#yes Mistral is so tiny

[makolokgneh]

Little tease of the overlord Mistral works for ~ Her name is Idlil the Liquor demon

[wu-sisyphus-gang]

*Ruby and Weiss dress Jaune up in a turquoise button up and jeans in a mall*

Ruby: “Yes! We made him hot!”

Weiss: *rolls her eyes but high fived Ruby’s hand anyways* “He was always conventionally attractive. Except when he was noodly. Once he got that broad chest and wide shoulders he became much more attractive.”

Ruby: “How about a hoodie or two?”

Jaune: “I haven’t worn a hoodie in seriously a year or more."

Ruby: “Maybe they aren’t for you. Well, they are for you. But maybe they’re for us.”

Jaune: “What do you want with my hoodies?”

Weiss: “She wants to steal them and wear them to bed.”

Jaune: “Just steal a shirt of mine. I don’t mind.”

Ruby: “But I used to steal your bunny hoodie in Anima and wear that and it was comfortable. And I had it after Mistral and it smelled like you.”

Jaune: “You did?”

Weiss: “She was wearing it all the time in those days after Salem took you in Mistral. I had to rustle her out of it because it started to stink. She was really depressed and your hoodie made her feel better.”

Jaune: “I don’t suppose you also want to wear a hoodie, Weiss? Or will you rise above and resist the urge?”

Weiss: “I might. It was comfortable sleeping in one of your shirts. Why? Do you like it when we wear your clothes?”

Jaune: “It’s a tiny bit sexy seeing you in something I wear with only a bra or nothing on underneath. What isn’t sexy about that?”

Weiss: “No. You should explain. Why does that turn you on?”

Jaune: “Why does leaving love bites on your neck turn me on? It’s a symbol that you’re mine. So is you in my shirt or hoodie I suppose.”

Ruby: “You have to wear them, though. Or else they won’t pick up your smell.”

Jaune: “See?” *points at Ruby* “See that desire to be around my stink? And to smell like me? That’s sexy and a little proud. Like my flag flying over a ship.”

Weiss: “You don’t stink.” 

Jaune: “You knew what I meant. How else can I explain it? It’s a sign that you want me, which is sexy. And it’s a sign that you’re mine, also sexy. Why do you like wearing my clothes?”

Ruby: “Because I’m yours. I like smelling like you and smelling you all the time. I like being wrapped up in your smell. Because I love you. It makes me feel small and safe at the same time.”

Jaune: “That’s sexy. Isn’t it? It’s adorable. And you? Weiss?”

Weiss: “I liked wearing your shirt…”

Jaune: “Why?”

Weiss: “It was comfortable…”

Jaune: “It was huge on you. I thought you might drown in it.”

Weiss: “It’s like you were hugging me.”

Jaune: “If you want a hug I’ll give you a hug. Whenever you want one for as long as you want.”

Weiss: “I want to smell like you. And it’s comfortable. Girl clothes are all uncomfortable. Dresses aren’t comfortable. Yoga pants and bras are tight and uncomfortable. Hoodies are big and comfortable and smell like you. And we like your smell. It’s associated with good memories. Smell is good for memory. What do you want?”

Jaune: “You’re so adorable. Like Ruby is open about it which is cute in it’s own right. But with you I have to pull it out and drag it out like a confession. Is it such a horrible crime to be affectionate and want to wear my clothes?”

Weiss: “You’re teasing me."

Jaune: “All this talk about smell makes you sound like a puppy… Poor little Weiss. Surrounded by people who love her. How will she survive?”

Weiss: “I am not a puppy,”

Jaune: “You’re so adorable. You want to steal my hoodies and sleep in my shirts. Does it make you feel safe too? What am I going to do with you, Weiss?”

Weiss: “I’m warning you…”

Jaune: “I’ll just have to love on you and kiss your forehead and squeeze you tightly. Won’t I?”

Weiss: “Let’s just get him some hoodies and be done with it."

Ruby: *giggles*

Weiss: “And what’s so funny to you? You like wearing his clothes. This was your idea.”

Ruby: “But I admitted it openly.”

Weiss: “I admitted it too!”

Ruby: “So he didn’t have any power over me because I came right out and said it. You were shy and tsundere about it. So you gave him the edge over you. And he’s right. You’re so cute. The way you crave affection and deny it at the same time is adorable. And he and I will do something about it.”

Weiss: “Like what?”

Ruby: “We’ll spitroast you. And shower you with affection.”

Weiss: “If anybody is getting lit at both ends in the bedroom it’s you. You’re the submissive one.” 

Ruby: ��But I’m open about it. I accept that I like being dominated. You, on the other hand, try and fight it. But you always let him bend you over and pull your hair. You let him push you down and take you. You love it. But you always try and fight it by being dominant at first. You just can’t seem to accept that you like being pushed around and told what to do.”

Jaune: “At least there’s one place where I’m the boss… You girls love telling me what to do.”

Weiss: “Try this on.” *holds out a hoodie to Jaune*

Jaune: “A little like that.”

Ruby: “Don’t be a ninny and put on a show for us, Jaune. Like a model.”

Jaune: “I’m not a model.”

Ruby: “But you could be."

Weiss: “The hair and the eyes. I hope if we have a boy then he has your hair style even if he takes my hair color.”

Jaune: “Are you saying that you like my hair?”

Ruby: “It’s so much fun to play with." 

Weiss: “Try this one, too.”

Jaune: “Do you like playing with my hair too, Weiss?”

Weiss: “A little. I like running my hands through it.” 

Jaune: “Aw. You didn’t put up any fight that time.”

Weiss: “You want me to?”

Jaune: “It’s adorable when you do. So a little.”

Weiss: “But you also tease me about it?”

Jaune: “As much as I can get away with. Yes.”

Weiss: “Men.” 

Jaune: “What other men do you even know and like?”

Weiss: “Oscar.”

Jaune: “He’s just a boy. Don’t rope him in with me. He doesn’t deserve that.”

Weiss: “Quit it, you.”

Ruby: “No more bad mouthing yourself. I forbid it. It’s forbidden now."

Jaune: “But that’s basically all I do.”

Weiss: “Well, you’ll have to stop I guess. Part of the battle against your illness is not having negative thoughts about yourself. Let alone orally communicating them. Let’s try this one."

Jaune: “What am I going to do with all these clothes you guys are making me buy? I’m still just going to wear pretty much my huntsman get-up around.”

Weiss: “No you’re not. You’re going to wear casual clothes on casual days. You can wear your hunting clothes to work and if they ever call your number for missions but on Saturdays and Sundays you will wear casual clothes and you will like it. I like my hunting clothes too. But I also like wearing casual stuff and I want to steal your hoodies and I want them to smell like you so you better be wearing them.”

Ruby: “Come on, Jaune. You don’t want to just see us in our hunting clothes, do you?”

Jaune: “I could look at you in that tight corset all day long.”

Ruby: “Well I don’t want to wear that tight corset all day long. It’s hard on my boobs.”

Jaune: “I’m hard on your boobs.”

Ruby: “Oh, you! Go try on those hoodies.”

Jaune: *changes into one of the hoodies requested* “Well?”

Weiss: “It looks good…”  

Ruby: “Looks comfy. Is it?”

Jaune: “It’s comfortable. I’d still be more comfortable in one of my tunics.”

Weiss: “Lounging around the house and wearing a hoodie won’t kill you. You enormous baby. Try on the blue one. I think it will match your eyes and make them pop.”

Jaune: *steps back into the changing room and tries on the blue hoodie. Steps out again.*

Ruby: “Who said hoodies can’t be hot.”

Weiss: “The clothes make the man.”

Jaune: “Pretty sure that if I’m hot I’d be hot without the hoodie.”

Weiss: “What do you mean ‘if you’re hot?’”

Jaune: “If I am hot.”

Ruby: “You’re hot.”

Jaune: "Yeah maybe but I can’t be like ‘I’m hot.’”

Weiss: “‘Maybe’ he says. Like pulling teeth.”

Ruby: “Why can’t you say that you’re hot?”

Jaune: “Uh, because I might not be.”

Ruby: “But you are. You’re hot. Can I say that I’m hot?”

Jaune: “Of course. You’re smoking.”

Ruby: “You’re smoking! You can say you’re hot.”

Jaune: “Can’t do it.”

Weiss: “Jaune you’re more than conventionally attractive. It’s not just your personality that attracted us to you. You’re hot.”

Jaune: “Maybe…”

Weiss: “What do you mean ‘maybe?’”

Jaune: "Maybe you think that but not everyone would?”

Weiss: “Most people would say that you’re attractive!” 

Ruby: “He’s just not getting it.”

Weiss: “I know. I know. It’s my fault.”

Ruby: “How?”

Weiss: “He has low self esteem still because I rejected him back at Beacon.”

Ruby: “You can’t blame yourself for that! My gods, you both would blame yourselves for the moon if you could.”

Weiss: “I don’t know about that. He was young and I rejected him and he got this idea that he isn’t good looking. And he is.”

Ruby: “Nope. Not your fault. Jaune is Jaune. I don’t want to hear you blaming yourself for Jaune's poor self esteem. There were a lot of factors that went into this.”

Weiss: “But-”

Ruby: “Nope! Go try on the striped hoodie, Jaune.”

Jaune: *walks back into the changing room and tries it on* "So?”

Weiss: “Yeah. I like it.”

Ruby: “Me too. I think I like this one the most. DIbs on this hoodie.”

Jaune: “I haven’t even worn it for five minutes."

Weiss: “He could be a model for it. Put that in a poster and ship it. It would sell like hotcakes.”

Jaune: “What am I trying on next?” 

Weiss: “Some shirts and jeans and sweatpants. A full wardrob."

Jaune: “Do I really need all that?”

Weiss: “Why not? Where are you going?”

Ruby: “Move in with us to stay. You don’t need to live light anymore. You can relax and unwind. I know it’s hard. You're coiled up like a spring ready to fly at any time but you don’t need to with us.”

Jaune: "Sure. Fine."

[howlingday]

Setting - It has been months since the defeat of Salem in her castle in the Grimm Wastes. However, the final blow made on her was not fatal, and she managed to escape with her life. No one has yet seen her, but the Grimm attacks continue still. If she is alive, then where on Remnant could the evil witch be?

---------------------------------------------------

Ruby: Wait, you're saying you saw her?!

Ren: Yes, not far from our village in Mistral, but... there's something peculiar. It's best if you see her for yourself.

Ruby: What do you mean? What is going on?!

Nora: Ruby! (Hugs her) You made it!

Ruby: Nora! Ghk! It's been too long! (Released) Still as strong as ever, I see.

Nora: Well, to be honest, I've been kind of slowing down since my pregnancy.

Ruby: Your what?! Congratulations!

???: Nora Valkyrie, what are you doing?! You can't be running around like you used to; there's a baby inside!

Nora: Aww! I'm sorry, Granny!

???: (Leans close to Ruby) And who might you be, dear, sweet child?

Nora: This is Ruby! Ruby, meet-

Ruby: SALEM! (Jumps away, Draws Crescent Rose)

Salem: Oh my! What a lively girl! Please, do be careful, dear. Such a weapon can be dangerous.

Ruby: Oh, it's dangerous, alright; especially when I use it to cut off-

Nora: (Jumps in front) WAIT! It's not what it looks like!

Ruby: What?

Nora: I won't let you hurt Granny Says-So!

Ruby: Granny... Says-So? Wah! (Kids tug on her cape, Shouting at her) Aiie! So many tiny hands!

Salem: Children, please! Calm yourselves! If you behave, I'll bake you some fresh apple fritters. (Children let go, Run up to hug Salem)

Ruby: I am... SO confused. So, you don't remember me?

Salem: I can't say I do, dear.

Ruby: Or Beacon?

Salem: Like a lighthouse?

Ruby: Haven?

Salem: Is she a sweet girl like you?

Ruby: What about Atlas?

Salem: I may have a map inside.

Ruby: The Relics, or the Maidens?

Salem: Is this a word game where you're from?

Jaune: It's true, Ruby. This... isn't really Salem.

Ruby: Huh?

Jaune: Granny, I'll talk with Ruby. Why don't you go ahead and bake up those apple fritters?

Salem: Oh, yes, of course! Come along, children. (Winks) We wouldn't want to interrupt Mr. Arc and his girlfriend~. (Children "Eeeeeww!")

Nora: (Giggles) I'll help, too, Granny!

---------------------------------------------------

Jaune: We've been watching Salem ever since. Believe me, I was about as ready to end her as soon as I saw her, but... somehow, some way, Salem has lost all her memories and is now sweet, old Granny Says-So.

Ruby: How'd she get that name?

Jaune: Apparently, she's a whiz with every single problem possible. I guess being alive for centuries gives her an edge with solving dilemmas without violence. So, whatever Salem says, the kids and adults do so.

Ruby: It's... unreal. I've spent the last few years fighting for my life, trying to defeat her, and when I finally meet after months of being off the radar, she's completely different. It's... kind of anti-climactic.

Jaune: Believe me, my brain hurts just as much as yours does.

Ren: (Runs to them) Jaune, Ruby! Grimm incoming!

Ruby: I knew it was too good to be true! Jaune, you and Ren go ahead. I'll go save Nora from "Granny Goodness"!

---------------------------------------------------

Nora: Let me at 'em! Let me at 'em! Let me- Oh, hi, Ruby!

Ruby: Nora, I'm here to save you!

Salem: Please do! She refuses to listen to me!

Ruby: Huh?

Salem: H-Hush now, children. You're safe with Granny Says-So. I promise. W-We'll all eat apple fritters and forget about this whole horrible thing.

Ruby: You're... You're scared... (Shakes her head) Nora, keep Granny Says-So safe. Granny, make sure there's an apple fritter for me. Kids, you be good for Granny Says-So.

Salem: Oh, thank you! Thank you! Please, save our village from those beasts! I'm afraid I'm too old to do it myself.

Ruby: ...Y-Yeah, I understand. (Turns away, Thinking) It might come back to bite me, but... I just can't hurt someone who doesn't remember what they did.

[strqyr]

I don't disagree with the mystery angle, but as a hypothetical (because I can't deicide which I like better), what do you think of having the mystery as is in show (ie. we know who, don't know what), then building that into who can be trusted? Like, going into mistral and atlas, yes we know who the big bads are now, but who are the pawns this time? Is that person just scared and caged because of Beacon, or because they're working for Salem? Having the audience losing trust alongside the mains

i think this was pretty much what they did with in V7. iirc the writers said the volume's theme would be "trust", which got the audience suspecting just about, well. any one of the new characters we were introduced to, and even some of the old ones; i vividly remember one of the big things after 7.2 being whether ironwood hugging qrow was genuine or if he did that to place a tiny microphone or something like that on his cape lol

and ya know, it was fun time! every new character could have been a double agent, or somehow compromised—watts is in mantle with near full control of its systems, who's to say he couldn't be listening in and scouring through video footage to find something, anything to help with their task?—so who do you trust?

of course, that lack of trust became the main issue between the Good Guys™, there were no surprises in terms of characters working for salem, but still, it worked well, and it kept people on their toes.

in contrast, they gave lionheart working for salem pretty much immediately, which is like. 50/50 for me because on one hand, building up those trust issues, not just in the characters but for the audience as well, already from the mistral arc would have been great... but there were no other characters to suspect besides lionheart, so the difference is hardly there.

but yeah, the "who is working for salem and who is not?" is absolutely an angle i've been thinking about a lot lately; mostly in a sense whether it would work or not if salem—and thus the rest of her followers—would not have been revealed when they were; that if emerald's illusion had been the first time the audience "sees" salem, where most of the information we get of her is from what other characters say about her, then the lost fable, and only then we see salem in present day during 'so that's how it is'. that way tyrian, hazel, and watts would be brand new characters with yet unknown alliances, with some revealing their standing earlier like tyrian, while for watts and hazel it would take a little bit more time.

like, taking watts as an example: he's just some guy who spends time with lionheart. maybe he passes by team rnjr at some point, has a short interaction with them, all cordial and so, because they'd be less likely to recognize him as someone who's supposed to be, ya know. dead. the main point is, everything seems normal about him; there's really no reason to suspect him as someone working for this salem everyone is talking about... and then he shows up with cinder at the branwen tribe's camp and uh-oh, who can you really trust? how deep does salem's network of followers actually go?

of course, these are choices were you win some, you lose some. it all comes down to what you want to focus on; keep salem and her followers hidden for a little bit longer, and you potentially lose the time spend building salem and cinder's dynamic—though this could be changed by simply not revealing salem's other followers while keeping the scenes with just salem and cinder around—but gain the extra layer of mystery and the build-up to "who can you actually trust?"

...rambling aside, yeah, not revealing the kingdom specific pawns immediately upfront could be a fun route to take, absolutely.

[bafflement]

Deaged Oz AU - Needed Conversations Part II

Jaune looked nervous as he rang his parents. He was safe, they all were. But he knew they worried about him and it was better that his family was told that he was okay than that his sisters came looking for him. Again. He shuddered slightly as the call connected.

"Jaune! How are you?"

"Hi, mom. We're okay. Made a few new friends, Pipsqueak and Pocket-sized. You'd like them!"

"Now I sincerely doubt those are actually their names, Jaune..."

"No, but we call them that. Pipsqueak... Oscar, sorry, is really nice. He wants to be a huntsman just like the rest of us, but he's younger. He doesn't have as much training. That's okay though, we're all helping train him in what he'll need to know. He carries an axe so Nora is a great help, too!"

"I'm glad your friends sound okay. And... pocket sized, was it?"

"He's really tiny, mom. Smaller than my sisters! He's adorable, though. As said, you'd like them."

"Uh huh. And whose idea was it to bring children along? You're going into danger, Jaune, surely they should have stayed at home?"

"You'd think, but O... pocket sized can look after himself. None of us have beaten him yet!"

There was a sigh over his scroll at that. "Keep us informed, alright? And maybe bring your friends to visit at some point? We're not upset that you ran away to Beacon, alright? Forging your transcripts, though... just, try to stay safe?"

"Yes, mom. Tell my sisters I'm okay before they come looking, alright?"

Oscar grinned down at the scroll as it connected.

"Oh, hey, Aunt Em. We're just fine, both of us! We've made loads of new friends, here, it's amazing!"

There was a sigh from the other end of the connection at that.

"Just stay safe, Oscar. Can you put your brother on for a second, please?"

"Oh, sure... Oz? Aunt Em wants to talk to you." Oz took the scroll slightly gingerly, a worried expression on his face.

"Hello, Miss Pine."

"How many times, Tip, I'm Aunt Em, same as I am for Oscar. How are things, really?"

"They're... alright. They could be better, perhaps, but they could also be much worse. We really are safe for now, I promise. Do you wish to talk to Oscar again?"

"I wish to talk to both my nephews, Tip. You're just as important as he is, just... promise me you won't forget that?"

"I'll try." Oz replied, even though he knew that was a promise he couldn't really keep.

"Weiss? Are you going to contact your family any time soon?"

"I wasn't planning on it, no. I have no wish to speak to my father and if any of the others wish to talk to me, they can contact me."

That handily ended that conversation, at least.

"Hi, Dad!" Ruby and Yang chorused, grinning into the scroll they were holding up between them. Tai grinned back, a deep relief on his features.

"Hi, girls. Having fun over there in Mistral? Is Qrow keeping you both safe, or do I need to have a few words with him?"

"Uncle Qrow's fine dad, he's protecting us just like he always does." They rolled their eyes at each other slightly, it wasn't like they were kids the age the Professor was at the moment, after all. They could look after themselves, but no... to Taiyang, they'd always be his little girls.

"That's good! Made any new friends?"

"A few. Oscar's a farm boy, he's really, really good, wants to be a huntsman when he grows up. His... brother's... been helping train him. All of us really." Ruby sounded excited, though Tai wasn't really sure why.

"Yeah dad, pocket sized is kinda awesome. You'd like him. Maybe."

"... pocket sized? Whatever, I'm glad you girls are fine, could you get your uncle for me?"

"Sure. Hey Uncle Qrow? Dad wants to talk to you. I don't think you're in trouble?" Qrow just sighed and took the scroll from the girls.

"Hey, Tai. The girls are fine, they're having fun at the moment."

"Who is Oscar and who is pocket sized? I thought they were with the Schnee girl and what's left of team JNPR."

"They are, Tai. The kid's just here, too. As for pocket sized. Eh, you'll see. It's not really something I can tell you over a scroll, but neither of them pose any threat to your kids, I wouldn't let that happen.

There was a familiar looking softness in Qrow's eyes though and Tai felt a sudden suspicion weighing deep in the pit of his stomach. Was one of those two the next Ozpin?

"Just... tell me if anything bad happens, Qrow, and keep keeping them safe."

"Yeah, Tai, always do."

"Hey Mom, Dad. I'm catching up with everybody just fine over here, things have been a bit hectic, though. The world is so much bigger than I ever thought it was. Anyway, did you know magic is real? Because apparently that's a thing now? Anyway, I hope you get this message, I love you." Blake rang off, knowing her parents had to be incredibly busy right now with the fallout from the White Fang. Should she have mentioned magic on their answer machine? She sighed, suddenly doubting herself. Ah well, what was done was done.

[astraskylark]

Sorry if i sent this ask before but Weiss feeling like she has nothing to go home to has me wondering again, so do you think atlas will ever be rebuilt? If so, can it be done in her lifetime?

Honestly, in my opinion - I feel like the entire concept of Atlas is a gross attempt at class division and it a fucked up concept.

Logically, yes. It can be rebuilt with bucket loads of gravity dust and some knarly engineering. But I don't think they will build one. Maybe a tiny floating memorial in the sky that doesn't cover too much space.

For Weiss, well I think right now, she's reeling with loss of a home(even if Atlas really never was) but I get the feeling once she actually goes to Vacuo and sees people she'll get that home isn't really a place. It was her Beacon dorm room movie nights and sleepovers under the stars in Mistral. It's her team and friends and family. Not some floating rock in the sky ya know?

[purple-tulips-and-honey-bees]

okay, so for my own person enjoyment, I've decided I want a metal gear oc, and I want to post it somewhere. if you happen to stumble upon this, hi :)

(tw // stabbing, descriptive(?) blood splatters)

so, the oc's name is Amiir. he's moroccan, and roughly the same age as Raiden. the only problem is that he's white as snow, as Mistral would say. his parents say they found him on their doorstep in a basket one morning, and they were afraid he'd died because he wasn't crying or anything. they took him in, and since there was no name on the basket, they named him Amiir, the same way they'd always wanted to name their child, but couldn't, because the mother was infertile. the couple considered Amiir a blessing and never looked for his birth parents.

as a boy, Amiir did a lot of exploring, inside and outside. when he wasn't frolicking in a field or swimming in a random creek somewhere, he was at home, where he always had his nose in a book. through his love of reading, he stumbled upon christianity, which he would later adopt as his religion as an adult (this becomes semi-important later).

Amiir was raised to be a gentleman, always helping his mother around the house and bringing game home in the evenings by the age of eight. with the help of his father, they would skin and process the animals for his mother to cook along with the loaf of bread he picked up every afternoon. his parents loved him very much, and they never forced things on him or treated him badly.

he never went to school, as if the government knew about him, they might take him away, and his parents didn't want that, so they taught him what they could at home. his mother taught him to read and count, while his father taught him simple sciences and some history when he wasn't working. sometimes this proved difficult, as Amiir had trouble sitting still for too long.

on a warm, autumn night, similar to the one he was dropped off on, Amiir was sound asleep in bed. his parents were still awake in the living room, laughing and talking as blessed couples do. little did they know, outside the warm, tiny house, a strange man lurked. he had been coming for some time now, getting used to the feel and schedule of the house. he felt tonight was the night. tonight was the night he would finally take that boy for himself.

he crept to the front door, stepping quietly as to not alert anyone. as he put his hand on the doorknob, he realized it was already open. easier for him, he thought. he swung the door wide open in a flash, pulling a long, double-bladed sword from his side. he pointed it at the defenseless couple quickly, stopping the mother short from a blood curdling scream.

"where's the boy?" he asked loudly, loud enough that said boy stirred in his sleep.

"what boy? you mean our son?!" the husband asked, pulling his shivering wife behind him as much as he could on their sofa. this further woke Amiir from his rest.

"yes, yes, the boy! he's important! special, even..." the man said, twirling the blade and giggling like a madman.

"you can't have our son!" the women trembled, peeking out from behind her beloved. this had done it. Amiir was now awake, and wandering down the hallway to see what this commotion was all about.

he stumbled into the living room's doorway, leaning on it heavily and rubbing his eyes. his button up ducky pajamas were wrinkled severely.

"mama...? pa...? what's happening?"he muttered, finally opening his eyes to unveil the scene. his mama, scared, cowered behind his pa, who was yelling at him to go back to his room. the strange man smiled at him wickedly before lowering the sword and walking towards him slowly.

"hey kiddo... long time no see, huh?" he laughed, the smile devilishly wide now.

Amiir stood there for a moment, frozen in place with his mouth open, before screaming, "no! I don't know you!" he turned and ran as instinct completely took over, his pa's survival training coursing through him. the man walked quicker, gaining on the small boy.

as Amiir skidded into his room, pure red took over his vision as he grabbed the hunting knife he got as a gift two years ago. two sets of footsteps echoed in the hall, one faster and louder than he other. a loud thud from the hallway had the boy running back, knife in hand, mind corrupt with thoughts of his parents' safety.

his first ever prayer to God was that his parents weren't hurt. to this day, he doesn't know why he prayed then.

the hallway revealed Amiir's pa wrestling with the intruder, all muscle and veins and sweat. him and his mama watched as he slowly lost the upper hand in the fight, age wracking his bones as he breathed heavily. the man finally got a good grasp on his shoulders and turned them over completely, now kneeling over the father. he picked his sword up off the ground and grinned wildly as he pulled it back, ready to slit the other man's throat. the only problem is that his back was facing Amiir.

the red came back as Amiir rushed forward, screaming something unintelligible as his mother's eyes widened with realization. the intruder let out a heart-wrenching scream as the hunting knife was plunged into his back and removed over and over again. Amiir was brutally stabbing him, even after the light had left his eyes and his body laid limp on his father's. he only stopped when his mother's screams started.

"Amiir!" she was yelling, "what have you done?!" she sounded disgusted, scared, distraught; any and every negative emotion.

"I..." the boy started, but quickly trailed off. oh God, what had he done? did he stab this man? he didn't remember doing that. but he wouldn't have a knife in his hand, leaning over the body if it wasn't him, right?

the blood was the worst part, and what he still shudders to think about today. it truly was everywhere. on the man, on the knife, on his pa, on him. it had pooled on the floor and started sinking into the carpet. it had sprayed on the walls and on his face when he'd slashed a major artery. he swears he could taste it on his lips. it drenched his and his father's shirts. his favorite pajamas would never be worn again.

the iron-ey smell made him want to throw up, but the circumstances didn't even allow him to move. was he breathing? did he die too, just like the man? he didn't know. his ears rang as the gravity of what he'd done set in.

"I killed this man. this mess is my fault. I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to..." he thought.

"I... I'm sorry..." was the first thing he muttered after breaking out of the shock that kept him in place. he slumped over and dropped the knife in terror as he began to cry.

"I'm sorry," he cried. "I didn't mean to... I don't know what happened..."

he started to stutter and shake as he sobbed and begged for forgiveness from his parents. he kept saying he was sorry, that he didn't mean to, that it was an accident. eventually, through his sobs, he threw up, right there in the hallway. smells and fluids mixed below him, all a product of his own monstrous doings.

his parents, after finally regaining a sliver of their humanity, reacted to the gruesome scene in front of them.

"Amiir..." his mother stuttered out as his father picked him up. blood ran down his body as he stood, making a bigger mess of the once beautiful, beige carpet.

"let's just get you cleaned up..." his father said solemnly, taking the boy to the bathroom. Amiir cried into his neck as his mother continued to stand in the hallway, tears pricking her eyes.

in the bathroom, his father stripped him of his pajamas and put him the tub, starting the water and making sure it was a nice temperature before plugging the drain. slowly but surely, the water turned more and more pink as it kept filling up. Amiir couldn't stand to look at the bloody water, so he looked up as he continued to cry. he was full on bawling at this point, his breathing rough as he still begged for forgiveness.

after turning the water off, his father finally spoke up.

"look, son... I'm not going to tell you that what you did wasn't bad, because it was. it was awful, and a crime, and you should feel terrible. you should be crying the way you are now," he said, soaking the blood on the boy's body up with a bath sponge. Amiir cried impossibly harder as he felt berated by his father.

"but, I should thank you," he finished. Amiir looked up at him for the first time since the affair.

"you're not angry with me?" he asked through his tears, trying his best to calm down now. he still sniffled and sobbed.

"not angry, but not happy either. I just wanted you to know that if you hadn't done that, he would have killed me. blood was going to be spilled one way or another tonight," his father claimed. Amiir nodded and went quiet at the thought. then, they wandered.

what if that guy had a family? what if this is how he provided for them? what if he didn't have a choice?

the waterworks started up again as he let his father continue to clean him up. the blood was still all over his face, and drying now. his tears left tracks through the overwhelming red.

Amiir, at only ten years old, had just brutally murdered a man in cold blood. as young as he was, he knew he never wanted to kill again.

(note: being as light as he is, we can assume Amiir's real parents are american)

[bmblboop]

I gotta say, I don’t think weve come to fully acknowledge that Ozpin had a secret cabal manipulating world politics fir the sake of a secret war, like, there’s a remnant conspiracy theorist out there who feels extremely validated lol,

It also potentially means Ozpin just, like, let the other kingdoms banish all the Faunus to manageri? Like, the king of vale couldn’t have tried to nip that one in the bud?

Maybe try a little harder to enforce the “no slavery” part of the vale accords? Stop atlas from keeping their military?

When he said he’d made more mistakes then any man he wasn’t kidding

While it would be extremely convenient to blame every single post-Great War problem on King of Vale!Ozma, it also missing the forest for the trees. Humanity is constantly going through arguments and compromises - creating rules and circumventing them in the constant political landscape of life. It would unfair to say he didn’t do a “good enough job” when the man single-handedly stopped the Great War and had to rebuild four nations with new democracies (or are they oligarchies? idk what we are calling the Council system).

First of all - Menagerie is described as a gift to the Faunus - a place they never had formerly where they could be free of persecution. Here is the key part about the Faunus being given an island - THEY WERE NEVER BANISHED. THEY WERE NEVER FORCED TO GO THERE. Claiming Oz is in the wrong for allowing the kingdoms to forcibly excommunicating an entire race would be a compelling argument if that was what actually happened.

The treatment of the Faunus differed around the world, and things wouldn't improve much for them until the Great War: Vale and Vacuo against Mantle and Mistral. A war unlike anyone had ever seen, and when it was over, the world was desperate to find compromises that would ensure they'd never see the likes of it again.

Faunus were awarded equal rights as citizens of Remnant, and as an apology, they were given an entire continent of their own to do with as they pleased. There were some that saw this as fair and just, but many saw it for what it really was: a slap in the face from a nation of sore losers. And so Menagerie was born.

There are still Faunus all over the world, though the fair treatment they were promised varies in quality from place to place. But Menagerie will always be their safe haven.

- World of Remnant: Faunus

Menagerie was supposed to be a compromise, a combination of worldwide legal rights and land for them to call their own, to ease the racial tensions between humans and Faunus. Of course, the land not being an existing part of a major continent, instead being a tiny island with dangerous wildlife, left a bitter taste in the mouths of many. It’s also implied that the island was formerly under Mistral rule, since it was “a slap in the face from sore losers” and the only other losing nation in that war was Mantle, way too far in the north.

The King of Vale likely decreed that Mistral had to provide a place for their newly freed Faunus citizens, since they were the kingdom with the most landmass. Mistral probably said, of course, and then did the bare minimum because racism. In the interest of not inciting a race war so hot off the heels of the previous one, the King of Vale didn’t press the issue.

This is speculation though, we don’t know what the circumstance of Menagerie were, and we don’t know how involved Oz was. The past is the past, and the circumstances of the past are what allows stories to have conflict in the present.

The out-of-universe explanation for “Why did the former rulers give the Faunus  a tiny island?“ is simply “because it sows dissent that sets the stage for drama and plot developments in the present.“

--

The next thing, about Atlas. The kingdom that fought in the war was Mantle, and the industrial revolution that lead to the Atlas we know, with hard light dust, sleek airships and a school-to-army pipeline happened AFTER the war. Yes, Mantle was technologically advanced, but it wasn’t nearly to the same extent as it appears now, 80 years later.

Perhaps Oz felt no need to impose sanctions on Atlas for the technology boom. After all, they were openly sharing such technology with the world and aided greatly in the construction of important tools of global unity, like the CCT and Amity Colosseum. Oz had great faith in the huntsmen schools, training a standing army of warriors to fight Grimm, so perhaps he chalked up the more militaristic Atlas army as a cultural difference. Obviously, hindsight 20/20, we know that was a bad call, but there was no way for Oz to know that. Atlas, despite all of it’s flaws, has never once declared war against another kingdom in the scope of the show. It’s just the idea of a standing army, that Atlas could declare war at any second, that Cinder uses to cause tension between Atlas and the rest of the world.

--

Slavery is outlawed in the real world too, you know. But that doesn’t stop slavery-like institutions (see irl prison industrial complex and that part of the DC comics) or criminals knowingly breaking the law (see Madame obtaining little Cinder for sole use as a laborer) from existing. “Crack down harder on it” only takes you so far without a concrete plan of how to do so.

Yes, the SDC needed a major crack down for all their shit, but the SDC didn’t exist when the King of Vale had the entire world’s attention. Blaming Oz for not writing in specific rules about minority labor rights was not on his mind considering the first biggest issue was that the minorities weren’t legal citizens yet - they had ZERO rights.

Every step in changing the world for the better is a small one. New problems are created everyday, and while we can trace issues back to specific people in the past, we cannot place all our burden upon them. They only played one part, out of hundreds of others, in creating the circumstances of today’s troubles.

Oz may have made more mistakes than any man, woman, and child on the face of this Planet, but that just goes to show that even the most devoted and stalwart defenders of humanity are fallible. Humanity is imperfect, but we are trying anyway.

(and also he’s been doing this for a thousand years, so like - sheer numbers comes into effect)

[fandomflotilla]

Need I say why I’m here again? More fluffy arkos stuff for the PR au please?

The people have spoken! Moar arkos for you.

Okay, so Jaune and Pyrrha have been training in secret for a while. Jaune delightfully oblivious to Pyrrha’s actual identity, and her budding crush.

He’s still not competent, but he’s at least getting better.

So that’s great.

But when you zoom out a bit, things in vale are…complicated. Jaegers always had attrition from a bunch of things, from maintenance to, you know, dying fighting Grimm Kaiju.

And Vale was in a bit of a rough spot. Their premiere Jaeger team, the Xiao Long girls, recently broke up because of “personal difference”, and several good Jaeger teams were sent to mistral in exchange for Pyrrha…who also was unable to pilot a Jaeger.

Long story short, while there were a few Jaeger teams in Vale, they were stretched thin.

So, on one terrible day…that comes to bite them in the ass. Vale’s best Jaeger teams, and most of the Atlas airship fleet was deployed on a wild goose chase in the forests of anima. That may or may not have been partially caused by Cinder & Co.’s actions.

And unfortunately, that was when four category 3 Grimm Kaiju surfaced off Vale’s coast.

The Renora was the only Jaeger close enough to stop them, with even the second closest, the White Rose, not expected to arrive for at least an hour.

Ren and Nora fought valiantly to keep them occupied, but even then, one Kaiju got bored and wandered into the city.

Jaune was getting ready to take a test at the time. More specifically, he was taking his Jaeger training exam. You know, the “once every year, do well or otherwise you will fail” kind of exam. Where you pilot a virtual Jaeger and prove you’re a potential pilot.

When he gets a text from Pyrrha.

“Jaune, I need you to come outside and meet me right now.”

The kaiju sirens are going off, but this is literally the safest place in the city, so the test is going to continue.

“It’s a matter of life and death.”

They’re ushering in students…

“Please.”

The last text is never read.

Pyrrha sighs. She’ll go into battle alone if necessary-

“Pyrrha? I’m here. Where are you?”

Pyrrha zooms in on her screen and seems Jaune’s tiny form hundreds of feet below her, in the middle of the Jaeger launch bay, still wearing his training gear.

The Jaeger launch alarm goes off, and a coordinated chaos ensues as almost everyone clears the bay, confused, as supposedly all the jaegers were already out fighting, right?

Their unasked question was answered, as The Nikos shudders with power, and technicians all around the war machine scramble to decouple everything that had been tied to it.

But to everyone’s surprise, instead of immediately lurching out the door in a rapid deployment, the great machine bends over, and opens a massive hand.

…in front of a shocked, and terrified Jaune.

His scroll beeps.

“Please.”

He cautiously steps onto the massive hand, and is lifted up to the level of the head, where a hatch opens, and he finds…

Pyrrha. In red and bronze Jaeger pilot armor.

Jaune is just staring at her dumbly.

“So…you’re a ranger.”

“Yes.”

“…have you always been a ranger? Or is this like a new thing-“

“Yes, Jaune. I have always been a Ranger.”

“…”

Pyrrha rubs the back of her head sheepishly.

“I was really really hoping we could have this conversation at a better time, but there is kind of a Kaiju destroying the city, and Ren and Nora could really use some help, so…”

She holds out a helmet, and gestures with her head to the neural links that would interface with his training armor.

“I…uh…yeah, yeah sure!” He says, hurriedly putting on the helmet and moving to the neural bridge, systematically plugging the masses of wires into his suit.

“Hey, quick question, is there anything i should know before this?” He says through the comm.

“Don’t worry.” Pyrrha says with a hint of excitement. “In a second, You’re going to be in my head.”

“Ok. Okay. Ohhhhkkkayyyy.” Jaune says, breathing deeply.

“Also, don’t chase the RABIT” she added before flipping the switch.

“Wait, what’s a RAB-“

Suddenly years and years of memories flashed before him. Things he never knew about Pyrrha, things he never thought to ask.

He could feel Pyrrha’s presence in his head too, standing on the sidelines of all of his deepest memories.

Before, with a slam, he was brought back to reality.

He shook his head slightly, and the walls around him moved. He blinked, and slowly raised his arm. To his right, he could see Pyrrha mimicking his movement. But more importantly, out the view screen, he could see The Nikos’s massive metal arm imitating him too.

He turned to Pyrrha to see his gobsmacked grin matched by her tender one as she rolled her and her jaeger’s shoulder like someone who’d just woken from a long rest.

She looked to him for assurance, and he gave her a nod.

“Let’s do this.” She whispered, and as one, they walked the metal behemoth out of the launch bay and into the warzone that Vale had become.

[the-river-person]

Epilogue

Wind swept through the red grass like a wave upon the sea, sending ripples down the slopes of the endless hills. In the lowest valleys the grass vanished into a soft white fog, making the hilltops seem as if they were detached from the earth and floating through an ocean of clouds. Sans gazed around in wonder, while also having to shield his eyes a little. Above them the sky was a thousand blending shades of purple, everything from a deep angry bruise to a very soft lilac. At the edge of the Horizon was the sun, and from here it looked a very deep red color, and though it wasn’t terribly bright, he still had to shield his eyes. It seemed that he needed some time for his eyes to properly adjust to seeing the surface in all of its overwhelming brightness after living in the muted and shadowed Underground for all his life. Well for lifetimes on end, really. Mouth open wide, and eye lights nearly pinpricks in shock, Gaster too appeared to be too stunned for words at the sight of this world. Sans knew that his uncle had been around to see the Surface of their own Universe, and judging by Gaster’s reaction, it was nothing at all like this. The River Person had taken them to this place because he said it was still a relatively safe Universe to visit for a little while. Comfortably seated in his ferry boat, the River Person didn’t seem inclined to go anywhere soon, so they’d opted to explore for a bit while staying in sight. Arriving at another Universe was just as bizarre as leaving one had been. It was as if there was a reflective orb in the distance, only when you got closer it wasn’t you that it was reflecting, but a place. And if you got close enough it was as if the reflection warped and twisted itself so that it swallowed you and you were sitting in another Universe as smoothly as if you’d landed your boat at the docks. Actually the ferryboat itself was sitting in the middle of the red grass, and looked perfectly natural there as if it were supposed to sail across the sea of red grass and plants instead of up and down a river. Out in the distance the world got even stranger. To the right, he wasn’t sure what the compass direction was because the red sun appeared to be circling the horizon instead of crossing overhead in an arc, he could see bright glow that spanned the whole edge of the sky in that direction, as if the area was filled with light. And to the left the sky seemed to get darker and darker until the horizon that way was shadowed and still. “Pretty, isn’t it?” “Yes,” he breathed, still trying to take it all in. The next moment he leaped away in shock as he realized the comment had come from someone who had unexpectedly been standing beside him. It was a skeleton, somewhat similar to himself in appearance but not quite. Wearing brown pants that might have been tucked in overalls by the green straps that were sticking out from one side of the waist, a white shirt, and a long brown scarf... the skeleton’s clothing alone made a strong first impression of him. But more interesting than that were the splotch of black ink that coated the bottom right side of his jaw and the enormous paint brush that he carried on his back like a sheathed sword. Over his chest was a belt holding a series of tiny phials with heart shaped stoppers, each phial held a different colored liquid within, and altogether and in order they formed a kind of rainbow pattern. Finally, around his neck and hanging down his back was an incredibly long scarf of some brown fabric. The Skeleton was grinning at him, mischief dancing in his eye sockets, which Sans had only just realized contained some odd shapes. In his left eye, the pupil was shaped like a bright, five pointed, golden star (☆), twinkling merrily as if to say “I’m excited!” to all the world. And in his right eye the pupil took the shape of... and this left Sans feeling more bewildered than anything else, a small purple 7. But even as he watched the pupils changed shape, and again, and again. A spiral (๑), a triangle border with nothing inside (△), a check mark (✓), an eroteme (?), a small crescent moon (☽), a pair of squiggly lines that might have been either water or a double tilde (≈), a silcrow (§), a percontation point (⸮), and a very small umbrella (☂). “Hullo!” said the skeleton. “I’m Ink! Guardian of the Multiverse and Protector of AUs!” Gaster, who had turned around to see what Sans had been reacting to, was examining the newcomer with something akin to professional curiosity. “AUs?” he asked, tilting his skull slightly to the side. “Alternate Universes,” clarified Ink. “And parallel ones. And pretty much any other kind of universe that springs up. So... now that I’ve introduced myself, who are you two?” Other universes, the thought was a little frightening. Sure he’d heard Gaster practically wax poetic on the subject numerous times, and here he was standing in another universe entirely. But it was different hearing someone else talk about them existing, as if they’d seen them with their own eyes. An entire multiverse full of them. And if Ink was truly the Guardian of that Multiverse and every universe inside of it, then he must be a really important person. “I’m Sans-” he started to say, not sure whether there was special protocol for introducing yourself to a Multiverse Guardian, but Ink was already cutting him off, flapping his hand impatiently at them. “No no no. There are way too many Sanses and Gasters floating about. Even I’m a Sans. We like to use... well I guess you’d call them nicknames. They help keep us from getting confused. More confused. Some people use the name of their AU, others ” Somewhat at a loss, Sans turned to look at Gaster, who only shrugged unhelpfully. Well alright then. A nickname huh? His thoughts raced back years and years, decades, centuries, all the way to that very first therapy session with Doctor Whimsol. She’d suggested that he didn’t have to be a Sans if he didn’t feel like one. For a while he’d toyed with various other names, mostly Fonts in the style of Skeleton naming conventions. But he’d never really made anything of it. Perhaps one of the ones he’d liked would do? Something that suited him the way that he was now. He’d changed a great deal since then. There was no way anyone would think of him in formal terms, even now. But he was a bit more serious, even though he tried to stay approachable. He wasn’t suffering from depression and guilt, and he was a lot more active than he had been. So something light-hearted but serious, informal like, with a sense of movement.... It came to him and he grinned suddenly. “Mistral,” he informed the Guardian of the Multiverse. “I’m Mistral.“ Looking intrigued, Ink nodded enthusiastically. “It suits you! A little rough of a font, sort of like brush writing, but with this... um... crystal stuff on your bones, it really works.” Oh yeah, Sans had forgotten about the Kenón still growing on him. It had sped up its growth a bit in the Void, which made sense because they were already connected. Small spikes of silvery-grey crystal were now easily seen growing up from the collar of his shirt and from his sleeves, and tiny lumps were beginning to form under his usual overcoat that betrayed the crystals growing underneath. “I think,” said Gaster suddenly, “That I would like to be known as Majuscule.” Sans stared at him. “You want to be named after Capitalized Letters?” he asked incredulously. It wasn’t a font. Though they weren’t really required to stick to those if they truly didn’t want to. But it was related enough that it was odd that Gaster would want to choose that of all things for a name. The smile the scientist gave him was a smug one. “When I use the Wingdings Sign variant it really doesn’t differentiate between Minuscule and Maguscule symbols like the font does in physical writing. And since I cannot speak it out loud and adjust the volume of my speech, it is as if I am saying everything in capitalized letters, constantly speaking with maximum intensity all the time.” Oh Angel, of course Gaster would choose something that convoluted. Sans groaned and rolled his eyes, surprisingly Ink only looked amused and actually giggled, his eyes flitting between an octothorp followed immediately by an S (#S) , an ecphoneme (!), an on/off symbol, and an asterisk (*). “I’m guessing you guys are new travelers to the Multiverse. That means you’re the ones I was looking for. You see, I felt a Universe die recently, and I went to go protect it from whatever was causing it to be destroyed. But it was dying on its own, of old age. I’ve never seen a Universe do that before, reach its natural ending. Then I found a trail in the Void, the sort of paths the River Folk make when they travel, and I knew that someone must have escaped before everything fell apart. And well... here you are!” Ink smirked and stuck out his tongue in a sort of “blep” way. Somewhere in the back of his head, Sans couldn’t help but notice that the tongue was rainbow hued. But now that he was reminded, he had more important questions. “Did you see anyone else?” He asked. “A ship in the Void? Any survivors? Papyrus? Well, my Papyrus anyway. He’s the Captain of the Royal Guard. And there were a lot of people on the ship before it fell into the Void. Please, if you’ve seen anything...” He trailed off hopefully. Ink’s eyes had suddenly become two ecphonemes (!). “Wait, there are more than just you two?” asked the Guardian excitedly. “It’s pretty rare we get more than a Sans or a Gaster. For some reason the Sanses seem to be inclined to go traveling more than others, though we do get Papyruses and Gasters here and there. But I don’t recall seeing a ship...hmmm.” Then Ink reached back and pulled on his scarf. Upon closer inspection, Sans could see all kinds of writing on it, scribbles and notes. Ink was using the thing as a planner. For a moment Ink squinted down at the scarf, searching through all the notes. They could see his mouth moving as he silently muttered some of the reminders he was reading. At last he looked up. “Nope, sorry. I haven’t seen any ship. But I’ll make a note to keep an eye out for one. I definitely don’t want to miss seeing that. Oh, but I did write down something else. I found this where your universe used to be.” And digging into his pocket, Ink produced something that was difficult to see. It was like a point, but without any width, depth, surface, or length. It flickered strangely and Sans heard Gaster’s intake of breath behind him. “There it is!” said the Scientist as he stepped forward, reaching for the thing. “The last fragment. The final percentage. What bit of me are you hiding in such a small form?” His hand closed around it and he closed his eyes, looking triumphant and relieved. Just as quickly he snapped them back open again in alarm. “Sans!” “What?” “I had three assistants, Sans. Three! Not four! I don’t know who Goner actually is!” * * * The Tem had managed to push the wreckage away from itself, freeing its trapped hind leg. Nobody else was in this part of the Ship, mostly being occupied in repair work or attempts to plan and reorganize. He’d volunteered to come out here and replace the spark plugs in this area because it would make it easier to get away from people for a while. A low creak, like metal under strain, made him turn. It was similar to the sound he’d heard earlier before the ceiling fell. This ship had taken a lot of damage in the crash, it was no wonder it was all falling apart at the seams. There was no one there. Yeah, probably just more infrastructure damage from the crash that needed to be repaired. Turning back brought him face to face with the grey torso of Goner, who was looming over him with his pale whitish-grey eyes. “Your name is Bob, right?” Said Goner in an expressionless tone. It wasn’t really a question exactly. More like a statement with a question tacked onto the end like an afterthought. Suddenly Goner’s expression seemed almost sly, sinister. Perhaps it was just the lighting, but the Tem shrank from the Monster as he leaned forward. “My name is Goner, I have a feeling we’re going to be very good friends.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ink!Sans belongs to @comyet Special Thanks to @msaoa12345 for their continued reblogging, praise, and excitable and positive commentary. Without their support, this story wouldn’t be anywhere near finished.

[conretewings]

-A SMALL OBSTACLE-

**ATTENTION. THIS IS A RE-UPLOAD. I edited some things and added an epilogue. Please enjoy and reblog if you want**

(I'd like to dedicate this story to @mistwolf4, who's kindness, support, and discussions with me on it helped make it possible.)

When Salem had something to accomplish, she'd usually pick whoever's particular skills were most closely aligned to the task; when technological expertise or sly infiltration was in order, she called upon Watts. When wise diplomacy or intimidation, real or implied, was needed, she'd send Hazel. And when the seeds of chaos needed to be sown or a target taken care of, Tyrian was all too happy to serve.

Bearing this in mind, it wasn't often that all three men in the Grimm queen's inner circle were sent on a mission together; in fact this was only time in recent memory. All of their abilities, she had said, would be crucial. They had no idea about the small yet critical obstacle that lie ahead in their path...

Things started out just fine when they left Evernight in a 'borrowed' Mistral airship. They made it to the first rendezvous point, took care of that aspect of the mission-but when they returned to the vessel found themselves facing an unexpected issue.

Watts banged one fist on the control console after failing for nearly the seventh time to get the ship started, "What the hell is wrong with this heap of garbage?!"

Tyrian poked his head up from an access hatch in the floor, holding a wrench, "I tightened the bolts you pointed out...nothing?"

"Clearly not," the doctor replied with an eyeroll Tyrian didn't see, then leaned his head out the open window, "Is the power supply properly connected Hazel?"

The tall man nodded, closing a panel on the ship's side, "Everything looks fine."

Watts sighed, turning and going to the same access hatch Tyrian had vacated and was now crouching beside. Turning a couple of his rings, he swept a hand out, creating small hard-light platforms in front of his feet, using them as steps as he descended into the small main mechanical control room.

He began to fidget with several controls, muttering and cursing to himself as Hazel, having re-entered, and Tyrian stood nearby, unsure of how and if they could do anything. The scorpion Faunus caught Hazel's eye and gave a shrug before crawling onto the co-pilot's chair, and the taller man sighed, crossing his thick arms and leaning against the wall.

He knew if they couldn't get the thing started soon they'd be out of luck. Thus, ever the pragmatic one, he moved to kneel beside the hatch and said, "Arthur, if we can't get it going, we'll have to be stuck here for the night, or try and secure another mode of transportation. I suggest we head back into town and weigh our options."

A loud rattling and clang was heard from the dimly lit room below, coupled with Watts poking his head into view, "Absolutely not," he huffed, tossing a scorched, blackened piece of metal and wire onto the floor then ascending on more of his hard-light steps, brushing his clothes off, "I've located the issue. This," he picked the piece up, "Is one of the spark plugs for the main engine. We'll just grab a spare from the toolkit, install it and be on our way. Tyrian could you grab me the toolkit? It's the same one you grabbed the wrench from."

"There was nothing like that in there that I saw." Tyrian answered, cocking his head, long braid flopping over his shoulder.

Watts rolled his eyes again, striding to and flipping open a large steel box, "Rubbish. There has to be. There's always at...at least...oh for the brothers sake!"

He stood, pinching the bridge of his nose, "There isn't one."

"I told you, dear Arthur." Tyrian said with a sing-song tone, batting his eyes and earning himself a sideways, sour glance.

Hazel pushed himself to his feet, "We have two choices. One is to let her Grace know. The other is to head back into town to purchase the part we need. If we're quick option two is our best bet."

"No, no, you're right as usual my exceptionally tall fellow," Watts relented, giving his jacket another dusting for good measure and walking to the exit ramp, "I'll be back as soon as possible."

"I'm coming too," said Hazel as he too moved toward the door, "I'll grab a few other things in case we run into something like this again."

Tyrian leapt from the chair and swept up behind them, "Well, don't leave me out of the party! It's no fun being here all by myself!"

Watts waved a hand dismissively, "Fine fine! Let's just hurry and get this done."

An hour later, they had finally located a shop that carried the parts they needed. Watts was inside handling the purchase, Tyrian had joined him, and once Hazel had grabbed what he wanted he stepped outside to wait. The man leaned against the side of the store, slightly down the alley between it and the neighboring building minding his own business and trying to remain as inconspicuous as was feasible. It had clouded over in their walk here, and now the sky above was dark and heavy with the threat of rain.

As he stood, keeping an eye out for possible trouble as he always did, he suddenly felt a tugging at his pant leg and looked down to see...a small child gazing intently up at him. She looked to be about five years old, with dirt-streaked brown hair and an equally filthy dress. One hand clutched a stuffed toy with the other firmly knotted in the fabric of his pants, and she stared up at him fearlessly with bright blue eyes.

He resolved to ignore her, as she was likely simply seeking attention or to play a joke on him, neither of which he felt like dealing with. Thus he looked away again, crossing his arms and hoping she'd get bored and leave. After a minute or so of continued efforts, the tugging became more insistent and she spoke up, "'Scuse me mister!"

He sighed, relenting and making eye contact, "Yes?"

"Where's my mama?" she asked plaintively.

Hazel was momentarily taken aback. Of all the people around she had, for some reason, chosen him. Was she truly lost, or did she simply wander off and her mother was right nearby, frantically searching for her? No doubt it was the latter, and not having time to deal with lost waifs, yet unable to force himself to turn a blind eye-there were monsters other than Grimm about-he resolved to take care of this matter quickly. He carefully knelt, still towering above her but slightly less intimidating and asked, "When and where did you see her last?"

The child pursed her lips, looking away for a moment, "Umm...three days ago?"

Hazel felt his heart sink; three days meant it was the former situation after all.

Fishing in her pocket, the girl held out a piece of paper, "She gave me this but I can't read it..."

Taking it, Hazel unfolded it and quickly realized he was now entangled in a much darker, more complex situation. The note read, 'I can't take care of her anymore. Her aunt lives in Fellstone at 36 Walnut St. take her there.'

His brows knitted and he exhaled so lowly in his throat it was almost a growl. There had to be a police station nearby he could drop her off at, though he wondered why the child hadn't been taken there in the first place. Standing again, he stuffed the paper in a pocket and motioned for her to follow.

"Come on. I'll take you to someone who can help."

She gave a tiny gasp of delight, grinning ear-to-ear and reaching her hand up toward him. He paused, realizing she was trying to hold his as they walked, but pretended he didn't notice and kept on. They made their way through the muddy streets, Hazel taking frequent downward glances to make certain she was still there. His Scroll beeped, and taking a look saw the message from Watts: 'Where are you??' He quickly tapped out a reply; 'Had to take care of something be right back'

In only a few minutes they had reached a police outpost and though he was naturally wary of calling attention to himself, especially with law enforcement, he rapped his calloused knuckles on the door. It immediately flew open, a portly man doing a double-take at the figure in front of him.

"Oh-hello sir. What's the trouble?"

Hazel gestured to the small girl beside him, handing the officer the paper she'd had, "This child approached me...she was, apparently, abandoned by her mother. The note lists a relative."

The officer took the paper, looked from it to the girl, who waved at him, then shrugged, "Look, I know you mean well, but here's the thing; I know this kid. Her mom is a good-for-nothing drunk and is always in some sort of crisis. This isn't the first time she's ditched her and vanished. She'll probably be back soon. There's nothing we can do."

Hazel cocked an eyebrow, "I'm sorry?"

Again the officer shrugged, then coughed and handed the paper back, "I said there's nothing we can do. You can leave her here, or at the pub on Eighth, or Cherry and Pilwin. Those are her favorite haunts. Bye."

With that he shut the door practically in Hazel's face. His fists clenched, part of him wanting to punch a hole right through it. He wasn't naïve; the lines between good and evil in the world were, quite often, more blurry than most cared to believe or admit, however he still found himself entertaining the notion that at least some of those that were supposed to be in a position of protecting others would do just that.

He looked down at the child, whose wide eyes were wavering and uncertain, having clearly comprehended the adult's discussion. So she was truly on her own, with no one willing to lend a hand...except him. Despite his better judgement, in a flash of something deep and long-forgotten he sighed again and extended his hand to her, "If you still wish, I'll help you."

Her expression brightened, just a little, and she reached up, her tiny hand managing to wrap around several of his fingers.

"What's your name?" he asked as they made their way back toward the shop where his companions were, likely, impatiently awaiting his return.

"I'm Greta!" she proudly declared, then held up her toy, "And this is Stinky! What's yours?"

He inhaled sharply, stopping short. It wasn't her name, but it was close enough to send an aching stab through his chest. Drawing a deep breath to steady himself again, pushing the emotions and memories back into the corners of his mind where they usually were, he glanced at her and nodded.

"I'm Hazel. I'm going to take you to your family, Greta. I promise."

Watts paced briskly, hands tightly clasped behind his back and mouth pressed to a thin line. Tyrian stood much more casually, leaning against a tree at the edge of town where they'd decided to meet. His tail waved lazily and he watched the doctor's increasingly agitated state with amusement.

"Oh Watts you'll wear a rut in the ground at this pace," he said with a chuckle and stretched, "I'm certain our compatriot will be here any minute."

"Where IS that oaf?! This was HIS idea and now he's run off to who-knows-where!" he gestured to the sky with it's dark, roiling clouds, "It's going to downpour any moment and he can't even-finally!"

As he was ranting Hazel turned the corner of a nearby building and approached them. Watts raised his hands palms up in a sarcastic gesture, "Ah, at last, he returns. Now, let's get out of here. We-"

He froze mid-sentence, as now Greta peered out from behind Hazel's coat and gaped curiously at him and Tyrian. The scorpion Faunus perked up instantly, making a soft 'oooh' sound. Hazel moved his hand to indicate to her to stay back and at this Watts drew a sharp, deep breath, drawing himself up.

"Hazel. What. Is that?"

The large man glanced at Greta, then back to Watts. He had overheard how the doctor had referred to him and chose his response accordingly, "I believe this is what most would call a child."

"You know PERFECTLY well what I mean!" Watts barked, jabbing a finger in his direction, "Why is she with you?"

Hazel sighed, full well knowing this was going to be inordinately difficult no matter what, "She approached me seeking help, and I discovered her mother has abandoned her. She was kind enough at least to include a note listing a nearby relative. I'm taking her to them."

Watts rubbed his temples, his face reddened with frustration, "You can't possibly be serious..."

Tyrian snorted, "I don't recall Her Grace saying anything about babysitting stray children. Did you forget we have a job to accomplish?"

"Thank you dear Tyrian!" Watts quickly replied, then addressing Hazel pointed at Greta, "This is not your responsibility or problem. Put it back where you found it, and be quick we need to make headway before it rains or gets too dark."

Hazel said nothing for a moment. He knew this was exactly the response he would get, and had prepared for it.

"Fellstone, where her aunt lives, is right on our way. With the winds how they are, even with these two detours, we'll get to our next stop on time or ahead of schedule. And speaking of responsibility, if anything should go wrong I will shoulder it myself."

His teammates stared in defeated exasperation; they knew all too well that once he'd set his mind to something, there was no stopping him. Watts threw his hands in the air, grumbling and cursing and spun on his heel as he began the trek back to their ship. Hazel mumbled to Greta to stay close as he set off as well. The small girl clutched his coattails, having to trot to keep up. Tyrian slunk off the tree and took up the rear of the group, eyeing Greta now with curiosity...or how a snake does a mouse. He crept up closer, and finally the girl noticed. Her eyes widened and she tilted her head, watching his tail sway hypnotically.

"Do you like it?" he said in a sweetly venomous voice, "I certainly do...though many others don't..."

Hazel jerked his head to glower at the Faunus, "Leave her alone."

"Oh, but she's just curious! All I'm doing is providing some entertainment for her for the walk! Surely-"

"Leave. Her. Alone." he repeated, this time in a low threatening growl.

Chuckling, Tyrian raised his hands in a mock gesture of surrender and picked up the pace until he reached Watts, his tail gently resting on the doctor's back. He grinned and winked over his shoulder, and Greta held Hazel's coat a little tighter.

Slowly at first, then swiftly picking up into a steady rhythm, the rain finally came only minutes later. With a disgruntled shout of 'I told you' Watts unfurled his umbrella and took off towards the ship, which was now in sight, although still a ways off. Tyrian tried to shelter himself as much as possible with him, mockingly calling behind them to hurry.

Hazel picked up his pace; he had never minded the rain, but they did need to move quickly. Greta, still clinging to his coat, now struggled even more to keep up. She panted and moved her small legs as fast as she could, but between his naturally long strides and the wet ground she just couldn't-and tripped, tumbling to her knees. She knelt where she'd fallen, clutching her toy and started to cry. Hazel stopped a couple steps ahead and sighed.

"Come on, you need to get up."

"I caaaaan't!" she sniffled, "You're too fast and I'm getting tired!"

"You have to try."

"I can't!!" she repeated, then curled in on herself miserably.

He exhaled wearily. He had chosen to take charge of this situation, and now he needed to find ways to navigate it. They had to move, but she was clearly exhausted especially after everything she'd no doubt been through. An idea came to him...

"Greta."

She looked up at him from the muddy ground, her blue eyes clearly showing her weariness yet still holding that fearless fire. He knew she had a fighter's spirit, she must if she was able to survive on her own. He decided to nurture that, while also clearing up this obstacle.

"Sometimes, you'll be tired and hurting and want to give up. You can't. You have to try to push yourself just a little more to reach your goal. If you get up and walk to me I will carry you the rest of the way."

She regarded him solemnly, then wiping her face with one hand pushed herself to her feet and as confidently as she could muster, made her way to him, where she squared her shoulders as she looked up, "I did it."

"Good. Now then..."

He scooped her up with one arm, her slight weight nearly nothing to him, and started to walk. In moments he noticed the rain still pelting her, even worse now that it had picked up further. Yet another idea crossed his mind, one that would shelter her from the brunt of it and enable him to move faster. He loosened the belt overlaying his coat, tugging it aside enough to place her underneath, where she was now tucked against his chest and torso and re-cinched the belt, essentially turning it into a makeshift sling.

"Hold on." he said, and he felt her knot her hands in his shirt as he took off at a run.

Greta peered out as they moved, seeing the trees lining the road fly by. She held tight as he'd instructed, feeling his warmth and the strong, steady drumbeat of his heart. He had been so nice to her, even though he was big and looked kinda mean. Most people were actually mean. He reminded her of her papa...she barely remembered him, except that he was big and nice too. She smiled, nestling herself snugly against him and feeling happier than she had in a long time.

A couple minutes later Hazel made it inside the ship, taking a moment to rest from running in the now deluge outside. Watts and Tyrian were already hard at work on repairs, and Tyrian looked up at him with a fake pout.

"Oh, poor thing, you're soaked through!"

Hazel ignored him and went to his quarters, which normally on one of these ships was meant to sleep three people but was the only room big enough for him. Removing his charge from his coat and setting her on the unused bed, he then shed the garment entirely. Stepping into the tiny adjoining bathroom he grabbed a clean towel, coming back to her.

"You need to dry off. Here..." he carefully rubbed her head and she giggled, shaking out what he now realized was a soft auburn-brown hair. The rain had actually cleaned her up quite a bit. He then wrapped the towel snugly around her and told her to keep it on for a while. This done he sat heavily on his own bed across from her to plot his next move; he was loathe to admit he hadn't a clue what he was doing. Step one; get her off the street, sheltered, and on her way to her aunt, was complete. Now step two..?

He looked through the open door of the room, then back to her, sitting there swinging her legs and making her toy 'walk' across the blankets, "Are you hungry?"

Greta nodded, "I could eat a doughnut thiiiiiis big!" And spread her arms as far as she could.

"Then I'll get you something," he stood, not letting her see him wince. It was true he couldn't feel pain, but all the stiffness and joint damage he'd done to himself cropped up from time to time. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

He made his way to a small back area that served as a crude kitchenette, opening a cabinet to see what they had left. Some military rations left from Brothers-knew-when that they'd ignored, Watt's stash which was strictly off-limits, though for a moment Hazel considered it, some canned goods, and then a few of his own homemade protein bars and pre-packaged pastries. He took one of the protein bars and an apple danish and headed back. Upon entering he didn't see her, so he knelt to look under the beds and finding nothing, started to feel a ripple of concern.

"Greta?" he inquired.

His ears caught the softest rustle and giggle, and upon her bed saw the blanket move ever so much. He realized now where she was and stepped over to flip the blanket aside. Out popped a proudly grinning Greta, "BOO! You found me!"

"Good, I thought you'd wandered off."

"Awwww!" she pouted, "But I'm a scary ghost!"

"...Is the scary ghost still hungry?"

"YEAH!"

Greta jumped to her feet and upon spotting the danish, practically tried to climb him to get at it. He quickly handed it over and she plopped herself in the middle of the bed, tearing into the food with gusto, doing little bounces and hums of joy. He sat across from her, slowly eating the protein bar she'd rejected and wondering for probably the dozenth time what he'd gotten into.

Abruptly the vessel shuddered, and he could hear the engines roaring to life coupled with Watt's triumphant shout. The ship started to lift off, and Greta gasped, dropping the wrapper from her danish and scrambling to the window, seeing the ground move further away.

"Are we flying Mr. Hazel?!"

"Yes."

She began to bounce on the mattress, chanting and laughing "I'm flying I'm flying!" while flapping the towel she still wore like a pair of wings. Seeing her overjoyed by something to him so mundane, and often grim depending on the situation, plucked some long-dormant thread in his soul and he actually felt himself crack a small smile.

"I thought you were tired." he wondered.

"I-am-but-I'm-too-busy-flying-!" she answered in between bounces, then suddenly cried, "Oh no I've been attacked I'm falling catch meeeee!"

Crouching for extra power, Greta leapt and launched herself off the bed right at Hazel. Caught off guard, he nevertheless leaned forward and easily caught her, where she wriggled in his arms and laughed. He raised his eyebrow, again pondering why in the world she'd chosen him...but he was starting to be glad for it. After a minute she stopped and even started to slump against him. He pried her off and held her out to see her eyes slowly blinking, and she yawned loudly.

"I'm...sleepy...too much...flying. Had to make it to...the castle..."

"Then let's get you to bed."

He stepped across to her bed, fixing the blanket as much as possible before setting her down and pulling the covers over her. She suddenly bolted upright, lamenting, "Stinky?! Where's Stinky?"

Hazel bent and lifted the toy from the floor where it'd fallen during her aerial mishap, his best guess being it was a badger, and handed it over. Greta clutched the animal lovingly to her chest and Hazel stood.

"Be careful with your friends. Alright, I'll be right nearby if you wake up and need something. Goodnight, Greta."

"Wait!! Don't leave me! Mama left please don't leave me alone again!"

"I have to go keep watch so you're safe."

"Pleeeeeease?!" she pleaded, on the verge of tears.

He paused, seeing the genuine fear and longing for some sort of reassurance in her face, then sighed, sitting on her bed and scooting so his back was resting on the wall. He gestured and she scrambled into his arms, leaning against him as he held her to his torso, where she settled with a long, contented hum. He fully expected her to pass out at any moment.

But then, she craned her neck to gaze up at him, "Can I have a bedtime story?"

He pinched his brow; ah yes. He should have expected this. Though he did do plenty of reading and knew many tales, the bedtime story variety wasn't his forte. He thought for a moment, clearing his throat and Greta leaned forward with expectation.

"Once upon a time, a young girl took a ride on a flying ship. It was a beautiful day, and soon it was night, with lots of stars. She had had a long trip, and got tired. She went to sleep and had wonderful dreams and when she woke up, she was with her family. The end."

Greta stared blankly at him, then pouted, "That's not a real bedtime story!"

"If I tell you another do you promise to try and sleep?" he grumbled, but with a growing tone of affection.

"Pinky promise!" she declared, holding up her small hand.

He hesitated for a moment, but then finished the gesture with her...and a flash of memory he hadn't asked for came to him-

-"If I win this race, you have to do the dishes. If you win, I will!" said Gretchen with her usual bravado.

"Are you going to try and get out of it again?" Hazel replied with a sarcastic smile.

She held out her hand, "Nope! Not this time! I pinky promise!"-

He let his eyes fall shut, carefully refolding the memory and upon remembering another, one perfect for this moment, opened them again. This tale had always been her favorite.

"Very well. Let me tell you the story of The Brave Weaver Girl and the Golden Tree..."

The rain had let up considerably, now simply a gentle patter against the windows, and streaks of moonlight broke through the clouds. Greta was still curled in a ball in Hazel's lap as he continued to speak.

"...and at last, the brave weaver girl had defeated the shape-shifter, and taking some of the golden fruit of the tree to sell, went home to her family. The end."

He glanced down; her eyes were almost closed and her breathing slow and steady. Very carefully, he slid off the bed and turned, gingerly setting her on it and pulling the blanket over her. She hummed, pulling her stuffed toy closer and yawning again as she finally shut her eyes. He slowly started to back away, taking a pillow and a novel with him, hoping she wouldn't notice...and just barely caught her whisper-soft murmur as she said, "G'night papa..."

He stopped short, the shock hitting like he'd been kicked in the gut. ...Papa? His chest tightened uncomfortably and he swallowed hard, conflicting emotions he hadn't known he was still even capable of clawing at him. Exiting, he silently shut the door and turned so his back was against the wall, slumping down until he was sitting cross-legged on the floor to begin his vigil.

Her words kept echoing in his mind. Did she actually believe he was, and that's why she'd approached him? No, if she did she would have said so. It was most likely then she simply saw him as a father figure, a notion that sat heavily in his heart.

He was no type of man to be a father. The things he'd done, the pain he'd caused, all in the promise of a different, hopefully better future yes, but still...he didn't deserve such an honor. Briefly he looked back at his younger self and recalled the time he'd wanted a family of his own someday...a dream long dead.

Hearing footsteps approaching, he flicked his gaze upward to find Watts standing there, a mug of what smelled like coffee in one hand and his Scroll in the other. The doctor stared at him disparagingly for a moment before he spoke.

"May I inquire as to why you're sitting there?"

Hazel glanced around before quietly answering, "I don't trust him."

"Ah, yes, Tyrian did mention you'd ended up bringing your little pet along after all. Well, I'm still not a fan of the whole situation however I'm clearly outmuscled," he leaned against the wall opposite Hazel and took a sip of his drink, "I am curious though; why her? What compelled you to not turn her away?"

"She came to me. I..." he trailed off, having been forced for the first time to truly stop and consider it, "She was an innocent, alone. I know that fate all too well."

"Aaah, I see. Ironic, isn't it?" Watts sniffed, "I wonder how many people you've...dispatched, and here you are suddenly deciding this one life is worth saving. Curious."

Hazel felt his hands clench as they rested on his knees; he was well aware of the many lives he had taken and the, as Watts had put it, ironic nature of this venture. He also was in no mood to be reminded.

He looked Watts squarely in the eyes and said, in that tone denoting having had enough, "If you have nothing productive or helpful to say, I'd like some peace and quiet."

With the faintest eye roll, Watts pushed himself off the wall and turned on his heel towards the front of the ship, saying over his shoulder, "We'll be passing through Fellstone in the morning. Goodnight Mr. Rainart."

Hazel unclenched his fists and let his shoulders relax, having not realized just how much he'd had them tensed. Watt's words had struck a chord, leaving him now with a bitter taste in his throat and dark thoughts he'd hoped to avoid for at least one night. He glanced at the door behind him, through which slept one tiny girl, one that in the brief time she'd been with him, had brought him trouble he hadn't planned on...but also a slight, fragile sliver of joy and even healing. Soon he'd be sending her on her way, but that was good. That was what she needed. For the second time that day, he felt himself forming a small, wistful smile.

Leaning back with the pillow behind his head, he opened his book and settled in for a long, sleepless night...

He sat up with a start, nearly banging his head on the wall. It was much brighter around, and he realized it must be morning. Turning he saw the door was ajar, and with a groan from stiff joints and passing out in an awkward position, he stood and opened the door a little further, stepping in the room. He called her, but got no answer, and assuming it may will be another case of hide-and-seek pulled back the covers of her bed and even the others–but found no sign of her. Fighting back the panic starting to brew, he stepped back into the hall area and called her. It was then he heard her giggling coming from the front control area of the ship and he immediately made his way there-where he froze.

Tyrian sat crouched on a pilot's chair, his tail wrapped around Greta's waist as he rocked her gently back and forth like a swing.

In two long strides Hazel made it over and scooped the small girl up to hold her on his shoulder, cold fury in his eyes, "What are you doing?" he all but growled.

Tyrian stood and wisely sidled around the large man, grinning ear-to-ear, "Ah! Good morning! As I said before, I simply wish to entertain our young guest! She was all alone, poor dear, so Uncle Tyrian came to the rescue! Didn't I, little one?"

"Get out." Hazel stated in a tone that did not invite any further discussion, and Tyrian backed out of the area and out of sight, his smile no less taunting.

It was about an hour later that Watts announced they were near Fellstone and he was going to land the ship a safe distance away. From putting the address into his Scroll, Hazel had realized her aunt's place was a small farm toward the edge of town which was perfect; the less people saw them the better. The thick fog that had settled over the land after last night's rain would further disguise them.

With what time the pair had left, Hazel spent much of it telling her stories and she spun her own yarns, though they were generally much more disjointed.

"Are you gonna stay with us?" she asked at one point as she traced invisible patterns on his arm.

"No. I can't, I have places I need to go. I'm sorry."

"Oh..." she said with disappointment, pressing herself into him a little more, "Okay...hey!" She brightened and clapped her hands, "Maybe you can come visit!"

He felt his stomach knot up. No. He knew what he was, what he'd still have to do, how death and danger were always nipping his heels. The moment she found out who he truly was she'd rightfully despise him-as well as be in grave danger herself. No...it was safest for her if she never saw him again. "Perhaps. We'll have to wait and see..."

Finally, Watts called to him that he was going to land as close as he could, and that they had to make it quick in order to stay on schedule. Hazel sighed and gently picked her up, making her make sure she had Stinky, and they made their way to the outside hatch and down the ramp.

It was damp, and the fog was so dense it obscured the small farmhouse only a short ways off, and thankfully the airship behind them. Through the mist however, Hazel could see lights on in the house and could hear sounds of life. Greta gasped, chattering about the times she'd been here before and all the fun things she'd done. He listened to her well, taking a mental snapshot of this moment to tuck away for when times were harder, to have a small bright spot to look upon and hope everything he did was worth it in the end.

When they had gotten as close as he dared without him possibly being seen, he set her down, making sure the note she had had with her when he found her was still in the pocket of her dress. He then knelt, also as he had done just the day before.

"Now," he said kindly but sternly, "I held up my end of our deal. I got you to your family, now do you remember your part?"

She saluted, "Be strong, be brave, be good, and don't be a Huntress!"

"Very good. Now then..." he stood, "Go on."

She didn't move, just stared at him with those bright blue eyes. He raised his eyebrow, "Yes?"

She held her arms up, and he realized what she wanted. Lifting her he gave her one more hug, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, whispering, "Thank you Mr. Hazel...I'll never forget you. Thank you for being my Papa for a while."

He again felt that kick in his gut but kept himself steady, telling her it had been his honor, and he set her back down. Without another word she turned and ran toward the house shouting happily. He watched her go with a silent prayer, taking a small piece of what was left of his heart with her. A door flew open and a woman came out, calling her in confusion. The woman scooped her up and held her while crying joyfully; clearly this was indeed her relative. Hazel exhaled with a rare feeling of contentment; she was home.

"Greta! My goodness how did you get here?!" her aunt exclaimed in astonishment.

The girl turned and pointed, "The big nice man rescued me! ...mister?"

But by that time Hazel had turned and left, vanishing into the fog...

-EPILOGUE-

Hazel stood in the woods, the fading sunlight shimmering in golden beams through the thick trees, the air beginning to cool. He felt the weight of his axe across his shoulders and could hear the soft calls of birds and the distant bark of a fox.

Where in the world...?

His nose caught a faint whiff of wood smoke and some sort of food, and he looked around to see a small cluster of houses on the gently sloping hillside near him, with many more in the valley below. One house, set just apart from the others, had wisps of smoke coming from it's chimney, and he could now also hear faint voices.

Oh. Yes. Of course. He was heading home after a day at the lumber mill. It was a good job, and payed well. Dinner would probably be ready soon, unless the kids were especially a handful today. He started toward the house, seeing now signs of movement through the windows. One face appeared and moments later vanished, reappearing as they threw open the front door and started running towards him.

"Papa!! Papa's home!" they called, and two more small figures tumbled out the door as well, all happily calling him. He grinned and knelt, setting the axe down and opening his arms as he braced for impact. Moments later three children collided with him in a flurry of hugs, all excitedly talking over each other as they greeted him and described their day. He chuckled, telling them he'd missed them too and stood, hoisting one under each arm as the third clung to him piggy-back and finished the walk into the house.

Still carrying the kids, Hazel strode into the kitchen area, setting them down in their respective chairs. A tall woman with chestnut hair turned and smiled warmly as she grabbed several plates, "Hey you. Glad you're home."

"Hey..." he returned the smile, stepping up to and gently kissing her, earning a collective 'eww!' from the children. He tried to take the plates from her, offering to set the table, but she yanked them back, asking if he'd washed his hands. He coughed and turned to the sink, and she sighed affectionately.

After dinner, the kids were seated at the large oak dining table, one that Hazel had made himself, with their various craft projects, chatting among themselves while the adults played chess in the living room and enjoyed the cheerful, crackling fire in their fireplace.

"You've been staring at the board for a while. You stumped?"

Hazel shook his head, chin resting on his calloused knuckles, "Not yet."

His wife leaned back with a smug grin, "You're getting much better. Maybe someday you'll win, but-"

He reached and moved a piece a couple places, "I believe that's check."

"Wait how-?!" she scanned the board, then wagged a finger at him with a grin, "Oh ho, I see what you did. Very clever."

He looked up at her, deep brown eyes filled with that challenge and fire he fell headlong into love with what now seemed like ages ago.

"You'll probably still win this game, but you won my heart a million times already."

She paused with her hand above the board and met his gaze in appreciative confusion. Smiling softly with a blush she replied, "Of all the times to say something so romantic...trying to distract me?"

"No. Just being honest."

Her expression softened, smile widening a little, and she leaned across to kiss him tenderly, "I love you too...so much. You just surprised me is all."

"Speaking of surprises," he shifted to place his large hand over her smaller one that was unconsciously resting on her stomach, "When are we going to tell them they'll have a new sibling soon?"

She chuckled, "I guess...now is as good a time as any," turning she called, "Hey! Munchkins! Come here please..."

-He awoke with a choking gasp, bolting upright and sweating, for a few moments throughly bewildered; where was he? Where was his wife, their children? This wasn't his home it was-

Gradually, the fog of sleep seeped away and reality's unwelcome claws sunk their way back into his mind. All of it, the love, the happiness, the peace and sense of normalcy was nothing but the crumbling wishes of his subconscious, no doubt brought on by the previous day's and this morning's detour with Greta. Evidently, the girl must have reignited some embers deep within he had long since assumed to be burned to ash. Now however, alone in the icy moonlight, all of it quickly faded again, along with the faces and laughter of his non-existent family. He didn't bother to hold on to them.

There was no point in mouring that which you've never had and never will, after all.

[rwbyvein]

Firen Lhain: Chapter 808: Coffee:  Part I / III

James Ironwood stood in the Atlas Council's chambres. It was a hollow-half-circle with room enough for 5 chairs. One was missing. One was empty. An image appeared on the screen.

"This is Cinder Fall, current Fall Maiden, and the mastermind of the attacks on both Beacon and Haven academies. She is quite literally the most dangerous criminal currently alive. And she wants permission to leave Atlas."

The three seated councillors all let out confused and offended utterances. The first to stand up was the head of the Chambre of Commerce, Bluebonnet Bellamy, "How can we even consider this?"

The next to stand up was the Chief Justice Hildegard Bont, Councillor for the Judicary. "I thought the borders had already been opened."

"Yes, well." Ironwood said to them, "Due to the treasonous actions of certain members of the military, the order to open the borders was not followed."

Next stood up Constance Bieber, Councillor of Atlas Civil works, "I was wondering about your bizarre declaration."

Hildegard continued, "Is this why you gave moved Lieutenant-General Hartman out of Central Command?"

"She is also the most qualified to man the First Roboticized Brigade Group." Ironwood replied. "She was on the shortlist for when it was going to be created."

"Two birds with one stone?" Constance asked.

"The Tin Man and his Tin Army." Bluebonnet stated, "Do we really believe any of this?"

"As the Councillor for the Chambre of Commerce?" Constance asked, "You have to have seen trade yet to normalize."

"These things take time." Bluebonnet tried to say.

"No, they don't." Hildegard stated. "The Kingdoms were dying to resume trade. The whole point of the Chambre of Commerce having a Chair at the Council was to recognize this. It is entirely unreasonable to expect trade to not skyrocket the moment the borders were open. Ergo it is reasonable to assume that there was illegal obstruction. It would, however, be more prudent to pursue these matters in the proper legal channels."

"The Lieutenant-General was fomenting rebellion." Ironwood stated, "By keeping the border closed, she was hoping to cause the people to mutiny."

"Unfortunately, this is almost entirely your fault." Constance stated.

"I KNOW!" Ironwood replied. "You don't think I know this?! This - is - entirely - my -fault!"

"And, did you want to tell us why we should give the world's most dangerous criminal permission to flee?" Hildegard asked.

Ironwood breathed in deep to regain his mettle. "She's too dangerous to contain. The only reason she's remained in custody this long is her own willingness."

"What changed?" Constance asked, and a picture of Cinder appeared on the screen.

"This is how she looked when she was apprehended." Ironwood stated, "Take a close look at her left hand and left eye, they've been replaced with Grimm parts. Also note a complete lack of resistance. Here's a picture of how she is at the moment." Constance and Hildegard gasped.

"She's been cured?" Constance asked.

"That's why she wanted to remain in custody." Ironwood stated.

"If you have this kind of medical science?!.." Constance asked, and Ironwood cut her off.

"This is Jaune Arc," Ironwood said as a picture of Jaune appeared pausing as he ate with chopsticks. "Recently given Letters-Patent from the Kingdom of Mistral as a Huntsman. His Semblance allows him to manipulate the Aura of... how did he put it, sympathetic souls? The brief summary in my report is that this requires the subject's Aura to be unlocked, and a certain level of trust. Not enough trust to let her stay with them afterwards." A picture of Cinder reappeared, "Now, while she was the mastermind, it was not her choice. At present she wants to remove herself from the conflict, and we don't have to tell you how important it is to have Her strongest piece taken away from Her. We're at war, and few people know about it. All we have to do is approve her travel outside of the kingdom."

"Where are they headed?" Constance asked.

"Vacuo." James said, and Constance raised her hand. Ironwood raised his, followed by Hildegard. Bluebonnet just sighed.

* * *

Taj looked into the back of the airship. "If we're going all the way to Vacuo, we're going to have to stop someplace to pick up food... and coffee."

"I do believe you are being paid appropriately." Cinder stated.

"I know a place on the way." Taj stated. "I hope the emerald dream back there is not a vegetarian, or this is going to be awkward."

"What makes you think I'm a vegetarian?" Emerald asked.

"I don't know." Taj replied, "You just kind of look like one. You never know nowadays."

"She will honestly eat anything she's given." Mercury said and found a flying kick slamming him into the side of the airship, causing it to rock back and forth.

"Easy!" Taj shouted.

"It's not like they hurt it." Cinder stated.

"They did knock it off balance." Taj stated, "Do you guys not know how dangerous that is?"

"Cinder is a pilot!" Emerald shouted.

"If you kids keep fighting, I'm just going to drop you somewhere." Taj stated.

"You'll be fired!" Emerald shouted.

"Don't care!" Taj shouted. "Other jobs, less babysitting." Mercury and Emerald stared at each other from across the airship. "That's better."

"Thank you." Cinder said with a smile.

"Uh, yeah, a pleasure?" Taj replied.

* * *

The airship set down next to what looked like a run down shack.

"Are we seriously going to eat here?" a dejected Emerald asked as she walked down the ramp.

"Aw?" Mercury asked her as he walked down behind her, "Are you suddenly too good to eat gutter food."

"I should slap you!" Taj angrily said to him. "Once you've tasted it, you'll take back those comments."

"And if I don't?" Mercury asked.

"And if I don't?" Taj sarcastically asked. "You know what? Fuck you. Both of you. You'll eat it, and you'll like it, and if you don't?.."

"What?!" Emerald harshly asked him.

"You're not just evil, but you have no taste buds!" Taj replied.

"Why the hell are you carrying a thermos?"

"Coffee, you pretentious twat." Taj stated.

"Did you just call me pretentious?!" Emerald asked.

"If you've never had to rely on coffee, then yes, you're pretentious."

"Do you know anything about me?" Emerald asked.

"No!" Taj replied, "Maybe you can tell me all about it once you agree on how good the food is here. Anyways, speaking of coffee, do you guys want any, or do you plan to sleep on the flight."

"You'd like that." Emerald asserted.

"It would be less dangerous, yes, but a lot more boring, and I wouldn't get to talk to interesting people like you."

"I'm interesting?" Emerald asked.

"We are like the world's most wanted criminals." Mercury said to her.

* * *

Taj came out of the shack with a small paper bag stacked on top of a larger paper bag.

* * *

Taj handed the the larger bag to Cinder. He then picked up his themos from the tray and walked up front. Cinder started to pull cardboard trays out of the bag and passed them out. Emerald looked at it scornfully while Mercury looked at is suspiciously. Cinder tried to act enthusiastic as she unwrapped it. It looked like it had a day's worth of artery clogging calories. She tried to pretend to be eager as she tucked into it, and the look on her face immediately changed to one of absolutle joy. Mercury was the next to take a large bite from the burger, and didn't stop at just one.

"You have got to be kidding me." Emerald said as she looked at it. She looked over to Mercury who was almost finished his.

"Oh?" Taj said from the cockpit, thermos in hand, "Don't forget the coffee."

Emerald pratically sneered at the coffee cup that shook a bit as the airship took off.

"Eat up, little missy." Taj stated, "We've got 12 hours until we hit Vacuo, then probably another 3 hours to get where you want to go."

"And if we have trouble?" Cinder asked.

"I'm expecting trouble." Taj stated, "I'm also expecting our little spring chicken to help us out if things get a bit too hairy."

"What did you call her?!" Emerald asked, nearly dropping her burger.

"It's a compliment." Mercury stated, holding the tiny portion of his burger that remained. This caused Emerald to scoff.

"Hurry up and tuck in." Taj said to her, "So we get to the part where you admit how right I was."

"Like I would ever..." Emerald tried to say, and then took a bite. She sat there in silence, trying her best not to look like she was enjoying her food. She eventually chewed and swallowed it. She tried her best to look neutral.

"Just admit you like it." Mercury said, as he finished the last of his burger, this caused Emerald to let out a scoff.

"There's a time for lying," Cinder said, "and a time for truth. You tell too many lies, and no one will believe you."

"I can't believe I'm saying this," Emerald nervously, teppidly voiced, "but this is maybe the best thing I've eaten." She then took another bite. She and Cinder enjoyed their food until she paused, "And if you want to know, I - WAS - a street rat. Eating anything seemed like a luxury. Cinder is the one who saved me from that."

"Which is why she fell in love with her." Mercury stated, "And she fell HARD."

Emerald gave him a piercing look as she finished chewing her bite. "Like you're one to talk."

"Like I'm one to, what?" Mercury asked.

Emerald picked up a napkin to wipe her face before putting the food down. "Who's the one who got us all the money?" she asked, and Mercury just looked at her. He quickly wiped his face, looked back at her and again just stared. "Oh, really?" Emerald asked, "You could have gone ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, and been a millionaire, and what do you do?" Again, Mercury just stared at her. "Oh, are we just now figuring this out?" she asked, "Are you just figuring out that you could have done anything, but you decided to use all of the money you got in a DAY to try and find Cinder?"

"She's..." Mercury tried to say, "She's important..."

"No shit, Sherlock." Emerald stated. "You just now figuring this out?! I might be in love with Cinder, but I've known SINCE WE FIRST MET!" Emerald shouted. Gone was Mercury's lost look and in it's place a self-satisfied smirk. "Wait?.." she asked, and her head snapped over to Cinder.

Cinder's hand dropped to Emerald's knee, gently caressing it. It looked as if Emerald's heart hung by a thread. "I knew." Cinder simply said and then paused, "Before, it was just something that made you easy to control."

Emerald's heart looked like it had been broken, "Wait, before?.." She nervously, teppedily, fearfully, frightfully asked, but Cinder's hand stayed on her knee, gently caressing her.

"I honestly don't know what I want from you now?" Cinder asked, "But I honestly don't know what I want from myself. I know you're loyal. I know you're loving. I know you're beautiful." She then turned her head to look Emerald in the eyes who looked back as if her very soul depended upon the connection, "And I know I want you in my life."

"Told you, you were interesting." Taj said from the front seat, and Emerald snapped out of it, looking around in a panic. She looked over to see Mercury smirking at her before drinking his coffee.

"He wasn't lying about the coffee, either." Mercury said with surprise and joy.

[wu-sisyphus-gang]

Motion Sickness Chapter 32

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

I chased Ruby's bottom lip with hunger and she rolled her fingers through my hair. She giggled against my lips as I sighed in pleasure at the touch of her small hands.

I pinned her down against my unkempt bed with a vigor that made her roll her pelvis up at me and I growled.

"You rascal ." I broke off the kiss to look her in the eye but her grey gaze just seemed to say 'who, me?'

Yes you. If it wasn't you, then who?

I ran one frustrated hand under her body and along her back, pulling her close to me. I slid under her shirt and I bodily picked her up off the bed and held her against me as I devoured her lush, full lips with some savagery.

I touched the whole of her curved back with my arm and she heaved up into me with heavy breaths. Her skin just felt so fantastic against my own as I cradled the whole of her small form against my larger one. She let out another noise, one that made me feel like a demigod and she breathed out my name with a tiny mewl.

"Oh, Jaune..."

It left her pink lips like a prayer and I dove back upon them with my own.

It had been weeks since I'd held her so close. It had been weeks since we'd been able to share more than parting looks and careless touches. I could feel her want against my own in a steady rhythmic pulse which only sped up over time. She flushed as red like the tips of her hair as I chased her tongue around her mouth. Then she suddenly closed her lips and sucked on my tongue gently in a way that made my chest heave. It made me throb for her.

Our teeth met briefly and savory, softly clicking together when I deepened our kiss. She moaned, a low sound in her throat I wouldn't have thought the young woman capable of making. It only made me want to devour her flesh more. I kissed down her neck and over her jaw line until I arrived at the dimple in her collar and sucked against her supple skin.

So great was my hunger as I knelt between her legs that I nearly left behind hickies and marked her smooth flesh with my possessiveness. I had to remember not to mark her as she grabbed my face in her arms and moaned again. Gods I would do so fucking much just to hear her moan like that. That was why I did what I did. This is what I fought for. It nearly made the weeks of passing touches worth the wait just to hear her cry out quietly and writhe against the sheets.

Our aura's merged and flared like touching candle flames and she hissed beneath me, clawing against my shirt, just searching for purchase. She rubbed against the massive scars the Scorpion had left along my chest and I moaned loudly, almost a deep grunt. Red mixed with gold and flickers of blue flame. Crimson petals drifted from the air around us as the heat of our moment intensified.

Her legs tried in vain to wrap around my waist but my frame was too wide to allow that. She gave a little noise of protest which was absolutely delicious as she failed to pull me even closer to her.

The door to the room burst open.

"Hey Jaune have you seen my- what the fuck!?"

I was hauled off of Ruby by pure main strength and was turned to face Yang. I saw her eyes flash red from violet. I met the heated glare with pure stupid apathy as I was brutishly shoved against a wall hard enough that my head cracked against it.

"Have you seen," she hissed, "My. Sister."

"Yeah." I muttered duly. "She's around." My head cracked against the wall again painlessly. I felt slow, big, and dumb.

"Yang what the hell?!" Ruby shouted from where she sat up on the bed. Her fingers still deep in the sheets as she propped herself up.

"You were having sex!"

"I was super well aware!" Ruby huffed and blew her messy hair out from in front of her eyes. "Will you let him go, please?" Yang released me and I stepped back from the tan wall and away from one of the green plants which lined our Mistrali rental.

"Well. Explain, asshole." Yang demanded her hair burning in orange and yellow. Her enormous mane was inflamed from the heat of her anger.

"Yang I like him," Ruby spouted from behind her sister. "I should have told you, Jaune was helping me keep it a secret."

I nodded dumbly, still half cocked. Blood was flowing from other places back to my brain. I wasn't reacting swiftly to the situation and I wasn't sure there was much I could have said.

"Really? This dumb motherfucker?" Yang turned her gaze around at Ruby.

"Yang!" Ruby sat up straighter on the bed and dropped the sheets she'd still held clutched in those tiny hands. "I. Like. Him. And why not? He makes me feel safe. He makes me feel good. I like him. He always has my back and I love how much I trust him."

Yang staggered, looking at Ruby in disbelief. "How long?"

"A little before we picked up Qrow. Maybe a month." Ruby 'pffted' upwards blowing her hair out of her face again.

"This whole time," Yang whipped back towards me. "This whole time you've been taking advantage of my sister."

"I keep telling you it isn't like that!" Ruby protested.

"Then why sneak around about it?!"

Ruby geastured emphatically. "This! This is why, Yang." She turned her head sideways slightly. "I was trying to find the right time to tell you."

"And what? He was all too happy to go along with it?"

"Yes! He does whatever I ask him to do, he's like a big puppy. He's harmless."

"I just saw him murder a bunch of people. Calmly."

"We haven't had the chance to talk recently…" Ruby confessed, sounding meek for the first time. "But that's the job, Yang. Sometimes bad guys die. Roman Torchwhick died. You killed people too. That's the job sometimes. I knew that. You knew that."

"Yeah but I was busted up about it was the difference."

"Jaune was super messed up the first time he killed someone. You weren't there for it. You were back at Dad's. And Jaune had my back. When Tyrion came for me, to kidnap me and take me to Salem, Jaune was willing to die for me! He almost did die for me! How much more ideal and sweet a guy could I have found and you're still not happy with it? What was I supposed to do? No one was going to be good enough for me in your mind."

Yang's hair deflated. Her eyes flicked back to violet as something like shame took her over. If I was a betting man it wasn't over her outburst of anger, but rather over the fact she'd flinched.

"Jaune," I looked up at Ruby still feeling dazed. "Would you give us the room? Please?"

I nodded along. "Sure. Of course." I walked past the crouching tiger I felt Yang represented within the room and shut the door behind me. I leaned back against it and wiped my hands across my eyes and sighed out loud.

"You got caught." It was Weiss. I couldn't muster up the heat of a glare. I felt too tired, bone deep tired. I met her icy blue eyes, her hair was down around her shoulders and not in its usual ponytail.

"Yeah. We 'got caught.'" I let out. I was leaning deeply against the door such that our eyes were level.

She flushed a little scarlet. "Just kissing or something more?"

"A little of column A and a little of column B."

"Well you're still…" she trailed off pointing downwards. She was only looking out of the corner of her eye with her head turned away, as if to give me a sense of modesty.

I was still half cocked, thank you Weiss. Super appreciative.

It wasn't her fault, though.

I exhaled, hard, and took a few deep breaths. I tried to slow my heart rate back down and get my anatomy under control.

"Yeah well you know." I managed. "It'll go away."

"Is that how it works?"

"Yeah. That's how it works." I spouted stiffly.

"You could have locked the door."

"The doors don't have locks." I said dry as ice. "We figured somebody would knock first."

"And that would have helped?"

"Maybe? Probably? I don't have a plan for everything!"

She snorted at me in a quiet 'ugly' laugh. Yuck it up, Weiss.

I leaned against the door and tried to forget Ruby's pulse between her legs. It was pretty difficult. I was intentionally avoiding the word 'hard' but 'twas also that.

"Seems to me this whole situation could have been avoided if you'd just talked to Yang."

"Wasn't my decision. I'm just the dumb boyfriend. Dumb boyfriends follow their smart girlfriends' orders. Especially where family is concerned."

"What about your family?"

"They'd be amazed I got this far."

"With a girl?"

"Just in general." I crossed my arms over my chest.

Weiss gave me a pleasant smile at that, the sort I would have killed for freshman year. It was warm around the edges, yet firm in the center. Blue eyes glowing softly in the morning light of Mistral. The deep dusk reds couldn't seem to touch Weiss's eyes.

"Coffee?" She asked. "Or were you going to avail yourself of a cold shower?"

"Ha. Ha." I pronounced my 'ha's. "I think I'm good on that shower." I felt confident enough to stand up straight and I followed her down stairs for some of the brown beverage.

Weiss evidently took her's dark. I watched her quietly make it, arms folded in the kitchen over my blue cotton shirt. She handed a cup to me and I guess she knew I was a pussy because she offered me cream and sugar. I availed myself of some mixing the white with the brown. Just a little though. I wasn't Ruby. I heaved yet another sigh.

"So now the only one who doesn't know if Qrow." She blew over her drink.

"And Oscar, I guess." I cheered her when she offered her mug in my direction."Or Ozpin or whatever they are."

I took a sip and winced at the temperature.

"Careful, it is hot."

"I just about got that memo, thanks. One more just to make it sink in." I took another sip and winced. "Yep, still hot."

"Well don't do it again! You'll just hurt yourself."

I shrugged. "Pretty sure Yang would be on board with the concept of me suffering."

"Well let's not give her what she wants. I'll take it from you, you know. You have to be patient."

I blew over the top of the liquid distinctly impatiently.

"You're worse than Ruby sometimes." She was smiling, though.

"Yeah." I agreed. "How are you holding up after yesterday? Couldn't have been easy on the inside."

"Not sure if you heard or not but the Don picked me to be his escort for the night. He had some lines of hyper laid out on his bedside table, even. For the evening, I suppose. A man of indulgence."

"I hadn't." I prompted.

"I held him down with my semblance and made him talk. On the whole, I'd say I had the easiest job. Not like you boys outside."

"It got messy, I'm just glad none of you got hurt."

"How are you holding up with it?"

"Killing people, you mean?"

She nodded, leaning her head on one hand as she looked up at me from the table she'd taken a seat at.

"I'm alright at it. I think I might even be good at it. Killing people. It does get easier."

"How many?"

"I used to know, used to have a number. Went from one, to two, then five but... But now I've lost count. A bunch. A whole bunch of people."

"I'm sorry, Jaune."

"Sometimes it be like that,” I snapped my fingers and pointed off in the distance. She didn’t look distracted by my antics so I sighed. “It's what we signed up for."

"I haven't killed anyone, not yet. I probably will at some point, though. Seems inevitable, doesn't it?"

"Some poor sap without aura and then, bam." I nodded. "Even with aura you can't exactly tell how full they are sometimes so you just go right through."

"Gods."

"That's how my first one went. This bandit. I had my semblance and I just spent it and I cut him."

"You're unbelievably strong with your semblance active." Weiss nodded along like she could see it. "The point of Myrtenaster will probably be like that, especially if I have some speed behind me."

"Exactly." I took a sip, the coffee had finally cooled down enough that I could drink some. I almost found myself pounding the drink.

"Well, aren't we chipper?" She sighed.

"Just pragmatic. You didn’t actually tell me how you’re holding up.”

“Didn’t I?”

“No. You dodged it.”

“Did I now?” She teased with an upwards tilt of her chin.

“You just said you figured you had the easiest job then you changed the subject. You should answer the question I asked you. Just so long as we’re both being completely honest with one another.”

“And are we?” She wondered.

“If we’re not, I want to take back everything I told you since you arrived in Mistral,” I blew on my coffee. She gave me a dainty laugh. “So, how are you holding up?” I pressed.

“Not so great,” she confessed. “I’m not doing so great. But it wasn’t the absolute worst day of my life. So there’s that. I didn’t have to kill anyone which I’m thankful for. Just torture which I’m not sure is any better.”

“It’s not. Plus you had to wear those outfits.”

“Which you should admit you liked,” she fired right back. “It’s okay. I saw you stare at Ruby.” And you . It went unsaid but she saw me stare at her too. I couldn’t… I couldn’t really help myself. Her platinum hair went good with the black. And you know me. I’ve always thought that she was beautiful and talented and smart and a little queerly funny. So yeah. There was that.

“So what if I did? A bit of a nightmare if I ever asked Ruby to wear one. Besides she’s sexy enough in one of my shirts or her pajamas.” I sipped my coffee.

“Is she really?”

“You ever see Ruby blush?” I asked. “It gets me out of bed in the morning.”

“Well, I suppose…”

“You see how Ren's holding up?"

"Nora got him out of the place early. She called it a 'not-date' and left. I think she killed somebody too. Just crushed their rib cage."

"Lords above." I sighed. "Just you, Ruby, and Oscar, now. I suppose, depending on how you wanna cut that Ozpin thing."

She took a long drink of coffee at that, deep in thought and staring out a window onto the little courtyard we trained in.

"So the only thing left to do is get Qrow back up and walking. Job's done."

"Aren't we taking some ganglords word on that."

"Qrow thinks she'll honor it."

"She? Well isn't that progressive?"

"I figure Malachite isn't so bad. She seemed to run things clean, or as clean as such things can be run, and Qrow has had past dealings with them."

"You've met some of them?"

"This pair of twins. Evidently they're Malachite's daughters. One in white and one in red. Huntresses, the both of them."

"One on white and one in red huh?" Yang was standing by the banister. "Well I think I know where I heard that name before now."

"We cool?" I asked.

"Yeah. We're cool. Sorry for blowing up on you."

"S'no biggie."

"Kinda. You were there for my sister when she needed you. Needed somebody and I… I wasn't."

"No one blames you for that." I said. "You were hurt."

"So were you, what with Pyrrha and all."

"S'no biggie. It affects us all differently. My motivations to keep going weren't all so pure."

"Join us, Yang." Weiss encouraged. "Coffee?"

"Thanks." She strode into the room. Weiss stood up to pour Yang a mug. "Nora and Ren?"

"Out." Weiss and I said together.

"Ruby?" Weiss asked.

Yang snorted and I heard some plumbing going. "Said she was going to take a cold shower. Thanks," She said, accepting the coffee from Weiss.

"We were discussing yesterday," I said. "What horrific thing happened to you?"

Yang snorted again. "I uh I killed two people."

"How'd that go?" I asked.

"Awful. After Weiss got chosen we started hearing screaming from the 'presidential suite.'" Yang quoted. "Not even the kind you could maybe think was ‘the dirty.’ That sorta kicked things off. I just reached out and killed a guy. Just crushed his head. I thought he'd have aura."

"And even if he did…" Weiss trailed.

"Right." Yang nodded. "I shot another guy with my gauntlet and Ruby and Nora took care of the other two guys. Then I ripped my way through the locked presidential suite door. Weiss already had things under control by then but…" She trailed off. "Well then we came down the stairs and saw the mess you and Ren had to deal with. Saw you kick that guy."

I nodded. I still remembered the way his head had felt under my boot.

"And the rest…" She gave a shuddering breath and lifted the coffee to her lips. "The rest is history."

"Miserable," Weiss said, shaking her head.

"Some guns went off. You saw the girls who got shot." Yang said. "Just waitresses or whatever."

I nodded.

"And that was my day. How was yours?" Yang asked, sipping coffee.

"Wasn't quite the worst day of my life." I said. "But it's up there. It does get easier."

"Jaune, and I mean this with all politeness, I really really don't want to hear that," Yang said. "It should be hard. It deserves to be hard. It's well… you know."

I nodded like I got it, which I did.

I heard the plumbing shut off and Ruby exiting one of the bathrooms. I just listened.

"So you and my lil' sis." Yang broached. "How'd that happen?"

"She kept saving my life."

Yang let out a low whistle. "Way she told it, it was the opposite."

"You know how modest Ruby is."

She nodded. "You knew about this kerfuffle, Weiss?"

Weiss nodded. "Ruby told me. She- well - she was happy to share it with somebody."

I could have flushed at that.

"And that somebody couldn't have been me." Yang agreed sullenly, Weiss and I shared a look but Yang seemed mostly disappointed in herself. "That day you were also covered in blood. You'd just killed somebody then, too."

Three. Killed three. I even knew two of their names. I just nodded. "Some dumbasses without aura. Needed some information and he and his friend tried to fight me. Over nothing was the worst part. He died for nothing. I mean I went and unlocked his aura but he was already nearly cut in half so I'm not sure if he lived or died. I'm counting it as a death, though."

"You keeping count?" Yang asked.

"Was. Stopped yesterday." I finished off my coffee.

"He says he lost count." Weiss stepped in and refilled my mug. Bless her. She said it like it was the worst thing that could happen to a person and to be fair it really sucked.

"Good gods." Yang sighed. "That'll happen to me too. One day I'll just be like 'was it ten or twelve. I can't remember.'"

"The fight was fast and had a lot of bodies yesterday. You might get luck. Or unlucky. Whichever."

"Which is worse not knowing or knowing?" Yang laughed.

"Not knowing," I answered.

"You weren't supposed to answer that fast, Jaune." Weiss handed me my mug back.

"Ask me no questions…"

Ruby popped her head down. "Oh, you're…?"

"We 'aight." Yang answered.

"It's fine," I said.

"I have coffee here just for you Ruby." Weiss brushed some spilled coffee grounds into her hand and into the sink. Ruby came jostling down to us and accepted the cup.

Ruby came over and gave me a peck on the cheek. Yang rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Just get it out and done with now."

"Is that how you think it works?" Ruby asked.

"Oh just because you have a boyfriend now doesn't make you all knowledgeable."

"It might." Ruby responded but there was a quiver of laughter to her voice.

"Please share what it's like with us humble mortals," Weiss said. Ruby fell back and I caught her. I put an arm around her waist and held her close to me.

She leaned her head back against my chest and sighed. "It's nice. It's nice not having to hide it, either."

"Ugh." Yang rolled her eyes but she was smiling. I wasn't sure what they had talked about up there but something must have gotten through to Yang.

"Are Ren and Nora dating yet?" Weiss asked.

"Kinda. More than before but less than you'd think," I answered.

"Figures," Yang said.

"Hey kid," Qrow wheeled up. "What's uh what's going on here?" He was looking at Ruby in my arms, looking relaxed.

"Jaune and Ruby are a thing." Yang answered. "Sorry you're the last to know."

"I could have guessed," he grunted. "Come on kid. Meeting with the Malachites."

"So just me then. Okay." Yang muttered.

"Will you be okay alone?" Ruby asked me.

I slammed back my coffee and nodded. I would be just fine, I think.

"I'm coming too." Ruby decided. No one argued with her.

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

-WG

[dragynkeep]

do you have a backstory for the ace ops, since canon legitimately gave us nothing? and will they be in azre? i’m gonna reread it today since it makes me 🥺🥰

I actually do have backstories for the Ace Ops, and yes they do appear in AZRE! I did the backstories for Clover and Harriet, and my friends in my discord server did backstories for Elm, Marrow and Vine!

Clover

Since Clover is obnoxiously Irish coded in AZRE, I took a lot of inspiration from my older relatives’ childhoods for him. 

He was born in Mantle to a family along with a younger sister, Ciara, his mother Fionnuala, his father Patrick and his grandfather Niall. Before Clover, his family were all miners, and are very proud of it. In his youth, Clover was far more of a troublemaker and a delinquent, especially with his troubled relationship with his father when Clover decided not to go into the mines and instead wanted to be a Huntsman. 

Before Clover entered Atlas Academy, Patrick passed away from Dust Lung; a dangerous respiratory disease caused by inhaling Dust and is inspired by the real life disease that affected miners, Tuberculosis or “Black Lung”. Clover took the loss hard and his place in Atlas was threatened due to his behaviour, but he was brought back from the brink by Ironwood, who was the new general and headmaster of the Academy.

Obviously, when Clover graduated from Atlas, he joined the Ace Ops, becoming the leader after a few years in service which was considered highly unusual and just showed his great prowess and skills. He was in the Ace Ops with Elm and Vine from the beginning, and Harriet, Giang and later Marrow joined later on. After years in service, he and Ironwood entered a romantic relationship but had to keep things on the down low due to unprofessionalism and laws meaning that relationships between a general and his soldier was disallowed.

A few years before current time, he had a son through a surrogate; Riley.

Elm

The only Ace Operative to actually be from Atlas. Elm had a fairly normal life, her family was in the cuisine industry and enjoyed baking, something that Elm picked up on from an early age (That cake in the RWBY celebration party? It’s hers now, she made it, change my mind.)

When she decided to join Atlas and become a Huntress, it was never about the fame or money, but rather she’d spent her entire life watching her parents brings smiles to people’s faces and wanted to do that to, just in a way she was best suited in. In the Academy, she was put into Team SBLE, where the team quickly showed that they were exceptionally skilled together with winning the Vytal Tournament. After leaving the Academy, the four went into the Specialist career, a rare choice for all four to stick together for graduation. 

During their first year, it went great. But soon they were called on a mission to clear out a Grimm nest near one of the sensory towers, hidden in a mountain that was connected by dozens of mines. The team went in, and there they found the biggest nest ever recorded. By the time evac came, Elm was the last one, having collapsed the mountain on top of them in a desperate attempt to kill the Grimm. 

While she survived, the loss broke her. Elm handed in her resignation and spent time at her parents’ home in her room, just staring at the photo of her team at the Vytal Tournament.  When General Ironwood personally visited her, she nearly slammed the door in his face. But he understood, and he was kind, and he offered her another chance. An idea he was coming up with, a unit of the best. He only had one other candidate so far, and in the back of her head Elm thought 'maybe this one will be lucky enough not to die'.

She put on a grin when she met the man who was about to be her new teammate, and poor Clover O’Connor found himself first on the receiving end of one of her handshakes, and then got a box full of fresh baked brownies immediately after.  

Vine

Vine originally came from a very rural village in Northern Mistral, living there until he was nine years old before moving to Argus due to his adoptive parents finding work there. Vine wasn’t particuarly happy with the move since he enjoyed the solitude that rural life gave him, and being a quiet person, moving to a busy city made him close in more on himself to the point that he became a selective mute.

However, he was brought into a small dojo in Argus with the teacher there seeing a small Vine and teaching him what he knew. Vine showed an aptitude to fighting and went into Sanctum to further his education. When he graduated though, he was given a spot in Atlas Academy due to his skills, but Vine didn’t particularly want to go because of his anxiety. However, he was convinced to give it a go and graduated Atlas, being chosen for the Ace Ops due to his abilities and for his personality, able to handle the more outspoken Elm and carefree Clover.

On top of that, Ironwood saw this unsure young man and decided that having Elm and Clover on his team would bring him out more, and give him opportunities to break out of his shell so to speak. For Vine, the Ace Ops ended up being that security that he didn’t really have in life, and both Clover and Elm would welcome him into the fold. 

Harriet

A Mantle girl through and through, Harriet was always a competitive girl, never backing down from a challenge and wanting everything to happen quickly, showing no patience for anything. In her eyes, being from Mantle meant that you had to give twice the effort for half the respect, and she would be respected.

Throughout her childhood, she had a best friend who stuck with her through thick and thin; Giang Meo. They trained together, had fun together, stuck together, and when they managed to secure spots in Atlas Academy, they were even put on the same team. Both mimicked each other, with Harriet specialising in wrestling and hand to hand combat with her plated arm weapons, while Giang specialised in kickboxing with his plated leg weapons.

After they graduated, both were picked by Ironwood, on Clover’s suggestion, to join the Ace Ops, making the iconic five man group along with Clover, Elm and Vine. Harriet was proud, taking her job seriously and wanting to show what she was made of, but her insecurities were compounded with every job in Atlas. Even after she made a name for herself, even getting the title of the Fastest Huntress in Remnant and breaking the previous record, she was still a commoner, and commoners weren’t respected in Atlas. 

Worse still, after Giang defected due to Atlas’ inability to handle the Faunus racism and his own radicalisation being pushed by growing White Fang activity, Harriet was broken. No longer trusting people, she didn’t see her team as friends, believing that it would just get in the way of her work, and she kept that mentality ever since.  

Giang

The Turtle to Harriet’s Hare, Giang Meo was the son of a Southern Mistrali immigrant who came to Mantle for work. His mother found work in Atlas working under the Nguyen family, a southern Mistrali family that took came to Atlas, starting a flourishing fashion company and making a fortune for themselves. 

During his childhood, he found little friends in Mantle due to his Faunus heritage, being a snow leopard, and latched onto Harriet when she showed kindness to the boy. Quickly becoming the best of friends, they protected each other for years, even going into Atlas Academy and joining the same team. However, during his time at Atlas, the racism he faced was just compounded, pushing Giang further and further into the radicalisation that would later claim him.

Once graduated and given a spot in the Ace Ops, Giang started moving away from his team. During that time, he married the only child of the Nguyen family; Chau, which sparked many controversies in Atlas due to them being a human and him a Faunus. Because of the push back from their family, Chau and Giang had to marry in secret, which was not considered legal by law.

This further embittered Giang. He joined protests, at first hiding his identity, and then showing himself proudly, but one protest turned into a riot and Giang joined in the destruction. Given his identity as a Huntsman and an Ace Operative was well known, Ironwood was formed to reprimand him and arrest Giang for multiple crimes. 

As the Ace Ops moved to arrest their former friend, Giang tried to see if Harriet would at least defend him, but she did nothing. Betrayed, Giang fled, resulting in a chase that ended in Giang wounded on the face, Harriet’s hip broken and Giang falling off Atlas’ ledge, where Ironwood declares him dead and seals all documentation on him. However, Giang didn’t die, and after nursing his wounds, he was brought into Salem’s forces, wanting justice and revenge for him and the Faunus of Mantle. 

Marrow

The Amin pack was a small but close knit family unit that was only small in terms of their tiny house on the far end of the crater, where the children are packed into the bedrooms like very rambunctious sardines and the neighbours learnt that complaining about all the howling and play fighting was useless, because an entire family of dog faunus working the mines would rather let their kids be happy and have fun when they can.

Marrow's mother was a newcomer to Mantle, a wolf faunus from a town far out in the tundra, with piercing blue eyes. While Marrow and Ulna took the husky genes from their father, their older brother Ramus took the wolf. Ramus and Marrow, like so many children, had to take jobs in the mines to help keep food on the table, and as the oldest of the next Amins, they eventually took on the job of helping out with the younger cousins and eventually, younger siblings. 

Marrow doesn't like the mines. He didn't like being a trapper. Faunus can see in the dark, sure, but spending twelve hours in pitch black by a little trap door, the only job being to pull it open to let air flow through, would be miserable for anyone. Sometimes though, he was sent into Mantle to pick up supplies if they had spare lien to get maybe a bit of bread to go with the customary broth that made up every dinner. One day, he ran into trouble. 

A bunch of children who saw a hungry dog faunus in a secondhand miner's uniform and decided to play chase. It was over in one word, when he threw their taunts back at them and told them to stay, his anger at the unfairness his family suffered peaking in that moment. Suddenly he had a chance for a better life. A Huntsman life. 

He applied for every combat school in the kingdom, and one said yes. Marrow put everything into this new chance, enough  to make a scholarship into Atlas Academy at the end. Team MCHA, however, was not so happy to have a scruffy boy from Mantle with a tail and a secondhand miner's uniform as the A on their team. 

May Marigold had better things to do then coddle an affirmative action student. Marrow ignored it. He knew his worth. He just had to get through four years, and then he could sign up for the military, and finally help his family, he could work his way up the ranks, make a difference for his people. He had ambition, and he knew how to use it. Then a mine collapsed. A worker tripped handling some agitated dust. Chain reaction. 

Ironwood immediately sent everyone he could to help out. If nothing else, the enhanced strength of a huntsmen could help them clear the fallen rocks. Marrow and his team arrived just in time to see another huntsman pulling Ramus out from under a boulder, and they put a shroud over his brother's head. Ulna ran away, Marrow's grades plummeted, and his team told him to get over it, faunus died, it happened a lot in the mines. 

He pulled himself up again himself, and eventually got what he was working for, graduating second-best in his year after May. The moment he got his first specialist paycheck, he funnelled as much as he could to his family, so that none of the kids had to work in the mines.

Soon, Ironwood decided to give Marrow a chance, moving him into the Ace Ops to further hone his skills and fill in the hole left by Giang. While most of the Ace Ops welcomed Marrow and tried to put the past in the past, Harriet was cold towards him, unable to shake the feeling that he was only there to replace Giang. Despite her animosity towards him, Marrow kept trying to prove his place in the Ace Ops. 

And that’s it for the Ace Ops’ backstories! Hope you like them tbh, me and my friends worked hard to build these characters up after having crumbs for them for over a year now.

[good-rwbyaus]

| Of Caerbannog | mod lilac

Three rules to survive Beacon.

You don’t screw with Oobleck’s coffee.

You don’t leave a mess where Goodwitch can see it.

You don’t piss off Velvet Scarlatina.  

Characters: Velvet Scarlatina, Ruby Rose, Cardin Winchester, Fox Alistair, Yatsuhashi Daichi.

Content Warning: Profanity

-----------------------------------

Crash! Thud!

“All of you think it’s funny insulting her?! You’re going to pay with your fucking body!” 

Boom!

“Argh! Dove, save Sky! 

“Screw! Off!”

Thud. Crunch.

“Heh heh. Cardin, you never thought this day would come. Now it’s you, me, and my human weapon! You’re mine, bitch!”

---

Fifteen minutes earlier:

“So your team’s around a lot because you’re on probation?” Ruby asked in disbelief.

“Yeaaahhh...I lost my temper a tiny bit on the last mission,” Velvet said with an awkward smile, scratching her cheek.

“You slapped the SDC’s representative through a wall,” Fox deadpanned.

“Wha-” Ruby's eyes widened in surprise.

“Hey! He was asking for it!”

“And that diplomatic mission from Mistral. When you said you were going to make that Hunter’s appearance look like what he’s like on the inside,” Fox grinned, watching Velvet redden, “I didn’t think you would literally attempt to pretzel him into having his head up his as-”

“All ancient history!” Velvet exclaimed and looked nervously at her new friend whose expression approached dawning horror.

“That was only two months ago,” the tall Daichi said, eyes closed in meditation. Velvet glared at her unhelpful team.

“How...how does that even work?” Ruby asked with morbid curiosity.

“Bend him head over heels, start stomping,” Fox cheekily said, “Ignore the creaking spine and screams of terror. Velvet’s an expe-”

“I’ve been good lately! That Winchester guy has been bullying me for close to a month, and I've controlled my temper per-fect-ly.” Velvet harumphed and stuck her tongue out before realizing the gesture had no meaning to her blind teammate.

Yet somehow Fox stuck his tongue out back.

“That isn’t the issue. Your issue is when someone starts insultin-” Daichi began before being interrupted.

“Ugh. Can you all please shut up? Listening to a bunch of dogs bark is getting annoying.” spoke an unwelcome voice. Cardin sat leaning on his mace, the rest of team CRDL watching on.

“Uhh, sorry,” Velvet apologized, bowing her head down.

“Velvet, don’t apologize to a guy who can only spew shit from his mouth.” Fox growled out.

“Really? I thought he was doing a handstand,” Daichi said calmly, still in meditation.

“Does it look like I can tell?” Fox fake-grumbled, hand waving past his blank eyes, “People with their heads up their asses all sound the same.”

“Then just treat their words like farts. Besides, it’s not like you have to clean up after him,” Daichi said in monotone.

“True, I guess the master did have the foresight to raise a bunch of dogs to eat his crap." Fox sighed and ignored the silently fuming ‘dogs’, “Daichi, what do I have to do to become as wise as you?”

“100 push-ups. 100 sit-ups. 100 squats. 10 kilometer run. Every single day,” Daichi sagely answered.

“That... that doesn’t make sense at all!” Fox said with an affronted face.  

Velvet couldn’t help but let out a stifled guffaw. Ruby didn’t bother with appearance and just laughed outright.  

Cardin meanwhile was doing a good impression of a lobster, getting redder and redder with suppressed anger yet not able to find the words to retort back.

“Tch. Just garbage. As expected from a team led by a brainless twat,” Cardin finally retorted.

“...”

Daichi and Fox turned their attention to a suddenly still Velvet.

“Velvet...”

“Don’t...”

“What?! I’m not mad at all,” Velvet smiled baring her teeth in a grin, “See. I’m perfectly in contr-”

“Alright, who wants to volunteer for the next matc-?” Goodwitch announced.

Two hands rose to the air, but one was slightly faster.

“I do! Me versus team CRDL!” Velvet exclaimed.

Goodwitch glanced over at the smiling second-year before tentatively nodding her head. Pyrrha could only put down her hand in disappointment. Velvet meanwhile hopped from the observation area to the arena floor with team CRDL following in her wake.

“Daichi?”

“I’m calling Coco on my Scroll right now.”

“Uhhh, why do you two look so serious?” Ruby asked in trepidation.

---

“Don’t worry. We’ll go easy on you,” Sky taunted as team CRDL drew their weapons.

“Yeah, we’ll leave enough of you so your stupid leader can see what a bad investment you are,” Cardin added with fake kindness, having noticed the chink in the other girl’s composure.

“...”

“What. Your teammates were so talkative earlier. Getting cold feet now? Your leade-” Dove laughed before his voice was suddenly muffled by a hand palming his head.

Boom!

“Fuck!” Velvet cursed as she grounded Dove’s head into the crater she created, eyes red like blood and Aura building like a tumultuous storm. "You really think I’m scared?! If I don’t beat your eggs out of you, I feel like I’ll be disappointing you lot!”

With that said, a rabbit-eared Faunus began wielding her human weapon against the rest of team CRDL.

---

“Wait, isn’t that my footwor-” Ruby asked in surprise as Velvet dashed to grab Dove’s head.

“Copycat Semblance,” Daichi said, “Ugh. Coco’s not answering.”

“What exactly is going on - oooh ouch.” Ruby winced as she watched Velvet briefly turn Cardin into a human shield before suplexing him straight into a wall.

“Velvet’s slow to anger normally,” Fox rubbed the back of his head, “But she has a button. And if you push that button, we get to see the Murder Bunny in action for a bit. 

“Wait... Murder Bunny? That’s Velvet?!” Ruby exclaimed, recalling the nickname she heard some time ago in the school grapevine. A violent girl with proclivities for cruel and unusual attacks.  

“The one and only. Yeah, she’s not answering,” Fox said before turning his attention back to the arena. “Huh, I wonder who’ll last longer. Sky Lark the human weapon or Cardin’s mace.” 

-----

The Present:

“Put Mister Lark down, Miss Scarletina. His Aura is already in the red!” Professor Goodwitch warned.

With reluctance, Velvet tossed her human weapon aside like a piece of garbage. The Faunus girl cracked her knuckles and approached a terrified, now disarmed Cardin. 

“Just you and me now. I’m going to enjoy thi-”

Stepping back at the sheer violence radiating from the girl, Cardin opened his mouth to speak.

“I surren-” 

A slap sent Cardin crashing into a wall.

---

Fox shook his head.

“It’s over.”

“Well, she did improve her temper a bit,” Daichi replied.

“There’s an improvement?” Ruby asked incredulously.

“Yes. She listened to Professor Goodwitch!” Daichi said dumbfounded. “She wouldn’t have done it before. I think she’ll probably beat Cardin into the red and then stop.”

“Thank god. We’ll be able to take missions. Though,” Fox turned his head back to the battlefield, “if we have to wait till he gets in the red, we might have to wait a while for this battle to be over.”

---

Straddling Cardin’s chest, Velvet continued delivering slaps in alternation to Cardin’s swollen face.

“Why are you an utter dick?!”

Slap.

“Who let you pull on my ears?!”

Slap.

“Who let you spy on the girl’s locker room?!“

“I never did tha-!”

Slap.

“You dare talk back?!”

Slap.

“Who let you-”

Slap.

“Talk!”

Slap.

“Back!” 

[bleached-d-soul]

Bitter Chocolate: Thief of Heart

Commission for my good friend @the-wayward-arc

Emerald entered the room, her world still a blur. As she flopped on her bed, the former thief quickly exchanged a couple of messages with her teammates. Cinder was out restocking their supplies. Mercury was off doing some dumb shit as always. And Neo was busy doing whatever she always did.

Which left her alone for the rest of the day here.

She took an opportunity to get as much out of this as possible.

"Aaah!"

Emerald cried into her pillow, as the sensation of orgasm washed over her and her juices squirted all over her sheets. How many times has she brought herself to climax by now? Five? Seven? Whatever the number, it was not nearly enough.

The momentary absence of thought brought by orgasm was gone and now her head was again filled with the visions of him.

When Cinder told her to spy on their future rivals, Emerald didn't think much of that. Like any other team, they came here to win and earn some prestige for their academy. The cash prize also was great. And it's not like anyone would give them much grief over it. Studying your competition was a given when the whole Remnant would be watching.

And just like any job, Emerald did hers with the best of her ability. Mercury was studying the fighting styles of various individuals. Rough data, as was fit for his mindset. He would point out strengths, weaknesses and the way their rivals telegraphed thier movements. But Emerald? She studied something far more crucial. The minds and hearts of their competition.

From Beacon, their biggest challenge would come from teams RWBY and JNPR. The former had a solid lineup. Ruby Rose who specialized in long-range attacks and could get a decent distance with his Semblance. Her sister, a straight-up brawler, with the power to turn damage into even more brute force and fire. The Schnee heiress whose Semblance allowed her to manipulate the fighting circumstances just as effectively. And, of course, the sneaky Belladonna who was fast and slippery enough to give them some trouble.

It would take some effort and extra preparation, but they could be hanlded provided Cinder adjusted their plans according to the matches.

The other team - JNPR - would be less of a problem if taken out early. Many of students from Haven were looking out for the team. Not because of any accomplishments or rumors. But rather, simply because it was the team the Invincible Girl of Mistral was on. Half of the students were looking to make the team pay for stealing their Champion. Emerald and her team were in the other half.

The ones wanting to crush the Invincible Girl and her precious Beacon brats.

And how easy the redhead made it for Emerald.

Seriously, she might as well have worn a shirt that said, "I am crushing hard on my leader". Honestly, it was kind of pathetic. Unlike Cinder, who knew how embraced power and prestige, Nikos hid away from it. And unlike her leader, Emerald noted, Nikos had absolutely zero idea on how to get what she desired in something besides the brutal fighting tournaments.

Jaune Arc, the oblivious blonde that stole the redhead's heart, was the chink in the Invincible Girl's armor. A dumb, awkward and honestly naive chink that Emerald was not above exploiting. She needed some dirt on him and then, boom, the whole team would go down like a house of cards. But what kind of dirt could she dig up on him? It had to be something serious enough to keep him scared. But small enough to avoid any trouble with the authorities.

In the end, it all came down to the same thing that caused the downfall of any man she ever knew,

Their pride.

The boy had no reputation as a fighter or a student. So that left her with the bright idea of sneaking into the showers. Getting pics of his tiny little wiener and dangling it in front of him until he agreed to stomp all over the Nikos heart. Easy, peasy, lemon sq- Shit.

And shit it was, Emerald thought, as she stared. And stared and kept staring as both her lower and upper mouths drooled over the sight of the boy in the shower. The long and thick rod of white meat almost reaching the boy's - the man's - knees was too big to be called anything less than a fucking bitchbreaker. Her plan went poof and Emerald rushed to her room. Before she even knew, she was fingering herself to the pictures she took.

They were no good as blackmail material. Oh Gods, if Cinder found out about her failure-

Forget about Cinder, the voice of her libido hissed. How do we get ourselves a piece of that fuckmeat?

Now was not the time. She wouldn't abandon all her plans to chase after a piece of that cock.

How about a whole thing then? her lust bargained. With a soft and hungry chuckle, it added, We could easily make Cinder come around too. Just tie her up and withhold that bitchbreaker until the bitch breaks.

That was actually a good idea. Not taunting her leader but the idea of stealing Jaune away from the girl. Nikos was strong as a fighter. But as a girl? She was nothing. Yes, she was shy and quiet. Always bottling it all up and keeping it in. She would have to watch her beloved blonde get taken away and slip up. And thus the Invincible Girl would fall. And Emerald would secure herself a nice and hung boytoy for the rest of the festival.

She licked her lips and then pushed a finger inside her mouth. As she closed her eyes, Emerald allowed herself to dream. Of a wild and rough fucking. Of sucking and choking on something much thicker and harder than her finger. Of the poor little Nikos sitting by and crying as she watched the love of her life give all the passion and attention to someone like Emerald.

And with that thought, Emerald drifted away into the sweet lustful night.

BC

When Jaune came to Beacon, he had clear plans on what he wanted to do. He wanted to learn how to fight. How to become a real hero like his ancestors. Maybe get a girlfriend while he was at it, too. The first part of his dream was coming along smoothly. He was getting better at handling his weapon, at least. And, for just a brief moment, he dared hope the part of finding a girlfriend would also be a success.

"Nghh, w-wait! Pull out, please pull out, Jaune!"

Only to run into a wall on that one.

Jaune swallowed a groan and proceeded to do just that. He knew a whole army of guys who would willingly give up their arms, legs and left testicle to be in his position. One on one with someone as hot and cool as Pyrrha, her legs spread wide and open for him. And like a boy in a candy shop, he went in to dig in and indulge in his gluttonous lust.

And just like that night, three weeks ago, they didn't go further than a tip.

Seriously, he saw Pyrrha tank Nora's bombshots. How was the Invincible Girl unable to handle some softcore sex? Jaune shook his head, refusing to let his sexual frustration get better of him. Even if they kept it secret for now, Pyrrha was a wonderful girlfriend. Kind and loving. What kind of jackass would give it up just because they couldn't have sex right now?

"Sorry, Jaune," she rested her head on his shoulder. "I thought I had it this time."

"No problem , Pyr," he smiled gently and gave her a kiss on the lips. Chaste, as everything with them for now. "Just like fighting, it is just a matter of time and effort. We'll get there soon."

Pyrrha snorted, a small cute quirk of hers that she showed only to him.

"You are right. Before we know, we will make each other stronger. I will make you into a big strong huntsman," she traced her hands against his erect shaft. "And you will make me into an insatiable size queen."

Jaune blushed slightly. Even when she tried talking dirty, Pyrrha was too adorable. A small - ugly and venomous part of him - rolled its eyes at that. Cute and adorable was good for her Mistralian fanbase but it wanted more. It wanted dirty and rough fucking. No handholding bullshit or whispering diabetes-inducing nothings. That lustful and angry part of him hungered for the pussy that he could reshape after his cock. The ass that would take it all and cry for more. The mouth that could gobble his cock up and drown in his semen. He wanted-

"Sorry, Pyrrha," he said, brushing her hand away and speaking just a tiny bit colder than he intended. "I think I need to take a quick shower."

The girl blushed, fully aware what he meant. Yes, she was a good girlfriend. And she knew how much discomfort she caused her lover with her... insufficiency for now. She smiled and told him to come back soon. She might not have been able to pleasure him properly but she took small comfort in keeping the bed warm for him and cuddling with his progressively stronger body.

As the door closer behind, Pyrrha laid down and rubbed her sore pussy gently. She would get it all soon. She was sure of it.

Jaune entered the showers, barely able to restrain himself. He was lucky enough to have found this place when hiding from Cardin. A small abandoned part of Beacon that used to function as showering rooms in its earlier days. Luckily enough, still operational. And lonely enough for him to rub it all out. If you thought attending the school with hot girls in tight clothes was a godsend, you clearly were not Jaune Arc.

The water cascading down his flesh washed away the unrest and frustration. As he closed his eyes, he let his mind drift off. The weeks of having the hottest girlfriend yet being unable to be intimate with her drove Jaune back to the pornsites that he had thought he would no longer need. In the worlds of digital porn, he found the way to relieve his pent-up lust.

In, particular, he hungered for the girls with thick thighs, wide hips and bubble butts. Did he sound like a complete pervert? Yes, so what? In all those videos, watching the girls just take foot-long cocks down their wanting tight asses drove him over the edge. Alas, Pyrrha was slow to take to the traditional missionary three weeks into their relationship. How was she ever going to agree to or endure anal?

With a guttural grunt, he released his load, the thick white cream hitting the cold wall. This was good. Better, at least. He was content to stand under the shower for just a while longer though. Just enough to relax enough so that when he came back to their room, he could fall alseep as soon as possible.

"Oh."

The single sound sent shivers down his spine.

"Sorry, I didn't know someone else was here."

Jaune looked at the girl and instinctively turned away. She was not hideous or unpleasant to look at. The opposite, in fact. The exotic dark skin. The delicious white hips. And the thick thighs that begged to be worshipped. Fuck, why did someone like her have to come here?

"Hey, don't be shy," the girl chuckled and brushed her light green hair. "Nothing that I have never seen before."

She gave him an appreciative look.

"Although, yours is much bigger than the ones I saw."

He refused to speak. As the mystery girl began showering herself, Jaune went through the steps of his quick escape plan. Stream away the soaps. Run out. Never look back. Sounded easy. In fact, it was easy. But sometimes, some things that were easy and good for you were not what you wanted. Apples and other fruits were sweet and good for you.

And yet, sometimes you just wanted the chocolate. Sweet and dark, melting in your mouth. And it seemed, as his eyes refused to leave the girl's juicy glistening ass, the girl had enough chocolate for him to last a lifetime.

"Hey, blondie, can you help me wash my back, please? It's kind of hard to reach by myself."

Jaune knew what was the right thing to do. Say he was in a hurry and leave. Go back to Pyrrha and cuddle with her. But what was right and what one wanted, sadly, rarely if ever were one and the same. And Jaune, who had spent the last few weeks on edge had chpsen to do what he wanted. Plus, it was just some quick back-washing. It's not like he was cheating on Pyrrha.

"Thanks, I knew you'd help me out, Jaune."

Maybe some other day, Jaune would notice that he never gave his name to the girl. Some other day, some other scenario, he would notice that the girl's back, much like the rest of her was perfectly clean. He would notice many things were it some other day. The way her voice melted against his ears like sweet poison. The way her hand was clearly rubbing her pussy. The way she pressed herself against him. Hard.

But today, this very day, Jaune was far too busy as his hands slowly went from her back to her ass. As if he was lost in some trance, he never thought twice on that. As his hands squeezed the soft and gentle dark meat, he felt his mind going blank. Being lost to something dormant and ancient inside. The pure unadultered instinct. And Jaune, far from being the strong and commanding man he would be one day, gave in.

Turning the girl around, he paid no mind to her yelp of surprise. Or the way she smirked and her eyes burned. All he cared about was having her close and his. His fingers dug into her soft welcoming flesh. His lips crashed against hers, burning hot and wanting. Right now, Jaune was not an awkward teen who wanted to be a hero. He was a man, driven by the oldest of drives of the mankind.

Lust.

As their tongue battled for dominance, their hands wandered and explored the bodies of each other. And as Jaune was soon lost in pure lust, Emerald smirked. It was easier than she thought. She would enjoy the pride of luring the boy into her soft and beaitful trap for as long as she remained conscious enough to do so. Which was getting harder and harder as the boy quickly proved himself skilled at fanning the flames of her lust.

His strong arms showed no mercy to her ass or breasts as the blonde practically mauled them. He was lucky she was into rough play. She hated vanilla sex. Too soft. Too restrained. The real sex was the kind where you lost yourself to the animal inside you. Where such things as manners and thought were not welcome and everyone involved obeyed only their own instincts.

And Jaune was proving himself a natural at this!

She was just about to get down on her knees and inhale as much as the monster he had between his legs when suddenly he pulled away. The expression on his face was the mixture of emotions. Disbelief. Fear. Shock. Anger at himself. She turned to reach for him, only to be met with a soft apology, "I-I am sorry. This is my fauly... I- We shouldn't be doing this."

And just like that, he left. Emerald, not one to enjoy being in the dark, used her Semblance and followed him. Concealing herself from him, she eavesdropped on him calling Nikos and talking to her. From the way the two spoke, it was clear their relationship was more than a crushing girl and an oblivious boy. And it seemed the blonde wanted to make it official.

Making up for his action with me, huh? How cute.

Perhaps he thought if he made it official, she would back off. Disappear and let him and his girlfriend have a happy sweet vanilla love. And perhaps, it would work. Not because she was a secret romantic or anything of such nonsense. She simply knew when to take risks and when to fold it. And, normally, she would rather not fight someone like Nikos over a stupid boy.

But Jaune was not some stupid boy. He was a well-hung and obedient boy. And if it meant getting fucked with that monster all night long, the thief of team CRMN was more than eager to take that bet. It would take some time. It would take some effort and some planning. But she was smart. The kind of smarts you earned on the streets and carried with yourself through life.

Jaune didn't look the kind who fooled around with girls for no reason. He was no player. And when she saw him, he was busy jacking himself off to notice her watch him. Which meant that there was some trouble in paradise between the two. Clearly, not because of his size though. As gears kept turning in her head. the picture became cleaner and cleaner until there was simply no other explanation to it all.

Pyrrha Nikos, the Invincible Girl of Mistral, was a fucking pillow princess. It was quite funny, Emerald would admit. The greatest Champion of her generation and she couldn't take a dicking. The sick and twisted thought made its way into her mind. Fed by Emerald's hidden frustration and craving for power of her own, the thought grew bigger and stronger until it was a fully-formed plan.

She would not simply use Jaune to get at Pyrrha. She would make sure to break the girl and take her for herself. And obedient little Champion sounded so great. Great enough to sow the seeds of ambition and hunger within the girl's heart. Perhaps, the original plan of making Cinder kneel before her would also come to fruition given time. But for now, she had preparations to make.

And a lot of cuts to make.

BC

"I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!" Nora smiled and sung. "Renny, i kneeeeew it!"

"Yes, Nora," Ren smiled softly. "I think everybody knows it now too."

Pyrrha blushed bright red but refused to hide her face. The smile refused to go away from her lips even if she knew she looked silly with it so wide and bright. But it was real and she refused to stop smiling no matter what. Jaune must have known she was embarrassed about not pleasuring him properly. And to show her that he loved her despite that, he told her he wanted to make things official.

It was so sweet!

"Way to go, Jaune!" Yang whistled. Her smile turned foxy and she whispered dramatically, "So when are you going to get all hot and bothered with each other, hmm? Come on, don't leave me hanging!"

Now, the smile cracked a little. A painful reminder of the reason why she wanted to keep things unofficial until she could take Jaune's cock. Before she could come up with witty and good response, Jaune came to her rescue.

"Actually, we thought about waiting until after graduation," Jaune smiled. "You know, gotta keep focus on studies and training."

"Yeah," Yang grinned. "You definitely need to focus on those, Vomit Boy."

"Hey!"

As their table returned to the kind and casual exchange of words and jokes, Pyrrha couldn't help but feel content. This was everything she wanted in her life. Friends that looked at her like at any other person. A cute boyfriend that always had her back. And, of course, the peaceful and light student life.

"Ugh, talk about having no shame."

"Gotta agree with you on this one, Weiss," Yang whistled. "Even I am not that bold."

As she caught more and more whispers, Pyrrha turned towards the source of all the confusion. Walking down the mess hall, accompanied by the hordes of lewd and hungry eyes and dirty looks, Emerald wore something that must have been a violation of the dress code. It was not the casual clothes or something particularly wild. It was a Haven Academy school uniform. White shirt. Dark jacket and skirt.

The latter two being three or four sizes too small.

Her jacket couldn't even remotely hide the tight shirt the girl choose to wrap mid-way, exposing her flat stomach. Even less could be said about her skirt, since there was so little of it she might have worn nothing at all. Hell, coming in here with just panties on would at least be ridiculous and cause confusion. But wearing the skirt so short it exposed the girl's thick ass and dark lacy panties? She was definitely showing off.

She saw the boys eat her up with their eyes. Only to get smacked or slapped by their girlfriends. Afraid of the same, she looked back up at her partner. And then sighed in relief.

"Wow, Jaune, what a gentleman you are," Yang snorted as her partner refused to look back from his breakfast. "Keep this one away from the stripper over there, Pyr. Or she might eat him up."

Pyrrha felt the anger flare inside of her. Only to instantly calm down, Jaune was not like the other boys. She knew that now. Whereas the other girls had to keep their lovers on a tight leash, Jaune had her full and absolute trust. Without another word, she brought herself clother and kissed him on the cheek. So embarrassing to do this in public. But she would bare with it because she loved Jaune so much.

So much that she missed her partner's erect cock begging to be released.

BC

"Care to tell my why you dressed like a slut?"

Cinder's icy tone bothered Emerald little. Few things bothered her at all these days. Her mind was too busy with keeping to the plan.

"Just following your instructions, Cinder." At the confused stare, the thief proceeded with the well-rehearsed lie. "Some teams are more secretive than others. They have places where they train in secret outside the school hours. Most of them, though, are getting anxious and frustrated. And horny too. I just decided to make myself look easy enough to lure them to my trap."

"Heh," Mercury chuckled and nudged Neo. "She said 'trap'."

Emerald wondered if the asshole's dad removed his brain along with his legs. That would explain a lot.

"Hmm, not a tactic I would use," Cinder thought. Then smiled. "But if that means increasing our chances at victory, then you are free to do as you wish. Though try to seduce those fools outside the school hours. I had to have a very unpleasant talk with Goodwitch on keeping my team in line and upholding the school prestige. I swear to Gods, that woman needs to get properly laid."

As Cinder began to rant on how she would run a school, Emerald couldn't help but grin at the thought of Jaune fucking Goodwitch. The woman was a real hot piece of ass for her age. And the thought of her future boytoy breaking the other girls down for her was just so hot. All those white bitches would be left to drool and fingerfuck themselves while she rode Jaune like there was no tomorrow. Those bitches, of course, included Cinder, the loyalty to which Emerald was quickly losing.

As she was soon left alone, she started her now normal routine of watching the hardcore porn. Particularly, that of white guys like Jaune finding the pleasure fucking thick ebony beauties like her. And damn, did she enjoy staining her sheets with her juices. Once she was done with the videos though, she decided to make one herself. Tha scrolls were no good, because there was always a chance of that video leaking and getting her in some hot water.

The black market burners though? Those were gold.

Positioning herself in front of the camera, Emerald made sure to go extra hard at it. Her fingers were just a start. Then went the toys. The some tasteful lingerie and finally, the costumes. And throughout it all, she imagined all the possible scenarios in which she would be taken and in which she would take. As her body went through the motions of showing off for the video, Emerald's mind drifted away into the daydreaming world.

BC

"Class, pay attention," Goodbitch stood proud and haughty, despite being dressed like a complete and utter whore. Her chastity belt shone as she turned towards the class,"You will be quizzed on today's lesson next week. So you better now slack off."

The students nodded and watched as Jaune and Emerald made out on her desk. Rough and bestial, those were the only words that came to mind as they watched the resident dork and the exchange student. Many men watched in jealousy, fully aware they would never compare to Jaune. The pale pillow princesses like Weiss and Ruby were left biting their lips and fingering themselves, all too painfully aware they would never be able to handle someone like Jaune.

Only the black queens like Emerald were worthy of getting that cock. And her fellow ebony huntresses would all hunt for a piece of that action.

"As you know, women like me don't deserve something as big and thick as Master Arc's cock," Glynda winced at that, feeling the burning hatred of the fellow white bitches at her. "Which is why we must practice the proper conduct as cuckqueans. Slave Nikos, demonstrate!"

Emerald grinned. And so did Jaune as the girl he once loved crawled onto the stage before the class. A collar and a locked belt her sole pieces of clothing, the girl wasted no time or words and got onto her knees. Emerald stepped aside and allowed the girl to show where she and others belonged.

Using her tits to wipe Jaune's precum. Lubing his cock up with her saliva. Never a proper blowjob, just some licking and drooling. And as she got both of them prepared, she received the only payment a cuckquean like her deserved. A harsh slap across her cheek and across her ass by Emerald and Jaune respectively.

"Now, Slave Nikos forgot that she should have thanked them immediately," Goodbitch admonished. And Emerald knew it was all to gain some extra points with her. Whatever, she would allow the older woman humiliate herself further. "Which is why she will now be allowed to try and cum only every five months instead of the two."

Pyrrha didn't protest. Didn't even seem against it. She had long since accepted her fate.

BC

"Faster, Nikos! Faster!" Emerald yelled as she cheered the girl on. "You do wanna cum, right?"

She did. She wanted it so much. She was screaming and begging for more time. Just five more minutes. Just five fucking more minutes and she would cum! She would cum and fry her brain just a little bit more. Get lost in the haze of the lust and idiocy as she allowed her brain go dead on her. Unfortunately, despite her best efforts, she failed and the ringing of the alarm spelled her doom.

"Of, you poor little thing," Emerald grinned down at her. Without mercy, she kicked away the dildos and ripped the vibrators off her cunt. "And I even gave you another five minutes to cum. Such a waste."

She didn't. She never did. But Pyrrha knew better than argue with her. The last time she did, Emerald whipped any revolt out of her and then made her sit and watch as she indulged in everything that was once hers.

"Back into the belt, bitch. Unless we are feeling disobedient."

Emerald watched the girl whimper and pull of her belt. A true wonder of sex toy world. Strong enough to withstand huntresses. And equipped with some nice features like vibration and shocker. Not that Emerald ever allowed the girl to enjoy the former to the full. She would occasionally turn it on at the lowest setting and leave the girl like that for a week or longer.

She wouldn't turn it off until Nikos threw herself at her feet, begging to be allowed to cum.

"Jaune and I are going out to meet with Arslan and Ciel," Emerald informed. "Be sure to have our dinner ready."

And as it always went, Pyrrha would do everything perfectly. Even now, as she went from a respected and famed huntress a pathetic house slave who owned nothing to her name, she had her pride. Even as she willingly signed away everything to Jaune and Emerald, effectively becoming their property, Pyrrha did her best to satisfy her masters. Because, she believed, if she worked hard enough, one day...

One day Jaune would fuck her again.

Even as it was the tenth year he refused to give her any pleasure.

BC

"Mistress Emerald, please me! Breed me next, please!"

""No! No, no, no! Me! I am begging you, me next, please!"

"I was the first! I deserve it above you! Mistress, please, you know I have always been loyal!"

Emerald sipped her wine as she passed a row of bound girls. From Ruby to Cinder, all the girls she knew back from Beacon were here. Tied up in the Schnee Mansion, with the official owner whimpering and whining for Jaune not to leave her. One by one, she got them all under her heel. And now here she was, the former street rat in a mansion with the other girls her slaves.

And Jaune as her Husband and Master.

"Well?" Jaune asked as he hugged her from behind. "Which one gets it next, Em?"

She smiled.

"Me."

The girls cried out in despair.

Most beautiful melody to her ears.

BC

So many fantasies flooded her head, Emerald worked through each and one of them. But no matter the scenario, it all ended the same. Her at the very top of the totem pole. With other ebony huntresses sharing a very prestigious position among Jaune's harem. And the white girls doing whatever they could to earn their favor. It was a very pleasant dream. Perhaps, she would put extra effort and make it into a reality.

As she stopped the camera, she decided. She would work hard on reaching that future.

And it all began with this video.

Three hours worth of her home porn. Three hours of Emerald playing with herself. Three hours of describing all the way she would pleasure him.

Without any doubt or regret, she sent the video to the boy.

And then went back to dreaming some more.

BC

"Oh look at you, Jaune," Pyrrha cooed. "You are so hard!"

It has been three hours since Jaune got that video. The video in which the girl he met in the showers was completely naked. In which she fucked herself with dildos as big as his cock without any tears or pain. The video in which she begged to be fucked by him.

"Do you like my tits around your cock, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked softly. "They are just for you to use and fuck as much as you like. Oooh, I bet you are almost close to cumming! Don't hold back! Give it to me!"

And now all he could think of was plowing that cheeky bitch until she was nice and broken. He would fuck her pussy until no other man could ever fill her like he did. He would violate her ass until she cried and begged him to make her his. He would claim each and every one of her holes and-

"Aaaah!"

Pyrrha cried out in surprise as Jaune released his load. The thick strands of heavy white cream hit her face and her chest. But the genius girl didn't despair or even feel angry. She felt happy! So happy she barely contained a squeal. She did it! She made her boyfriend cum. Sure, with her tits only and it took her a good hour to do so but it was the results that mattered!

She was slowly getting better!

Jaune looked down at the girl, too much in love with her to tell her the truth. How he was driven to orgasm not by her lovely dirty talk or expressions. But the thoughts of fucking the ebony Emerald until she was pregnant with his child. He had no heart to tell her that he could cum just the same by jerking himself off with that video the exchange student sent him.

He didn't have the heart to do anything but lie to her.

"That was incredible, Pyrrha," he patted her head. She leaned into it. "I love you."

"Awww, I love you too!"

He watched Pyrrha go to their dorm's showers. He laid down on his bed and wondered where the hell his life was going. He loved Pyrrha. She was a great friend. Amazing girlfriend too. So why did the sex matter that much? He wasn't one of those assholes who got into relationship just to have sex, right? He wasn't. So why couldn't he be happy with what he had?

His scroll screen flared up.

A new message.

Perhaps he was too confused right now. Too busy and anxious to think the situation through. But whatever the circumstances, as soon as he read the message, he put his clothes on and left the room. As if in a haze, he found himself on the rooftop. The same place where Pyrrha trained him. Where he confessed about his admittance here. Where she confessed his love for him.

Where Emerald was sitting and waiting for him to come.

"Wow, you are fast."

"What do you want?"

The girl seemed taken aback by his cold and rude tone. But she quickly brushed it away and smiled.

"I like this angry face of yours," she said gently as she came dangerously close to him. His eyes fell towards her cleavage. She had no bra. "You should wear it more often. Gets me all wet and hot."

He couldn't push her away. No matter how much his common sense and loyalty screamed at him.

"I asked," he cleared his throat. "What do you want from me?"

"What do I want? Jaune, I think you got it wrong here," she pressed her breasts against him. His hands reached for her barely-covered ass. "It is what you want that brought you here."

She smelled of chocolate. Bitter and sweet. She smelled of dirt and sin, the heavy and addictive smell that invaded his every thought. She smelled of the broken promise and betrayal. The venomous yet sweet lie that risked it all.

"I... I don't think we should do this," he said. He was lying. But as long as he stuck to the lie, he would believe it one day too. "I don't love you. Hell, I don't even know who you are-"

"I am Emerald."

"Not my point," she chuckled. He ignored it. "The point is, I love my girlfriend. I love Pyrrha and I am not going to cheat on her, got it?"

She was smiling. Why was she smiling? Scream at him. Laugh at him. Do something so that he could forget about her and focus on his love for Pyrrha. Something that would take away the choice from him and leave him content.

"Is it cheating though?" Emerald smiled as she removed her jacket. He could have stopped her. Should've done exactly that right then. He couldn't. He didn't want to. "Tell me, Jaune, do you want Pyrrha to be happy?"

Like there was any doubt.

"I do."

"Then have sex with me."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Oh, but it does," she took off her shoes and let them drop. Her knee-high socks fit her legs tightly. Showing off the fat of the thights in all the right places. "Do you honestly believe your relationship can last as it is? That you can just keep lying about how good her tits feel when you want to fuck her ass and cunt till she is filled with your cum? Trust me, Jaune, such noble intentions will only lead to your ruin."

She stepped closer. He stepped back.

She started unbuttoning her shirt.

"Just like there are Alphas and Betas among men, there are Alphas and Betas among us girls. Those who rule. Those who are ruled."

Jaune scoffed.

"Pyrrha could kick half the school's ass with her eyes closed."

"True, but it is not the strength that determines an Alpha. Otherwise, guys like Cardin would be running the world," she smirked. "No. What makes an Alpha is the drive. The desire. And your girlfriend, sadly, lacks it. She is too passive. She allowed her fans and agents control her entire life. And the only thing she could think of doing about it was running away. Like a coward."

Jaune glared at the girl. He refused to listen to someone talk like that about Pyrrha.

"Oh, please, don't be mad at me, I am simply trying to help."

"And how me cheating on Pyrrha will help our relationship?"

"You will be free to wait for het to bloom into a perfect woman for you," Emerald reasoned. "You may not admit it now but you are growing impatient. Frustrated with her failure. It won't be long until jerking off in the shower or getting some mediocre titfuck from her will satisfy you. And do you know what happens then, Jaune?"

She was next to him, her exposed breasts pressed against him softly.

"You will cheat on her anyway. Only unlike me, that woman will brag and lord it over her and you. You will break the poor little Pyrrha's heart. And worst of all, you won't even care about it. You will become just a player who fucks girls and leaves them because you feel like it. A complete and utter asshole."

The vision was so clear now. Jaune hated what he saw in the future. A broken promise and bond. Destroyed relationship.

Loss of trust and faith in each other.

"If you agree to my offer, I will do it all for you, Jaune," Emerald smiled as she planted a kiss on his lips. "This sweet chocolate body will be yours to enjoy. Any hole. Any position, Any sexual fantasy of yours, I will give you everything. And neither Pyrrha nor your teammates and friends will ever know."

"... They won't?"

Emerald smiled.

"Not unless you want to."

Jaune frowned.

"Why me?"

Jaune was suspicious.

"Because you have a huge cock and I want to get fucked by it."

Emerald was blunt.

"So what do you say, Jaune? Deal?"

He was quiet. The good kind of quiet. Emerald smiled as she practically heard his resolve breaking apart in the night air. She was good. She learnt it on the streets. Negotiate not from the position of power. But from the position of a friend. Make them believe you are there to help. Show how much they can benefit from following your lead. And once they see things your way, it will be easy to guide them down a darker and dirtier path.

"... Deal," Jaune whispered. "But I will choose when and where it happens."

Cute, Emerald thought, he thought he had control.

"Very well," she gave a dramatic bow. "So? Wanna get a taste right now?"

He wanted to. She could see it.

"I should get back to Pyrrha."

"Go then," she waved a hand. "Be sure to kiss her for me."

As just like that, the next step of her plan was accomplished.

She couldn't wait to go even further.

BC

"Hey, Jaune, Pyrrha here," the soft voice of his partner, recorded in the message, spoke shyly. "A-Anyway, just calling to see where you went. Text me back as soon as you can."

Emerald moaned in his ear as he kept thrusting in and out of the girl. For the first time since he started the relationship with Pyrrha, he had the chance to go all out. No whimpering or crying. No biting lips or begging to stop. He was free. Free to indulge in the lust he held back all this time.

"Keep going, Jaune!" Emerald hissed, wrapping her legs around his waist. "Keep fucking me while your girlfriend is looking for you! Oh yeah, just like that, fuck me up!"

He groaned and grunted. He obeyed and fucked her. Without restraint, enjoying the feeling of her fat ass in his hands. He squeezed her cheeks and spread them further. His fingers dug into her asshole and spread it as well. The girl yelped and Jaune shut her up with a kiss. She fought against it briefly before melting into the hot embrace. No thoughts. No doubts. Just instincts.

He could feel his cock twitch and spasm.

"On your knees."

She hopped off and kneeled. Hands behind her hand, mouth spread wide open, Emerald was the picture of a perfect slut.

He never saw anything as gorgeous.

With a loud grunt, he came. A stream of white semen shot into her mouth. The girl didn't gag or choke. She took it all with a smile. As the last bit of his load splashed against her face, Emerald smiled at him. Opening her mouth, she gave him a show of her tongue sloshing around in the bath of semen. Winking at him, she swallowed it all down in one go.

"Does Pyrrha love your cum?"

"She says she does," Jaune said honestly. "But she never really swallows it properly."

Emerald smiled.

Ths plan was coming along greatly.

BC

"Jaune, look!" Pyrrha smiled at her boyfriend, showing off her new swimsuit. "My mom sent me this adorable little thing! Do you wanna go to the swimming pool this weekend?"

"You dirty fucking slut!"

"Oh yeah... I am a dirty fucking bitch," Emerald smiled as Jaune gave her ass another slap. "You need to punish me or I will never learn better."

He was happy to give her a rough spanking. And wasn't it just unfortunate that Pyrrha fell asleep. Nora and Ren would stay there and make sure nobody took advantage of the sleeping girl. Emerald snorted at the thought. Not that anyone would find the plain white one-piece suit she wore anywhere near sexy enough. Not some random guy. And not Jaune when he saw her.

Emerald was proud of how easily she got him to follow her. With trashy slutty leopard pattern two-piece suit that barely covered her nipples and pussy, she could practically feel Jaune fuck her with his eyes.

"S-Someone might come and find us here," she whispered.

"Do you actually care about being seen?"

She smiled. He knew her so well already.

"You know that I don't."

With her Semblance, even if someone managed to get in this private room, they would never see them. Not that Jaune cared as he plowed her ass. It felt painful. Burning and addictive, the rough assfucking he gave her more than made up for him ignoring her during classes and in the hall. She could Nikos smirk at that slightly. Pfff, the stupid bitch was so confident her boyfriend was above being influenced by her looks.

So much that she missed the way he always smelled like her.

The bitter chocolate and the lie.

As he finished inside her, Emerald swooned. She liked feeling his cum inside her. It only added to the feeling of superiority she was slowly getting addicted to. The feeling she experienced every time she saw Nikos living a happy little vanilla fantasy of hers.

Eventually, Jaune went back to his friends. And Emerald saved another video of her getting fucked by Jaune.

BC

"The Vytal Tournament is starting right after the dance, Emerald. Have you got all the information on our competition?"

"Yup, filed and organized. Just like you like it."

"Excellent. You are not very talkative today, are you?"

Emerald bit back the moan and doubled her focus. Stupid Jaune. Fucking God. She loved him.

As Cinder read through the files, she was completely unaware that she was talking to mere illusion of Emerald. While the real deal was getting fucked atop the girl's bed. As the raven-haired leader went on and on how the other teams would fall and Haven would stand supreme, Jaune chuckled. It was an ugly twisted sound that got Emerald's cunt tighter and hotter.

"This Arc boy doesn't seem like much. Why pay so much attention to him in your files?"

As the fake Emerald gave the well-rehearsed answer, the real one struggled with keeping up her Semblance as Jaune doubled the strength snd the speed with which he was fucking her. Whenever Cinder turned away. her mirage would waver and distort. She opened her mouth, ready to cry out only for Jaune shove his fingers inside.

She tasted her own pussy and ass.

She was getting drunk on the taste.

"Anyway, you should focus on your training," Cinder smiled and left. "Make sure to stay in shape."

The door closed.

Emerald came with a cry.

Jaune didn't stop.

Her plan worked well. Too well, one might say. She knew how conditioning worked. And she was betting on it. With Pyrrha and his friends, Jaune would be a perfect little knight. With her, he could be the beast she knew he was hiding. And damn did it work.

"No time to relax, bitch," Jaune slapped his still erect cock across her face. "Time to continue your training."

If this kept up... It would not be her who stayed in power. As she sucked the boy off, a new thought entered her fragile lustful mind. As he played with her breasts and ass, the thought grew, As he fucked her cunt and ass, the thought grew stronger and more persistent.

As he came inside her, her mind was made up.

BC

"Woooohooooo, let's get drunk, everyone!"

"There is no alcohol! And get down from the table, Yang!"

The Vytal Festival was the tradition to celebrate the unity of four Kingdoms. But for the students here today, it was the perfect opportunity to break away from the routine of their studies and get one last breath of fresh and free air before they would start fighting in one of the most important fights of their lives. The prestige of their schools. Their reputation as future protectors of the humanity. And their personal pride as warriors. It all would rest on the way they performed.

But that was the talk for tomorrow. The worries for the day that had yet to come.

Tonight, they were here to celebrate like the young people they were.

Some drank. Some danced. Some simply had the time of theit life. And one young Champion couldn't be happier with the way her life turned out. A year ago, the tought of being somewhere where she could just be herself seemed like a dream. And now that dream was a reality. Her dream come true. Friends. Boyfriend. And a happy life.

"You were amazing, Jaune."

"Thanks, Pyrrha, you two."

She giggled like a little girl when Jaune gave her a kiss. And to think that she thought their relationship was in trouble. Silly her. Worrying over nothing. She was so lucky to have found Jaune. And tonight, she planned to show him he was right to stay with her. She would make sure he could never forget their night together. Once the dance was over, she would bring him to a special hotel room she found and paid for and then- Oooh, the things that they would do together!

Better move 'cause we've arrived

Lookin' sexy, lookin' fly

The sudden shift from the soft and slow dancing music took the whole room by the surprise, The surprise that was quickly followed up and overwhelmed by the arrival of the the girl Pyrrha has been seeing an awful lot of lately. Dressed in tight white dress that showed off her wide hips and fat ass, the girl walked with the confidence of the lioness. She cared little for whistles or stares. For envious and angry looks thrown her way. All she cared was getting to wherever she heading.

Pyrrha didn't realize until it was too late that she was coming for them.

Jaune stepped forward, his gaze hard.

"Something I may help you with, Emerald?"

He sounded so cool, Pyrrha thought. Oblivious to the way Emerald licked her lips.

"Just stand back and watch the show, stud."

Pyrrha practically frothed at her mouth as the girl kissed her boyfriend on the lips. She wanted to do something. Say something. But instead she found herself held in place by something truly ominous. She didn't dare make a scene. And so she was forced to watch.

The crowd formed around them, the alcohol and hormones running high. The beatiful black girl shaking her hips and ass in the center of it made them cheer and cry in approval. As if they were caught in some trance, the couple of cut her and the rest of the group away and pushed Jaune inside onto the single chair. Emerald looked her in the eyes and smirked.

Shaking her hips, the girl made a show of using the movement to ride her dress up until her juicy black ass was exposed for everyone to see. Ruby and Weiss covered their eyes. Yang ran off to get the teacher. Ren and Nora were comforting her. But those were the only people who appeared to be bothered by it. Instead, all the rest were practically infected with the lust.

As they watched the girl swing her ass round and round before throwing it up and down, the boys and girls around her started making out. Like the patient zero of some mysterious plague, Emerald's shaking ass and swinging hips spread lust and madness through the crowd. From then on, the foreplay was over and the girl began twerking for real.

Emerald didn't waste any time moving slow or making any more show of what she wanted. She wanted to shake her fat black ass, and that was exactly what she was going to do. Her cheeks began to clap against one another in a hypnotic rhythm, as her hips swung from side to side heavily. It was now apparent that she was not wearing any bra since the entire room could see her full tits wobble she leaned down further.

Like a little cum-hungry bimbo, Emerald straightened up suddenly as she ran her hands along the taunting countours of her body. A show for all to see, but only one man to truly enjoy. She was showing off what it would feel like to be so near her. To touch her. to handler her body so intimately.

Her booty conitnued to clap, ass cheeks rippling against each other. Soon, her bright green thong was lost within the mounds of her ass as trhe girl continued gyrating it like it had a life of its own. As the rap music banged on through the entire dance hall, all eyes were glued to the sight of Emerald twerking her fat ass right in front of him, smacking her cheeks from side to side to the rhythm of the music.

Growing cocky, she started grinding her ass on his crotch. The vibrations sent by the two fine pieces of meat smacking against him soon got the desired result. Emerald grinned, enjoying the feeling of a hot hard cock between her cheeks.

Reaching behind, Emerald made sure to give her ass a good smack. The smack that sent ripples visible through her thin dress. The smack loud enough to shake the numb and silent redhead out of stupor. Pyrrha saw red, her very being aflame. She hated this feeling. She hated the pleasant flame in her loins even more.

"GET OFF MY BOYFRIEND, YOU BITCH!"

The crowd fell silent and the music came to an abrupt stop as Pyrrha Nikos - the model student pushed the girl off and away before pulling the blonde out of the chair. She didn't blame Jaune. Her poor boyfriend must have been scared and confused so much he couldn't move. She glared at Emerald, forgetting all about appearances and hissed, "You better hope we don't fight in the matches, Sustrai."

And with that, Pyrrha dragged Jaune away. Away from crowd of horny assholes. Away from a thieving bitch. There was still time. Still enough time to make the evening theirs. Pyrrha smiled as Jaune gave her a kiss. She was looking forward to having him all to herself.

BC

"I can't believe that bitch did all of this."

"There, there, Pyr, it's alright," Jaune said soothingly. His hand brushing her hair, he did his best to make her feel better. "Honestly though, that came out of nowhere. I hope she gets her just punishment. Maybe Goodwitch will make even smack her around with her crop."

Pyrrha giggled, "Knowing the way she is, she might actually enjoy it."

"And then twerk in front of Goodwitch?"

"I would be fine with it."

As long as the girl stayed away from her knight, Pyrrha didn't care if Emerald started a freaking brothel.

"Hey, Jaune?"

"Yes, Pyrrha?"

"I... I, uh... Oh, fuck it," she latched onto his lips. A soft and warm feeling filling her very being. "I want us to go all the way tonight. I want to claim you as mine. And hope you will do the same for me."

He smiled and returned her kiss.

"Let's do this."

Under the moonlight, the two undressed each other. As their hands worked on removing the layers of clothing, their mouths were busy exploring each other. Pyrrha knew she smelled of roses and apples. Jaune's smell surprised her. He always smelled like cotton candy and fresh morning air. But as she bit gently into his neck, she caught the smell of something else entirely.

The smell of dark and bitter chocolate.

"Pyrrha, is everything alright?"

The girl shook her head. What was she thinking about anyway? Of course, he smelled like Emerald. The nasty little whore tainted him with her smell. No problem, she thought. She would simply have sex with him until he smelled of her and only her.

"Everything is perfect, Jaune."

She pushed the boy onto the back and took the position, ready to mount his amazing cock.

"Time for you to have sex with a real woman!"

Jaune grunted underneath her as her trained cunt swallowed him whole. A far cry from the ways things used to be. A hopeful song of their future love. She rode him with all her might, gyrating her ass on the top of him. Feeling every single inch of his cock fill her up. He was so huge and hard but she would bare it all for him. As she felt him thust up and into her pussy, Pyrrha couldn't help but smile all the more.

It was finally perfect.

As the things should have been.

"I bet Emerald would never be able to take your cock, Jaune."

"She could never compare."

"You are mine, Jaune! I am so happy!

The air was filled with love and passion.

With the sounds of grunts and moans.

With the smell of bitter chocolate and sweet little lies.

BC

"Jaune, fuck me from behind!" Pyrrha cried out feverishly. "I want you take me like a filthy little bitch I am!"

Emerald rolled her eyes and stuck the automatic dildo inside the stupid little cunt. The redhead swooned and moaned and panted like a bitch in heat. Though the way she acted, Emerald doubted if it was an insult to the girl or actual mongrels. The dildo the girl lost her virginity to wasn't even half the size of Jaune's cock but Nikos was far too stupid and arrogant to figure that out.

Welp, whatever worked for her.

"You are a real bitch."

"Which is why you love me."

Emerald smirked as there was no protest from Jaune. Out in the public, he would always be the same awkward wide-eyed naive idiot. But here? With her and her alone, he was someone else. A man she molded into the ultimate specimen of her tastes. Cunning enough to follow her plays. Strong enough to handle her and her sex drive. Vicious enough to make her submit to him.

And completely and hopelessly addicted to her dark fuckmeat.

Emerald gave Pyrrha another look. The girl was under heavy illusion this time. A technique of sorts Emerald developed for some deeper hypnosis. And as long as Emerald desired it, Nikos would only see, hear, smell and feel what she wanted. She was lucky Emerald was in a good mood. Like a dumb monkey, the girl was humping a fucking pillow fully confident she was getting a dicking from her beloved blonde. All the while the real deal was playing around with her ass like his favorite toy.

"Heh, okay then. Guess I should pay you back for the shit you pulled at the dance," Jaune said unzipping his pants. His thick foot-long cock fell out of its confines in all its girthy glory. "Don't expect me to go easy on you, Emerald."

Holy shit... He's even bigger than usual...! She thought her heart race a bit. The beating of her heart was nothing compared to the throbbing of her hungry cunt as she stared at the underside of his monster cock. They had fucked so much over the past few weeks but his cock looked as big, as thick and as threatening as if it would after years of neglect. Silently, Emerald promised herself that she would do her best to drain those balls and claim that cock as hers.

"Aaaah!" Nikos cried out, to Emerald's annoyance. "I am cumming, Jaune! I am cumming!"

She watched the champion of Mistral shake her hips as her pussy started squirting all over the floor. Emerald turned her nose away in digust. With a quick application of her Semblance, she pulled out a ball-gag and stuck it in the girl's mouth. As far as Nikos knew, Jaune found it in one of the drawers and used it add some spice. Nikos, like a dumb cunt she was, eagerly accepted it all.

"Now that the pest is dealt with, are you ready for a real woman to serve you?"

Jaune didn't move or say anything. Everything the girl needed was in his eyes. The command. The order. Impress him. Earn her right to be his. She gave Nikos one last look. The pathetic girl was whimpering and getting fucked by a dildo. She looked so pitiful.

Emerald loved it.

And she would make sure Jaune kept her by his side so that she could watch even more of such pathetic side of the Invincible Girl.

Falling to her knees, the girl cralwed up to him. Her dress was long discarded and now she was free to sway her hips for his pleasure. Quickly adjusting herself before him, with her palms straight on the ground and her pussy rubbing against the floor, Emerald placed her head spread her mouth wide open with lust-filled eyes. A game, she could remember, where she had to get him hard with nothing more than a glance.

As she found his previously flaccid cock press against her cheek, Emerald scored her first victory tonight. She silently asked for permission. With ass wagging and her eyes wanting, she was whimpering like a little slut. He rolled his eyes but gave his permission. Without further play, Emerald latched onto his bulging head. Sucking the tip of his cock into her gullet, she savored the bitter and salty taste of sweat and pre-cum.

Jaune groaned softly feeling the ebony beauty's hot wet mouth swallow up the head of his cock. She was sucking him off, slurping and smacking as if she was enjoying the sweetest candy her tongue ever tasted. Eager to please and desperate to be of use, he could feel her hunger for more grow. Not that he would grant it until he wanted to. Something changed in him. Changed for the better. And whatever it was, he now wished to see how far Emerald could go before giving her anything at all.

Closing her eyes, Emerald doubled her efforts on giving her man the best blowjob she could give. Having lived on the streets, she saw her fair share of whores give the men a sloppy blowjob. The hours she had spent watching all sorts of porn would also show their results now. Done with the generic stuff, she went for her some hardcore stuff.

With a cheeky glint in her eyes, the girl squeezed her lips tight around his thick head. Having it trapped with no means for escape, Emerald started bobbing her head up and down the thick girthy shaft. A small faint gasp from the blonde was all the encouragement she needed to continue on. Pushing her throat to the limits, she was slowly working it across the length of his cock. Slurping all throughout it, she felt on shame in letting the dirty cocktail of her saliva and his precum mix and drool down her mouth.

It didn't take long for her to adjust to the feeling in her throat. Even less to quicken the pace and give her man what he definitely desired. Under Jaune's grunts, her head was now bobbing up and down the full length of his monster cock. Her lips, still as tight as before, were sucking him without mercy. Emerald felt the pride swell inside her chest as Jaune started patting her like a good little bitch she was.

"Mmm~" She slurped loudly. Shamelessly as she enjoyed pushing her face into his crotch. The feeling of his full length taking all the place inside her throat was more intoxicating than any drink she ever had. "Mmm!"

She could feel it! As she quickened her pace, her heart started beating in tune. She could feel him get closer and closer to orgasm. She didn't dare stop. Didn't even think of slowing down. She wanted his cum. She wanted it! She needed it! She craved it like nothing ever before. Emerald slurped and sucked loudly and tirelessly, her tongue hungrily dragging its way all over his cock in a desperate attempt to get as much taste of him manmeat.

It tastes so good ... More... Please, Gods, above, let me taste more ...I...I want to suck him my whole life...

Fuck Cinder and her plans. Fuck Pyrrha and his friends. Fuck whatever else life would throw at her. As long as she could service Jaune for the rest of his life, she would be perfectl content with whatever came after them.

As Nikos continued to moan and rolled her tongue around, Emerald couldn't help but enjoy the feeling more. Nikos seemed to be giving a blowjob to the phantom cock. And while she was sucking and smacking on thin air, Emerald was getting all the cockmeat and cream a bitch like her needed. The melody of sucking and moaning and grunting filled the room. She looked up at Jaune, drinking in his pleased expression. Her work. This was all her work and she couldn't have anything better than his cruel smile.

"Time for your reward, Emerald. Make sure not to waste a single drop!" Jaune hissed and she braced herself. Roughly grabbing her hair, Jaune pushed his whole length inside her throat. He eyes and throat bulged out, her cunt going out of control from all the pressure. And just as Jaune released sick loads of his potent semen down her throat, the thief came all over the floor like a complete degenerate. "Someone has to clean it all up."

Emerald smirked and changed the illusion for Nikos again. She removed her ballgag and stared at the puddle of Emerald's pussy juices, "Oh, look at the wine you spilled, Jaune," the girl giggled and crawled over to the spot with a sweet little smile. "Just let me clean this up for you."

Emerald and Jaune watched Pyrrha lap up the girl's pussy juices and comment on how much she liked this wine. Emerald thought it was hilarious, briefly wondering if she would enjoy her piss as well. Jaune found it hot, evident from his quickly returning erection. Emerald growled, feeling that even when Nikos was nothing but a dumb bitch she was somehow stealing the attention away from her.

Well, that was about to change.

Making Nikos go sit in the corner and masturbate, Emerald walked over the bed. Getting on all fours, she turned away from Jaune and shook her thick fat ass in front him. She didn't care what she looked like. How little respect or pride was in her humiliating submissive posture. All that she cared about was getting that thick cock inside her.

"Haaah... Jaune? Please, Jaune?" She whimpered, letting go of any restraints. She felt his hand rubbing up against her exposed cunt. They had fucked so many times before. But she always had some semblance of control. But not anymore. And never from now. With him, she would always be at the mercy of his temper and will. She was almost ready to cum from such thoughts. "Please, I wanna make you feel good! Let me service you with my needy tight holes!

A smack across her ass made her cry out in surprise. A second one - from climaxing all over again. He continued to rain down smacks across her sensitive chocolate ass until it was more burning bright red.

The girl whimpered and panted, not quite used to this rough treatment but no less welcoming of it. As long as it came from him, she would happily bear all of it.

"Spread your ass, Emerald," Jaune hissed into her ear. She nodded and eagerly did just that, exposing her tight hole for him to see. "I must say, you taught me a lot about myself. How much I enjoy being in control. How easy it is to like something even when you know it is wrong. Tell me, Emerald, did you imagine things would be like that between us when you approached me?"

Never in her life.

"N-No, Jaune," she whimpered, embarrassed to tell him what she thought. What she expected. He already knew why she was spying on them. But she never told him what she expected from their relationship. "I thought I would be able to keep you as my personal boytoy. Fuck you when I want. How I want. Make you into my own source of stress relief."

"And now?"

"I-I know better than that," Cinder was wrong about so many things. But she did get one thing right about Emerald. She was not cut out to be the top dog. "I know that you will handle a harem better. Y- I would be happy if you let me work as your second-in-command. I would be so happy to teach the other black girls I know how great you are."

Arslan from team ABRN, The uptight cunt Ciel from Atlas. She would be so happy to get them and more as her slut sisters for Jaune.

"And white girls?" Jaune asked as he squeezed her ass tight. "What about girls like Pyrrha?"

"T-They could never satisfy you, Jaune," Emerald spoke from the heart. Seriously, who could fuck that monster cock of his like her and other ebony beauties? Not the jailbait Ruby. Or that heiress bitch Schnee. Perhaps the fat-assed Vakyrie could do something but the rest? None of them had the hips, asses or tits to compare to girls like Emerald. "So please, let me help you see just how much better the girls like me are compared to some vanilla shit these girls would give you."

He was silent.

"P-Pleas-AaaaH!" she felt his strong hands grab at her waist. His thick tip resting against her tight little asshole. She grinned at him, "So, you finally gonna give in and give me some good time, right? Go right ahead, I know you want to, Jaune. Fuck me up! Fuck my ass until I can no longer be satisfied by anyone else!"

Eyeing up her delicious black ass, Jaune chuckled. No need for him to be told twice, he rubbed Misty's pussy and ass with two thick fingers. Slowly, he pushed them inside and got all her wet and ready. Not thatr it required much time or effort from him at this point. Emerald was really strong. But she was also sneaky and would likely try and manipualte him if he left her enough of willpower to do so. Her mind was definitely not as good or solid right now as it was when they met. The girl was on the verge of breaking apart into a bunch of instincts.

It was only natural that he pushed her towards it.

"Don't cry for mercy later than, you slut," He muttered, his cocktip invading her puckered asshole without much argument. Emerald hasn't been a virgin even when she met Jaune. But those were small one-time nights and with how big and thick Jaune was... Well, she might as well have been a complete and total virgin.

Emerald slapped the bed, letting out a low loud moan. As if she was being ripped apart in the most pleasant of ways, she bit into the sheets and cried, "FuuuUUUcucking shiiiiiiit! Yes, yes, yes, YEEEEEEEES! You are ripping my ass apart! Please, don't stahp!"

She could feel her Aura fizzle and crack from the pain. Oh, once it was out, how much more painful and pleasurable it would get. The mere thought was enough to drive her even wilder. Jaune grinned as he continued to spread her ass open inch by inch. To his growing surprise, Emerald was taking it all with the same kind of love as before. Even when he was not nearly as big or ferocious as he was right now.

"Fuck, your cock is fucking best, Jaune!" she cried out deliriously. "Oh, Gods, I can feel your cock in my guts! You are so deep in my ass I can feel it in my guts!" Emerald was positively babbling now. Her words a barely coherent mess of expletives and curses. Her mind a wild hive of every single dirty thing a girl knew. His cock went deep and hard, pressing down on her innards to the point she was cumming from a simple act of breathing. That's how powerful he was. How much power he held over her. "Please, make me cuuuuuuuum!"

Jaune thrusted inside her one more time, the pressure from her ass and guts so strong and overwhelming it reached even further inside. Right towards her womb. And as Jaune continued to fuck her ass with his full length, Emerald felt like he was pounding her pussy at the same time. Her world was falling apart. Her loyalties and goals crushed into dust, all she cared for was getting Jaune to fuck her even harder. Even faster.

With a wet sticky sound, Jaune pulled out. Leaving her so hollow she couldn't bear a single moment of it. What was wrong? Was it something she did? She would make up for it if only he let her.

"You are a good bitch, Emerald."

Her heart swooned at the praise.

"Now I want you to do something for me. Do it and I will cum inside your pussy and make you my top bitch."

Anything. She ready to do anything.

"Just tell me what you want."

Jaune grinned.

"Help me tie Pyrrha up."

Emerald was quiet, taken aback by the odd request. But as she met Jaune's eyes, she realized instantly what he wanted. And just like the opportunistic sadist she was, Emerald jumped at the chance to get the girl she wanted to hurt for so long.

BC

Pyrrha was at the top of her world. Hours and hours of sex with Jaune were the kind of heaven she never imagined possible or wanted. But now that she had tasted the forbidden fruit of his body, she would never tire of the taste. His strong arms and gentle touch were all the Pyrrha needed to be happy. The whole world might have pushed her to be perfect, but as long as Jaune stayed by her side, she would happily fight through everything.

"Jeez, Pyrrha, go easy on that toy," the familiar - an unpleasantly so - voice spoke candidly. "Talk about going wild."

"Emerald," Pyrrha hissed as she covered herself with the sheet. How did she get in without her noticing? Little matter. "Leave before I make you. You know I can do that."

"Can you now though?" Emerald smiled. The kind of smile that you wore when you knew of yours victory. When you were sure of it. "Tied up like that?"

What was she talking about? Pyrrha had no time for this. Jaune was sound asleep and she refused to let him be woken up by the likes of Emerald. She moved to get up. her feet never touched the ground though. In panic, she looked at Emerald. The green-haired girl gasped in false shock, "Sorry, Nikos, I forgot something. Here, let me help you."

With the sweet smile and hungry eyes, Emerald pulled off some kind of seal from Pyrrha's wrist. The same place where she touched her during the dance. The effects of the seal being removed didn't wait for long. As if she was woken up from a dream, the world around her changed. She was no longer in warm and soft bed. Instead he was on the cold floor, her arms tied behind her back. Her legs spread apart and duck-taped. The hotel room was the same but the feeling about it was all wrong.

And then there was the smell.

The smell of bitter chocolate.

"Emerald, you bitch, what have you done?" Pyrrha raged. "Where is Jaune? If you hurt him, I swear to Gods, I will-"

"Why not let him speak for himself?"

It was only now that Pyrrha noticed that Jaune was in the same room. But something was off about him. There was no more of that bubbly puppy feeling about him. Instead he looked like a wolf. And he was hungry.

"Hey Pyrrha. Glad to have you back with us."

"Jaune..." she whispered, not at all liking how casual the blonde was with being naked. Or Emerald rubbing herself against his leg. "What is going on?"

"A confession," Jaune smiled softly as she walked up to her. His cock, erect and imposing, stood even bigger than she remembered. "The last night was Emerald's illusion. She made you think you were fucking me the entire time. In reality, while you were busy with this plastic toy," he picked up the dildo that absolutely reeked of her juices. "I was busy fucking Emerald into submission."

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no... This couldn't be true. It must have been some nightmare. A cruel prank her imagination was playing on her. She would have shut her ears but her arms were bound. And so she listened on as Jaune spoke further.

"I have been having sex with Emerald ever since we became official. I tried to ignore her. Tried to focus on what happiness we had outside the bed, but I wasn't able to do it foreve, Pyrrha. Then Emerald came along and offered to be my stress relief until you learned how to handle my cock. Until you became strong enough for me to actually fuck."

Pyrrha was openly crying at this point. It was all wrong. All of this was so messed up.

"But that day never came. Even know, if I tried to have sex with you, I doubt you would be able to handle my full length for even a few minutes before passing out," Pyrrha sobbed as she felt how worthless she was. It hurt even more as Jaune sounded absolutely disappointed in her. "Despite all of this, I still love you more than anyone else in the whole world. I want to be with you, Pyrrha. One day, I wish to marry you too."

He was cheating on her. Making a fool out of her all this time. So why was she feeling so happy about his words? Why did she feel the damn hope he would keep his word?

Why did she feel so hot?

"I was tired of living a lie. Lying to you. To our friends. To myself," Jaune brought Emerald up from her knees. "Now is the time to be honest with myself."

He gave her a kiss. The kind of kiss even her wildest fantasies didn't see. There was nothing princely or romantic about it. It was wild and savage, full of nothing but sheer mating desire. Pyrrha could have had it for herself. Would have if only she were a better woman. But she was not and now she was watching a better woman - Emerald - take her beloved away.

Why did she feel so hot?

"He loves ebony girls like me, Nikos. With our wide hips, thick thighs and juicy asses, we are the only ones who can actually handle studs like Jaune," turning the girl around, Jaune lifted her off the ground. Emerald looked positively giddy as Jaune impaled the girl on his cock. The guttural bestial cry the thief let out sent shiver down Pyrrha's spine. Why did she feel so damn hot? As Jaune began to fuck her pussy, she looked her straight in the eye, "This is what real sex is like, Nikos! This is the kind of raw fucking you should have given him! Maybe then he would never leave you for me!"

Would she ever be able to handle it?

Pyrrha doubted it.

Emerald was screaming, crying in gibberish. Fuck her up. Impregnate her. Make her cunt his personal cum tank. The flood of obscene phrases filled the room and Pyrrha watched in awe as Emerald was actually enjoying having her pussy stuffed full of all that cockmeat. Her loins burned with want. Her mouth ran dry with need. She wanted it. She couldn't have it.

All she could do was watch.

"Oh yes! Oh, fuck! Gods above, fucking hell!" Emerald cursed as she looke down at Pyrrha. "Get used to the view, Nikos! I am not letting you have anything but his scraps!"

Jaune placed her down. On all fours, staring Pyrrha straight in the face, Emerald looked like she was some otherwordly being. Panting and grunting, Jaune's enormous cock plowing her from behind, the girl cupped Pyrrha's face and smiled at her. A cruel twisted smile.

"He still loves you. You still have his heart," she hissed. It was clear she hated to say that. "But his mind and body? They are all mine now. Nghh!"

Jaune gave her a harsh slap across her ass. So hard her Aura flared up.

"You can run, Nikos. Leave the two of us alone. Leave him for me to conquer his heart. I am sure you will find yourself a nice pencil-dick who will be happy with your being easy to please," Emerald spoke sweetly, even as venom dripped off of every word. "Or you can stay with us. Fight me for him. Try and get on my level. But I promise you, if you do that, I will not let you go easily."

Pyrrha whimpered. She was stronger than Emerald so why was she shaking so much?

And feeling so hot from the thought of losing to her?

"Aaaah!" Emerald cried out as Jaune pumped one final load inside her. Getting on her feet, Emerald proudly showed off the thick semen oozing out of her fucked-up cunt. "See this? This is what I earned. And this," she pointed at Pyrrha's throbbing swollen cunt. "is what you earned. So what shall it be, Pyrrha? Will you stand and fight for Jaune? Or would you rather give him up here and now?"

"N-Never!"

She refused to give up.

"Whatever you've got, bring it on!" Pyrrha glared. "I will make myself worthy of Jaune's cock. And then you will never get fucked by him again."

Emerald chuckled. Jaune did as well. Pyrrha's heart sank, her bravado now having a hole in it.

"Very well, Pyrrha. That's one of the reasons I love you so much," Jaune gave her a soft kiss. She leaned into it, grasping on the feeling like a life jacket. "But until you are actually able to handle me, you are going to be our cuckquean."

C-Cuckquean? What was that?

"W-What will I be?"

"Cuckquean," Emerald spelled out as if Pyrrha was an idiot. "A beta bitch. A denial slut. A no-touch no-fuck servant that I get to order around. Here, let me demonstrate t you!"

With a sick grin, Emerald pulled on Pyrrha's nipples. Giving her no time to recover from the shock, Emerald gave her a couple of slaps across her face before finally pushing her onto her back. With a laugh, the thief stepped on Pyrrha's swollen red cunt and pressed.

"Stop! Please, it hurts!"

"Exactly," Emerald smiled. "And physical pain is only a part of it. You will serve us, Nikos. Whatever I say, you will do. If I tell you walk through Beacon naked, you will do that. If I tell you to eat only whatever I give you, you will do that. No matter how humiliating and degrading it is, you will do what I say. And you will keep doing it until Jaune promotes you from a Cuckquean Cunt to his Bitch. Unless you want to back off now and stop bothering us."

The picture was grim, Pyrrha trembled. Having Emerald given so much power was terrfiying.

But she was Pyrrha Nikos. And she didn't give up.

"I will do it," she hung her head in shame. "And when Jaune and I are married, I will keep you as a dog, Emerald."

Emerald chuckled.

"Sure thing, Nikos. Give it your best shot." she pressed herself against Jaune. Wiping some of his semen from her pussy, Emerald smeared it all over Pyrrha's face. "Until then, enjoy the show. And your snack too."

Tied up and unable to move, Pyrrha was forced to watch the love of her life fuck the thief she considered a nuisance at best. And like an obedient cuck, Pyrrha ept the small bit of cum in her mouth. Enjoying whatever pleasure the small portion of it gave her.

Jaune held the two of them close as Emerald sucked him off. Pyrrha watched closely as the girl swallowed down his whole length. Jaune threw the two of them onto the bed, first her then Emerald on the top of hers. Pyrrha whimpered and sobbed as she felt Jaune fuck Emerald in her ass and pussy, She felt the pain doubly since she could tell just how intense it was. How much she wanted it to be her who was getting fucked.

Come the morning, Pyrrha paid for the room and walked beside the two. They went back to the dorm and Emerald gave Pyrrha another humiliating gift. Her own thong, drenched in Jaune's cum. The sight of it made her happy though and Pyrrha humbly accepted the gift. That night was the last night she could pleasure herself. And so she did.

With Emerald's thong held between her teeth, the leftover semen in her mouth, Pyrrrha was masturbating. Drowning in her lustful fantasies, the girl imagined where her life would go now. She imagined so many different scenarios. So many ways she would find her way back into Jaune's heart and embrace.

But no matter how much she thought of the future, it all remained the same. She would always be the pathetic whimpering cuckquean who begged and pissed herself for her betters' amusement. And Emerald would always be the harsh and cruel Mistress that Pyrrha depended on to get any semblance of pleasure.

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

She came, shamelessly staining her cold sheets. Where was Jaune, she wondered briefly. Her scroll screen flared up. A picture of Emerald gorging herself on Jaune's cock. Her loins burned again. The fantasy changed in her head. Now she was kneeling beside the two. Panting and begging for a drop of Jaune's cum. She was not given any. Not directly at leasy. Like a good little doggy, she lapped up whatever fell on the carpet.

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

Pyrrha came again.

The fantasy shifted. They were getting married but Pyrrha was still locked in a chastity belt after all these years. And once they came to their room, she would be allowed to hump the pillow while Jaune and Emerald enjoyed their night.

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

Pyrrha came again.

The fantasy shifted once more. She was Pyrrha Arc. A wife, a mother and a slave. Her daughter never knew she was her real mother. In her eyes, Pyrrha Nikos was just the maid of daddy and mommy, Jaune and Emerald. Her being impregnated by Jaune was her anniversary gift. She wondered if she could beg herself another one this year. Maybe if she acted like a really good dog, Emerald would give it to her.

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

Pyrrha came again.

And again and again and again. Thousands of fantasies. All with the same outcome.

But one that, with each orgasm, Pyrrha was slowly coming to accept as her fate.