#really though. i am terrified of what might happen when ruby finds out what happened to rue

[loudn-mcyt]

Ok I gotta ask. What's in the water that's making all the mcyt ccs decide divorce is the path forward. Gempearl divorce. Scar and grian acting more divorced than ever on the quiz episode. Birch divorce. Maybe Sakura spouses divorce (I am So Scared). What is wrong with them (complimentary)

[sunnyrealist]

Chapter 64: The Sallow Legacy

The Sun, the Moon, and All Our Stars

Summary and Details…

Previous Chapter Recap/Context: Sebastian finally reunited with his old friends, Ominis and Ruby McKinnon (the Hero of Hogwarts), after nearly a decade. Everyone has left the Three Broomsticks to give Sebastian and Ominis some privacy to catch up on their own. Ominis explains that when Sebastian went to prison, it was obvious Anne was too frail to live alone. He made special arrangements with the headmaster so that he could live in Feldcroft with her as her caregiver while still attending classes in Hogwarts. To Sebastian's surprise, Ominis reveals that he married Anne and took the Sallow name. He then explains the surprise of how her curse was lifted - since it was meant to silence children, Anne simply had to reach age seventeen. In this chapter, Ominis goes into great detail about their love story, what life was like after they wed, and how eventually, Anne died.

Pairing: 25-year-old, post-Azkaban Sebastian Sallow x 24-year-old Kate Mayflower (my OC), the assistant librarian at Hogwarts

Content warnings: In general, this is rated 18+, so minors should not read or interact with this story. Some trigger warnings: alcoholism, prolonged illness, pregnancy, death of a loved one, grief, and tension between friends.

The full chapter is available below the cut; it can also be found on AO3 (link is posted below). Please leave some feedback if possible, especially if you like what you read! 🥰

Chapter 64: The Sallow Legacy

“It didn’t happen right away,” Ominis continues with a nostalgic smile. “It crept up on me. And then one day, I realized why I couldn’t stop reminiscing about little moments between us. Touches. Soft words. Genuine care for each other. When I was away from home, all I thought about was her. It was… unlike any feeling I had ever had before. And it scared me.”

Sebastian sips his firewhisky now, still surprised. He isn’t sure exactly how he feels - it’s a mixture of emotions. He feels relieved that Anne wasn’t alone in her final years but upset because he missed out on their lives. It’s also a bit strange, knowing his best friend fancied his twin sister. 

“I had never considered sharing my life with someone in that way,” Ominis explains. “But living together made it all feel… effortless. It sometimes felt like… we were playing house, but it never really felt like… playing. It felt like we were husband and wife. We fell into an easy rhythm of… well, domesticity. We cooked, did chores, and managed to entertain ourselves… Things a married couple might do. I was terrified to tell her that I loved her, though, and decided it was best to just… keep it to myself. If she didn’t feel the same way, our arrangement would have become uncomfortable - unbearable perhaps… but I never would have left her on her own, even so.”

Sebastian nods. “But she clearly did feel the same way, right? How did you find out?”

“She did,” the blonde man replies with a small smile. “Like I mentioned, Anne’s curse lifted when she turned seventeen, but her health was still always precarious. I fell sick with influenza in the October of 1892. I wanted to stay at Hogwarts for a few nights so that I wouldn’t pass on the illness to Anne, but she insisted I stay, and it was… already too late. She had caught it. I recovered fairly quickly, but Anne did not. Sebastian, I am not sure I was ever so scared in my life. No matter what I did, no matter how many potions she took, it just got worse. I thought it was actually the end - that she was going to die.” He pauses, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “One night, Anne was positively freezing. Teeth-chattering cold. She asked me to share her bed, to take in my body heat. Even while deathly ill, holding her felt like… home. As if I was exactly where I was meant to be. My fear of losing her got the better of me that night. Realizing it could be my last chance to tell her, I confessed my love. She was barely conscious, but she looked into my eyes and managed to tell me she loved me, too. We kissed, and it felt like… the strongest magic in the world. That night was the worst of it, and afterwards, her fever broke, and she slowly recovered. After that, we never slept in separate beds again.”

Sebastian frowns. “Some details… I can do without.” 

Ominis chuckles. “As if I’d share those sorts of things with anyone, especially you.” He pauses to nurse his firewhisky. “We still didn’t know then that the curse had been lifted. Under normal circumstances, we would have waited to marry. But once we knew how each other felt, considering all that we had faced together, and not knowing how much time we would really have together before Anne succumbed to her illness, we decided to wed and make it official. We were so young. I was still in school… but we didn’t care.”

“I understand the feeling,” Sebastian acknowledges. “I would marry Kate tomorrow if I could. Really and truly.”

“Oh, I’m certain you would,” Ominis replies with a wry smile. “You’re just like Anne. Determined… and always rushing headfirst into everything, consequences be damned.”

Sebastian studies his friend for a moment before asking, “Were there consequences? Do you regret rushing in?”

The blonde man shakes his head. “No. Not at all. I just wish I could have stopped her at times. When she desired something, there was no stopping her. That’s what I regret. I wish I could go back and fix it all.”

Leaning forward, Sebastian inquires, “What do you mean by that? What did she do?”

Ominis is quiet for a long while. “Sebastian, we never thought you’d get out of prison. I tried to use my family’s influence to lighten your sentence… to no avail. And after Ruby, the Hero of Hogwarts, tried to petition the Ministry and failed, Anne didn’t believe she’d ever see you again.”

Sebastian’s eyes widen. “You tried-”

He is cut off as Ominis continues, ignoring the comment. “She started feeling better and better, and stretches between her episodes lasted longer and longer. She never was fully healed, but… she was in such good spirits, and things began to feel… normal.” There is a pause. “Anne talked about you all the time, Sebastian. All the things she wished she might have done or said, opportunities lost forever. She eventually started to think towards the future, though. With you in prison, supposedly forever, she figured she alone was responsible for the Sallow family and its legacy… its continuation.”

The chestnut-haired man inhales sharply. “What?”

 Ominis shakes his head again. “She attempted to convince me that she had healed enough that we could… and should… try for children. After I left school, of course.” Sebastian’s eyes narrow as his friend continues. “Obviously, I said no. I didn’t want children at all. At least, not then. I hated to disappoint her, but we weren’t ready, and she still had episodes from time to time. I just didn’t realize how… obsessed she had become with the idea. She didn’t want the Sallow legacy to… end up a disappointment. To end with one twin incarcerated and the other… not really having done much at all due to a tragic childhood illness. She wanted the Sallow name to stand for more.” He frowns. “After I left school in the summer of 1893, Anne’s health improved immensely. She became so strong and started to look healthy again. We started to think that… maybe she had been cured. The Healers at St. Mungo’s couldn’t explain it yet either, but… they started to believe the same. And, gods, did we take advantage of her good health. We started to live a normal life - shopping together, taking walks… we even went on holiday to the sea - things that we never could have imagined the year before.”

Sebastian is still enraptured. “So, you figured out the curse was lifted?”

“Yes,” Ominis replies. Then, he gestures at Sebastian’s glass of firewhisky. “Are you going to finish that?” Sebastian quickly pushes the glass towards Ominis, who immediately gulps down the rest of it as if it’s the elixir of life. He exhales sharply, the alcohol burning. “Eventually, that autumn, the Healers made their conclusion. We had quite the celebration that evening.” A small smile grows on his face as he remembers, but then his tone becomes somber, almost sounding reluctant to share. “But as time went on, she… became more and more persistent about children. I stood my ground, but… she continued on with little comments here and there, trying to imagine life with a baby, what our children might be like - attempting to romanticize it to entice me. And of course, always the reminder that we were… the last of the Sallows.”

“What the fuck?” Sebastian remarks, his emotions getting the better of him. “I was incarcerated - not dead!”

Ominis instantly snaps, “Can you handle it or not, Sebastian? I don’t very much enjoy talking about this, so I’m sorry, but I’m not going to console you about my wife’s death! It’s not always about you!”

Sebastian sighs, his brows furrowed. He crosses his arms. His mind is working overtime with predictions of how this story might reach its conclusion. He knew from Anne’s gravestone that she only lived until November 1894, and Ominis was currently sharing the events of the autumn of 1893. The only way he’d ever know for sure what really happened is just to listen, no matter how painful. “Yes,” he answers after a moment, upset but attempting to stay calm. He doesn’t want to make Ominis any more emotional than he already is. “I’ll… try my best. But I’ll remind you that your wife was my twin sister.”

Ominis frowns deeply, then stands up from the table. “I need another firewhisky.” He strides away towards the bar, wand in hand, and Sebastian is relieved for the break. 

He spends some time just staring at the flames dancing in the fireplace and takes in the atmosphere. With school out for summer holiday, the Three Broomsticks isn’t as crowded as usual, but there definitely are a lot of people here anyway, trying to end their work weeks on a positive note. There’s a buzz to the place, with couples and friends laughing heartily and speaking to each other animatedly. He watches as the barkeep hands a key to an older wizard with a bushy dark gray beard. He trudges upstairs wearily with a bag in tow, presumably to spend the night at the inn. 

When Ominis returns, he is carrying two glasses, and he places one on the table in front of Sebastian. “You’ll need this, too.”

“I really shouldn’t,” Sebastian replies evenly. “I’ve been trying to get better about drinking lately. Truthfully, it’s… a serious problem.” He considers how much to share, and ultimately, decides to keep the details to himself.

Ominis sighs, pulling the second firewhisky over to his side of the table. “You and me both.” He throws one of them back immediately. “Except I don’t have anyone to hold me back… or make me want to hold back, to get better.”

The chestnut-haired man watches Ominis. “I completely understand,” he replies quietly. “More than you know.”

“Ah, well, it’s lucky you have someone,” Ominis mutters sarcastically with disdain as he takes a drink. His tone is venomous when he spits out, “It bloody figures that you do.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Sebastian replies coldly, narrowing his eyes.

The blonde man shrugs in response, and for Sebastian, the temptation to strike like a snake, to completely chew him out, is boiling in his blood. 

But he is his brother now.

Anne’s husband.

Sebastian’s only living family member.

Seething, it takes all of his might to calm himself down. He finally says, “Ominis, this is clearly very difficult for both of us. I… don’t want to argue with you. I’m here as your friend. Your… brother.” The word is foreign on his tongue. “Please, let’s try to… move forward.”

“What if I don’t want to?” Ominis murmurs after a moment. “I don’t even want to…” he trails off.

Ominis downs the firewhisky - his fourth glass, and Sebastian solemnly looks at him as though he is looking into a mirror. He observes as his old friend stands again, presumably to revisit the bar, but Sebastian reaches over to touch his arm, to stop him. Ominis flinches. 

“I’m no expert,” Sebastian gently tells him, “but in my experience, it really has never helped. Temporarily, perhaps, but long term, it just… heightens the pain.” When Ominis reluctantly sits again, he continues, “For a long time, I didn’t have anyone to help me, either. Perhaps… I could be that person for you. If nothing else… At least I understand. And she meant a lot to me, too, Ominis.”

A heavy sigh escapes the blonde man, his body tense. He suddenly returns to the story to avoid Sebastian’s offer, however kind. Vulnerability was never his strong suit. “Anne knew I didn’t want children, but she was determined. And she became pregnant. She claimed that her contraceptive potion must have failed, but months later she admitted she just stopped taking it and figured that I would eventually come around, once it was too late.” He shakes his head. “I was furious with her… Obviously she disregarded my wishes and barrelled ahead with her own, but… I didn’t believe she was healthy enough. And we… were both right, I guess.” He sighs again. 

“I did eventually come around, just like she thought. Anne was sick in the beginning, but it was as it was with any other pregnant witch. And eventually, her nausea became less intense. I was surprised she was doing so well - I mean, she still had some bouts of illness here and there, remnants of the curse, but… they always faded quickly. And when we found out we were going to have twins, she was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to… ‘have a fresh start,’ in her words. These two wouldn’t live through the hardships that she and you faced growing up. We began to really dream about the future.” He pauses, seeming to swallow a lump in his throat. “But… I had been right about her health. In a way. She was to birth the babies in mid-November. And in early November, the worst happened.” His voice breaks.

Sebastian is stone-cold as terrible thoughts swirl around his mind, the worst being: Would Anne have been so hell-bent on children if I hadn’t been given a life sentence? Did I also… kill my sister? He begins to feel sick.

“One day, Anne complained about a terrible headache. She started to mention that her vision was going blurry and that she could see dark spots,” Ominis explains. “I got her into bed, and we handled it like any other time she was unwell. But the headache just never went away. As the afternoon went on, she also started to experience sharp abdominal pain. She said it felt like when she was cursed. Anne hadn’t complained of that kind of pain for a long time, so I suggested that perhaps we should call for a Healer. She dismissed it, assuring me it would pass. We went to sleep like normal that night…” He hangs his head dejectedly, and his voice breaks as he finishes, “But I was the only one who woke up.”

[funtimebunnyblog]

So! What about the god ok switch-a-roo? The pillarmen are now human and their s/os are pillarmen!

I interpreted this request as body swapping (similar to what we see in a much later part of JoJo) and I hope this is what you meant, my dear Anon! 🙏❤🥰

If not and you meant for me to write this in another way, I am SO sorry I misinterpreted the request and I sincerely hope you still enjoy this nonetheless! 😅😇

Body swapping with the Pillarmen! 😱 🔁

(Under the cut for length!)

Kars:

• Ending up in your body will piss Kars off more than anything really.

• Don't get him wrong, he loves you with all his heart; it's just that he's a man who is rather comfortable in his superiority and status over your race.

• He had worked VERY hard to get himself where he wanted to be afterall...

• Suddenly being reduced to a mere Human is enough to make his (er... your) stomach turn.

• Kars' new "limitations" in your body however didn't stop him from working out how this happened and, more importantly, how to UNDO it ASAP.

• When you happen to come to in Kars' body, the feeling is unsettling and strange to say the least.

• Piloting not only a Pillarmans body but Ultimate lifeform's as well will take you some getting used to for sure.

• For one thing, you'll come to find his hair gets in the way of EVERYTHING.

• If the wind blows or if you happen to turn sharply it's suddenly in your (well... his, but you get the idea) mouth or sticking in your eyes or just plain in your face!

• You can't understand how he stands it at all!

• There's no time for you to ask him to teach you how to wrap it up like he does either to remedy the issue so you have to grin and bear it.

• On the other hand, even the slightest jump in your emotions makes his arm blades spring forth!

• You almost ended up accidentally stabbing Kars (while he was in your body) as a result of getting worked up over the whole matter.

• Kars could only watch you floundering about in his body, frowning and shaking your human head as he told you repeatedly to keep calm and they'll stay put.

• As if you could keep level-headed at all in this situation as it was.

• On the upside ot things however... you learn some interesting things about Kars.

• "...Wait." you paused, peering down at the muscular legs beneath you; your eyes bore into Kars' boots with a critical gaze. There was something cushy sitting just below the heel on the inside.

• "Do you... have cloth wedged into your boots?" A sangria eyebrow raised, ruby eyes falling onto Kars.

• You watched as the features of your own face shifted dramatically, mouth falling open, scandalized. "I--" he began, but your voice fell short as he couldn't find anything to say in defense.

• "Do you do this to make yourself look taller?" A wheeze rose up in the Pillarman's chest, rich barking laughter ringing out as you doubled over in laughter.

• You suddenly came to the realization that you had never once seen Kars without his boots off, the pumps at the very bottom of the boots gave him a little boost as it was but on the inside it quite literally felt like you were wearing a pair of high heels.

• You were starting to wonder just how tall Kars really was. Hell, you were starting to wonder if he even passed Santana in height without these boots on!

• Your laughter fell short as a familiar, much smaller, hand reached up and grabbed your new body by the scarf. You were hauled down to meet the burning and intense gaze of your own eyes, Kars snarling right up into his own face.

• Jeeze, had your face always looked that red when you got angry before?

• "If you speak of this to ANYONE, I will spill each and every one of your own secrets to the others," he growled lowly, giving your voice an uncharacteristically harsh and grating tone. "Am I clear?"

• It took all you had inside not to call him "shortie" once things were finally back to the way they were and you both settled back into your own bodies.

• Despite your curiosity, your question on his exact height would never get answered.

• Kars knew how to put those arm blades to use better than you of course...

Esidisi:

• Oh boy... you have to be VERY careful piloting this one.

• And I mean the absolute definition of careful!

• When your consciousness ends up transfered into Esidisi's body, its no surprise that you feel very warm and fuzzy on the inside.

• It's almost a feeling akin to when you sit just a little too long in a bath that's a little too hot.

• Strangely, it was actually kind of a comforting feeling amongst this whole ordeal.

• However, if you're not careful with your emotions (warm and fuzzy feeling or not) than you might just accidentally end up burning a hole right through the Earth!

• Or worse... end up spraying scalding hot blood and flaying fleshy veins dripping with the stuff in all directions.

• Your core temperature has to constantly be monitored or you'll pay the price.

• It seems like even if you unfocus for one singular second, the Pillarman's entire body starts to smolder like a cake burning in an oven!

• Esidisi, on the other hand, is actually quite enjoying being in your body.

• He's having a much better time than you are for sure. In fact, he's laughing like this is nothing more than a game to him!

• You'll have to keep your eyes on him because he can't keep his (or rather, your) hands off your body.

• "Esidisi!" You barked, the Pillarman's voice was like the clap of thunder as it raised in octave; clearing the air with its power and inevitably startling you (again) even though you were the one wielding it. "Get your hands out of there, right now!"

• Your command was met with laughter, you watched as a wide grin stretched across your own face as Esidisi pried your hands off of your behind (for the 3rd time) and tucked them neatly into your pockets as he continued to giggle to himself.

• "I wasn't doing anything~" he purred, making your voice sound uncannily like a bad child playing innocent, acting wasn't just caught squeezing your cake.

• He was being to curious for his own good.

• That and the fact that he's taking enjoyment out of little ordinary Human things while piloting your body

• Things like feeling actual pain when skin is pinched or when hair is pulled seemed like it could entertain him for hours on end.

• If you don't keep a close eye on him and his shenanigans, you might just end up getting your body back all banged and bruised up if he goes too far with his fun.

• Fair enough, as he might just get his back half-burned into the ground or covered in blood...

Wamuu:

• Wamuu straight up does NOT have a good time dealing with suddenly being Human.

• The fact that it's your body he's in doesn't help that any either.

• 12/10 would NOT do again. 0 STARS!

• Wamuu, always a composed and calculating Warrior and tactician, was now in full panic mode.

• All his life he carried himself with pride, building his little ego off all his strengths and victories because of his status and his incredible unmatchable power.

• Now, with all of that ripped away from him, the Warrior felt too vulnerable and naked for his liking in this Human form.

• "Ow! OW!!!" Wamuu cried, eyes wide as your hands flew to your back. "Why does it hurt there? Do you always have pain like this?" Came the question, it was more than strange (and a little unsettling) to hear your own voice asking you that so desperately.

• "You get used to it." You replied, the deepness of the Pillarman's voice sending deep vibrations through the hardened chest as you spoke.

• "Why-- Why does this body feel so sluggish? I feel so inexplicably weary..." "I know. You get used to that too." "WHY IS EVERYTHING SORE?! WHY IS EVERYTHING CREAKING?!" "It's fine. That's normal."

• On the other hand, your mind suddenly being swapped into Wamuu's body isn't quite as bad as being in the others but... there are still some things to get used to.

• For one thing, it was hard to get used to simply walking around in it.

• Wamuu was so immensely big, muscular and heavy that you felt as if you were shaking the Earth with each step, causing you to lumber and stumble around with no grace to speak of.

• For another, a wirlwind just seemed to follow you wherever you went. It was honestly harder to control than it looked!

• When you wanted it to move one way, it went another. Wind blew up, wind blew down.

• You found yourself standing around, massive hands flying to the loincloth in an attempt to keep it from flinging up and showing too much.

• You wanted to spare least a shred of Wamuu's lost dignity while he wasn't piloting his own body after all.

• His horn is an entirely different matter.

• At one point the breeze blew too strong and the Pillarmen's signature headpiece suddenly flew right off his head and then... out sprang the horn.

• It shot 18 feet into the air, skewering two trees and drilling right through them like an overcharged power drill; a terrifying whir filling the air as chunks of wood flayed in every direction.

• The entire time you screamed in terror (you had no idea Wamuu's voice could go so high until that moment), slicing through an entire plot of trees as Wamuu yelled for you to put it away before it went for something breathing... like your own body that he was currently inhabiting.

• In the end, the relief you both feel to be back in your own bodies once the entire mess is fixed is immeasurable.

• You also both agree to never speak of the experience again for as long as you live.

Santana:

• Much like Kars, Santana is more unimpressed about the whole thing rather than upset or worried.

• Apart from you of course, Santana just barely tolerated Humans (or Primitives as he liked to call them) as it was.

• He often spoke about how fragile and flawed your kind was, honestly the defenselessness of a Human was laughable in his eyes.

• Therefore, he absolutely does NOT like suddenly being reduced to one, even if it is your body.

• The entire time he's practically pouting, the very definition of apathetic, grumbling to himself and following close behind as you tried to chase down the person responsible for the swap.

• "This form is... limiting." Came the low growl, each word sounding so very unlike you despite the fact it was your voice he was using. Santana practically spat as he kept talking, "Flawed. Primal. Defenseless."

• You were handling things admittedly better than Santana but it was still more than overwhelming.

• For one thing, you'll come to find that Santana's senses are extremely heightened.

• You never realized how very unbelieveably strong a sense of smell, taste and hearing could be until now.

• You could smell animals that had passed through the area nearly a fortnight ago just by putting your nose to the air. You could hear the thumping of your own heart from where it sat back in your own chest as Santana followed close at your heels.

• For another thing... Santana's body felt... odd.

• It was a strange and indescribable feeling; it was best put as you felt like a substance that constantly balanced between solid and liquid.

• How on Earth could he stand being a living mass of puddy and sharp deadly bones all the time?!

• As Santana kept grumbling about how very imperfect his new form was, your only hope was to give him that huge bag of gummy bears you had been saving in your bag for later to snack on.

• It would give you a moment of silence to think straight. However, if Santana was himself that would've been a good idea but in this case... not so much.

• "What's wrong?" You questioned, the Pillarman's gravely voice holding a different tone than you were used to as you used it, studying him.

• Santana had suddenly stopped following and was now slumped over, clutching at your stomach. A low whine surfaced, almost a sob, as he spoke through clenched teeth.

• "Do.... not.... feel..... good." Came the whimper. You came rushing to his side, your temorary body dwarfing your real one as you pulled Santana close to see if he had somehow gotten hurt.

• "What--" the question fell short as you spied the now very empty bag of gummy bears laying nearby.

• That bag had been huge, filled to the brim with bright and colourful gushy candy... and Santana had eaten ALL of them.

• It was that day that Santana found out that a Humans biggest flaw was that too much sugar made them sick.

• Good luck with enjoying getting your body back when the time comes as you now suspected you would spend your time kneeled over a bucket with a hot water bottle instead of celebrating...

[wakeup-wakeup-if-its-all-you-do]

I was trying to imagine what Deku v. Kacchan part 3 would be like and it quickly turned into a whole fic lol! Anyways here it is...

A Hero Distracted

(now on ao3 by pearl_sailboat)

word count: 2,641

tags: manga spoilers, izuku midoriya / katsuki bakugou, angst with happy ending, vigilante deku, deku is going through it, soft bakugou, cursing

summary: takes place right after Deku leaves All-Might and the bento. But he doesn't know that Kacchan will bring him back one way or another.

Deku zipped through the sky, using blackwhip to propel himself forward, so he could put as much distance between himself and his mentor. He didn't look back, he couldn't look back. Whatever scene he'd left behind had to stay behind or else he might lose his nerve and go back to the teacher, the father-figure, who had already given him so much. Deku would not let All-Might give his life too. End of discussion.

He could actually feel the anxiety rolling off the vestiges as they watched him fly across the skyline. They were silent, probably still trying to figure out how to tell him to go back. But it didn't matter what they would eventually say, nothing was going to change Deku's mind. Nothing. 

Deku was so distracted by his resolve to keep moving forward that he didn't notice the three figures floating ahead until they'd launched themselves at him. It didn't matter though, he was no longer the helpless kid he used to be. He'd left behind everyone in his life and that meant that the only one in danger was him. Yes, he thought as blackwhip shot out of him in all directions, let me be the only one who gets hurt. Let me take all the damage, let everyone else stay safe. 

The thought was so all-consuming that his landing was a little rough and he flinched a tiny bit when his legs absorbed the shock. But smooth landings were at the bottom of Deku's priorities… right now he had to incapacitate these three so he could keep moving. He turned to look at his attackers, still entrapped in blackwhip, but… they were already knocked out? And when did they get so many cuts and bruises? Had they been this badly beat up when they first attacked him? Hmpf, maybe they fought over who would get to take me in… Guess there must be a pretty great reward but, still, it's odd…

Before he could finish his thought, he felt a searing pain against the side of his face and the explosion made his ears ring. Dammit, what now? He shot out blackwhip in all directions but before he could even get up, he felt a boot kick him in the shoulder. Hard.

"ARGHHHH," he cried as he moved to grab the leg attached to the boot.

He still couldn't see his new attacker but dammit, it had been a really long day and he was starting to get mad. His hand latched on to the leg and he was about to send his attacker flying over his shoulder when he felt another boot smash down on his wrist. This time he yelled so loud it almost drowned out the sound of his wrist breaking. Who was this person? They were certainly more skilled than the last three...

"You done, nerd? Or am I gonna have to break your legs too?"

That voice… I know that voice… But why? Why is he here? He can't be here… He's still h-

"Dammit, ANSWER ME DEKU!!!" Kacchan yelled behind him as more explosions went off, but this time not aimed at him.

Deku still felt like his wrist was on fire but he made himself get up. He turned around to find Kacchan smiling maniacally, suited up in his hero uniform. No, he's still hurt! He can't be out here! Why did he… oh. All-Might must've sent him. How could he? When he knows-

"Shitty Deku, you never listen, do you? Do. I. Have. To. Break. Your. Legs. Too?" Kacchan said with a small explosion to emphasize each period.

That's when Deku attacked. He didn't want to hurt Kacchan but he knew that the angry blond would never let him go. For some reason, Kacchan had decided that it was his job to protect Deku even if it cost him his own life. Idiot, he thought, not for some reason. He did it because he had too; you were weak so he had to protect you so that All For One wouldn't take the power of One For All. This is your fault. That's why he had to be strong now. That's why he didn't hesitate to connect his fist to Kacchan's face. That's why he didn't hesitate to grab Kacchan's shirt and send him fly- BOOOOM!!!! DAMMIT, how can he still attack when I'm literally throwing him?!?! And the explosion hurt. so. damn. much. Somehow, Kacchan kept firing even when he slammed into the roof's exit door, using his AP shot to blast Deku in the stomach. 

"Is that ALL YOU GOT DEKU??? DON'T TELL ME I CAME ALL THIS WAY FOR YOU TO GO EASY ON ME???" Kacchan cackled. 

He was seriously laughing at a time like this? Deku shook his head, he couldn't afford to get distracted by the Kacchan of it all. He shot out blackwhip again, but Kacchan dodged just like he always had.

"SERIOUSLY, YOU THOUGHT THAT WOULD WORK??? YOU'VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO CATCH ME, NERD!!!" 

Was Kacchan actually… enjoying himself?!?!? Deku wasn't surprised that Kacchan would brag about always winning Catch-a-Kacchan but those memories seemed so far away… No, stop getting distrac- BOOOOMMM!!!!! Kacchan had blasted him again, Deku needed to get his act together and quickly! He took a deep breath and just as he felt Danger Sense activate, he dodged Kacchan's next explosion and launched himself forward. He grabbed Kacchan's hair and yanked him downwards so he couldn't fire. Deku was about to kick him when he felt a pain in his legs. Kacchan hadn't been able to fire at Deku's face so he'd fired at his legs instead! Nothing seemed to be broken yet but, god it really, really hurt.

"HAHA I TOLD YA I WOULD BREAK YOUR LEGS TOO DEK-" Kacchan didn't get to finish that sentence because Deku sucker punched him so hard he went flying into the closest building.

Kacchan coughed up some blood before grinning wide, "NOW WE'RE TALKING!!! OHHHHHH BUT I'M STILL GONNA KICK YOUR ASS NERD!!!!!"

But Deku was frozen. No… No, no, no, no, no, no… I - I punched him right where… right where… I wasn't thinking… He coughed up blood… No, no, no, NO, NOOO!!!! He pressed his hands to the sides of his face, well the sides of his mask, as he sank to his knees. This is why he had left in the first place. He didn't want anyone else to get hurt. The people he cared about always got hurt. It was all his f- BOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Deku's ears were ringing so bad he was pretty sure he would never hear again. The flash of the explosion had blinded him, how long it would last was unclear, but Deku knew he'd been blasted onto his back. He groaned as he registered the shape his body was in, thankful that the adrenaline was keeping him from feeling the full weight of his injuries. He lifted his head as he began to blink away the dark spots in his vision. But immediately his head was pushed back onto the floor of the roof. He heard talking but he still couldn't make out the words so he struggled against the hand. He knew it was useless but struggling was all he could do. So he fought against the hand he still couldn't completely see with everything he had.

"God Deku, give it a rest," he heard when the ringing eventually released his throbbing eardrums.

That's when he noticed that it was Kacchan's hand that held his head down and that Kacchan had him pinned to the ground. Wait, where is my mask? Deku's eyes searched for the mask but before he could find it, Kacchan took it out of his pocket.

"Looking for this? Yeah, you're not getting it back, Deku. This piece of shit lets you lock yourself away and I ain't putting up with it."

Deku rolled his eyes. Why did Kacchan care if he locked himself away? Didn't he realize that if Deku didn't, he'd be too weak to stop All For One? 

"Why won't you say anything, dammit? Never thought I'd miss your nerdy mumbling…"

Why did Kacchan look sad as he said that? Nah, that must've been in Deku's head. He didn't answer that question either though. They didn't have the most traditional friendship, but Kacchan was the only one who stood a chance of bringing Deku back and that terrified him. He knew Kacchan would tear apart anything he said and would use it to convince him to go home. Right now, Kacchan was as dangerous as Shinsou; one word and Deku would lose.

"So you're mute now, is that it?" Kacchan demanded. "Fine then, I'll talk and you better fucking listen, Deku! I don't give a crap about your whole I-need-to-save-everyone routine but I thought you did! Isn't that the whole fucking reason you left in the first place?"

Deku's eyes widened in curiosity. What was Kacchan talking about? His emerald eyes were only met with a ruby glare.

"You didn't even realize, did you? Those three extras you pummeled back there, they looked like they could've used some saving themselves."

What are you talking about? Saving? Saving from who?

"So I was right then," Kacchan sighed and then looked towards the skyline, away from Deku.

When did Kacchan's voice get so quiet? It reminded Deku of how he had been at the sports festival… quiet because he was serious. Why did that tone unnerve Deku so much? Why did those words fill him with… dread?

"Deku, you ran away so you could protect people. You ran away so you could focus on defeating All For One. But were you focused when you landed on this roof? No, you weren't... If you had been focused, you wouldn't have had such a rough landing. If you had been focused, you would've remembered to pay attention to blackwhip even if the landing was rough…" Kacchan paused to look back at Deku.

Kacchan's eyes searched Deku's face, piercing into his soul as if searching for something. Then he sighed again. Why does Kacchan look so sad?

"Didn't you even wonder how they got all beat up?"

What is Kacchan saying? Why does he look so sad? Why is… why is his voice SO QUIET??? I hate this… I don't know what's happening… I hate this… I want him to go back to yelling… I want him to stop looking at me like… LIKE THAT!!!!

Suddenly Kacchan's eyes hardened and he moved his hands from Deku's wrists to his face. At first Deku was relieved because maybe Kacchan had heard his thoughts and was going back into angry mode but then he spoke. If Deku had thought that tone was awful before, it was unbearable now.

"You didn't mean for the landing to be so rough," it wasn't a question, "even though you were wearing that stupid mask, only an idiot wouldn't have noticed how you flinched in surprise. It was in that moment that you probably forgot all about blackwhip… quirks are like muscles, Deku, you know that. When you flinched, blackwhip flinched too… you slammed -"

But Deku didn't hear the rest of that sentence. It all blurred away as the realization sunk in. He was responsible for the cuts and bruises on his attackers. He had knocked them out without even realizing. Because he had been distracted. What was he even distracted by at the time? What could be so impor- Oh. That's when he started crying. It was all too much; if he wasn't failing at one thing, he was screwing up another. He had been so distracted by his own resolve to distance himself from everyone that he hurt other people. It didn't matter that they were villains, they were still people. How could he call himself a hero? He was the least deserving person of that title!

"Kacch-" Deku was crying so hard that he couldn't finish before erupting into more tears.

But it didn't matter because Kacchan sat up and pulled him into a hug. He lost track of how long they sat there like that, hugging each other tight like their lives depended on it. And it did, at least for Deku. He knew that if he let go or if Kacchan did, he wouldn't survive. He cried and cried but Kacchan never pushed him away. 

"Kacchan, I - I messed up!" he wailed, "I c-couldn't defeat All- All For One. I d-didn't protect my f-friends. A-and I h-hurt those people. I c-can't s-save the world!"

"No, you can't," Kacchan said.

Deku stopped crying, momentarily shocked. Before the weight of those words could settle over him, he felt a slight pain in his side. Kacchan had jabbed him with his finger, but why? Kacchan broke their embrace so he could hold Deku's face in his hands again. God, those eyes were so intense.

"You can't save the world alone. No one can. It's a big fucking world, Deku! So cut the crap and let me help you already!" Kacchan said, those ruby eyes softening just a little.

Deku shook his head, "But you got stabbed last time!"

"'Cuz you kept on fucking going on on your own!" Kacchan said, jabbing his finger in Deku's side again.

"Ouch! That actually hurt Kacchan!"

"Tch! That'll teach you to pull that crap again, nerd!"

"But Kacch-"

"Shut up! Don't you fucking realize that you trying to do this by yourself is what caused this whole fucking mess in the first place? So just. Stop," Kacchan pressed his forehead against Deku's, "And let me help you, you damn nerd."

Maybe it was because he was still in shock from all the explosions, maybe he was a bit delirious from all the crying, or perhaps it was because he was just so goddamn tired of running. Whatever the reason, Deku didn't freak out like he would've thought he would've if someone had told him he'd be this close to Kacchan. It just felt so… so right. For the first time in a very, very long time, Deku felt safe. 

He leaned his own forehead against Kacchan's to return the pressure and said, "Okay."

They had so much more to talk about later but, for now, this one word was enough. It said everything that Deku couldn't yet; it promised that next time he would not be alone. It admitted that he had been wrong to isolate himself from the people he cared about. It accepted that Kacchan was right, that no one could save the world alone. And though Deku didn't yet know it, that one simple word signalled the birth of the partnership that would one day be known around the world as "The Wonder Duo."

"Okay," he said again before leaning his tired head against Kacchan's shoulder and closing his eyes.

Deku fell asleep almost instantly but not before he heard Kacchan's light chuckle. Not before he felt Kacchan lift him up in his strong, steady arms. Not before he felt the faintest of kisses on his forehead. It had been days since he'd gotten to rest so he was completely knocked out when Kacchan carried him off the roof. He slept through the shocked reactions of his classmates when Kacchan appeared at the hospital, carrying Deku in his arms. He slept through it all, but Kacchan would tell him about everything when he woke up. One day, though that day was still very far away, he would tell their children about how he'd lost his way and how Kacchan was the one who saved him. He'd tell them about how they took turns saving each other so they could save the world. One day, Deku would smile as he told their children the story of how he and Kacchan became the greatest heroes ever.

[razorblade180]

Interdimensional Moms part 2

Part 1 <-

Yang:Okay Weiss, your turn.

Weiss:What!? Why me?

Blake:Because you’ve been bouncing in your seat all through Yang’s story. You clearly want to gush about your kids.

Weiss:Pffft, What!? Nooooo, a little. Hehehe I can’t believe I’m that obvious. *smiles*

Ruby:Aww look at you, I never believe Weiss Schnee could look as warm as campfire.

Yang:And wearing mom jeans!? Little jealous that you still look completely gorgeous. Why does mom energy make you prettier?

Weiss:What can I say? I’m great. As far as my universe goes, I argue that I’m the strongest mom!

Blake:Such a bold claim.

Weiss:I carried twins! *points to self* this body handled two buns in the oven!

Ruby:Couldn’t be me. *shutters* I’d sooner loose an eye. Speaking of eyes, your scar has a friend. Got this whole upside down cross basically.

Weiss:Oh that? That’s uhhhh- how would I even explain this?

Yang:And your hair! It’s short!

Ruby:Yeah you’re just a surprise all over.

Blake:Guys, let her start from the beginning!

Ruby and Yang:Oh right. *covers mouths*

Weiss:(Yep, they’re the same sisters anywhere.) Thank you Blake. Now then...a good starting place? Well I suppose I could lay the ground work of Jaune and I getting better acquainted. It was about two weeks into reaching Atlas. Winter learned I got impaled and berated me not giving any kind of thanks. Since I had waited so long to do so, words wouldn’t do for her standards and she made me take him to a proper dinner. I think it was that night we actually talked openly to each other. A piece of me was annoyed at first because I thought he’d get the wrong idea again. But...he didn’t. He was just happy to spend time with me. That’s when I realized he had changed a bit *red* and apparently I changed too. Sigh, because that annoyed feeling was actually me forming a crush.

Blake:Looks like you changed more than he did. I think we can all agree that we’re pretty rough to deal with at Beacon in the beginning?

Yang:Hell yeah!

Ruby:Preach! Hehe, but it meant you grew the most too.

Weiss:Hey! You’re all assuming that I was terrible! Who knows, I could a Saint compared to your Weiss. Maybe I was a sweetheart at Beacon.

RBY:.....

Yang:Were you?

Weiss:*red* I’ll never tell.

Blake:(That’s just a no...) Two weeks into Atlas huh? I bet feelings raged whenever the whole place was under attack huh?

Weiss:W...What attack? Barely anything happened in Atlas.

Blake:Excuse me?

Ruby:Pfft what? You’re joking right? There wasn’t any threat of things falling out the sky or war threats?

Weiss:No? We showed up, put the relic in vault, and took time fortifying things while planning with Ironwood. The most exciting thing was a grimm wave and two of Salem’s goons showing up at a ball, but we handled that.

Ruby:....I...that’s...oh my head.

Blake:So what you’re saying is time in Atlas was a piece of cake?

Weiss:Well I had to deal with my father and and a lot of other family drama so I wouldn’t say it was cake. It was actually very stressful.

Yang:Well I think we found the massive shift between worlds. Atlas was different. I would say I dealt with anything like falling kingdoms. Atlas for me was one long Mission Impossible sequence. Espionage, jail break, fake deaths, but please continue with your love story.

Weiss:You sound a little envious. Anyways there isn’t too much of anything to tell in that part. Dates, fighting together, sibling healing, I was disowned publicly, Penny was being amazing-

Blake:You were disowned?

Ruby:(Penny is...alive? Huh, well, imagine that?) .....

Yang:*whispers* You okay Rubes?

Ruby:Yeah, processing. Hey Weiss? Not to control the narrative or anything, but how is your Ruby exactly? I get the feeling she’s quite different from me somehow if things like the adventure in Atlas are different.

Weiss rubbed her chin. She could tell the Ruby in front of her was pretty perplexed by the differences so far. In fact, Weiss could tell mentioning Penny made them all flinch a little. It was safe to assume they all hadn’t heard that name in a very long time. It made her feel a little bad. Did she somehow get a more ideal world?

Weiss:I think I might be able to answer that if you could humor me by getting a little further into my world’s reality? I don’t know how but I do get a since the two of you might have a key difference.

Ruby:I’m all ears.

Weiss: Blake, I’ll circle back to being disowned a little later. It’s one of the biggest reasons I am who I am now. Let’s see now, ah, the plan. After Atlas was infiltrated it was hard to save face to the rest of Remnant. That was until the world learned about Salem. It was a secret that was doing more harm than good at this point. On that day, our journey really began for us. Team RWBY wasn’t just four girls and their friends. It was one of four four girls commanding troops, organizing meetings, rallying others. We were the face of a revolution: along with JNPR of course.

Ruby:The world just...believed in Salem?

Weiss:There were plenty skeptics, but it’s harder not to believe it. Pen- our winter maiden, showed off magic. Then the others on our side followed the example. We had two relics to show off from the start, and a variety of ways to explain questions throughout history that nobody could answer before. We gave humanity’s suffering a face. People were more than eager to cling to it. From that point it was hard for Salem to make a move that wouldn’t give further validity to our story.

Ruby:An army huh, lead by us?

Weiss:Yep, mainly you when it came to the battlefield. You were anxious at first and definitely made moves that you regretted. But...after some time and experience, you stood tall in front of dozens to give a speech the night of the final battle. I still get chills. There wasn’t an eye that wasn’t on you. A person who didn’t want to march into battle with you. I don’t think I ever seen you more sure of where you were meant to be.

Ruby:Is that so? Hmm, I think...I think I get it now. Your Ruby must’ve stumbled quite a bit, but had people by her consistently. It was other’s strength that enabled her to get stronger. How old was she when the war was over?

Weiss:It ended on her twenty first birthday.

Ruby:Makes sense. An army isn’t made in a day. Plans and caution for everyone involved. A united force like that sounds like a thing Oz dreamed of.

Weiss:Actually, it was. My world beat Salem by gaining the relics. The gods witnessed the effort the world put in and stripped her of immortality. It was actually thanks to you that Salem went peacefully. Instead of damning her to a cruel fate, the gods let her pass on to her kids per your request. After that, gods and magic came back. Both are still mysterious. The gods are hard to find and there’s only one person born with magic so far.

Yang:Magic is a thing there!? That’s so unfair! Just imagine me with more fire!?

Weiss:Like you need it!? You’re already like a generator. Life after Salem wasn’t any calmer really. Terrifying grimm lurked where their could, an entire new way of life had been dropped on society, and even the world itself seemed to react. Weather has been more intense as of late. There was a lot things to keep people busy. Ruby being her usual self, started hunting. Blake used the momentum of faunus and humans working together to further her equality agenda, and Yang helped both of you out.

Yang:Look at me! I’m a great girlfriend and sister!

Blake:*mumbles* There at least.

Weiss:Yeah. Oscar and Penny decided to embarrass more of normal lifestyle, mostly. Penny went back to being protector of Mantle, but had way more free time to be a normal girl. Both of them had gotten really close over the years and eventually married.

Ruby:*wide eyed* Awwww, good for them! I always had a feeling those two would hit it off.

Weiss:They weren’t the only ones. You may have been busy, but you always made time for Whitley. The two of you were dating since our original trip to Atlas. There wasn’t a problem that either of you didn’t come to me for. You know hard it is to navigate other people’s relationships when you’re lost in your own? The blind was leading the blind. Worked out though. You were probably the prettiest bride out of all of us. Then again, you went ours and literally took notes.

Ruby:Hehe, that sounds exactly like something I’d do. You haven’t talked much about the charmed life after the war for you.

Weiss felt her face heat up. She placed her head on the table as if she gave up on something.

Yang:Yeah! Give us the scoop!

Weiss:Charmed isn’t what I’d call my life exactly. I was disowned, completely cut off. Even though I made my own mark in history, it’s not like people were gonna roll out red carpets. The world had to rebuild, and I needed a roof over my head. Thus began the modest life of Weiss Schnee, owner of a two bedroom Argus apartment. Fancy clothes a food were no more. Just clearance sales and two for one. Honestly, I didn’t hate. But that’s mainly because I wasn’t living alone.

Blake:Jaune?

Weiss:Living back home was just as unappealing for him as it was for me. That and the fact that I couldn’t cook for shit was concerning, to say the least. Moving in and splitting rent just made sense. We weren’t dating yet technically, but.....it didn’t take long for the relationship between us to...expand.

Yang:I cannot believe a Weiss Schnee finally caved to tall blonde and scraggly. I should be jealous, but I’m strangely proud of Jaune’s achievement. It’s like the first time I lost to him. I was upset, but man did he work for that win.

Weiss:Took about a month before all of you had learned just what the living situation was like and man did you three let the teasing begin? *smiles* it was fun though. If I had to wrong about something then I’m glad it was about me not thinking a person is reliable. Especially since they’ve bailed me out of trouble many times. Normal life had its pitfalls. We were constantly working to pay rent. Sometimes one of us had to work harder. Getting sick was disastrous, of long term assignments. What’s the relationship I have with Whitley in the other worlds?

Ruby:Casual. The two of are always throwing ideas back and forth to help the company.

Blake:The two of you are fine. I’m not too sure how much you actually hang out, but you both are pretty snarky whenever you’re together.

Yang:Thick as thieves. That man was always shifting money and finding sneaky ways to let us know when important things popped up.

Weiss:Good, that’s really good. *exhales* I can’t count the times he sent money without father knowing. I’m glad we reconnected. Without his and everyone’s help, I don’t think I would’ve managed. Especially when mom died...

Ruby:Oh. I...I’m sorry to hear that.

Weiss:It’s bound to happen when you drink the way she did. But yeah, didn’t handle it any easier. Between that and stressing over money, I really got overwhelmed often. I was very glad I didn’t live alone. Even if I didn’t want to talk about things, Jaune was always there to listen. I think it was around that time I realized just how in love I actually was with him. He makes me happy. That idiot must’ve known how much of a weakness I had for him. It was only a few months later that he proposed.

The simple memory of Jaune asking her under a street light on a cold yet peaceful night, made Weiss’s face a healthy shade of red. A gentle smile was all she could make thinking about it. A smile that left everyone stunned. They had never seen Weiss look so warm. So genuinely filled with love, happiness. To think she was once called Ice Queen? This one really did look like an Angel. Weiss quit daydreaming and got a little embarrassed.

Weiss:Uh, sorry! I guess I little mushy there. I’ve been told I’ve gotten pretty sappy through the years.

Blake:I think that’s beautiful.

Yang:Seriously. I’m...speechless really.

Ruby:A hardworking Weiss that struggled making ends meet. I gotta say that you look good doing it.

Weiss:Yeah well, that time has passed. My father got sick and in an attempt to “clear his conscious” or whatever he was feeling, he put me back in the family. I only saw him once when he was on his deathbed. Truthfully, I don’t visit my parent’s grave. I wanna say old emotions don’t get stirred up, but there’s certain feelings towards people that just can’t die I guess.

Yang:That’s fair. Who knows, maybe you just need a decade or two?

Weiss:Hehe, perhaps. However, before I got my fortune back, I was granted an either better one. Two in fact. That sly knight of mine managed to overachieve like he always does and give us a boy and girl.

Blake:I got a sneaking suspicion that you weren’t upset?

Weiss:Not for one second! I love my babies. My darling little Nick and Summer Schnee. One named after our grandfather, and Jaune and I are both really thankful for all that Ruby has done for us, so our daughter got named Summer. It meant a lot. My Ruby...she can’t have kids, or I should say getting and staying pregnant is extremely difficult.

Ruby:...*sniffling* These aren’t tears by the way. Just dust.

Weiss:My Ruby cried.

Ruby:Oh I bet! That’s some powerful stuff. Probably ugly cried too. Someone please say something? *misty eyed* Fuck, man that was a lot. *puts hood up* give me a sec, please keep going. *holding Yang’s hand*

Yang:Weiss, weren’t you a little scared about your living situation?

Weiss:It was a weird thing. We talked about having a family before hand. Money was always a concern, as well space; but I also knew that I did want to have a family of my own one day. So when the day came that the nurse told me I was pregnant, I should’ve been more worried. I wasn’t. All I felt was joy. Maybe it was because I had faith we could handle anything. We did have you all to help. Yang, you might as well be a superwoman honestly. You have been so amazing throughout my life.

Yang:Aye! I really love this other me.

Blake:What about me?

Weiss:You remain the most sensible person in my life and I thank you for it. Everyone else is crazy.

Blake:Yeah that’s pretty on brand. *smiles*

Ruby:Picture please?

Weiss gladly pulled out her scroll and showed off her children. It was quick to see both of them had gotten their father’s dorkiness. They stood in front of the camera playfully winking and were pretending to take a bite out the gold medals they had around their necks. It was crazy how much Summer looked like her mother, but clearly had Jaune’s eyes. Her brother on the other hand had the Schnee eyes and messy Arc hair. The two looked like barrels of fun. Then there was the man himself, Jaune Arc. He looked from the one in Yang’s photo. His hair resembled his days traveling to Haven and he was clean shaven, but he was noticeably healthier. It wasn’t even a physical thing much, though he did look good. He just seemed more vibrant.

Yang:Mine is cuter.

Weiss:Yours looks like your dad with the scruff.

Yang:Can you not?

Blake:How old?

Weiss:Sixteen. Little devils want sports car. I’m not dealing with that. Nick is really good at figure skating and is the oldest, so he’s the heir. Summer decided to be a little like her mother and pursue singing. Doesn’t have my voice though, but her range is better than me. I’m jealous. Both of them are always pretty decent in a fight if I do say so myself. Sigh, they grow up so fast. They still have a lot of growing to do though. Teenagers...

RBY:Preach...

Ruby:Everything okay though? Nothing too tough going on?

Weiss:Can I lie and say yes?

Yang:Hey I unpacked my baggage. Unload yours.

Weiss let out a large sigh. She looked at her kids lovingly, but had a smile that seemed...somber. All of her energy was brought down a bit and it showed.

Yang:Umm if it’s too much-

Weiss:It’s fine. It might be a little therapeutic to talk about it. Personally, I don’t I’m doing all I really can do. When they were very young, we all took a trip to go skating at a frozen lake. While I was there I found this strange ice dust that I’ve never seen before. Nick and Summer had gotten into a fight and by accident, Nick set off the dust. The shrapnel from it hit everyone, but Summer had it the worse. I’m talking it was lodged in her in multiple places. Not to mention the blast sent her flying into the water. I was hit so hard that I nearly blacked out. Thankfully, Jaune was the furthest and dove into the water while I managed to get Nick. He avoided a lot of it due to distance and was winded more than anything.

Ruby:Christ...

Blake:How young?

Weiss:Five. We rushed so fast to the hospital as soon as we could. The dust in Summer was freezing her until Nick activated her semblance and most of the shards got used up. Still, Summer ended up hospitalized for almost a year. Surgeries, comas, seizures; it was difficult to put it lightly. That picture doesn’t show it but she has puncture scars across her body, and a slight scar under her jawline she covers with makeup. That dust, though highly dangerous, it also healed her eventually. Summer had virtually no chance of survival. Not even counting the organ damage, that water should’ve put her into shock. But...she made a full recovery, on paper.

Yang:On paper?

Weiss:Several years later, Summer came in contact with the dust again and she...changed. Her eyes looked like mine, her light blonde hair went white, and she went mad. Her scars glowed with the dust that was still in her system and Summer started attacking everyone. I saw my twelve year old just use ice that was cold enough to burn. My extra scar is from me trying to restrain her. In the end it took my gigas pinning her down before she came to her senses. Summer had no memory of it. She said all remembered was feeling cold and hearing her own laughter. It wasn’t long after that it kept happening. Any time she got cold, this other...thing would come out. It eventually called itself Shiva.

Blake:Shiva? So...it’s a multiple personality?

Weiss:We don’t know. There’s so many inconsistencies. We got her checked up by the best and every test was normal. Her brain looks normal. But any time Shiva comes out, her blood turns blue and all she wants to do is hurt us. Shiva and Summer are even aware of each other now. There’s almost no day where Summer doesn’t hear Shiva in her head, wrestling for control. Between that, people at school who hate her, the scars, everything; Summer has become pretty reserved. She barely wants to go to school and she’s depressed most days. Nowadays she doesn’t open up about it outside of therapy. I...I can connect with her. Not in the way that matters.

Yang:I...shit, I don’t know what to say to that.

Weiss:That’s okay, few do. We’ve gotten good at preventing situations that get Summer cold but it’s through trial and error on something we know nothing about. Even with how far we’ve gotten, there’s a looming fear in everyone’s heart. Make no mistake though, that doesn’t stop any family from loving her with everything, but the mental strain of it all is more than anyone should deal with. Nick is kind soul. He blames himself for this and is constantly doing all he can to be there for everyone and put on this brave face, but he suffers inside. For a time, he went to therapy. Your sister almost killing you is a visceral experience. Getting him to sleep and take a break is like telling a fish not to swim. He is pretty open about this though, which helps a lot. It’s just...how do convince somehow they’re good enough when they think they’re not?

Ruby and Blake:You can’t....

Weiss:Exactly. It’s so...*tearing up* How am I failing at helping my kids worse than my own mother?

Yang:And that’s where I draw the line. *stands up* Now I can’t begin to fathom dealing with a a situation like this, and what I’m about to say is gonna be a little hypocritical but I really don’t care. Weiss, the last thing you are is a bad mother. I could tell immediately from the way you are that there hasn’t been a single as a parent that you haven’t made a choice without your kids in mind. I get feeling like there’s a gap that disconnects you from there; but the fact you keep your arms stretched out to bridge it makes you mother of the year in my eyes! Don’t believe for a second you’re a bad mother. Your the gold standard!

The room filled with silence for a moment. Weiss felt a lump form in her throat as she fought back tears that she eventually had to wipe away. She tried letting out a small laugh, but with it came more tears that ran down her face. Weiss couldn’t tell if it was from Yang’s words, or the stress. All she knew was that right now, she felt very thankful for being here.

Weiss:Damn it Yang, making me cry is something you’ve always been good at. Maybe that’s why I look up to you so much?

Yang:*red* Y-You what?

Weiss:My Yang, I downplayed just how much I adore her. Her daughter, Veronica, she’s got her fair share problems that stresses Yang out, but I never see her stop trying to connect with her. Even when she’s sad it’s like it’s only for a second, then you’re trying twice as hard. It’s amazing. If I’m being honest, and this is embarrassing, but I kinda picked up a mother from you. You’ve always been a bit motherly.

Ruby:She’s right.

Blake:Mom energy since day one.

Yang:Really? *rubs head* I was just being myself. Never really thought about it. Now then, wipe those tears! It’s upsetting that you look pretty why you cry. Meanwhile I look like a hot mess, and not in the fun way.

Weiss:*wiping face* Oh please, I don’t wanna hear that from someone who’s never needed make up. Those genes of your went to Veronica. Kids a genuine beauty. She’s just angry all the time.

Yang:Yeah that sounds appropriate... Weird to think I have a daughter that’s not Yujin. Wish I could see her.

Blake:Me too. Though I think I’d be overwhelmed seeing all my different kids. I’d probably want them all.

Ruby:My hands are full with ones I have and I wouldn’t say I’m juggling them well, so I don’t need other kids from universes. I’d be so stressed.

Weiss:Especially if they’re violent.

Ruby:Yeah, that would bad....

Weiss:Phew, I do feel a bit better. Even though I said all those things, my family still had good times. It’s not tense and we joke around like everyone else. As a family, we’re happy. We just have shit we gotta sort through.

Blake:Rich or poor, life has certain things that hit everyone. Is Jaune doing well.

Weiss:Yeah, he gets through to Summer pretty well, and he’s typically calm when it comes to giving guidance. He had his fears, but that’s why I’m here. We confide in each other.

Blake:May you and everyone else find a light at the end of the tunnel.

Ruby:Hey Weiss. Does....actually, never mind. Forget it.

Yang:We both know that’s not happening. Spit it out.

Ruby:I was just about Shiva. I’ve encountered weird things in my world, but this is unique. I was wondering if you have any positive experience with her.

Weiss:Not a single one. Here since of enjoyment in the displeasure of my children is a thing we disagree on. Though....her eyes, they do throw me off. For some reason, they don’t match her joy.

Blake:Maybe that part is still Summer. Eyes are the window to the soul and all that jazz.

Weiss:Maybe? I hope the kids are okay right now. I wonder what they’re up to?

xxxxx

Summer:WHAT’S UP VALE!!!!!!!!

A massive crowd screams “what’s up Summer”in excitement. Flashing lights and chanting fans’s voices make the sold out venue shake with their passion. Summer can only bask in it. There’s no better feeling than when she’s on stage. She looks to herself excitedly. This one was extra special. Nick comes out on stage with a base around him and a second microphone.

Nick:WE CAN’T HEAR YOU!!!!

The crowd chants louder. Summer responds by starting a rift on her guitar. She faces Nick with a smug look. Yes, having him on stage is always a joy, but that didn’t mean Summer wanted him hindering or stealing the show.

Summer:Well look who’s here!? Atlas’s favorite son! Think you’re ready to play with the kids up here. This isn’t your normal stage.

Nick smiled. He responded by playing the bass and letting the audience speak for him. Summer was chessing fool. Slowly she bopped up and down, urging him to do the same. It wasn’t long before they in sync. Drums, piano, and other background musicians began building up the tune as planned. The twins whipped around to face the crowd.

🎶Get down! We won't let you go!

This time, can you bring us down?

Back up! fly far through the sky

BLACK ROVER!

Let's go! All together now

And at last this world can't slow us down

For now, let's dye it all in black

BLACK ROVER!🎶

The two stood back to back...

🎶As more join and stand beside me,

The void doesn't feel so empty!!!!!

I know there is much more in store

Let's open that door -!🎶

Nick looked over his shoulder and saw Summer doing the same thing. This was gonna be one for the books. Jaune watched from backstage with one of the stagehands.

Stagehand:Should we tell them to save their energy? This charity event is six hours.

Jaune:Nah, let them have fun.

[blossom-hwa]

Danger: Onyx |2| - JUYEON

Pairing: Juyeon x gender neutral!reader

Genre: fluff, angst, fantasy, royalty!au

Triggers: death, semi-graphic depictions of blood

Word Count: 4.4k

Lesson 6: when all seems lost, do not falter. Just because it seems hopeless does not mean it is.

Previous: Ruby >> Onyx: Part 1 | Part 2 >> Next: Crown

TBZ Masterlist | Danger | Kingdom

[ Send a dm or an ask to be added to the taglist! ]

Juyeon cannot breathe.

Physically, there’s a blade right at his throat. Though killing isn’t allowed in duels, the metal is close enough to his skin that it makes taking a breath a bit difficult.

But that’s not the biggest problem. The issue right now is the recognition that has just sparked in Jaehyun’s expression, surprise and realization creeping over his face the longer he stares Juyeon straight in the eyes.

Castling queens.

Jaehyun’s arm drops, the blade falling to rest at his side. Almost as quickly as the realization came, it disappears under a blank mask as he extends a hand.

Juyeon stares at it for a moment. Tries to think. Jaehyun knows who I am he knows who I am he definitely saw it this is the worst thing possible I thought he wouldn’t recognize me –

Shakily, he takes Jaehyun’s hand and shakes it once, twice. His skin feels clammy and cold even under the afternoon sun. He almost wants to look at Jaehyun and see if that blank look is still on his face, but fear keeps his eyes averted as he retracts his arm.

He needs to get out of here, needs to run, needs to find Kevin and Jacob and get away from this place immediately. That much is clear. Juyeon darts his gaze around, still studiously avoiding Jaehyun even as raucous screams and cheers begin to rise from the crowd.

Then a sweep of ivory skirts flashes in the corner of his vision.

Somin.

Queens, he needs to leave, now.

Jaehyun bows low, seemingly unaware of Juyeon panicking not two feet away from him. “Your Majesty,” he says smoothly.

Belatedly, Juyeon remembers he should be echoing Jaehyun’s manners. Dipping down, he murmurs a quiet greeting, hoping against hope that she won’t be able to recognize him, won’t make the same connections Jaehyun did just moments ago.

Oh, queens.

Jaehyun.

What if he says something?

“Esteemed general.” The sweetly familiar voice makes Juyeon’s skin crawl. “Congratulations on your victory.”

Juyeon misses the next exchange. He’s too busy darting his gaze around the arena, looking for a single exit where he can slip into the crowd or just book it because there’s no way Somin won’t recognize him the second she looks into his eyes, assuming she hasn’t already figured him out already –

Guards line the perimeter of the arena. People crowd every space between the ivory suits.

Somin turns to him just as Juyeon comes to the worst realization possible.

There’s nowhere to run.

“Kim Jiyoon.”

Raised eyebrow. Wide smirk. Evil eyes.

She knows.

Juyeon takes a tiny step back, bowing low once more. “Your Majesty,” he mumbles, praying for a miracle, praying for something, anything, anyone to save him from this, maybe Jaehyun will turn out not to be an Ivory bastard and will say or do something –

Blank eyes meet his frantic expression. Something twists in Juyeon’s heart as Jaehyun purposely averts his gaze.

So much for old friendships.

A hand grasps his chin. Juyeon gasps as Somin jerks his head up, fingers curling around the ivory fabric that covers his nose and mouth.

For one moment, they lock eyes. Somin’s glitter with manic satisfaction.

Then she rips the mask away, leaving his face bare to the world.

It takes Juyeon several seconds to realize the entire arena has fallen quiet. Eyes widen, hands fly to mouths, fingers begin to point as Somin’s smirk grows wider and wider.

Jaehyun didn’t need to say anything, after all.

“Prince Juyeon.” She spits his name like dirt on her lips. “What a surprise. Long time no see, yes?”

“What a blessing,” he replies, hiding his racing heart behind a bland smile. “I always liked the former queen more than you, after all.”

The smirk turns to a sneer as she waves a hand, almost dismissively. Footsteps sound on the hard-packed dirt of the arena and Juyeon barely has a second to ready himself before two pairs of hands grab his arms and pull them tight behind his back.

He thrashes. Snarls. Tries to bite, even, the way Changmin used to when they were kids –

Changmin.

The breath leaves Juyeon’s chest in a gasp. Pawns and kings, this is just how Changmin felt when he was trapped in the shrine, unable to use magic, unable to fight.

Helpless.

“Isn’t that perfect, then?” Somin mocks, oblivious to the bile rising in Juyeon’s throat. “You’ll be seeing my lovely sibling tomorrow when you’re executed at dawn.” Her sneer grows as she leans in to whisper something against his ear. “And if you’re lucky, you might reunite with that gray mage of yours as well.”

Vomit splatters over the front of Somin’s dress. Through the rotten taste in his mouth, Juyeon takes a tiny satisfaction in her screech of disgust, even as the guards tighten their hold uncomfortably on his wrists. “If you’re lucky, that’ll wash out of your dress,” he snipes, spitting leftover bile onto the dusty ground. Some of it spatters onto her shoes.

Somin breathes in once, twice, her face red. Juyeon allows a smirk to grow on his face, even as certainty of his execution looms nearer with every second that passes.

So close to death, he might as well have some fun.

“Take him away,” Somin snarls. “And begin a search for his two little friends. Don’t let them leave the city!”

Kevin. Jacob.

Smirk gone, Juyeon frantically scans the crowds for the faces of his two friends as guards begin to march him away. They can’t come after him, can’t do anything, queens, what if Kevin decides to do something like break him out of prison, that can’t happen –

Terrified eyes meet his, nose and mouth covered in a familiar cloth. A red cloak peeks from behind the man standing next to Kevin.

Juyeon shakes his head subtly. Don’t follow, don’t do anything stupid, don’t come after me, hide, leave –

Strong hands drag him forward once more. Juyeon loses sight of his friends.

And for the first time since the start of the journey, he is alone.

Completely alone.

. . . . .

Kevin nearly falls forward the second he stumbles out of Jacob’s door. He manages to catch himself against the wall right in front of him, where he leans, trying to breathe.

Failure.

Failure.

Failure.

He never should’ve agreed to this idea, never should have brought it up in the first place. It was always too risky, too dangerous, and no matter what slim, small chance there was at success, Kevin never should have hoped they would be lucky enough to fall into that sliver of luck. Nothing’s been on their side since the coronation, so why start now?

How many people has Kevin let down by now? How many people has Kevin killed by now? First Sunwoo, who wasn’t supposed to be here, who wasn’t supposed to be part of this fight, who Kevin called on because he really had the nerve to believe that they would succeed without pain, without death. A single stroke of idiocy in following the amethyst’s pull resulted in a knife pulled across two necks, one by accident, one in revenge.

Kevin squeezes his eyes shut, breaths sharp and ragged. Two deaths, then. Not just Sunwoo. Mage Han, too.

And now he has a third name to add to that list.

Lee Juyeon. Royalty. Best friend since birth. Almost a brother – if not in blood, then in friendship.

He’s the reason Juyeon is about to be killed.

“Kevin.” Jacob’s voice snaps him out of his spiraling thoughts, forces him to open his eyes. His ashen face looks about as bad as Kevin feels. “We need to get out of here. I shifted us to the first place that came to mind, but –”

“Yeah.” Kevin takes a shuddering breath. His words sound shakier than he would’ve liked. “Yeah, I know. Let’s go.”

Never mind that neither of them knows where to go in the first place.

Jacob moves his hands in the air, creates another door against the wall. They step through to the space just outside the tiny, abandoned house – more like a shed, really – that they’ve been using as a hideout since they entered the capital. This time, the second Kevin exits the door, he collapses to his knees.

This is his fault, all his fault. If he’d never suggested it, they wouldn’t have any leads, but at least Juyeon would still be here, not sitting in some dungeon awaiting his execution tomorrow morning.

Execution. Kevin almost throws up at the thought.

Jacob stumbles next to him, falling onto dirty grass as well. They sit in silence for a moment, only ragged breaths escaping into the air.

“We need to get him out,” Kevin finally whispers. “He needs to escape, we can’t leave him there…”

It isn’t even just the fact that Juyeon is Kevin’s best friend. The heir to the king’s crown can’t die. It would leave a gaping power vacuum in the Onyx Kingdom – there’s no trained next in line, no one as capable as Juyeon is.

Which is exactly what Somin wants.

“I know.” Jacob swallows. “I know. But…” He gestures vaguely, helplessly. “How?”

How, indeed. Kevin may have been to the capital many times, but he’s never seen any of the several prisons. He couldn’t direct Jacob anywhere without a map, without something to guide himself, and since Jacob has never seen them himself, he can’t shift there either.

Queens, he’s a failure. Juyeon and Sunwoo rescued him from Bom – Sunwoo even died in the process – but Kevin can’t even think of a plan to help Juyeon escape. Not even the most improbable idea springs into his mind, an idea that definitely won’t work but that he would be desperate enough to try anyway.

Silence falls as Kevin tries to rack his brains for something, anything that doesn’t involve another possible brush with death. There’s nothing, absolutely nothing –

Then a twig snaps.

Kevin whirls around, knife already whizzing through the air. There’s a sharp yelp and a thud of metal sinking into something decidedly not flesh.

A young man – more of a boy, really – steps forward. Though his hands are raised in surrender, the calm, sure look in his eyes tells Kevin that the gesture is more for show than anything else.

Unconsciously, his hand grabs Jacob’s wrist. He takes a step back, dragging the mage with him as he slips a second knife from his sleeve. “Who are you?”

“My name is Eric.” He nods at the knife between Kevin’s fingers. “You can put down the knife, I don’t mean any harm. Jaehyun sent me to find you.”

Jacob sucks in a sharp gasp just as Kevin’s blood runs cold. “Jaehyun?”

“He’s breaking Juyeon out tonight.” Eric puts his hands down to point at them. “You two need to come with me –”

“How do we know you’re telling the truth?” Jacob snaps. “How did you find this place? I shifted, there’s no way you could have followed us from the arena.”

“Jaehyun recognized Kevin the first day at the contest registration,” Eric replies. His calmness is starting to get on Kevin’s nerves. “Well, he wasn’t sure, so he asked me to follow you back. Lo and behold, you were traveling with the prince, which meant Jaehyun wasn’t wrong. When Juyeon was arrested, he sent me to find you.”

“You could be lying.” Kevin grits his teeth, fingers clenching around the knife even though something tells him Eric would be able to dodge easily. “You and Jaehyun could be working with the queen to root us out and catch us. We have no reason to trust you.”

Eric’s lip curls. “You don’t,” he snaps, “but you could at least trust Jaehyun. Haven’t you known him much longer than I?”

“People change,” Kevin retorts. “None of us ever thought Somin would kill her family for the throne, did we?”

No one argues, not even Eric. For several moments, they only stand in silence. Then –

“Jaehyun’s breaking the prince out tonight,” Eric says lowly. “That’s why he told me to find you. And I know you don’t know me at all, but I can tell you that not all of us in the army support the queen’s agenda. Jaehyun and I are only two of many more.”

There’s nothing to support his claims, no evidence, no testimony, absolutely nothing to back up his words. With every second that passes, Kevin feels the growing urge to tell Jacob to create a door, to shift them away from this so that they can figure out a plan that doesn’t rely on a certain general who may or may not be on their side.

But something tells him that Eric speaks the truth. Maybe it’s his eyes, which are clear, or it’s the weird feeling Kevin got when he spoke to Jaehyun that one time. Maybe it’s just blind hope. Either way, he feels his grip loosening on Jacob’s wrist, his shoulders relaxing, ready to take Eric’s invitation and leave.

He glances at Jacob. Do we trust him?

Jacob’s lips press into a thin line, but he nods tersely, almost imperceptibly. Yes.

They have to.

Kevin steps forward. Narrows his eyes. “One sign of betrayal and I will not hesitate to put a knife through your back.”

“And Jaehyun said you were the nicer one,” Eric mutters.

“There isn’t a lot of room for nice at the moment, in case you didn’t notice.”

Eric smirks. It reminds Kevin a little too much of Sunwoo. “You’re not wrong,” he says blithely before his smile turns into a frown. “Now hurry. We need to get to the forest by nightfall.”

. . . . .

Blood has begun to stain Juyeon’s hands by the time he finally gives up on somehow trying to wrench apart the bars of the dark cell. Even if he can’t see the redness dripping down his skin, he can certainly feel the stinging pain of cuts reopened and wounds made afresh.

What was he even thinking? Juyeon slides down the back wall to the ground, burying his head in his arms. Not even a mage can cut or bend metal with their bare hands – how could he?

He sighs. It figures, just as soon as they managed to find four of the jewels, they would get screwed over on the fifth. And not even the normal kind of screw up – he got caught by the queen herself and has a nearly one hundred percent chance of dying within the next twenty-four hours.

Nearly. Not completely, because there’s always the tiniest chance that Kevin will come up with something in that crazy brain of his to break him out, which will undoubtedly be messy and dangerous and possibly result in even more death, but there’s the smallest sliver of a hope that it’ll work.

Hope means nothing, though. He had hope that he’d be crowned king. He had hope that they’d find the jewels. He had hope that they’d return home (relatively) unscathed.

And for what? All it got him was this tiny cell with not even a candle for light.

Juyeon brings a hand to his face. Too late, he remembers it’s covered in blood, which is now spattered across his forehead. It’s even around his eyelids, assuming the wet feeling there isn’t from tears.

Maybe it’s both.

He sighs again, closing his eyes again as he wipes a sleeve against his skin. It doesn’t make much of a difference. The cell is so dark that his eyes may as well be shut even when they’re open.

Pawns and kings, Juyeon didn’t even know there was a prison in this part of the capital. Apparently it’s for the most dangerous prisoners, those who need to be kept completely out of sight to rot away in darkness.

Juyeon has exactly one night to rot. Probably won’t be enough to make himself skeletal enough that Somin jumps when he emerges into the light tomorrow.

A tiny smile stretches across his lips as he remembers vomit splattering onto ivory skirts. Gross, but effective.

It disappears as soon as he remembers what awaits him in the morning.

Morning. Juyeon almost snorts. Down here in the darkness, it’s all but impossible to monitor the passage of time. Has it been minutes? Hours? Has the night passed? It could be morning already for all he knows, considering his drooping eyelids, but that’s a common occurrence at this point, with how little sleep he gets on a daily basis. And he definitely isn’t about to sleep now – who knows what nightmares will come, dreams of shades and roses and corpses of dead friends?

So when he hears a slight noise down the prison, a tap-tap-tap of footsteps on hard stone, Juyeon concludes that dawn has broken, that he’ll be marched out to the town square and presented with a sword or a noose from which to choose his preferred method of death. A sword would probably be quicker, but if the executioner isn’t skilled, then hanging might be better –

Wait, tapping?

Juyeon listens more closely. The footsteps sound light, almost weightless – definitely not those of a guard’s heavy boots. Shouldn’t guards be the ones bringing him to his death? He strains his vision, peering into the darkness, but he can’t see anything.

The footsteps grow closer. Someone finally stops in front of Juyeon’s cell. He frowns. Why is there only one person? Not that he particularly cares, but Somin wouldn’t just send one guard to get him. He’s not unskilled, and she’s not dumb – she knows he can overpower one guard easily –

A soft whuff sounds as the figure slips a bundle through the iron bars. “Hurry up and get changed,” a familiar voice hisses. “Your ivory is too noticeable in the dark.”

Juyeon almost stops breathing.

“Jaehyun?”

“More time for that later,” Jaehyun snaps. “We have five minutes, get yourself together.”

Shaky, bloodstained fingers pull off the white shirt and trousers, messily replacing them with the black clothes Jaehyun dropped onto the floor. As he fumbles, a click and the rasp of metal on metal sounds at the front of the cell, and the iron door groans open.

“Don’t talk,” Jaehyun whispers the second Juyeon steps into the dark hallway. “And follow me exactly.”

Juyeon wants to snap, wants to say something about how it can be possible to do that when he can barely see one foot in front of himself, but Jaehyun sets off without another word and Juyeon is forced to use his ears to figure out where the general is going.

They wind around dark staircases and pass empty cells, ducking into tiny passages that Juyeon is sure he never could have found even if he was looking. He itches to speak, itches to ask Jaehyun just what in the name of the Board he’s doing, why is he breaking Juyeon out, what are his loyalties, and where is he taking him, if not to his execution? But every time he opens his mouth, Jaehyun either shoves him into a room or someone passes by a little too close and he has to hold his tongue.

Finally, finally, Jaehyun opens a last door, dragging him into what smells like a stable. They tramp over dirty hay and other things Juyeon doesn’t want to guess from the stench, and then they’re in open air under a cloudy sky, only the palest hint of moonlight shining through.

Juyeon blinks. The white marble of the palace glints faintly in the distance.

“Follow this path,” Jaehyun says, pointing at a trail of dirt through the grass. “It’ll take you to the woods just around the capital. Kevin and Jacob will be waiting for you there –”

“Wait.” Juyeon takes a breath. Breathes in, breathes out, trying to make sense of everything. “How did you know where to find them? How did you know they were here?” Because if Jaehyun managed to find them, others also could have, which means Kevin and Jacob might be in even more danger –

“Juyeon.” Jaehyun’s voice jerks him out of his mind. “The only reason I knew Kevin was here was because I talked to him the day of registration. I wasn’t sure of it at first – he’s gotten better at acting – but I sent Eric to follow and when he told me you were also there, I knew it was him. No one else knows besides us.”

“Who’s Eric?”

“Subordinate.” Jaehyun’s eyes turn steely. “I trust him with my life.”

Pawns and kings, this is too much for Juyeon to take in. Closing his eyes again, he tries to breathe. “Queens,” he mutters. “Okay. Fine. Wow.” He rubs his forehead. “I really thought you were following Somin.”

Jaehyun snorts. “I never liked her, not even when we were kids,” he says, rolling his eyes. “You think I’d like her now?”

“You’re a knight,” Juyeon retorts. “You’re supposed to be loyal to the crown. I couldn’t even fault you for that, it’s what you’re supposed to do –”

“But when said crown is abusing their power, do they deserve my support?” Jaehyun interrupts.

Juyeon falls silent.

“That’s what I thought.” A ghost of a smirk flutters across Jaehyun’s face as he pulls something out of his pocket. “This is the stone I was given when I won. I hope it helps.”

It doesn’t call to him. There’s no pull of magic from the onyx, not even as Juyeon takes it between his fingers. It looks like the real thing – it’s been perfectly copied, down to the slim white bands marring the black stone – but if he can’t feel anything…

It’s fake.

Disappointment drops like a rock in Juyeon’s stomach, but he wraps his fingers around the jewel anyway. Jaehyun’s broken him out of prison. He’s still alive. If the onyx really is a fake, Jacob can at least get the magic traces out of it.

All isn’t lost. Not yet.

“Thank you,” Juyeon replies, slipping the stone into his pocket. “Are you going to run, too? Somin won’t exactly be excited if she figures out you were the one who broke me out.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that.” Jaehyun’s smirk becomes more pronounced, though it’s tinged with bitterness. “I’m still playing the part of the perfect general back at home. Haven’t been given the assignments at the front, since I’m still young, which is honestly a good thing. Leaves me room to mess things up.” He snorts. “And none of the guards I knocked out today will remember a thing when they wake.”

“How can you be sure?”

“A different weapon goes a long way. So does a mask.” Jaehyun smiles. “Kevin’s a good sewer. I really almost didn’t recognize him, what with his acting and all.”

Juyeon almost laughs. “I’ll let him know.”

Jaehyun smirks. “You need to go,” he says then, smile gone. “Follow this path, find Kevin and Jacob, then get out of here as fast as you can. It’ll be a bit before they figure out you’re gone, but Somin still has people looking for your friends. They’ll be looking for you, too, soon.” He half-grins. “Good luck.”

It feels like hours have passed by the time Juyeon finally reaches the edge of the woods, though it’s probably only been some minutes with how fast he’s run. He nearly barrels right into Kevin, whose black clothes nearly blend in with the night, but Jacob catches him just before he does and they all fall in together, collapsing on the forest floor with choked cries and hysterical laughs.

“Queens,” Jacob gasps. “Queens, we thought –”

“We thought you might be dead,” Kevin finishes.

Juyeon wipes his eyes. “I’m not,” he replies, smiling shakily at his two friends. “I’m alive.”

No sarcastic remark comes from either of them. Kevin just swallows, looking pale as Jacob brushes a hand across his face. “We’re not doing anything risky like that ever again,” Kevin says. “Never. If you had died…”

“I didn’t, though,” Juyeon protests, but even he understands where Kevin’s coming from. If any of them had died, Juyeon would’ve broken down. He can’t imagine how Kevin or Jacob must’ve felt when he was taken away. Instead of arguing, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the onyx stone. “Jaehyun gave this to me. Pretty sure it’s fake.”

Jacob barely even needs to look at the jewel before he nods. “It’s definitely a fake,” he says, taking it from Juyeon’s hand. “But there’s magic on it. Strong magic.”

Kevin glances over. “Do you know where it leads?”

Wordlessly, Jacob stands. Closes his eyes. For a moment, he stays silent. Then he points out of the forest, back into the capital.

Queens.

“By all the higher orders, we just can’t catch a break,” Kevin mutters, pinching his nose. “Seriously? In the capital?”

Jacob nods, eyes heavy. “It’s there.”

“Well.” Juyeon stands. “Looks like we need to break that rule of not doing anything risky.”

Not funny. Juyeon understands that even before Kevin shoots him a look of absolute judgement, before Jacob bites his lip so hard it’s a wonder it doesn’t bleed. He steps back, apologetic, but he knows he’s right. “We need to follow it,” Juyeon says, trying to harden his gaze. “We’re this close. We need any lead we can get, and we need to go now, when no one knows I’ve escaped.”

“Then we stay together,” Kevin says, eyes solemn. “No one goes anywhere alone. No splitting up.”

Juyeon casts his friend a strange glance. He can understand being cautious and worried, but the desperation in Kevin’s tone doesn’t feel normal. Why does he look so high strung, so anxious?

Whatever. Juyeon shakes his head slightly, ridding himself of the thoughts. No time for that now. “Yes,” he replies, setting his jaw. “We’ll stay together. Jacob, can you shift us somewhere discreet?”

“Yeah, there’s the alley Kevin and I hid in at first. I’ll see if I can track the trace from there.” And within seconds, they have a door, a door of polished white stone that shimmers under the moonlight that manages to pass through the trees.

Juyeon puts his hand on the handle, swallowing hard. This is going to be dangerous. They might be walking into a death trap, what with all the soldiers who must be looking for Kevin and Jacob. It’ll only get worse when they realize he’s escaped.

But they need to do this. For themselves, for their kingdom, for Sunwoo, for everyone who’s died so far for Somin’s delusions of power.

Jaehyun told him to get out of here as fast as he could.

Juyeon twists the handle.

He’ll have to pass that advice for now.

If you enjoyed, please don’t forget to reblog and leave a comment to tell me what you thought! Thank you for reading and have a lovely day <3

(1 reblog = 1 prayer for juyeon to not make a bad decision jfc)

[kittyprincessofcats]

RWBY Volume 6

So, I pretty much binge-watched this one in a few days because I really needed to know how things go on after Volume 5 and it was just so good! Lots of messy thoughts to come!

[There will be spoilers for RWBY up to Volume 6 in this post (duh). Please don’t leave any spoilers for anything after Volume 6 on this post, or I will block you.]

Thoughts under the cut because this ended up getting a little long.

- The character short for Adam was really cool! It was cool to see how the White Fang began, to see Sienna, Ghira, Ilia and Adam in action, to see the irony of Sienna being a mentor to Adam and encouraging his ways when you know he’ll end up killing her, and to see a glimpse into Adam and Blake’s past relationship (and how the stuff he said to her was textbook emotional abuse). However, I do have one criticism, and it’s something that really bothers me: There’s a continuity mistake with Ilia’s age. Let’s think about this: Ilia was always implied to be the same age (or around the same age) as Blake. In the part of this short where Ghira was still leader of the White Fang, Ilia appears and doesn’t look younger than in canon. But we know Ghira stepped down at least a few years ago. If Blake is meant to be a teenager in volume 1… there’s just no way Ilia could have been there and already been an adult. She’s supposed to have still been a kid when Ghira was leader, unless she’s at least a few years older than Blake – which I don’t think she’s meant to be? Yeah sorry, this kind of stuff just bothers me. I get that timelines can be hard to keep track off, but that was a really obvious mistake and it ruins my immersion a bit.

- I loved the whole opening fight on the train and just seeing team RWBY fighting together again.

- I’ve got to say, I do feel bad for Weiss: After everything she went through to leave Atlas, she now suddenly has to go back there. I mean, that must suck.

- I’m a bit sad they just but Ilia on a bus, but I get that her main conflict is pretty much over and they had to go back to focusing on the main characters’ quest. I still wish we’d have at least gotten a scene of her interacting with the other members of team RWBY, though.

- I really liked Ilia and Blake’s goodbye at the train station, though. (And the whole “wrong tree” moment with Neptune really made me laugh 😂)

- Also just wanted to say I love Ilia’s new outfit (and the fact that she has spots on her belly – this is really important information, okay?)

- There’s a certain irony in the Faunus becoming more accepted because they STOPPED Adam’s attack on Haven.

- I think Jinn and the whole concept of how asking her questions works is super cool.

- I totally get why everyone’s pissed at Ozpin both before, during and after Jinn revealed his and Salem’s backstory. He has been hiding an awful lot from everyone, even after promising not to anymore, and he actively tried to stop the team from finding out the truth. Plus, the whole fact that he doesn’t have a plan for defeating Salem and is potentially risking everyone’s lives for nothing. (That said, can they not take it out on poor Oscar, please? None of this is his fault.)

- Oscar fighting Ozpin from within and telling them how to summon Jinn was a really badass scene. And I feel super bad for Oscar overall. Not only is he kind of at war with someone who lives in his brain now, but he also just found out that he’ll eventually only become a part of Ozma. And on top of that, people are punching and blaming him for stuff that’s not his fault. That’s super harsh.

- I’m kind of glad Cinder’s alive, because as I said, I was hoping they’d develop her more and make her a more interesting villain… but I don’t feel like this volume did that. Right now, she’s still pretty superficial, unfortunately.

- And now, time to get into one of the highlights of this volume for me: Salem’s backstory! Because holy shit, that was one hell of a backstory! When I said back in my post about volume 5 that I hope Cinder’s alive because I would like to see them make her a more interesting villain, I didn’t expect them to do just that, but for Salem. I love villains that are interesting, but I didn’t expect Salem, the literal big bad of the show, to be the interesting one here! I am pleasantly surprised by this, though! (And just to be clear, because some people love to misunderstand this: When I say “interesting”, I don’t mean “She has a sad backstory, this excuses everything she’s doing”, I mean “She has a sad backstory, this makes her more compelling as a villain”.)

- So, about that backstory: Do we all agree that the gods are major jerks, or what? I mean, initially not bringing Ozma back to life was fair, death is a part of life, they can’t upset the balance, I get that – but making him repeatedly disintegrate in Salem’s arms after she just thought she’d gotten him back? And then making her immortal just to make sure she couldn’t be with him? And then killing ALL of humanity just because of the actions of a few? But still not letting Salem die? And then bringing Ozma back after all (because now it suddenly doesn’t ‘disrupt the balance’ or what?) and kind of tricking him into that whole relics task because he wanted to be with Salem? The god are jerks, I rest my case - and I’m not sure if bringing them back is a good idea.

- Also… I get that she’s like… evil and all… but am I the only one who thought Salem got way sexier after jumping into the pools of grimm? Is that just me? Because damn… I’m kinda into that version of her. (Come on, she’s a sexy goth witch and I’m a simple lesbian, what do you expect?)

- So yeah… in an unexpected turn of events, Salem might be one of my favourite characters now? Oops? (*insert obligatory ‘this does not mean I condone her actions in any way’ disclaimer here*)

- I feel super bad for Salem and Ozma’s kids, though. I hate kids getting hurt in media in general. (I imagine the grief over them stayed with Ozma forever. And I like the theory that he gave the original four maidens their powers because they reminded him of his daughters. In general, I don’t consider him to be the bad guy in this backstory at any point. His only mistake is not being honest with the people who are helping and protecting him in the present.)

- I am now convinced that this entire show has to end with Salem and Ozma dying. That’s the only way all of this can end. Salem will have to either be killed somehow or learn the lesson the gods tried to teach her and die. Ozma will have to fulfill his task and die as well – either through Oscar dying with him (😢), through only Ozma dying but Oscar getting to live without him, or through the reincarnation cycle ending and Ozma/Ozpin recognizing that Oscar is going to be his last life. Something like that would be my prediction.

- Speaking of interesting villains: This volume also did a great job with Emerald and Mercury! With those two, I’m actually hoping for a redemption now. (And Hazel is a great guy as well. The fact that he was willing to take the blame for their failure at Haven to protect Emerald and Mercury is something I really respect.)

- I also I want to say I find Tyrion super entertaining.

- It was great to see Neo again! (I’ve gotten so used to Chibi!Neo it was almost weird to see regular Neo again.) Her fight with Cinder was EPIC.

- (I basically feel like this volume did a great job on all villains except for Cinder. But hey, maybe that’ll still happen.)

- This was an interesting volume for Qrow. On the one hand, I get why hearing Oz’s backstory drove him into a sort-of depression and made his drinking habit worse and I feel bad for him, but from the point-of-view of Ruby and the others, it must have also been super frustrating that the one proper adult in the group couldn’t keep it together and everyone else had to keep doing the hard work.

- Maria is a super cool and epic character! I really hope she sticks around with the team for Volume 7 because she’s amazing and I love her. She was super badass in her backstory (that moment where she lost her eyes was painful just to watch), I love the fact that she was Qrow’s hero growing up (and that he based his weapon on hers!), that we finally met another character who has (well, had) silver eyes, and that she’s that funny, cranky, but also wise old lady now who mentors Ruby and is just super funny all around. Good stuff, I hope we see more of her!

- The Apathy are the creepiest grim yet. The whole concept of them draining you of your will to live without you even noticing is just SO scary – I love it, but I’m also low-key terrified. The crew’s trip to that farm estate could have easily gone very wrong. Pretty much nothing but Ruby’s silver eyes even worked on them. I like how those episodes set the whole thing up – Team RWBY having emotional conversations while they were in the house, everyone having doubts (which makes sense at that point in the story, so you don’t really question it at first), and then the sneaking realization of what’s going on. Also, the guy who sealed in those Apathy grim in in the first place was just so dumb. How could you think that was a good idea? Good job getting everyone killed, dude.

- I’m glad this volume gave us more on Ruby’s silver eyes! I like that she finally got to use them before the season finale (though I loved that joke on RWBY Chibi), and I also like that she first used them to protect Blake. (I don’t ship them as much as Bumbleby, but I feel like Ruby and Blake’s ship/friendship is super underrated.) It was also nice to learn more about how the Silver eyes work in general and how they came to be. (If they came from the god of light, I’m assuming all the people with silver eyes are the descendants of Ozma’s past lives? TV Tropes kind of helped me out here: Apparently if you freeze the picture where you see one of his past lives with his kids, you can see the kids have silver eyes.) People with silver eyes being hunted also comes as no surprise to me, that’s kind of what I was assuming already. (Which raises the question: Just how did Summer Rose die?) Also, interesting fact that they only work on the Grimm...

- That moment where they reunite with JNR in Argus was really sweet. I also loved the design of Argus as a whole.

- I LOVE Saphron, Terra, and their son!!! I love that we got to meet one of Jaune’s sisters, I love that we got some more LGBT+ representation, and their baby is adorable!! (I loved that scene of everyone cooing over the baby. Also, that moment where Ruby realized Jaune and Saphron were siblings. Also, that moment where the baby helped them distract the guards by crying.) Basically, I just love the Cotta-Arcs. (Also, I just want to say that Saphron is super pretty.)

- Cordovin and her two goons are hilarious. I mean, I also hate them because they’re overly patriotic Atlas-people and Cordovin was racist to Blake – but they’re also super freaking hilarious. Every little line of Maria and Cordovin’s beef with each other had my dying with laughter 🤣 (mainly it was Maria’s lines that had me dying with laughter).

- That whole scene with the statue of Pyrrha was such a tearjerker 😢. First the leaf, then the sad music, then Jaune talking to that red-haired lady (I’m guessing she’s either Pyrrha’s mom or sister?), and then Ren and Nora joining and giving Jaune a pep-talk 😭 😭. I think this was a really important moment for Jaune, not just to get closure, but also to stop blaming himself and putting himself down. I’m glad Ren and Nora told him they don’t want to lose him too, and that the red-haired lady said she’s “glad Pyrrha was surrounded by such amazing people”. Gosh, now I’m tearing up again writing this 😭. I miss Pyrrha 😭 😭.

- I love Oscar’s new outfit. It was time for him to finally drop the farm boy look.

- I love how Jaune is so down for crime that his plan is just “They only let Atlas airships though, so we steal an Atlas airship.” I mean, makes sense.

- I think their whole plan to steal the airship was super cool and although I get why things can’t be that easy in shows like this (and I love that we got the showdown with Adam), I still kind of wish it had worked just because it was a really cool plan and everyone had their part to play in it. Heck, even the baby got to help (and it was awesome)! But yeah, Adam just had to ruin everything, nothing new there.

- So, about Adam: First of all, he’s a major creep for victim-blaming Blake (again) and stalking her. I like how creepy his behaviour is from a story-telling perspective (and from an angst-loving “I like seeing my faves suffer” perspective), but his story was getting a little old, so I’m not too sad they killed him off now. It was a good point in the story to do it. (That said, holy shit is he a creep! “I wouldn’t have to be doing this if you just behaved”? Wow. I get that he’s meant to be abusive and controlling; that’s the point of his character (and like I said, I’m here for the angst), but… yikes, poor Blake.)

- And then we had Blake and Yang’s rematch with Adam. EPIC STUFF. First of all, I like that Blake was able to hold her own against him for a bit (and same for Yang later). I also love the whole dramatic setting by the waterfall and the fact that Blake lost her coat (this is important, okay? it symbolizes vulnerability – and also it just looks cool), the scar on Blake’s belly (from their fight at Beacon, right?), the face reveal of Adam – I just love how all of this was set up in such an epic, dramatic way. But the most epic moment, at least from the start of the fight, has got to be Yang just jumping down there with her motorcycle hitting Adam and that amazing music. I’ve said before that Yang is just too cool for words and I will stand by that. The fight itself was epic too, though I was so stressed the whole time I couldn’t completely pay attention. Blake and Yang fighting Adam together was definitely the best part, though. And I loved the irony of Yang’s metal arm saving her. In general, I like that Yang and Blake got to fight and defeat (and kill) Adam together because he’s been a demon for both of them, and I like that they clarified they’re doing it as equal partners. “We’re protecting each other” was a nice callback to earlier when Blake tried to reassure Yang she’d protect her, and to even earlier when Yang was protecting Blake at Beacon.

- Let’s talk about my other highlight of the volume: Bumbleby! Because sorry not sorry, there’s no way you can deny their romantic subtext anymore at this point. Early in the volume, there’s the conflict of things being weird between them, and Blake not knowing how to deal with her guilt and thinking she needs to protect Yang (and do stuff like getting her bag down for her) – while Yang feels insulted by this and thinks that Blake sees her as being incapable of doing anything now that she lost an arm. Then, when Blake first leaves to disable the comms, they give each other those really sweet, loving looks. And of course, it all leads up to them confronting their nightmare together, holding hands, and declaring that they’re protecting each other. Add Adam’s jealousy to that (He was making comparisons between himself and Yang and asking “What does she even see in you?” – that’s not a sentence you just say to your ex’s friend) and you’d have to be willfully ignorant to not see the subtext. And those soft moments after the fight just killed me: Blake breaking down crying, Yang immediately running to hug and comfort her, Blake’s promise not to leave, Yang reassuring her and wiping away her tears – I LOVE hurt/comfort stuff and I’m so soft for these two! They love each other so much!

(Pretty much the only downside of all this is that a few major parts were spoiled for me in advance. Look, it’s pretty impossible to follow lots of blogs that post wlw ships and not see that picture of Bumbleby holding hands, or the one of them hugging (or the one of them killing Adam) at some point. So yeah… I’d seen all three of those pictures before and knew this would happen. But it was still really nice to see it all come together and see how we got there!)

- The fight against Cordovin and her giant mecha was also pretty cool! It reminded me a bit of the Legend of Korra finale. Ruby going inside the arm canon was an especially epic moment. And I also liked that small moment when they were flying on the Queen Lancer and Ruby had her arms around Weiss’ waist (a bit of White Rose, yay!).

- I like that moment when the Grimm attack and the team first realizes they just destroyed the only thing capable of stopping them – but to be honest, that was mostly Cordovin’s fault. She brought out that mecha for something it wasn’t meant for and started the fight that attracted the Grimm in the first place. Also, how exactly did she think the people of Atlas would take it if she had actually hurt Weiss? So yeah, most of that mess was on her, tbh. I’m glad she at least came though to help in the end, though.

- Back to Bumbleby: Honestly, the strongest romantic undertones weren’t even in the fight with Adam or directly afterwards for me, but in the last episode when they’re all on the ship together. So, Blake is blaming herself for the plan going wrong, and Yang has an arm around, her, still half holding her and reassuring her. And then – and this one really gets me – Ruby hugs Blake and gives Yang that knowing look over her shoulder while Yang suddenly looks away shyly. They’re communicating without words and Ruby totally knows what’s up. She’s basically saying “So you and Blake, huh?” and suddenly Yang – YANG – is feeling shy. This isn’t subtle. And then later Bumbleby hold hands again and look at each other like that… they’re in love, I don’t make the rules.

- And finally, we of course have Ruby’s epic silver-eyed moment in the finale, which was AMAZING. I loved all the flashbacks and how they’re drawn pictures and not just stills from the episodes, I love how the memories of her friends motivate her, I love how much of Penny there was in there (bit of Nuts and Dolts, yay!), I loved seeing adorable little!Yang, and of course the first look at Summer Rose! (I still want a Team STRQ backstory episode at some point.) Also, the music during that scene was so good!

Gosh, now I’ve talked for way too long again, but there was just so much to say about this volume! Long story short: Loved it, can’t wait to continue! (I know exactly 1 major spoiler for volume 7 because it was unavoidable on social media, but that’s it. And it’s a spoiler I really didn’t mind knowing, so…)

[goldenhourchapman]

Okay so, I’ve never been good at articulating my ship thoughts because most of the time they’re jumbled, but I try my best, since it’s Hacy and I love them. 

I loved them in 3x01. The communication was so good and I am so glad they chose to go down the route of them discussing what happened, rather than dragging it on like some soap opera. 

I think I might go through scene by scene and talk about it that way: 

The scene with his hand on her back as she’s reading....  CUTE!

Then we get Harry catching Maggie before she goes upstairs and from the sounds of it Maggie was actually entertaining the idea? It annoyed me, if I’m honest. With the discussion that happened in the marble between Macy and Maggie, I think Maggie should have told him it was a ridiculous idea from the outset, but that’s just my opinion. 

Then we obviously get Macy noticing all of this and realising that something is up, which I appreciate. 

The scene when they’re discussing the potion was so great, I loved it. They’re so cute and I loved that Harry knew where the necklace was straight away, like he’d been waiting for an opportunity to get rid of it! His face when he was waiting for Macy’s reaction was so cute and then when she didn’t hesitate to use it for the siren’s tongue, you could see that he was relieved. And when they were talking about what to do for the glamour, it felt really nice and light and fun.

Then we get to the market and Macy asks about what he was whispering about with Maggie. I really love how she just went straight to it, she’s so open to communication and wants to know what is going on. The snake goes for her and she just grabs its neck like its nothing and Harry lets out a little laugh because OF COURSE. 

“You’re not off the hook”. YES, I LOVED THAT!!! This scene was just... amazing. It was so heart-wrenching when she realised what he’d asked Maggie to do and I love that she was clearly hurt by it but she also understood why because his feelings of duty are so strong that yet so are his feelings for her. So strong that he thinks magic is the only way to get rid of them. 

The thing about Harry is that being a Whitelighter is all he has ever known and the only thing he knows how to do. He has never had a relationship where he is seen as an equal by the other person, Macy is the first one who sees him as such. “Who you are is a man.” She doesn’t see him as anything else. That ties into so many of his insecurities from throughout the rest of last season. He thinks if he’s a man, he’s a broken one. He has one duty, that’s it. And even though the Elders are dead, Celeste and the rest have basically beat into him for 60 years that that is all he is good for and if he fails at that... then what?

Also I think Macy is asserting herself and that ties into the person she is becoming. We only had one episode of this so far, but because of the long break, I think some people are forgetting that this is a different Macy now, 2x18 changed her and she is fighting for what she wants and this is part of her journey too.

So we get back to her deflecting Harry’s arguments like Wonder Woman deflecting bullets with her bracelets and I am cheering her on all the way. 

You can tell that it pained Harry to say “You’ll... find someone else.” That little pause speaks volumes. 

I don’t want someone else. 

Nor do I. 

Okay. Okay. Okay. My breathing kinda stopped for a second. They love each other SO much. We all know they’re both there. It’s a beautiful yet frustrating to witness them not actually saying the words, yet saying it with stuff like this. 

Macy summed it perfectly when she said “Dying can’t be so terrifying that we just stop living.” I think it parallels perfectly with Mel’s freakout about them being stuck in the Manor like they’re in Grey Gardens. They’re not allowed to live their lives? Fall in love? How is that fair? There is always some potential danger that could get someone killed in all kinds of romantic relationship. Maggie can’t be with Jordan, Mel can’t be with Ruby, Macy can’t be with Harry? They need to be able to live their lives and grab happiness while they can. And judging from Harry’s face, he knows she’s right. 

I wish they would stop getting interrupted throughout this episode, it was so annoying. Anyway.... then Macy is a total badass and punches the man and Harry acts like a proud boyfriend and I cry. 

We get to the potion scene and it’s all cute and then Macy is like “Are we....?” and then Harry looks guilty and then they get interrupted AGAIN. I don’t understand why that kept happening, like they probably wanted to drag it out the whole episode (WHY?) but something really bothered me about it, when normally it wouldn’t. Maybe it was just that we’ve had a long break and if we’d had the episode I wouldn’t feel that way. IDK. 

The scene in Rosemary’s room was just *chef’s kiss*. Harry apologising? It does kinda niggle at me that he said “magic isn’t the solution to us”. Why do you still need a solution? Aren’t you done with this line of thinking? 

“I don’t want a solution to us, Harry. I just want us. Our feelings for each other inform our decisions, and yes it might be complicated but it’s not wrong.”

I love that it was a parallel to both the ending of 2x17 and 2x19, when she said it felt right. “I know.” I love that line, too. I couldn’t put my finger on what felt a bit... wrong, I guess? I think it’s just because they’re SUCH a tactile couple that when they weren’t touching, it just felt weird and obviously we can’t have that at the moment. The whole time I was thinking, “they would have kissed here” or something and I actually thought they were going to during that end scene besides Rosemary’s bed, but alas it was not to be. And I get that it fits with the emotional distance as well as the physical regulations in place at the moment, so I’m not mad about it. 

But from the looks of the promo pics for 3x02, we are getting some LOVELY things, so I am excited and I hope this whole “I can’t be with you because you’ll be in danger” thing is DONE, because I’ve had 9 months of anxiety about it and I am TIRED. 

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Strings”

Happy Saturday, RWBY friends! I am, quite obviously, going to dive into the recap in just a moment, but first I wanted to take a short detour to discuss the elephant in the tumblr room. Namely, Supernatural.

For those of you out of the loop, the tl;dr is that a fifteen year, beloved show ended with a truly horrendous finale. Specifically, the finale rejected everything that the show had been building towards: the logical conclusion to character arcs, the theme that “family don’t end in blood,” the potential for a queer romantic relationship… I could go on. The point I want to make is that the fandom had every reason to believe we’d be getting these things. This isn’t a case of fans upset that the finale didn’t go the way they wanted as an individual viewer, but rather that the finale didn’t go the way the show clearly and explicitly said it would. It’s not an exaggeration to say that in many respects, viewers were straight up lied to.

(I recommend reading the reviews.) 

What does this all have to do with RWBY? Well, I can’t help but think that history is repeating itself. Certainly there are some notable similarities between the two series. Both have long, meandering plotlines with no clear end in sight (though I hope RWBY doesn’t reach the 15 Volume mark…). Both began with a small, core cast, but quickly expanded—generating the expectation that these now equally important characters will be given their due. Both have moved from the small conflict of fighting everyday monsters to a god-based mythology. Both have a popular queer relationship dangled in front of the viewers, featuring scenes where they’re “obviously” in love… but will it ever be confirmed? Both have a fanbase that says loudly and confidently that the writers know what they’re doing. Just wait! It’s all been planned! We’ll be rewarded for our patience and soon all the naysayers will be proven wrong.

Thing is, the Supernatural fandom wasn’t rewarded. Right up until a week ago those fans—myself included—had faith that the writers knew what they were doing because they can’t really be that out of touch with their own story...right? It’s not possible. Yet they were, it was, and now that I’ve gotten solid proof of precisely how far a show can go to reject its own logic, themes, and premise, that just makes me more wary of RWBY’s mistakes. Before I had a solid faith that things couldn’t possibly get that bad, that no matter how much RWBY might be messing up in the short term, it will undoubtedly pull it together overall, because what show wouldn’t? Especially a show with such promise and, at times, wonderful storytelling. Well, Supernatural didn’t manage it and frankly I’m not sure what to do with that information.

Seriously. I don’t have any grand conclusion here. It’s not my intention to suggest that anyone should stop watching RWBY, or to claim that it will absolutely fail because Supernatural did. Obviously, we don’t know what will happen until we get to see it in the show. I only want to acknowledge these parallels and the similar journey I see both fanbases on. I can’t help but wonder if, a couple years from now, RWBY fans will be making incredibly optimistic posts about how it’s all coming together, just have some faith, everyone who says that the group won’t get a satisfying ending, or Blake and Yang won’t be confirmed are just mean trolls… only to wake up that Saturday morning and get another metaphorical slap in the face.

It’s something to think about.

But here I’ve spent a page talking about the wrong show. Let’s get into the episode!

We open on a black screen with lots of ambiguous noises. At first I thought this was Oscar struggling in the Hound’s grip or something, but then I remembered that RWBY likes to insert an episode between cliffhangers. I watched Ironwood (presumably) shoot a guy and he only came back this week (though that question still isn’t answered. At this point I kind of wonder if it will be). Oscar was kidnapped last week, which means we won’t get to see him until next week. Or… two weeks from now? RT skips the week of Thanksgiving, don’t they? Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Something horrible happens to Oscar and we need to wait two weeks to find out how it’s resolved. 

Watch him escape the Hound off screen and return to the group with a new outfit 😂

So it’s not Oscar we hear, but Ruby, the last one coming out of the tube. Weiss is in the process of pulling Nora’s ear for that stunt… with a frankly strange looking hand. What’s up with RWBY animating weird hands lately? I’m pretty sure that’s not how anatomy works.

Anyway, Nora counters that this was a “Once in a lifetime experience,” but they were all going to go through the tubes regardless. Weiss isn’t pissed that you sent her through, she’s pissed that you did it unexpectedly when she was alone, heading into enemy territory. But of course, there’s no one in the room to hinder them, so the mistake is meaningless.

We’re setting the tone again though. For the first half of this episode everything is sunshine and giddy adventure, which doesn’t fit the situation at all. It also creates emotional whiplash when I’m suddenly supposed to be super worried about things later on. This sort of about-face works once in a blue moon, as an emotional punch, like we see in Mulan: 

But RWBY does it every other episode, which makes the overall tone of the series confusing instead. Half the time RWBY feels like two different stories—the cartoony tale of girls going on fun adventures, and the traumatic tale of a fantasy war—that have been badly spliced together.

“Alight, Robo-Girl, which way?” May asks and Penny demonstrates why she’s the best for sneaking into a facility. She’s able to map out the whole place, including seeing where everyone is so they can avoid detection. Kudos to RT for going this route. I was worried that they would have Ruby and the others straight up attacking Atlas grunts, knocking them out/potentially even killing them because who cares, right? They’re the bad guys! So I’m glad they’re working to get in and out undetected. Granted, we see in some places that they’re clearly willing to fight the soldiers if it comes to that—they’re reaching for their weapons when Penny opens the final door, expecting the room to be full of people. They were going to attack—but at least they’re trying to lessen that conflict as much as possible. That’s the sort of choice I expect to see from heroes and I’m glad we got it here. 

After scouting the area Penny corrects May: “And my name is Penny,” to which Ruby gives a satisfied “Heh.” I’ve got no problem with Penny rejecting nicknames, even potentially well-meaning ones, because she’s always struggled with her status as a real girl and her name is her own. She gets to decide what others call her. I do, however, have a problem with making the presumed trans character the one who is corrected. Granted yes, we haven’t gotten confirmation in the show that May is trans, but RT doesn’t get to cash in on that rep without likewise suffering the consequences for how the character is treated. You’re telling me that a trans woman is going to roll her eyes when someone asks her to use a specific name? Please give May flaws, yes, she’s a person, but out of all the millions of flaws across the human spectrum, this is the one we’re shown? 

Not to mention Ruby’s continued attitude. It’s like, ‘Yeah, May. Stop being a horrible person who draws attention to the fact that Penny is a robot. I never did that.’ Except when Ruby first met her she didn’t know Penny was a robot. Just like she didn’t know Blake was a faunus—something we’re reminded of this episode. We might assume Ruby wouldn’t have ever made any missteps at the beginning of these relationships, but the fact remains that she got to know both girls before their minority status was ever revealed. Ruby loved them before she ever had to grapple with their differences. 

Put in her place, May then demonstrates that she can make lots of people invisible, not just herself. That’s handy. She creates an invisibility bubble that reminds me of Harry’s invisibility cloak. In the sense that others might not be able to see you, but they can still hear and touch you, which makes sneaking around still pretty challenging.

No sooner have I thought that then two guards get into the elevator with them. The group keeps quiet as the duo discusses how no one can get close to Salem’s storm without “getting shocked right out of the air.” Interesting. And frankly one hell of a roadblock if the Hound escapes into the clouds. Oscar may be gone for a while if he doesn’t escape on his own... The woman also comments about how creepy it is that all the grimm are just hanging out, waiting. It’s “worse than if they’d attacked.”

No it’s not! RT, stop trying to implement the idea that Salem withholding her forces is some epically cool choice. She should have decimated everyone by now and the fact that she hasn’t just shows how transparent the problem is: you’ve created a villain that’s too powerful and now you don’t know what to do with her.

As the group sneaks out of the elevator Nora grins and presses all the buttons, which is, as expected, a dumb move. They’re supposed to be sneaking into this base. If they’re caught they’re going to be thrown in jail at best, killed at worst, but Nora wants to risk that for a practical joke? Again and again we see this insistence on incorporating comedy where it’s not only unnecessary, but actively interferes with other aspects of the scene.

Reaching a terminal, Penny inserts her finger and gains access via Pietro’s credentials. She’s really demonstrating this episode why she’s… pretty terrifying? I mean, Penny is an incredibly powerful fighter with a computer’s view of the world, access to everything in the most powerful Kingdom alongside its information, and she now has Maiden powers to boot. Which, I should add, it took her one fight to master (because remember, the heroes are now always as strong as they need to be to win…). Now that Watts is planning to hack her, I expect her to be an incredibly formidable enemy, just given the amount she could potentially do. I think Penny herself is too kind to exploit all that potential and as we’ll see via Pietro briefly taking control, she doesn’t always have the knowledge to use the tools at her disposal. But in the hands of someone like Watts? He’ll turn Penny into the ultimate weapon.

Access granted, they learn that they have to go “Right through central command!” Of course, Penny makes it sound like a fun game and the spy-movie music/cartoon lecture doesn’t help. Again, tone. It’s adorable! It just doesn’t fit sneaking into a military base with your lives on the line while Salem waits outside. That was a RWBY Chibi moment. 

Penny explains—twice—that Ruby can use her semblance to fly them all through central command and it’s treated like a revelation. At first, I was pretty confused because Ruby has been dong this for ages? She carried Weiss in “Argus Limited” and Nora during the Geist fight. But upon close inspection, what Penny seems to have “figured out” is that Ruby can carry multiple people at once because the “mass doesn’t matter.” Okay. Not a contradiction then, though I think RT could have made it a little more clear that Ruby was shocked at the idea of carrying multiple people, not carrying someone at all.

What I do take issue with though is Ruby mastering this skill instantaneously. I mean, why is Ruby being forced to try this on the fly (pun not intended)—Penny has known the layout of the building since they made this plan. She knew they had to get past central control and that it would be packed with people. She’s obviously thought about Ruby’s semblance a great deal—and why is she succeeding? Give me a Volume 7 where Ruby actually trains in this technique, set up via Harriet’s comment early on about her semblance, and then she’s victorious here when it finally matters. Or give me Ruby assuming she can pull off this incredibly difficult skill only to fall out of her semblance halfway through, a roomful of Atlas personnel staring at them. Then what? 

Not this.

This is a character who does everything perfectly on the first try without ever having to fail. Ruby is boring like this.

Crisis averted, we transfer to Ironwood who is… working with Watts.

What else is there to say? I’ve already laid out all the reasons why this is stupid and makes no sense. Others keep coming onto my posts to explain to me how Ironwood’s awful deeds up until now fully show his decent into villainy, conveniently ignoring the numerous limitations he was under and his choice to do what he thought was best for the world using inaccurate information. Ironwood was always a divisive character and many are happy to ignore the years’ worth of deconstruction done—a man who looks like the Evil Military General but actually isn’t—because they never liked him to begin with. Not liking him is fine, no one has to like any character, but I’m honestly shocked by the number of viewers who refuse to acknowledge how bad the writing is, even if it means defending a character they hate a teensy tiny bit (#SupernaturalVibes). As a friend put it, Ironwood now feels like a caricature of his former self, a Pure Evil Ironwood who appeared out of nowhere and is now here to stay. He shoots kids. He shoots unarmed civilians. He teams up with Salem’s men and tries to hack Penny. These are undeniably horrible acts, they’ve just been given to a character who never would have done them until RT randomly flipped the Evil switch.

The “RWBY” tag, alongside all the fluff moments of this episode, is now filled with posts encouraging Marrow to turn, yelling at the Ace Ops for being “bootlickers,” and capslock screaming at anyone who dared to speak up for Ironwood. It still sucks to have bad writing twisted into an attack on the fans and it’s going to continue to suck until at least the rest of Volume 8. I’d like to again remind everyone that Qrow teamed up with Tyrian a few episodes, yet because he’s again in Ruby’s graces, that was twisted into a ‘not that bad’ situation. The issue isn’t really that Ironwood is teaming up with one of Salem’s subordinates, but that he’s doing it to go against RWBYJNOR… the second a character teams up with Salem to get what Ruby wants (to not have her team in jail) then that’s totally fine… but that’s a wrinkle a lot of people are happy to ignore. 

So yeah, Ironwood is an idiot now too. Like Qrow also was last Volume. He really thinks Watts isn’t going to betray him somehow? Although, I do wonder if the chance to ruin Pietro’s creation outweighs his loyalty to Salem, but the point is that Ironwood can’t be sure of that either. At least he’s smart enough to keep Watts under continuous guard. He puts his hand on Watts’ shoulders and goes, “I’d hate for us to have to try motivating you. Again.”

So he tortures people too now? Like I said, caricature. This was Ironwood and we were given no clear idea of where he disappeared to.

RIP a great character.

Watts notices though that Pietro has apparently accessed a secure area and alerts Ironwood to it. I laugh that the information is just ¡EMERGENCY! In large, red letters. Ironwood immediately makes an announcement for everyone to be on guard. It’s a level 3 lockdown — that won’t impede the group leaving via airship! — and they’re to use “lethal force” if necessary. Weiss is disgusted.

As much as I disagree with making Ironwood into a shoot first, ask questions later kind of guy  — he’s definitely wrong to be doing this — I also find myself rolling my eyes at reactions like that. Yes, Weiss. You attacked four operatives until they were knocked unconscious. Prevented an entire city from escaping Salem’s wrath, endangering them all. Now you’re breaking into the most classified room in the Kingdom to steal an equally qualified project and use it for your own means. There’s no reason why Ironwood would level his might against you. Is death still an extreme response? Yes. Should Weiss be acting like Ironwood is crazy for responding to them in an extreme manner? No. Her remark makes it sound like Ironwood is attacking her poor, innocent, defenseless team… not the team that’s been lying to him, betraying him, attacking him, and stealing from him. Not the team carrying deadly weapons into a facility to take what they want at any cost. 

With their presence known, May wants to go grab an airship. That’s the series now.

Meanwhile, Penny insists that they can still complete their mission and we see Nora come up with some sort of plan. 

Except, what plan was this?? What did she say to the group? ‘Hey, let’s wait around until some guy conveniently walks by with a full cup of coffee. Then we can trip him and the mug will fly alllll the way across this gap to land on a terminal, startling at least two workers. Except this guy will be hated by the whole room because he’s always messing things up—his coffee mug has been changed from #1 Dad to #1 Dud—so that this little mishap will create a ruckus that gets everyone involved, giving us the opportunity to slip by them all.’

Seriously, what? This kind of “plan” only works with someone like Clover, where we know he has a good luck semblance and thus all these unlikely pieces fall into place. I could absolutely buy Clover smiling smugly, working under the knowledge that he just has to wait around a few minutes and something will come along that works entirely in his favor. But Nora? How did she know any of this would happen? Obviously she couldn’t have, so what exactly was their intention if this coffee carrying, hated guy didn’t show up? RWBY, your contrived plots are showing.

I do, however, love the grimm Jaws poster. Jaws is an absolute favorite of mine, so seeing a reference to it in RWBY? A funny one at that? It almost makes up for how bad this episode is lol.

Because frankly I’m bored. The group sneaks around, criticizes May and Ironwood, briefly confuses me about Ruby’s semblance knowledge, and gets through tons of Atlas personnel in the stupidest way possible. I have to watch this guy running out of the room with coffee on his pants screaming, “WHHHYYY???” and he doesn’t notice the five girls standing right next to him. It’s silly. It’s boring. Luckily for RWBY, things are about to pick up in the second half.

After Ruby gets them upstairs and the final room is also conveniently devoid of people, Pietro takes control of Penny—including yellow possession eyes like Oscar has with Ozpin—and he...gets Amity started. That’s it. After a whole volume of ‘It’s not finished yet’ and ‘We barely have the resources’ and ‘Robyn stole what we were using to do idek what with’ he presses buttons for a while and they’re in. How good for them!

I do love that Penny calls Pietro “Dad” though. I’m here for the android-father relationship.

While Pietro works we turn to Blake, Weiss, and Nora. Blake tries to convince the audience that Ruby and Yang had an actual fight with, “I’ve never seen Yang and Ruby fight like this.” Yeah, because no one in this group has ever said the sliiiiightest thing against Ruby, so you all read the tinniest disagreement as a “fight” to be worried about. I mean, doesn’t RT have friends to draw inspiration from? They’ve never disagreed about Huge and Complex Questions before? Never gotten pissed and then shrugged it off the next time you want to text? RWBY’s idea of a diverse friend group feels like many other writers’ idea of a sibling relationship: anyone with an actual sibling goes, “What is this?” Speaking of, Weiss explains that sisters often have “very different ideas about what’s right” as if, again, people don’t have different ideas? Just in general? Why is this suddenly a sister thing? She’s clearly thinking about Winter, but doesn’t actually bring it up, so all we’re left with is the same situation we had last Volume. Weiss thinks she’s right, Winter is wrong, and they’re just going down their separate roads because there’s definitely no reason to re-examine any choices here. It’s all static. 

Until Winter betrays Ironwood, of course. 

Nora tries to reassure Blake that the group will be fine (ha) even though they’ve split, the irony being that we, the audience, know they just got wrecked by the Hound. Jaune is a great leader though, Oscar has grown so much, Yang could defend them all in a fight, and Ren… well, she can’t think of anything to say about Ren. I hate the Nora is acting like Ren has drawn away from her for no reason, after she chose to kiss him—without consent—rather than listening to what was bothering him, then proceeded to pretend that this mystery problem never existed. What does she expect? I do, however, like the general acknowledgement that she doesn’t know who she is without Ren. Who is Nora? Someone who is “strong and hit[s] stuff?”

See, this feels like RT writing self-consciously because Nora doesn’t have much of a personality. Oh, on a surface level she’s bursting with it, but past the bubbly exterior? That single layer? We can add maybe one thing to this “Likes Ren, is strong, hits stuff” list: she’s funny. That’s it. Anything else we might add like “she’s loyal” or “she’s kind” is just a generic characteristic of this entire team. They’re all meant to be crazy talented good guys and even the “is strong” aspect is suspect when others frequently pull off attacks as showy as Nora’s hammer hits. So who is she? What are Nora’s dreams? What are her hobbies? Her fears? Her history? We’ve seen a single flashback of her on the streets and one scene back at Beacon where she listens to music and reads a magazine. Seven years worth of material and that’s it. There’s a reason why the go-to, non-combat action for Nora in fics is “makes pancakes.” We know so little about her still. 

So I was excited for a brief, shining moment. Yes! Explore who Nora is outside of being strong and hitting stuff! … and then her big action this episode is, as she says, being strong and hitting something. Don’t get me wrong, outside of that setup it’s pretty epic. I like Nora going to those lengths to save Penny and I absolutely love the repercussions of the choice: a broken aura, passing out, and badass lightning scars all over her arms and neck (especially when women often aren’t allowed to accumulate scars in visual media). That’s pretty damn awesome. It’s just that it comes on the heels of the story insisting that Nora is more than this, that we’ll learn something new about her… and we haven’t. This is indeed cool, but we already knew that Nora was willing to crazy lengths by hitting things really hard. That’s already her established norm.

At least this moment has some really nice characterization alongside the stupidity. The conversation between Ruby and Penny is just plain stupid. Penny wants to stay to help with the evacuations, but Pietro says she should come with him in Amity. Why? As Ruby says, because then she’ll be up in the sky and Salem won’t be able to access the relic.

That’s what Ironwood wanted to do! We could have had this conflict episodes ago with you all working with him! I really can’t with this cast. Also, the rest of this is still confusing. I thought pretty much everyone was in the slums by now, so what evacuation are they talking about? Do they plan to evacuate everyone in Mantle out of the kingdom somehow… like Ironwood wanted to do with Atlas? And why are they acting like Amity is evacuating some people too? I thought they were just using it as a communication device? To add insult to injury, Ruby then contradicts herself a minute later when she tells Harriet that Ironwood can’t have the relic because “Salem will find her way to the relic no matter where you go.” Ruby, if Salem can access the relic high in the sky she can also access Penny in the sky. If you believe that literally nowhere is safe then why are you sending Penny away under the claim that she—and via her the Relic—will be safer? If you want Penny in Amity to lessen the chance of Salem getting the Relic, why can’t Penny be in Atlas while simultaneously (hopefully) getting a whole slew of people to safety? 

I’m continually confused by this “plan” of theirs. Their claims just flip-flop according to what (supposedly) contrasts them with Ironwood. Even though that’s not actually the case.

Penny is me, sad while watching this train wreck of a scene. 

So yeah, the Ace Ops are here. I’ve wondered since the trailer why Weiss looked smug while everyone else was startled. Turns out it’s because of her line, “So, your first time losing to us wasn’t enough?” I can’t express how much I dislike all the girls’ personalities now. I want to shake some compassion and humility into them. Plus, they never should have won that fight in the first place. Marrow yells, “We were holding back!” but coming from the team’s weakest member it reads as defensive. Like we’re supposed to go, ‘Lol yeah right, Marrow. Just admit you got your ass kicked,’ even tough the Ace Ops should have wiped the floor with them, holding back or not. That’s my biggest takeaway from this fight: it’s the reverse of what we should have gotten. The Ace Ops should have beaten Team RWBY with ease and struggled greatly against an android Maiden, not falling before a bunch of teens and succeeding against Penny if not for Nora’s timely breakthrough. Your half-trained cast of growing heroes should not come across as more powerful than an intelligently designed weapon now wielding magic.  

Before the fight starts we get a whole lot of lines that are, frankly, frustrating. Vine tells Penny, “I thought you were supposed to protect the people, not hurt them” which is true enough. Penny is taking action that is putting a lot of people in danger, regardless of the fact that Ruby is at the helm. Problem is, the Ace Ops then blame her for Winter’s injuries and “stealing” the power? That’s not the issue here. The issue is Penny’s blind loyalty to Ruby, but by having the Ace Ops back a stance that is clearly inaccurate—Penny didn’t cause Winter’s injuries, Cinder did; Penny didn’t steal the powers, she was encouraged to take them—it makes them come across as Very Evil people who will twist things to make poor Penny look like the villain. Even if this is a case of Ace Ops having bad intel (which seems unlikely. Wouldn’t Winter have told them what happened?) RT has avoided letting the Ace Ops take a justified stance here because that would make them look too sympathetic… even though they do have multiple justified stances to take. Like, ‘Hey, stop keeping half a kingdom here where Salem can easily kill them all’ or, ‘Hey, why did you spend months betraying Ironwood and then turn on us instead of trying to find a compromise?’ Even, ‘Why did your uncle help kill our leader?’ There’s plenty that the Ace Ops should be rightfully pissed about, so choosing Penny and Winter out of everything feels like RT is firmly backing them into Ironwood’s corner: you’re just bad now and bad people blame innocent girls, rather than acknowledging the actual wrongs done against them. 

So we have Ruby contradicting herself and the Ace Ops backing warped ideas that make them look worse than they actually are. Adding to the stupidity is the fact that Elm mentions that Winter is in “critical condition” and Weiss… doesn’t care. Harriet then tells Ruby that she’s “throwing [her] in jail right next to your uncle, runt” and... Ruby doesn’t care. Qrow is missing and Ruby just found out he’s been captured by Ironwood, yet there’s no reaction whatsoever. This show continues to go hard on the ‘screw adults’ mentality, huh? Ozpin needs to keep quiet and is horrible for coming back. Ironwood is now a cartoon villain. Winter made the wrong choice so no one cares about her anymore, not even her sister. The Ace Ops remain enemies despite trying to talk things out. Qrow? Barely know him. Who’s he? This is a Ruby loves Penny episode. There isn’t enough emotional nuance for her to care about him too.

The sad thing is I adore Nuts&Dolts. In a different context these moments would be a goldmine for me. 

If anything, this episode feels worse than the majority of last week’s because there are good things here that have been thrown into a bad setup. I can’t get excited for the group’s battles when I see who they’re attacking. It’s hard to squee over Ruby hugging Penny when she doesn’t react to Qrow. Watching Nora go all Thor feels like it only has half its potential when it’s coming out of a very messing, ‘I’m more than just being strong and hitting things… which is why I’ll continue being strong and hitting things.’ RWBY has excellent moments set into a terrible story.

The fight, at least, is exciting. The Ace Ops goad Penny into stepping away so they can trap the rest of Ruby’s team—smart—and she’s forced to hold her own while Weiss tries to break through with her knight, then Nora overloads the system. To be frank, I’m not great at analyzing combat. Not unless I’m looking for something specific like whether a win is justified. I’ve already mentioned above the broad issue of the Ace Ops very nearly beating the most powerful fighter next to Salem herself, yet failing so spectacularly against Team RWBY. Outside of that context though? I really enjoyed this. Lots of tight action, creative attacks, teamwork, some emotional pauses throughout… it feels like a pretty solid battle. Put it on Youtube as a clip, outside of the rest of the story’s messiness, and you’ve got yourself a fantastic watch. 

We can’t stay in the combat forever though. During all this Weiss calls the Ace Ops “cowards” for making it four vs. one. You know, RWBY should really just do away with dialogue and make the show purely action because the cast frequently sounds so stupid when they speak. Like her comment about Ironwood’s lockdown… really Weiss? ‘Yes, we might be wanted criminals who betrayed this group in the worst possible way, but how dare they not do the honorable thing and have three of their teammates sit out while trying to capture us? Even though the girl they’re trying to capture has magic. I mean, the nerve of them!’

Weiss, at this point I’m not sure how to explain to you that the people you’ve made into your enemies do not owe you a fair fight. 

Another detail: we get to see Ruby fall off the edge of the walkway and this time she remembers she can fly! A definite improvement from Volume 6.

Finally: by the time Penny’s eyes go full Maiden in Elm’s grip, I think we’ve seen everything from our trailer. Episode 4 will truly be a mystery.

Ironwood has, of course, been watching the fight this whole time. When it looks like the Ace Ops will lose against the team he means to send in reinforcements, but Watts says he has “a message for your operatives.” Instead of capturing Penny they steal one of her swords instead, ending with a shot on Marrow looking conflicted.

Because remember, there’s no actual moral grayness in this story. The protagonists are right and everyone else is wrong. It’s (supposedly) black and white. Which means that if the Ace Ops have any hope of surviving this Volume and being seen as anything other than evil bootlickers, they have to join with Ruby. Marrow seems primed to do that.

Am I surprised? No. Disappointed? Always lol.

May has the airship ready to go and they fly off… despite the shields. And the lockdown. Consistency? Who’s she? Nora is said to be “in bad shape” and after another hug Penny leaves to hide in Amity, even though Ruby thinks that hiding is a useless, cowardly choice. Just not when she and her allies choose to do it.

We end the episode with Watts receiving Penny’s sword and making the statement, “If you can’t beat them… then make them join you.” I have to say, his cheesy villainy is something I continue to enjoy, even if it’s heavy handed at times. Watts is just fun. I do have to say though: if Penny is hacked, what does that say about her agency? We double-downed on the ‘real girl’ narrative by giving her the Maiden powers, but she’s simultaneously synthetic enough that a single piece of her can remove all autonomy? It once again feels like RT isn’t sure what point they’re trying to make, they’re just chucking a lot of themes at the wall and seeing what sticks. Still, we’ll have to let it all play out before making any judgements.

And that’s it for this week. It seems like this is a slightly shorter recap than normal, though that may be because I struggle with discussing pure action sequences, which made up a decent chunk of this episode. I’ll no doubt return to the Ace Ops vs. Penny fight when I’m not on a self-imposed, one day deadline for posting. The only thing left is to update the Bingo Card, but I don’t think we made any headway this week. So... good job, RWBY? 

I’m still going to hold off on the civilian’s square until Salem’s army actually attacks, as well as the two day timeline square.

No Winter this episode

Watts is teaming up with Ironwood which is… so much worse than him teaming up with Jacques again. Does a square get an X if the canon is even worse than what you assumed it would be??

Maria was mentioned this episode. Jury’s out on whether she’ll actually do anything.

Atlas is still standing, we knew Penny was heading towards a hack so it’s not much of a cliffhanger, no Qrow, no Ozpin, no Neo or Cinder.

It certainly looks like we can check off “The team gets Amity up and running,” but let’s just see if there are any problems next episode. If the problem is only ‘We would have launched it if not for Salem’s attack’ or something, I’m checking it off. The point is it would have worked.

I’m also leaning towards “More obvious Blake/Yang implications without confirming a relationship” given Blake’s heart-to-heart with Nora… but let’s see if the Volume does anything more egregious.

All in all (and perhaps despite what I’ve written above), I don’t think it’s fair to totally drag this episode. As said, this feels like a strong episode in a bad story, something that I would have LOVED if a) Salem weren’t here and b) the ‘ethical dilemma’ wasn’t boiled down to a ‘Team Ruby is good’ and ‘Ironwood and everyone associated with him is evil’ situation. It’s an episode whose tone and character action belong in a different version of RWBY. If you gave us this fun episode in an earlier Volume against a Pure Evil antagonist? It would have been great. 

Ah well. It is what it is. Expect more emotional whiplash when we come back and everyone learns that Oscar has been kidnapped by Salem’s talking pooch 🙃

See you then! 💜

[higuchimon]

[fanfic] Not A Good Job

He slipped in through the window, sneering at how easy this was.  For all that this Haou had a monstrous reputation as a duelist, he didn't seem very aware of how to keep unwanted guests from entering his home.

Snowdun kept his tail tucked close to himself, ears perked and nose drawing in air, ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble.  But so far, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  He could tell that there were spirits in the area, but this was the castle of a warlord.  Spirits were all over the place.

So carefully he moved forward, finding the areas that would leave no trace of his passing.  He passed rooms where people talked to one another about whatever the servants of Haou spoke about, none of them noticing anything as he did so.  He sneered to himself again; this would probably be the easiest gig that he'd pulled off in his entire life.

Somewhere around here, he knew, would be Haou's treasure room.  He didn't know what sort of treasure it was, but he knew one thing - Haou was a king, a mighty warlord who'd ruled this land for quite some time now, and that meant he had treasure gathered somewhere.  Treasure that Snowdun would identify, decide if it was worth his efforts, and then return to take away.

This wasn't even close to the first time that he'd done this.  Snowdun enjoyed going around to whatever fortresses he could find, scoping out their most valuable treasures, and taking them away to sell for money.  He'd done it to Brron several times; the Mad King hadn't even noticed.  There were other as well that he'd dealt with over the years. 

Though he wasn't ever going to try sneaking into the Fallen Angel fortress ever again.  He wasn't even certain which one of them had caught him, but he'd seen the look in the eyes of Fallen Angel Lucifer, and he never wanted to see that ever again.

He shook his head to dismiss the memory and focused on what he was doing now.  Where would Haou keep his treasures?  The most sensible place would be down below, where most people would never be able to get to.  Carefully he flicked down there, bypassing guards and warriors alike, sometimes having to wait in hidden alcoves for half an hour or more at the time.  He found himself quite grateful that he didn't have anywhere else to be.  Not to mention that he'd neither eaten nor drunk before coming here.  The last thing he would have wanted in this situation was to have a sudden call of nature and not know where the proper area was!

But slowly he made his way downward.  He listened to those he passed to determine if any of them said anything that might be useful.  Once he stopped, concealed by a fine tapestry, and paid strict attention to the conversation.

"Did you pick up anything interesting?"

Snowdun resisted the urge to peer from behind the tapestry and see who it was that spoke.  These voices weren't familiar, but anything could provide him with information.

"A few things."  This voice whispered of flame and burning death.  Snowdun flinched briefly at the sound. He'd never been fond of fire.  He closed his eyes, trying to ignore that and focus just on the words.  "I put them in my hoard."

Hoard.  Snowdun licked his lips.  Hoards were treasure.  Now all he needed was a way to get to the hoard.  But - that could also mean - he had to look.

Slowly he peeked out, keeping himself as concealed as he could while still seeing what was going on.  That wasn't easy but he did have a lot of experience. It mostly involved staying very still, since movement attracted attention.

Two monsters stood there chatting with one another.  One he recognized as Skull Bishop - one of Haou's chief servants, his Death Duelists.  Snowdun had made a point of ensuring he knew what all five of those, and the two or three others who were known to be close to Haou, looked like.  At least this wasn't Snoww, Magician of Dark World or Freed the Dark General. 

The other one, however, was even more terrifying to him.  He bit back a whimper of fear at the sight of Dark Blaze Dragon, a creature of pure flame.  It hovered above the floor, tail twined about itself, voice hissing with the flames that composed it.  Snowdun shivered; he'd never robbed a dragon's hoard before, let alone a dragon of fire.

Never robbed a dragon's hoard before.  He considered that carefully, then slowly smiled to himself.  He didn't know any other thieves who'd done that either.  While robbing Haou would be impressive and worth a great deal, robbing a dragon's hoard would be even more so.  And if he could do both?  They would sing of his exploits forever.

He kept himself back behind the tapestry, listening harder.  There had to be a hint of where the treasure would be.  Did Dark Blaze Dragon keep their hoard in the castle or did they have somewhere else to store their treasures?  What were they even doing here?  Did they guard Haou's treasure?

"Haou-sama said I could keep it,"  the fiery dragon purred, tail moving back and forth casually.  "He has no use for it."

"That doesn't surprise me."  Skull Bishop agreed.  "Are you going to attend dinner tonight?"

The flaming tail shifted back and forth, possibly in some form of negation given the following words.  "I would prefer to hunt for my dinner tonight.  I've caught the scent of something interesting and I wish to track it down."

Snowdun winced.  He did so hope that it wasn't him the dragon hunted.  He thought he could hide enough - he was very good at that - but being chased never set well with him. 

The two of them bid farewell and departed, each in a different direction, neither of which were near Snowdun.  He leaned his head against the cool flagstones and pondered his options.  Tracking Dark Blaze Dragon would probably lead him to the dragon's hoard or maybe even Haou's treasure.  Following Skull Bishop might not award such treasures. But continuing downward stood both a chance of finding the loot and doing so without being caught.  If he found nothing, then he could take another chance at a later time.

Once he was certain that no one else was out there, he moved onward, looking for a way to the lower regions.  He headed down a row of stairs, through another corridor or two, then more stairs.  This wasn't the first time he'd had to go so far down to find treasure but by the time he spied a wide set of double doors, reinforced with steel, but with no guards outside of it, he looked forward to carrying as much out of here as he could right now.  He had an enchanted bag with him that he'd intended to use to gather a sample of the treasure to carry back and ask his contacts how much they were worth before going back to take the rest of it.

Now he would pick everything up that wasn't nailed down.  Haou could and probably would take more from wherever he got this.  He didn't need all of it.  He didn't need any of it.  He controlled his minions through absolute terror.  They didn't get paychecks. 

Snowdun waited behind a pillar, watching and sniffing.  He could still smell hints of fire here, so Dark Blaze Dragon probably came down here a lot.  This might even be his hoard after all.  It wasn't labeled; it could be anything.  Slowly finally Snowdun moved forward and rested his fingers against the door.  It didn't seem locked.

In retrospect, that should have sent him fleeing as fast as he could go.  But at the moment he pushed the door in and entered, still trying to keep himself aware and yet in awe at what he saw.

Treasure chests everywhere.  Each one sealed and locked, but he was a thief.  It was what he was, a Burglar.  He knew treasure when he saw it, and he knew that these would bring him wealth beyond his wildest dreams, before or after he sold it all.  He whisked out his bag and started to drag it over the nearest chest.

One by one each chest ended up in the bag.  Snowdun stopped paying attention to what else happened in the room as he worked on clearing it out.  Hours must have passed before he finally turned back to the door, ready to leave.  He'd done a very good job.  There wasn't a single chest or random coin or jewel left.  The last item he held and admired, a glorious golden goblet, set with diamonds and rubies.  Quite gaudy and probably worthless to drink out of, but Snowdun liked it. 

But when he raised his head, ready to slip out, he stood shocked.  There in the door stood those two same ones from before - Skull Bishop and Dark Blaze Dragon.  Snowdun growled low.  This wasn't going to be a good night.

"I told you that I smelled a thief,"  Dark Blaze Dragon declared, tail lashing back and forth, setting small bits of dust on fire as they did.  "A Burglar, in fact."  A tongue of flame licked at their jowls.  "Dinner."

Skull Bishop chuckled, regarding Snowdun as if he were some sort of dirt beneath his feet.  He fingered his great sword.  "You were right indeed.  Now, thief, set the bag down and I might consider requesting Haou-sama to spare your life."

Snowdun shifted, gripping harder onto the bag.  He'd taken this all - he wasn't going to give it up.  "Why would I do that?  I'm not hurting anyone!"

"You're attempting to take what's mine,"  Dark Blaze Dragon hissed, tail flashing harder, tiny bits of flame falling from their claws.  "And I will not allow that.  Haou-sama has assigned me to guard this place and I am free to devour any who enter here without permission."

Snowdun backed off, clutching the bag and goblet close to himself.  He didn't have any spare hands to defend himself and he didn't see any other ways out of here.  Skull Bishop stalked forward, boots clicking on the floor.

"If you choose not to surrender what you've stolen, then my companion will roast you.  Surrender the items and you might be spared.  Haou could find a use for you."

That didn't encourage Snowdun at all.  He shook his head. "There's nothing that I would want to do for Haou!"  He judged the distance between the two of them and darted forward, intent on sliding between them and pelting his way up the stairs.  He would figure out what to do after that - but finding the nearest window and jumping out of it remained one of his favorite plans.  Most people didn't expect that and while they stood around in shock, he could get to safety.

He was a rat, after all.  Hiding in plain sight was one of his specialties.

He'd scarcely begun to slide between them before Skull Bishop's heavy sword slashed down onto him, knocking him to one side and sending that goblet skittering across the floor and out of sight.  Only the fact it was the flat of the blade saved his arm from having been taken off.  Snowdun skittered to one side, uncomfortably aware of how close he was to Dark Blaze Dragon, especially when one fiery claw caught onto the back of his shirt.

"Fleeing isn't an option,"  the flame dragon hissed.  "Especially not when you carry what isn't yours with you."  A claw of flame wrenched the bag away from him, then the creature sniffed even more at him. "He has more treasure on his person,"  Dark Blaze Dragon reported.  "Search him."

Snowdun wanted to get out of there.  But Dark Blaze Dragon shoved him towards Skull Bishop, who wrapped one powerful hand around his throat, choking his air off.  The rat creature struggled and squeaked, tail lashing furiously, his metallic claw trying to grab hold of Skull Bishop's hand and get it off of him, but to no avail.  If he'd been able to get a grip, it might have been different.

Coldly and clinically, Skull Bishop searched him, pinning him up against the wall with one hand.  One by one he pulled out other bags that Snowdun had with him, dropping them with small metallic clinks onto the ground.  He shook his head.

"I'd heard rumors of a skilled thief.  You might be useful indeed to Haou-sama.  This is your last chance.  Agree to serve my master or face the consequences of refusal."

Snowdun twitched harder and harder, tail lashing hard against the cold stone, trying not to look too often at the dragon and how the dragon kept staring at him, as if he had a sign over his head reading "good food here".  He wasn't doing a very good job of it.  "What would he want me to do?"  If he could buy just time enough to escape that would be good enough.  He had no intentions whatsoever of doing anything that over-arrogant human wanted him to do. 

"You are skilled in getting in and out of places without being seen.  You can go to where people resist Haou and worm your way into a position to open gates for our army.  In return, you would be allowed to live."  Skull Bishop informed him.

Snowdun snorted as harshly as he could.  Speaking wasn't his greatest strength, especially not not when he had only what air he could get in through Skull Bishop's grip on his neck.  But he tried his best to appear unaffected - and knew he still wasn't doing a good job of this.

"Be his little run ahead dog?  Why would I do that?"  Every word was one more moment that he had to live.  Each moment he lived was one more moment to find a way out of here.  He thought he saw one, slim as it might be, but he had to walk this carefully. He fought to keep away a moan of fear just at the thought of Haou and having to do anything that he said.

Skull Bishop's lips performed a movement that in someone else might have been considered a smile.  Snowdun wasn't so certain about it.  He thought it might mean the same thing.  Or at least be intended to.

"Because if you don't, then you're going to be killed.  You won't even be allowed the honor of a duel - if you even know how."

Snowdun had to admit to himself that he didn't know how.  He'd never gone to the effort to learn, not when thievery came so much easier to him.  He twitched harder, then sank back against the wall, relinquishing all efforts to get away.

"Do I really have a choice?"  He sagged back, hoping this would allow him some air if nothing else.  At least he wasn't yet to the point of not being able to speak at all.  Though he didn't doubt Skull Bishop would get him there with little effort.

Dark Blaze Dragon's tail swished ever so lightly.  Tiny bits of trash on the floor flared up in its wake.  "You can choose to serve Haou - or you can choose to be my dinner.  I can tell you which one I would prefer."

Skull Bishop shifted his grip so that Snowdun could actually breath but wasn't touching the floor at all.  "I'll introduce you to Haou-sama."

Snowdun found himself carried along like a child in a sack.  His own sacks were taken by Dark Blaze Dragon into the vault and the last he ever saw of them included the dragon tearing open the bags and starting to sort out the treasure as it tumbled out in a waterfall of silver and gold with thousands of sparkles of gemstones.  He wished that he would have the chance to come get it all again.

But he told himself over and over as he was dragged up the stairs he'd worked his way down so carefully that even if he had to open the way for Haou's army, that also meant that he could open the way for anyone who might want to enter into Haou's castle.

If he were stupid enough to trust a Burglar, then Haou deserved whatever he got.

The End

Notes: I do have plans for a sequel. One day. But not today. Also, I love the Death Duelists and I wish we’d seen more of them. Well, that’s what fanfic is here for!

[danurso]

Salem's favorite butler - Part 3

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

(Took some time, but the ending is here)

Jaune: *walking with the group through the corridors*

Yang: so, what's the plan?

Ruby: i don't know yet.

Nora: why don't you blast salem with your laser eyes or something like that?

Ozcar: it would be useless, she would just come back to life like she did countless times before.

Weiss: then what are we going to do?

Jeanne: i don't know, all i know is that we need to find a way to destroy salem.

Weiss: easier said than done, we have no idea how to defeat her remember?

Jeanne: i know but we have to find a way to destroy her, she's been acting odd for a long time now, and we have no idea what her real plans are.

Jaune: *chuckles*

Yang: something funny?

Jaune: yes, you whispering plans to destroy my queen is quite amusing, specially since you have no idea on what to do or is going on.

Jeanne: then tell us what is going on? I think is pretty obvious that Salem is evil and is trying to wipe mankind away from earth.

Jaune: you don't need worry about that, mankind will still live to see another day.

Ruby: what do you mean?

Jaune: my queen has more important things to deal with right now than our pitiful race. *stops in front of a large door*

Ozcar: and what would be more important to salem than destroying mankind?

Jaune: you'll see. *opening the door*

Salem: *on the bed with her hair down* jaune?

Jaune: *walking in and bowing* yes my queen, i brought your guests as you requested.

Salem: *sighs* how many times do i have to repeat myself. . .

RWBY/JN_R/Ozcar/Qrow: *walks in the room before freezing and gasping, some of them even letting their jaws fall to the ground*

Salem: *holding a blonde baby in her arms while having a small white haired girl clinging and sleeping on her arm* . . .you're my husband, you don't need to act as my butler anymore.

Jaune: *chuckles* i may be your husband, but that doesn't take away my responsibilities as your butler.

Salem: i should punish you for ignoring what i say.

Jaune: and as your loyal butler, i'll gladly accept the punishment my queen.

Salem: . . . *sigh* i'm too tired to punish you, it took some time for saphir to fall asleep, blanc at least fell asleep as soon as she hugged me.

Jaune: *smiles* of course she did, you have a soothing motherly aura afterall.

Salem: giving me these sweet words and this idiotic smile won't spare you from your punishment, are you aware of that?

Jaune: *still smiling* of course i am my queen.

Salem: now, *looks at the still extremely shocked group* it took you all long enough to reach this place.

RWBY/JN_R/Ozcar/Qrow: . . .

Salem: Jaune? what is wrong with them? Do they not talk?

Jaune: i don't know my queen, they were quite talkative a few moments ago.

Jeanne: j-jaune. . .

Jaune: yes?

Jeanne: a-are these. . .your. . .y-your k-k-ki-

Jaune: my children? Yes they are.

Jeanne: *gets struck by a imaginary lightning*

Jaune: *smile widens* the girl clinging on my queen is blanc while the boy sleeping on her arms is saphir.

Jeanne: i-i. . .why. . .when. . .how!?

Jaune: *raises eyebrow* our parents never told you about that? Well, it's fairly simple, when a man and a woman really love each other they-

Jeanne: *blushes* i-i know how that works you idiot!

Jaune: really? Then i don't get your question.

Jeanne: you don't get it!? I'M ASKING WHY DID YOU AND THIS MONSTER-

Jaune: *flames on his eyes flare, giving her a cold look*

Jeanne: *shivers*

Jaune: *flames fade, and still smiling politely* i will have to ask you for silence once more my dear sister. As my queen just said, it took a lot of time for our children to fall asleep, and so i would rather avoid loud noises to not wake them up. Also. . . *vanishes*

Jeanne: wha-

Jaune: *re-appears right in front of her, giving her a freezing glare and dropping for the first time his polite smile, replacing it with a way more somber expression* don't think for a second that i will spare you just because you are my sister, my queen is everything to me, so if you lack respect with her once more, i will end you.

Jeanne: *shaking terrified*

Jaune: *turns around and walks back to salem's bed, turning back to them with his polite persona back in place*

Salem: you know, sometimes you're scarier than me.

Jaune: i'm sorry if i scared you my queen, but you know i tend to lose my temper whenever anyone insults you.

Salem: you are forgiven, but for now try to hold your temper, these people are bound to hate and despise me, so much that i don't even know if they'll accept my proposal.

Ozcar: proposal? What kind of proposal?

Salem: a truce, at least for the time being.

RWBY/JN_R: a WHAT!?

Jaune: *eyes flare* mind your volume, please.

RWBY/JN_R/Ozcar/Qrow: *shivers*

Salem: i said i wanted to propose a truce, it's the reason i didn't let anything hurt you on your way here and why i suspended my operations awhile ago.

Ruby: are you. . .are you really proposing that?

Salem: yes. . .being a mother again made me reconsider a lot of things, as did my marriage with jaune. I still see mankind as a worthless race who deserves to be wiped away from remnant, but at least some of them have their own worth, and both me and jaune wanted to raise our children teaching them about this worth.

RWBY/JN_R/Ozcar/Qrow: *speechless*

Salem: so i will make this proposal, all of my agents will go out of the field and my grimm will stop pushing against the walls of your kingdoms. Of course the grimm won't stop, they are a natural force of destruction after all, but without me controlling them they will get less aggressive and coordinated.

Ozcar: and what do you want in exchange?

Salem: Peace. For me, my husband and my family. I'm honestly tired of this war, and what i have with Jaune is way more important to me than our pointless fight, so now all i want is to live in peace with my husband and my children.

Yang: oh really? And how do we know you're not going to go berserk when your kids and jaune grow old and die? It already happened twice with you, how do we know it won't happen a third time?

Salem: you can't, it's as simple as that.

Ruby: then-

Salem: but i doubt that will happen, since by the time they perish i will most likely have perished as well.

Jeanne: cut it out, we know you're immortal.

Salem: i was immortal.

Ozcar: what do you mean with that?

Salem: the god of light cursed me with immortality a long time ago, saying it was a punishment that would only go away when i learned the value of life. . .a lot of things changed when i got pregnant with blanc and had to confront a lot of feelings i kept buried for more than a millenia, i'm aware of how ridiculous and impossible it might sound to you ozma but i changed, for once i decided to focus on the life inside my belly instead of the death of the race i hate so much, i forgot about my revenge, and one day i realized that something was different.

Ozcar: what exactly?

Salem: well, i thinks better to show instead of telling. *raises her hands, one of her nails getting sharper and sharper before she uses it to cut the palm of her hand* see?

Jeanne: and what exactly does this-

Ozcar: wait a second mrs.arc.

Jeanne: what?

Ozcar: . . .

Salem: *with blood coming out of her hand*

Ozcar: *with wide eyes* it's not closing. . .

Jeanne: what?

Ozcar: the wound on her hand. . .it's not closing.

Weiss: wait, does that means she-

Salem: yes, to answer your questions, i am mortal. The curse was lifted some time ago, though i can't say for sure when it happened exactly.

Jaune: *coming in with a first-aid kit and patching up her hand* and while i know you're happy about it my queen, you shouldn't hurt yourself like that every time you want to check your mortality.

Salem: you worry too much about me.

Jaune: *smiles* because i love you my queen.

Salem: *smiles* i'm aware.

Jeanne: what do we do now professor? Now that she's not immortal anymore we have a chance.

Ozcar: . . . . .salem.

Salem: yes?

Ozcar: *looking directly into her eyes* . . .

Salem: . . .

Ozcar: . . .farewell, we accept your proposal.

RWBY/JN_R: w-what!?

Blake: are you serious!?

Weiss: after everything she did, we're just going to let her go like that!?

Ozcar: there's no point in fighting anymore, salem's curse was lifted but we don't know if it can come back, so just leaving her alone now is our best option.

Jeanne: our best option? *clenches jaw* pyrrha is dead because of her!

Ozcar: and a lot more people will end up dying if we keep going, we have an opportunity to get peace, we shouldn't throw that chance out of the window because we want revenge.

Yang: we're not throwing that chance out of the window. *deploys ember celica and eyes shift to red* if we kill her right now we'll still get peace and also avenge our friends.

Ozcar: miss xiao long, we-

Ruby: she's right professor, we have a chance to end everything right now and also avenge our friends *unfolds her scythe* we should take it.

Yang: it's because of her that our world is such a mess! and i'm not letting her off the hook because she's saying that she changed! *an aura of flames starts covering her*

Jaune: *eyes flare with magic*

Saphir: hmnn. . .wah. . .wha!. . .WHA!

Salem: oh heavens. *starts rocking the baby* calm down darling, everything is gonna be okay.

Jaune: *standing between the group and salem*

Salem: calm down jaune.

Jaune: i am calm my queen, and i will remain like this as long as they remain the same.

Yang: shut up! I'm gonna kick your ass and your queen is going next!

Qrow: *stands in front of ruby and yang*

Ruby: uncle qrow? What are you doing?

Yang: don't tell me you're siding with that psycho!?

Qrow: no, you're my nieces, i'll always be on your side.

Yang: then get out of the way!

Qrow: look girls, i know you're angry and want to avenge your friend-

Ruby: if you know that then get out of the way!

Qrow: i will, but let me ask you something first. Even if you manage to kill salem, will you be able to live with that weight on your consciousness? Knowing what you did?

Yang: knowing that i killed a monster? I think i can live with that.

Qrow: knowing that you killed a mother.

Yang/Ruby: *flinches*

Qrow: can you do it? Kill her knowing that these children will have to grow up missing their mother? *looks at yang* while one of them doesn't even know her yet?

Yang/Ruby: *eyes wide, looking down and clenching jaws in frustration*

Qrow: *looks to the rest of the group* the same goes to all of you, can any of you live a normal life knowing you ruined the lives of two innocent children?

_WB_/JN_R: . . . .

Qrow: *draws scythe* if you don't mind that then i don't mind either, i've done enough bad things in the past so one extra sin weighting on my mind wouldn't be a bother.

RWBY/JN_R: . . . . *stores weapons*

Qrow: *sighs* that's what i thought. So? What now ozpin?

Ozcar: . . .

Jaune: *goes back to salem* let me deal with him. *picks saphir up and starts rocking him*

Saphir: *calming down*

Salem: *giving him a small smile* only you to calm him down so easily.

Jaune: *smiling back at her* i could say the same thing about you with blanc.

Salem: *stroking her hair* heh, i guess you're right.

Ozcar: *sighs, staring at the couple* now we leave qrow, there's nothing else to do here. *leaves*

Qrow: okay. *follows*

_WBY/_N_R: *leaves as well*

Jeanne: . . .

Ruby: jeanne?

Jeanne: *staring at jaune*

Jaune: *looks back at her, getting up and walking to her* i remember this face, it was the same face you made when mom and dad decided to take me to their travel instead of you.

Jeanne: it's just. . .i can't believe you're alive, not only that but you're a father now, married to the queen of the grimm, it's just too much for my brain to process in such a short amount of time. . .i don't know how i should feel about it, still, i didn't wanted this to be the last time i see you.

Jaune: it won't be. Me and my queen don't want our children to grow up trapped in the grimmlands for their whole lives, we want them to see the world in its entirety, and maybe even see the rest of their family.

Jeanne: i can't say much for our parents, but i'll try to keep an open door for you, well, for you and them. *boops saphir's nose*

Saphir: *giggles*

Jaune: i'll keep that in mind.

Ruby: jeanne, we need to go.

Jeanne: *smiles* okay. . .goodbye jaune.

Jaune: goodbye sister.

Ruby/Jeanne: *walk away*

*meanwhile*

Qrow: are you sure about this ozpin?

Ozcar: yes, i'm sure.

Qrow: alright, if you're sure then i won't question. But can i ask you something?

Ozcar: i can't promise i'll answer, but you can still try.

Qrow: what made you change your mind?

Ozcar: what are you talking about?

Qrow: don't play dumb, you know it doesn't work with me. When you decided to come here you were decided to put an end in this war, and i'm pretty sure the end wasn't going to be a peaceful one, what made you change your mind?

Ozcar: . . . . . *sighs* she was miserable. . .

Qrow: ?

Ozcar: a long time ago, when she was still trapped in the tower, salem had a miserable life filled with sadness and sorrow, she was a prisoner in the hands of her own father and had to deal with suffering every single day since she was born. . .but when i saved her, she gave me a look filled with so much life and happiness, she looked at me like i was some sort of messiah, someone invincible who could conquer the world when all i really did was free her from a bad person. . .

Qrow: and what does that hast to do with what happened today?

Ozcar: . . .she was giving ms.arc's brother that same look. . .the same look she used to give me after i saved her. . . *hands start shaking* he is her world now, and while he's on her side everything will be fine to everyone.

Qrow: ozpin?

Ozcar: . . .can i ask you something old friend?

Qrow: uhm. . .sure.

Ozcar: *looks back to him with tears running down his cheeks* do you think i made the right choice? On the day i abandoned her, do you think that was the right thing to do? Or maybe i should have stayed with her and tried to change her for better like jaune arc did?

Qrow: . . . *sigh* honestly? I have no idea. Usually you're the one giving me advices, so i don't really know what to say to help you.

Ozcar: . . . *looks back ahead* i see.

Qrow: *places a hand on his shoulder* but. . .

Ozcar: *looks back to him*

Qrow: one thing you always told me was that there's no point in thinking so much about a past you can't change when you have a future that you can still shape ahead of you.

Ozcar: . . . *takes in a deep breath before letting it out* you're right, there's no point in thinking so much about it, especially now that our future looks so bright. *wipes his tears* Thank you old friend.

Qrow: anytime oz.

[sapphiewritesandstuff]

Could you do Headcanons of the twins seeing their former crush when they were alive in school to coming back years after as teacher?

Your wish is my command, Anon-san~

Although it was never specified that Tsukasa had a crush on the reader, I hope this does imply it. In my head, he’s a very chaotic character and probably wouldn’t recognize the feeling of crushing on someone. I hope I conveyed his affections for the reader in his own, unique way :D

Headcanons of the Yugi Twins’ Former Crush Returning as a Teacher

Hanako (Amane Yugi)

The first time he heard of you, it was from Nene

“Hanako-kun! We have a new English teacher. She came from America and can speak over five languages! She even let us call her by her first name!”

That, he found weird.

Afterall, you had moved away to America a year before his death.

And you were cool

Could it be…?

No way, he told himself. Things like that don’t just happen!

But he decided to check it out himself

So the next day when Nene was in class, he floated to the teacher’s lounge

Before he could even go into the lounge, he heard someone say, “Wow, (Last Name)-san, that’s amazing.”

It hit him

(Last Name)... it had to be you, right.

But Hanako knew he shouldn’t get his hopes up too high

What if it wasn’t you after all?

Deep down, he hoped it is you

You had left before he had the chance of confessing his feelings. And then he died.

Hanako might be dead, but his love for you isn’t

The door opened, and you walked out, laughing about something.

It is you. You look older but he could still tell it was your beautiful face.

He took a moment to admire you.

His immediate concern is that you can’t see him.

That breaks his heart but he pushes his disappointment away to think of a plan for you to notice him

“Hey, Yashiro. Can you do me a favor?”

Nene gave him a wary look, “Depends on what it is.”

She had a gut feeling it was going to be something concerning her new English teacher…

Tsukasa Yugi

Tsukasa had found you unintentionally.

He was going around the school, looking for some poor spirits to torture— er, to play with.You went straight through him, literally.

He stopped for a minute, brows furrowing, his usual grin faltering.

It can’t be you.

You had been his friend when all the other kids thought he was strange and wouldn’t play with him

Except Amane, of course

You never really hung out with him when his older twin brother was around

But you always found time to hang out with him alone

Then you moved away without saying a word to him

He only knew because of Amane bursting into tears one night

Tsukasa asked him what was wrong and the news of you leaving came out quickly

So Tsukasa assumed you left because he didn’t want to be his friend anymore

It’s okay though, he still had Amane!

But if you didn’t want to be his friend anymore; why would you come back years later? After his death, nonetheless.

He decided to find out

So he followed (stalked) you throughout the school, not even bothering with the mokkes he saw along the way

Strange, indeed.

Like Hanako, he also found you to be… slightly different, but in a good way.

Your face lost its roundness and obtained a more angular look to it

Your eyes lost the naivety it once held, replaced with an intelligent glint

And your body, well

You had grown a lot in the years you had been away, so much that you were now much taller than him

Tsukasa couldn’t decide whether he liked that or not

But in the end, he decided he loved everything about you

He loved you just as much as he loved Amane!

“What?” Hanako’s brows furrowed as the mokkes continued, waving it’s ears around urgently. “That scary apparition was following that girl you wanted to meet!” 

He frowned, feeling conflicted. On one hand, Hanako was puzzled as to why Tsukasa of all people would stalk you around the school. His brother hadn’t been very close to you from what he knew, so why would his twin do such a thing? Unless there’s something he was missing…

On the other, it made perfect sense. Tsukasa had figured out that you were someone precious to Hanako, which made you an obstacle in the way of his older brother’s love. 

“He wouldn’t…” Hanako muttered to himself, gazing out the window towards the direction of the staff room. 

---

“Yashiro-chan, are you sure?” You laughed nervously as the ombre haired girl stubbornly pushed you into the girl’s bathroom. “Please, (Name)-sensei. Everyone is terrified of Hanako-san of the Toilets. It would make everyone feel better if you proved that the rumor is fake!” Nene gushed, shooting the third stall door a look that said, I’m doing this for you, Hanako-kun, so you better be grateful! Inside the third stall, Hanako gave her an apologetic look, despite the fact the radish-legged girl can’t see it.

You sighed, a long, drawn out sigh that echoed across the small space you two occupied. “Alright, Yashiro-chan, I’ll do it to rest your spirits.” Nene bit back a laugh at the unintended pun. 

“So…” you muttered to yourself, a habit you had that Hanako remembered vividly from your middle school days. 

Knocking three times on the red bathroom door, you cleared your throat before asking in a clear voice, “Hanako-san, Hanako-san, are you there?” Behind you, Nene braced herself for Hanako’s entrance and your reaction.

In the sing-song voice he used on her, Hanako-kun replied lightly, “Here I am~” before setting a hand down on your shoulder, much like what he had done for Nene. Being the great actress she is, Nene screamed dramatically, pointing at the apparition floating beside you, “(Name)-sensei! It’s a perverted toilet ghost!” Of course, taking the time to insult the said ‘perverted toilet ghost’.

Hanako sent an unimpressed look her way (one which she ignored). You had been pretty calm up until this point, your only reaction being an initial flinch.

You sighed, turning away from Hanako to send Nene a flat look. “Yashiro-chan. This is funny and all, but I have better things—”

Before you can finish, Hanako circled around, hovering in front of you, flashing you the smug smirk you knew all too well. “Better things to do, huh, (Name)-chan?” 

Your eyes widened, mouth opening in disbelief. “Amane-kun?” 

Hanako tipped his hat, not forgetting to shoot you a wink along with it. “The one and only,” his eyes softened when tears came to your eyes, “and didn’t I tell you to drop the honorifics?”

You were in shock. “H-How? I heard that…” you trailed off, face crumpling into grief. Hanako nodded gravely, a comforting smile replacing the smirk he had one before. He floated forward cautiously, testing your reaction. When you held out your arms without a word, he met you halfway in a bittersweet embrace. 

Nene backed away from the two, silently giddy. Now Hanako-kun can be happy, she thought happily, watching the heartwarming reunion of the two former best friends. Right when she was about to back out of the bathroom, she bumped into something. Looking up, she stared right into Tsukasa’s smiling face. 

“Ahhhhh!”

You looked up sharply at Nene’s scream, concern for your adorable student overwhelming the blissfulness of being in Amane’s arms again—

Wait, what are you even saying? No, this isn’t the time for this! 

Shaking the thoughts away, you followed after Hanako, who had floated ahead of you to check on Nene, brows furrowed with concern—for you or the radish legged girl—you don’t know. But selfishly, you hoped it was the former. 

“Yashiro?” Hanako asked, voice slightly strained. Silence. Nothing from the ruby-eyed girl. 

Instead, a different voice answered, “Wow, Amane, I thought the older brother knew to share with his younger brother~?”

Hanako’s amber eyes widened as the figure with his face rounded the corner. Tsukasa grinned, eyes narrowing slightly. He did not reach out to glomp his elder brother, instead opting to turn his gaze to you.

You watched, a multitude of feelings fluttering around in your chest, constricting your breathing. “Tsukasa-kun…”

Tsukasa tilted his head to the side, giving you a closed eyed smile, waving his entire arm, “Hey, (Name)-chan! I thought I’d never see you again.” His voice lowered at the end of his greeting, giving you the chills.

Nevertheless, you couldn’t stop yourself from running up to hug the second of the two people you thought you’ll never see again. Despite being a spirit, Tsukasa felt as he had always felt, albeit missing the familiar warmth you used to get from hugging the younger twin.

You heard Hanako’s warning for you to stay away from his twin. You ignored in favor of gripping Tsukasa tighter, fearing if you let go, he would disappear again. Tsukasa stroked your hair softly, softly uttering words of comfort while he sent his older brother a smug smirk.

Hanako gritted his teeth, clenching the handle of his trusty kitchen knife tighter. He could see that Tsukasa would not hurt you, but the brief moment of relief was washed away by the feelings caused by the content look on your face and the smug look on his brother’s.

Sensing a disaster about to unfold, you released Tsukasa, stepping back so you could look at both twins. “You guys…” Giving them both a genuine smile, you grabbed Hanako and brought them both to your chest.

It was messy to say the least. Tsukasa’s cheek squished against Hanako’s and you were all on the ground in the girl’s bathroom, but it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you can interact with the two people you thought you had lost forever.

That's all that matters.

[rwbyvein]

Firen Lhain:  Chapter 602:   Prismatic Confessions:  Part III/III

Blake sat on one of the beds in her room, Ilia sitting across from her on the other.

"I guess... I should explain..." Blake voiced, and Ilia just looked at her nervously. "Yang was my partner back in Beacon."

"Like... Adam?.." Ilia asked.

"I was SO afraid she would turn out like Adam, but Adam is not freedom, not independence, not even power or justice, he - is - spite. Yang is strength. She doesn't really know what to do with it, but... she's - not - out - to - destroy - the world. I kept her at arms length for the longest time... and... I can't believe I said that."

"Blake?.." Ilia quietly voiced.

"Adam," Blake said, fighting back tears, "cut off - her arm." Ilia did a double take before looking back at Blake. "But, apparently that wasn't enough to stop Yang." Blake shook her head, causing the tears to fall away, and developed weird smile on her lips. She then wiped her eyes. "Next we have Weiss, the... former... heir... to the Schnee Dust Corporation."

Ilia developed a terrified look. "She?.."

"Was disinherited for trying to help the people of Remnant. She became a Huntress so her father, who married into the family, wouldn't be the one to define the family name. As you might imagine..." Blake said with a bright smile, "we did not - get along - that well - at first. We learned to trust each other, love each other. Next is Ruby, who is," Blake said, and paused, "hope incarnate. She's the reason the rest of the team, the reason everyone, got back together. Just being around her makes me hopeful we can succeed."

"And... the buck?.." Ilia asked.

"He prefers hart, through he's actually a Caribou." Blake warmly said to her, "He's the warmest, gentlest warrior I've ever met."

"He did not feel..." Ilia tried to say.

"He didn't hurt you." Blake voiced, "I've seen him strip Yang's considerable Aura with a single punch." Ilia looked at her with wide eyes. "You can't tell me it didn't feel warm being carried by him."

"Even if I was being carried under his arm?" Ilia asked.

"Whom are you trying to convince?" Blake asked her, and Ilia stared into nothing for a moment.

"Wh... why... are you telling me this?" Ilia asked.

"Because," Blake voiced, "if you join us, it wouldn't be as my girlfriend... but you will still need to know how I feel about everyone here."

Ilia looked off into nothingness as she thought this over.

* * *

Blake walked down the stairs, only to step into the sisters shouting at each other. She didn't hear what Ruby had originally said.

"Chill, sis!" Yang shouted, "Everyone knows I've got it going on."

"But!" Ruby tried to say.

"But what, Sis?" Yang asked.

"I mean..." Ruby voiced.

Blake looked around inside, not seeing Jaune anywhere. It wasn't until she looked out on the patio that she found him. She walked out to the patio, closing the door behind her. Jaune turned his head briefly to see who it was before looking back over the night.

"I hope I'm not disturbing you." Blake nervously stated.

"A lot of things happened today," Jaune voiced, "but I wouldn't say disturbed is one of them."

"I'm not bothering you, am I?" she asked, as she nervously walked up to him.

"I honestly don't know." he said, and the two stared out into the darkness. "Just... so much happened today. It doesn't seem real. Does it?" he asked, and turned to her.

She nervously tried to look at him, but had to look back out into the darkness. Jaune turned to join her. "It, "she voiced, "makes far more sense than it really should."

"It, what?.." Jaune asked. "We can't... can we?.. I mean..."

"I mean," Blake said, and moved slightly towards him, "it makes more sense than it should." Blake took another step towards him, and then another snuggling up to him. He shook with a start for a moment and then continued staring into the darkness. He moved his arm around Blake, hovering over her shoulder, unsure of what to do. She grabbed his hand and pulled his arm around her. "You've never been shy, before." she voiced.

"It's never meant this much before." Jaune voiced. "You girls were always so unattainable. The most I thought I could expect was friendship. And you, along with my team, are the best friends I've ever had. I just... never... thought..."

"Never thought, what?" Yang asked as she walked over. "I've seen the way you look at us."

Jaune turned just enough to look back at her, trying not to disturb Blake, "With... respect..."

"Well... yeah..." Yang voiced, "but a little somethin' else. I've seen your eyes wonder, if you know what I'm saying." And Jaune sighed in reply.

"Okay, yes, you're all so amazingly beautiful." he stated.

"And apparently last night it was a cat burglar, as she decided to jump to the front of the line."

"I just... needed... someone..." Blake voiced.

"I could have..." Yang tried to say.

"You were having a... talk..." Blake voiced, "with your sister."

"Is there?.." Jaune voiced, "Actually a line, or?.."

With this Yang sighed. "Sorry." she voiced, as she walked up to Jaune's free side. When he didn't react she spoke up. "You've got two hands, and I expect you to use them." Jaune quickly wrapped his arm around Yang's shoulder. "So, we didn't want to fight about this, but this is my play. I'm a babe, and you certainly know that. I've caught you staring."

Yang squeezed Jaune and then slipped out of his arm, before returning to the house, Jaune's head following her before looking back at Blake..

"And?" Jaune asked, "this is yours?"

"Two Faunus," she said with a pause, "with eye-shine, staring out into the night?" Blake asked, "How could it not?"

"Exactly." Jaune said with a smile.

* * *

Jaune and Blake stepped inside, when a burst of rose petals appeared in front of them. "Okay!" Ruby shouted.

"Ruby?" Jaune asked, and Blake respectfully stepped away.

"So, Yang-and-Blake-made-their-move-and-I-want-to-make-my-move-but-I-really-don't-know-what-but-just-know-that-you're-the-first-one-to-talk-to-me-and-I-don't-think-I-could-live-without-you-and-I-wanted-to-thank-you-for-coming-with-me-and-I..."

"Easy, Ruby." Jaune stated.

"but?.." Ruby tried to ask.

"I don't think I could live without you, either." Jaune grumbled, "Which is one of the reasons this is so... difficult..."

Weiss cleared her throat, and Jaune looked over to her. Weiss had a light blue flush, and hands tented in front of her face; when she dropped them he saw a smile, "I do believe it is my turn." Jaune gave her a nervous smile.

"Is this going to be fancy?" Jaune asked, and Weiss nervously looked down and around, anywhere but at him. Ruby turned to leave but Jaune quickly pulled her into a powerful hug. He then kissed her on the head, let her go, and turned back to Weiss.

"I suppose?" Weiss teppidly asked, "candour is in order." She nervously looked up into his eyes. She breathed in deep for a moment. "Yes?" she nervously asked, and he lightly sighed.

"Remember, I want to spend time with you." Jaune stated, and Aurora appeared behind Weiss.

"As I expected." Aurora said, and Weiss jumped. She turned to glare at her. "I have made alternate arrangements."

"Aurora!" Weiss admonished her, and then breathed in deep, "And they are?"

"Not quite as fancy," Aurora voiced, "as he says, but a lot more private."

Weiss then looked at Jaune. "Well, he does seem to enjoy the idea..." She then turned to Aurora, "Very well. Dress will be?"

"Formal." Aurora said, and Weiss looked expectantly at Jaune.

"I... uh... walked here... with the clothing on my back." Jaune voiced.

"We could..." Weiss tried to say.

"After poking the dragon's den... queen... bitch..." Jaune voiced, "I would rather NOT be without my armour.

"Huntsmen are normally except from formal dress requirements," Aurora stated, "unless they are... well... Qrow..."

"You got a problem?" Qrow asked, and Aurora brushed her chin as she looked at him. "What, you don't like my beard?"

"That - "Aurora voiced, "is not - a beard."

Weiss looked at her incensed until Qrow just started laughing out loud. He then stood up and looked her in the eyes, "I like you." he said, and Aurora nervously looked away. "Oh, man, she's a keeper, Weiss."

"I will take your accolades into consideration," Weiss replied, "though, so far, she has been fantastic."

* * *

Weiss and Jaune walked along the street, side-by-side as they followed behind Aurora. "So, tell me?.." Weiss nervously asked, "Did you truly walk across two continents with but one set of clothes?"

"Well," Jaune voiced, "I did bring spare socks and underwear."

"And... who has been cleaning it?.." Weiss asked.

"The laundry fairy." Jaune stated.

Weiss smiled for a moment, "I doubt you mean that seriously."

"I think it's Ren," Jaune stated, "though I'm not sure, but Ren seems like the most likely candidate."

"Are you?.. serious?.." Weiss asked him.

"100%," Jaune replied, "swear to the good god. My clothes were always clean by the time I was done bathing."

"You - bathed?," Weiss asked, "Out in the open?.."

"Ruby and Nora always turn around, and Pyrrha was the same way."

"And I suppose you were just as much of a gentleman?" Weiss asked.

"Of course." Jaune said. "Trust is incredibly important."

"And as a former noble, you have your honour to think of." Weiss said, and Jaune sighed. "I'm sorry, I did not mean..."

"No..." Jaune voiced. "Whether that's why, or not, I try to always mean what I say."

"Your earnestness is infectious." Weiss replied. "Just please stay your charming self, and not the one I first met."

"Uh... yeah..." Jaune said, and then let out awkward laughter. "I was pretty terrible." he added, and Weiss giggled.

"Looking back on it, it's almost a fond memory, but... yes... you were. I much prefer this charming gentleman."

"Hardly... gentle..." Jaune voiced.

"You can be a bit of a lummox, but you are always genuine, always wanting to help. Too bad it took being a bird locked in a cage to make me realize it."

"I kind of find that hard to believe." Jaune voiced.

"Oh?" Weiss asked.

"Being in a bird cage and not trying to pick the lock or something?" Jaune.

"I tried to find lawyers to take my case, but the only ones I knew were the family lawyers."

"Ah..." Jaune voiced.

"They were right in that it was a conflict of interest." Weiss voiced.

"So?," Jaune asked, "then what did you do?"

"Hire Aurora." Weiss said, and made a thrusting movement with an invisible rapier, "And had her offshore my savings so I could be supported once I escape."

* * *

Weiss and Jaune sat on a table on a balcony, overlooking the night as a sommelier poured their wine.

* * *

Aurora opened the door to the house and walked inside, stepping aside so that Jaune could walk in arm-in-arm with Weiss. A burst of rose petals appeared in front of them.

"How was your wine tasting?" Ruby eagerly asked, trying her best not to be judgemental, or jealous, or at least less socially awkward than she usually was.

Jaune stepped forward to kiss her on her lips. Ruby turned pale(r) and nearly fainted.

"I suppose we can blame that on the wine." Weiss said with a smile, and then stepped forward to do the same. This time Ruby's knees did buckle, and luckily Jaune was ready to catch her. He picked her up like a princess and walked her over to the couch. He gently put her down, and stood up, staring at her. He dropped his hand and cupped her face before gently stroking her hair.

"Shit," Yang said, "you don't take any prisoners."

"You have your," Jaune said, and thought, "bodacious play. Blake had her quiet, Weiss her company. I had to give Ruby something."

"And ice queen?" Yang asked.

"My plan is to blame it on the wine." Weiss said with a bright smile.

[razorblade180]

It takes time

Weiss sat comfortably in her bed at home. Who would’ve thought how nice home would be after all the tragedy in it? It was nice to unwind, then Ruby came walking in. The reaper looked like she was caught in the worse state of limbo. As if she saw a ghost. Weiss knew that face. That was the same face she made whenever she accidentally walked in on Nora and Ren.

Weiss:What’s wrong? What’s today’s chapter in “Ruby’s rollercoaster of a life.”

Ruby:I don’t appreciate that name. If anything my life is an extremely long road trip with minimum bathroom breaks and people get left behind whenever the RV finally does stop.

Weiss:You’re avoiding my question.

Ruby:I’m fine.

Weiss:1.....2....

Ruby:....

Weiss:Don’t make me get to three.

Ruby:Fine! Gosh, you’re so aggressive when you wanna help people. You’re just as bad as Whit-

Ruby tried to stop herself but it was too late. Weiss’s eyes became focused on the girl. Of course it was a Whitley problem. The two have been dating a few months though she loved her brother, he could be an idiot. Not that Weiss was any different, or Winter for that matter. All of them were emotional hazards when it came to romance.

Weiss:What happened between you two? You both were doing so well after what happened between him and father.

Ruby:Oh it’s....nah, it’s stupid.

Weiss:2.5.....

Ruby:Stop counting!

Weiss:Then out with it!

Ruby:I told him “I love you!!!”

Ruby turned bright red and put her hood up. The fearless team leader then bellyflopped onto Weiss’s bed, her face landing in a pile of pillows. Of all the things Weiss was expecting, this wasn’t one of them. It’s true that’s it’s been a few months and Ruby was definitely the kind of girl to wear her heart on her sleeve. That knowledge alone told Weiss what most likely happened next.

Weiss:He didn’t say it back, did he?

Ruby:I feel like such an idiot.

Weiss:Let’s take a few steps back. How did this even happen?

Ruby:We were-

Weiss:Get out of the pillows. It’s already hard to understand you when you’re worked up.

Ruby:*flips over* We were watching tv, just talking. Then a stupid commercial came on for that blind date show. The one you like to laugh at even though you clap when the couples work out.

Weiss:Mmmhmm, unnecessary to add but continue.

Ruby:One of the people started talking about love at first sight. It got me thinking if Whitley believed in that kinda stuff, so I asked because of course I did.

Weiss:At least you’re self aware.

Ruby:He told me that sort of thing seemed like a work of fiction. So then I asked him what would he call our first meeting.

Weiss:Oh no...

Ruby:He didn’t say anything at first, then asked me what I thought it was. *red* Th-Then I told him that for me, I wouldn’t know what else to call what happened that day. I ended up kissing him and telling him I loved him. Then....I waited to hear it back. Waited, waited, and I kept waiting as he wasn’t sure what to tell me. I got the hint fairly fast. Gods, I felt so embarrassed and stupid that I tried leaving as fast as I could. He grabbed my hand to try to and stopped me. But then I made things worse by asking him directly if he did love me. Again, nothing but lip flapping. I dashed away after that. Ugh, why did I ask such a stupid thing!? Was it too soon? Am I the only one who-

Weiss:Stop...

Ruby zipped her lips. Weiss looked down at her with concerned yet welcoming eyes. Weiss grabbed her partner’s shoulders and sat her up.

Weiss:My brother stood up to my father in order to date you. Questioning his feelings for you is a thing you should never have to do.

Ruby:Then why-

Weiss:Four months.

Ruby:What?

Weiss:It took me four months to tell Jaune I love him after he told me. One day he sort sprang it on me like you did, and just like Whitley, I couldn’t say it back. And just like you, Jaune was hurt by it. He understood why I said nothing, but of course it didn’t make things feel any better. In fact, the two of us got a little distant for a while. A piece of me honestly thought that I had ruined my first real relationship, just like that.

Ruby:Why...why couldn’t you say it back? You two have been a thing for awhile. Actually I sorta remember when you two seemed to talk less.

Weiss took a deep breath and looked around her old room. How many nights was she in by choice? How many times did it feel like this room, this house, would be the only world she knew? The world built by her father.

Weiss:As much as it angers me to admit this, our father will always be this terrible, looming presence in the back of our mind. Even while I was at Beacon I found myself acting and saying things in a way that wouldn’t get me in trouble. I envy you Ruby. Your house, I’ve never been there but I can tell it was full of love. That’s not this house. That’s not my parents. The love in this place ran dry so long ago and Whitley had the least time to enjoy it. I doubt he actually remembers it for real. When Jaune told me he loved me I should’ve felt so happy in that moment, yet I was so terrified I could barely speak. Was I allowed to love? Would he change his mind one day out of the blue? What was the price to pay for that love; I even thought briefly that he was lying.

Ruby:I...had no idea.

Weiss:When a Schnee loves something, it goes away, or has a catch. Unconditional, genuine love feels like a fairytale. Saying “I love you too” made me feel like Jaune was going to disappear or worse. I couldn’t shake the feeling of his feelings being just another trap. I couldn’t let myself be happy, not like that. However, he was patient with me. He still said it from time to time but didn’t expect to hear it back and never pressured me. I actually did say one time within those four months. He came by really late at night to try and clear the air. Honestly I still feel a little anxious when I do say it, but I can’t help but get this warm feeling when I see the look on his face when he says it back. *red* He means it.

Weiss couldn’t help but smile as she looked in the mirror. Odd, has she ever done that before? Her complexion looked healthier than the last time she looked. Was it the light, or was Weiss glowing for the first time in awhile. This room might be the same, but it finally felt like a room. A place she could belong even. Weiss turned back to Ruby to see the girl in tears.

Weiss:What the!? You’re crying!?

Ruby:How could I not!!! I had no idea how much effort it took for you to feel like love was something you could have.

Weiss:I’m sure if you asked Winter then she can tell you a similar story between her and your uncle. There’s no doubt in mind Whitley wants to say it; he’s just scared.

Ruby:I feel terrible now. I didn’t even give him a chance to really explain himself or his feelings. How selfish can I be?

Weiss:Don’t be such a dunce. Now isn’t the time for a pity party. Give him a little time and then talk to him again. I’m sure he has a lot he wants to say.

Ruby:Thanks Weiss. You’re getting really good at this comforting thing.

Weiss:I learned from the best.

Ruby:Awww

Weiss:...

Ruby:You meant Jaune?

Weiss:It’s a team effort. Don’t sell yourself short. *hugs her* I love you too you know?

Ruby:*gasp* Would you say that-

Weiss:I’m not calling you my BFF, but yes, you would fill that spot.

Ruby:Good enough for me. I love you too.

xxxx

Later that day, Ruby decided to poke her head into the media room again. Unfortunately there was no sign of Whitley. There was however the sound of a smoke alarm going off in the kitchen. Ruby petal bursted all the way there to find a pan of something charred black and Whitley holding a fire extinguishers, baking ingredients covered his face and blue apron. He silently stared at his girlfriend before blasting the pan again for good measure.

Whitley:Hey....

Ruby:Hey. You uhh, you tried cooking by yourself.

Whitley:Emphasis on tried. I forgot to butter the pan. Also I think I needed more milk for the apology cookies.

Ruby:You know I’m positive this house has a cool book for people to- apology cookies?

Whitley:Yeah I uhh, I hurt your feelings, again. Sorry.

The boy put down the extinguisher and looked at his baking failure. He let out a long sigh of defeat and took a seat on a stool. Ruby opened up a window and wet a cloth, walking over to wipe is face. The cookies might’ve turned out well if the ingredients ended up in the bow instead of on his sad, cute face.

Ruby:I should be the one apologizing. I swept you up into my feelings and didn’t take the time see yours.

Whitley:You talk to Weiss? I heard you shout earlier.

Ruby:Oh...can you pretend you didn’t hear that?

Whitley:Only if we pretend I didn’t ruin chocolate chip cookies. I bought those Hershey Kisses for nothing.

Ruby:Those don’t melt properly in an oven or microwave unless it comes in a baking package. They burn and warp things.

Whitley:Who would make chocolate that doesn’t melt normally? Baking is stupid.

Ruby:*smiles* Hehe, it’ll take time but you’ll get it.

Whitley:Maybe in a hundred years.

Ruby:Eh, I’ll wait. I will umm...I will wait for anything you need time with; patiently. S-So don’t worry. About pushing yourself that is. Take your time, okay?

Whitley reached up and took Ruby’s hand. It was so warm compared to the cool rag in it. Their faces became flushed as icy blue met piercing silver. Whitley slowly leaned forward and gently pressed his lips against Ruby’s before seperating again. If it was up to her, Ruby would’ve made it last just a few seconds longer. For someone who’s only kissed one girl in his life, Whitley was surprisingly good at it.

Ruby:That’s a really good way of saying thank you.

Whitley:I care about you. You...mean a lot to me. I’ll try not to make you wait long.

Ruby:Don’t rush it. *leaning in* I’m fine with this....

She couldn’t help but go back in for another kiss. The words could wait. His gestures, the way pressed his lips on her own, it said more than what those three little words could do on their one. No point in rushing them. The love was coming through loud and clear. Weiss couldn’t help but spy on the two with Jaune for a second before leaving them to their moment.

Jaune:You did a good thing.

Weiss:I didn’t do anything that wasn’t going to sort itself out. Just being a good friend and sibling.

Jaune:Caring, another reason I love you.

He bent over and kissed her head. Weiss elbowed him lightly before pulling him down a little further for Jaune to kiss her properly.

Weiss:Yourself, all the reason why I love you.

[aspoonofsugar]

there's an interesting theory going around that rwby's final confrontation will not be against Salem but the Gods of light and darkness themselves. while it's really far ahead, what do you think of this theory?

Hello anon!

I am open to this idea, but also not particularly interested tbh.

I like Salem and Ozma’s background because of the conflict it sets both in terms of plot (the Maidens, the relics and the impossibility to kill Salem) and thematically speaking (the idea you can’t have fear or evilness disappear, the necessity to grieve and so on). However, I find the Gods very boring as characters themselves. Of course they might receive more characterization later on and become more interesting. That said, as for now, they are mostly two immortal and powerful beings, who are impossible not even to destroy, but to fight.

I mean, The God of Destruction destroyed humanity in one breath, so I do not see how there can be a long conflict with them. What I see as a possibility is for the protagonists to have a confrontation with the Gods in the end, but I think it needs to be a short one that it is solved through persuasion. More of a thematic statement than its own plot-line. I also do not particularly like the idea of the Gods coming back to rule humanity as they did in the past.

In short, I am open to a final and short confrontation with the Gods, but I think the majort conflict of the series will be with Salem. Who knows? Maybe this final confrontation will happen, so that finally Salem can be either defeated once and for all or set free (together with Ozma, since I believe Oscar won’t be forced to become one person with him).

The point is that the one with Salem is a conflict carefully prepared since volume 1 and it is slowly escalating.

Volumes 1-2-3 have Cinder as a decoy villain, but even there you can clearly grasp there is someone behind her.

Volumes 4-5-6 properly introduce Salem and her story, but we see her mostly through Emerald and Mercury’s eyes (our main POV characters in Salem’s factiion because they are new there and terrified, just like the viewers are supposed to feel).

Finally, she has made her appearance in this volume, but even here, she has still to properly meet all of our protagonists and is not really the main villain of the volume (Ironwood is).

There is also to consider that many other minor conflicts are connected to the major one with Salem.

Ruby’s inner conflict which will probably be about Summer Rose is connected to Salem, so it is Cinder’s one because Salem is her evil step-god-mother.

Mercury and Emerald have ongoing conflicts with members of Salem’s inner circle.

The whole conflict in Anima and the one we are having in Solitas are all connected to Salem. Raven betrayed her family because of Salem after all and similarly Ironwood has lost himself out of fear for Salem. In each arc the conflict is so rich and layered because it is basically organized around the necessity to avoid Salem getting her hands on a relic. And so on.

In short, Salem works well as a villain of such a long series because she can’t be killed, but at the same time she can be fought. The Gods can’t really be fought, though. This is why if/when they will appear it will be as a way to end Salem’s story, so as a final part of it.

Thank you for the ask!

[goldeneyedgirl]

TwiFicMas20 Day 4: Daemons

Greetings! I hope everyone is having a less profoundly irritating day than I am. Also, migraine :( 

Today I bring you a Daemon-verse fic, ala His Dark Materials. Whilst I love the idea of animal souls, and I love Daemon fic, I have never read or see His Dark Materials, so if I’ve messed up on the laws of daemons, I apologise. 

It was intended to follow Alice from awakening through to around her discovery of her past, but I’m honestly on the fence about how the final version will shape up.

The list of daemons is below the cut, which might be spoilery but I think it’s easier to envisage what’s happening when you know what each daemon looks like. 

Onwards! (And thank you for reading!)

--

Cast

Alice – Milo - ??

Jasper – Lula – grey wolf

Rosalie – Beauregarde – white mink

Emmett – Allegra - Sun bear

Esme – Pax – Tree pangolin

Carlisle – Winnie – Giant Anteater

Edward - Khalida - Owl

Bella – Egil - Crane

--

One.

She wakes up in the mud, curled into a ball. Beetles are crawling through her hair, and there is mud – and blood? – dried all down one side of her.

He was curled against the small of her back, and clung to the ragged gown she was wearing as she sat up, blinking confused ruby-coloured eyes.

She does not recognise him at all, does not even know her own name, and he is terrified of her blood-coloured eyes, and what she has become. She has been born anew, and what she doesn’t remember cannot hurt her. She is bright and cheerful and giddy in a way that she has never been before.

“What are you?” she asks eagerly, kneeling before him, smiling.

“I’m you. You’re me. I’m… your soul,” he explains, and her lips into a surprised ‘o’.

“What is your name?” is her next question, one that breaks his heart.

“Milo,” he says. “Me-lo.”

“And I’m …Alice?” she says, suddenly uncertain.

“Yes. You’re my Alice.”

She scoops him up and kisses his nose, and for the first time, he thinks they might be okay.

Two.

They are wrong, and she doesn’t even know it.  

He tries to talk about it, weeks after she awakens as a red-eyed monster.

“I used to be a mouse,” he says suddenly, as they make their way through the forest.

“Really?” she looks intrigued.

“Yes.”

He hasn’t settled. He can feel his skin alight with energy and possibility, and he worries. She was sent away before he ever settled, and then everything happened to them.

Are they broken?

When she asks, he denies remembering ‘much’ from before she woke, remembering their names and the fact that he was a small white mouse with grey ears, which she accepts without question.

He is lying.

He remembers most of everything that happened to them. And whilst he hates her red eyes, and watching her feast on the stray humans that cross their path, he adores this cheerful, joyous self.

She steals a dress in the next town they cross through, a yellow gingham with ties at the back and a pocket big enough for him to ride in, that seems to swallow her up. She keeps the filthy, ratty hospital gown she was found in, wearing it like a cape, until she steals a bag. She carries it in there, along with a little notebook and a pencil, a second dress (dark blue wool, just as stolen.)

She finds a piece of blue ribbon one night, and ties it loosely around his neck, stroking his soft fur, and cradles him, her face so happy.

If this is broken, they’ll be okay.

Maybe.

Three.

They have a peaceful existence for twenty-eight years. They stay in the forests, only sneaking into small towns to steal after she learns that she can hunt wild animals instead of humans. That makes him feel better about what she’s become.

Everything is wonderful to her - the flowers, the weather, whatever her latest outfit is. She would sit for hours, watching a spider spin a web, or sit in the branches of a tree, watching birds build nests, utterly transfixed.

The dreams that made her family turn away from her have become fulling fledged visions of the future, ones that seize her without rhythm or warning. Those visions are for her mind only, though she shares every detail with him - including that of the vampire she calls Jasper.

He’s worried about how she speaks about Jasper, about the look on her face when she’s thinking of him. But Alice promises him that Jasper will only mean good things - like the Cullens.

“We’ll have a family, Milo!” she beams, lying in the soft grass next to a river, stroking him. “A mother and a father and brothers and a sister!”

She had a mother and a father and a sister, and they turned her into this, he wants to say, but he doesn’t. He tucks their lost history in the back of his heart and tries not to worry.

He’s sorrier than he can say when their solitude ends, and they slide into Philadelphia. They break into a hotel room to wash, and Alice seems giddy with excitement; then to a shop where Alice tries on a dozen dresses, and stuffs the toes of a pair of shoes so that they fit properly. She twirls in the mirror, and she’s beautiful. She even steals a bag, little brush and some new ribbon for him, so that he can be fancy too.

“We have to make a good impression,” she informs him, as she pockets a gold tube of lipstick and then some gold hairpins. “It’s our fate."

Their date with destiny goes to plan, though Milo wishes that he had been able to see the visions, to be prepared. This ‘Jasper’ is not just anyone; he’s over six feet tall, with dozens of overlapping scars, black eyes and lank blonde hair. He’s not particularly bulky, but every movement reveals his strength and skill; he practically emits violence - as does the mangy grey wolf at his side.

But Alice doesn’t flinch, doesn’t falter. She gets up and goes to him, her eyes full of him before he ever knows her name. Milo just huddles in her stolen handbag, his ribbon drooping, and waits.

Somehow the impossible happens and Jasper takes Alice’s hand. The wolf - Lula, Jasper calls her - huffs, and Alice scoops up her bag and they walk out into the drizzly night together.

Four.

She doesn’t tell Jasper about them, about how wrong they are. He’s told her before, gently, but she really doesn’t understand, and so it isn’t important. It’s up to him to worry and plan and watch.

Lula keeps her distance, and her eyes see everything. Every odd statement, every little mistake that reveals how broken they truly are. But Lula is not cruel or unkind - she is simply wary, and as more pieces of Jasper’s story comes out, Milo understands why.

The worst day is the one Alice spies a fawn drinking at a stream and stuffs him into Jasper’s hands before taking off.

Jasper audibly gasps, and he flinches but Alice doesn’t even look back.

Milo flickers in and out, and the sugar-glider form vanishes, leaving behind the grey and white mouse form.

“She doesn’t understand,” he manages to tell Lula, trying not to shake at the feeling of Jasper’s hands cradling him, at the faint pulling as Alice strains their link.

Lula whines, and Jasper looks at him carefully, and follows Alice. Her hunt is successful, blood on her mouth, and she beams up at them all without seeing the pity, the new understanding in their eyes. Instead, she splashes some water on her face, and reaches out for him, letting him run up her arm and tuck himself under the collar of her dress. Then she tucks her arm through Jasper’s and smiles up at him.

He wonders, later, if she truly doesn’t understand how broken then are.

Or she just doesn’t care.

Five.

The Cullens seem nice, and Esme is enchanted by Milo, currently a meerkat, who likes high places.

But he worries. So does Jasper. And the Cullens are surprised by the way Lula trails after Alice – the separation is a strain on both Jasper and Lula, but one they bear without flinching to make sure Alice is safe. But Alice and Jasper are connected in a special way, and Alice always jerks slightly when she realises that Lula has stretched as far from Jasper as they can tolerate, always apologetic at her ignorance. She knows that the pull other people experience when separated from their daemons is much more painful than when she and Milo seperate.

She doesn’t ask why, she just accepts it. Sometimes he wonders if she knows, in her heart of hearts, how much they suffered. How there’s no pain now because they ran through all of it - and then some - in the Before.

And then two things go terribly wrong. They are there only a week or so before there is a family hunting trip. He rides in the pocket of Alice’s new coat, and he wants to pretend everything is fine but he can feel the energy under his skin, twitchy and static.

He climbs out and scrambles up her shoulder, around her neck and back again – trying to burn off the manic energy.

He hears her voice – for his ears only. “It’s okay, Milo. Don’t force it.”

He knows. They aren’t settled, it’s going to happen eventually, and they’re going to know.

She still doesn’t understand that they will be ostracised for such a thing. Not Jasper’s warlike history, not his slip-ups, not her gift, but because they are deformed freaks.

It happens with a crack as he hits the ground – from meerkat to pika. He hears Rosalie’s hiss of horror, of gasps and growls at the unexpected shift and he scrambles back to Alice’s ankles, where she scoops him up tenderly.

“Better?” she asks out-loud, gently scratching his neck. He just nuzzles in.

The Cullens are horrified. A splayed-out corpse would be less obscene, less of a tragedy than a vampire with an unsettled daemon.

Jasper is glowering at them, Lula’s glare dark as well. The message is clear - do not draw attention to this. Do not upset them.

Esme’s Pax and Carlisle’s Winnie are both upset, curling together, fear in their eyes. Beau tucks himself deeper into Rosalie’s hair.

Alice looks back up, still happy, still ignorant and no one breathes a word.

The second time, it is an accident, it is instinct and it is terrifying. Jasper and Emmett are wrestling, and Alice is perched on a rock, jeering at Emmett’s attempts to pin Jasper. The rest of the family is nearby – enjoying the peace of the forest.

Emmett and Allegra are nice, and he trusts them. He does.

But Emmett looks at them with a glint and lunges, grabbing Alice around the arms and flinging her over his shoulder with a victorious roar.

A prankster, a gentle giant, a consummate big brother – all things Milo knows about Emmett. But there is a flash of unease in Alice’s mind that he’s not sure she is even aware of, and the way he grabs her is so reminiscent of how they would drag her away back at the asylum… the way she would cry…

Jasper and Lula are pissed, too, but they are a blur as he lunges – a two-pound meerkat that shifts into an almost-seven hundred pound Siberian Tiger that roars at Emmett, whose eyes are as wide as saucers.

Rosalie is shrieking, Esme is clutching Carlisle and Alice is bewildered, but holding her hands out in an attempt to placate him, still upside down on Emmett’s shoulder.

Lula is suddenly at his side, looking tiny and delicate against his new form (and it is entirely new. He’s never been a predator before, never been too big to carry). He growls at her but it is not a threat, but an expression of fear at the way Emmett grabbed at Alice, at that tiny flash in the back of her mind that remembered their suffering.

“Put Alice down, Emmett.” Edward is there, calm and collected. “You startled them. Jasper, can you calm them?”

As soon as Alice’s feet hit the ground, Jasper is by his side, stroking his head and pushing peace and security onto him. Alice is there, too, her arms around his neck and her face buried in his fur. Rosalie and Allegra are clinging to Emmett, who looks shell-shocked.

Esme and Carlisle are having a quick conversation, too low for anyone else to hear.

“I’m sorry, Alice, Milo. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Emmett’s apology is unexpected in the tense silence, and is genuine. His voice is steady and he is sympathetic; Rosalie is giving them murderous looks.

He looks at Emmett for awhile before resting his giant head against Alice’s, his eyes closing and a loud huff leaving his body.  

“Don’t be afraid,” she whispers to him. “We’re safe here. I promise.”

He wishes he could believe her.