed as if she was a strange creature, something that never really belonged. And despite this, despite her constantly being alone, and shying away from others she wanted to belong. Wanted to have a friend, to be with someone who she could be true with. One day, her parents set off, a vacation they had told her they would be back, they said. Leaving her with their neighbors, a house full of young girls they said, she could make friends they told her.

She didn’t believe them, she’d met the girls before, but never did it click. Never did she find herself drawn to them. They however, were nice, they never made fun of her, never joked about her loneliness but she still felt a level of uncomfort near them. But she heard the rumors, there was one more child, a child hidden away because the family was ashamed of him. Or so the nasty talks of the playground children went, she was unsure of how true this was. But she supposed… she would learn whether she wanted to or not.

And learn she did, however… The stories were quite different from the truth. A lone boy, born alone among a total of eight. Sickly and unwell he barely left his bed, but alone he was not. Unlike May who found herself ostracized, even her parents showed little care for her, he was surrounded by warmth and love. Despite his lack of use, he was greeted frequently by his sisters of different types. Despite being weak, he was treated as if he was one of them. Something May didn’t understand, this was not how children acted, they chose to ostracize those different than they. This was not how families treated one another, they rather not it be their problem.

Yet in this house of blondes and browns, she found herself… welcomed? The feeling of uncomfort soon vanished. The boy, he reached out to her, befriended her in a way none other had. And through him, the family grew close. She found herself suddenly wrapped in kindness, pulled into the embrace of a loving home. This boy would be first of many for her, the first to be her friend, a young confidant whom she could be herself. Another was the first she spilled her heart to, the first she considered real family, and a third, the first she would give her heart too. She felt like she could be herself, and the boy had stolen something important. But the fourth was a sense of fear and dread.

There was a time, when the boy's eyes shut, for a day he did not wake. The worst was assumed and the worst they prepared for. Not a single soul left him, all staying near his wake as they held him close. Thankfully the fear would pass, he would awaken fresh and anew. The girl knew that she would never leave his side, so long as she could afford to.

Unfortunately… she was but a young girl. Her fate was yet in her hands. She could not control the flow of time, could not control the will of those that could control hers. One day… she would leave, from Vale to Vacuo, she would travel back to her homeland. Begged and cried she did, but upon deaf ears her pleas fell. The family of ten held her close, they would miss her. The second eldest, she swore this would not be the last they see. That she was sure that destiny would intertwine them together once more. Perhaps there would be a Beacon, a Beacon that could guide them once again? She did not know the meaning of these words at first, but she held them true to her heart.

To the boy though, “I’ll miss you.” He said, holding the girl close. His tears did not fail, even as he struggled to hold her, even as he struggled to leave his domiciliary. He continued to hold, hoping that it was but a dream, that his best friend, his closest confidant wouldn’t depart. But… they both knew this wouldn’t be the case.

“I’ll miss you more…” She followed up, she would miss him, miss him more than she could ever imagine. True to her words, “I will never forget you…” She wouldn’t, his name, his eyes, his hair, his scent, everything about him would remain.

She prayed, prayed that one day they would reunite, that when they did she could take him from his lair, take him from the confines of his self defined prison. She knew how he dreamed of being a knight, but she would be his eyes, his ears, his world. She would take him and see him off, hoping that one day they could be together once more.

“We’ll meet again, I promise.” And so he promised her, and he was an Arc, true to their word till the very end.

However, life isn’t easy, and she knew this. And as she grew older, her hopes of seeing the boy grew dim. She aged into a fine young woman. Though she experienced… difficulties, oftentimes having to pretend to not be what she really was. She found ways to hide her true form, to pretend that she wasn’t something she was. Eventually her thoughts of a Beacon began to seep through once more… she knew what she had to do. There was a Beacon she could travel through, and then-

THUD

May’s eyes fluttered open, “Huh?” slowly she began to scan the room around her. “Oh… right…” She quietly spoke to herself, she was on a Bullhead, headed towards the start of her new life. Headed towards Beacon Academy, she… she remembered the Arc’s, remembered the words of Rua. She… she hoped that maybe, even with a sliver that the promise would come true. But, even as she tried to hope, she held herself tightly pulling herself into a ball around her backpack. For now she would stay small, insignificant to the world around her. She didn’t want attention, she didn’t even want to be surrounded by this many people. But she had a dream, and no matter how scared she was, she had to push through.

TCH

“We will be arriving at Beacon in 5 minutes, please prepare your property.” The jostling of the ship stirred her into action. Her right eye suddenly snapped open when she looked around the room and realized that several of the students had already started to walk out. Grabbing her bag she quickly got up heading outside and decided to take one last look around realizing that she was finally here.

It was exactly as she imagined it to be,It was huge and gorgeous. The various greens caught her attention almost instantly, how a school on top of a mountain made any sense went right past her, but she couldn’t ignore the spectacle.

However, she was pulled away from her admiration as soon as she heard an explosion. She blinked and once the dust died down amongst the chaos she noticed three girls. However, once she got a better look at one of them her face burned crimson. She tried to pull her attention to the other two, one was pristine white, full, a young woman who liked like she was made of snow. The other was a girl in a red hood, her hair was dark with tinges of red. However the third one was in nothing but rags, a collar, and a leash, a leash held by the red hooded girl. Though she didn't catch the start of the conversation she did hear the red girl say "I'm sorry I didn't know that she'd slam into your into your stuff sorry. I have to take better care of her next time I'll make sure she pays better attention to where she’s going, I promise!"

To her surprise several of the students simply walked by but she couldn't get over how the little red one was pulling on a leash as if trying to call the young woman away. Then she remembered from what she had heard before coming to Vale, something about a new law being enforced to entrap Huntsmen and Huntresses that broke the law. They would have their auras locked, their bodies bound, and they would be given or sold depending on if the person who brought them in wanted them or not. This… this must have been that, May did her best not to look, however as her gaze fell upon the lithe form of the dark skinned woman, currently on all fours looking away sheepishly as her master was berated, she felt a dark desire burn within her core. “Bad, bad May!”

Her attention diverted back towards the direction the remaining students were heading. Following the crowd she couldn’t help but let her nerves get the better of her. Her hand clenched against her jacket, pressing against her special binding. Her chest ached, a problem she had when her anxieties got the better of her. “Hopefully things won’t be so bad.” She eventually moved forward. Lost in her own little world she didn’t see the young blonde man who arrived shortly after her, greeting the girl with short red tipped hair.

Eventually she made her way into the auditorium, the sheer number of people sent goosebumps down her arms. “Too many…” Not wanting to garner any attention she made her way to the corner of the room, thankfully finding an empty spot with very few people. Eventually she felt her legs give out, her bottom bouncing off the tiled ground as she did her best to calm herself. However, as she tried to calm herself, sitting away from others, the hustle and bustle of the booming voices began to wear down upon her. She was never great with crowds, and the fact that so many were her age didn’t make it any better. She was all alone, perhaps it was her fault, but it didn’t ease her pain.

“You can do this… you can do this…” She tried to chant to herself, she was never good with lots of people, never good when any amount of attention was put on her. And though she knew that none of these people would even give her the time of the day, which honestly hurt in its own way, she just knew that she had to keep herself from losing it. Clenching her eye shut, she tried to chant to herself one more time, “It’ll be okay, it’ll be okay, it’ll be okay.” You won’t be okay, you won’t be okay, you’re going to fail. But even as she tried her best, as more people began to gather, she found herself being lost in the quagmire of doubts. Her eye began to sting as tears pooled in. She felt a deep pool form in her chest, her breathing became ragged, and her thoughts started to scatter. “Why now?” She thought she could do this, thought that this was the right idea. But then why were all her fears and anxieties suddenly hitting her now?

She felt herself being washed away by her negative emotions, a sea of dread surrounding her as she sunk to the bottom. She wanted someone to be there with her, though she had no one, she needed to be told she was going to be okay, but any words would simply sound hollow to her, she hoped to find help, but would help ever come? You don’t matter, go home, you won’t make it, why should yo- Suddenly her body jolted as a gentle hand pressed against her shoulder. In her panic she tried to shift away, her vision blurred by the clinging tears that stung at her eyes. “I… I’m sorry!” She hadn’t meant to bother anyone, she had wanted to AVOID attention! Panic filled her chest once more, her anxieties boiling over, until she heard a soothing voice call out to her.

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay, breathe.” Another hand gently pressed against her other shoulder. “Don’t think, just try to breathe.” She couldn’t see the other person, but hearing their voice call out to her was enough to calm her nerves just a little. Yet, that didn’t fully wash away her anxieties. Her chest still beat as her heart continued to pump uncontrollably. Then, another voice, this one a bit more masculine than the previous, though it was low and… and oddly calming, more so than even the first.

“Hey.” They said, keeping their comment short, “Uhm… here you can use this… it should help you just a little.” She felt something press against the base of her palm. Her fingers wiggled around trying to figure out what it was. After a minute inspection she realized it was paper, “Oh!” It was a paper bag… how did they? “Just bring it to your mouth and nose, and take deep long breaths. It helps me when I start to have uhm... yeah.” They didn’t finish the sentence, they hadn’t needed to. May brought the bag to her lips, surrounding her nose as well. “Okay, that’s good, breathe in.” She did so, “Breathe out.” She followed the instructions. Eight times she did so, her heart finally calming down. Eventually she pulled away, exhaling fresh air and not the carbon dioxide trapped in the bag, then once more she began to breathe into the bag.

Eventually she was able to calm herself, and thankfully the stinging sensation in her eye cleared up. She was finally able to open her eye, her vision flickering back into focus as she was met with the smiling faces of two very different individuals. The one to her left must have been the first one to come to her aid. A young woman with long bright red hair and clear green eyes, her lips parted into a warm gentle smile that seemed to brighten May’s mood instantly. The other… he was… her heart started to thump again, but not for the same reason as before.

“Hey, you’re okay, that’s good.” She… she almost started crying again. No wonder his voice had sounded so soothing to her, no wonder she’d felt herself calm almost instantly. “Uhm, I know this is sort of odd timing all considered but, hello. It’s nice to meet you two, I’m-”

Her lips parted as his name left her lips, “Jaune…”

He blinked stunned that she’d known who he was. “I… that’s right, how do you…” She didn’t give him the chance to answer as she practically threw herself at him. Her arms stretched out, winding themselves tightly around his back.

A soft, “Oh my.” Escaped the other girl's lips. May knew this was embarrassing, knew that she was probably drawing attention to herself, but for once she finally felt just a little bit safer.

“It’s been so long, I missed you so much.” Her old friend stood there frozen for just a moment. She hadn’t seen him in so long, so she couldn’t fully expect him to figure out who she was, at least not till she told him anyway.

But to her surprise, “May?” “Mmhmm.” She responded, his arms suddenly wrapping around her pulling her into a tightly knit hug. She thanked the brothers for her special binder, she would have never been able to get this close to him without them. Eventually though the two let one another go. Her heart finally calmed down as she felt she could finally relax.

Though, “Oh! I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have seen that.” She had nearly forgotten her other hero, the one who had shown up first. Her eye shifted over towards the absolutely stunning woman in front of her. She couldn’t help the unusually hot feelings burning inside of her as her eye swapped between the unknown woman and Jaune, and then back again.

“No! No, that's alright.” She felt Jaune’s hand press against hers, squeezing gently as if to reassure her that everything was alright. Her heart practically drummed in her chest at the way this reunion was going. “I uh…” May noticed the way that Jaune looked as if his words were lost on his lips. She couldn’t really blame him, the girl in front of them WAS rather beautiful. Though perhaps he hadn’t gotten any better at social interactions?

Now that she thought about it, what was he doing here? When had he gotten better? Did his parents end up training him? There were so many questions flashing through her mind and she wasn’t sure she WANTED to know the answers, none of that mattered though. All that did matter was that she was holding him, and oh brothers did it feel good.

She wondered though, was she supposed to feel jealous of how flustered the other girl made Jaune, cause she didn’t, which was weird? She wasn’t sure if that was weird, did she have feelings for Jaune? If he was anything like the boy she remembered, then absolutely. But, that brought up the question, why did she find herself drawn to the other girl's emerald eyes, she felt oddly warm, not uncomfortably so either.

Apparently the other girl noticed the staring, she seemed to give them an awkward laugh as she looked away trying to avoid their gazes. “Hahah… I should have known.” May caught the nearly silent comment, now she had questions, yet she didn’t know how to start them.

“What should you have known?” Thankfully she didn’t have to, apparently Jaune was still as socially awkward as ever, that again brought up the question of what he’d been doing up till now. She’d have to keep an eye on him during initiation, just to be safe. Though for now, she turned her attention back to the stunning redhead before them.

“Ah.” She paused, obviously trying to be polite to Jaune’s abrupt question, “You must have a million questions for me, yes?”

May and Jaune both blinked, “Why?” came the same question from both their lips.

This apparently stunned the other girl as she blinked at them owlishly. “Do… do you not know who I am?”

May sure didn’t, then again she wasn’t really in the know with a lot of things, she’d spent so much time training, trying to improve herself that she’d kind of fall out of the loop. She shook her head, “No… I’m afraid not.” She sure hoped that the other girl didn’t find it offensive.

“Same for me, are we supposed to?”

The girl paused once more, almost as if she was a dear who’d been caught in the headlights. “I… no.” The uncomfortable feeling that she’d fallen into had suddenly vanished, a soft smile suddenly spread across her face. May couldn’t help but feel the warm and fuzzy feeling coming back ten fold. “No, that’s actually…” She was full on smiling now, “It is a pleasure to meet you both. My name is Pyrrha, Pyrrha Nikos.” She stopped after, waiting on something and when that something didn’t happen she simply smiled.

She had such a really pretty name too! May felt like everything about this girl was just… oh gods she was amazing. She wasn’t sure she had the courage to introduce herself, thankfully Jaune did, “Hi… I… I’m uhm… I’m Jaune… Jaune Arc, Sho… you know nevermind.” May blinked, thankful she wasn’t the only nervous one around the really pretty girl.

She was about to introduce herself, finally getting her courage when suddenly two things happened. “Hi I’m May Z…” Suddenly the lights turned off, all of the other students suddenly swapped their attentions towards the stage, that was the first thing and the thing she would suddenly become VERY thankful for… then… then the second thing happened. SNAP She heard it first, then she felt it second, then she saw it third. Suddenly her binding came undone, her jacket which had been tugged due to her little anxiety attack had already been pulled up a little leaving only her thin white shirt… and finally she nearly screamed as her bust suddenly exploded from the binding, her bra nearly flying away smacking Jaune straight in the face and her massive horrendously titanic absolutely gigantic bust popped into view! Popping straight from under hear shirt she felt her face grow red hot as both Pyrrha and Jaune stood there for nearly a full on moment watching her ginormous tits jiggle freely, the fleshy uselessly big bags of flesh wiggled and bounced as if they had a mind of their own. Thankfully the shirt hadn’t come fully undone so they didn’t get to see her truly shameful secret! Them seeing the massive size was enough of a shame for her, she was going to cry, she was going to cry!

Then it happened, a strange sense of determination suddenly filled Jaune’s face as he eyed Pyrrha who suddenly seemed to wordlessly understand what he wanted. She watched as Jaune suddenly lifted his hoodie, handing her bra/binder over to Pyrrha like he was used to handling them, which he probably was now that she thought about it. And then suddenly her world went black as she was covered by Jaune’s previously worn hoodie. In the brief period of darkness she realized a few things, one she was suddenly being raised up and taken somewhere. And another…the jacket… it was filled with the scent of her childhood friend. A wave of nostalgia and… and lust oh gosh she felt her womb practically tremble as she inhaled his scent, washed over her. Lost in her own thoughts she didn’t notice the sudden thump behind her as her childhood friend nearly passed out at the new revelation… or TWO MASSIVE HULKING revelations. He had… had sent her away with Pyrrha to clear his own thoughts on the matter.

May did her best to hide herself within Jaune’s jacket as she could practically feel the gazes from the other students suddenly falling upon her, though to her surprise as they continued on the gazes began to die down. Even as she attempted to shelter herself within the jacket she could still feel the judging gazes coming from the other students. A soft whimper escaped her lips as she felt her world about to break down, then she felt a soft hand press against her shoulder. “It’ll be okay, I’m here okay?” An angelic voice called out to her, and her anxieties seemed to simply melt off of her shoulders.

With a nod the two girls eventually made it towards the changing room, Pyrrha stepping forward first making sure that no one else was in the changing room. Thankfully, the two of them were alone, though from the way Pyrrha began to shuffle her towards one of the small booths, she wasn’t sure for how long.

While the changing process didn’t take too long, the two of them found themselves wrapped in an oddly comforting silence. “So…” Pyrrha was the first to break it, much to May’s gratefulness. “You and uhm, Jaune… have you two known each other long?” It was an odd question, but May supposed there was no harm in answering.

“Yes…” She took a moment, perhaps long wasn’t the right word, “We used to live near one another, when we were kids, but my family moved away… we used to be very close…” May hid away a blush, as thoughts of snuggling closer to her childhood friend came to mind.

For her part Pyrrha seemed oddly displaced, May couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but something was off about the obviously popular girl. “A...are you okay?” When Pyrrha suddenly snapped from her confusion May noticed the small tinge of red on her cheeks.

“Ye...yes! Sorry! I’m just not…” She watched the Cereal Mascot stare blankly at nothing, wishfully. “I don’t have any close friends.” May, may have been shy and introverted, but she was also observant. She knew there was more to the story than just that, but she wouldn’t push it.

“I… if… you like I could be your friend, and… and I’m sure Jaune would like to as well.”

Pyrrha had liked the idea so much she hadn’t even bothered to give it a second thought as she quickly blurted her excitement out, “Yes please!” For all her sudden confidence the crimson haired beauty began to bluster, “I mean… yes please… that would be grand.”

May couldn’t contain the rampage of giggles suddenly bustling through her lips, she didn’t have many friends herself, but meeting Pyrrha had been quite pleasant. “That would be nice, I think Jaune already thinks of you as a friend as well.”

The crimson haired beauty simply smiled, May hadn’t really been sure of her sexuality up till this point, but she was starting to think she was bi, if the sudden beating in her chest was anything to go by. “Oh, we should get your uhm, Bra fixed.”

“Ri...right!” May had almost completely forgotten about their initial goal. Without really thinking about it, she began to shift, slipping her arms through the comfortable hoodie and pushing it upwards. What she didn’t notice, while her head was trapped in complete darkness, was the sudden lustful gaze that Pyrrha had suddenly formed upon her face. She didn’t notice the way emeralds stared at her, as the jacket began to shift upwards tugging at her voluptuous form. She wasn’t aware at the way that Pyrrha’s tongue instinctively ran across her lips, or the way that a deep crimson seeped from her cheeks running through her entire body once May had managed to free her luscious bouncing bosom. She also didn’t notice Pyrrha draw closer, getting incredibly close to her plump mounds of fat. “P...Pyrrha?” She called out behind the combination of clothing currently trapping her in place.

“Ye...yes!” The oddly anxious tone in her new friends voice caught her off guard, but she simply chopped it up to not being used to others, much like herself.

“Can you help me please?” She wiggled a little, unknowingly causing her monstrous mountains of fat to sway back and forth.

“O...of course…”

She wasn’t sure what had taken Pyrrha so long to answer that time, but the girl eventually moved to assist, taking a position behind her… for some reason? Eventually the two of them had managed to clear the jacket, stripping May of her top based apparel. While she hadn’t put much thought into it at first, the sudden realization that Pyrrha was LOOKING at her, caused a general warmth to flow through her. Her body shook as Pyrrha’s hands slowly sipped past her shoulders, gentle fingers running across her collar bone.

She wasn’t sure what had it at first, but something hot started to form inside of her lower region. The heat only grew stronger as the crimson haired goddess behind her, continued to slowly eat up her appearance. It was an odd feeling, whenever May had people look at her, they were always either one of two categories, treating her as eye candy, or simply thinking ill of her. But there was something coming from Pyrrha, something she didn’t quite understand on her own.

“You’re gorgeous…” The words came out of Pyrrha’s mouth faster than May would have anticipated. “I… uhm I…!”

“Thank you…” Was May’s response, unwilling to let Pyrrha backtrack. She wasn’t used to compliments, but… she really liked them. She let out a small sniffle, “I don’t get complimented very frequently… I’m kind of…” While she’d moved her hands to hold her breasts together at one point, she let her right one loose, running it across her side. May wasn’t… obese by any means. But when compared to women like Pyrrha, or that white haired girl from earlier… she was plump. She had a round bottom, wide hips, and a large chest. She had belly fat that she’d never been able to get rid of no matter how hard she tried… it was an odd thing, one she wasn’t very proud of.

“No… no you’re quite beautiful though!” She felt the heat radiating off of Pyrrha’s hands as they hovered just behind her back. It was obvious Pyrrha wasn’t used to giving compliments as she was just kind of blurting things out, but May liked them.

“Th...thank you… so are you… you’re really… you’re hair is really gorgeous, and you have stunning eyes.”

She missed the way that Pyrrha blushed, the trembling of her fingers, the way that she held her breath. The two of them sat in silence for quite a bit of time, at least till May ended up breaking it. “We should… we should get dressed…”

“Right… right, what time is it?” May heard shuffling behind her as Pyrrha pulled out her scroll. “Oh! Oh no!”

“What’s wrong?!”

“We’ve been here for almost an hour!”

“Wha?!”

May began to freak out, that meant there HAD to be other people coming in soon! She needed to get dressed quickly, but by this point they needed to put their sleeping wear on.

After a quick hustle the two girls began to get dressed, and despite the hesitation in Pyrrha’s touch, she did aid her with putting her bra back on. May didn’t like wearing it to sleep but she didn’t really have a choice at the moment.

Finally they’d gotten dressed, both wearing simple cute one colored pajama’s. May’s own were a light maroon, while Pyrrha’s were a deep crimson. “Odd…”

“What is?”

Pyrrha eyed the room, “The others should have shown up by now, I wonder why it’s so empty.”

May thought about it as well, it was strangely empty, though as they got near the entrance they noticed a ruckus forming on the outside of the door.

“Hurry up and move!” The shrill voice from that Princess Looking girl from earlier called out. A few more frustrated and angry voices called out as well.

Eventually as they opened the door they realized what was going on. Standing in the way of the door was Jaune, in what May thought was incredibly adorable looking blue onesie pajamas with a rabbit on them! He’d apparently been holding up the door for some time as he did his best to not eye the angry crowd.

May nearly jumped when she heard Pyrrha’s voice change its unusually calm tone, “What’s going on here?”

“Oh!” The white haired girl apparently noticed their change, “Pyrrha Nikos!” It was quick, but May saw the way that Pyrrha flinched at the girl’s words, obviously not liking the way she said her name.

“Yes, Ms. Schnee?”

The girl seemed quite pleased to be known, as she started to practically vibrate, “We found this lout in front of the changing room! He was obviously acting suspiciously of you in an attempt to do something most untoward!”

To her surprise May found her fist clenched, she was about to step forward knowing full well that Jaune would never do anything of the sort. But to her surprise she was beat to the task, “That is not the case Ms. Schnee.” Despite her fiery appearance May needed to take a step back as Pyrrha practically released an aura of sheer cold. “I asked Jaune here.” She pointed at Jaune who was currently bowled over, obviously having taken a blow to the stomach at one point, “To watch over us, as my friend, May.” She now pointed towards May, “And I got changed.” She turned her attention back to Ms. Schnee, “You must understand that I do need my privacy.” May wasn’t sure why, but she felt Pyrrha wasn’t acting like her true self, though she supposed she must have been someone important if everyone was suddenly listening to her. Questions for later?

“I… I understand! He could have said something however!”

“Tri.. tri…” Jaune was obviously trying to talk, however seeing as he was currently bowled over he wasn’t able to say anything.

“It doesn’t seem you gave him the chance.” Pyrrha stepped over to Jaune, hooking an arm around and under his own lifting him up. May herself quickly moved to the other side, doing the same thing. “Now if you’ll excuse us.” Pyrrha said nothing further as she started off with the duo.

May turned to Jaune once she knew they were out of ear shot, “Are you okay?”

“Ye...yeah… sorry… ow, they hit hard.” She heard him grumble something else but couldn’t understand it. “Sorry… I was worried someone may show up while you were getting changed, I tried to keep them out.” May smiled, not having once doubted Jaune, she could tell from the way he spoke that he was telling the truth, not to mention how he had been holding his arms outstretched in front of the door.

“Thank you.” Pyrrha was the first to say her thanks, “I appreciate it… and I”m sorry that I may have tangled you in a mess.”

“Huh? No, that's fine, you saved me, so thank you.” His head swivled back to her, “And sorry, I uhm… I always thou…”

“It’s okay.” May smiled, “I was kind of tomboyish growing up.” If she was being honest she was still pretty much a tomboy even now.

The trio made their way to a corner in silence, choosing to lay their sleeping bags close together. While waiting for lights off, the trio ended up making a bit of small talk, May and Jaune learned a few things from Pyrrha, firstly and to their surprise the three of them had been pretty friendless growing up. Jaune had admitted that he’d been mostly home schooled. Which May had figured, but at the same time she had noticed the lack of actual training… worry had started to build up inside of her upon a certain realization. If he was anything like the Jaune she knew… then well… ignoring that moment, May found herself quite entertained by the other two, and from what she could see Jaune and Pyrrha got along quite well as if they were two peas in a pod. The obviously famous girl is enamored by his talk of having to deal with seven sisters, and his day to day life. She noticed he’d kept a tight lip on how sickly he used to be, but that was perhaps for the best.

Once they called for lights out the trio began to head to their own beddings, however May had a different idea. Mustering up a bit of courage she turned her attention towards her friend. “Jaune?”

His eyes lazily fell upon her, “Hmm?”

“Can we… can we cuddle? Like old times?”

Even in the darkness cast upon them she noticed the way his face tinged red, and the way that Pyrrha suddenly looked quite a bit interested in their conversation. Of course she expected him to say no, but to her surprise he responded with a calm but quiet, “Yes.”

Her lips curled into a smile as she drew closer to him, the duo squeezing into his overly large sized sleeping back. May was much smaller than Jaune, so her feet only reached to about halfway between his own feet and knees. She found herself snuggling into his neck, his arms wrapping around her back and pressing her close.

What surprised her however, was how close Pyrrha had moved towards them, “Sorry.” Her quiet voice reached out to the snuggling duo. “I’ve never really… had friends… and I”d like to be closer, if that’s okay.”

A small hum of approval came from Jaune, “That’s no problem Pyr.”

“Pyr?”

“Oh hahah… sorry… well we’re friends, and I thought maybe calling you by a nickname wouldn’t be so bad?”

May herself smiled as she pressed her face into the crook of his neck, she knew he was trying to include her as much as possible.

“I… I like that, thank you.”

She couldn’t make out Pyrrha’s face, but by the tone of her voice she figured that the girl was most likely blushing. “Good night you two.”

“G’night.” Both girls called out simultaneously.

As the night rolled on May found herself almost unable to sleep, the thoughts of tomorrow eeking into her subconscious, however even that was overshadowed by how ecstatic she felt being so close to her childhood crush and friend.

Though as she started to fall into the daze of sleep, she felt him shift, his arms gently reaching to her lower back pulling her closer to him. Then quietly, almost too quietly, she heard him call out to her. “May?”

“Hmm?”

She tried to match his tone of voice, “May, I don’t belong here…” His voice was cracking, his anxiousness finally getting the better of him. Thankfully he’d spoken almost directly into her ear, the only way someone would have been able to hear is if they had been right next to them. And the only person close enough, the other students were keeping their distance, was Pyrrha who was soundly asleep. And the next closest person was snoring loudly, some blonde girl next to a shorter girl, the one who got yelled at learlier.

She’d honestly figured as much by this point, though… she wondered what she was supposed to do with that information. The right thing would have been to turn him in… but she wanted him by her side. Unknown to the two of them, while they had their private conversation, emerald eyes flickered open. Their neighbor hadn’t quite fallen asleep yet, although she hadn’t meant to eavesdrop on the conversation, she’d been unable to rest not with the two so close to her.

May simply nodded against him, “How so?” She quietly asked.

“I… I faked my transcripts.”

May hummed to herself, she doubted that fake transcripts would have gotten by the headmaster, or the Headmistress if she was remembering things correctly. “Do you have Aura?”

“Ye...yes… My parents unlocked it for me when I told them I got accepted.”

May nodded, she knew that uncle and auntie wouldn’t have left him high and dry like that. “Did they teach you anything else?”

“A little… they taught me how to use the shield to protect myself from falling, I’m not sure why.”

Ah, so they at least taught him a landing strategy, May had to wonder if they knew something? She was perhaps being a bit overly suspicious of the situation. “Okay.” Quietly she snuggled against him, taking a deep breath of his surprisingly fresh scent, a mixture of lavender and vanilla. This was no different than her original goal, just that the time table was pushed up a little. “I promised I’d protect you back then, I’m going to protect you now, okay?”

She felt him hesitate as he tried to think of the words. She knew he hated the idea of being protected, he’d been protected his entire life after all. “No… I ca-”

She cut him off, doing something so very unlike her, her lips gently pressed against his leaving a chaste kiss. “Jaune… I want to.” She could feel the temperature on the back of his neck heat up. And before he could get another word in edgewise she wanted to clarify, “We all need help… and… you haven’t been trained right?”

“Ri...right…”

“Then I’m going to help you… I don’t know if I could do a sword and shield, but I want you to succeed, and until then I’ll be by your side.”

“Oh… ok…”

She smiled, once more burying herself into his chest, though she pulled back as she suddenly felt something press against her. “Jaune?”

“Ye...yes?”

“What’s that?”

She knew what it was, but she was feeling coy, something she never thought she’d ever feel before.

“Oh uhm… I…”

“Am I turning you on? Now that you know I’m a girl?” Perhaps the accident WAS for the best after all.

She felt him rumble, trying to find what to say. “Well I mean… I’ve always… even when I thought… I still thought you were… uhm… really attractive… so it’s not… too different?”

A silent, ‘Oh’ escaped her lips at the sudden realization. “Well.. uhm…” Now she was the one at loss for words.

“I’ll be honest.” He started to speak, “Meeting two incredibly gorgeous women in one day, and then finding out one was my best friend, and the other wants to be friends? It’s kind of a lot to take in.” She nodded against his chest, she was in a similar position, except she was one of those women according to him, and that realization forced a blush to creep down her face. Though she had to agree about Pyrrha.

“She’s really pretty, and nice, and amazing.”

“Yeah, apparently she’s famous? Those girls were kind of being weird with her, and that uhm Schnee? I think her name was? She was kind of… I think she was drooling at one point?”

May tried not to giggle, mostly to keep her voice down. “Well it doesn’t matter if she is famous or not, she was nice enough to help me when I needed someone.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t really know anything about it either way, and she seems to genuinely want friends.”

While the two of them carried on their conversation, they still hadn’t realized Pyrrha herself hadn’t fallen asleep yet. The girl in question attempted to keep a small sniffle down, as she felt herself overwhelmed by strange yet positive emotions.

The duo continued on their conversation for a little more, until it came to an abrupt stop when May shifted a little, her thigh brushing against the thing poking her. “Can… can I touch it?”

If she thought Jaune was warm before, he was suddenly blazing hot. She was actually a bit afraid that he’d end up burning up before the big initiation at this rate. But “Okay…” Even she almost didn’t hear that one, his voice almost a mumble instead of a whisper. Unable to control herself she slowly brought one of her hands from around his back gently rubbing it against the front of his onesie.

A bit of excitement started to build as he shivered beneath her touch. Her finger gently brushing against the solid rod of mass resting against her leg. She couldn’t believe how big it was, like… she’d seen several already, going to an academy left very little to the imagination especially if you roomed with mostly boys who refused to… well now wasn’t the time to think about it. Still, none of them had even matched up to half the size of the beast between the two. If she hadn’t realized what it was earlier she would have sworn it was another arm or leg.

The anticipation in her bosom began to build the more he shivered at her touch, her fingers gently rubbing against the swollen thing through the fabric. She could feel heat pulsing from the staff as it started to throb against her touch. “It’s really big, really really big.”

He didn’t say anything in response, choosing to bite his lower lip in order to keep quiet. She could tell he wasn’t used to this kind of treatment, or at least she hoped he wasn’t. The more she touched it, the braver she got, eventually causing her to take a firm grasp of his thing. Despite being behind the rather soft fabric of his onesie she could feel each and every vein pulsing beneath her firm grip.

She wanted more, wanted to feel skin to skin, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to convince him… at least not if she didn’t offer something else up as well. “Jaune?”

“Huhuh?”

Fighting back a few giggles she continued, “Would you like to touch me?”

“Wha?”

“Yeah…” The very thought of having someone touch her directly would have made her skin crawl, but when that other person was someone she cared very deeply for? Well she knew she wouldn’t mind.

“Ye...yes please…”

“Okay.”

She felt his hand shift from behind her back, gently rubbing against the curvature of her stomach. She could feel his hesitance through his touch, so deciding to actually take hold of the situation she tugged against his sleeve, pulling his hand lower. Once he’d found the band of her shorts, she let him know what she wanted with another gentle whisper. “Inside please~”

To her surprise, he was quite quick to respond. Squelch his fingers sunk between her soaking wet lips, digits digging into her flesh. A soft moan escaped her mouth as she pressed her lips between the crook of his neck in order to stifle the erotic sounds.

Despite his earlier confusion, his interest began to overshadow his nervousness as his fingers began to curl inside of her damp viscous passage. His knuckle roamed against the back, while his finger rubbed against the front. Her legs parted allowing him to position himself better, and as he found his own pace, allowing soft quiet squelching sounds to escape between the two of them, she found her hands moving towards the zipper at the top of his onesie, thankfully placed in the front for easier access.

He didn’t question her, possibly too excited to be playing with a feminine body. Despite moving as fast as she could, she found the pace at which she pulled upon the metal zipper to be agonizingly slow. Finally, she’d found the bottom, tugging on it once more she was suddenly hit with a quick SMACK her body trembled at the new sensation. Something big, hard, and hot was pressing against her belly, pulsing against the swell of her stomach. A thin trail of something gooey and sweltering, rimmed her belly button as the two of them shifted around uncomfortably.

The more he played with her, his fingers now bearing into her sensitive kitten all the way down to the base, the more she applied pressure to her grip. He was even hotter flesh to flesh, with every stroke his member pulsed in her hands, the soft skin burned with excitement as she continued her own little venture. Eventually she pulled up against the tip, the massive swollen glans practically scorched her skin as globs of sweltering hot precum dripped from the tiny slit.

Something began to churn inside of her as their bodies paced back and forth their minds practically closing the rest of the world off. So much so that the duo failed to notice the sudden rustling besides them.

The young crimson haired champion could practically smell the sweetly sick stench wafting off of the duo. She could hear every word, every moment, despite what one may say about her she was still a young woman. Her hands had moved between her thighs, her fingers running across the smooth slick line between her vulva. Her core trembled when her middle finger slipped between her folds, running across the rigid insides of her deep moist canal. She tried as she may to scratch an itch she’d never truly experienced before, tried her best to stay quiet and calm herself as her body betrayed her. She wondered how it would feel to have another touch her so? To be wrapped in the warmth of someone that she could say she loved? She wasn’t sure… hopefully she’d find out one day.

The two found themselves enraptured with one another, May no longer able to hold back had tugged on the head, the member gently shaking beneath her touch, as she positioned it between her thighs. Jaune’s hands slipped past her belly, leaving a wet rope of juice against her tanned skin. “Jaune… please?” She asked, nay begged him to do it, to slide inside of her, to treat her like the woman she wanted to be treated like.

Yet to her surprise he simply placed a gentle kiss against her forehead. “No, not yet…” Before the disappointment could build she felt a sudden heave. His member sliding between her plump soft thighs, the thick veins grinding against her pussy, her lips split apart as the rough shaft glided past. “Ah~♥” His fingers scraped across her unprotected back, nails filing down her spine until he reached her plump bottom. She could feel him grasp upon each cheek, his strong hands sinking into her flesh as he squeezed at her bottom.

While the previous sorrow from having to possibly wait in the future started to vanish, the realization that they would still be getting intimate proved to suffice. “May.”

Her attention fell back to him, their varying shaded blue eyes meeting each other in a deep loving gaze, but only for a moment as he pressed his lips against hers. Their first kiss had been quick, simple, chaste, this one was fiery and intense. Their mouths wrestled with one another as their tongues clashed in fierce combat. Her arms slipped between his, her fingers grasping onto his surprisingly broad back. In a move unlike her normal soft demeanor she found herself digging into his skin, her nails raked across his flesh grinding into him like a cat in heat.

He responded in kind, his fingers plunging further into her taut bottom spreading her cheeks apart as his hips bumped against hers. Her core trembled whilst his member slid against her lips, rubbing against her already dripping sex. She wanted him so badly to mess up, to pull back a little too far until he pushed all the way inside of her. She knew how big it was from feeling it alone, she could tell it would ruin her, destroy her insides so no other man could possibly hope to satisfy her! And that’s what she wanted, she wanted to have her body split open, wanted him to crush her cervix right into her womb to mess her insides up and to churn her without a hint of remorse.

These feelings and thoughts were so unlike her, she’d never figured herself for the violent sex type, but… the thought of being dominated by Jaune just… it lit a flame in her. And yet as she closed her eyes, another person came to mind, perhaps in a different way. She knew she wouldn’t be satisfied with another man once they got to that point, but well… What if it wasn’t another man? What if it was a woman? Emerald and Crimson swarmed through her thoughts as Jaune continued to toy with her. “Oh gods~”

She knew she couldn’t keep her voice down anymore, her womb was already squeezing, begging to be filled with rich Arc seed, even though she knew it wouldn’t get that chance yet. She found herself lost too much in a fantasy that she wasn’t even sure would happen yet, “Wh...what about… abou… Py…” She didn’t get to finish her question as Jaune shoved his tongue down her throat, forcing her to silence.

By the time he’d pulled back she was too out of breath to continue. “Shhh, we can’t be too loud May~ And… ye...yeah I’d like that too…” She knew he was just being cautious, she knew no one could hear them, and Pyrrha was asleep by this point. But she supposed erring on the side of caution was for the best. “My shoulder… bite it.”

She wasn’t sure how she felt about the command, but as his nails pressed in between the valley of her ass she felt something coming closer to her. Far too quickly for her liking she latched her mouth around his shoulder, her teeth gnawing into his flesh to keep herself silent. Her eyes rolled back as the strongest orgasm she’d ever had in her life finally took over. A haze fell over her as everything practically faded to black, her hips shook while her sex trembled thin streams of liquid squirting from her quivering core.

She wanted nothing more but to fall into a deep slumber, however one thought kept her from falling over. Jaune had started to pull back, satisfied with having pleasured her. “Jaune, finish.”

“I… I can’t… it would get on the sleeping bag.”

She shook her head as she began to pull up her shorts, sliding the back against her plush round bottom and left the front part lowered. “Here, here.” She guided him to the slightly sticky center of her shorts.

She could practically see his face illuminate in the darkness, she knew he was the kind of person even till this day that wouldn’t want to trouble someone… but she wanted this. Before he could utter another word she reached for the base of his member, her fingers gently brushing against his soft neatly cut pubic hairs. From the start all the way down to the tip she began to stroke him, her hand unable to fully grasp around the entirety of its girth.

She heard him start to moan, a husky, low growl nearly escaping his lips only stopped when she pulled him into a deep loving kiss. She felt herself begin to buck against the air, excited for the cumming sensation. Thankfully she needed not wait long, hearing it before she could actually feel it, thick spurts of white began to splash against her clothing pooling in the center.

A rush of adrenaline filled her as she pumped him faster, harder, longer strokes! She wanted his body to give into her, to surrender all his precious seed to her. When he was done, she felt her confidence begin to pool for one final step. “Thank you~” She whispered into his ear, her fingers grasping against the hem of her clothing, tugging upwards till, SQUISH, “OoooooooOoOh~” There had been so much more of it than she thought. Her pussy drowned in semen as it pressed against her entrance, squirming inside of just the beginning however unable to get further. She found herself unable to contain a happy little squee as she kissed against him.

By this point the two of them had grown fatigued, exhaustion hitting them harder than they expected, they pressed themselves into one another, enjoying each other's warmth. She wasn’t sure what they would do for tomorrow, but she was going to make sure he passed no matter what.

Just to the right of them, the sleeping bag belonging to their new friend rustled louder, Pyrrha’s fingers dug into her pussy two digits reaching as deeply as they could into her soaking sex. The other hand rubbed against her backside, a finger gently sliding inside of her trembling hole. Her toes curled as a surprise orgasm struck through her leaving her nearly defenseless as her brain began to run haywire. She wasn’t sure what had compelled her, but as the thick sent of sex wafted her way, she wasn’t sure it would be the last… she had a lot to think about tomorrow...

#May Zedong #Pyrrha Nikos #Jaune Arc #Combined Arms #tempverse

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redmaneroster · 3 years

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Our Home Away From Home, Away From Home

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PART 7 – Crustacean

They've been awake for at least an hour now, staring at the ceiling. It's dark all over, breached by apertures on the steel portal door of their room but the slits of light only cut into a broken ceiling fan and Yang's fingernail next to Jaune's ear.

Penny's voice comes muffled through the thick ceiling. Ruby's high-pitched cheers like distant whispers next to the megaphone voice of their android friend. They're all on a boat house for the sea and it's clear the girls are having a blast trying to steer the thing.

"They're having fun," Jaune says. He means nothing by it. Just an observation. Pointless conversation through the sleepy haze of a rocking ship. Jaune would have gotten sick were he not on a stable bed. He has pills for the motion sickness but they won't last him the entire trip. Sleep is the only way he can ration them.

Yang shifts over his arm and raises her hand, letting the light catch her nail again. It glistens like a solitary star off a cosmic trail. She giggles because the haze has caught onto her too and she's half-awake as it is. "He he, we could have fun too, y'know?"

He seizes, sitting up. "Y-Yang…?"

Yang does the same, huddling into a ball, clutching the comforter like it might shield her. "I-I meant by joining them! I didn't… I mean, I don't think I meant it that way…" Most of her is certain she didn't mean it like that but halfway through speaking, she wanted to take it back. She thinks she's ready, prepared to not freak out at the idea of exposing herself and seeing all of him. Her every uncertainty is truth, as honest as her apprehension to let him touch her.

She can barely see his face but his features soften in the dark, clearer when he gets closer. And for a moment it scares her to think he's taking that initiative. Her chest thumps like earthly tremors, cracking against her skin as it splinters like desert ground. Lips just as dry.

But he doesn't get any closer. He crouches next to her, facing away, but one of his hands reaches out for hers to close the rest of the distance. Her hands twitch when the warmth of his rolls over the back of her palm and hovers over her knuckles.

His hand stops and, instead, takes her fingers between two of his and a thumb. It's a gentle and quiet contact. He doesn't want to scare her. "I know you're having second thoughts," he says slowly, deliberately. As if knowing. Just like Saphron. "But how about we agree to do this when we're both one-hundred percent on it? Like when we have no doubt that this is how we take things going forward."

"Yeah… I think I'd like that." She clutches his hand fully now. Even shuffling closer. A warm breath tickles the hairs on his extended arm. "Look, I want it clear that it isn't you I'm apprehensive about. It's everything that comes after."

She can feel the heat of his blush from his hands alone.

"Uh… Yang, I hope I haven't somehow gotten you thinking I was going to do anything wild."

"No, no," she laughs, "nothing like that." She squeezes his hand and shuffles till her arm is flush against his. "I… I want kids."

"Um!" He tenses but doesn't let go of her as a sign of resolve.

"I don't mean now! Or anytime soon, I swear!" She lets him take a breath and unwind his rigid bones. "Really jumpstarted his heart, didn't I?" she thinks. Another squeeze from her, asking for courage he pours out of his sweaty palm.

"I'm afraid," she says finally, "of what comes after. If I don't try to stopgap how quickly things are going, sooner or later I'll have a kid of my own and I'll stare them in the face and… I'm worried that I'll be afraid. That, somehow, Mom running away would make sense."

He stares at her, eyes wide. "You called her mom."

An uncomfortable shiver runs down her neck and scrapes against her ribs. She shudders as she buries her head between her curled-up knees. "It's not about her. At least, I don't think so. I've caught myself calling her mom in my head when I think about it. Like I'm hoping I can still call myself a mother."

"That's a lot of thinking ahead, Yang. Who knows how long it'll even be till then."

She shrugs with a laugh that doesn't reach her eyes. "I've always been wired that way. I got a full life to live but I had to spend a lot of time prepping Ruby's future. If I don't prepare for the inevitable, I'll waste time trying to figure it out when it actually arrives."

"It doesn't sound like you're waiting to know if you'll be ready. Only that you worry if you'll ever be ready at all."

She nods, a touch of shame welling in her chest. "Is that bad?"

"I think it's human."

"That just tells me I could screw up like everyone else…"

"I like to think it means we're afraid of the same things."

Yang pulls her head out of her knees and blinks at him. Their hands are sweating and her nerves are mirrored on him too. She can see it on his face but it almost doesn't make sense. "Why?" she asks. "You'll make a great dad, Jaune. Hell, you'd make a great mom too!" She almost doesn't notice the little smile on her cheeks.

"Could say the same to you," he says, smiling again but there's a quiver in his hands. It's uncomfortably weak. "But it doesn't really matter that we think the world of each other. We'll probably mess up anyway. I may not share your fear of becoming like your mom but I'm every bit as afraid of not turning up like mine. My parents are storied huntsmen who raised eight proper kids. My grandparents before them were hard won veterans who were their children's heroes. That's a lot of legacy to live up to. And…" He makes a series of faces. All of them uncertain.

Her hand slides up his arm and the other knits between his fingers. Their heads lean onto each other before he speaks.

"Sometimes it feels like everything I'll ever do will be dwarfed by them. Short of saving the world and raising a dozen huntsmen–" Yang resists visibly wincing at the thought of raising twelve kids "–I'll never live up to them. And even if I do? I'm still not sure how to stop my kids from sharing the same fears…" He laughs. Not bitterly. There's a genuine hearty sound puffing out of his chest. "I think I know why Dad wanted me to be a doctor."

"Hm… Sounds like he was afraid of the same thing we are," she muses.

"I think so, too."

The sliver of light through the door passes them and, for a moment, the light is gone. The warmth and sweat of their hands are the only tangible things in the dark. And they cling to each other, summoning courage as fears drip away like melting ice.

"Jaune?" she asks.

"Yeah?"

"We should talk to your parents. I think there's a lot of easy-to-reach wisdom we aren't taking advantage of here." He's silent for a long second and Yang nearly calls him out until she notices the sheen of his scroll. "What are you doing?"

His Cheshire grin is mortifying under the pale glow. "Calling my folks."

"No! Stop!" she screeches, scrambling on top of him like a wild monkey. "I'm not ready! My hair's a mess!"

He pulls his hand away. "C'mon! They'll love you!"

"Can it, Arc! Sweet talking won't stop me!"

They wrestle for a while and Yang is so focused on getting his scroll that she forgets what she taught Jaune. They've wrestled in the past for training and something he's very broadly taken from those lessons has been going on the offensive. Tucking away his scroll, he manages to slink around her and grapple her arms.

"What? Hey!"

Trapping the length of her arms above her with his arm, he reaches around her with the other to grab his scroll. He pulls it up. It goes to call and the preview camera puts them both in view (strangely, like two floating heads from the dark).

With enough struggling, Yang knows she can break out even at a disadvantageous position, but the call answers quickly and she freezes up. Her awkward smile is automatic. Her panicked heart is full-auto.

"Hey, Mom, Dad! This is Yang, my girlfrie–" His mouth hangs open when their eyes meet in what can only be described as abject terror.

They hadn't exactly agreed on a label.

There's click from the scroll. "…And saved!" Jaune's mom sings. "Aren't you two cute."

-0-

They don't get a lot of answers. Jaune's parents, Apolian and Helia (she insists on Aunt Hess), tell them that this is the kind of discussion you have over dinner. Yang is promptly invited to see them over the Summer.

They do end up sharing stories, and by the end of it Yang feels confident that she's left a good first impression. Yet, by the time they walk into the morning light and find an empty spot together at the front deck, their nerves worm their way back in but for different reasons this time.

"So… labels. Yay," Yang cheers weakly against the railing.

"Yeah," Jaune drawls. "Fifteen percent off. This side up. Expires yesterday. Labels!" he cheers sarcastically, awkwardly. "Totally love 'em."

It's very easily something they can agree to discuss another time but it doesn't feel right doing so. Like it's not so big a deal that they can't hold off but not small enough to ignore for too long. Besides, people are going to ask questions (not that they haven't already) and just agreeing on something would work for a few more miles.

"Y'know, it's funny," Yang says, "I was fully prepared to just be boyfriend and girlfriend when this all started. Now that I've got clarity, I'm starting to wonder if we're even pacing ourselves right as friends."

Jaune hums agreeably. "But maybe we've worried so much about the pace that we've forgotten if it even matters… I mean, so what if things are going too fast? What should matter is if we want it or not."

"Do you want it?" she asks.

He shrugs. "I guess I don't mind telling everyone we're dating. And exclusive. But what are we if not that by definition? What's the difference with that and being an item?"

She sighs, pivoting around to lean her back against the railing instead. "What if the label's pointless to begin with? It just sums up what we are for other people. Like you said, it should only really matter to us."

"Maybe that's just it. The label isn't important to us and so it's only for them. If all they're asking is to sum up what we are, then we should just pick a label that answers enough questions and any nuance we need we can keep to ourselves."

"Yeah, we don't have change to fit it, even. We'll just be the way we are."

But the uncomfortable question of what they even are lingers between them. Not a label, per se. Perhaps a name truly is pointless, but what does it mean to be what they are?

When their hands meet in the middle, there's an air of comfort, a touch of romance. A quiet laugh and a knowing smile. They balk at the smell of salty sea air, laugh at the antics of an excitable Penny, gossip at some friends huddled a little too close. It's all friendly, familiar. Uncomplicated.

They decide that quantifying it is either too hard or actually impossible. And a quiet ambivalence washes over them – stinging and uncertain – and figuring it out will take a lot of testing.

-0-

It was supposed to be a little solitary date but Sun knows a guy with a boat house and Pyrrha has a sponsorship with an outdoor grill you can take to the beach (the sponsor feels that a photoshoot on the deck of a ship is an inspired take). The fact that there's a small, unfamiliar crew onboard is a little concerning but they're largely invisible and stay out of the way. Though Sun and Pyrrha have made it a game to hide away from them.

Yang has started wearing a red wig to throw them off and, stood next to Jaune who is a muscular blonde, from behind he can pull off looking like Sun at a glance. Most of the crew is understanding and they have a few good laughs.

Yang muses that she might look good as a redhead and posits to Jaune that she might dye her hair down the line.

"And here I thought those locks were sacred."

"Yeah, I don't think they can stop being immaculate," she says as she twirls in front of a mirror, trying to get a good look of it down her back. "Red's sufficiently bright. Maybe…"

"Well, bright colors will match your eyes," Jaune says sat across from her in a half-zipped wetsuit, "but I don't see you having many options with hair that long. You gotta get a hairdresser to cover all that thickness. You're gonna mess up trying to do it yourself."

Yang chews the thought like she does her lip. "I guess I could just cut it."

Jaune blinks at her. "I'm not the most religious man but even that sounds blasphemous."

"Heh. I might've thought the same thing last year."

"What changed?"

She bundles her hair in her hands, draping it over her shoulder. "I inherited my hair from my mom, but it's something I took and made my own. I took pride in that, but nowadays that just feels… petty. I mean, I still take pride in taking care of it, but I've started to come around to the idea that I could just like however I look as long as that choice is my own. Even if I end up looking ridiculous for a semester."

He comes up behind her, eying himself in the mirror. "Okay, but only if you let me do the same."

"Dye your hair?"

"Yeah, to match yours. Maybe I'll even grow mine out. Always wanted to try a wolf-tail." He turns his head and bunches up a few of his locks. It's not enough for a full tail since much of the length is lost in his fist, but Yang can kind of see it working.

But red?

"I can't put you through that."

"But you won't be," he says matter-of-factly, "I'll be putting myself through that. So, if I choose to stand behind you by experimenting with my hair the same way, that'll be my choice."

She sighs and backs up into his chest. "Why do you keep cheating? You know I can't argue with that kind of logic. And you'll just end up looking ridiculous by the end."

"At least I'll look like the bigger fool."

"Jaune…"

"I'm used to it," he maintains evenly, sternly. "I'm glad people don't look down on me anymore but being with me means you have to live with the fact that I'm still every bit that little spaz who threw up on your boots. Which I'm glad you forgave me for, by the way. Real quick on that too."

"Heh, well, my temper's never been about my style. An unfortunate dork just gets pity, and even a mild jerk might just get a glare. It's mostly about my pride. I worked hard on my hair back in freshmen year and… I hated losing. I mean, god damn does Yatsu hit hard. I guarantee that I'll start seeing red again if I get a repeat of last year's Vytal."

"You're competing again this year?"

She gives him gigawatt grin. "JNPR didn't need to compete but you all did anyway. If Jaune Arc can stand on international television despite obvious odds and harbor an unnecessary need to feel like he's somehow a burden, what's Yang Xiao Long to do but follow his example and beat her own demons to death?"

His cheeks are a touch red and she gives him the small mercy of not pointing it out. "I guess I can't argue with that either," he says.

Yang pushes off him and raises one hand while pressing the other against her chest before she announces before him, "I swear mercy upon my hair, that you might see fit to show mercy on yours."

"Even if things go horribly wrong and I decide that the only way to one-up you is to grow a mullet?"

She snorts. "I will shave you bald in your sleep, and don't think for a second that I won't do that."

They're laughing and he rolls his eyes but he's certain she'll make good on if it comes to that. "C'mon, we've spent enough time not getting ready. They're probably already in the water."

She helps him with his zipper. "Blake's probably already caught one," she says. There's an excited tingle that runs through her spine. "Now I've got an itch. Wanna see if we can catch more than she can?"

"Both of us against her?"

"She used to dive for clams with her dad. No gear either. Two against one is only fair."

They still lose to her, and they're not even in second place. Sun has been diving for seafood since he was kid.

They manage over two dozen lobsters and a handful of crabs, and unanimously agree not to boil the poor things alive. Still, they mess up a few times cause no one actually knows how to cook lobster even with Penny's encyclopedic knowledge but they manage a lovely dinner eventually with a few failed attempts.

Neptune and Weiss disappear at some point only to be stumbled upon below deck. They'd been drinking. Everyone respects their privacy and don't ask why.

-0-

Nora interjects on a Tuesday team meeting that – now that it's public that Jaune and Yang are basically a couple – people both see it and don't see it.

Jaune is confused for long enough to just outright ask what she's talking about.

Sometimes people will catch them getting a little close in the halls (they're starting to notice the stares), but they're not always together and you wouldn't have noticed that something was up if you didn't already know. They sit next to each other all the time but are frequently talking to the rest of their teams (there was rumor that Jaune was secretly dating Ruby after they laughed out loud during class a few times). Witnesses spot them boarding bullheads to Vale around the weekends but are as frequently found shopping for groceries, ammo, inspecting ingots, and once even at a car dealership (and they're surprised how most of the things they do together could only be classified as dates if you squint hard enough and pretend they're doing anything else).

They're never caught holding hands. The one kiss was even on the cheek and some people still believe they were seeing things altogether. It almost feels like fiction or outlandish gossip. Not because it's them, but because no one saw it coming and people are still refusing to trust their eyes.

Yang thinks it's hilarious. Jaune thinks they need to clarify things before they get awkward. Yang was already propositioned after she lied about there being nothing between them. Lies are only going to complicate things.

So, in that moment they decide, "We're a couple."

Sure. Fine. Give them a label when they ask but they aren't changing anything else. They'd already agreed on it anyway. Still, the societal pressure to look the part just didn't vibe with them and they hope the label is the last thing they ever give into outside of themselves.

-0-

They find out two things on the last week before the semestral break, the one they'll mostly spend in Patch with Yang's parents.

One, that lobster needs to be preserved damp and freezing with salt water. Fresh water off the tap ruins their last reserve crustacean. Shame. Guess they'll have to plan another boat trip.

And two, that – at least according to the crusty boatman – lobsters don't stop growing. They get bigger and bigger until they've outgrown their own shells. So, they shed it and grow a new one. Then, eventually, they outgrow that shell, too, and start the process over and over again until we find them, crack them open, and feast on their delicious insides…

The boatman forgets his own metaphor in the reverie of polishing off the last of his meal, plucking his lips over the last delicate morsels.

He tells them all, then, that the price of growth is to constantly find that what was once familiar will inevitably feel alien. That everything about you and around you will change, and adaptation is not only what makes it survivable, but it also keeps you sane.

When they think he's done, he coughs, wheezes, then speaks again.

You should always look out for the in-between, he says with a serious look in his eye. Thing is, after shedding their shell, lobsters have to spend their meantime being vulnerable. Squishy, ugly little things, he emphasizes with gusto.

Transitions in your life will be like that, often terrifying and tumultuous, and the scary part is that your worries doesn't stop there. You have to be careful about who you become when you come out the other end. That it's not only hard to make the transition, that your choices in that change will determine who you are moving forward.

A lobster will come out wrong if something unexpected happens in the middle of molting. Might grow another claw or bulge out somewhere uncomfortably. But the boatman, rather optimistically, says a lobster has the option to cut off an offending part of them and regrow it. It'll take a while though. Years even, but correcting your character is never as easily solved with an apology or an act of will.

Because you'll never undo your mistakes. You can only make things right. And sometimes you can only do that little by little.

For a moment, Yang thinks of Raven.

-0-

It's when they're out by the pier to try an egg sandwich that Yang is thinking about lobsters and metaphors. "So, what happens after the apartment?" she asks. "After Beacon?"

"I don't know," he shrugs. "I haven't thought that far ahead." Except he has, but it's all substitutions. He used to think of a future with Terra, but now Yang has replaced all those naïve, boyish dreams with a series of blonde heads bouncing on a couch. Still, these are fragmentary thoughts, and he doesn't think Yang would like it if he tried for the civilian life. No, right now – and for the past week – he's been trying to see where that future is now with Yang instead. "We should pair off, by the way."

"Uh, haven't we already?"

"I mean when we go hunting. I know you're only supposed to pair off with your own team but I don't see JNPR and RWBY splitting up… ever. I think we should get a head start."

"Okay, future proofing. Sounds like your next report for Leadership." It is, and Yang helps him figure out his bullet points while they chew thoughtfully on their egg sandwiches (it's really eighty-percent meat and cheese but it's got an egg inside and on top so it gets the name).

They talk about the car they're looking for. Jaune's racetrack savvy sister, Sable, it still swearing up and down about the Highway Aries being an ideal match. Yang still insists on a bike.

When they're packing up and driving home, Yang talks about her "cousin" Vernal and her estranged bedmate Shay. Jaune adds that he has cousins he doesn't remember because seven sisters are enough, he doesn't need to add another eight. (Yang reels at the idea of so many blondes at a single family gathering and those are just the grandkids).

When they're home they talk about another trip out to sea and inevitably segway back into lobsters.

Sitting on the couch, she's thinking about her future. Jaune plops next to her and laughs about something Ruby sends him on his scroll.

Yang's ignoring her messages from Nora – she's staring at her scroll on the coffee table and it buzzes but she can't register what's happening – and suddenly she blurts, "Hey, I know this is a ways off and I probably shouldn't be something you talk about it at eighteen in the middle of academy training but… if we get a girl, can we name her Summer?" There's no embarrassment blooming off her cheeks. Her face is completely neutral, and her eyes are searching for a response in his wide, vacant stare.

His typing hasn't stopped, only slowed. "…"

"Jaune?"

He sighs, and it's long and beaten like he's preparing himself for self-destruction. "Only if we agree to name our son…" he swallows uncomfortably. "…uh, Qrow?"

She's aghast, mouth opening and closing. "Did… did you lose a bet or something?"

He kisses her – his way of saying yes – but it's not cute this time. It's sad and piteous and his eyes scream an apology his lungs are strangling him not to say for fear of combusting in what is already volcanic embarrassment.

"Win the bet," she says sternly.

"What? But I already lost!"

"Then double or nothing! Short of him kicking the ever living fuck out of the bucket, I am not naming my son after my uncle." After his furious nodding, she summons a tiny strength in her lungs to speak, but not enough to look him in the eye. "So, you, uh, didn't answer my question."

The clatter of his flask on the coffee table almost scares her, but she can see that he isn't drinking at the thought of Terra. This time it's just about Qrow. It makes her feel less afraid. When he answers, there is no burden in his tone caused he'd downed his nerves in quarter-parts whiskey. "I'll agree to Summer if you let me name our next daughter Agrippa."

"Oh? Why?"

"Was set on it when I was kid. This was before Pyrrha, before Terra, even. I just remember crying at home during a storm. My bedroom door was stuck cause of a leak – y'know, cause water inflates wood – and no one could hear me call out to them under all the rain drumming the roof. I was soaking wet cause the leak got onto my sheets. Stupid thing was, I wasn't even afraid of getting sick or if my small boy body would get hypothermia. I just had a sleepover at a friend's place the morning after and I didn't want to miss it. Then, out of nowhere and probably from a fevered haze, I see a guardian angel or – as my sisters called it – an imaginary friend."

He pauses to look at her, to check if she thinks he's crazy. She doesn't. Yang doesn't judge. She listens.

"It was a girl just a head taller than mine," he continues. "The dark made her hair look brown or a dull red, so I can't recall that for sure but I remember her eyes. They were blue, like mine, only brighter. She said her name was Gri, short for Agrippa. She saw that I was cold and she knelt to my level and hugged me. Her body felt warm, but too warm like the way your hands might after holding freshly brewed coffee. I didn't notice I was dry until I was laid in an equally dry bed and already falling asleep."

She doesn't ask if he thought it a dream. "You weren't afraid?" she asks instead.

He shakes his head. "I just assumed she was someone from the neighborhood I neglected to meet. My hometown, Clove, is a community of retired huntsmen surrounded by their farmlands, and everyone outside of it knew not to mess with huntsman families. If anything, we kept giving passersby the spooks. Cause of that, I was taught to be friendly, not wary of strangers."

"Hm," she sounds thoughtfully. "That explains a few things, actually."

"Really? Like what?"

"Well, just one thing. Ruby told me how you two met. You told her that strangers are just friends you haven't met yet. Thought you might've even been a little sketchy until I saw you myself. Seemed like the kind of guy who'd meet her in the middle. Vomit and all."

"Heh, I'm glad we hit it off. Ruby's a good friend."

"She makes a better sister," she says, winking.

"I suppose I'll find that out eventually, huh?" He gives her a suggestive grin.

"Eh?"

His grin drops. "Y'know, cause she'll be my sister-in-law if we…" He rolls his hands.

"Uh… Oh. Oh! You were flirting! Damn it, I missed my chance!'

He laughs because she seems genuinely upset. She decides that pouting is for suckers and proceeds to bite his neck. This time he bites back.

-0-

They wake up with the hickeys still on their necks and they opt to leave it there for all to see. The reactions from their peers at Beacon are interesting, and they take it as sufficient proof enough for everyone that they're an item. No one bothers asking about them after that.

When the week comes to an end, Pyrrha promises that they can pay her back for covering for the car's down payment and that – by the time they get back from Patch – that it'll be in the apartment's designated parking spot. Only slightly used cause, of course, she's going to cruise in it with Sun when he flies back to the city tomorrow.

They're surprised when Jaune and not Yang is the one that makes them vow to clean the stains. Yang is very proud of him.

On the pier, they hug their friends goodbye and Ruby promises to catch up once she's done meeting someone important from Mistral as per the headmaster's instruction. She says she can't tell them why she's nervous. They don't pry and tell her they'll listen when she's ready.

Jaune, also, promises not to look at her baby pictures (until she's there, he doesn't say).

Once they're in transit on the ferry, he tries to straighten out a crease in Yang's leather jacket. The shard of fire dust in a cup of water is his attempt to steam it straight. He spends the time talking about his mom's home remedies and his dad's jury rigging. She answers with talk of Summer's garden that her dad and uncle tend to. He scoffs at the idea of Qrow gardening but admits that it makes sense.

With Jaune busying himself, Yang wonders if things will stay this way. If all they have to worry about is down payments, creases, spoiled lobsters, and baby names. That all the big problems, like her mother's abandonment and his actual, biological son, might rear themselves instead and come back to haunt them in devastating ways. But just before any doubt sinks in, he holds her hand from his perch on the floor. He kisses her knee and eyes her from over her lap.

"Whatever it is," he says, squinting. Thinking of what else to add but settles with, "It doesn't matter whatever it is…"

She is prepared to eat up anything he offers. That he'll be there for her, that they'll work it out somehow, that he'll banish any ill thought or doubt, but he says none of those things. Instead, he leans up and kisses her – tender and brief – on the lips.

She blinks. "What are you saying yes to this time?" She's so bewildered that she doesn't even know why she asks such a thing.

"You," he answers anyway. "All of you. I can't fix everything and I can't right every wrong, but I'll take you as you are, or whatever you'll become. Even if you're in pieces. Even if you stop loving me. I don't have be your boyfriend to be with you every step of the way."

It's clear, then, that Jaune's been dealing with doubts of his own. Yang swallows as things bubble to the surface before she blinks a few times and…

"I love you," she says, and she realizes that it's the first time she has said it.

-0-

Down the line, she remembers this moment most vividly of her trip to Patch that one Autumn afternoon. The uncomfortable smell of sea water and steam off a heated cup, the rock of the ferry that forces Jaune to swallow a pill and drops a dozen more just to stop from hurling, and the way her shorts nearly catch fire from the dust shard spilling onto her lap.

Cause then he's stable and she's got a change of clothes (the small fire charred the color in an uncomfortable spot), and they try for the overpriced food court a floor above to mask the smell of all the water in almost lousy, reheated pizza.

The boatman told them that change is tumultuous, and that screwing up in the middle of growing their new shell is almost inevitable. Maybe they won't fit quite so well in their new shell, and maybe they'll take a few cuts and scrapes before they settle comfortably in their own skin, and maybe an old wound might not quite go away and leave them vulnerable there forever…

…but even if so, they decide – after a toast with pizza that tastes like the box it came in – that they'll always have these beautiful little imperfections, and that they can be ugly, squishy lobsters together.

#jaune x yang #yang x jaune #Jaune Arc #yang xiao long #rwby dragonslayer

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theseerasures · 3 years

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YOu have a lot of interesting thoughts abt Winter what dyou think will happen with her this season?? Iknow you already said she won't die but. other stuff?? What do you think of the idea that she defects to salem

y’know, anon: i was actually gonna write something to this tune unprompted before the hiatus ended? i didn’t, because when it’s inevitably revealed that i was wrong about Everything and the village children throw their eggs and laugh i didn’t want to give them any more receipts, but now that someone has asked i might as well

quick disclaimer before i start! these are subjective speculations about a character who has thus far been--particularly in 8.1--sparsely and ambivalently characterized, on purpose. i am spinning from the same subtext as anyone else, and if i am reading it differently, then all that means that i am reading it differently. Mr. Teeth is not sending me secret data. i am not the Steve Kornacki of RWBY Defections, as hilarious as it is to imagine someone like that existing.

okay? okay. below are some ideas and theories about where Winter could be going this season

The Defection (no not that one yet)

yeah, i’m still an “AceOps defect as a team” truther. this one actually has the least to do with Winter, and most to do with story economy. and the story of the AceOps is this: under Clover they were “the perfect team”--efficient, powerful, professional, and the perfect emblem of Atlesian values. law and order above all else. the mission matters more than the team. don’t get attached.

Clover’s absence from the team begins in late season 7, which means all that shiny varnish is stripped from Atlas at the same time it’s stripped from the AceOps. it turns out that the law isn’t always right, it turns out it’s super easy to turn “the needs of the many” into “the needs of the few who have many,” and it turns out once you go even a single inch past their facade the “best Huntsmen in Atlas” are conflicted, directionless, and squabble like children. they have a better showing against Penny this season, but their continued dynamic shows that fault lines--particularly between Marrow and Harriet--are reaching crisis. The AceOps model is unsustainable, in the same way that all of Atlas is ultimately unsustainable.

then Ironwood puts Winter in charge, and at first i did think: well, this is probably just to accelerate the inevitable fallout. they are, by their own testimony, emotional strangers to each other, and now some of them disagree on ideological grounds to the point where they can barely stand to be in the same room; slapping an abrasive volatile live wire on top of all that is pouring gasoline on Rome while Rome burns.

but the revelation of Renvision was that they’ve been lying--about HAVING feelings, but also about their feelings with and about each other. moreover: Winter’s own emotions mirror theirs. they’re speaking, in whatever horrifically repressed way, a similar language.

i’m not going to discount the possibility that this kind of ice-water-in-the-face moment might not be enough for some of them; one thing i’ve always respected about RWBY is its unwillingness to flinch away from the idea that sometimes it IS too late for people. but when it comes down to the AceOps, i think the operating question isn’t “will they pick JOYR over setting off the bomb,” because they’re not ready to make that kind of decision together as a team yet. no, the operating question is: if it comes down to one of them, or setting off the bomb, what will they choose?

Clover would set off the bomb, without hesitation or remorse. the mission and protocol HAVE to come first, and in this case there’s a compelling argument that it’s the right call. the team under Clover would have followed suit. the team without Clover would have likely done the same.

the team under Winter...

well, the thing about Winter is that she’s NOT Clover. not a perfect soldier, but--let’s stick with “not a perfect soldier.” she cannot lead in the same way Clover did, with that infuriating mixture of self-assurance and personal charisma, but i don’t think she thinks of herself as any less in command, which means that for the time being, the AceOps are her team. i can’t be certain what Winter would choose in this situation--whether her personal feelings can win out against years of consequentialist thinking--but i do feel fairly confident in saying that she’d be more willing to sacrifice HERSELF in order to choose both.

and in this crucial moment where the AceOps are forced to re-evaluate how they feel about each other, and the team, that might count for something.

so tl;dr #1: the AceOps find a team identity separate from the Atlesian structure. whether they defect to the RIGHT people, or survive defection, and whether Winter counts narratively as one of the AceOps by that point, i’m less sure about, but a cursory stab in the dark would be: yes, not all of them, and no.

The Return

how much do the writers care about the Winter-Ironwood dynamic? probably less than i do, but i also care more than any human should be permitted to under the law, especially since people have moved onto speculating about all the hot NEW abusers she could have in her life. whatever--it is something that needs closure, and i think the writers know that. my preference is still that they confront each other in person, at Atlas Academy (Qrow having fucked off via either healthy decision making or force). if this does happen, i don’t think there’s any chance that both of them will make it out alive; Winter would ONLY confront Ironwood if she’s forced to--either by him or other forces--and both of them are too rigid with themselves and with each other to offer any kind of give, or forgiveness.

that’s what i’d prefer, but it no longer seems the most likely option; Winter clearly has no plans to make it back, and the queue for “people who want to slug it out with DILF Jimmy” just keeps getting longer. it’s possible that they’ll end on the same personal-impersonal teeter-totter which they’ve always resided, where they’re just voices in each other’s earpieces, and she’s giving him a report, and he is issuing her orders.

there’s a way to make that meaningful, though: Winter HAS just disobeyed an explicit order--the first she’s done when she fully had the capacity to carry it out. her own treasons are piling up, and it’s a secret that he should know, for plot and character reasons. the obvious choice among the AceOps to tattle is Harriet, but i also think there’s a nonzero chance that, if asked, Winter herself will tell him. for all her flaws, i do think Winter is capable of owning up to her decisions (it’d make a nice parallel with Yang telling Ironwood about what she and Blake did during Gravity, but that’s neither here nor there), but even more importantly...i think she’d tell him because she wants to be reassured. that she did the right thing, but also that they’re still on the same page, and that he’s still the same person he always was, with her.

he won’t reassure her, of course. especially after he finds out that she disobeyed him for Ozpin. she’ll have no one left.

tl;dr #2: Winter and Ironwood have to reach some kind of End by the finale. whether it’s with a bang or a whimper i’m again less certain of, but if it DOES end with a bang one of them will die, and it’s going to be Ironwood.

Winter Alone

i, like many others, assumed going into the season that Winter’s core dilemma would be something like “her family or her family,” meaning: her sisters or her (adoptive) father. but i think as far as the show’s concerned that conflict was resolved when she let them go in The Enemy of Trust, and it’s not worth re-litigating. since the season started she’s just missed Weiss and/or Penny TWICE by narrative contrivance--during the Amity heist, and the abortive recovery mission--and she’s been sent away from Ironwood. it’s increasingly looking to me like Winter and Weiss will not talk to each other at ALL this season (do they have Scroll reception in the whale? i guess they must if Watts talked to Tyrian), or at most will only catch a tantalizing glimpse of each other before being whisked away again. all of this points to the issue not being “whose side will Winter choose,” but “what kind of person IS Winter, when she doesn’t have anyone else’s ideology to fall back upon?”

which is very exciting to me! the What You Are in the Dark trope is an obvious staple, but i’m especially a sucker for it when it happens to characters like Winter, who lucked out in the sense that their more selfish motivations (protecting herself from Dad) have never quite conflicted with doing Good (protecting other people). the cognitive dissonance for that with Winter has already been played up to the max, so for it to come to a crisis for her, at a point when EVERYONE WHOSE OPINION SHE CARES ABOUT HAS ALREADY FUCKED OFF, is just great drama. it’s made all the better by the fact that RWBY specifically has a lot of villains whose backstories involve them being put in a similar situation, and choosing wrong: Adam chose spite. Raven chose cowardice. getting to see someone make that choice in the story proper, then, adds to and complicates what RWBY has to say the conditions of possibility for heroism and villainy.

furthermore, and this might be where my biases become delusions: that Winter is being maneuvered to make these decisions for herself, BY herself, points to the possibility that she might be graduating from a mostly region-locked character (Ilia, the Belladonnas, Beacon staff and students) to full-on supporting cast (TRQ, Maria, the villains). if Weiss and/or Penny reach out to Winter in a climactic confrontation this season, then the story isn’t NOT about Winter, but it would place more emphasis on Weiss and/or Penny, as main cast members, and their ability to save a person they love. but if their relationships are given more space and time for breathe (or fester!)--if Winter gets to change away from Weiss in the way that Weiss changed and grew away from Winter in Mistral, for example--then it points to a greater parity in terms of their mutual importance in the story.

tl;dr #3: Schneester Bowl might have to wait at least another season, because Winter’s too busy trying out independent thinking. now, whether Winter will make the RIGHT choice, or the story will LET her make that call after she’s decided...

2Defect2Salem

i actually touched on this before, so tl;dr #4.1: i do not find the ways that people talk about HOW Salem gets Winter to defect to be very convincing. the idea that Salem could easily manipulate Winter because they have similar backstories makes me...tilt my head, but i think that’s more due to my personal belief that people who are similar in those ways actually tend to be each other’s blind spots (i also think this about Blake and Winter, FWIW). more to the point: my personal reading of Winter locates a streak buried deep within that is unyieldingly CATEGORICAL. despite being embedded within Atlesian rationality, despite her mentor being James Ironwood, there is something in Winter that instinctively judges an immediate instance to be right or wrong, and she’s never been able to suppress that all the way.

and with that in mind, i genuinely don’t think Winter is enough of a long-term, big picture thinker to give herself over to despair for Atlas as a whole. oh, we see her parrot “for the good of all, not just a few” just fine, but if she was already having trouble internalizing that when it was coming from IRONWOOD, a man she loves and trusts, then why would Salem--a person she is predisposed to distrust--be better at convincing her that the ends justify the means? why would she believe that submission is preferable to extinction from someone that EVERYONE SHE KNOWS considers an enemy? it’s hard for me to conceive of a Winter who, perched at the lip of the despair event horizon, will a) think enough of herself to make a decision for everyone and b) accept that the decision is imperfect and compromise, when she could just do what soldiers do, what she’s been asked to do, and die for an impossible cause.

(also not to belabor the point, but: ...how is she supposed to deliver Atlas to Salem? are we assuming that the Atlas Military works via Klingon Promotion, or that Ironwood gave her all his passwords?)

this is not to say that i think Winter will completely no-sell Salem (though that would be VERY funny). assuming that she and Salem do end up in the same room (which is still up in the air), i can easily picture a scenario where Salem manipulates Winter into making a bad decision (though honestly, Winter’s been doing just fine with that all on her own), but the distance between “a bad decision” and “a decision that she knows will help the Big Bad” is still quite far. i can similarly picture a scenario where Salem gradually sways Winter--not a single Anakin-style dramatic reversal, but an Atris-style descent-by-inches, through a million little non-choices--but that’s the thing: manipulation takes TIME, no matter how good at it you are, and we’re running up against the fact that the season ends in 6 episodes, and Winter is only one of about a trillion dangling threads.

tl;dr #4.2: the only way i can see Winter defecting to Salem THIS SEASON, then, is if it’s not her choice at all. for me, this makes the most thematic sense--that she’s been playing keep-away so long with her own agency, and Salem ends up resolving the issue by taking it away from her completely. that she wants so much to be sure she’s making the right choice, or to not have to make the call, and Salem gives her exactly what she wants. she’ll never have to think for herself again. we know Salem is capable of something like that, because we’ve just seen the Hound. Winter won’t be another Hound, if only because churning out the same horror will only yield diminishing returns, but she might be...something else.

regardless, tl;dr #4.3: if “Winter defecting to Salem” shakes down in any way--either as originally posited or as i just described--it would be an FANTASTIC story and character engine. i’ve already talked about the potential conflict this could create within Team RWBY, but like...imagine Weiss talking to ANYONE about her sister. imagine Weiss talking to Emerald, who would have just joined the heroes, whose decision to cut herself off from Cinder would feel like a portent. imagine Winter with the villains! not just Salem, but Cinder! imagine the subtextual parallels between the two becoming TEXT. imagine the two of them having to work together! imagine how Cinder would feel to lose Emerald and get Winter. imagine how Mercury would feel! can you imagine Winter and Mercury bonding over their daddy issues?? because i can’t! but i wanna. my love for Winter isn’t contingent on her making the right choices, but on her getting the right material. this would not only be the right material, but A LOT OF IT, and if the writers do choose to go in this direction, i trust them enough to be excited about where it might go.

#Anonymous #winter schnee #rwby #happy to announce that i am here to disappoint everyone on both sides of the 'will winter defect or nah' fence!!#don't you all feel lucky #'i wish hornets didn't sting me' complains area woman as she swings a bat wildly at a hornets nest #helen writes meta

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rwbyvein · 3 years

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Firen Lhain: Chapter 711: The Hart of the Oak: Part III/III

Ironwood walked into the lab and loomed over Doctor Pollendina's desk. "Tell me, Pietro, how are the new Knights coming along."

"We've figured out what not to do." Pietro said to him with a smile, but Ironwood's espressionless face looked back at him.

"Elaborate." Ironwood said to him.

"Oh, yes, well," Pietro stated, "we figured it would be hugely ineffective to give each and every one a complete, high degree of independence, so we've designed them to coodinate with a hierarchy. Considering they are Knights, we've decided to call them Sergeants and Captains. Or Maybe Baronettes and Barons."

"That is," Ironwood stated, and paused, "appropriate. And what of the other project?"

"She obviously won't be the same." Pietro stated.

"Improvements?" Ironwood asked.

"We'll obviously be learning from our mistakes before," Pietro said, "but no, that's not what I meant. She'll likely have the same memories as before, but she won't be the same. That's not the way Aura works."

"I expect you've learned at lot more about Aura?" Ironwood asked.

"Oh, indeed." Pietro stated. "Every living thing has an Aura."

"Even animals?" Ironwood asked.

"Animals, plants, insects." Pietro stated, "What's different with Humans, and Huntsmen in particular, is the EXPRESSION of the Aura."

"So?" Ironwood asked, "How does this apply to the Knights?"

"We have to get them to express their Aura." Pietro stated, and Ironwood gave him a confused look. "Like Humans do." Pietro then spun his chair around. "That's why it worked with PENNY."

"So?," Ironwood asked, "you've unlocked the mystery?"

"We never knew why PENNY was the one to express her Aura, but that's because we were looking for a technical solution." With this Ironwood's face fell.

"I don't like where this is headed." Ironwood stated, "Let me guess, the reason PENNY developed Aura is because?.."

"She was my daughter." Pietro said with a smile that quickly turned into a sad frown.

"If we have to raise them as children to get them to use Aura?," Ironwood asked, "what does this mean for the Knights?"

"Well, we're not certain." Pietro stated, and turned back towards his computer. "Our current hypothesis is that the Human interaction is the important part, whatever it's nature." He then turned back to Ironwood, "Though, obviously only positive ones. Knights that fight alongside Huntsmen will be the most likely to fully develop their Aura."

"So?," Ironwood asked and sighed, "we can't mass produce them?"

"But we can produce them." Pietro stated, and a weak smile appeared on Ironwood's face. "But also, because of their dependence on their Sergeants and Captains, they will likely share in their experience.

* * *

The crisp, white Atlasian uniforms stood in stark contrast to the grime and murk of the Atlasian sewers. The leader had his scroll open with the schematics of the sewers overlayed with the schematics of Belcrest Tower, the iconic home of 'Bluebonnet' Belamy's business empire. They used sonic scanners powered by Wind Dust to probe the walls, seeing the echos of unknown hollows. Despite their discovery, they continued out, sweeping the entirety of the sewers. They climbed the ladder out of the sewer to the streets above them. The leader picked up his radio to send a message. "Uniform One-Fife to Zero."

"Zero." the radio replied, "Go ahead Uniform One-Fife."

"Uniform One-Fire. Sweep complete. Area clear. Persons of Interest not found."

"Zero. Roger that Uniform One-Fire. Cleared to return to base."

"Uniform One-Fife Out." he stated, and put away the handset for the radio.

* * *

Jaune and Yang walked into the ground floor of the turret. They stepped around the table to let the others come in. "This is where y'all be stayin'." Yang said to them. "Ilia took the third floor, which leaves two and four. Oh, wait, what did Weiss' sis take?" Yang then picked up her scroll and rang.

"And Taj," Jaune stated, "is on the second."

"Yang?" Weiss asked from the other end, "How can I help you?"

"Just love hearing your beautiful voice, Linnet." Yang said, and then dropped her hand. Everyone was looking at her curiously. "Giving her a chance to coyly blush. Good God, she's good at that." Yang then brought the scroll to her mouth. "Tell me, sweet thing, where did your sis setup camp?"

"If you're asking where she will be sleeping, she chose the second floor of the turret. She found it efficient."

"Thank you, sweet thing." Yang said, and made an audible kissing noise. "So, looks like Weiss' sis setup on the second floor, which leaves the fourth for you. I'd show you around, but, it's a tower. Feel free to explore it yourself. Just, you know, play nice."

"We will be on our best behaviour." Cinder said with a wicked grin.

* * *

CEM walked through the third floor. Emerald's eyes quickly caught sight of all of the possessions.

"You just can't help yourself, can you." Mercury said to her, and Emerald turned to glare at him. "You steal one thing, and everything we built up here."

"You just have to talk down to me, don't you?!" Emerald asked.

"I hate to do this, Emerald, but he's right." Cinder said to her.

"What are you saying?!" a hurt Emerald asked. "I thought you?.."

"I did recruit you, afterall." Cinder said to her, "Your ability to pickpocket is good, but you really have to do something about your desire to casually steal from people." CEM made it to the fourth floor, and looked at the four beds and the open floor plan, "And I suppose this is where we will be staying." she said, trying her best sound enthusiastic. She then sat on one of the beds. Mecury walked across from then and flopped on another. "You need to realize, Emerald, that you're not a starving orphan, anymore. And Mercury, you could be more understanding of the instincts that have helped her to survive all these years."

"I... yeah... I guess..." Mercury voiced. He then sat up, "Look, sorry. I mean, nothing personal, right? I don't want us to start group hugging, or something, but you guys are kind of like family. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You could just mug some drug lords and live like a king." Emerald said.

"I could." Mercury replied, and flopped back on the bed, "Doesn't mean I want to. I mean, you've got to have something to live for, right?" He then sat up with a start. "That fucking twat is rubbing off on me. What the fuck?"

"If you try to hug me, I'm punching you." Emerald stated.

"With good reason." Mercury voiced.

* * *

"So," Pietro continued, "Knights who follow their Sergeant and Captains will gain a portion of their abilities, and over time they will learn to work together."

"Do you need two levels?" Ironwood asked.

"Yes and no." Pietro stated, "Sergeant are required. Captains can be substituted for Humans, preferably Huntsmen."

"We have some glimmer of hope." Ironwood stated, and turned to walk away, hands clasped behind his back.

"We always did." Pietro replied.

* * *

RWB + NR + I + A looked proudly at the multi-layered cake they had produced.

"Well," Weiss said, "we managed to produce a wonderful cake."

"Thanks to Ren and Aurora." Blake added.

"Well, yes..." Weiss voiced, "But the important thing is Jaune does not have to fear not getting cake for his birthday."

* * *

The Human forms moved silently through the forest when they felt a presence, as if the woods themselves were watching them. A great, terrifying voice bellowed out, "You come through my woods. Not only do you not have my permission, or that of my Earl, you come with evil in your hearts for him!"

* * *

Neo sat in the co-pilot seat of the airship as a message appeared on her scroll. Something about a black deer attacking them. She messaged them a few times, but got no reply. She confirmed that they were received. So, the deer was in the woods. It was impressive that he could take out half a dozen mercenaries so easily, but without him in the tower, things would be a lot easier.

#rwby #firen lhain #faunus au #pollinated knight

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fire-the-headcanons · 3 years

Text

Follow the Beacon Raven—Quiet

[Link to Masterpost]

[Apparently I didn’t post the last few chapters on Tumblr? Use the masterpost to make sure you don’t miss anything]

[also hi, not dead]

The truck door opened with a solid click and let cold sea air wash through the cabin. Raven followed her brother out onto the gravel with an irritated shiver. She hissed quietly through her teeth. They're making us soft.

It had been almost as difficult to sleep on Summer's flat, even wooden floor as it had originally been to sleep on the spongelike mattress.

Summer yawned, stifling it behind her hand but drawing the attention of her mother. A familiar grin crept over Claret's face, identical to the one Summer wore when about to provoke someone. "Aww, I'm sorry, sweetie. Did you want to sleep in on the first morning of your first mission?"

"Mooooommm."

Professor Mesánychta's oft-repeated don't worry, that's how they show affection echoed in Raven's head. Seeing them with their parents actually made it make sense.

"You know that's contagious, Sum," Huang yawned as well, distorting his words. "Who's up for some fishing?"

Raven eyed the machines bolted down to the truck beds with a scowl. …They did look a bit like fishing rods.

"You're the worst," Tai grumbled, grabbing a bundle of straps and tossing half to Summer before shaking his out and shrugging it on.

Harnesses. Raven's gut clenched.

"In all seriousness, each person on a line needs a spotter," Huang said, looking at her and Qrow.

"Raven, will you spot me?" Qrow asked quickly.

She hesitated. Hang over a cliff or sit with Huntsmen? Which was worse? Then again—he was probably just trying to keep Misfortune away from the trucks, where more could go wrong. "Sure."

He nodded, accepting a harness from Mrs. Rose. She immediately turned her attention to Raven, however, explaining how the winch worked and how to keep the ropes from getting tangled.

"This is pretty straightforward work," Huang said, giving Tai enough slack to walk out toward the edge, and Raven copied his motions carefully. "Try not to fire on the cliff—we're trying to avoid eroding it here, and the damage adds up. Absolutely no ice Dust, it's hell on the rock, but stick to your blades in general."

Qrow nodded, riveted.

"Lastly—do not drop your weapon. Recovery is a big enough pain when the water's warm."

"Right." He glanced over the other tools in the truck bed and grabbed a short cord to tie the hilt to his hand.

Huang nodded approvingly. "Better safe than sorry."

"Hmm, you've got a point," Summer muttered, unclipping her gravity arrow and securing it to her belt before slotting in a spare. Fire Dust glistened through the clear window in the side.

"See ya!" Tai shouted with a manic grin, latching his shield-sled to his shoe and hopping backward off the cliff. A moment later the line tightened, metal clanged against stone, and a small skreeeee of rage cut off half-formed. Summer and Qrow yelped and followed.

Claret smirked at Huang with a quiet chuckle the three wouldn't be able to hear. "Oh, yes, they're so miserable."

He raised his hands in mock surrender. "I'll admit, they're taking it well."

In spite of her apprehensions around working with two professional Huntsmen—from Anima, no less—but mostly they and their children had distracted each other, content to let the twins quietly observe. With all of her teammates at the very edge of earshot, she braced for the inevitable shift in focus. Just stay calm and say as little as possible.

"So…what made you want to become a Huntress, Raven?"

Oh. Maybe she should have lied to Summer, before. "I wanted to stay with Qrow."

"His idea?" The Huntress asked, amused. "He was certainly quick to volunteer you to stay up here and do the boring work."

"He…" What would Qrow say? Her mind went blank.

…What would Summer say? "…I… dislike heights." There, put that way it wasn't even admitting weakness. "And Qrow doesn't mind them. He's just trying to be nice."

"Oh. That's sweet. …You two must be very close."

Raven nodded. She could do this. She could play along.

"I guess we won't have any of you trade off then." Oh, thank gods. "Well, what do you think of Huntressing so far, then?"

"Um…" she glanced at the edge of the cliff, where the three lines swayed gently and laughter echoed from below. "…Is this what you really do?"

"Oh—don't worry, there's not always so many cliffs involved."

"N-no—I meant—" Every Huntress she'd seen before coming to Beacon had been desperate, injured, dead. Expendable tools of people too weak to fight for themselves. "I thought it would be… harder?"

"You've been talking to Taiyang," Claret smiled, fiddling with the winch to give her daughter more line. "Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of Huntresses that go out looking for trouble. "Well—you went on some of Zelenia's expeditions, right? There's always something out there to hunt down or study—but yes, most of Huntress work is just… maintenance."

Huang nodded from his seat in the other truck bed. "These fledglings are no threat to us. But if someone untrained with their aura tried this, it could turn deadly fast. Add in the icy conditions and it's not really safe for Signal's students either. So we step in, because we can."

"What about bigger Grimm?" Raven countered.

"If you're doing your job right, you won't have any young and stupid Grimm that get big enough to be a threat. As for what wanders in from the wilds…"

"The old ones are smart enough to stay away from humans, at least when we don't weaken ourselves by attacking each other. And you should always have an idea of what's in the area."

"If you ever end up in a fight you're not prepared for, something went wrong a month or more ago."

"…What do you mean?"

Claret smiled again. "I'm sure by now you've heard Summer and Taiyang crack at least one joke about migration tracking."

Raven nodded.

"The Kingdoms spend a lot of resources keeping an eye on any large herds of Grimm that form." She turned out toward the ocean and pointed at the horizon. "You see those buoys out there? There's a listening station bolted to the seafloor under each one. Warns us if anything too big gets close to the island, gives us time to call Vale for backup if we need it. There's stations all over the mountains too, same thing, and the Kingdoms are putting them further and further out into the wilds every year."

"I suppose your farm would have been pretty far from any of the Kingdom's guard stations if you were growing something illegal, though," Huang added, too casually. "It makes sense you wouldn't know."

Adrenaline surged through Raven's veins, turning the world sharper and colder. "No—we grew—rice. It was just rice, and—" Of course she'd get them caught for the wrong thing—they'd be captured and discovered for sure—

"You're not in trouble!" Claret exclaimed. "They obviously threatened both of you—you didn't have a choice—" she froze for half a moment, repeating softly, "…you didn't have a choice."

"What do you mean?"

Huang cleared his throat with a different sort of hesitation. "…Apparently, Qrow let slip that the two of you had to keep watch for each other at night because the others would attack you. I hope I'm not the first person to say that's not normal."

That was pretty unlucky. At least if this is what killed them, it wouldn't be entirely her fault.

"You and your brother are safe with us. If you need help, or protection, we're here for you."

A trap. Like Professor Mesánychta's attempt to get her to confess everything to a doctor at Beacon. "We grew rice." She threw as much certainty into the words as she could.

The Huntress nodded, almost sadly. "It's all right. We just want to make sure you have somewhere else to go when the school year ends."

Raven didn't want to think about it. No, they didn't have a plan, and Qrow would have an unlimited number of threats and excuses to keep them in Vale and away from Vanta.

And he'd be right. His Semblance was no better now than when they left camp.

Maybe the Huntresses didn't have a reason to hurt them—yet—but they didn't have a reason to help, either.

"Why?"

Claret stared with a frown. "…Summer and Taiyang care about both of you. They appreciate what you've taught them, and they know you're struggling."

What we've taught them. Maybe she had underestimated how useful they were to their teammates.

Qrow laughed from below, and Raven held tight to the winch to lean out over the ledge to see, ingoring the way her stomach turned over.

"SIGnal POINT is FALLing DOWN," Tai sang, pushing away from the cliff on the half-beats and crashing back against the rocks in time to the song. Smoke and flames burst from under the shield clipped to his boots as it smashed through the fledglings' perches. One of the larger birds gave a high-pitched squawk as it flattened, and Qrow laughed again.

"…Seems to me like he's happy here," the Huntress murmured.

Refusal would be suspicious. They had let too much slip, and there really was nowhere else to go. "I'll talk to him about it."

***

"You kids are too good, that was supposed to take all day," Huang said.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Ms. Rose asked, taking Tai's hand and pulling him back onto solid ground.

Tai shrugged out of the harness and tossed it back into the box. "Ehh. This probably could have waited another month."

"There would be too much rain in another month," Claret pointed out, "and it shouldn't wait three or four more."

Tai shrugged sharply, unable to argue with that but still unhappy with it.

"Why did you want to become a Huntsman?"

"I want to do something that matters," he declared, accepting Summer and Qrow's harnesses and tossing them in with his own before popping the lid closed and latching it. "Not gonna stick with this kid stuff forever."

That didn't match what Claret said—and the Huntress took Raven's silent glance as a question. "There are, of course, some people who go out looking for trouble."

So that was the difference. All the Huntsmen that tracked down Vanta and Bones, that ambushed the tribe in the wilds or waited in villages that couldn't possibly afford them—

Something foul rose in the back of Raven's throat. "But—this does matter."

Qrow's mouth fell open.

"Well, yeah," Tai admitted, shrugging. "It's just boring. I want a challenge." With a teasing grin, he added, "Are you worried about me?"

She knew when she was being baited and so said nothing. Tai shrugged and turned away, giving her the chance to shoot Qrow a scathing glance behind his back.

"Let's get these back to the school," Huang said, gesturing for the twins to follow him back to the truck they arrived in.

"Everything go smoothly?" Qrow muttered, clambering in and offering a hand.

She nodded and took it. "You?"

"Fine."

Outside, Huang slammed the tailgate closed. Raven twisted at her vambrace. "…Mrs. Rose says this is what Huntresses do most of the time. Not the cliffs, the…cleanup."

"Really?"

Huang laughed, and the two nearly jumped. "You've been talking to Summer and Taiyang too much."

"But—" Raven frowned. Were they supposed to talk to them less? "They're our teammates." Or were they supposed to be talking to people outside of team STRQ more? Ugh—trying to learn the right things to say for just two people was hard enough.

He waved a hand, sliding into his seat. "Just an expression. I was the same at their age… desperate to get out there." The truck rumbled to life, crunching ice and rock as it started forward. "Too often people don't see the value in the little things until after we try to take on the world. They'll learn as they get more experience."

And what if they're killed before they learn?

Raven shook herself silently. It's not our problem. We're smart, we'll—damn it, we'll go HOME. They'd return, kill Vanta and Sanguin, take over the tribe, and teach the Huntsmen it wasn't worth coming after them. The children of Bones Branwen shouldn't have too much trouble with that—they'd only have to kill three or four to get the message across.

When both the tribe and the Huntsmen feared them, they'd finally be safe.

***

"I must have told him three times, 'Stay on the path.. Okay?' Then I turned around to get Summer out of her car seat, and when I looked back he was up to his knees in mud."

Tai froze, halfway out of the other cab, gaping at his father. "Are you telling them the—"

"Oh, I remember that," Claret said, thoughtful. "We never did find that shoe."

"He had them for two weeks! They were brand new!"

She giggled with a snort just like her daughter's, though Summer was currently trying to hide a smile from Tai.

"Are you two going to be this embarrassing all week?"

"I'm your dad, that's my job!"

Tai groaned in that exaggerated, joking way. "Let's just get out on patrol so you have to be quiet."

"Ah, you wound me!" he gasped, hanging the keys back on the wall.

"It's going to be dark soon," Summer said. "We really should get going if we're hiking to the cabin."

"You don't want to drive there on the second day of your first mission?"

"You're never going to let that go, are you."

"Hmm…" Claret smiled. "Ask me next year."

Raven followed them from the warehouse, out the eastern side of the fort. Half of one wall served as the local Huntsmen's base of operation, separate from the school—which apparently in a town this small just meant storage.

"Uncle Azraq?"

At the other large door—the main school entrance—a Huntsman froze on the threshold, head snapping toward Summer's voice, and his eyes widened.

"Uncle Az!" Tai shouted, and the two of them ran forward to hug him.

"Hey!" His eyes flicked past Raven, toward the other adults, only briefly. "How was your first day?"

"Ehh, nothing crazy. How was your mission?"

"…Just a false alarm," he lied, tension running under his voice.

"Aw, dang. Hope it didn't waste too much time."

"At least now you can meet the twins!"

"Of course," he replied, and they stepped aside to let him past. His gaze stayed trained on their teammates' parents, though, and he walked right past her—

Qrow stood with his head bowed, hands hanging limp at his sides. A knot of unease tightened in Raven's stomach as the Huntsman stopped right in front of her brother and spoke with a gentle voice.

"It's good to see you again."

Next Chapter: Qrow—Doesn’t Change Anything

#rwby #rwby fanfiction #raven branwen #summer rose #taiyang xiao long #qrow branwen #strq #team strq #claret rose #huang xiao long #azraq ibn diyab #follow the beacon

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caithyra · 3 years

Text

Aspirations and Aspersions

Y’know, writing that ramble about the Volume 8 OP made me realize that James Ironwood gave/offered RWBY everything they wanted out of life as huntresses as per Ruby talking to Ozpin about becoming a huntress in the interrogation/entrance room and the other three in Mountain Glenn’s camp.

Ruby: “My parents always taught us to help others, so I thought, Hey, I might as well make a career out of it! I mean the police are alright, but Huntsmen and Huntresses are just so much more romantic and exciting and cool and really, gosh, you know!” - Volume 1: Ruby Rose

Ironwood: “Ruby, I feel it's appropriate to let you know that I think what you did last night is exactly what being a Huntress is all about. You recognized a threat. You took action. And you did the very best you could.” - Volume 2: Field Trip

Weiss states that she wants to fix public perception of the Schnee Dust Company by being a heroic huntress, and that her father has been bad, and we know he’s been abusive towards her now and that she specifically went to an academy in another kingdom to get away.

Ironwood publicly defends her at the gala and assures her that if she cannot stand living with her father, she can join his academy and be safe there and a huntress to boot.

Blake’s entire character is about the (botched) racism arc against faunus, and more broadly, about prejudice (since she also fights against faunus she finds “prejudiced” against humans). She states that she became a huntress to fight the good fight as part of regular society, instead of the unlawful acts she committed before and her mentor (yes, she calls Adam a mentor and partner in this episode, never boyfriend or even “guy I liked”) still does.

Ironwood, in super-racist Atlas, as the headmaster of the academy has the entire kingdom represented by a flamboyantly perky faunus who is not ashamed to show what she is, and a man from impoverished circumstances, at the most important international event in the entire world, that symbolizes friendship and harmony (it is played out in the Amity Arena for goodness’ sake!). As the general he also has a faunus on his most famous top team in the military. In short, he’s using his institutional power for good as much as he can while staying within the boundaries of societal rules so that he wont lose those powers and abilities to help.

(Also, there’s that whole “running away” thing... I wonder how Blake would have liked it if she was trapped with Adam immediately following the Fall of Beacon instead of on her way to her tropical paradise palace family home...?)

Yang just want an adventurous life where she is free to do as she wishes. After she lost her arm and fell into depression, that was threatened. And society is not built for one-handed people, so even if she pulled out of her depression without a prosthetic, she would have to face the frustration of moving about in a world made for two-handed people and her diminished fighting ability, since she would need to learn an entirely new fighting style to compensate.

Ironwood, when global communications are down and people are panicking because a kingdom has fallen on the last international broadcast, manages to get a state-of-the-art, custom-made for Yang’s semblance (or it would break), prosthetic arm to the other side of the world for her, no strings attached and for free, which means that she has a choice whether or not to go through the physical frustrations of losing an arm (have to tie a ribbon? A zipper that wont close unless you hold the edges together with another hand? There are many, many little frustrations to remind Yang of her loss in everyday life), and to keep her usual fighting style.

And yet, once they all are reunited with Ironwood, they are not happy to see him as he is to see them, they are not his allies but present themselves as if they are, and so he gives them even more gifts; upgraded tools of their trade, training by masters of their trade, clothing, gear, a place to stay and food and a job (these are things, btw, we usually only expect parents to give children and even then, if the children are adults like RWBY, many would say that it shouldn’t be an expectation, but just a nice thing to do. RWBY aren’t even citizens of his beleaguered kingdom and he goes this far for them).

And RWBY’s conclusion is that he cannot be trusted.

Here’s the thing, I could see JNR argue it because they could blame Ironwood in part for Pyrrha’s death. Especially if Weiss describes the machinery around the Winter Maiden that Winter took her to see (sharing top secret info with RWBY just because they love and support them, and Winter is loyal to Ironwood and he clearly likes her, so Winter’s trust is also reflected in Ironwood’s trust), and Jaune recognizes it as the same type of thing around Amber and Pyrrha.

But RWBYOQ? If so, they should have mistrusted everyone else as well. No suddenly thinking Robyn’s cool (unless Robyn does something more than Ironwood to personally win over Yang and Blake), and no happy smiles when they train/work with other people because they would feel tense and mistrustful.

No Clover and Qrow bonding. No Marrow babysitting the kids. No happiness at Penny being rebuilt (which should have won Ruby over alone, since it was Ironwood who enabled it) without hesitation. Weiss should have started picking fights with Winter with snide comments as she did with Whitley, as that is common when trust issues suddenly manifest in a close relationship and there’s no fear of retaliation.

But we don’t get that. What we get is that Ironwood is specifically considered untrustworthy by RWBY without any of them dissenting or even raising the argument that “hey, he actually helped us out a lot in the past, and he seems happy to see us, maybe we shouldn’t outright lie to him? I’m not saying tell him everything, just the bits he needs to know right now before he wastes valuable resources and time on a fool’s errand.”.

That’s why it is so jarring, and why the villainization of Ironwood is so suspect to many of the audience; by the rules of the world before he shot Oscar, RWBY weren’t in the right to do what they did, but now when he shot Oscar and the councilman, it is supposed to show us how right they were.

Except that unless silver eyes gives Ruby the ability to look into the future, it doesn’t work that way.

And don’t get me started on how Ruby is treating Penny in Volume 8...

#rwde #anti-rwby #james ironwood #protagonist centered morality #and the lotor was evil all along and went crazy #so that voltron never had to grapple with their unethical treatment of him #or their treatment of the shiro clone #there is actually a distressing amount of this #even in small pinches #in many modern works of fiction #in rwby alone there is also the white fang vs racism

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razieltwelve · 4 years

Text

Childcare (Final Rose)

Lumina bit back a smile as Claire poked and prodded her face. The baby girl giggled and then looked back at her mother before returning to poking and prodding Lumina. “She seems to find the fact we look the same hilarious.”

“Or she could just like poking people in the face.” Vanille ambled back into the living room with Snow. “You should protect your eyes, Lumina. You never know when she might attack.”

Serah snorted inelegantly. “Unlike some babies, my baby doesn’t seem to delight in inflicting agony on others.”

“In fairness,” Snow pointed out. “I’m pretty sure that Averia only tried to jab Vanille in the eye because Vanille kept tweaking her nose.”

“Hey, I think we can all agree that Averia is evil. Tweaking a baby’s nose is supposed to be funny. It isn’t supposed to lead to attempted murder.” Vanille leaned forward and tweaked Claire’s nose. The infant made a happy sound and tried to grab Vanille’s finger. “See? Look at that entirely normal and non-murderous reaction.”

“You know, I thought Claire might be a little more confused by how similar Lumina and I look.” Serah reached out and took Claire back from her twin sister. “I’ve seen videos of it, and most of the time the children look absolutely puzzled by the similarity.”

Vanille shrugged. “She might just be smarter than the average baby, or it could be due to your Aura signatures. Most civilians don’t radiate enough Aura for a baby to notice. However, you and Lumina are both powerful huntresses. Unless you’re actively trying to conceal your presence, you leak enough Aura into your surroundings that a baby might instinctively notice it. It would also explain why the baby’s of huntsmen and huntresses often react to their arrival before they actually enter a room. They’re so used to their Auras that they can actually sense them before they see them.”

“Really?” Serah cooed as Claire tugged on some of her hair. “That’s amazing.”

“Babies do a lot of things instinctively that we kind of have to relearn when we get older. Plus, the children of huntsmen and huntresses tend to be kind of weird since long-term, early exposure to Aura can have some crazy effects.” Vanille nodded sagely and patted Snow on the back. “Rejoice, my friend. Your baby might be a mutant.”

Serah slapped Vanille over the back of the head, earning a giggle from Claire. “Claire is not a mutant.”

“You shouldn’t hit me in front of her,” Vanille said. “Otherwise, who knows what violent tendencies she might pick up?”

“I can live with her learning to whack people who call her a mutant.”

Snow gestured, and a glowing blue hand formed in the air in front of Claire. The baby’s eyes immediately snapped to the Aura construct, and she watched it intently as it swayed back and forth before patting her on the head and then vanishing. “On the upside, being hunters does make things easier in some ways. I can always just use a smaller form of my giant to change her nappies.”

Serah scoffed. “That’s cheating. You should have to suffer like me.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault I’m awesome, and I’m sure Lumina does that too when we ask her to help out.”

The pink-haired woman nodded. “Yep. Aura constructs are the way to go.”

“I would use my nappy-changing gun, but you banned me from using it,” Vanille added.

Serah scowled. “You are not pointing a gun at my child.”

“It’s a nappy-changing gun, not a death ray.” Vanille brandished the gun in question. “It even comes with multiple settings and the ability to dispose of any soiled nappies.”

“Dispose of them how?”

“...” Vanille put the nappy-changing gun back into her pocket. “It’s probably better if you don’t know.”

“It uses a disintegrator beam or something to get rid of soiled nappies, doesn’t it?”

“It’s more of a molecular decomposition array...”

“No. Absolutely not. If you ever change my child’s nappies, you are going to do it the normal way.”

“Has Lightning optimised nappy changing yet?” Snow asked.

“With Saviour?” Serah shook her head. “It was one of the first things she did. She is now the proud wielder of the most efficient nappy-changing technique in history.”

“I’m actually a bit surprised that she doesn’t just shunt soiled nappies into a miniature black hole or something.” Vanille cackled. “It’s what I would do.”

“Actually, she’s worked out how to use Saviour to basically purifying nappies on a subatomic level,” Lumina said. “She originally developed that technique for when she couldn’t be bothered doing laundry, but it works just as well on nappies.”

“That is so cheating,” Serah growled.

“I’m sure you’ll find some way to abuse your control over time to make nappy-changing easier,” Vanille said. “Whereas I’m not sure what my Semblance can do... except maybe make it so that I’m never the one in charge when a nappy has to be changed.”

“What about Fang?” Snow asked. “There must be some awesome way to make it easier using Ragnarok.”

“She doesn’t use her Semblance or anything,” Vanille replied. “She just... changes nappies like a normal person.”

Lumina raised one eyebrow. “Really?”

“She says it doesn’t bother her very much at all since Ragnarok basically involves wading through the broken, mangled bodies of her enemies shortly before she eats any of them with interesting powers.”

“Huh... when you put it like that...” Snow grinned. “I’m actually surprised you haven’t built a nappy-changing robot, Vanille.”

Vanille looked at Lumina. “Since the... incident with the rebellious food processor, I have been banned from attempting to make a nappy-changing robot. Someone seems to think it will develop self-awareness and attempt to turn the child against us all eventually leading to the downfall of civilisation.”

Serah looked at Lumina. “This sort of thing is why you’re my favourite younger sister.”

“I’m your only younger sister.”

“Well, you know what I mean.”

“Thanks... I guess.”

“Anyway,” Snow said. “We should probably get going. We’re supposed to meet Lightning, Fang, and Averia at the zoo soon. Who wants to take a bet on how many animals Averia glares at?”

“Is all of them an option?” Vanille asked. “Because that would be my bet.”

X X X

Vanille nudged Snow. “What did I tell you?”

In Lightning’s arms, Averia continued to glare at the lion on the opposite side of the glass. The mighty feline roared in defiance, but the baby only intensified her glare until the animal eventually slunk off.

“Definitely gets that from Lightning,” Snow replied.

X. X X

Author’s Notes

Huntsmen and huntresses are notorious for using their Semblances to make taking care of their children easier. In the case of someone like Lumina or Snow, this can mean just about anything since their Semblances are perfect for doing household chores and childcare-related activities. You can also bet that when Elsa and Averia have kids, there will be little snow creatures keeping an eye on them at all times.

If you’re interested in my thoughts on writing and other topics, you can find those here.

I also write original fiction, which you can find on Amazon here.

#final rose #fanfiction #serah farron #lumina #snow villiers #oerba dia vanille #claire villiers

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darksaiyangoku · 4 years

Note

Alright, guess I’ll send a Christmas prompt thingy: Dragonslayer! Jaune and Yang are spending time together and are about kiss, only for Raven to accidentally walk in on the duo. Raven in question wants to reconcile with her daughter, but does a poor job at it, so Jaune (having living with seven sisters previously) offers to help, and slowly gaining her approval in dating her daughter.

Episode 11 of RWBY Christmas Specials is here!!!!

The Rose-Xiao Long household was quiet this Christmas Day. After a big delicious meal, cooked by Ruby and Tai, Jaune and Yang snuggled up together on top of their bed. Jaune tussled Yang’s hair slightly, smiling as he did. Normally she would burst into a rage of someone even dared think about touching her hair, but Jaune was one of the few exceptions.

Yang: What are you thinking about, Ladykiller?

Jaune: *mock pondering* I’m thinking *carresses Yang’s cheek* that I want to kiss you all over.

Yang: *smirks* Ooooh, I like the sound of that.

Jaune held her shoulders while Yang cupped his cheeks as their lips met. They both hummed in delight as they enjoyed the beautiful sensastion and taste of each other. Soon Jaune began to straddle Yang and moved his lips closer to her neck. Yang bit her bottom lip, trying not wake her sister and dad. Suddenly, she heard a slashing sound and, next to the door, she saw a woman with black hair, red eyes, crimson armour and a small rectangular object wrapped in brown cloth. Yang gestured Jaune to stop and the blonde boy and out of his bed at the shock of seeing Raven. The two women stared at each other, fists clenched and teeth bared.

Raven: Hello Yang.

Yang: Hello Raven.

Raven: *raises eyebrow* Really? You refer me by my first name?

Yang: *standing up* As far as I can tell, you lost the mom status when you left.

Raven: Listen here, someone had to take charge of the tribe and it certainly wasn’t going to be my idiot brother!

Yang: *eyes flash red* So you decided that those murderous bastards were more important than your own family?

Raven: *eyes spark* They ARE my family.

Yang: Gee, some family you have there! A bunch of thugs and lowlifes who do nothing but cause misery and pain for others...... just like you do.

Raven: *clenches fist* That’s not true.

Yang: *scoffs* The only time you ever show up is when you need something. So whatever it is, just find Qrow or dad and leave us the hell alone!

Raven: *grits teeth* I didn’t come for them, I cane for you!

Yang: *eyes flash red* Whatever you want I don’t have!

Raven: *stamps foot* I CAME HERE TO APOLOGISE!

The room became deathly silent as Jaune looked at the two women exchanging fierce glares. The words struck Yang like a bolt of lightning.

Yang: ......no.

Raven: *shocked* What?

Yang: *eyes flash red* I said no! You had years to make up for everything but you didn’t! What, just because it’s Christmas, you think you can just waltz in here and expect me to forgive you? It doesn’t work like that!

Raven: Yang I-

Yang: *semblance activates* SHUT UP! YOI BETTER GET RIGHT NOW OR I SWEAR I’LL-

Jaune: *yelling* YANG STOP!

Yang: *turns to Jaune* What?

Jaune: *panting* I said..... stop.

Yang: *eyes turn lilac* You can’t be serious.

Jaune: I am. I know how you feel about Raven, but I think you should hear her out.

Yang: Hear her out? Why the fuck should I hear her out? I’m never going to forgive her!

Jaune: *sighing* I’m not saying you have to forgive her, but at least listen to her. She came all this way to see YOU. That has to mean something. Whether or not you want to forgive her is your call, but at least try to hear her out.

Yang: ........

Jaune: Please, Yang. For me.

Yang: *sighs* Fine. *turns to Raven* Say what you need to.

Raven: *fidgeting* I......... I’m not good at this sort of thing. I’ve made a big mistake and I chose the Tribe over you. I’ll be honest, I did expect all of this to blow over quickly and everything would be fine. *chuckles* Clearly I was wrong.

Yang: Well, at least you know that it was a stupid plan, but it still doesn’t explain why you came here in the first place.

Raven: .......because of your sister.

Yang: *eyes wide* What?

Jaune: *gasping* You met with Ruby?

Raven: *nods head* Yes. She and that cat were on a mission to Kuroyuri. My tribe was there and...... let’s just say we got into a scuffle. It was there that Ruby and I clashed. *chuckles* She’s gotten quite skilled. Even I wasn’t a match for her. When she disarmed me, she also tosses her weapon aside and...... just talked.

Yang: Just talked?

Raven: Yes. She told me everything you’ve been through. What you lost, what you gained, how hard you fought and........ how much you inspired her. It was there that she made me realise that I needed talk to you. Because....... *tearing up* I never realised how much of a horrible mother I really was.

Yang: *soft breaths*

Raven: *crying* In all your darkest moments, in all your struggles, I should’ve been there! To help you, to support you and to let know......... that you weren’t alone and that........ everything would be okay.

Yang: *tearing up*

Raven: *crying* But I wasnt! I was so fixated on my old family that I didn’t dare to give my new one a chance! I-I know that this doesn’t fix the mistakes I made, nor does it make up for the fact that...... I was never there for you.......... but I’m here now and I wanna start over.

Yang: Start over?

Raven: I-I won’t leave the tribe........ but I want to change it. To make it something better than it is now. Reforge it as Huntsmen tribe......... and I want you to be a part of it.

Yang: I-

Raven: You don’t have to decide right now, you can take all the time you need. But I am serious of wanting to be part of your life again........ if you’ll have me.

Yang said nothing and slowly walked over to Raven. The bandit leader winced, expecting a punch. Instead, she felt arms wrap around her as her daughter drew her in for a warm embrace.

Yang: Raven........ this is a lot to take in. You coming over here, knowing that you spoke with Ruby, wanting to change the tribe. I-I just don’t..... don’t know if I can forgive you just yet.

Raven: .......

Yang: *tearing up* But I’m willing to try.

Raven: *tearing up* ....you will?

Yang: *smiles* Yes. This is the first step. Merry Christmas Raven.

Raven: *tightens hug* Merry Christmas Yang.

Jaune smiled at the sight of them. Though not entirely fixed, their relationship was beginning to heal. He tried to leave the room, but was caught by Raven.

Jaune: Wait, what are- oof!

Raven: *brings Jaune into the hug* Come here you!

Jaune: *incoherent noises*

Yang: *chuckles* She seems to like you now.

Minutes passed and Jaune had escorted Raven downstairs to the guest bedroom. Meanwhile, Yang opened the cloth to find a small, silver and red dagger with a black handle. She looked at it ominously, glancing at a small note near it. Curious, she began to read:

To my little firebird,

I hope this finds you well. The New Branwen Tribe would like to welcome you and your family into our ranks. From this forward, we will dedicate our lives to proctection instead of destruction. This dagger was forged when the tribe was first founded and, normally, tradition would dictate that this would go to the son of the leader, but I decided to make an exception here. I wish you and your family well, especially your mother and uncle. Merry Christmas, my dear.

Your grandfather, Corvus Branwen.

Tears fell from her face as Yang smiled. Her family was whole again and was beginning to grow even further, with the addition of her boyfriend. She would remember this day forever, recounting it to her children every year.

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shinobirain24 · 3 years

Text

Water and Ice- Chapter 8: Saturn and Lydia

Neptune and Weiss returned to Argus. He felt relieved that he's not going to take the ferry for a while, but who knows when he'll haver to use it again? Weiss held his hand since he felt shaken since the previous night of his nightmare and didn't pull back. Weiss' face turned red when she keeps looking at her hand with his. She wanted it to lasts forever. On the pier, there they saw Flynt Coal, a dark-skinned man with a cool hat and sunglasses. And Neon Katt, a female faunus with a cat tail and roller skates. Both are members of Team FNKI. "Hey, Schnee! What's up?" Flynt waved. Despite the earlier conflict at the Vytyl Tournament. They parted in good terms.

"Oh, hey Flynt! Neon! It's been a while." Weiss said. They then looked at Neptune. "Hey, you're that dude from Team SSSN in the tournament, right?" He asked.

"Yep, that's me." Neptune nodded and gave him the fist pump. "By the way, I like that hat, looks pretty cool on you."

"Gotta say, you ruled in the round against NDGO." Neon said cheerfully.

"So what's brings you here to Argus? Shouldn't you guys be in Atlas?" Weiss asked.

"About that, we are planning to get our huntsmen licenses revoked."

"What?" Weiss inquired. "But you guys are huntsmen now. Why throwing your jobs away?"

Flynt and Neon are both graduate students from Atlas Academy. They hesitated to tell her some strange activities going on in the military. "The thing is, your sister, the general. She isn't the same person you used to know anymore." Which makes Weiss slightly jolt a bit. "What do you mean?"

"Come to think of it. She's starting to act a bit strange. Even scared. Earlier there are huntsmen who're claimed to be wrongfully arrested. I don't know if this is true or not, but something doesn't feel right. As much as we respect the general, we cannot bring ourselves to stay in Atlas. So we ran to lay low for a while." Neon explained, then turned to Neptune. "By the way, goggle boy. you need to make a run for it."

"Huh?" Neptune scratched his head in confusion. Flynt showed him his scroll for him to see himself on the wanted segment. With his name and face on it. "You're all over the news, man. I don't know what is going on, but they're looking all over for ya."

"And to think I'm only wanted in Atlas." Neptune sighed.

"Well, looks like General Schnee is one step ahead." Neon said. "Way quicker than Ironwood."

"As much as we would like to stay and chat, Neptune and I have to keep going. You guys should do the same." Weiss said.

"It's cool. We need to get going as well. Juane is sending us an invitation to his meeting." Flynt told them.

"Meeting?" They both questioned.

"We'll catch up later. See ya!" Neon waved.

"Stay safe!" Weiss waved back as they left the dock.

"I've taken this guys happened to have some history." Said Neptune.

"Actually, we didn't know each other much. But from what I've got from Flynt is that his father used to own a dust shop. Until my father forced him to shut it down. Don't get me wrong, I felt bad for him. It's no wonder why I've been labeled a "rich brat." Weiss explained. Looking back, she wanted to become a huntress to reclaim the honor of her family name. Since her father tainted it with methods of faunus slavery and questionable business partnerships. Her sister have opened her eyes that wealth does not lead to glamour and happiness. It leads to the abuse of power. Leading Weiss to enroll to Beacon. "Don't let the past get to you. It's bad enough if you let that get you very emotional." Neptune advised. Weiss led him to a clothing store, since he needed a disguise to not grab any attention for a while. "Wait behind the building, I'll be right back." Weiss told him as she entered the store.

Neptune waited for Weiss to come out. It left him wondering about the nightmare where he saw Jupiter. Who could be in his 30s today. And the part were Argus, no the entire world is in ruins. Jupiter's last words before leaving the dream are that "she" is coming. Who does he mean by "she?" Is there an enemy that Jupiter and his team have been running from? Is this why they've been faking their deaths this whole time? What other secrets has he been holding all this time? How would his parents felt if they found out that he's alive but not as who he used to be?

Maybe if I can go back to sleep. I'll bet I can speak to Jupiter again. Thought Neptune. Why was he playing dead this whole time?

Weiss came out with a swag bag in her hand. "Sorry it took so long. Took a lot of lien to purchase this thing." She said. Neptune turned to her as she showed him a hoodie that matches his eyes. She thought he would like it. "Um...thanks?" He scratched the back of his head in awkwardness, although he is not one to be rude towards women. So he took the hoodie and puts it on. After this, he puts his goggles over his eyes to not be further recognized. Much to Weiss' joy that he's taking it. "We should be away from public for a while. Who knows who's been watching anyway?" Weiss suggested.

"I just need to see some people first." Neptune told Weiss.

"Are you sure, there's a chance we could've been caught at this rate." Weiss hesitates. But Neptune insisted that it's really important. So they took a ride to Mistral, where he moved after Jupiter had Neptune to unlock his semblance. Since he couldn't stand seeing water in Argus, he lived in the inlands of the Capital. Where there's a fascination of the art, fashions, and culture. But one known fact about the place is the secret black marketing, that is another thing they are fully aware of. "Neptune, where are we going?" He leads Weiss to a house near the mountain where the falls are behind it. She grew tired of climbing on the rocks to their destination. Especially when hiding in a hoodie.

18 years ago.

Neptune is in Argus beach standing next to his father, Saturn, as Jupiter walks into the water for his first dip. "Watch your brother, closely, Neptune. And you'll see what it means for survival." Saturn instructed wisely. Jupiter's lower body have descend into the depths. He then dove into it. Neptune at the moment grew worried that his brother would drown. But Saturn knew that he would survive.

"Dad, we need to get him out. He won't last long down there." Neptune tugged into his leg, begging. But he just stood there, looking at the sight seriously.

"No, we need to wait a but longer." Neptune then saw the spot where his brother dived in, burbling. And the water arose like the fountain. The water blew into the fog. It was steam. There are no longer waves spreading to shore. Then drops of water came down like rain. Causing Neptune to be covering his top head. As he hates getting wet. There was a person walking through the mist. Both father and son stare at it closely. Jupiter has emerged back to the surface. Neptune becomes amazed that his brother have unlocked his semblance. "How's that?" Jupiter smirked.

"That was so awesome, bro!" Neptune cheered throwing his hands up. Saturn nodded, a sign that he's proud of him. But he is also unwilling to put his children at risk as a means to unlock semblances. Then two girls showed up walking passed Neptune and Saturn towards Jupiter, their eyes widened and sparkled seeing Jupiter.

"That is so amazing, Jupiter!"

"Gosh, not only that you're handsome. But also very endurable, and strong!" In a mixture of screaming and giggling. Jupiter said nothing and walked back into the house. But looks back at the girls and winked at them. "Ahh!" They screamed excitedly.

Can Jupiter get any more cooler? Thought Neptune.

In the present.

Neptune knocks the door. Taking a deep breathe while Weiss stood behind him. "Are you okay?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, just need a bit of consultation." The door opened by a woman with lavender hair, a red causal sweater and a long skirt. Black heels. Reading glasses above his head. "Hey. How are you?" Her eyes became startled, she then grabbed an umbrella thinking he's an intruder to smack. "Ahh! Intruders!" Neptune then caught the umbrella before she can hit, yanking it off her hands. "Geez, Mom! It's only me!" Neptune exclaimed removing his goggles from his eyes. Something that his mother have recognized for a long time since her sons went to Haven. While leaving the hoodie on his hair. Lydia pulls Neptune into her arms, sighing in relief.

"My baby boy." She said. While Neptune hugs back. "Lydia! What's wrong?!" A man with blue hair, and eyes, just like Neptune's. Only older. Still he looks more like in his 30s or 40s, and somewhat healthy. "Son, is that you?" He asked. Neptune nodded. "Hey, Dad." His father Saturn then turned to Weiss. "Oh, who is this lovely young lady?" Saturn asked. Making Neptune nervous as they thought for what it looks like. But before Weiss could answer. Saturn offers them to get inside. "You know what, why don't you two come inside? We'll talk on the way." He then looks out left and right. It seems he was aware for what is going on when his son informed him that he'll be taking a mission when he returned to Argus. And closed the door. Afterwards he shuts down the curtains, and windows to cover and blind spots. All four are sitting on the loveseats.

"I supposed you already knew what was going on, right?" Neptune asked.

"Your mother and I saw the news. We never thought this would've happened." Said Saturn. "What happened while you're on Poseidon Island?"

"We were so worried when we heard you left your team. We thought you couldn't make it on your own." Said Lydia, holding Saturn's hand. "We tried calling you, but you wouldn't answer."

"Oh yeah, about that. Weiss and I have to destroy our scrolls to keep them from tracking us." Explained Neptune.

"What really happened-" Neptune was interrupted when Weiss gave them the full explanation.

"Forgive me for the interruption, Mr. and Mrs. Vasilias, my name is Weiss. What actually happened was that my sister is the general of the Atlas Militia and she assumed your son was responsible for the embargo sinking because of some DNA evidence. But he doesn't know any of this, and I don't believe he did it. You see, we ran into each other in a mission to search for the Thunderbolts. I apologize that this happened to him." Weiss explained. She expected her to at least ask her for why she didn't try to talk to her sister out of assumptions. But instead, Lydia gave her a genuine smile.

"No need to apologize, we understand." Said Lydia kindly. "Why don't you join us for dinner? You must be very tired coming all this way."

"Oh, let me help you." Weiss offered.

"No, no. I can handle it." Lydia insisted.

"Mom, why don't you and Weiss go ahead? I need some time alone with Dad." Neptune asked. They left for the kitchen to give them time to catch up with each other. Neptune sat next to him. They were in silence at first. Neptune looking at the window, which is covered in curtains. Saturn looks down to the floor. Seeing his offspring fully grown. Reminding him of his oldest son, whom Neptune thought his father is aware that he turned up somehow. Saturn looked at a family photo, there was him, Lydia, Jupiter, Ceres, another boy and a girl. And an infant Neptune. "You know, you almost look like your brother." He said seeing the resemblance between the brothers.

"Yeah. Did Ceres told you?" Neptune asked.

"She did. I saw the footage and the man looks like him." Saturn replied. "I don't know if I should be happy he's alive, or disappointed for the fact that he has joined the Thunderbolts?" Mixed feelings ran into his skin. Brushing his hair with the tip of his fingers. "Still, I don't know if it's him." Neptune looks down in shame, still thinking about the accident. Saturn could tell he's still can't get this off his head. "Still thinking about what happened that day?" He asked.

"Do you ever stop to think about never using semblances again?" Neptune asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, after what happened to Jupiter. I told myself to never use it again. It's a reminder of that day. Since then, I never took a dip." Neptune shrugged as he hugged himself tightly. Shaking remembering about the accident. "It was stupid of me to follow him. Back then, I couldn't control it." Saturn placed his hand on his left shoulder to calm him down.

"You were only young when this happened. You know it was an accident." Saturn assured him. But Neptune denied that it was an accident to begin with. "How could you be so forgiving after what happened today?!" He covered his eyes as tears once again hit him. Saturn never saw him cry in a long time, he always puts up a smile. To make things look like he has gotten over it. But nothing replaces a brother he looked up to so much. "I am nothing but a coward. Even if I'm a man...it doesn't make fears go away."

"There was nothing you could've done to save him. But as a father, it was my job to protect you and your siblings. But after the accident. I felt like it was my fault. Our semblances are part of the lineage. But I didn't think it wasn't fair to push all of you into the water. However, I don't condone for what your brother did to unlock your semblance. But I am proud that he only did it, because he believed in you. So did I." He hugged his son to assure him. Weiss eavesdropped to see them embracing. Looking back at what his mother told her.

"Ever since he was four, Jupiter only did it for his own survival." Said Lydia "The saddest thing is, even after attending Haven and Vacuo. He was still scared of the water. When I first met Saturn, he was also afraid of the water. It took us some time together to help him get over it." Lydia recapped her precious memories with her husband. "Jupiter has been very attentive to Neptune. We were working overnight, it wasn't fair to our children. But Jupiter insisted on babysitting them."

"That sounded like my sister. She would take care of me when no one else couldn't. She was like my only family when our parents and brother would always have a turmoil in the manor." Weiss adds.

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. Want to know the secret? I have to put my father in jail for doing something dumb. Thanks to my mother." Weiss said.

"Well, let me know if you need a lawyer. Cause I am one." Lydia smiled. "I seriously have strong distaste of men who does worse. Which is why I studied law."

"You and me both."

"By the way, that new girlfriend of yours seems nice." Saturn said, making Neptune blushed.

"D-dad! It's not like that!" He denies. Hearing this made Weiss giggled. Seeing them together made Weiss realized that she wanted this since she was younger. Having good memories with her family had her father not treated her, Winter, her mother, or her brother badly. But now, she has to focus on the present and future. Being on Neptune's side to overcome the challenges waiting for them.

Later they're on a table enjoying dinner. Having Teriyaki and rice. Including sushi and salmon. "So is Ceres coming home, tonight?" Neptune asked.

"She's busy on her work for a while now. Ceres had been working in Vale to treat the wounded Huntsmen." Replied Lydia. "She said she'll probably be there long before we knew it."

"That's a bummer. Even us huntsmen have to endure all this." Neptune sighed, chopping down the food on his plate. Weiss was about to grab some ice tea, but Neptune pours the cup for her and placed it on her hands. But when he did, her hand was placed on his. Making her face warm. Same happened to Neptune. Then Lydia nudged at Weiss. "You know, my son is quite the gentleman. Just like his father." She winks.

"Dah! Alright, we seriously need to talk about this, Mom!" Neptune exclaimed rubbing his hair in embarrassment.

#iceberg rwby #Icy Seas #neptune vasilias #weiss schnee #rwby fanfic #Arctic Ocean #weiss x neptune

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bleached-d-soul · 4 years

Text

Team ALAB: Home Sweet Home

Part 2 of Team ALAB commissions for @the-hapless-ace

When Jaune ran away from home to enroll in Beacon, his greatest fear was failing.

Now that he managed to get in the academy, fjoin a team of badass guys and even learn how to fight from them, he thought that there were few things he would be terrified of. Bullies couldn't hurt him. His grades were more or less decent. And he even managed to kill a Grimm or two by himself now! He was living the life without fear!

Until the holidays came, that is.

Winter Solaris used to be his favorite time of the year when he was a kid. You gather up with your friends and family, eat a feast of delicious food and basically relax for the entire period of the festivities. Even the Huntsmen Academies allowed their students to take a short break and go home to their families.

It was his time to go home.

Oh Gods, home...

"My parents are going to kill me."

"Kill them first then."

"You are not helping, Mercury!"

The former assassin showed no sympathy for him as he simply flipped through the comic. Then again, considering how complicated and homicidal his relationships were, Jaune couldn't blame him. But right now it wasn't Mercury Jaune was losing head about. It was his own life. His sisters would be mad. His dad would be furious. And mom... Oh Gods, mom wouldn't be mad.

She would be just disappointed.

"You know you could always stay here in Vale, right?" Ren said as he got tired of watching Jaune pace around the room. "Many students do that."

"Really?!" He was saved, wohoo! Now that he found some peace, he had a few questions. "Why are they staying though?"

"Some don't want to. Most cannot," Ren replied simply. "The latter don't have a home to go back to, that's all."

Jaune looked at his teammates. The son of the assassin who was running away from life of abuse and pain. The former terrorist exiled from his only home. And the boy who lost everyone to a Grimm. Fuck, he was feeling like such an asshole.

"You are coming with me."

All three looked up at him, confused and lost.

"Uh, Jaune? I don't think you-"

"Nope, you are coming with me, Ren. All of you are."

"Hey leader, weren't you trying to stay away from your family?" Mercury rolled his eyes. Seriously, Jaune was an okay guy but he seemed to not have much for attention span. "If this is about us killing each other without you, don't worry. Hornhead over here will be too busy stalking his ex."

"I swear to God, Black, another joke like that and I will-"

"Nope, all of you are coming with me for holidays!" Damn his cowardice! He was going to make sure the guys didn't spend the Winter Solaris alone eating some cafeteria food! "I am not taking no for an answer."

Now, all he needed to do was convince his parents to let them stay over and-

BOOM!

Something blew up in the halls.

"Where is he?!" the loud and terrifyingly familiar voice boomed through the corridors, mitigated only by even louder cries for help by the fleeing students. "Where is Jaune Arc?!"

Oh Gods, they came for him.

"He is over there! Please, don't stomp on my ballsa-AAAAAAAH!"

With a sickening crunch and then deadly silence, the four sat watching the door in suspense.

They could hear every step made towards their room but none dared to move.

They were too terrfified to move.

The blade of an axe ripped through their door, tearing the thing into bits and pieces. And now before the young men of the team ALAB stood none other than Jasmine Arc. The former Huntress. Now the mother of eight.

"Hi sweetie!" her voice dripped with warmth and love. And anger. Gods, so much anger and bloodlust even Adam found himself uncomfortable. "I decided to drop by. See how you are doing..."

Jaune gulped as he found mom's eyes staring hollowly into his.

"... and make sure you come back home for holidays!"

Before any of them could do or say anything, the young men were on the Bullhead flying back to Everwoods, the home to the Arc family.

ALAB

Adam didn't remember much of his parents.

His earliest memory was that of a dirty cell full of the other faunus children like him. Little more than cattle in the eyes of their oppressors, the kids were sent down to mine more Dust for the Schnees, as if they were not rich and fat enough. If you slacked off, you didn't get dinner. If you didn't meet your quota, you didn't get to leave the mines until you did. And if you fought back, talked back or even looked like you were thinking something other than 'Yes, sir', you got a beating. Do any of those enough times and you disappeared.

In those conditions, it was the oldest like him that had to be the parent. The mother who could comfort the smallest and weakest. The father who would give up his own stale bread and water so that others didn't starve.

Then he joined the White Fang and his fight was no longer about keeping the kids in cells fed and protected. Now he was taking them out of those cages. No matter where they went, the kids they saved from the labor camps were always the same: starving, scared and silent.

He never had a place to call home. His hoke was whichever base White Fang was situated in. The sands of Vacuo or harsh snow valleys of Atlas, none of it mattered as long as he could set another Faunus free. He never understood people who held any warmth for something as small and frail as a house.

"Waaaaaaah!"

"Shhh, Adrian, mommy is here!"

"Hey, Rouge, where did you put my book?"

"I didn't touch anything!"

"Mooom, I think the pie is burning!"

Which is why he was still unsure what he was feeling in this place. The Arc house was quite big and nice, though hardly large enough for the family of nine. It was somewhat old too. Yet none of the family seemed to mind.

There was laughter. There were jokes. Nothing so out of the ordinary and yet... Yet there was something that Adam still couldn't put his finger on. Was it the smell of all homemade food? Perhaps it was due to his increased senses that he-

"Ren, I have a problem."

"What is it?"

"There is a small child clinging to my leg." Adam pointed at the toddler who looked at him, eyes bright with some weird awe. "I think he might see me as as a threat."

"CA!"

"What is he saying?" Adam whispered as he picked the little one up. He seemed not to mind his mask, which was good enough. He would hate to remove it and get unnecessary questions asked.

"CA!"

What did that mean?

"Uh, I think he likes your horns?" Ren guessed as Adrian touched said protrusions. Did he really? Well, it was certainly a surprise. Back when he was a kid, the wardens used to push him around using his horns as one of the main targets for their verbal abuse. Why, they even called him a cow-

"MOOOOO!"

...

"Adam, are you okay? You are, uh, shaking..."

...

"Maybe I should take Adrien back to Saphron."

...

Mooo? Fucking Mooo?

"I AM NOT A DAMN COW FAUNUS!"

The room erupted in laughter. But not the kind Adam used to hear. There was no mockery or spite. Or fear and disgust. They weren't even laughing at him as much as his reaction. And somehow... Somehow he couldn't help but laugh too. Not like the brat and the sisters. Like he always did, quiet and reserved.

But a laugh nonetheless.

Adam never celebrated any holidays. Had no time. Had no desire. Why celebrate the moments of peace when his kind was still at war?

But maybe... Maybe these things weren't so bad, after all.

ALAB

Well, Adam was pissed. Which counted as good in Mercury's book.

Also, he was training with Jaune's dad, Alder. Which was pretty badass.

"You are good for your age, old man," Mercury smirked. "Too bad I am better."

"Are you sure?" and just like that, Mercury fell onto the ground, suddenly winded. What the hell? "My Semblance is called Drain. Within a certain range, it makes all the people I see slowly use up more of their stamina and Aura. Honestly, I am surprised you lasted this long. You have really good control over your body. Not something you see in a lot of young huntsmen."

Well, he wasn't the most huntsmen, was he now?

"Let's just say I didn't have a choice on that."

He didn't have the Semblance. He used to but now it was stolen, gone along with the asshole that took it from him. A part of him told him that he was crying over nothing. Without his Semblance, he was pushed to become the most vicious and efficient fighter he could be. His speed and strength were the fruits of his own work.

And hey, it was a small price to pay for his bastard dad's death.

"I am really glad my son met you guys."

Huh? "It was mostly an accident," Literally, in fact. "That crazy headmaster launched us all into the forest with a freaking catapult."

Seriously, he could have them jump off the Bullhead or something. But nooo, somehow that old psycho decided that launching them off like some paper planes was a better use of Beacon money.

"Still, I doubt Jaune would make it without you and the rest of the team," Alder said as he took a sip of his beer. Mercury wasn't quite sure why but he took a step back. No, forget that. He knew exactly why he put some distance between the two. And he hated himself for it. Hated how much power his old man had over him even now that he was dead. "You know, you are strong, Mercury."

He knew that. He had to be.

"Thanks, I guess."

"And you don't have to be a huntsman to prove it."

At that, Mercury looked at the man confused. What was that supposed to mean?

"I don't know what it is that happened to you in the past, not my place or right to pry. But I can tell from our little spar that you hate this strength you have. I can tell that you are not fighting because you decided to."

The man looked him dead in the eyes.

"You fight because you think this is the only thing you are good for."

Mercury sat silent, refusing to meet the man's eyes. What else was he good for? Dad never taught him anything beyond the simplest basics. How to write, read and count and that's it. The rest of the time was spent beating the fighting techniques into his skull. It's not like he could become an accountant or something now. At least being a huntsman would let him get his own money for whatever he wanted.

"I became a huntsman for much the same reason."

Huh?

"I thought you were some kind of town hero," Mercury could still remember all the annoying rumblings of how his dad joined Beacon to protect his home after graduating. "The whole White Knight routine and all that."

"That's only half the truth, unfortunately. Didn't want my kids to know I used to be a violent and unpleasant thug," the man chuckled. "I joined Beacon because I wanted a simple life. Be strong enough to slay a Grimm or two in some major cities. Collect enough money and live the life you want. I wanted to get out of this place so much back then. Leave and never look back."

"Let me guess," Mercury rolled his eyes. "Then you found love and decided to clean up your act?"

"No, my entire team almost died on a mission because of me."

Okay... Shit.

"I was young and reckless. But more importantly, I had nothing to lose back then. An orphan without any actual friends, all I cared about was me and what I wanted," Ardel recounted with the small sad smile. "My teammates were different. Each and one of them had something to return to. A home. A family. A lover. Something that made them so desperate to survive that they beat the impossible odds and even saved my sorry ass."

Did he have something like that though? He had no idea where his mom went. Or if he wanted to meet the woman who left him with that monster. He had no special love for his home village either. In the end, Mercury realized that he had nothing to come back to. Nobody waiting on him.

"You are young though. And I can tell you four are good for each other. Whatever comes your way, you don't have to face it alone," Alder said as he stood up and picked up his sword. "Now then, ready for another spar?"

Mercury smirked.

"I could use some more exercise."

ALAB

"Guys, dinner is ready!"

With a loud miriad of steps, the relatively big kitchen in the house of Arcs soon had no space left. The table was breaking apart under the weight of all the food, the orchestra of mouth-watering smells teasing the hungry stomachs with the promise of delectable end of the day.

But not before the man of the house finished his speech.

Which had lasted for good twenty minutes by now.

"Is he always like that?" Adam asked, not quite irritated but still hungry and exhausted from all playing with kids.

"Only when he is drunk," Jaune admitted.

"-and finally! I am happy to welcome Adam, Mercury and Ren into our family!" Alder finished, cheeks red and stance wobbling. "You three take good care of my son! And Jaune, make sure they don't have to take care of you all the time! Now, let's eat!"

The dinner began.

The table laughed, all of them exchanging their own stories and experiences.

And come the end of the night, team ALAB found themselves growing closer.

Not just teammates.

But now members of the same family.

#rwby #jaune arc #lie ren #adam taurus #mercury black #alab au #team alab

64 notes · View notes

fairy-writes · 4 years

Text

So I binged RWBY season 7 today and made notes. Here are said notes and thoughts on the episodes!

So my notes will probably not be in any particular order because my brain hops from point to point and forward one and back three so sorry if it’s confusing!

Ep 1:

Qrow’s voice actor gave me a heart attack, I forgot they changed his voice actor. I honestly thought I was watching Darker than Black or My Hero Academia with his voice.But I like it! Jason Liebrecht is one of my favorite voice actors!

James Ironwood makes me so sad because I love him and he’s trying his best.

I had a problem initially with the animation of the fight scenes, I think they just seemed too… smeared? I can’t quite place it but I had a hard time keeping up with what moves the characters were performing.

I wish I could have seen the tuning of Maria’s eyes! I was getting serious FMA vibes with automail and whatnot but I didn’t get to see the procedures Doctor Pietro performed!!

Oscar getting to fight was probably one of my favorite scenes, I love my farm boy and I’m hoping Ozpin comes back at some point!

I’m… conflicted on Penny returning… I mean, it makes sense that she would be rebuilt, but as something that had an impact on Ruby in the past with her being destroyed… they kind of just… brushed it off…

Ace Ops! I like them already! I got a request for someone from Ace Ops and I’m excited to get to know them all!

Also, I would have preferred it if RWBY went with security in the beginning (IT PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN A LOT EASIER), but they have to be rats and not do that so meh.

Also, Weiss is worried about being sent back to her dad. Call me dumb, but isn’t she a legal adult and doesn’t have to live with him if she doesn’t want to? Like? Legally she has a say?

Ep 2:

I have a feeling the Ace Ops are treated like pit bulls, have a bad rap and people either hate them or are terrified. But they are intensely loyal and are actually good people.

Ok ok ok, they want to see Ironwood, illegally mind you. By breaking in and sneaking in to see him. But the second they get caught (RIGHTFULLY SO, YOU ARE SNEAKING INTO A KINGDOM) and are taken to see him legally… they get all mopey and sad. JUST OBEY THE LAW PEOPLE

I don’t know why I’m so focused on the detail in everyone’s shoes. But I am.

Winter is in the right for being upset at Weiss. I WOULD BE TOO.

I AM SUPPORTING AND TRUSTING IRONWOOD, JUST SAYING THAT NOW

Ironwood’s plan makes sense, I do believe the people should know about Salem.

Also, why is Qrow all buddy buddy with Ozpin again? He was talking about him like he missed him, but I was under the impression that he hated Ozpin after learning his background.

WHY ARE YOU LYING TO IRONWOOD RUBY?! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU DIDN’T WANT WITH OZ. I can tell Ironwood knows something is off but he can’t tell what.

Not sure when to put this, but i hope they bring up everything with Adam, like I hope it is part of Blake’s and Yang’s character development.

Qrow getting a hug from Ironwood makes me happy, he needs some happiness and friends in his life!!

I like the Ace Ops, the guy with the wolf tail is going to be one of my favorites I can tell But I’m biased and like anything to do with dogs.

Ep 3:

UPGRADES TO THE WEAPONS YES

This leader of the Ace Ops is really cool, I like him but I can’t really get the image out of my mind that he probably plays soccer or something. Like a soccer dad or something.

The initial designs or Team RWBY looked cool in theory, but I don’t think they translate to the animation style very well. I’d have to say Ruby’s is probably my favorite, except for her hair. She looks like a duck. It looks like they were almost going for an Edward Elric or Meliodas style cowlick but it didn’t work out too well.

Again, wolf faunus guy is going to be my favorite.

The zippers of Blake’s costume is bugging me, just a note.

And Oscar bringing up the lying is great and I love it.

Not going to lie, Blake getting attacked by the Haunter looking grimm or whatever it was, gave me a big jump scare.

Centipede grimm… what’s 1000-7 anyone? No? Okay I’ll shut up.

I want Qrow and the leader of the Ace Ops to be friends, Qrow needs friends.

I LOVE THE ACE OPS ITS OFFICIAL

ALL OF THEM ARE MY CHILDREN

Also it’s really nice to see graduated huntsmen in action, working as a team and all. We really only have seen Qrow by himself but it’s cool to see a team in action!

Another speed semblance is awesome and I love it!!

Clover has a good luck semblance? Why is that so funny to me?

Also watching Marrow parade Ruby around is the epitome of cute.

DAMN IT TYRIAN DON’T SCARE ME LIKE THAT

Also, did they ever explain why his eyes turn purple?

Ep 4:

I like that the Ace Ops are civilized with each other but don’t act like best buddies. It’s a really cool change from the buddy buddy attitude of RWBY and JNR.

I’m still hating Jaune’s hair cut.

Yaaaaaaaaaaay murder!

I’m also not sure how I feel about Qrow’s outfit, it almost makes him look like a toy soldier.

And yaaaassss Ironwood bashing Jaques is one of the best things ever.

Also I think they’re forgetting the fact that Weiss is a legal adult?

And Papa Schnee is gaslighting Weiss, I hope people call that out.

He’s also threatening military personnel and Ironwood at that. You know that talk about the noose and stuff… Isn’t that illegal?

I can tell Penny is going to bug me, I really believe that she could’ve been written out.

Really dumb, but can Yang feel pain if she disconnects her arm? How does she move it? Is it like Fullmetal Alchemist’s automail?

I think Ozpin does trust others with the whole truth, not just himself. I think Qrow is lying to himself to make himself feel better.

I 100% believe Summer would have trusted in Oz and pressed on with what he had planned. But hey, that’s just me.

It still throws me off when Watts talks because he’s also All Might and those are two very different people.

I feel like they are trying to build tension by ending every episode with the villains, but that’s starting to get old and I’m only on episode 4

Ep 5:

Ruby is a morning person and it’s already wearing me out.

This almost slice of life scene is really nice!

I like that it shows that team RWBY and JNR are really adept at fighting and all, but it also shows that Ace Ops are superior.

Nora riding her hammer like a Mario Kart is awesome

YAY NEON’S BACK

Also Neon, Oscar is like 14, back off

Ren is being sad boy and it makes me sad too.

Qrow and Clover having a minute to be friends is nice!

And how easily did Qrow give up drinking? That’s not really something you just… give up?

Robyn (Robin?) makes a good point, Mantle does need help and they aren’t getting it. But she’s going about it the wrong way.

Pipsqueak and 5 o’clock shadow are excellent nicknames.

Training between Winter and Weiss is really cool! I like the little sisterly bonding scenes are really sweet!

Weiss makes a good point, everyone is doing what they think is right, even if it doesn’t look like it.

I don’t like that they are keeping the Winter Maiden almost as a prisoner, but I can also see why he’s doing it the way he is. And the fact that Winter is accepting it the way she is is such a breath of fresh air from a classic hero’s arc she could’ve been put down.

I still trust Ironwood! That’s all I’m saying!

I also believe that Yang and Blake should branch out and work with others, not just each other. It isn’t healthy. Especially if the writers aren’t TALKING ABOUT ADAM.

PLEASE TALK ABOUT ADAM, THAT’S A HUGE TRAUMATIZING EXPERIENCE THAT THEY AREN’T TALKING ABOUT

Ep 6:

Nora’s bringing up a point that is really important!! Maybe Ozpin couldn’t beat Salem but maybe someone else can! Maybe Ruby can once she gets a hold on her silver eyes!

Marrow is still my favorite, I love him so much.

The little sheep faunus that follows Robyn around is so cute. Her weapon is not so cute. But I love her anyway. I LOVE FAUNUS OKAY

I feel like Rooster Teeth is trying to push the subtle message of getting registered to vote and I’m lowkey cackling.

Okay, serious thing here. I love that Renora is a ship that sailed. Really I do, it’s probably my favorite RWBY ship. (though I like to think it sailed a while ago) But I feel like we didn’t really earn that kiss? Like I feel like it would have been better if they hadn’t argued and like it was a last ditch effort to stop said argument. I don’t know, I have a lot of feelings about it.

Watching Tyrian in action is super cool! The way he was animated is so fluid and mesmerizing and I really love it! Great job Rooster Teeth!!

Also Watts almost looked like a conductor and if that’s what Rooster Teeth is going for I applaud them. But also, on the funny side, it looks like he’s waving his arms around like a maniac.

Penny being framed is really neat, but why do I feel like it’s going to be brushed off?

Marrow telling everyone to stay is hilarious to me and I love it.

Papa Schnee pledging to serve while Grimm are attacking is a really cool parallel.

According to the end credits, I’m taller than Ruby… For once I’m taller than an anime character other than Edward Elric!

Ep 7:

Penny’s head pat is so cute.

I understand why Ironwood put the ban on assembly and the curfew up. It makes sense while they’re trying to catch Tyrian.

Also the semblance that gives someone the ability to turn things invisible?! Dude that’s so cool!!

Everything Ironwood and Ace Ops are saying makes sense. I can see how his mind is working and I can tell he’s just trying to keep everyone safe.

Also, where has Maria been? What has she been doing?

“Why can’t people do what they used to and fight to the death?” Maria I love you.

Blake being Batman over here, my goodness.

Blake using Dust with her semblance again! Finally!

Hahaha cutting off swearing is probably one of my favorite tropes.

James wanting to ask and talking to Ozpin hurts my heart. I just want Ozpin back!!

Seeing someone still messed up by the Fall of Beacon is really nice, everyone else seems to brush it off.

Ep 8:

I hate dinner parties… I have a feeling this won’t go well…

“Sir, with all due respect, you’d have to pay me.” OMG Winter I’m dead XD

I hope Weiss has a song in this like “This Life is Mine” I really really hope she does.

Also THIS IS THE PERFECT CHANCE TO HAVE FORMAL WEAR

I WANT TO SEE THEM IN FORMAL WEAR

Awww I liked Klein :(

Qrow and Clover’s friendship is so nice, I like it :)

Part of me wishes Whitley had a wardrobe upgrade. It would have been a nice change of color!

Oscar eating in the background is me in any social situation.

Why does every rich businessman have a long ass dining table? Seriously? Why?

Ren looks so proud of himself, also seeing Whitley doused in wine is hilarious. Also, purple really is his color!

Guys? Please let Ironwood talk? You want to know why but you keep interrupting him before he can get a word out.

YAS WINTER GO OFF ON HIM

It’s also a nice touch that all the people on Papa Schnee’s side has wine while everyone else has water, I don’t know if it was intentional but I noticed it and thought it was cool!

Weiss’s mom is very pretty! I’m also really glad to see Weiss actually talking to her mom. And seeing her mom trying to talk some sense into Weiss is really cool too.

Ep 9:

Ok ok, PLEASE STOP INTERRUPTING IRONWOOD! DIDN’T ANYONE TEACH YOU BETTER?!

Question about Robyn’s semblance, would it work with Ironwood’s prosthetic side?

“You are under arrest! Can I do that?” One of my favorite quotes in this show.

Please Winter, just sock Papa Schnee in the face.

Yes James, Robyn knows. Because people who CAN’T KEEP A SECRET TOLD HER

I forgot how much I love the designs of the bigger grimm, I mean. The other ones are fine. But the giant ones? Masterpieces

I’m starting to ship Robyn and Ironwood, they have the potential for ‘enemies to lovers’ kind of fanfictions.

“You aren’t alone.” OKAY RUBY HOW ABOUT YOU TELL HIM YOUR SECRETS?!

Stupid question I started thinking of, how much do Huntsmen get paid?

“Ugh kids” I feel you Marrow, I feel you

Please give Ironwood a break, he needs a vacation. Petition to give Ironwood a vacation!

The music, I keep forgetting how much I love the instrumental music in RWBY.

Aaaaaaaaand Neo and Cinder are back… no one saw this coming… BECAUSE IT WASN’T SET UP BEFORE

Writers of RWBY… please set up things like that little by little! Even if it was just something small, like a glimpse or something! Not just throwing them back in the story because of the potential conflict it would cause!

Ep 10:

Yesssssss big strong queen on the Ace Ops!

The slow piano during Ironwood’s speech is really pretty. It’s giving me goosebumps!

Ironwood’s speeches are some of the best anime speeches I’ve ever heard, the music choice really helps make it so much more impactful.

“Our tin soldier’s heart has lost his mind.” Nice tin man reference!

“The timeline has changed.” Cinder are you a time traveler now?

HELL YEAH I’VE ALWAYS WANTED SOMEONE TO HAVE A BAZOOKA

Also, I think people forget just how terrifying elephants can be until they are RUNNING RIGHT AT YOU

Ruby this would be really nice if you would use your silver eyes right about now

Penny looked legit like someone out of Dragon Ball Z and it’s making me cackle.

The whole thing with Robyn, Qrow, and Clover vs Tyrian is something I’ve heard very vague things about and I’m not looking forward to it.

SUPERHERO LANDING BITCH

All Might vs Ironwood… I’M READY!!!

Ep 11:

FINALLY AN IRONWOOD SONG

I’ll have to look at the lyrics after, but it’s really cool to see Ironwood in action!!

I mean we saw him in action back at the Fall of Beacon, but this is against another human being!

A detail I wish was added was Ironwood’s punches landing differently with half of his body being metal and the other half being flesh.

Also Ironwood… Please be okay, please don’t lose an arm…

The fight between Tyrian and the three was very short but very clean and nice!

Ironwood falling into paranoia is out of character in my opinion. But you know, just my opinion, the writers don’t seem to care about him much.

OH SHIT SALEM

“Set the stage for me.” You and what army?

RIGHT THE FLYING MONKEY ARMY I FORGOT

Summer Rose and the screaming is messing with my head.

Apparently it’s messing with Ruby’s too…

I don’t know why they’re so worried about Ironwood doing what he’s doing. It does make sense. And team RWBY’s choices are finally coming to bite them in the ass, it makes me happy!

Except for leaving Mantle to die, I think that’s the only thing I don’t like. But casualties are always a part of war.

Okay RWBY… you guys are a bunch of kids, and what’s your plan? You don’t have one! Ironwood came up with a plan against Salem! It does mean people are going to die and yes it’s sad, but people die a lot and more are going to be killed if you try and do something stupid and reckless.

But I’m anticipating that RWBY and Co. are going to win because of their protagonist powers.

Ep 12:

Children children don’t fight. Though Tyrian is making me laugh.

I wish they all talked about it like civil adults, but I suppose Robyn is a bit too childish.

I want Ace Ops to win, but they won’t because protagonist powers and it kind of pisses me off.

You know, all Marrow has to do is use his semblance right?

As gross as it is, it’s kinda cool seeing how Tyrian got out of his restraints.

OK WHY IS HE TEAMING UP WITH TYRIAN?! It makes no sense? It would’ve made more sense if they both teamed up on Tyrian and then fought after, maybe they wouldn’t have had to fight because Qrow genuinely found a friend in Clover so he’d give up so he can also get to Ruby.

Also Blake and Yang probably broke her back.

Seeing Ruby go toe to toe with someone and only won because Weiss intervened was cool.

Aaaaaaaaand Ace Ops is down and I’m pissed.

AND NOW CLOVER IS DEAD?! YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THIS COMING ASSHOLE!!

TEAMING UP WITH A SERIAL KILLER AND EXPECTING HIM TO NOT KILL HIM IS LIKE EXPECTING SOMEONE NOT TO BREATHE.

Clover just wanted to trust Qrow. THAT’S ALL HE WANTED.

But not gonna lie, seeing Qrow cry still makes me upset.

It seems like the writers are taking away anyone who either gets shipped with Qrow, or whoever he has a relationship with that isn’t RWBY. Ozpin? Gone. Ironwood? Pretty much estranged and not seeing eye to eye anymore. Tai? Who knows what’s happening with him.

Ep 13 (Finale):

I’m not excited for the finale.

I’m really not.

But starting it off with a fight with Neo is a cool idea.

Seeing her fight using her umbrella is always one of my favorite things about her character.

And now a fight with Cinder vs Winter and Penny.

“It just makes us hungrier and I refuse to starve.” Really cool quote! Even though Cinder is probably one of my least favorite characters.

Winter using her summoning thing to make a manticore was super cool too!

Penny saving Winter, please tell me they become friends after this.

“My life doesn’t matter!” “I disagree!” Okay okay Penny gains one point in my character list for this quote.

Seeing Neo as Nora was cool, though I don’t understand why Ren was hesitating to attack her. They’ve surely spared before right? Like he shouldn’t hesitate that much?

But him crying is really really sad.

YAS BOSS ASS BITCH WINTER MAIDEN OLD LADY

I really wish we could’ve seen her personality more, she seems really nice.

Though I gotta say, her exploding with power was really epic.

Ren please don’t scream, it hurts my heart.

Please don’t make Penny the winter maiden. If she becomes the maiden then I’m going to riot.

DAMN IT SHE’S THE MAIDEN

That pose Oscar, you’re becoming Ozpin. And I miss my wizard. I want him to come back.

Him using the cane as an actual cane because he’s injured is really cool. Plus the fact that he draws so much comfort from Ozpin’s cane is so sweet.

Ironwood is going down a dark path because the writers want him to and it’s pissing me off to no end.

SHOOTING OSCAR ISN’T IN CHARACTER FOR IRONWOOD OKAY?!

Winter cutting off Cinder’s arm is one of the best things in this episode

OZPIN IS BACK AND THAT’S ALL I CARE ABOUT

Now Ruby decides to use her silver eyes?

OZPIN IS BACK BITCHES

Literally all I care about is Ozpin coming back, though the song is pretty I guess.

Part of me is happy Qrow is arrested.

Winter forcing Weiss and Co to run is really sweet and touching in her own way. She just wants her sister to be safe.

Cinder ticks me off, she’s very childish and if that’s supposed to be the point it’s working. She’s not really all that intimidating

Now Salem has a flying whale? Is this a reference to the whale that swallowed Pinocchio?

OSCAR HAS MAGIC

OZPIN IS BACK

I WILL NOT STOP FREAKING OUT ABOUT THIS

That’s all my thoughts on this season of RWBY! Thanks for reading if you got this far! And my requests are OPEN for male rwby character x reader requests!

fairytailwzard over and out!~

#rwby #rwby volume 7 #rwby volume seven #rwby spoilers #rwby s7 #rwby vol7 #rwby volume 7 spoilers #long post

6 notes · View notes

justironqrowthings · 5 years

Text

YOU WERE MY SUNSHINE

IRONQROW - JAMES IRONWOOD × QROW BRANWEN

YOU WERE MY SUNSHINE

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE - TRAITOR JAMES

P.O.V. - JAMES IRONWOOD

TRIGGER WARNINGS - Major character death, mentions of drinking, depression turned anger

You are my sunshine

It was nearly a year after his mission started. Almost twelve full months James had gone without seeing Qrow’s precious smile. Hearing his laugh. It was agonizing. He trusted Ozpin, he really did, but when it came to Qrow’s apparent disappearance, he began to doubt. He doubted that the mission should have been solo, that he should have been allowed to join his precious bird on such a rigorous scouting mission. James understood whole heartedly that he had duties as General and Headmaster within Atlas, but that still didn’t make him any less worried or make him not want to be with Qrow at all times, in life and in death.

So, James sat in his office, within the CCT of Atlas academy. He was flipping through random news channels just to see what was going on around the world. James stopped on a channel from Argus, seeing that there was breaking news.

“Qrow Branwen, a veteran Huntsman from Vale was recently found dead in the old ruins of Brunswick Farms. Officials say that there was a group traveling to the Kingdom of Mistrial and passed through the ruins of Brunswick Farms. They say that the Grimm known as the Apathy killed him. He most likely was fighting the Grimm, as his weapon was found in scythe form and flecks of black dust was found in his cape. Our condolences to his family and all those who knew him.” The newscaster spoke solemnly.

No. This couldn’t be happening. Qrow was okay. This was a nightmare. James quickly got on his computer and checked every single source he could find. They all said the same. Qrow. Apathy. Brunswick farms. Dead.

My only sunshine.

James was pacing around Ozpin’s office. There was an impromptu meeting called for the inner circle. One Qrow should be at James thought to himself. He thought about how he planned on proposing to Qrow. Halfway through his absence, James realized he was dead set on making Qrow his for the rest of their lives. So that he knew Qrow would always come back. But now? Now he couldn’t. James paused his pacing and took a quick drink from his flask filled with the same whiskey Qrow adored. He gripped the flask, but was careful not to dent it. It was an anniversary gift from Qrow. Their one year...They had gotten to three years. Three years of pure fun, love and joy. Now, those years had come to an end. He would never see Qrow smiling at his nieces or laughing at a joke. Nobody to excitedly talk about a new project with, like project P.E.N.N.Y...James came to a conclusion. He concluded that he was absolutely furious.

You make me happy,

After James had come to his conclusion, he thought long as hard. He came to yet another conclusion. Ozpin had sent him on that mission. Ozpin was the reason he was near Brunswick Farms. Ozpin was why his beloved Qrow was dead. What James realized he now had to do, was avenge his beloved. While yes, he could easily plan it, a day where Glynda and Raven were out on a mission, get Ozpin in the back of the head, one bullet, that was it. No, instead, James thought he would betray Ozpin. He would seek out the enemy, abandoned everything he had worked for, give up every bit of information he could, he would offer his services willingly. Yes, James thought. Ozpin will pay for what he did to his favourite corvid, he would pay.

When skies are gray.

It had been a few months since James resigned from his remedial job of Headmaster and General, leaving the mantle up to Arthur Watts. He never cared for Watts. He only cared for Qrow. James had finally made it to where Salem was hidden. After months of stocking things up in a ship, asking more than a few questionable sources, he had finally made it. The first step to making sure my dear Qrow will not have died in vain James thought to himself, gently gripping the remains of Qrow’s cape that was permanently sat upon his shoulder. He slowly slid his finger across Harbinger, having stolen it from Ozpin when he didn’t willingly give it to James.

James’ ship landed in front of the lustrous castle, a scorpion faunus immediately running out, brandishing blades around his arms with his beady tail flicking in unatrual ways. James figured he looked hostile, Salem and her grunts most likely knew who he was, so he gently dropped both his pistol and Harbinger at his feet, putting his hands up. The faunus quickly took the weapons, James growling when he slightly mishandled Harbinger.

The faunus led James into the meeting room after putting a bag over his head. He forced James to kneel before he violently ripped the bag off.

“Why do you kneel before me today?” A tall woman, death white skin and Grimm-red eyes asked coldly. She was slightly glaring at him, obviously not liking how he was present.

James cleared his throat before he looked at the woman in the eyes.

“Queen Salem, I kneel before you, offering my services. Ozpin wronged the man I loved. I cannot stand for that and let my beloved Qrow die in vain. I offer up all the knowledge I have gained from being within his meek group over the years. I swear I will do all you ask if it means I can avenge my Qrow. All I ask is that I be given some freedoms with missions or a right to request somebody else kill a target.” James explained.

He held eye contact with Salem while she silently thought, unmoving.

“You can be a General of some of my Grimm Armies. Now, what can you tell me?” She asked, motioning for James to rise.

James rose up and the faunus, Tyrian, he heard Salem call him, handed the weapons back. James’ blank face slowly twisted into a sick smirk.

“Where should I start?” He asked lowly.

Yes. James thought. He would get his revenge, and oh how he couldn’t wait. He would lead an army of Grimm and get his sweet revenge, Ozpin would pay, and he would be able to love Qrow for all eternity.

You’ll never know dear,

Years later, Salem had sent James on a mission to Atlas. Simple, get information he could find from anybody about General Watts, try and find more info on Qrow’s niece, who he and Salem had agreed he didn’t have to kill. They had a mutual agreement, and surprisingly, respect. She let him not have to kill any children unless absolutely necessary, especially Ruby or Yang. But, he would have to get as much information on anybody when ever he was ordered to do so. While he wished Ruby didn’t try and take up the mantle of Remnant’s next best scythe wielder after her late uncle, or that she hadn’t inherited Summer’s silver eyes, she had. And she didn’t know it would be her untimely demise. Maybe it was a theme within scythe wielders, that they would suffer a terrible fate. First, Maria Calavera as the Grimm Reaper, then, his beloved Qrow Branwen on a scouting mission, and Ruby Rose was inevitably next.

It was sad, to James. Such a small girl who he had met quite a few times in her adolescence, her mother married to Taiyang and Raven. He wondered what inspired her to be like Qrow, to use the scythe as a weapon instead of a sword or a gun or something else. Still, it was nice to think he wasn’t the only one trying to avenge Qrow, even if in the end he would have to keep doing it when Ruby was forced six feet under.

The one time, James was in the wrong place at the wrong time, he had been hiding out in a forest in Atlas before he ran into Raven and her crew of teenagers. Teams RWBY, JNR, Ozpin’s reincarnation and an old woman who he seemed to recognize as the Grimm Reaper.

“James..?” Raven stuttered, trying to wrap her head around the fact that she stood in front of Qrow’s old lover.

James blinked rapidly before he saw Ruby and Yang’s eyes widen

“It’s Uncle James! Where have you been all these years?” Yang asked, a small smile breaking out on her face.

James noticed Oscar looking panicked for a moment before he pointed at James.

“Don’t trust him! Ozpin is saying he betrayed him!” He accused, obviously scared.

Raven looked deeply upset, going to try and talk James back into joining them, he knew more about Salem than any of them! But before she could, James turned around and ran. He didn’t need to hear an entire speech about how Qrow wouldn’t have wanted him to do what he was doing. That he would have wanted him to help defeat Salem. But James didn’t care. He wanted to avenge Qrow, and that’s what he would do.

Inevitably, the group caught up with James before he quickly shot at a few of them. Those shots started an entire fight, James nearly losing if it weren’t for the Grimm he could summon at will and command to do his bidding. He felt bad using some of the younger Grimm to his advantage, but then he remembered how mindless they were. Going to an Academy really was useful when fighting for Salem’s cause, especially knowing the ins and outs on how Huntsmen learned about the Grimm.

The altercation ended with Raven quickly summoning a portal and getting everybody to safety within the city. Cowards. James thought. He stopped the Grimm that still stood from fighting, killing the ones that he didn’t feel like having repaired, saving a lot of time before he jumped on the back of an Alpha Beowolf and commanded it to take James to where Tyrian would be waiting for him. James knew there would be more conflict with his old family more, but even so, this was just the beginning.

How much I love you,

Teams RWBY, JNR, Oscar, Raven, and countless more people had arrived in Salem’s land. This was definitely frightening. They had all four maidens on their side, after Neopolitan had killed Cinder and taken her maiden powers. They had all four relics, and a lot more than that. James stood beside Hazel, both knowing they were the first lines of defense against so many Huntsmen and Atlesian Knights. James had already summoned his army of Grimm, knowing more were sprouting from pools near the castle to keep it safe as long as they could.

While fights between Grimm and Huntsmen broke out, Ruby had specifically sought out James. She stood in front of him before she pushed her red hood off of her head, looking at the remains of Qrow’s old cape that had sat upon James’ shoulder for years. Ruby then looked back up at James and forced him to make eye contact.

“Yang and Mom told me. You were Uncle Qrow’s love..” She began, her eyes narrowing in pity.

“But you left, after he passed away. You practically ran away from the other people he held dear..you took a huge amount of things my Uncle loved..his flask, his cape, an old locket, his weapon..”

“Why did you do that?” Ruby asked, squaring her shoulders while she waited for James to answer.

“Somebody needed to wake up and avenge my dear Qrow, and I had to be the one to do it. Nobody else stood up to the job, nobody else was willing to work to ensure he didn’t die in vain. So, I did.” James easily explained, gently gripping the bottom of Qrow’s cape in his metal hand.

Ruby glared. That was definitely unusual. She fully glared at James before she brandished her weapon in scythe form.

“You aren’t the only one trying to keep his memory alive. But you are the only one who did what he wouldn’t have wanted.” Ruby stated before she charged at James.

Their fight lasted a long while. James was doing his best to fend Ruby off with Due Process before he was nearly forced to bring Harbinger out and use it as well. His use of Qrow’s old weapon definitely did shock the silver eyed girl, giving him a chance to attack. Just before he could land the blow, both Ruby and Raven had landed one shot each. Ruby had shot James through one of his lungs, Raven shooting him just below where his heart sat.

He slowly fell to the ground, dropping both weapons and falling forward into the dirt. How fitting. James thought. The older twin sister of his late lover who always threatened that she would have no issue hurting him if James had ever wronged Qrow and the successor to Qrow’s mantle of most skilled scythe wielder in all of Remnant. Yes, how fitting. How fitting it was that James was about to die at the hands of his would have been Niece and would have been Sister. Yes, James was by no means scared of death. He never had been. He did however, wonder during his last moments. Would he get the chance to see his beloved Qrow one last time?

Please don’t take my sunshine away.

“Hey, Jimmy. Ya’ miss me?”

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