[RWBY] RWBY Shorts

[AJ_Talon]

RWBY and JNPR piled into the latter's common room after practice, still buzzing with the usual post-training energy.

"Did you like our new combo, Ruby?" Nora grinned, "Pyrrha and I call it 'Railgun!'"

"It was so awesome!" Ruby gushed, "Ooh! I can't wait to make an actual rail gun!"

"You aren't going to use that attack in the tournament, are you Jaune?" Weiss asked, sounding concerned. Jaune grinned.

"Probably not against you guys."

"We'd see it coming from a mile away," Yang laughed.

"Maybe," Jaune smirked a little, looking over at Ren. "Anyway, let's-URK!"

A short, angry dark haired man grabbed Jaune by the throat with his right hand while his left sprouted gleaming metallic claws with a sharp snikt. "Hand over what you owe, Runt," he growled, "or I'll turn you into a shishkabob."

Weapons snapped up in an instant. Pyrrha leveled her spear, voice cold and fierce. "Let him go, or I'll rip every piece of metal from your body and use it to tear you apart."

Yang's gauntlets flared as she stepped forward. "And then I'll beat you to a pulp."

Nora's grin stretched wide and manic, hammer already humming with pink lightning. "And I'll do even worse!"

Jaune just laughed. "Uncle Logan, the whiskey's in the cabinet. I'll get it for you."

Logan paused, then gave a short nod and released Jaune's throat, the claws retracting with another metallic sound.

Jaune turned to his friends, rubbing his neck. "Guys, this is just my uncle Logan. He does this kind of thing all the time."

"Attempted murder?" Weiss gasped, glaring at Logan. The short man smirked.

"Keeps the runt on his toes."

Ren frowned.

Ruby's eyes went wide. "My uncle doesn't do stuff like that!"

Yang lowered her fists a fraction. "Qrow did almost burn the house down once."

As Jaune moved to fetch the bottle, Ruby protested, "That's different!"

Logan accepted the whiskey with a grunt. "Thanks, Runt."

Jaune grinned. "You're welcome. Is Uncle Remy here too?"

Right on cue, a tall, handsome stranger with coiffed red hair and striking red eyes set against black sclera stepped into the room, idly shuffling a deck of cards. A grin spread across his face, and every woman present felt her cheeks flush despite herself.

"Jaune! Well, ain't you just shootin' up like a weed! Give Gambit a hug!"

Jaune stepped forward happily and wrapped him in a warm embrace. Gambit chuckled and hugged him back just as easily.

The group eventually settled onto the couches and chairs, the initial chaos giving way to wary curiosity as Logan dropped into the sturdiest seat like he owned it and Gambit sprawled with lazy grace, still toying with his cards.

Gambit leaned forward, accent thick and warm. "Our Hunter group, we work wit' Radian's militia, y'know? Became good friends wit' yo' papa, Jaune. Nick, he one of de best men we ever met out dere in de field."

Logan took another pull from the bottle and grunted. "Nick's the dumbest ox I ever met. So friendly. So cheerful."

Gambit laughed softly, translating with a theatrical wave of one hand. "What he mean is, he's a solid man, de best friend we ever had, mon ami. Logan just don't know how to say nice things without soundin' like he's complainin'."

Logan grunted again, but the corner of his mouth twitched.

Jaune, perched on the arm of the couch between Pyrrha and Ruby, couldn't help himself. "So… is the entire X-Men Hunter Group coming, or just you two?"

Ruby exploded like a firework. "The X-Men Hunter Group?! The actual X-Men?! Like, with the claws and the cards and the—oh my gosh, that's so cool! Are they all coming? Is there gonna be a big team-up? Can I meet them?!"

Logan's low growl rumbled through the room like distant thunder. Ruby flushed scarlet and clapped both hands over her mouth. "S-sorry! I didn't mean to— I just— sorry!"

Pyrrha's eyes sparkled with genuine excitement, her earlier tension easing into something brighter. "It is very exciting. Especially after the famous Magneto joined your ranks. The way he turned the tide in that last major operation—"

Logan growled again, deeper this time. Gambit's ever-present grin tightened into something closer to a scowl, his cards flicking faster between his fingers.

Jaune rubbed the back of his neck, trying to smooth things over. "Magneto's pretty awesome… once he got over his whole 'destroy mankind' phase."

Weiss stared at him like he'd grown a second head. "Is he a Faunus?"

Jaune nodded. "Yeah. But he used to want everyone with Semblances to rule over those without. Real extreme stuff."

Blake nodded slowly, ears twitching beneath her bow. "He was too extreme even for the White Fang. Some of the old guard still talk about him like a cautionary tale."

Weiss looked horrified, one hand pressed to her chest. Jaune rushed to add, "He's better now! Really! He's on our side these days. Mostly."

Gambit let the cards settle with a soft shff and leaned back, eyes gleaming with mischief. "Onto more important matters, though. How many fiancés does Jaune actually have, anyway? Why he spare none of dat talent for Gambit, eh? A man could use a little help in de romance department."

Logan smirked around the mouth of the bottle. "One wife's usually enough for a smart man. More than that and you're just askin' for trouble."

Jaune went rigid, face draining of color before flooding with mortified red. "I— it's not— they're not— it's a misunderstanding! A really big, ongoing, everyone-keeps-joking-about-it misunderstanding!"

Blake spoke up first, perfectly deadpan. "He's actually my fiancé."

Yang's grin turned feral as she slung an arm around Jaune's shoulders. "I called him first, though. Dibs."

Ruby bounced in her seat, still pink from her earlier outburst but undeterred. "Arturia likes me best! She said so!"

Pyrrha's voice was calm but firm, one hand resting lightly on Jaune's knee. "I'm the true fiancé. We've been partners since day one."

Jaune buried his face in his hands, voice muffled and desperate. "Guys, please, it's not like that— they're all just— it started as a joke and then everyone kept adding to it and now even my family thinks— I don't even know how many fiancés I supposedly have anymore!"

Logan and Gambit roared with laughter, the sound filling the common room like thunder and warm rain. Logan slapped his knee while Gambit wiped a fake tear from the corner of one eye, cards scattering across the table in his mirth.

"Mon dieu, Jaune," Gambit wheezed between chuckles, accent thick as molasses, "you in way over yo' head, mon ami. But Gambit approve. Dis gon' be one hell of a festival."

 

[zMADLAXz]

Which of the two fits Jaune better?

Click to shrink...

Neither to be honest. Cause he is not an op self insert. Nor is he the OP self insert meant to downplay the other OP self insert.

I think Sir Gareth fits him the best though.

Or wait. Sir Percival even fits him.

Sir Perceval: Perceval comes from humble origins. In his younger years, he was sheltered, and he can be a bit naive.

Anyway now to make something Inflamatroy. *wink wink nudge nudge*

---

We asked the resident Beacon students and Huntsman trainees about their favortie Warhammer faction or if it is space marines then their favorite Chapters.

Ms. Schnee please tell us.

Weiss: "Ah, I am quite fond of the Adepta Sororitas. Using Faith and Bravery to stand up for an Ideal."

In her mind: "Plus also they take care of those filthy muties"

---

Ms. Rose what about your favorite faction?

Ruby: Salamanders! I love how they make their own weapons and so much fire and how they stand for Vukan's love and bravery!

In her mind: "I tell you hwaht- *spits* those Eldar they are not natural, Gotta take an honest fire and settle em like true red blooded regular people

---

Ms Belladonna, which faction do you favor.

Blake: Hmm, I am not into the lore and gameplay of Warhammer that much but I have found myself drawn towards the upfront nature of the Drukhari. The aesthetic is quite out there, but also quite fitting.

In her mind: =][= LOYAL IMPERIAL CITIZEN, THE FOLLOWING FOOTAGE HAS BEEN CONFISCATED BY THE HOLY INQUISITION =][=

---

Ms Nikos, what would be your favorite faction?

Pyrrha: oh! I find the Custodes to be my pace. The clash between their absolute loyalty and how the rest of the world around them is quite enjoyable.

In her mind: "Jaune why don't you sit naked on this throne while I oil myself up and perform for you?

Spoiler

I don't care about the gender of the Custodes, if they aren't oiling themselves in their undergarments and not performing for the emperor, they aren't real Custodes

---

Ms Valkyrie what about your pref–
OH MY GOD WHAT IS SHE!

Nora in blue war paint and wielding Magnhild: FENRYS HJØLDA!

Smashes through another wall drunk on Cranberry Juice.

---

Oh! Mr. Arc and Ms. Xiao-Long, it seems we will have to ask this question at the same time to you both.

Yang : Imperial Fists!

Jaune : Iron Warriors!

Everything and Everybody stop, as the two slowly turn their necks towards each other, the world seems to have held its breathe.

There is no change their serene expressions.

Yang: Say Vomit Boy, why don't we discuss about each other's favorite chapters outside! (a wide smile on her face with eyes close as the knuckles on Ember Cecilia groan)

Jaune: I would love to! (The leather of his combat gloves creaks as he clenches his fist around Corcea Mors's sheath, as he return her smile and follows her outside)

Well dear viewers that's all the time we have today!

Distant yelling and explosions.

---

Ren is left alone as the rest of the mess hall moves outside to behold the spectacle of mayhem and the not so safe for work conclusion of the mayhem between the two blondes that happens in their dorm rooms.

Ren takes a sip of his tea and calmly puts the cup down: Courage and Honor.

 

[AJ_Talon]

Jaune stood in the JNPR bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror.

The tuxedo fit. That was the surprising part. It was dark, clean, and properly tailored—Isabel had insisted on having it done in Radian before the Vytal Festival—and for once he didn't look like he'd borrowed someone else's clothes. He tried, for the third time, to drag a comb and a little hair gel through the mess on his head.

The hair refused.

He gave up, sighed, and stepped out into the common room.

Everyone was already dressed.

Yang stood near the window in a golden qipao that hugged every line of her, the high slit showing long, muscular legs, her hair swept up in an arrangement of pins and soft curls that made his brain briefly stop working. Pyrrha was beside her in a long, sleeveless red dress, hair gleaming, posture perfect and somehow still warm-Changing from a model to something more real and pure. Blake waited in midnight black, elegant from every angle, gold eyes bright. Weiss looked like she had stepped out of a portrait in white and blue, every seam exact, a princess from a fairytale. Ruby shifted in her heels in red and black, a little awkward, a little determined, and for a second Jaune saw her the way he sometimes tried not to—not just his friend, not just a girl, but a young woman who had decided to grow up whether the world was ready or not.

Ren stood quietly in a formal black suit. Nora spun once in pink, grinning.

And in the middle of all of it was Mia.

She stood with her arms crossed in a pink dress, twin pigtails tied with ribbons, ears slightly flattened, pure five-year-old mutiny.

"Papaaaa… this dress is dumb! And the ribbons aren't pink enough!"

Jaune laughed, crossed the room, and scooped her up. "You'll be having so much fun you won't worry about it."

Mia huffed against his shoulder. "Fiiine… Hmph. Better be good music."

Yang grinned. "Plenty of great music!"

Weiss sniffed. "Ugh. By your nonexistent standards."

"Well, we're not gonna listen to waltzes all night!"

"So crass! They're for dancing!"

Pyrrha smiled, calm as ever. "I do enjoy waltzes, but I don't mind cutting loose."

Ruby shifted again and muttered, "Yeah… but dancing in these stupid things is gonna stink."

"I'll help you learn how to dance properly, Ruby," Pyrrha promised. "I promise."

Ruby's shoulders eased a little. "All right…"

Blake stepped in and took Jaune's free arm with a bright, easy smile. "Shall we?"

Ruby's head snapped around. "HEY! You don't get to take his arm!"

Blake's expression stayed perfectly pleasant. "I'm not. I'm helping him carry Mia to the dance."

Yang's eyes narrowed. "I can do that just fine, thanks. Aren't you dancing with Sun?"

Weiss's voice went sharp. "Yes, aren't you going with Sun? You two-timing cat!"

Blake didn't flinch. "He'll let me dance with Jaune for a turn or two. As long as Jaune is all right with it."

Pyrrha's smile stayed in place. Something behind it twitched. "Oh, will he? How dare you act so greedily."

"I'm not greedy," Blake said, still smiling. "I just know how to attract men's attentions."

"Alley cat!"

"Brat!"

"GUYS!" Jaune's voice cut through the rising noise. He shifted Mia higher against his chest. "You're upsetting Mia! Let's just go to the dance and have fun!"

Mia peeked over his shoulder, thoroughly un-upset. "But they were gonna fight! It was gonna be cool—!"

"You're upset," Jaune said firmly. "Now let's go!"

Nora clapped her hands together, delighted. "Yeah, guys, save the fighting for when we have a mud pit!"

"NORA!"

Nora laughed, completely unashamed, and spun once more in her pink dress as the whole group finally started for the door.

Jaune adjusted his grip on Mia, felt the weight of several pairs of eyes still on him, and decided the smartest thing he could do for the rest of the night was keep moving and not pick a side.

Mia kicked her feet happily against his tuxedo.

"Better be good music," she reminded him.

He kissed the top of her head between the pigtails and kept walking.

 

[AJ_Talon]

Given Isabel's tendencies to be a mad scientist... You know, there's another means she could have saved Jaune while he was sickly.

She augmented him with cybernetics and experimental medical techniques. A fusion of man and machine. He loved grasshoppers and Knights, so she gave him a form that reflected this:

Kamen Rider Paladin Arms.

 

[AJ_Talon]

Jaune Arc sat hunched over his desk in the councilman's office, the glow of multiple holoscreens casting eerie blue light across his tired face. Stacks of briefing notes for tomorrow's big debate on the Beacon Academy and Valean Defense Force funding bill surrounded him like a paper fortress. His friends were scattered around, lazing about or trying to help.

He was trying—really trying—to do his homework. That meant watching clips from his fellow council members' past interviews.

He clicked play on the next one and immediately regretted every life choice that had led him here.

On screen, Prunella Glocken stood in a lavish studio, fur collar fluffed dramatically, delivering what she clearly thought was a heartfelt apology.

"My ancestors did skin Faunus. This was of course inhumane and awful. Especially since the leather from Faunus skin is totally inadequate for any kind of garment. Or umbrellas—they leak. So it was both horrific from a human rights perspective and from good, practical fashion."

Lisa Lavender cleared her throat then spoke, sounding like she was questioning her career choices. "…Thank you, Councilwoman, but we were asking about income tax."

Prunella waved a gloved hand. "Oh. We'll be cutting it, and it will be far easier to cut than human or Faunus leather, believe you me."

Jaune stared. "She… she went there. On live television."

Pyrrha, perched on the edge of his desk in her usual elegant posture (though her secretary skirt was riding up just enough to make Weiss glare from across the room), leaned over and patted his shoulder. "At least she's consistent?"

Next clip. A burly man with a handlebar mustache and enough military medals to sink a battleship filled the screen.

Sigmund Saur slammed a fist on the table. "The answer to everything in life on Remnant is simple: Guns. I gave my wife a gun on our first date instead of flowers—we've been happily married for forty years. Someone tries to steal your car? Gun. The government tries to take away your house? Gun. Your kid's teacher tried to give him an F because he was a smart aleck? Gun. Grimm? Guns. LOTS of guns!"

Yang, sprawled on the couch with her boots on the coffee table, snorted so hard she nearly dropped her scroll. "Okay, I like this guy. We should invite him to training sometime."

Ruby's eyes went starry. "He sounds fun!"

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. "He sounds like a walking war crime."

"War crimes don't count against Grimm!" Ruby protested.

Weiss groaned.

Jaune just kept clicking, morbid curiosity taking over.

The next interviewee was a cheerful, baby-faced man in a pastel suit covered in candy patterns. Craig Horner beamed at the camera like he was admiring his reflection in the lens.

"Hello, I'm Craig Horner of the Horner Sweets and Candy Corporation Horners. We make amazing pies and candy, don't we? It's awesome. Anyway, I'm on the Council because I think it will make my dad respect me and I can make Vale very sweet indeed. But it's mostly a lot of boring meetings that cut into my fun time. Anyway, your question?"

Lisa Lavender's sigh was audible even through the recording. "What are your thoughts on the recent scandal involving your company bribing people?"

Craig blinked innocently. "Bribery? Hey, I was taught to always bring enough sweets for everyone! Because I'm rich! Though I did have to take that police chief's sportscar away because it was 'illegal'. He liked sportscars and so I just wanted to make him happy! Is that a crime?"

An assistant leaned over and whispered in his ear. Craig blinked, and then shrugged.

"…Oh, I guess so."

Nora cackled from the floor where she was doing sit-ups with Magnhild balanced on her shins. "I want his job! Free candy forever!"

Ren, ever the voice of reason, deadpanned, "He would bankrupt the treasury in a week."

The screen switched again. This time a confident cat Faunus woman with black hair, pointed ears, and an outfit that somehow managed to be both professional and deeply inappropriate leaned toward the camera with a sultry smile.

"As a small business owner and a prolific porn star, I too know what it is like to be the one woman in a room full of men. But I also know just how to navigate such a precarious environment, and still come out on top! That's why I'm hoping to be re-elected to the High Council next year! Vote for Fuschia Nightshade! No matter how hard it gets, I like it harder!"

Blake, who had been sipping tea, did a full spit-take directly onto Weiss's pristine white jacket. Her amber eyes were wider than dinner plates.

"AUNTIE?!"

The entire room went dead silent for half a second before exploding.

Yang burst out laughing so hard she rolled off the couch. "Your aunt is a porn star?! Blake, you never told us your family was that interesting!"

Blake's ears flattened so hard they nearly disappeared under her bow. "She is NOT— I mean— she's my mother's sister and she was always the 'fun' one but I thought she ran a lingerie boutique, not— not—!"

Weiss dabbed at her ruined jacket with a handkerchief, muttering, "Of course the Belladonnas would have a porn star in the family. Why am I even surprised anymore?"

Jaune wisely chose not to comment and clicked onward.

Rufus Winchester appeared next, his face redder than his thinning hair and gesturing wildly with a tank model on the table in front of him.

"Look, all I'm saying is that letting sick kids at the hospital ride around in a tank and fire the guns is great for everyone's morale!"

Lisa Lavender sounded like she was one bad answer away from quitting journalism forever. "You're fine with children operating weapons of terror?"

Rufus puffed up. "They're not weapons of terror! They're weapons of war! That means they actually kill your enemy! And only with proper supervision!"

Yang grinned. "Cardin's dad is growing on me."

The final clip featured a nervous, twitchy man who looked like he might faint if someone sneezed too loudly. He adjusted his large glasses, nearly shivering under the power of Lisa's gaze.

"Councilman Penny? Councilman Henny Penny? Sir?" Lisa prompted, very gently. It still made the man cringe.

Penny clutched the arms of his chair like it was a life raft. "Th-The simple fact is that the world is a very dangerous place and I vote for whatever will make it less dangerous. Like blowing up Grimm. With lots of bombs. Far away. Or big walls."

Lisa leaned in. "And subsidies for your companies?"

Henny flinched so hard he nearly fell out of his seat. "AH! DON'T HIT! I BRUISE EASILY!"

Yang stared at the screen. "…How did he get elected?"

Jaune sighed, rubbing his eyes. "He does actually do great at getting investment into his province… Mainly because people feel sorry for him."

Blake, still recovering from the Auntie Fuschia revelation, muttered, "It has to be an act… right?"

Jaune shrugged. "If it is, it works really well…"

The last clip was from Jaune's own recent presser. Lisa Lavender's voice rang out, sharp and amused.

"Mister Arc, is it true your older sister is a bloodthirsty malevolent psycho who murders the innocent for profit?"

Jaune, on-screen, didn't even blink. "You'll have to be more specific. I have four older sisters."

His friends erupted in laughter. Even Weiss cracked a reluctant smile.

Pyrrha turned to Jaune, her emerald eyes warm and sincere. "You know… for all the chaos, you're really not like them, Jaune. You're not crazy."

Jaune stared at the frozen image of himself on the screen for a long moment. Then he let out a tired, slightly hysterical chuckle and leaned back in his chair.

"Me? Not crazy?" He gestured vaguely at the pile of clips, the funding bill notes, the stack of angry letters from Prunella's supporters, and the half-eaten bowl of Nora's victory pancakes. "I stayed in office, didn't I?"

Pyrrha opened her mouth to protest, but Yang beat her to it, slinging an arm around Jaune's shoulders and pulling him into a side hug that pressed entirely too much of her against him.

"Exactly! You're just crazy enough to fit in, Ladykiller. That's why we love you."

Ruby bounced over and hugged his other side. "Yeah! And we're gonna crush that funding debate! Beacon's getting all the coffee and robots it wants!"

Weiss adjusted her ponytail with a sniff. "Provided you don't let Rufus talk you into letting sick children test-fire artillery."

Blake, still faintly traumatized, muttered, "Or Fuschia offering campaign 'endorsements'…"

Nora pumped her fist. "If anyone tries anything weird, I'll hit them with the squirt gun strategy!"

Ren simply sighed, yet the wry smile on his face was filled with fondness.

Jaune looked around at the absolute circus that was his support staff slash harem-in-denial slash security detail, then back at the screen where Lisa Lavender was still frozen mid-skeptical-eyebrow-raise.

He smiled, small and exhausted and strangely fond.

"…Yeah. Politicians in Vale are all crazy."

He paused, then added with a shrug, "Guess that makes me one of them now."

Pyrrha leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to the top of his head. "A very handsome, very tired one."

 

[AJ_Talon]

The training hall was empty except for the echo of Ruby's boots on the mats.

She had been waiting twenty minutes. Crescent Rose sat assembled beside her, polished and ready. Yang had promised—promised—they would run partner drills after dinner. Just like they used to back in Patch. Just like they had every night during the first weeks at Beacon.

Yang had not shown.

Again.

When the doors finally banged open, Yang strode in wearing her usual after-hours grin, hair still damp from a shower, a protein bar half-eaten in one hand.

"Hey, Rubes. Sorry I'm late. Got caught up with—"

Ruby didn't look up. "You said seven. It's seven-fifty-three."

Yang's grin faltered. "Okay, yeah. I know. I just needed—"

"You needed time to yourself." Ruby's voice was small and tight. "That's what you said last time. And the time before that. And the time before that."

Yang tossed the wrapper into a bin harder than necessary. "It's fifty minutes, Ruby! I've been training all day. Combat class, extra sparring with VB, helping Weiss with Dust theory because she asked. I'm allowed to breathe, Ruby!"

"I waited." Ruby finally stood. Her silver eyes were shining. "I always wait. Because you're my sister and you said you would."

Yang's temper, already frayed from a long day, snapped.

"I've taken care of you all this time," she said, louder than she meant to. "I packed your bags. I made sure you ate. I stayed up when you had nightmares about Mom. I deserve some time to myself! I don't have to hold your hand all the time, damnit! I shouldn't! You're a Huntress-in-training now, deal with it and stop-stop dragging me down!"

The words hung in the air like a live grenade. Yang's eyes widened, as though the words finally registered.

Ruby's face crumpled.

"I didn't ask to be admitted two years early!" The shout tore out of her. "I didn't ask Dad to send me here! I didn't ask to skip Signal! It's not my fault I'm here! It's not my fault you had to keep looking after me!"

Yang's mouth opened, then closed. The color drained from her face.

"Ruby, that's not—!"

"You wish I wasn't here." Ruby's voice broke completely. Tears spilled over. "You wish I was still back in Patch so you could just… be Yang. Without the little sister you have to babysit."

"That's not what I said—!"

"It's what you thought!"

Ruby snatched Crescent Rose and bolted.

The door slammed hard enough to rattle the weapon racks.

Yang stood alone in the sudden silence, fists clenched, heart pounding with the sick realization that she had just said the one thing she could never take back.

---

Jaune found her first.

He had been heading back from the kitchen with leftovers when he heard the shouting. By the time he reached the hall, Ruby was already gone and Yang was sitting on the mats with her head in her hands.

He sat down beside her without asking. Years of seven sisters had taught him the value of just being there.

It took her some time, but she finally broke the silence-Barely.

"I messed up," Yang whispered.

"Yeah," Jaune said quietly. "You did."

She let out a wet, humorless laugh. "Thanks for sugarcoating it."

"You don't need sugarcoating. You need to go after her." He nudged her shoulder. "I've said worse to my sisters. Stuff I didn't mean when I was tired and frustrated."

Yang wiped her face with the heel of her hand. "She thinks I don't want her here."

"Do you?"

"Of course I want her here." Yang's voice cracked. "She's my baby sister. I just… I've been her mom for so long I..." She lowered her head. "Maybe... Maybe I forgot I was her sister."

Jaune stood and offered her a hand. "Then go be her sister."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that," Jaune said gently. "She loves you. She just wants to be with you. It's not that complicated."

Yang looked at the walls of the gym.

"Then why does it feel so complicated?" She muttered.

Jaune shrugged.

"Maybe it is... But you can solve that stuff later. Right now, you just need to resolve this. And you can resolve it."

Yang sniffled, and tried to hide that she was wiping her eyes. He handed her a handkerchief anyway. She scowled.

"You always carry one of those?"

"Comes in handy more often than not," he said with a shrug. He then offered her his hand. "You ready to find her?"

Yang paused, then took his hand. He pulled her up.

---

Pyrrha found Ruby on the roof.

The youngest Huntress-in-training was curled against a ventilation unit, hood up, Crescent Rose clutched to her chest like a stuffed animal. Her shoulders shook with quiet, hiccupping sobs.

Pyrrha sat down a respectful distance away, red hair catching the moonlight.

"She didn't mean it," Pyrrha said gently.

Ruby sniffed. "She said it."

"People say things they don't mean when they're scared and tired and trying to protect someone they love." Pyrrha's voice was calm, patient. "Yang has spent her entire life being the strong one for you. Sometimes the strong one forgets that the person they're protecting is allowed to be strong too."

Ruby peeked out from under her hood. "I just wanted to train with her. Like we used to."

"I know." Pyrrha smiled softly. "And she wanted that too. She just also wanted one evening where she didn't have to be the big sister who has everything under control. Both of those things can be true at the same time."

Ruby's lip trembled. "I hate fighting with her."

"I know that too."

Footsteps sounded on the roof access stairs.

Yang appeared, looking smaller than Ruby had ever seen her. No grin. No fire. Just her sister, pale and apologetic.

"Ruby…"

Ruby didn't look at her.

Yang crossed the roof and dropped to her knees in front of her little sister.

"I'm sorry." The words came out raw. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it. I never wished you weren't here. I just… I got tired and I took it out on the person who least deserved it. That's on me. That's all on me."

Ruby's voice was tiny. "You sounded like you meant it."

"I know." Yang's eyes were wet. "And I'll spend as long as it takes making sure you never hear that from me again. You're not a burden. You're the best thing that ever happened to me. Even when you sneak cookies and leave rose petals everywhere and wake me up at 3 a.m. because you had a new idea for Crescent Rose."

A small, watery laugh escaped Ruby.

Yang opened her arms.

Ruby launched into them.

They stayed like that for a long time—Yang rocking her little sister the way she used to after nightmares, Ruby's face buried in her shoulder.

From the stairwell, Jaune and Pyrrha watched in silence.

Jaune whispered, "Told you they'd figure it out."

Pyrrha smiled. "They always do. They just needed a little help remembering how."

When the sisters finally pulled apart, Yang wiped Ruby's cheeks with her thumbs.

"Tomorrow," she said. "Seven o'clock. Partner drills. I won't be late."

Ruby nodded, still sniffling. "You'd better not. I'll tell Dad."

Yang snorted. "Low blow, kiddo."

Ruby managed a real smile. "I learned from the best."

 

[GraveyardShift]

Put me down!

"Look all I'm saying is Weiss is that you REALLY should get Myrtenaster checked for lubricant maintenance."

"No Ruby, I'm not letting you take apart my weapon."

"PLEASE??! PLEASE WEISS I'M BEGGING YOU!"

Yang watched with mild interest as Ruby tried once again to let Weiss 'examine' her weapon. Which to Ruby meant complete disassembly of all parts and studying every tiny mechanism which could take weeks before Weiss would have to take the entire thing in a bag to Forge and have it professionally reassembled because Ruby wouldn't pay attention the first time too caught up in the excitement of a new weapon.

As much as a weapons fanatic and mechanical genius her little sister was, she did have a tendency to get overexcited to forget small details. Yang had to go five months with only one gauntlet the first time she made the mistake of letting Ruby 'examine' Ember Celica.

The weaponsmith when Ruby finally admitted defeat was livid and forced Ruby through two weeks of detail-oriented tasks when Tai finally took it back for assembly. Old Brunz was NOT amused even if he was fascinated how a 9-year-old had managed a clean disassembly without resorting to 'percussive deconstruction'.

"It's just a little weapon's maintenance... I promise I'll be careful!"

"Myrtenaster is a one-of-a-kind Mastercraft assembled by the best professionals in Atlas. You're not even Basic Armorer certified!" Weiss snapped at Ruby.

Yang watched hoping for something more entertaining, but this was old hat to her at this point and she was quickly becoming bored.

But then, as if answering her prayers, one Jaune Arc marched up behind Ruby. Too invested in convincing Weiss she'd be 'extra careful' and return it the same day, Ruby was not prepared when the blond noodle suddenly seized her sister under the arms.

"Eh?"

And then hoisted her from the bench of the lunch table carrying her off.

Yang perked up now curious. She wasn't the only one as Blake peered over her book having tuned out the argument. Weiss also unused to be interrupted in this manner watched confused.

Ruby looked over her shoulder and up. "Jaune? What are you doing?"

"Settling a debate."

"Okay...? Can you put me down?"

"No."

Jaune marched right up to Cardin before lifting Ruby up and thrusting her into his face. Both teens looked at each other bewildered.

"...Hi?" Ruby said nose to nose with the bigger boy.

"Look!" Jaune said referring to Ruby. "Is she not only a girl but also a CUTE girl?"

Ruby's face went red. "Heh?" she squeaked.

Cardin shifted sideways away from Ruby while also gently trying to push her out of his personal space. "...be cuter with bunny ears..."

"What'd you say?"

"I said yeah Arc, I can agree she's cute."

"And as men, do we or do we not like cute girls?" Jaune shoved Ruby back in Cardin's face who squirmed uncomfortably with what was going on.

"Jaune can you put me down?"

"Not until he admits it's manly to like cute girls!"

Steam started coming out of Ruby's ears as she stuttered.

"Alright Arc! It's manly to like cute girls! Now stop shoving Rose in my face!"

Jaune pulled Ruby to his chest making her squeak loudly and turn further her namesake. "So you agree then that it is manly to like cute things!"

"Put me doooooown!" Ruby wailed wanting desperately to flee the situation.

"No."

"Alright Arc you win! It's manly to like cute things! But only if they're cute girls! Jeeze!" Cardin grumbled. "Now piss off and get a room if you're going to make out with Rose like that."

Jaune snorted vindicated and walked off still carrying Ruby.

"Put me doooooown!" Ruby wailed again.

"No."

Jaune sat down in Ruby's former seat with her in his lap still wrapped up in his arms.

"Okay Vomit Boy what the hell was that?" Yang asked unsure if she should be teasing them or punching out Jaune.

"Cardin tried to emasculate me by saying it was unmanly to like cute things. I needed something cute to prove to him he was full of bullshit."

The girls aside from Ruby made a collective noise of understanding and nodded in agreement.

"Why not Weiss?" Yang asked. Weiss shot both her and Jaune a glare that could have frozen the sun.

"Because Weiss is the definitive definition of classical beauty and grace more then she is cute thought that is not to say she ISN'T cute, but her beauty rates higher than her cuteness attribute and wouldn't have satisfied the debate."

The glare instantly melted. Weiss turned away huffing trying to hide her pinking cheeks.

"Ruby on the other hand is universally considered Beacon's cutest freshman."

Yang nodded. "I find no error in this assessment. You have chosen wisely."

"Can you put me down now?"

"No."

The bell rang signaling the end of lunch and everyone stood up to move to their next class. Jaune picked up Ruby carrying her off.

"Put me doooooown!"

"No."

"Put me doooooooooooown!"

---

Had to do it. This thing was infesting my head and needed to get it out. Lancaster if you squint, I suppose. Jaune finds Ruby cute and refuses to put her down.

 

[GraveyardShift]

GraveyardShift's Award Winning "Why Bumblebee was not Planned."

I figured that. Things seemed to be set up that way. Especially since I have a suspicion that Blake's original pre-volume 4 backstory was street rat that grew up in the white fang and not Princess.

I Know that he was kinda set up as a pair for her, or at least a possibility. I Just have a hard time figuring out how it would work.

Click to shrink...

Like I am ready to accept that Blake and Yang were planned from start, but then why do Blake and Sun get an entire volume together, fighting side by side and Blake overcoming her past with her abusive ex.

Sun even met her parents.

Click to shrink...

I haven't forgotten about you two. Simply had to sleep on it.

I am awake now.

Alright the first thing I have to introduce is the smoking gun that kills Bumblebee dead before it even gets to the starting line. The one that supporters of that ship always sidestep and pretend does NOT exist because if they DID acknowledge it, it shatters EVERYTHING they have 'carefully' built up.

All students are in the Great Hall. Many are already in sleeping wear and the sleeping bags are laid out.

Ruby is scene lying across one and writing a letter to her friends at Signal.

Yang: *offscreen* "It's like a BIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-" *flops onscreen onto her sleeping bag next to Ruby* "-IIIIIIIIG Slumber Party!"

Ruby: I don't think dad would approve of all the boys.

Yang: I KNOW I DO!

*Camera pans over various teenage boys doing typical teenage boy flaunting. Nearly all of whom are shirtless. The entire line up is nothing but males.*

Yang: *offscreen Voice Over* rrRRRRRrr!

Click to shrink...

As early as THIS in Volume 1 Episode 3, Yang is confirmed to be Heterosexual and attracted to males. (Potentially confirms Ruby as well since that's the first thing out of her mouth on an automatic thought given she's occupied with writing the letter but not enough evidence to cement it like Yang.)

To kill the "Bisexual until otherwise" argument, Yang has never once until Volume 7 with Blake, EVER shown this kind of attraction to ANY OTHER GIRL.

Even if you take Ruby out of the lineup, there's still Weiss, Pyrrha, and Nora to 'flirt' with aside from Blake. You can even toss Penny in there since Yang doesn't know she's a Robot until Pyrrha 'kills' her during their match. She just sees Penny as a 'weird girl'.

That is in-universe TWO YEARS to go without demonstrating any kind of attraction to girls. And by the time she does, CRWBY has firmly entered their "only the current volume is canon" phase. This means they change up the rules and ignore all previous evidence as long as it lets them do their dream scene in the current volume. Thus disregarding continuity. Argument for bi or any other kind of sexuality other than Hetero invalidated.

Now that I've killed Bumblebee, let's look at Black Sun.

Blake's archetype, other then the "Idiot Activist" is the 'Kuudere' or "Cool-dere" type. Cool and aloof (but not Ice Queen level like the Tsundere) on the outside. Sweet goober on the inside. Hence introvert.

So that means that Blake tends to keep her personal thoughts to herself. Much like Ren, she doesn't speak unless she feels it necessary.

So when Blake is outted as a Fanus and as a former White Fang operator, she runs away. Sun catches her in the courtyard by the statue when we get the ear reveal.

The two go into Vale and Blake, for the first time, practically spills her heart and secrets out TO SUN. The walls she's built up come down around SUN.

Not YANG. SUN.

If an Introvert does this to you, they've basically already declared themselves married to you.

I mean the entire setting is basically a first date for them.
Just the two of them in a cozy cafe? Check.
Both of them talking about themselves? Check.
Learning things about each other and clarifying who they are? DOUBLE Check.

This is what an actual date used to look like. Two people getting to know each other to find out if they still like each other as opposed to whatever 'idea' they've built up in their heads about the other person as a romantic partner.

And so far, neither of them seem disgusted or opposed to what they are presented with.

They have a SECOND date to the Beacon Dance and Blake is shown laughing having a genuinely good time dancing with Sun. The walls are coming down around him. She's comfortable around him and doesn't flake out the same way she does with team RWBY.

Then you get to Kuo Kuana and they have a THRID date where Blake talks about how she categorizes people before she brings him home to meet the parents.

Blake does NONE of this with Yang. There are no dates. There are no deep discussions baring themselves to each other to break down the 'romantic ideal' of each other. Hell for the entirety of Volume 4-5, Yang genuinely seems to HATE Blake for pulling a Raven and would probably attack and kill her onsight for that. Trust once broken like that is not easily regained.

And Blake broke Yang's trust three times over in the first three volumes.

Sun however, kinda has Blake somewhat figured out and her issues don't bother him as much as they do Yang. He's broken down far more of her walls then Yang has ever scratched and he doesn't hate what he sees. Yang however is practically spitting venom when Weiss tries to bring Blake up in Volume 5.

 

[GraveyardShift]

Hmm... Let's see what I can come up with.

On Mining Dust.

Dust: AKA Nature's Fury
In the second era of humanity, the crystalline substance of 'Dust' was discovered and its powers harnessed by man and faunus to drive back the Creature of Darkness, the Grimm. It has found its way into a variety of other uses since. But given its volatility, extraction and refinement has always been a dangerous endeavor and even accidents can cost lives and blood in the modern day with modern techniques.

Surveying:
Surveying Dust is often a simple endeavor. Yet the details and methods are anything but. Dust is typically found in volcanic or areas affected by extreme heat and pressure. This can often result in a natural 'Dust Explosion' which was the first method of locating a Dust Vein. By locating a natural 'open pit' caused by a dust explosion when the heat and pressure caused a chain reaction in Dust that had achieved 'critical mass'. It was then simply harvested from the open pit.

Later methods of surveying included 'Aura Dowsing' by individuals with aura unlocked. As dust reacts to aura, finding locations where large trace amounts of Dust would activate in the presence of Aura was usually an indicator of a nearby dust vein. Some individuals who later developed semblances around detecting dust would find themselves in high demand for mining survey teams.

Modern surveying is accomplished with use of surface sample scanners that can scan the ground for large amounts of trace dust particulate and ground penetrating radar that reflect back a certain low wave frequency that dust resonates with WITHOUT triggering a chain reaction.

Mining and Extraction:
Arguably the most hazardous part, early dust mining was usually done from 'open pit' mines after a natural Dust explosion and the Crystals were mostly gathered from loose debris. Trying to harvest the larger crystals was considered a fool's endeavor as striking the crystals to cut them from the earth would cause a reaction. Eventually the ancient miners discovered the method of 'earth softening'. By softening the surrounding rock and earth with water, they could more easily dig around the crystal before pulling it free wholesale from the earth.

These larger crystals formed the basis of rudimentary settlement defenses. Complex rituals and ancient focusing techniques that looked more akin to magic rituals resulted in rudimentary border defenses that would protect the settlements from the Grimm. Thus cementing the nickname 'Nature's Fury'. Mankind's future with a safe haven was secured.

As refinement techniques advanced along with an understanding of Dust, such as vibration tolerances, some of these methods were able to be repurposed in the extraction process. Low RPM grinders and later drills, who's steady low vibrations allowed for mining and cutting more easily without setting off the Dust, would permit true 'Subterranean' mines. Allowing mankind to delve deeper and extract larger quantities of Dust. Though open pit mines can still be found throughout Remnant.

Modern mining and extraction techniques revolve around cooling the Dust to a lower temperature which slows down the reaction and reducing the volatility allowing it to be cut with significantly reduced risk. Most types of Dust react to a negative electrical charge by entering a form of stasis rendering it temporarily inert for up to 30 minutes. Electrical Dust is the exception to this method which causes a short circuit in the crystal. While this doesn't cause a violent reaction, it does discharge the crystal rendering it permanently inert and useless for anything other than decorative purposes.

Modern extraction methods still use 'Earth Softening' techniques using high water pressure to 'cut' around crystals for later refinement and use of certain 'rock softening' chemicals and acids. Environmentalists often decry the use of such chemicals citing concerns around chemical pollution of the environment and the hazards surrounding it including skin contact with miners often wading in the 'toxic sludge' left behind.

The penultimate rule of Mining Dust is: "Haste Makes Waste." Dust mining is a slow ponderous affair and multiple examples of people trying to rush the process often result in some of the worst tragedies imaginable. Some of which can render sites 'unusable' for decades. Among Dust Miners "Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast". Woe be unto the Overseer who demands speed over results. It NEVER ends well though they keep trying for some stupid reason.

Aura users are generally treated with distain and superstition among miners. It is known that aura can activate Dust causing a reaction. While science and studies have replaced superstition and folklore, safety precautions generally recommend against employing individuals with active Aura in the extraction process.

Refining:
Considered the OTHER most dangerous aspect of Dust Mining. Crystals were used as focusing devices as Aura would be channeled through them to trigger the elemental effects within resulting in 'Nature's Fury'.

Early refining techniques often involved simply looking at crystals to determine purity by amount of 'flaws' or micro cracks inside the crystal. Heavily flawed ones were discarded.

As understanding of vibration tolerances and imperfections of Dust was gained, crystals were later cut to allow better focusing creating more devastating effects. 'Flawless' Dust crystals were in high demand as they could permit a better focus and allow more Aura to be channeled resulting in more potent attacks.

Later refining techniques would see rock residue gently chipped and later ground away by low RPM grinders similar to sharpening a sword. With the advent of 'Earth Softening' would see the use of 'Crystal Baths' to help remove rock and dirt impurities. Softening them up for later chiseling or grinding for a cleaner removal.

Modern refining techniques often use specific 'acid baths' to melt away rock and other impurities. The composition of the acid used varies from type to type. The temperature is often lowered to almost freezing to help with the volatility during the refinement process.

Eventually flawed crystals were found to have a use. Careful grinding of the imperfect crystals or shavings from cut crystals resulted in true 'Dust' from which the namesake comes from. This powder is considered the purest form of Dust and it's most volatile. Used as gunpowder, woven into clothing for protection or 'casting' channeling, directly used as fuel, or used in 'recrystalizing' to create pure flawless dust crystals, this is considered the penultimate form of Dust.

Crystals with too many microfracture flaws are often considered unusable until the method known as 'coring' was developed.

Coring involved cutting one end of the crystal off as close as possible to the flawed 'core' in a process called 'uncapping'. Then the jagged fragments are scooped out and can be safely ground up. As can be the now 'stable' crystal since there is no free space to cause a reaction with jagged fragments catching against each other in high vibration.

Modern Coring involved 'uncapping' the crystal at both ends before using high pressure water jets to 'cut' out the flawed core. Without the rest of the mass to result in a 'Critical Mass' reaction, the flawed 'core' can then be safely crushed in an industrial hydraulic press to remove the free space before being fed to a traditional grinder. The 'flawless' parts of the crystal can then be cut into cut crystals or ground up into Dust.

Safety Regulations STRICTLY FORBID individuals with active aura from being employed as part of the refining process. Individual exceptions may be made with those who have specific semblances.

Synthetic Dust and Dust Farming:
As noted with recrystallizing powdered Dust back into 'Flawless' crystals, it was theorized that one could create 'synthetic' Dust by seeding a natural Dust crystal with growth solution and 'growing' Dust Crystals.

This has resulted in some limited success. While it was penultimately successful, the Dust didn't grow as fast as hoped and the yield was low. Additionally, the synthetic Dust was less potent than natural Dust. Trying to seed a synthetic crystal resulted in increasingly diminishing potency to the point of creating a useless colored crystal within 5 'generations'.

People still try hoping that there would be a future in 'Dust Farming' and there are Dust farms in operation today both as an industry and as a hobby.

Regulations require that synthetic Dust be labeled as such. This does not stop unscrupulous individuals and criminal enterprises from creating 'bootleg' Dust selling fraudulent 'natural' dust with the content being easily accessible and significantly less volatile synthetic blends.

The SDC boasts the largest 'Premium Natural' Dust on the market with the ARC in second. Both do maintain 'Synthetic Dust farms' in the hopes that one day a breakthrough will allow them to capitalize on a reliable Synthetic blends market.

Spoiler: The Truth of Dust

The Truth of Dust:

Dust is Magic.

When the Dark Brother reclaimed magic from the world to punish humanity for misuse of his gift, he could not take ALL magic or it would undo Remnant not just the planet but the entire reality.

Additionally when the Light Brother prophesized the return of humanity to Ozma, humanity was originally a creation of both brothers working cooperatively to create it.

And so it came to pass that the Second Era human arose from dust.

But Magic has a will of its own and operates by its own rules.

"Magic begots Magic." It attracts itself. What little magic there was left in Remnant after the Moonclysim started slowly contracting and congealing.

The result, was Dust.

But it didn't stop there.

Dust, left to its own devices long enough will start to mutate and change the geology around it to match it and slowly expand.

As pockets of congealed magic become the first Dust deposits, they expand and eventually result in Dust Explosions. The Dust is then carried on the wind and settles in a new location to restart the cycle anew. This ensures that Dust can be found globally despite humanity's insistence on being more common in certain biomes.

Theory of Dust: Salem vs Argenta

Salem has been watching the usage of Dust carefully as it remains one of the biggest obstacles to her goals. She has theorized that there is a finite amount of Dust on the planet and when the last of it is expended, Remnant will crumble and fall.

Argenta believes otherwise. Having observed and experimented with the cycle of Dust (unlike her mother who is more interest in warring with Ozma) she believes in the conservation of energy. When Dust is expended, that magical energy is released into the surrounding field and will eventually contract and congeal into a new Dust deposit. Ergo Dust is not finite but may run dry for an eon or two.

Argenta theorizes that if enough Dust permeates Remnant, True Magic may return independent of the Brother Gods and Second Era Humanity may see the return of practitioners similar to herself and Salem. However humanity's need and greed for Dust continues to frustrate her efforts to try and bring about this return of Magic into a battle she is losing.

The Issue of Synthetic Dust:

The Truth is that the theories on how to create Dust 'from nothing' are all correct as they unknowingly replicate the natural propagation of Dust. In truth the growth solutions actually do help the crystals grow faster than natural.

The issue being humanity's impatience. Natural growth occurs over hundreds to thousands of years to reach sizes found in natural veins. It is possible for synthetic crystals to reach that size at greater speed but current methods and compounds would only shorten this to tens of years.

The other issue is the potency. Because of the current low magic energy fields, it takes hundreds of years for magic to saturate the crystals to the level that humanity is familiar with in natural formations. While seeding a natural crystal to grow synthetically allows for the natural crystal to attract the ambient magic, 'generational' attempts to seed synthetic ones do not result in similar attraction eventually resulting in inert crystals that do not draw in the ambient magic.

Argenta, in line with her current theory on Dust, believes that if magic returns to First Era levels via the propagation of Dust, attempts to create synthetic 'Dust Farms' will be more successful.

Dust and Space:

Because Dust is Crystalized Magic from an extremely weakened magical energy field, it rapidly loses its potency the further it gets from an already weak magical field that can barely sustain itself. This field is what permits the effect of Dust when activated. Therefore if Dust leaves this field, it loses potency and becomes inert.

Thus necessitating alternate technologies for space travel and exploration.

It is entirely possible though that Dust could be used as a power source for a magical means to create warp gates/portals to other worlds/dimensions/realities on the surface to worlds with a similar magic level should the magical levels return to First Era level.

There.

 

[GraveyardShift]

Religious Affiliations
​

Given how we have described the most prominent and most important religion on Remnant, it is logical for us to ground the information onto the characters, but not just what are their views, but how intense they are.

The following scale measures the practical role of religion in a person's life - not just belief, but behavior, identity, and the weight of faith in daily decisions. It is NOT a measure of fanaticism or extremism.

A 5 does not mean that a person is a "zealot" or "bigot" - it means that faith is a central, organizing principle of the person's life. Such people are rare, but they exist in every society, and they are not dangerous simply because they believe deeply.

On the other side of the spectrum, a 1 does not mean "immoral" or "lost" - it means that the person is just indifferent to religion for one reason or the other - these are agnostics and non-militant atheists

An active rejection of religion instead of indifference is a conscious, quite often an ideological stance. This may include nihilism, militant atheism, or active hostility toward religious institutions - which all falls under the 0.

Most people in the modern world fall into the 2-3 range - from "slightly less religious" to "slightly more religious than average."

It should also be noted that being an atheist/agnostic/nihilist doesn't mean that the person is ignorant about religion.

Score	Label	Description
0	Nihilist / Militant Atheist	Actively rejects religion. May be ideologically opposed to faith, or simply considers it worthless. Nihilists fall here - those who believe life has no meaning, purpose, or value. This is not "casual non-belief", but a position.
1	Secular / Non-religious	Religion plays no meaningful role in daily life. May identify culturally with a tradition (e.g., "I was raised X") but does not practice, pray, or attend services. May be agnostic or atheist, but not militantly so.
2	Weakly / Nominally religious	Believes in some sort of deity (or many) or a higher power, may identify with a denomination, but practices rarely - holidays, occasional services, weddings and funerals. Faith is not a significant factor in decision-making.
3	Moderately religious	Practices regularly (weekly services, daily prayer). Faith informs personal morality and some life decisions. Engages with religious community life. Neither devout nor casual - the "average" religious person in a society where religion is normal.
4	Devoted	Faith is a central part of life. Regular prayer, study of scripture, active participation in religious community. Faith shapes major life decisions (career, marriage, child-rearing).
5	Very Devoted	Faith is the organizing principle of life. Daily prayer, regular fasting, deep study of theology. May have taken vows or dedicated their life to religious service. Not "fanatical", but simply deeply, seriously committed.

The List (0-5)
​

Team RWBY

1. Ruby Rose - Tablebreaker Faith (North Valean Church) - 3/5.
2. Weiss Schnee - Tablebreaker Faith (White Spring Reformism) - 2/5.
3. Blake Belladonna - Animal God Faith - 3/5.
4. Yang Xiao-Long - Tablebreaker Faith (North Valean Church) - 2/5.

Team JNPR

• Jaune Arc - Tablebreaker Faith (Aslanism) - 4/5.
• Pyrrha Nikos - Hellenic Paganism - 4/5.
• Nora Valkyrie - Northern Allomenian Paganism - 3/5.
• Lie Ren - Pathism - 5/5. Note - Was brought up in a Pathist monastery.

Team CRDL

• Cardin Winchester - Tablebreaker Faith (North Valean Church) - 2/5.
• Russel Thrush - Agnostic (Culturally Albion Church) - 2/5.
• Dove Bronzewing - Agnostic (Culturally North Valean Church) - 2/5.
• Sky Lark - Agnostic (Culturally North Valean Church) - 2/5.

Team STRQ

• Summer Rose - Tablebreaker Faith (Albion Church) - 4/5.
• Taiyang Xiao-Long - Tablebreaker Faith (North Valean Church) - 3/5.
• Qrow Branwen - Tablebreaker Faith (North Valean Church) - 2.5. Note - Has converted to Breaker Faith in early 20s.
• Raven Branwen - Nihilist - 0/5.

Team CFVY

• Coco Adel - Agnostic (Culturally Aslanism) - 2/5.
• Fox Alistair - Horomasizm - 3/5.
• Velvet Scarlatina - Tablebreaker Faith (North Valean Church) - 3/5.
• Yatsuhashi Daichi - Pathism - 4/5.

Team SSSN

• Sun Wukong - Pathism - 3/5. Note - Was brought up in a Pathist monastery.
• Scarlet David - Agnostic (culturally Aslanism) - 1/5.
• Sage Ayana - Tablebreaker Faith (Paravelianism) - 4/5. Note - a sworn Paladin Knight of the Order of St. Peter.
• Neptune Vasilias - Agnostic (Culturally Hellenic Reformist Church) - 2/5.

Team ABRN

• Arslan Altan - Tablebreaker Faith (Paravelianism) - 5/5. Note - sworn Stonebreaker-Dame of the Order of St. Peter.
• Bolin Hori - Pathism - 3/5.
• Reese Chloris - Agnostic (culturally Hellenic Reformist Church) - 1/5.
• Nadir Shiko - Horomasizm - 2/5.

Team FNKI

• Flynt Coal - Tablebreaker Faith (White Spring Reformism) - 2/5.
• Neon Katt - Tablebreaker Faith (White Spring Reformism) - 3/5.
• Kobalt Lapis - Tablebreaker Faith (Northern Orthodox Church) - 3/5.
• Ivori Anagix - Tablebreaker Faith (Paravelianism) - 3/5.

Team EPIC

• Emma Seraph - Agnostic (Culturally White Spring Reformism) - 1/5.
• Indie Regina - Tablebreaker Faith (White Spring Reformism) - 3/5.
• Penny Polendina - Agnostic - 1/5.
• Ciel Soleil - Agnostic (culturally Aslanism) - 2/5.

Team WAFL

• Winter Schnee - Agnostic (Culturally White Spring Reformism) - 1/5.
• Andres Chernovskiy - Agnostic (Culturally Northern Orthodox) - 1/5.
• Wilhelm Falke - Tablebreaker Faith (White Spring Reformism) - 4/5.
• Liesel Vogel - Tablebreaker Faith (Northern Orthodox Church) - 4/5.

Atlesian National Armed Forces Supreme High Command

• James Ironwood - Agnostic (culturally Tablebreaker) - 2/5.
• Agrippa Thorn - Agnostic (culturally Northern Orthodox) - 1/5.
• Jinjur Hardy - Agnostic (culturally Tablebreaker) - 1/5.
• Ivan Zemlyanikin - Tablebreaker Faith (Northern Orthodox) - 3/5.
• Irving Whisks - Tablebreaker Faith (White Spring Reformism) - 3/5.
• Sergey Khromov - Agnostic (culturally Northern Orthodox) - 2/5.
• Alexios Perdicus - Tablebreaker Faith (Northern Orthodox) - 3/5.

Ace Ops

• Clover Ebi - Agnostic (culturally White Spring Reformism) - 1/5.
• Vine Zeki - Tablebreaker Faith (Northern Orthodox Church) - 4/5. Note - sworn Stonebreaker-Knight of the Order of St. Edmund.
• Elm Ederne - Tablebreaker Faith (Northern Orthodox Church) - 4/5.
• Marianna Tortuga - Tablebreaker Faith (Northern Orthodox Church) - 4/5.
• Harriet Bree - Atheist (culturally Aslanism) - 1/5.
• Marrow Amin - Horomasizm - 3/5.

Arc Family

• Isabel Arc - Tablebreaker Faith (Aslanism) - 3/5.
• Nicholas Arc - Tablebreaker Faith (Aslanism) - 5/5. Note - sworn Paladin-Knight Major of the Order of St. Edmund.

Sarkara Family

• Arjun Sarkara - Dharmism - 4/5.
• Saia Sarkara - Dharmism - 4/5.
• Maia Sarkara/May Zedong - Dharmism - 3/5.

Beacon Academy Staff

• Glynda Goodwitch - Agnostic (Culturally Albion Church) - 1/5.
• Thumbelina Peach - Agnostic (Culturally North Valean Church) - 1/5.
• Bartholomew Oobleck - Agnostic (Culturally Aslanism) - 2/5.
• Harold Mulberry - Tablebreaker Faith (North Valean Church) - 3/5.
• Mombi Lang - Tablebreaker Faith (North Valean Church) - 4/5.
• Peter Port - Tablebreaker Faith (North Valean Church) - 3/5.

Salem's Circle & Associates

• Cinder Fall - Nihilist - 0/5.
• Arthur Watts - Atheist (Culturally Albion Church) - 1/5.
• Hazel Rainart - Atheist (Culturally North Valean Church) - 1/5.
• Tyrian Callows - Grimm Cultist - 5/5.
• Mercury Black - Atheist (Culturally Hellenic Aslanist Church) - 1/5.
• Emerald Sustrai - Atheist (Culturally Aslanism) - 1/5.
• Roman Torchwick - Agnostic (Culturally Aslanism) - 2/5.
• Neopolitan - Unknown / Atheist (Culturally Aslanism) - 1/5.
• Victor Merlot - Atheist - 1/5 (Culturally Albion Church).

White Fang & Associates

• Ghira Belladonna - Animal God Faith - 4/5.
• Kali Belladonna - Animal God Faith - 4/5.
• Sienna Khan - Agnostic (Culturally mixed - Breaker Faith, Dharmism and lately Animal God Faith) - 1/5.
• Adam Taurus - Animal God Faith - 5/5.
• Ilia Amitola - Animal God Faith - 3/5.
• Corsac Albain - Animal God Faith - 3/5.
• Fennec Albain - Animal God Faith - 3/5.
• Yuma - Animal God Faith - 2/5.
• Trifa - Animal God Faith - 2/5.

Other Notable Characters

• Fafnir Volsung - Clan Ancestor Faith (Dragon Faunus traditions) - 4/5.
• Nicholas Schnee - Tablebreaker Faith (White Spring Reformism) - 3/5.
• Jacques Schnee - Nihilist - 0/5. (Though he keeps up appearances by going to White Spring Reformist Church)
• Willow Schnee - Atheist (Culturally White Spring Reformism) - 1/5.
• Whitley Schnee - Agnostic (culturally White Spring Reformism) - 1/5.
• Klein Sieben - Tablebreaker Faith (Albion Church) - 3/5.
• Pietro Polendina - Agnostic (culturally Aslanism) - 1/5.
• Maria Calavera - Tablebreaker Faith (Aslanism) - 3/5.

This scale is descriptive and not prescriptive - it does not judge, but simply provides a framework for understanding how religion functions in a character's life - from complete rejection to total centrality. Most people are somewhere in the middle, as they are in most things. We hope that this material will help in understanding and writing the characters and the world that they live in.

This list isn't full and we are open to suggestions.

Thanks to @Colobopsis , @RedDragonEmpress , @Hahoalki , @K9Thefirst1 , @Leo 123 and many others for their contribution to the discussions on the topic.

EDIT: Original by AJT and credited users. Wanted to save this myself.

 

[GraveyardShift]

Do you think Faunus have some kind of internal colorism situation going on? Ljke cat and dog Faunus, yeah everyone accepts them beczuse they can just put a hat on or are connected to mammals ….. Tock however was kinda fucked since birth.

Click to shrink...

I'm going to make this exponentially WORSE. In fact I was going to introduce this today and you beat me to the punch. Well done! *thumbs up*

ON THE EXTINCTION OF THE ZEBRA FAUNUS:
In ancient days long past when fear and superstition ruled the minds of early beings, one particular subset of Faunus was persecuted above all others. Not just by humans, but by their own faunus brethren.

The Zebra Faunus, with black and white markings and red eyes, seemed eerily similar to the Grimm in appearance. Enough so that they began to be seen as 'Grimm Agents'. Preliminary scouts that were able to sneak in under the guise of claiming to be Faunus. Since they could speak and Grimm couldn't, it made sense to see them as such at first...

Eventually though, panic and speculation took hold and the Zebra Faunus began to be hunted. Not just run off into the wilderness. They were run down and killed. Babies born as Zebra faunus were often killed at birth.

The persecution was so excessive that it was believed that the Zebra faunus at a certain point was made extinct. While studies in Grimm anatomy advanced to the point that early beings were able to tell the difference between what was a Grimm and what was Faunus, it was too late to save the sub-species.

Oddly though, Historians and Academics are able to find instances of the rare Zebra faunus popping up throughout history before fading into obscurity. Never producing more Zebra fanus in their bloodlines. The most famous of these was Queen Melissiaphia. Wife of King Richard 'The Lion'. A ruthless administrator who quashed 14 different rebellions of the Fanus kingdom Richard had founded while King Richard was on campaign. The two were most known for their saucy letters with explicit content toward each other when the King was on campaign. Academics are split between the content being some kind of cypher between the two or if they were just that horny for each other. (They did have five children together and probably would have had more if the King hadn't always been on Campaign.)

THE TRUTH:
Unbeknownst to all, the Zebra Faunus did in fact go completely extinct. What historians have failed to connect is that past a certain point, all the Zebra faunus were never around at the same time and they were all women.

The truth being is that all instances of Zebra Faunus after the extinction are Argenta openly walking around with her 'natural' Grimm appearance inherited from her mother Salem. In doing so she allows for the case of mistaken identity. A deep irony that the subspecies were slaughtered for 'appearing Grimm like' and now they are represented by an actual Grimmlike being.

 

[GraveyardShift]

The thing about romances is that we always get the romance started in Beacon.
What if Jaune was ALREADY someone's boyfriend when he gets to Beacon?

Thus I present to you:

*Squeak!*


Lancaster:

"Don't think Dad would approve of all the boys." Ruby Rose, Super Awesome Huntress in Training, remarked to her big sister Yang Xiao-Long as she penned a letter to her old friends at signal.

"I know I do!" Yang said shamelessly ogling the various shirtless boys flexing and wrestling with each other to show off. "Rrrrr!" she purred.

Then one boy strutted past in a baby blue full body onesie.

Yang recoiled. "uUUUulgh!"

Ruby looked up from her letter at Yang's sudden shock. "Hmmm?" Looking around she spotted the boy in question who paused looking their way. She broke out into a wide grin and started waving at him. "Jaune! Jaune! Over here!" She bounced.

Jaune, spotting the girl also broke into a wide grin and hurried over. Ruby bouncing up to her feet and tackling him in a hug.

Yang watched from where she lay on her sleeping bag with equal parts interest and confusion. Ruby tugged him over and Jaune plopped himself down on Ruby's sleeping bag.

Then Ruby, instead of plopping down next to him, proceeded to drop right into his lap.

THAT caused Yang to raise an eyebrow. "Whoa. Moving a little fast there little sis?"

"What are you talking about Yang? This is normal." Ruby said wrapping Jaune's arms around her.

"Ruby I have never seen this person before and you are NEVER this cozy with someone who's new."

"He's not new."

"He is to me."

Jaune looked down at Ruby. "You didn't tell her?"

Ruby tapped her fingers together. "I was gonna..."

Yang's eyes narrowed. "Tell me what? ...wait..." Her eyes widened in shock as she sat up. "RUBY ROSE! YOU HAVE A BOYFRI-"

Ruby launched herself from Jaune's lap tackling Yang and covering her mouth with both hands. "SHHHH! SHHHH! Yang not so loud! Everyone will hear!" She hissed.

People in the room turned to look at the commotion. Some watching the exchange curiously.

Yang easily freed herself from Ruby. "How? When? Why didn't you say anything?" She hissed.

"I didn't say anything because I didn't want everyone to act all weird about it." Ruby hissed back before poking her fingers together again. "Last year at the comic convention is where we met. We were next to each other in the X-ray and Vav line."

"You were together that long?"

Jaune spoke up. "No we only started going out 4 months ago. We were doing stuff together long before that. We met up again at the release of Issue 357 of Owlman Forever." Ruby crawled back into his lap. "We exchanged numbers and started talking about comics and video games. Started going out monthly on new release day." Jaune extended a hand as Ruby pulled the other one around himself. "Jaune Arc. Ruby's said a lot about you."

"Oh? She talk about how kickass and awesome I was?" Yang asked shaking it.

"Naw, more about how you hog up space. Like the shower in the mornings. The couch after school."

Ruby twisted trying to cover his mouth. Yang cackled. "Oho so it's like that is it sis? Worried your big sister is going to steal away your man so you made me look bad?"

"Shut up!" Ruby hissed.

"Well good to meet you finally then Jaune. Meanwhile little Rubaby GOT SOME 'SPLAIN' TA DO. when DAD hears about this."

"Yang! No! Please!" Ruby whined. "Jaune's really nice and he treats me well!"

"As he should." Yang cracked her knuckled. "Now look Jaune I'm gonna be cool with this because Ruby coming out of her shell like this is a good thing. Don't abuse it. Oblatory big sister protection threat."

Jaune nodded. "Understood. Seven sisters."

Yang blanched. "SEVEN?"

Ruby nodded. "I met some of them once when Jaune and I were on one of our bi-weekly arcade dates."

Yang narrowed her gaze. "Is THAT what those trips into Vale were about? Oh dad is going to lose it."

"Can we at least wait until we graduate before we tell him?" Ruby pleaded.

Yang tapped a finger to her lips. "Hmmm... make it worth my while. I'm not sure you two are together."

Jaune decided to solve that problem by gently turning Ruby to face him before he leaned down to kiss her.

"*SQUEAK!*"

Yang fell backwards laughing as Ruby's face turned her namesake. "Oh this is gonna be the best year ever!"

---

Dragonslayer:

"I know I do! RrrrrRRRrr!" Yang Xiao-Long, kickass Huntress and punner extraordinaire purred as she ogled the boys on full display.

Then one boy in particular crossed her field of view strutting past.

And sudden there was an increase in brightness as Yang seemed to literally light up on spotting him. Shooting upright and waving frantically with megawatt grin and blonde locks glowing slightly. "JAUNE! JAUNE OVER HERE!"

The equally blond boy glanced over curious before face morphed into an equally bright grin as he hurried over.

Yang flopped back down patting her bag next to her which Jaune took up before she backed into him. Jaune flopping an arm around her waist.

Yang with a mischievous grin pushed it further up her ribcage.

Ruby watched all this happen in confusion before her face turned suspicious with a narrowed gaze before hissing "Yang! We're in public."

Yang just gave her sister a smug grin. "I know."

"Hey Ruby." Jaune said. "Small world."

Yang looked between the two. Returning Ruby's suspicious gaze. "And how do YOU know my boyfriend?" She questioned.

"When you abandoned me! and left me to explode!" Ruby accused puffing up.

"Yikes. Meltdown much?"

"No she literally exploded." Jaune answered. "I found her in a crater and everything."

"Oh my Aslan you actually exploded..."

"You!" Ruby gestured to the pair. "This! Does dad know?"

"I was gonna tell him next semester."

"If he lasts that long." Ruby muttered before turning to Jaune. "Sorry Jaune. She goes through a boyfriend like ever three weeks."

Jaune nodded. "I know."

"You KNOW?"

"Open communication is important in any relationship." Jaune went on. "It builds and maintains a healthy foundation to build upon."

"And unlike you, he knows a good pun when he ears it."

Jaune chuckled. Ruby groaned and tried to smother herself with her pillow.

"See? That was good one!" Yang complained.

"I've got a better one." Jaune grinned at Ruby. "How is Yang like a mouse?" Ruby peeked out from behind the pillow while Yang shot him a look that warned him he was on thin ice.

"Because she's cute and sounds like this." Jaune suddenly rolled Yang toward him and kissed her firmly on the lips.

"*SQUEAK!*"

Ruby chuckled. "Okay that was pretty good."

---

Knightshade:

"HELL-OOOOOO~!"

Blake Belladonna, former member of the White Fang and prospective Huntress-in-Training froze before cautiously peeking over her book...

...and spotted the one thing she dearly wished she was imagining.

An approaching extrovert.

Oh dear Horned God please let that be going to someone else... No No NO NO NO NO...

Blake quickly ducked her eyes back down. If she didn't make full on eye contact then they would ignore her....

...no such luck. Just keep reading Blake...

A throat cleared. Blake looked up again. Damn it...

A few awkward starts that Blake answered in short one-word sentences. Get the hint... go away...

She bristled at the 'lost cause' insult but they seemed to finally get the message.

"Oh I wouldn't say lost cause. Just shy."

Blake's ears shot upright as another person approached them. This one a far more welcome sight. YES! PROTECT ME! SHIELD ME FROM ATTENTION OH BLOND SAVIOR!

The boy came to plop himself right next to her. Blake quickly snuggled into him hiding behind her book again. Jaune started scratching the top of her head gently at the base of her ears causing her to lean into him and murr approvingly.

"Jaune Arc." He introduced himself. "This dark beauty is Blake. She's not trying to be rude. She's probably all socialed out. Sorry it took me so long love."

"Mmmm... keep petting and you are forgiven."

Jaune engaged the two girls taking attention away from Blake. She relaxed into him in gratitude. The blonde one, Yang, seemed overjoyed at the idea of having found a couple. Stupid teenage gossip no doubt. Shallow things that didn't matter in the long run to Blake.

"...What's it about?"

Blake blinked looking up at the younger one. Ruby. "Your book." Ruby asked.

The side conversation stopped as attention turned back to her.

Blake paused for a moment then shrugged. She could handle this. "It's about a man with two souls."

"I love books. My mom used to read to me every night."

Blake noticed the shift in mood instantly. Something she was good at. Something wistful came across in both girls. Jaune nudged her slightly.

Blake softened. These two had lost someone precious to them as Ruby talked about the stories of heroes and their deeds.

"Sounds nice. Sadly not everything in the world can be like a story."

"Oh I disagree." Jaune said drawing attention back to him.

Blake gave him a flat look. "And pray tell what exactly is like a story?"

"Those romance novels you have me read to you."

Yang lit up at the prospect of more juicy gossip. Blake flushed pink. She socked him in the arm. "Are not!"

Jaune tilted Blake's face toward him gently by the chin. "Challenge accepted." He pressed his lips to hers in a kiss.

"*SQUEAK!*"

Ruby covered her mouth turning red. Yang couldn't stop grinning. "I think he won that one Blake."

---

White Knight:

"Do you mind! Some of us are trying to-"
"OH NO NOT YOU AGAIN!"
"OH NO NOT YOU AGAIN!"

Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company and soon to be Top Rated Huntress of Beacon was tired, grumpy, surrounded by useless posturing plebians, and somehow expected to sleep amid all the ruckus. She stomped over to a particularly loud group to demand they silence themselves and go to sleep at a respectable hour... only to find out that said group contained the dolt who had exploded a quarter of her dust and the loud blonde bimbo who looked like she'd rather be at a rave then a respectable institute.

Weiss grit her teeth and prepared to lay into the big titted bitch when someone swept up behind her and scooped her up. Stunned she instinctively looped her arms around the individual's neck trying to figure out what just happened as she let out a dignified yelp.

"Okay Snow Angel calm down. You know it's not good for your complexion to go to bed angry."

Weiss turned pink as she came face to face with her boyfriend. Jaune Arc. "Unhand me at once!"

"No."

"Unhand me!"

"No." Jaune simply adjusted his grasp on her preventing her from wriggling free... not that she fought him at all. Being picked up and carried like this as if someone's priceless treasure was one of her guilty pleasures. "Sorry about this." Jaune apologized to the other girls. "Weiss has come a long way from Atlas and she's had a bit of a rough day. She gets grumpy when she doesn't go to bed on time."

The other blonde pivoted from irate to glee. "Oh ho ho ho! Now I see why you wanted to talk about boys Ice Queen. Wanted to show off your own?"

"Why YOU-"

"WEISS." Jaune fixed her with a firm glare causing Weiss to immediately quit struggling to strangle the harlot. She shrunk further in on herself. "Good girl." Jaune praised her causing her to turn a deeper shade of red. Jaune turned to the other girls. "Nice meeting you all! Hope to see you in initiation. I'd better go put this one to bed so she'll be a little nicer tomorrow. Won't you dear?" Jaune fixed her with a stern look.

Weiss gave a tiny nod. "Mmm..."

"Good." Jaune leaned down to kiss her as he turned to bring her back to her own bedroll.

"*SQUEAK!*"

The two left behind a snickering trio as her darling knight went to put his princess to bed.

---

Arkos:

"And naturally it only makes sense that the two most prestigious Huntress of their generation pair up to ensure compatible excellence." Weiss stood before Pyrrha Nikos who was check the last of her armor. Pyrrha gave her a smile. "That sounds... grand Weiss." She said gently. "But I kind of already have a partner in mind."

Weiss mentally broke. "H-h-have a p-p-partner?" she stuttered.

Pyrrha nodded. "But if there's room on a team I'm sure we wouldn't mind having you. For that was planning on... letting the chips fall where they may. But I have a partner in mind already." She clasped her hands together bowing slightly. "Sorry!"

Weiss inhaled regrouping and rallying. "I see. They must be exceptionally indeed if you were looking to partner with them. I wouldn't say no to more exceptional individuals of course. Who did you have in min-"

Weiss froze as the tall lanky blond boy slipped up behind Pyrrha. His hands grabbing her by the waist and hoisted her into the air.

"OH!" Pyrrha started as she was gently tossed up and spun before coming back down being caught by someone. As her emerald eyes locked onto blue ones her gentle thin smile exploded into a genuine megawatt grin. "JAUNE!" she laughed as he held her before putting her back on her feet facing him.

"Gotcha!" Jaune grinned.

Pyrrha's eyes glittered mischievously. "You certainly did."

"EXCUSE YOU!" both turned to face Weiss who laser focused on Jaune. "Who are you to manhandle Pyrrha Nikos like that!" She moved to separate them standing between them. "You obviously know who this is!"

"It's Pyr-Pyr." "Jaune!" Pyrrha blushed at the use of her pet name.

"It's PYRRHA NIKOS!" Weiss advanced on him jabbing him in the chest. "The Invincible Girl! Four-Time National Champion of the Mistral National Circuit! Favorite to win the Vytal Tournament!"

"You forgot girlfriend of Jaune Arc."

"Girlfriend of Jau-GIRLFRIEND?!?!" Weiss went ramrod straight.

Pyrrha stepped around her back into Jaune's embrace. "We... don't advertise it. You understand right? Could you keep it quiet?" She asked.

Weiss just stood there spluttering. "There is... there is no way... you and him... no way..."

Jaune sighed. "Guess I have to prove this the fun way." Without warning he swept Pyrrha off her feet dipping her and kissing her on the lips.

"*SQUEAK!*"

Weiss went mentally dark. Pyrrha just hung limply in his arms with a goofy smile and unfocused eyes. "FiVe MoRe Of ThOsE tO gO pLeAsE..." she slurred somewhat drunkenly.

---

Ugh... this was a LOT more fun in my head and also included a lot more origin stories of how Jaunex(Girl) met but was an absolute slog to actually sit down to type out which wasn't as fun...

Jaune likes to make his girlfriend squeak. It's cute. Maybe I'll come back to this.

 

[GraveyardShift]

What if someone tried to create a Grimm/Human hybrid?

Click to shrink...

A Daughter's Vengence

The woman stood there with stark white hair pulled back in a feathery ponytail that triggered something in Jaune's memory but he couldn't get his mind to cooperate at the moment to recall. Porcelain white skin with black and red markings reaching into her face along her temples, cheeks, and jaw.

Most striking however were the eyes.

Black sclera ended in glowing green irises in emerald. The same color as the moon staring down at them.

"Hello Mother." she snarled the second word. Acid dripping from the tone.

Click to shrink...

So someone makes a Grimm/Human hybrid. Top secret lab. Speed grown.

RWBY and JNPR with Oobleck investigate this lab, where the staff has mysterious disappeared, leaving one surviving scientist... And a strange little girl.

A little girl who knows nothing beyond a cell in a laboratory. Who has undergone torture and horrific experiments.

And now... She is starting to hear a voice in her head. An older, female voice...

Click to shrink...

And what, pray tell, are you...?

"Hu-Who's there?" The girl fled for the corner of her cell looking around desperately for the voice.

She had been enjoying the silence. The first in ages.

Don't bother looking with your eyes child. I am not there. At least not physically... though even that is a matter of debate considering what your signature is returning. Strange. Very strange indeed.

"Who are you?"

Of course they wouldn't see fit to tell you. *tch* I am your progenitess. Your origin and beginning.

"Yu-...you're my mommy?"

I did not give birth to you so technically no. But given the manner of how you came to be from my flesh and blood I suppose we should nail down exactly what we are to each other. You were born from the remains of my flesh. Cut free during an encounter with a rather nasty Bounty Hunter. From that waste my genetic material was isolated and replicated. Cloned if you will. And from that you were created.

"I... I don't understand."

*sigh* Forgive me. I forgot what I was dealing with. Someone cut my arm off.

The girl looked at her arm.

Yes. That. It grew back. Don't worry about how at the moment. And no that arm you're looking at is yours. Not mine. You were created from it's remains.

"S-so you're not going to cut mine off?"

Goodness no. I've already grown mine back. There's no need for me to go cutting off a perfectly good arm just to try and replace it with a child's.

"You're... you're like me then. They cut me. But it keeps growing back. It always grows back." She curled up tightly in a ball.

*sigh* Of course... bloodly sadists... though sometimes you have to brute force the science... right, so you were created from the remains of that flesh which means you are my clone.

"...I'd rather have a mommy..."

...

"Could... could you be my mommy? Could you take me away so they won't hurt me anymore?"

Well since you're my clone, that makes you ether my twin sister or my daughter and frankly I have enough trauma to deal with regarding sisters. Mine were taken from me and tortured so probably for the best I see you as just another daughter.

"So... you are my mommy?"

I suppose given the context... yes, I'd be considered your mother. Now the question is what to do with you...

"Take me away! Take me out of here! I don't want to be hurt anymore! Please make it stop!" she begged.

The voice was silent for a moment. She feared it had all been another trick. Another torture.

Then the groan reverberated in her skull. It hadn't been a trick.

Alright. To be honest I should just kill you and be done with it. But there's a slight chance. Slight. That it wouldn't stick. Given you're already growing back limbs or whatever else they're cutting off you. And honestly this has never happened before. You're the first successful clone ever created. I'm curious about what you would do. In over six thousand years you're the first new thing in a long time. Long time... I can't even tell if you'd have The Spark.

"...What's that?"

The Spark. True Magic. Humanity is but a shadow of its former self save for two people. Though technically I was born during the Second Era and so I suppose I'm technically Second Era Human even if the circumstances of my birth and my own ability to do True Magic makes me First Era. It's a lot of guesswork.

"...You're smart."

I should hope so. I've been around long enough.

"You're as smart as I'd wished you were. I bet you're pretty and strong too."

Alright. Alright. No need to flatter me further. So here is what's going to happen. I'm going to break in and wreck the place. You are going to run.

"Run where?"

Anywhere. Doesn't matter.

"But how will I find you?"

You'll know the way Home. All you have to do is Believe.

"O-okay... Just believe and I'll find the way Home."

And one last thing before I get started. Clearly my voice is stronger than hers, but she WILL notice. She will try to get you to call her Mother. She is NOT your mother. She is your grandmother. Do NOT trust her. Her words will sound sweet but they are poisoned honey. Your grandfather is no better. You will come to know them as Salem and Ozma. They will lie to you. They will manipulate you. They will sound sweet and kind but know that they care more for their feud then your wellbeing. Do. Not. Trust. Them. Understand?

"Yes mommy."

Good.

The room suddenly shook as an explosion sounded somewhere deep outside her cell. Loud alarms started blaring. Shouting began outside.

More explosions. More shaking. More alarms. More shouting.

Suddenly the cell door was torn open by an invisible force. There was nothing on the other side.

Run.

She ran.

In truth. She had no idea where she was going. She ran this way. She ran that way. She dodged around the adults who were unconcerned with her and more concerned with the other test subjects.

Horrific abominations that made unholy noises and ran around in complete madness killing and scrambling around.

With each one she touched them mentally like she'd been able to do. Look away please. Don't see me. Leave me alone.

And each one would turn away from her. But none of them were able to talk back. Not like the true Grimm.

She could hear them on another level.

The adults shouted and fought back. Their scary weapons exploding and turning everything into noise. Screams.

She kept running.

She burst into the food room. Something she'd only seen in passing.

And that's where she first saw The Stranger.

The Stranger wasn't dressed like the rest and didn't have the same weapons. The Stranger gutted one of the Mean ones with the guns before rising to her feet and turning to look at her.

Both of them stood there staring for a minute at each other. The Stranger wearing a cloak with an empty face. Only two glowing green orbs present where there should be eyes. The same emerald green as her own.

A shout drew the attention of both of them. The Mean ones with guns were running toward them.

The Stranger flicked their head.

The door slammed shut.

Then the door just vanished.

The Stranger looked back at her. The orbs had vanished. Instead a long pearly white smile at her.

Another jerk of her chin. This time the wall burst open followed by six more behind it.

"Run little one. Find your way."

She didn't hesitate long before running down the opened path.

"See the world! Find your place in it! And remember that if you need to, just Believe and you will Know the Way Home!"

She stumbled looking back in surprise just as another test subject leaped at her from behind.

"Mommy?"

"GO!"

She ran.

---

The blast doors sprang open, then slammed shut, then slowly opened again with a screeching noise before jamming open.

"HA! SUCK IT WEISS! I TOLD YOU I COULD GET IT OPEN!!" Ruby Rose cheekily did a victory dance around her partner and super awesome bestie Weiss Schnee.

"Yes yes. Fine. You were right. Now stop being so smug about it." Weiss rolled her eyes at Ruby dancing around her.

One Doctor Bartholomew Ooblek led the way in with a light in one hand and his thermos which he aggressively sipped from in the other. "Capital work Miss Rose. Engineering should never be looked down upon. Now let's see exactly what this mysterious place of ours was up to."

Beacon Academy in Vale had recently received a rather strange signal from somewhere deep in the Emerald Forest. Which was strange because there were no marked settlements out that way. It was a generic SOS Beacon but on a security band that had almost been missed had it not been caught by one of the third year students who had a hobby of listening in to radio broadcasts.

So Ozpin dispatched teams RWBY and JNPR as they were the only available teams on standby and this should have been a routine search and rescue.

This was turning into anything but.

At least Ozpin had seen fit to send Professor Doctor Ooblek with them. (He didn't earn his PhD for fun you know!)

The troupe marched inside spreading out as they observed the wreckage.

"What... happened to this place?" Yang Xiao-Long asked out loud.

"What happened... clearly took out the entire facility." Blake Belladonna noted. She knelt down to the floor feeling it near a body. "Quagulated. This is at least a day or so old."

"Right so... Grimm attack maybe?" Yang guessed.

"Oooh! Oooh! I know! This is a secret government lab where they were running unethical experiments until one of them got loose and set off a chain reaction where the whole place went crazy and everyone started killing each other!" Nora Valkyrie theorized before looking around wide eyed. "And one of those experiments is in the room right now with us!"

Everyone just looked at her. Someone coughed.

"That is definitely not what happened." Jaune Arc said shaking his head.

"That is totally too what happened!"

Someone coughed again.

"Students! Silence please!" Ooblek deployed his thermos into its flame staff form. "We are not alone..."

Everyone else pulled their weapons fall back into formation.

Another cough.

Ooblek wordlessly gestured.

Pyrrha Nikos slowly advanced. Milo poking out at the pile of debris nudging it aside.

"...Help..."

"Survivor!" She announced holstering her weapons and starting to dig aside the pile.

What they found was... not expected.

"Good heavens!" Ooblek exclaimed.

A badly wounded scientist curled up tightly around a child barely alive. "...Help... us..." She croaked. The child was unconscious.

But the most damning thing about the child was the skin coloration. Pure bone white. But with red and black markings.

Like the Grimm.

"HAH! I WAS RIGHT! PAY UP!" Nora cackled in glee.

Lie Ren sighed. He would be making so many pancakes later for this....

---

How far do the labs reach and what secrets do they contain?

Who is this child and will she survive meeting the future Huntsmen and Huntresses of Remnant?

Who is her mother and what is the Way Home?

AJT set me off one morning so this was particularly a Spite Writing but eh. I think maybe it's something I can do with in the future.

 

[GraveyardShift]

I know Blake deserted her team only a couple of times: when she tried to take on White Fang at the docks on her own and when Beacon fell. Were there other times Blake abandoned them? I think I forgot, or I don't know.

Click to shrink...

The Crimes of Blake Belladonna:

"Black Trailer": Blake Belladonna is an active member of the terrorist group 'White Fang'. Which she then abandons.

Volume 1: Blake Belladonna conceals her identity (badly) before outing herself as White Fang. She then abandons Team RWBY to try and 'redeem' the White Fang by proving they aren't working with Torchwick knowing full well they're a bunch of criminal Faunus.

Volume 2: Blake decides to abandon her team AGAIN by obsessing over the White Fang and refusing to care for herself. To the point where Yang had an intervention to force her to socialize with the team and reconnect with them so they wouldn't have another docks situation where Blake runs off to do something stupid. This results in her team following her into doing something stupid resulting in two fights that damage critical city infrastructure. That being the Highway and 'The Breach'.

Volume 3: Blake is the odd woman out. Actually, standing AGAINST Yang when Yang is framed for the 'crippling' of Mercury. She then abandons the fight in the middle of the battle of beacon to go challenge Adam to a 1v1 she knows she can't win resulting in Yang having to chase after her and lose an arm to save her life. Or at least distract Adam so she can save them both. And of course, Blake runs off after the fall.

Volumes 4-5: Blake then spends two seasons isolated on Menagerie and shows no indication of wanting to return until the White Fang try to burn down her home and kill her family and friends. She is instantly forgiven despite Yang having demonstrated acidic levels of hatred and vitriol whenever Blake is brought up.

Volume 6: Blake AGAIN draws off Adam into a 1v1 requiring Yang to come rescue her AGAIN instead of drawing Adam toward Yang.

Volume 7: Blake convinces Yang to side with the LITERAL CRIMINALS who are stealing civic resources and betray Ironwood's trust in them by disregarding strategic secrecy to keep the Amity Project concealed until such time it could be properly revealed when it was too late to be sabotaged. This has the knock-on effect in Volume 8.

Volume 8: Blake actually sides with Ruby AGAINST Yang over a completely pointless argument between the sisters designed to drive drama despite the fact they have the numerical ability to freely split up and achieve both their stated goals with no need for a drama-based split. And this is on top of their numerous lies and betrayals coming to light against Ironwood resulting in his mental break.

Ironically this also causes the failure of the Amity Project. As a result of Cinder chasing Penny and Ironwood being forced to prematurely reveal Amity, the communications satellite is damaged and isn't able to make it to space. Penny keeps it up high enough for just long enough for Ruby's completely pointless message to get out begging for help when it's too late before Penny, having sustained too much damage in the fight to drive off Cinder, fails to keep Amity aloft and it crashed back down to Solitas.

Yes I was surprised too when I finally watched it for the first time after dropping the show in Volume 6 after the closure of RT. Turns out Pieto and Maria DON'T die in space alone but somehow survived a crash and that's why Amity shows up in Volume 9 in Vacuo.

Though it does baffle me how the hell they got it there when Atlas has been destroyed along with all the manufacturing at the bottom of a giant lake.

So Blake does in fact have a documented tendency to go 'off the rails' and abandon people at the wrong time for the wrong reasons.

 

[GraveyardShift]

Eh... a couple more

Blake's Hypocrisy

But to be fair, just how hypocritical was Blake throughout the series—from Volume 1 to Volume 9?

Click to shrink...

Volume 1. She straight up sasses Weiss for being a rich bitch who mistreats people... all while being the Secret Faunus Princess and former White Fang terrorist. Then she has the gall to argue that the White Fang wouldn't work with human criminals and can't be held accountable for their actions because humanity was so much worse in their racism. Again trying to White Knight LITERAL TERRORISTS WHO KILLED WEISS' FAMILY AND FRIENDS per Weiss herself which caused Weiss and her siblings to be socially isolated in fear of being collateral damage or even turned into targets by the White Fang just by association. (This is downplayed by the writers.)

Volume 2. Blake practically kills herself desperate to put a stop to the White Fang because 'only I have the power to stop them'. She insists that the proper authorities are useless and won't do anything. Ironically the best thing Blake can do is actually cooperate with and give Ozpin and the VPD her insider information that would actually let them DO SOMETHING but she refuses because it's 'her responsibility'. And yet it abundantly clear that Blake can't fight a GLOBAL ORGANIZATION by herself.

Volume 3. Blake turns on Yang because she reminds her of Adam in the moment she attacked Mercury. Despite the fact that Blake and Yang have been partners for the better part of a year. They have lived together. Fought together. And survived together. It's made abundantly clear that Yang and Adam are significantly different people. And if the Wasps are to be believed, Yang and Blake are starting to have budding feelings for each other at this point which the rose-tinted glasses should ensure that Blake would overlook this incident and insist that Yang was innocent. (Point against Bumblebee being 'planned from the start'.) To further add injury to insult. Blake has made multiple promises now that she'll trust her team and stick with them. By the end of the volume, she breaks them all and runs home.

Volume 4. An exasperated Blake explodes on Sun that she is 'too tired to fight' and just wants to rest and recover at home. However that very same day not more than 4 hours later chronologically speaking, the White Fang knock on her front door in the form of the Alban Brothers and she's already back in the fight. To say less about 'The Slap' in which Jaques slapping Weiss is supposed to be a travesty but Blake slapping Sun is meant to be a comedy.

Volume 5. Sun finally calls out Blake on being a selfish little brat constantly trying to run away from her friends to keep them from getting hurt. Reminding her that 'it's our choice to fight for the people we care about. and we accept what comes when we do. you don't get to deny us that choice'. Not to mention Blake choosing to believe Ilia having 'second thoughts' and walking into an obvious trap with no weapon and no backup when Ilia publicly spoke out against her that very morning. If Sun hadn't chased Blake down that night, Blake probably would have wound up an actual prisoner of the White Fang while they killed her parents.

Volume 6. Blake trying to overcompensate for the harm she's done to Yang. Then trying to fight Adam alone making Yang chase her down AGAIN. To save her from Adam. AGAIN. and the whole retarded speak about 'not protecting each other but protecting each other'. I'm dead serious when you parse that whole declaration out, that's what it sounds like.

Volume 7. Blake is a former Terrorist Operative. She should know about proper operational security. First thing she does? Spill military secrets to a known and confirmed criminal who is actively and proven to be stealing military supplies. Supplies that was paid for by Atlesian taxpayers for a military operation that would restore global communications to ALL sectors, military and civilian alike. Apparently Blake still romanticizes criminals and crimes against society despite being next in line for rulership of Menagerie. (Assuming that's how it works.) She is actively working against critical global infrastructure that would benefit the entire world not to mention their fight against Salem just so she can feel good about sticking it to Ironwood.

Volume 8. After undermining Ironwood and disrupting his plans resulting in him being caught on the backfoot resulting in a poor showing against Salem, Blake then sides against her supposed 'girlfriend' to get a message out to the world after sabotaging the very project to get that message out in the first place. Then hides like a coward in the Schnee manor sipping tea while civilians are dying in a LITERAL WAR outside.

Volume 9. Surprisingly, this is the first time Blake is not a complete screw up at anything. Probably helps there's no Authority to overthrow, injustice to fight, or cause to champion. The only thing she's guilty of is being part of the most toxic mainstream lesbian ship to ever be held up as the 'gold standard'. That's not really hypocrisy on her, that's more on CRWBY and the FNDM.

 

[GraveyardShift]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV8Lpn29BhY
This is a scene I would love to see - either by my own words, or someone else - Fleet Admiral Thorn, giving Yang a private guided tour of his gallery of art collected from various bandit and pirate tribes he has battled across his career, as an offer to teach her about Raven in a way the woman herself was incapable of.

Click to shrink...

But I can probably do something with that prompt between Thorn and Yang.

Click to shrink...

Culture - The Turning Point of Civilization

Yang eyed a painting and tilted her head sideways trying to make sense of it.

The group was experiencing a moment of down time between missions of securing the Amity Launch site and training. This being Atlas, Weiss had insisted on taking Team RWBY to an Art Museum. "To add a touch of class and sophistication to this team." she argued.

Ruby had been all for it and had followed Weiss around like an excited puppy. Blake was keeping with Weiss who was acting as a tour guide for the group but kept getting sidetracked by Ruby when the concepts kept flying over her head and Blake occasionally snarking Weiss about the overrepresentation of human pieces compared to Faunus ones. Blake had gotten much better since Mistral about the whole racism issue but some habits were dying harder then others. Weiss bit back at Blake but gently. This kind of thing more reaffirming their bond over old habits then any real argument.

Yang on the other hand was hanging back from all this. As pretty as some of the art was, it wasn't really her speed. She was a punch fast and party hard type of girl. The atmosphere a little too slow and stuffy for her.

But she came anyway wanting to support the team after the whole separation of last year.

As Yang trailed behind the group, the creak of a door caught her attention.

A door behind one of those velvet barriers had come unlatched somehow and came open.

Yang watched it a minute. She looked around as if expecting someone to be watching her.

A moment of rebellious mischief took her. An unsecured door blocked off by a barricade that was easy to bypass?

Yang grinned to herself as she looked around to make sure no one was watching before she slipped under it and edged carefully through the door. A little trouble to spice up this trip was just the rush she needed. The thrill of almost getting caught being somewhere she shouldn't have been.

The thrill wasn't quite to last though, as the wing was simply more of the same... until she spotted it.

One of the paintings was vandalized.

Yang approached curiously.

Under the surface, the painting looked like any other ordinary painting in the museum. One of those boring drab pieces that Weisscream would drool over and go on about some kind of subliminal meaning of life.

But layered on top of it was a bunch of bright spray paint markings. Symbols more akin to gang graffiti and defiling. One of the people in the image had the childish crude horns and devil tail.

Yang looked over it carefully. The casing surrounding the painting was intact. So clearly it had been preserved in this manner and there wasn't some kind of art vandal running around. Shame... she could use a good work out to wake up.

But her curiosity led her to pay more attention to the rest of the room. It was there that she realized that a lot of these paintings were of a similar slant. A lot of the other works were also much cruder in design then the gentle slopes and professional shaping of the statues and other things in the main room.

Yang ventured from exhibit to exhibit. Her mind now cataloging the stark differences between this closed off area and the area that Weiss had been leading them.

She stopped taken in by a fairly large portrait that was clearly a centerpiece. It was not vandalized in the slightest.

It was a woman dressed in black leaned back almost enticingly on a sofa. A hood pulled up shadowing her face.

One side gave the hint of a closed lip smile. The green eye barely visible to the pale skin but the color shone out brightly. That half of the woman carefully painted out in elegance and beauty.

A clear split had the other side of her face encased fully in shadow. Bright white teeth shone out of pitch-black almost mockingly compared to the gentle smile on the other half. The 'eye' little more than a burning green dot even having licks of fire on one side of it compared to its more natural counterpart. The shadows jagged and squared as if to prick or hurt anyone that tried to touch it.

Yang just stood there a moment captivated by the duality of the portrait. It's eyes seeming to pin her in place with a kind of elegant superiority. Her knees shook a little as if wanting to bow down.

"Supposedly that's the Charlatan Queen herself having willingly posed for this piece as a reward of sorts."

Yang yelped whirling about cocking one fist back to strike at the surprise.

Standing next to her also staring up at the paining was a man in an Atlesian military uniform.

A man with blue skin.

"Most people doubt the tale. That the most powerful kingpin of the underworld would lower herself for such an act... personally I believe it to be true meaning the artist was one of the few to capture the Queen on canvas and live to tell the tale."

He turned his head to look at her, body still facing the artwork head on.

"What say you Ms. Xiao-Long? Do you believe this is an authentic portrait or an artistic inspiration?"

Yang lowered her fist giving the man an up-down before looking back at the piece before back at the man. Then back to the painting. "Uhhh..." She scratched at the back of her head. "...I mean... it's fancy I guess... feels kinda... snobby the way she's looking down on us."

"Hmmph." The man gave a one noise chuckle as he looked back at the painting. "Part of why I believe it to be authentic then artist interpretation. With an interpretation there's a kind of deadness to the eyes. But an authentic portrait often captures that essence of life within its subject. Someone as powerful as her looking down on us imperiously as if we were lesser then her. And we feel that weight as intensely as the artist did as it was fixated on him when he translated it to canvas."

They both stood there. Emerald green eyes looming down on them.

Yang shuffled uncomfortably. "So uh... just to be clear mister, I didn't break in here. The door was open so I just kind of figured... yaknow... and then I saw that one painting that was vandalized and thought there might be some mischief going on and well uh..."

"Entirely intentional Ms Xiao-Long. The painting was found that way when I had the Skullsplitter Gang in Vacuo crushed. I left it as I found it as a reminder."

"...So it's supposed to look like that?"

"No. The Sunny Day in a Grassy Park was done by a respectable artist before it was stolen from Vale by an Art Thief and eventually thought lost forever. It's clearly changed hands a few times and traveled around quite a bit. I left it as was found as a reminder of what it is people lose when they turn to banditry and anarchy. Much like your mother."

Yang's eyes went red and her hair started sparking gold. "Summer Rose was an upstanding Huntress and a hero to all! She'd never turn to crime like that!"

The man simply regarded her quietly a moment. "Ah. My apologizes. I was referring to Raven Branwen."

"That BITCH is nothing more than a cowardly egg donor and that's all she is." Yang snarled.

"Quite." The man turned back to the portrait as Yang reigned herself in. Controlling her breathing. Pulling back in the rage and anger.

The sparks faded and red was swallowed by lilac with a blink.

"What would some Art Snob in a fancy suit know about bandits anyway?" Yang groused, her anger slipping control.

"You'd be surprised what one can learn from art." The man replied. "Culture shapes life. Culture shapes art. Therefore, lifestyle and habits are often translated into physical expressions of the feelings of people. Honesty can be found more with the stroke of a brush or the scrape of a knife rather than words from lips."

Yang gave him a quizzical disbelieving look.

The Atlesian chuckled throatily before offering her a hand. "Admiral Thorn of the Atlesian Navy."

"Huntress-in-train... no, Fully Licensed Huntress Yang Xiao-Long. Patch."

Thorn raised an eyebrow with an amused smile. "Is that the new Atlas title we're giving to our Hunters?"

Yang turned pink but puffed up in defiance as she gripped his hand.

After releasing said hands, Thorn turned away. "Walk with me Huntress Xiao-Long. Let me show you what I mean..."

---

The first thing the two of them approached was a wooden effigy held up inside a case. "The first thing you'll notice is how mundane this piece is compared to the regal piece that was The Charlatan Queen. What do you think that says about the one who made it?"

Yang studied it a moment before shrugging. "It's just a piece of wood. Why bother?"

"A vaild question Ms. Xiao-Long. Why bother indeed? Why create anything? Why create something? The first question that comes to mind when facing the dregs of society. Shouldn't they have other concerns?"

Yang frowned. Slightly frustrated she scrutinized the piece harder. Eventually she gave up before throwing her hands up in the air. "I don't know. Shouldn't they be out robbing someone or fighting to the death somewhere instead of wasting time with wood that would be better thrown in a fire?"

Thorn nodded. "In the first days of humanity. The priority was 'survival'. Everything was functional. There was no place for useless fluff pieces. But on the topic of survival, I ask you. How would these people communicate?"

Yang looked again at the wood. She blinked. Then leaned in closer. She tilted her head before slowly moving to the right. Her eyes widening in realization. "Wait... holy shit is this some kind of MARKER?"

Thorn nodded. "Just as animals would leave some kind of marker of specific territory, so too would the early humans also make markers themselves. Things to signal safety. Danger. Resources. Direction. Distance. Location. Things that would help them navigate the world. This particular effigy was a tribe of feral humans from a lost settlement that eventually started raiding and cannibalizing their neighbors. It was to mark the edge of their territory. Serving as a warning to outsiders and a sign of safety for the raiding parties. Note the crude structure as opposed to modern signage we used today which is an evolution of these early markers."

"And this is... art?"

"Of a sort. Look carefully. I see your attention is drawn to the shape and patterns. Things your brain recognizes as abnormal in nature but draw the eye anyway. What does it look like to you?"

"It's... unsettling actually. I see... I think it looks like some kind of head. Something like paper. And... an arrow?"

"Skulls are often an unsettling reminder of our mortality. Hence why they're often used to signal death and danger. The paper in question is actually something more akin to skin. This particular group worshiped the skin. Human skin in particular was highly prized. It features prominently amount their society. I believe they may have referred to themselves as some kind of 'Skinflayers'."

"Okay... so what does THAT mean?"

"It mean Ms. Xiao-Long. These particular savages sought to capture their prey with as little damage to the skin as possible. Preferring traps that include nets and poison darts. Things to avoid damaging the skin during the capture so that it can be prepared for the processing phase. They do not actively hunt something unless it's for food. Wanting the skin in as pristine condition as they can get it."

"Huh... that's... actually a lot of information out of a crude piece of wood."

"Indeed. Remember that things like this are for that specific purpose. Functional. To pass on information. It also speaks to a society that does not have its basic needs met. Everyone must work toward the survival of the Tribe."

"Survival of the fittest..." Yang mused as she considered the wood.

Thorn let her stand there lost in her thoughts for a few minutes before he gestured onward. "Come. We have more to consider."

---

"...How is a flag 'Art'?" Yang asked very confused by the series of flags along one wall. The cloth having seen better days but preserved in their cases.

"You tell me Ms. Xiao-Long." Thorn said.

Yang considered them for awhile. "They're.... signals right? I heard something once in school about boats using flags as signals. Sema... sem-something."

"Semaphore Ms. Xiao-Long. And entirely correct those these particular flags aren't used for that purpose. But they do speak to actually being used as signals. To identify specific individuals. Much in the same way that land armies used banners. As for what makes them Art, take a closer look. What is different about these flags compared to the effigy?"

"They're..." Yang peered closer. "They're of better quality. Someone actually took the time to make these and ensure they could be properly seen. Guess they wanted to ensure they could properly Flag down someone eh?"

Thorn raised an eyebrow.

Yang chuckled nervously.

"I suppose so."

Yang tugged at the collar of her jumpsuit.

"But consider what that means. These ocean-going raiders had the means to ensure their survival. They had downtime. Downtime they could use to ensure the quality of their signals and banners. And that speaks to Order. Of organization. People have a system because the system is efficient. At turning a job from a taxing endeavor to a simple chore."

Yang blinked turning back to the flags. "Like Weiss keep organizing our schedules trying to ensure 'efficiency'. To ensure we have the time to do our work and then have extra time to spare."

Thorn nodded. "Precisely. A system to ensure the flow of small tasks are completed. Even if it's dull drudgery to you at your age." The man gave Yang a thin smile.

Yang snorted. "Only issue is that Weiss wants to use it for more work. We earned that downtime! We should be able to goof off and have fun!"

"Ah. A good segue into our next set of works..."

---

To the left, Yang could immediately spot the clear Atlesian origin of the painting. A simple hallway devoid of color.

The right on the other hand was a loud cacophony of clashing colors and shapes with no rhyme or reason to them. She couldn't identify the origin and... frankly it hurt her eyes to look at. Turning back to the Atlesian work was a much-needed relief.

Thorn chuckled seeing Yang avert her gaze. "Yes. The Atlesian Nightmare is something of an acquired taste and getting used to it takes time." He said facing the loud discord on the right. He considered it a moment before glancing sideways at Yang. "Which do you think came first Ms. Xiao-Long?"

Yang pointed at the hallway. "I'd wager that one. Probably The Atlesian Dream if the title is anything to go by."

Thorn smirked. "Ironically no. The Serene Path was actually in response to The Atlesian Nightmare. Two rival artists, the Nightmare from Vacuo while the Path was actually of Valish Origin. Though the Valish artist was 4 generations from immigrants from Atlas to Vale. The family I believe was escaping persecution from Atlas as a result of 'The Suppression'. They supported the existence of Art in a society that was oppressing it and had to flee. The Vacuian Artist creating the Nightmare as a mocking statement of Atlesian culture of the time. The Valish one in response to his rival to demonstrate the beauty of simplicity. The gentle appealing shapes in a pleasing order as opposed to the sharp loud cacophony of screaming chaos. I suppose to a society like Atlas that finds peace in Law and Order, the Nightmare is just that. While the Path represents the serenity in calm organized fashion."

Yang looked back between the two wincing at the Nightmare again. "Yeah Thorny, I kinda have to agree with that. Patch is kind of rustic and we're all about loud self-expression in Vale but that just hurts to look at. It's like they just took random paint and splattered it wherever."

Thorn nodded. "An interesting admission Ms. Xiao-Long."

"Don't get me wrong. I don't see how this applies to Weiss giving us extra work ahead of where we were at in Beacon."

"Consider the difference between the two cultures. Ms Schnee is Atlesian. We prize efficiency. The truth being is that we teach our children a strong work ethic first and foremost. The thing they need to learn afterwards is rest and relaxation." He gestured to the Path. "The very thing the Path's Artist was trying to convey to his audience in addition to a message being sent to his rival."

Yang blinked in surprise. "You mean you military types aren't all work and no play?"

Thorn chuckled. "At one time perhaps. But humans are not automatons. Even machines need to be switched off and have maintenance periods. The maintenance of the human mind is a different procedure but no less crucial. There's a philosophy in Mistralian culture specific to the Pathist sects down there in regard to their work ethic. I believe it goes: "Work hard, Study well," but the latter half I say with emphasis goes as: "and Eat and Sleep Plenty. The Pathists understood that the human body requires downtime for proper maintenance. Rest-" Thorn gestured to The Serene Path. "-is just as crucial for the well being of the body and mind. No matter what my or your collogues would argue. Your upbringing argues that rest is necessary but the thing you need to learn as you grow is that too much rest or 'Sloth' need to be brough to heel and a proper work ethic needs to be established. Just because you live in a society with Plenty does not mean the work stops completely."

"Farmers still farm because they have to and people rely on them for food." Yang mused. "Even if they have machinery to help them."

"Correct." Thorn acknowledged. "But these systems only work when people contribute to them. What happens when people stop? Walk with me and we shall see."

---

They returned to the vandalized painting.

"The Sunny Day in a Grassy Park right?" Yang asked.

"Formerly. Given its state I have given it a new title. The Loss of Humanity." Thorn glanced at her. "Why do you think that is?"

Yang pondered quietly. Thorn let her be. Both simply staring at the desecrated work. "You said you got it from a criminal gang right?"

"Recovered might be a more applicable term but yes."

Yang tapped her lips. "A group of people who don't contribute anything to a society. Formerly out of one with plenty but then reduced to an early state where survival is dependent on taking from those with too much." She turned to Thorn. "But wouldn't it just make sense to just ensure that everyone got what they needed if there's so much?"

"Remember the flags compared to the effigy and everything we've seen so far compared to The Charlatan Queen." Thorn nodded toward the portrait in the distance. Still looking down on them even this far away. "Time and effort spent to create quality. The more spent, the better quality the final product. The better quality the resources also spent, the greater the end." He turned back to the vandalized painting. "It is well known that handouts and things received for free often aren't treated with the same reverence and care as things that were earned through time and effort. Consider your own work Ms Xiao-Long. Would you be a Huntress for free?"

"I mean. That's kind of the whole point of being a Huntress right? We're the Defenders of Humanity. We're the good guys."

"And while I'm sure good feelings and goodwill are necessary. Will they sustain you? Can you eat them, so they nourish your body and replace the energy you expend on said efforts to protect your fellow man?"

"No... but I can charge fairly for it!"

"Indeed. Even if it's but a single lien for all the Grimm on Remnant, that alone shows that you value your time and have respect for what you can do. And people are more likely to take you seriously. Consider this painting and the vandalization. The amount of care and effort that went into A Sunny Day in a Grassy Park. Do you think the previous owners after it was stolen respected any of that?"

Yang opened her mouth to snap. Paused for a moment. Her jaw clicked shut. She studied the work more closely. Thorn seemed to approve the pause to truly consider her answer before answer the same as she would have instinctively. "...No."

"And why is that?"

"Because they got it for free. They stole it without a fair trade."

"From a system built on efficiency to provide plenty and ensure people had time to create works such as this one to a system that barely better then early feral humans because they felt the need to rebel. Rebel against a system they felt they were incompatible with. In a way that defilement is its own message. We reject what makes us human."

"The strong take from the weak." Yang mused. "The way animals do. The Loss of Humanity...." her eyes widened and she whirled on Thorn. "That's why you call it that!"

Thorn simply nodded. "They many speak like we do. Use tools like we do. But their way of life. Their culture, is radically different from ours. To understand that is to better understand ourselves."

"But not every culture is bad!" Yang argued. "I mean look at the Faunus in Atlas and how they're treated!"

"Quite." Thorn agreed. "I personally do not see any of the cultures of the Four Kingdoms as inherently bad. But being able to separate those who agree to live by a Code. Live by Law. Live by a set of rules. An understanding of how to behave to participate. Separate them from those who refuse. To better understand who needs to be fought. Who need to be protected and who needs to be challenged."

"...Like Raven. She doesn't understand how to live by rules other than her messed up law of the jungle where she doesn't care about anything but strength. Not even her own family... something Dad gave freely... was... was Dad wrong for that?"

Thorn shook his head. "Contrary to belief. Relationships are transitional to some degree. Your father offered his attention, companionship, and ability to provide resources. In return, he'd gain similar from Raven in return. And after all your conception required participation from both parties." He offered a wry smile to Yang's flush and averted gaze. "To anybody else, it was a good trade. The kind that has kept humanity going even in the face of Darkness. Raven apparently didn't see the value in the trade if she just thinks she can take what she wants for free."

Yang nodded relaxing. Dad wasn't wrong. Raven was just a stupid subhuman bitch for not upholding her end of the deal. The way her REAL mom. Summer did. She saw what Tai-yang had to offer and returned in kind. Giving them Ruby too.

"I think we've viewed enough today." Thorn said leading them back to the wing entrance. "The thing about proper lessons is that the brain needs time to digest and process the information if it is to retain it. "But if you retain anything today Ms. Xiao-Long..." Thorn held aside the velvet rope for Yang to pass through. "Art is only useless to those who do not understand the Culture underneath it. To view art properly is to gain an understanding of the lifestyle and culture that created it." Thorn ensured the door was closed properly before turning to Yang. "I believe this exhibit will be open next week. Do come again Ms. Xiao-Long. Art is meant to be appreciated after all."

Admiral Thorn turned and strode off.

"Yang! There you are!" Weiss stomped up grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her off. "Stop goofing off! We're going to look at some Kalendros works! The contrast between the watercolor and acrylic paints is something that isn't usually done. The difference between the two mediums..." Weiss continued to ramble on.

Yang tuned her out. She had a lot to think about. Maybe this day at the museum wasn't such a waste after all...

---

Gotta be honest, this was a little difficult given Bandit cultures generally don't do art other than to steal it from societies that have the time and resources to produce it. *shrug* Hope it's appreciated anyway.

 

[GraveyardShift]

The only shortcoming I see is that I was hoping Yang could have stepped away with a more nuanced appreciation for bandits, rather than seeing them as 2D subhumans.

Click to shrink...

For that kind of viewpoint, Yang would have to approach the bandits themselves or someone in a position of power who does that kind of balancing act to make the bandits a kind of 'necessary evil'.

Click to shrink...

Culture II - "The Eye that wears the Crown"

Yang pushed her way through the main doors of the Art Museum she'd been to a week prior. Hot on her trail were the other members of her team.

"You wanted to come BACK?" Weiss seemed aghast at the rather abnormal behavior for Yang.

"Isn't this what you wanted?" Blake shot at her

"I mean... I'm not complaining that SOMEONE is getting in the spirit of things. It's just... Yang of all of us? It's a surprise."

"I'm lost too." Ruby said as the three bewildered Huntresses followed their teammate who was clearly on a mission directly to the information kiosk.

"Oi! You lot? You seen an Admiral Thorn in today?" Yang challenged the worker.

"Admiral Thorn? Ah! He's in the Southeast Wing with the new exhibit he's sponsored opening today. I believe he's playing host to some foreign dignitaries."

"Where?"

Yang marched off following the directions outlined by the worker with the kind of single-minded direction developed over years of giving and receiving verbal directions.

"Yang! Slow down!" Ironic considering it was Ruby.

Ignoring her sister Yang zeroed in on a familiar door she crossed last week. However the velvet barricade was gone. The door wide open. And voices reached out from inside.

Yang marched through and stopped. Eyes searching the crowd.

"Seriously Yang. Why in such a hurry? And how do you know Admiral Thorn?" Weiss asked as the other three caught up.

"What even is this?" Blake asked taking in the room. Everything Yang remembered being there. From The Loss of Humanity, to The Serene Path and The Atlesian Nightmare. The flags along one wall in their own section. The various effigies of feral tribes mixed with other works. All of which overseen by the dominating portrait of The Charlatan Queen.

"Did... did someone vandalize these?" Weiss seemed shocked looking at some of the various paintings. Vandalized in the same way The Loss of Humanity was.

Yang spotted her target. The blue skinned man along one wall watching four others. Two of which were in deep discussion.

"YO! THORNY!" Everyone except the two women in discussion turned to face Yang as she marched over.

"Ah. Huntress Xiao-Long." Thorn did not raise his voice at the approaching girl. He simply nodded. "Welcome back. And I do see you brought some friends along."

"They kinda just followed me."

"Well when you march off the way you did I think we have some right to be concerned." Weiss stepped up offering her hand. "Weiss Schnee of the Schnee family."

Thorn took her hand and bowed shaking it gently once before turning to Blake. "And Blake Belladonna of the Belladonna family in Menagerie. Founding family of the White Fang. You might be interested in some of the pieces we have here surrounding them."

Blake winced. "We're turning over a new leaf. Going back to the old ways." She defended.

"Quite. We'll see how long that lasts." Thorn said nothing more turning to Ruby expectantly.

"Oh uh... Ru-Ruby Rose... of the Rose family?"

Thorn tilted his head. "I consider myself well informed of the Great Families of Remnant. I do not recall a 'Rose' family among that significance."

"A-ah." Ruby shrunk on herself. Yang stepped between Thorn and Ruby taking his attention onto her. "Look are you busy? I've got more questions."

"Over what we discussed last time Miss Xiao-Long? I would be happy to entertain you when I have more free time. Alas today I am entertaining two very important individuals." he gestured to the women engage in debate. "Warlady Duchess Kyinaye Artic and Her Royal Majesty Queen Arturia Pendragon-Arc of Albion."

"Former Queen of Albion Agrippa." The blond and silver woman broke off from the bluehead to correct him.

Thorn gave her a thin wry smile. "I sincerely doubt anyone here believes there is any such thing as a Former Queen Your Majesty." He countered causing the accompanying bluehead and white-haired man next to Arturia to chuckle while Arturia grumbled. The man leaning over to kiss the top of her head. She kicked him in the leg.

"Ah! Be gentle My Queen." he purred causing the grumbling to intensify though the woman went pink. Kyinaye openly laughed at the display.

"I can wait." Yang said crossing her arms making it clear she wasn't going anywhere.

"Pash!" Kyinaye barked. "See to the girl Thorn. Arturia and I will be at this for a bit."

Thorn inclined his head. "If you are agreeable your Grace." he turned fully toward Yang and the rest.

Yang took that as her cue. "If there are scum out there that are so bad..." she waved toward The Loss of Humanity, "...why do we even let them exist? Why not stamp them out? The Branwen tribe for one could use eradicating. I even know where they went."

Thorn nodded his head. "I am of like mind Miss Xiao-Long but that is Mistral and this is Atlas. There are rules to be observed in order to maintain Order less we descend into the same barbarism that governs said tribes. I cannot simply sanction a raid unprovoked into Mistralian territory without repercussions."

"So we go to the Mistral council."

"They're complicit." Blake cut in. "Everyone knows the Mistralian council isn't so much elected as installed and controlled by the various 'Families' of Mistral. They'll do whatever is best. It's probably why the Branwen tribe resides there."

"So a whole kingdom just gets away with letting human scum like that go free? Why would they do that?"

"Many reasons." Kyinaye spoke up. "The lawless are still as much subjects as the law abiding."

"You're Vacuian Warlady. Vacuo is just as corrupt as Mistral." Weiss accused.

Kyinaye half shrugged not denying it.

"Half of what we've been through has to do with criminals and terrorists!" Yang argued. "You ought to just stamp them out and be done with it."

"And what of free will?" Arturia spoke up. Voice even and imperial causing team RWBY to just freeze up and listen. "Would you be content to live subservient to a will that isn't your own directing and controlling your life?" She pointed at Blake. "This one already knows the answer. Born of a movement not content to remain under the yoke of human masters though such hasn't been the case for centuries now."

Silence from the girls as they squirmed under Arturia's words.

"Most people don't see the world from the perspective of those made to rule." Kyinaye crossed one arm to rest in the crook of her elbow as she gestured with the other. "Not even Thorn here has the complete picture though I'm sure he has his private thoughts on the matter. Though I think we'll spare him having to voice them aloud."

"My gratitude your Grace."

"But speaking as one such head that wears the crown and does so actively, understand that while outlaws are not necessarily a positive thing for one's rule, there are certain benefits to them."

Arturia made a hollow laughing noise. "This should be rich coming from the woman sheltering the phony with the accurate name." She jerked a head toward the painting lording over the wing.

"And how many privateer writs were graced by your hand?" Kyinaye shot back eyes flicking momentarily toward the wall of flags. "Some of which are still passed down in Freeport."

"Our sniping aside." Arturia turned back to team RWBY, "there is a certain principle that comes with a modern society with specialized disciplines."

"What have you done for me lately?" Kyinaye said.

"Communities often have milia, the farmers, carpenters, menial laborers, and such. They take up arms and fight if their community is in danger. But they are not as skilled as those who dedicate their lives to the craft of combat. Warriors. Soldiers. Knights. Huntsmen and Huntresses. But to devote their lives to such craft, they do not then contribute anything of tangible benefit."

"We defend humanity!" Countered Yang.

"And does any of the other kingdoms aside from our current hosts have a standing formal army?" Kyinaye brought up. "People below the ruling class tend to value material things more the services. Things that can be physically produced. Touched. Seen. Experienced with the senses." She waved her arms throughout the gallery. "Such things as these over intangible services that are not needed on a daily basis. The famer will be lauded and celebrated their entire life as every day they work to feed the community." She lowered her arms. Because everyone needs food. But does everyone need defending from harm on a daily basis?"

"A community that regularly finds itself under attack will most certainly value it's defenders. Consider here in Atlas though. How many people do you see walking around without a care as if they've never seen a Grimm?" Challenged Arturia.

"Thorn there works hard to ensure they can live such peaceful idyllic lives free of such concerns of danger." Kyinaye pointed to the man in question who inclined his head. "Guarantee though many such people do not actually consider him of any real importance and think him a waste of taxpayer money. They'd much rather cut his salary and see that money spent on government handouts to the needy so they can feel good about themselves. All because they don't feel the very threat he works every day to eliminate."

"What does this have to do with criminals?" Yang asked.

"What is the other threat besides Grimm that soldiers and warriors face out there?" Kyinaye asked.

"They make for excellent fodder for training up your own soldiers and getting them blooded before asking them to fight the Grimm in overwhelming numbers." Arturia offered.

"They also act as a bulwark against outside threats." Kyinaye supplied. "Some beekeepers actually keep a hive of wasps in the area of their apiaries to act as guardians against wild wasps and other things that prey on beehives. So too will ruling individuals keep around certain groups and tolerate them if it means they'll serve as deterrents and guardians against their own kind. Most criminals don't like competition set up in their territory and will fight off other criminals. The Devil you Know."

Arturia sighed. "I'd rather be suffering a rash of thieves, pickpockets, and highwaymen then deal with murderers and rapists running rampant. If the thieves and pickpockets can deal with them so I don't have to, I supposed that's a trade I can live with."

"It's all about trades." Kyinaye nodded. "You cannot stomp out crime entirely. The people will make demands of you to outlaw things based on their perceived safety. You will make laws against things for their own safety. But in doing so you will create a need. A vacuum. Something that someone enterprising enough and willing to risk your wrath for riches and gain. Once again, material goods valued higher than services."

"And I suppose even you make use of such services in times of crisis and need." Arturia directed at Kyinaye who nodded. "I'd be a fool not to."

"That's all well and good but then you've got scum like the Branwen Tribe." Yang tried to raise again.

"Kingdom renewal." Kyinaye countered.

"What?"

Kyinaye shook her head. "This is going to be one of those uncomfortable truths that only Rulers understand and deal with. It's not something we generally share with the peasantry such as yourselves. Mostly because of how distasteful you find it." She fixed Yang with a hard look. "Sometimes a settlement absolutely needs to be wiped out. Something changed in the region, and you need to build something new but the people there are resistant to change. I've had tribes in the past too deep in their own traditions and other culture that they ended up being incompatible not just with Shar'vel, but Vacuo as a whole. Therefore they had to go. It's much like forestry. I'm sure you're aware of Vale setting fire to its own forests."

"Forest Management." Weiss spoke up. "I read about that. They cut down and burn the brush to renew the forests in order to prevent even worse wildfires from burning out of control."

"I inherited such a kingdom." Arturia said. "Fractured and corrupt. Burning out of control in a metaphorical way. I had to cut and burn out the rot. I did things I regret. I killed people who stood in my way. Some good. Some bad. But all in the name of ensuring that Albion would eventually still be standing on the other side of the crisis."

Shiro moved closer and pulled the woman into him who leaned into him with a sigh as he comforted her.

"And when something like that must be done. Sometimes the only people you can turn to are those with no morals at all." Kyinaye finished. "When that happens, having a group of raiders on hand can be a necessary evil. No matter how vile and distasteful it is." She crossed her arms fixing the girls with a look. "These are decisions that is made by those who wear the crown. We cannot allow ourselves to rule completely as moral and ethical. There are some decisions we MUST make to save the rest. We will be condemned for those decisions. Even if history paints us in a better light when the long-term implications come to light."

There was silence across the entire group. Finally Shiro spoke up. "Kyinaye it's been grand seeing you again but I think my wife needs a moment after this."

Kyinaye nodded. "Of course. Arturia it was wonderful seeing you again dear. We can pick up this discussion another time. I should go find my daughters before they wind up adding more vandalized paintings to his exhibit anyway. Ruru, come." The silent armored behemoth that had been completely missed by the group tromped after her smaller liege as she exited the wing.

Shiro smiled at the group as he led Arturia toward the door. "It's nice to meet you all. Jaune's actually said much about the vaunted team RWBY. Tell him hello from us and he should come see us in person."

Thorn turned to the group. "Well my schedule seems to have opened up. No harm done. They'll be back I'm certain. Would the rest of you like the tour?"

As Ruby, Weiss, and Blake were led through the wing on the same journey Yang had been taken on, Yang just followed along lost in her thoughts...

---

And that shall do for now I believe. I think I've got one more installment to make on this, but we shall end it here for now.

 

[GraveyardShift]

Okay. Last one for today. For real. I promise.

Men only want two things...

Blake: Men only want two things and they're DISGUSTING!!!

Thing 1:

Jaune and Adam are piloting giant robots. Both are already heavily damaged and barely functional. As the sun begins to set, the rumble of thunder and dark clouds choking the stars begins to form.

Jaune: How fitting that our final battle takes place at the death of the day. Just as the sun sets over Remnant, so too will it set on one of us.

Adam: Indeed. It has been a long road my adversary. We have clashed many times but this time? This feels like the last. Tonight we end it.

Jaune: Your reign of terror ends here Adam! Tonight justice for all the innocents you've harmed will be carried out!

Adam: Justice? I fight for the freedom and equality of all Faunus Jaune. To break them free of their shackles and shape them into swords so that they may rise up and fight for their own future!

Jaune: Through what means Adam? You terrorized good innocent people who might have sided with you into compliance! Now that fear has turned to anger! You turn people into the very monsters you claimed to fight!

Adam: And yet we're not so different you and I are we? Both of us championing those who cannot fight for themselves. Who fight as proxies on behalf of those in power too cowardly and stubborn to fight their own battles.

Jaune: We're nothing alike Adam! I don't target innocent civilians and paint my enemy as the worst monster alive to instill fear in my own side to take up arms to fight!

Adam: Search your feelings Jaune! You've seen the aftermath of our fights. Experienced the callousness of your masters who send you to fight pointless battles in the hopes that you die so that one day you won't turn on them. We've fought so many times I know you almost better than I know myself. I've come to look forward to our duels. I... I could almost call you... my brother.

Jaune: ...I could say the same the same of you Adam. I truly believe that somewhere in there you believe on some level you know what you do is wrong. No one who fights as honorably as you in our duels could truly be such a monster. I wish I could spare you... my brother... but I must face you and see justice carried out.

Adam: Then let us end it now... brother... our final clash. Words alone will not decide who is right and who is wrong.

Jaune: *levels a sword toward Adam* Indeed... brother. Let our swords carry our ideals and prove who's is stronger in this, our last hour.

*Thunder cracks and booms above. Rain starts to fall and ping off the metal. The two mechas slowly rise to ready stance and stare at each other as the rain comes down harder until the mechs are barely visible to each other in the sheets of water. Then they charge.*

Jaune: RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Adam: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Both: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

*They strike at the same time with Lighting striking and illuminating every clash of blades. The ringing metal and explosions of missiles drowned out by thunderous booms of thunder. The exchanges are numerous, furious, and epic. Finally they dash apart and circle before lining up for a final pass. Lighting flashes at the instant of contact blinding everything with thunder muting the exchange. The two freeze having just crossed paths.*

*Nothing happens for a moment. Jaune's mech collapses to one knee. Then Adam's mech suddenly radiates smaller secondary explosions before collasping completely flat*

Adam: *coughing as smoke fills the cockpit with the computer warning him the reactor core is going critical and to evactuate. But the emergency evacuation system has also malfunctioned trapping him inside* Its *cough* seems Brother...*cough* Your ideas were stronger this *coughcough* this day.

Jaune: Adam... are you sure this is what you want? I could save you now!

Adam: *cough* No brother. *Coughcough* This is a good end to a *cough* good fight. *cough cough cough* This is my *cough* escape from *cough* from this war.

Jaune: *nods solemly pointing his sword toward Adam* ...To the best enemy I ever had... brother...

Adam: *forces a thumbs up* I *cough* will be waiting for you *cough* brother. *cough cough* to continue our battle *cough* on the other *cough* other side. *he forces the mech to raise up to watch the sun finish setting* Ah *cough* The best view *cough* at the end.

*lighting flashes one final time as the mech goes super critical and explodes in bright light with no sound taking Adam with it*

*Jaune exits the mech and turns his face skyward as the sun vanishes consumed by the horizon and the rain. Was this victory even worth it? He would be hailed as a hero by his superiors and the people. But when the moment passed... would any remember or understand him like the man, his adversary of a thousand battles, his... brother in arms would? The rain would wash away the blood. But not the bitter taste of being truly alone. This was no victory to celebrate...*

Thing 2:

Yang: *wearing nothing but an apron* Welcome home loverboy! I made you a sandwich! Aw you look like you've had the hardest day! Come here! That's it. Lay down in my lap while I lower my top. You can enjoy your sandwich, then snuggle into my nude bosom and forget alllll about your terrible horrible no good very bad day! Shhhh... that's it. *tenderly strokes hair* You are safe. YOU ARE LOVED.

Blake: Well? What do you FILTHY DISGUSTING PERVERTS think about that?

Jaune & Adam: *clinging to each other bawling their eyes out* BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! *Sniff* ISH! *Snort* ISH SHO *hic* ISH SHO BOOTAFUUUUUUUUUUUUL! BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

Jaune: DATSH EGSHACTLY HOW IT WUD GO DOUWN!

Adam: *hic* YOU *Hic* YOU *HIC* YOU MEAN IT? YOU'D SAY ALL THOSH THINGSH WURD FER WURD?

Jaune: I WOULD. *holds up hand* BROTHA!

Adam: BROTHA! *claps hand firmly with solid sound and bulging arm muscles*

Ruby: *is breathing heavily with heaving chest and broken smile with a massive DOUBLE nosebleed at an epic mech fight*

Blake: YOU. YOU. YANG! CLEARLY YOU OBJECT BEING OBJECTIFIED LIKE THAT!

Yang: I mean I dunno Blake. Use what you got and I... *crosses arms lifting chest grinning* got a LOT to use. It honestly sounds more like you're jealous of my Smokin' Sexy Stylish Feminine Charms.

Pyrrha: *tapping index fingers together* ...I could make sandwiches in a naked apron and sooth Jaune with my naked boobs too....

Weiss: *pffft* Of course YOU would resort to such appeal Xiao-Long.

Yang: Don't be jealous I got more to hate Ice Queen.

Weiss: WHA- I COULD EASILY SOOTH JAUNE WAY BETTER THAN YOU FAT BIMBO!

*Blake watches in despair as Jaune and Adam begin eagerly discussing what an Adam victory and dialog would be like with Nora eagerly interjecting to add more explosions which is just as eagerly accepted by the boys. Ruby starts giggling between heaves and looking like she's about to pass out from her own 'epic explosive finisher'. Yang and Weiss start bickering about who would be better at soothing an emotionally drained protagonist with Pyrrha timidly trying to insert herself as an option*

Blake: Oh Horned Animal God... why hath thou forsaken me?

Ren: *gently touches her arm* In an era that demands complexity and a desire for the material, it is good to see people so passionate about simple pleasures.

---

Men only want two things in life. A worthy adversary and a loving life companion.

 

[Quietview27]

This wouldn't have happened if the mods on SB had spent some time outside in nature, worked out, read some proper books, and eaten some meat.


Anyway. What would Yang's reaction be if Ruby got herself a boyfriend before she did? Either dating Jaune or Whitley or anyone else suitable. Would Yang feel a little insecure? After all, Ruby used to hide away in her shadow, now here she is at Beacon in a healthy, loving relationship, while Yang is a virgin who hasn't kissed anyone yet, let alone got into a serious relationship.
Or after Beacon if this is taking place after the Vytal attacks, Jaune and Ruby could have started dating on the road to Haven too. Or Ruby x Jaune / Whitley in Atlas.
Would Yang get insecure? Feel like she wants to start looking for a serious relationship of her own? Or just be happy for her sister and try to support her?

Now that I think about it, Ruby and Jaune start dating on the road to Haven, so when Yang next sees her sister, it's like she's all grown up now. I think you could do a lot with that. After all, Yang still isn't back to 100%, and here she is back with the team and everything is different. Ruby isn't a baby anymore and if Yang tries to disapprove of her dating Jaune, she'll have a pretty serious talk with Yang about what is and isn't Yang's business. The kind of talk the shy, less confident Ruby would never have had with Yang a year ago. Or even a few months ago when Ruby left Patch for Haven with Jaune, Ren and Nora. That scenario adds a second layer on top of just Ruby getting a bf.

(No, I wasn't thinking of a harem/throuple situation, that would avoid the interesting character stuff by making most problems not a problem. I'm sure Yang can find someone someday, even if they're not in the named cast. Itanoverse Remnant is supposed to have a billion people after all.)

Click to shrink...

Yang liked to consider herself a good big sister to Ruby. Most of her thinking stemming from her basically raising her after their dad spiraled. She tried hard to let her grow up without interfering, but alas her protectiveness tended to blind herself to the fact her baby sister was only 2 years younger than she was.

Like right now.

It'd been months since her sister, Vomit boy, and Ren and Nora began a journey to reach Haven. She'd mostly caught up because uncle Qrow gave their location. But now that she was there with them, she noticed how- close Ruby and Jaune were.

Right now she was sitting on his lap, and okay little weird but it was probably a friend thing. Then they gave each other a look, and alright maybe they were having some weird friend shared thought thing.

"Man Yang you should've seen Jaune!" Ruby waved her arms excitedly, "He stopped the Nuckelavee in its tracks! It was so cool!"

"Me? Ren was the man of the hour then! He was doin' a lotta cool stuff!"

Said young man waved them off, "Please, no. I'd been blinded by anger, if it had not been for you all... I'd have joined my family that night."

Ren felt Jaune's hand pat his shoulder, the blond giving him a fond look.

"Well you're stuck with us I'm afraid," he grinned, "Can't go losin' my brother from another mother anytime soon you hear?"

Ren smiled, and nodded.

"Yeah!" Nora suddenly pulled Ren into a hug, "Team RNJR's still gotta kick lotsa butt!"

"Yeah!" Ruby cheered as Jaune returned to the chair they were sitting on, lifting her onto his lap, "Ahh, my throne had returned."

"Oh I'm sorry, what throne?" he asked as he began to lightly poke her sides.

"Nohohohoho stop that!" she squirmed from his attack, "I'm sorhohohory!"

"Better be," he grinned before kissing her.

That had been when Yang rose, walking over to Jaune.

"Alright Vomit Boy watch it," she growled, cracking her knuckles, "Unless you forgot who's little sister you just put your lips on."

"W-wha- Yang no!" Ruby tried speaking, "Jaune is-"

"Hush sis. I've got a punk to give a lesson."

"NO!"

Yang flinched at her sisters yell, and was shocked when she stood defiantly before her. Not a fleck of worry on her face.

"Now you listen to me," Ruby began, "Me and Jaune we're- we're together alright?"

".....WHAT!? Since when!?"

"W-well it didn't start out quickly. But, after traveling for so long together, I don't know I just felt so- so happy seeing him beside me. Then I saw some village girl being all cutesie with him, and I got annoyed and then I kissed him!"

"What!?"

"Hush! After that we- we talked, and then began to date- kinda, was a little hard given we were mostly in the woods, but whenever we went to town we went on dates."

"True!" Nora half yelled from her spot, "Me and Ren would give em privacy every time they did!"

"Indeed," Ren nodded, "Though they didn't state as much, me and Nora didn't miss the growing connection they had."

"B-but- why didn't you stop em?! Ruby's-!"

"A girl who just wanted to be happier alright?!" Ruby yelled again, frown deeper than before, "Jaune makes me happy. We like the same things, we've fought Grimm side by side, we've talked about everything! Why is it so hard for you to remember that I'm a person with feelings?"

Yang stepped back a bit, her anger replaced by panic, and worry, "R-ruby I- I just-"

Her sister sighed, "Look Yang, I know you care about me. You wouldn't have gotten angry at Jaune kissing me if you didn't, or act like a mom when we were little. But I'm not baby Ruby anymore."

She held her sisters hands, "I'm Ruby. Older, stronger, smarter-ish Ruby. So please, let me be older Ruby."

Yang tried arguing, but her sisters words were making her hesitate. So, she instead glared at Jaune.

"You really love my sis?"

He nodded, no fear or apprehension in his actions, "I'd put the moon back together for her if she asked."

She simply stared at him, red looking into blue, before she blinked and her eyes returned to lilac as she sighed in defeat. She gave her sister a sad smile.

"So do I call you Big Ruby now sis?" she tried joking.

Ruby returned her smile, "Nah. Just Rubes."

With that, the sisters hugged, and while Yang wouldn't instantly start to view her sister as fully grown completely yet, luckily she had her friends to smack sense into her and remind her. Still took Nora bear hugging her when she saw Jaune and Ruby go on a date though, but small steps.

 

[Frankly Tired]

The Queen & The Raven

My Very First Threadmarked Short from SB
(Sword Teacher doesn't fully count, it was only half of a full)

~~~~~~
"You..." Raven snarled "Why are you here?"

"To congratulate you, Child." Salem smiled, "You, and your little tribe, are the last Humans on Earth."

Raven huffed, "If that is all you have to say, then leave us!"

Salem Chuckled, "Oh no, with everyone Strong enough out of the way, and you all being the very last, I figured that I should gloat. I did so with Ozma and his little Silver Eyed brat, the "Heroes" of this world. I decided I would do so with the last survivors of Cowards."

Raven tightened the grip on her sword and her frown deepened at the Grimm Queen's emphasized words, "Speak, then leave us."

The Queen smile dipped a little, "Hmm, very well. Tell me, how will your tribe survive now that the land is desolate? I've noticed through my Seers that not a single one of you can farm. And the Wildlife have long since died out, that I'm sure you've noticed."

Raven didn't respond.

"Provisions perhaps, rationing your so called Canned Goods? I suppose that would suffice. But for how long, I wonder? Do keep in mind, once you leave these walls, and reach a certain distance, my Grimm will hunt your people."

"We will survive, we are strong."

"Oh, are you? Forgive me, but I believe it was you who ran away, while Summer Rose continued to fight me."

She gritted her teeth, "You're immortal, there wasn't a point, She kept fighting like a fool. Playing your game."

"And yet out of any Mortal, Silver eyed or not, She did the most damage to me. I dare say, had you to committed yourself. You'd both would have killed me. Perhaps not for long, mind you, but for just enough that Remnant would have lived without me for quite some time."

"Bullshit! Summer's brat barely hurt you when she and her band of misfits fought you."

"Hmmm, true, but she never really had any training. Summer Rose, however had discovered a lot by herself. Ruby Rose would have learned quite a lot about her powers had Summer lived. Certainly after my defeat. Of course, had you stayed."

Raven narrowed her eyes.

"She was still alive after you left you know. Though from what I know about your semblance, you must have known. Oh my, the amount of negativity she radiated I could barely keep my Grimm in check. we both did wonder why you never came back for her."

"And walk into the trap you would have placed? I'm not a fool."

"No, you really are. As I said, I was quite injured during the fight when you fled. Summer Rose was unconscious, and I was using what power I had left to keep my Grimm from breaking in and shredding her in to little rose petals. For those few minutes I was quite powerless. I had plans for when she woke up, and all through out, she always insisted you'd come for her. Even when I took her eyes, after I took her legs and arms, during my little experiments, and just before I submerged her in the Grimm pools. Oh, how she declared you'd open a portal right then and there, swipe my head from my neck, and steal her away."

Once again, Raven said nothing but glowered at Salem.

"But you never did, and oh how sweet her despair and heartache was as she slowly sank into the pool."

She scoffed instead, "Is that all, to gloat about the death of Summer? Summer Rose was a fool, and she died the way she lived."

"Yes, Yes, and You & Yours are cowards who will die cowards. We've long since established that, even the dead know."

"A coward would not have lived till the end of the world. It takes strength to live this long!"

"Raven, you wouldn't know strength even if it wiped away all life on this planet. You are a child who believes running away and hiding under the blanket covers is the most powerful thing to do against a monster. And yet, here we are. I, at your doorstep, and you still hiding. You've long since known my goal Raven, tell me what was it again?"

No response.

"It was the death of all life, Dear. Tell me, what makes you think you get special treatment? What made you believe I would simply leave you alone? Could you even stop me now, as I order my Grimm to surround your walls? How long will your little tribe of Vagrants and Vagabonds last when I command them to tear down this silly little wooden defenses? Who will help you and yours now that it is just us? You ran away from me Raven at your Peak, what makes you think your strong enough now?"

Salem paused for an answer but received none.

"You believe hiding behind a wall of wood, in tents of cloth, is strength? Very well Raven, let us see how strong your people are!"

Grimm of all shapes and sizes closed in and circled the Tribe Walls. Some of the defender, frightened, took shots as they closed in.

"You lived a coward's life, here is your Reward! Instead of waiting for your people to leave for mine to hunt, as they scrounge for what scraps of food there are left, now they never shall! How long will they last when you run out of ammunition, your blades dull, and your Aura expended? How strong will they be when you're water has run out, and your food eaten up? Will you turn on each other? Cannibalism, perhaps? It matters not. I have time Raven Branwen of The Branwen Tribe, you do not."

The defenders' faces, beside Raven, filled with dread.

"And I will sit here, watching, waiting. I've done so for millennia, what's a few more months? And when the last of you remain, I will reward my Grimm for being so patient."

 

[Sift Green]

Because not every bad guy needs go have a direct connection to the series big bad, my next set of Characters:

So for some villains/antagonists that aren't alined with Salem I have this idea that I'll probably use if I ever write a "Starting RWBY over from the beginning" fic:


Project Sterling: The lineages of the Silver Eyed Warriors are nearing extinction not only because of the efforts of Salem's agents, but also because of the plots and plans of those who seek to use the powers of the Silver Eyes for their own gain. The financial backers of Project Sterling are of that ilk. A secret organization founded before The Great War that hopes to create their own private army of Silver Eyed Warriors through a combination of eugenics and genetic manipulation, they scour the world for people with silver eyes they can use for their experiments.

Dr. Sumati Kamakshi: The head scientist of Project Sterling, Dr. Sumati Kamakshi has spent her entire career trying to unravel the genetic mysteries of the Silver Eyed Warriors. She imagines herself as the mother of a new race, a warrior race that will be the shield of civilization so normal people won't have to make those sacrifices.

One of her breakthroughs lead to the creation of the Sterling Sisters, three test-tube babies with working silver eyes. Unfortunately each girl has a noticeable inhuman defect that makes them unstable for mass production, so the research continues. Dr. Kamakshi did raise the girls as if they were her own daughters, yet the emotional connection never manifested on her part. Now that the youngest is old enough to leave the lab the Doctor has been sending them out to perform missions for her as semi-disposable assets.

Overall Sumati is confident that she's on the cusp of a major breakthrough. She just needs to iron out a couple kinks in the system and she'll be printing out Silver Eyed Warriors sooner rather than later…


The Sterling Sisters:

Merope Sterling (One Eye): The oldest of the Sterling Sisters at age twenty, Merope acts as the leader of the siblings and is the designated tank of their team. She wields a rocket powered hammer with no ranged option because she was born a cyclops and has terrible depth perception at range as a result.

Having a baseball sized singular eye take up the upper half of her face makes it impossible for Merope to pass as a normal human, and so she wears a (Daft Punk) helmet with a one way faceplate to hide her mutation when she goes out in public. Since the helmet is mandatory Merope has gone all in on the biker look and has also acquired a motorcycle for her personal use.

Merope is fiercely loyal to her mother and would do anything she asks, even at risk of life and limb. The only thing that rivals this loyalty is her protectiveness towards her younger sisters, who she feels duty bound to look out for.

Rana Sterling (Two Eyes): As the middle child at eighteen Rana is the most rebellious of the three sisters, frequently talking back to their mother and questioning why she wants them to do the things that they do. This usually makes her the odd woman out of the team, but she stays with them out of the love she feels for her sisters.

Rana is armed with a revolver-rifle that turns into a longsword an acts as the team's midrange damage dealer or close melee support depending on the circumstances. She's also the team's mechanic and maintains their gear and transport.

Her mutation isn't immediately noticeable unlike her sister's mutations. Having six-fingers on both hands is weird but not that weird, a lot of people might not notice if it isn't pointed out to them. She still wears large workers gloves that can hid her extra fingers when she does't want to risk them getting noticed, and these gloves go nicely with the wrench wench look she she goes for with her personal attire.

Hitomi Sterling (Three Eyes): At age fifteen Hitomi is the baby of the three sisters and is sometimes annoyed with the fact that her siblings go out of their way to do things for her because of that. This has lead to Hitomi being the biggest risk taker of the team as she seeks opportunities to prove herself capable without their help. This has only backfired on her every other time.

Hitomi's mutation is just as noticeable as Merope's, but is much easier to hide. The girl possesses a third fully functional silver eye in the middle of her forehead, rotated ninety degrees in comparison to her two normally positioned silver eyes. As a result a simple headband is all she needs to not draw attention to herself. She has a preference for punk clothing to go with her headband.

Her weapon of choice is a sniper-rifle halberd hybrid, and as a result she's the team's main long range damage dealer.





So the Sterling Sisters are based off of the old fairytale One-eye, Two-eyes, and Three-eyes. In that story the middle child is the only normal member of the family, as denoted by her name Two-eyes. Two-eyes' older sister is called One-eye because she's a cyclops, and her younger sister is called Three-eyes because you guessed it; triclops.

Since Two-eyes looks like a normal person the mother of the girls (the actually mother, no stepmother in this story) leads the two abnormal sisters in bullying their normal sibling. Fairytale shenanigans happen and Two-eyes ends up married to a wealthy knight who gives her all the love and affection she lacked growing up. Then years later her sisters come to her door destitute and begging for forgiveness. Two-eyes gives it to them and lets them live with her in her husband's castle. (It is implied the wicked mother died.)

This seemed like a good inspiration for a group of Zuko style antagonists; i.e. decent people doing bad things out of misplaced love for their evil family. It also lends to a Zuko style redemption arc where they realize that they're the bad guys and their mother is irredeemably evil, and they switch sides at a turning point of the narrative to make up for what they did to serve their mother.

I'd introduce them to the story fairly early on with Hitomi meeting Ruby before Beacon and the sisters trying to kidnap our titular protagonist so their mother has more silver-eyed genetic material to work with. The kidnaping attempt could be part of the reason why Ruby is going to Beacon early in this version of the story; the school is safer than her home in Patch.

I need to figure out good semblances for the Sterling Sisters. I mean looking at the original fairytale for inspiration Two-eyes had some magic and Three-eyes was able to resist a spell that should have put her to sleep since the spell didn't affect her third eye, but I'm not yet sure what to do with that.

After that I need a few more people involved in Project Sterling; shadowy backers, other scientists, bounty hunters to bring in people with silver eyes/act as a genetic template/train the vat born silver eyed army, stuff like that.


Anyways does this seem like a good idea for a group of RWBY villains? Anybody got suggestions for semblances the Sisters could use?

 

[Sift Green]

And now combining two different but related posts into one, Yang and Ruby's friends from Signal.


Alright, as we discussed several pages back Yang's friends from Signal are defiantly characters that should have been more than a joke at the beginning of the first volume, as Yang's friends could have done a lot of good things for the narrative. They can further define Yang's character by showing the kind of people she liked to hang out with. They give Yang and Ruby peers to interact with in flashbacks. They can help fill out the student roster giving Teams RWBY and JNPR more students in their year to interact with besides Team CRDL. They can be used in Yang's recovery arc after the attack on Beacon, or they could be used to pile on the angst by having one or two of them die that fateful day.

So Yang's friends from Signal are useful characters to have in your story, but we don't know anything about them beyond the fact that they exist. As a result I've spent the last couple of days cooking up some ideas for these friends, going off of the theme of "animals frequently used as villains" that AndrewJTalon suggested at the end of that discussion several pages back I mentioned.

And so without further ado here's what I came up with:

(Edit: The name that was decided for this team is TCAZ pronounced Turquoise.)

Zeke Timber (Wolf): A redheaded human boy of average hight, Zeke Timber was one of Yang's friends from Signal. His parents, Lowell and Ylva Timber, are the founders and leaders of Timber's Wolves, a group of rambunctious huntsmen and huntresses organized into a Biker Gang that roam the backroads of The Kingdom of Vale. This helps keep the less beaten paths between the kingdom's various towns and villages safer as Timber's Wolves do all they can to clear out the Grimm along the roads they regularly patrol. Each town and village along their routs pay Timber's Wolves a small tribute as thanks for this service, and the gang will ride alongside merchant caravans providing protection for a small fee.

It isn't easy raising a kid on the road, so Zeke and his siblings grew up alongside their cousins on their Uncle Zeev's ranch in Patch. Lowell and Ylva would swing by for important holidays, birthdays and occasionally to drop off a newborn sibling. They would also call at least once a week to check up, being as present as they could with their transient ways.

In spite of their absence in his life growing up Zeke still admired his parents and wants to be a huntsman like they are, and he has a deep appreciation for motorcycles and hoverbikes that he's gained from their visits. This has lead him to learn how to be a mechanic on top of learning how to fight and hunt Grimm.

And yet in spite of preparing to follow in his parents footsteps he feels divided on whether or not he wants to fully commit to the biker life or if he'd want to put down roots to protect a specific community as his permanent home.

Zeke met Yang at Signal, and they got to know each other thanks to their shared love of motorcycles. Zeke built his own custom bike called Dog Days roundabout the same time Yang got her own bike Bumblebee, and the two of them would frequently race each other. Zeke and Yang became rivals in racing, each of them pushing the other as far as they could go on the racetrack. This lead to them being friends off of the racecourse.

Zeke's primary weapon is a mechashift carbine called Never Cry that can extend itself into a fire lance. His sidearms include a custom seven-shot revolver called Night Howl and a long machete called Old Tooth that he inherited from his great-grandfather.

His semblance is called Huff-n-Puff, which gives him the ability to exhale his breath with enough explosive force to knock down an opponent. This semblance also gives Zeke some insane lung capacity and breath control, allowing him to keep blowing a steady stream of air far longer than you'd expect.



Avalon Coatlicue (Snake): A snake faunus girl with scales in red, black and yellow bands on her arms and legs as well as the sides of her torso and along her neck all the way to her temples; while she has smooth skin on her face, front and back of her neck, front and back of her torso as well as the palms of her hands and the soles of her feet. Her faunus trait is a long serpentine tail with scales in the same red, black and yellow band pattern as the rest of her body and her eyes are also quite snakelike. Her hair is blonde on her right side, ginger on her left side with a black stripe down the middle separating the other two colors.

Avalon Caatlicue grew up on her family's orchard in Patch, where she was the eldest helping her parents keep her younger siblings in line. However in spite of being the eldest she had no desire to inherit the family business, believing that it would be better off in the hands of her younger brother Phineas. And so Avalon enrolled in Signal Academy to gain the skills she'd need for a different career path she could use to support herself; the path of a Huntress.

Once at Signal Avalon met Yang, where the two of them bonded over being the older responsible sister that needs to keep an eye out for their younger siblings. This friendship gave Avalon a spot at the cool kids table, much to her surprise, as Yang used ever ounce of her firebrand bravado to become the school's queen bee so nobody would be willing to pick on her younger sister Ruby. Knowing she'd probably do the same thing if her own younger siblings were coming to Signal Avalon backed Yang up 100%, becoming the Blonde Brawler's primary hype woman. Avalon also became familiar with first aid to help Yang patch herself up whenever a challenger decided a fight was the best way to settle things (because you know, combat school).

Avalon uses a pair of maracas that can be combined into a scepter known as Slithering Samba as her primary weapon. This unorthodox weapon was designed to pair with her semblance, Samba Sorcery, which allows her to manipulate Dust effects via the application of sound waves. This makes her the team Dust specialist and a bit of a Dust wizard, as she can pull of pseudo-magic feats with dust so long as she can find the right beat and rhythm.



Grant Arcturus (Bear): A sturdy human boy with honey-brown hair and hazel eyes Grant Arcturus is far stronger than he looks, and he looks plenty strong. As the third son of successful beekeepers Grant realized at a young age that he'd never be in a position to inherit the family business. Not wanting to work for his older brothers he started contemplating what other careers he might enjoy, and on his twelfth birthday he discovered that he liked fighting after he stumbled across a group of bullies doing their thing.

The bullies were picking on a faunus girl with tentacles for hair that had recently moved into town. At first nobody was doing anything until a blonde girl with a short temper stormed up and started giving the bullies a piece of her mind. Knowing their was strength in numbers Grant moved in to back the blonde firecracker up. Heated words were exchanged, someone threw the first punch and a schoolyard brawl people would still talk about years later ensued.

That was how he became friends with Yang Xiao Long and Nanami Zimo, and how he decided he wanted to be a Huntsman; fighting the good fight for those who either couldn't or didn't know how to fight for themselves. Grant enrolled in Signal Academy and put himself to work to become the best fighter and huntsman he could be, and as a result he was on the short list of students that could keep up with Yang.

Grant uses a pair of tonfa called Reason and Persuasion. These tonfa are also guns, and can mechashift to deploy axeheads for when the situation needs him to be choppy.

His semblance, Extinguisher, allows him to increase his strength and reinforce his aura by absorbing heat. This heat absorption is strong enough to straight up put out fires and makes him more or less immune to flame.



Nanami Zimo (Kraken): A cephalopod faunus girl who's obvious faunus trait is a set of tentacles replacing her hair. Less obviously she has a set of ink sacs that let her spit up a surprising amount of highly viscous ink with enough accuracy to blind an opponent almost ten yards away. Besides her faunus traits she has the asiatic features one would expect from somebody who's ancestors hailed from Fuujin.

Nanami's family moved to Patch when she was around twelve, and she was quickly singled out by the bullies of her new school as an easy target. However before the bullying could get very far two of her new classmates stood up for her; Yang Xiao Long and Grant Arcturus. Once the schoolyard brawl was over Nanami considered the two of them her best friends.

As Grant and Yang headed off to Signal Academy Nanami decided to follow them and become a Huntress as well. She hoped to learn how to be strong like they were, and as she applied herself to her schoolwork she found she had a strong enough knack for violence to make the cut. With a newfound confidence she enrolled in Beacon with them, planing to go the distance with her friends.

Her semblance is called Bottomless Inkwell, and its effect means that as long as she has aura her ink sacs won't run out of ink. She has incorporated this near endless supply of Ink into her weaponry, manufacturing her own ink filled grenades to toss around the battlefield. She has also found that her ink is an excellent fluid to suspend powdered Dust into, letting her craft grenades with all kinds of Dust effects.

This endless supply of ink that can be easily dust infused has also affected how she crafted her primary weapons. She has a rifle called Twin Death with two barrels, the upper barrel fires conventional ammunition while the lower barrel is fed dust infused ink from a tank on her back, allowing it to shoot ink like a napalm thrower that can have all kinds of nasty effects from whatever dust she's using. For melee combat she has a katana called Weeping Wave that has a tube along the back of the handle that she can also attach to the tank on her back, allowing her to coat the blade with her dust infused ink.




So there you have it. What do you guys think? Do these characters work as Yang's friends from Signal? What do you guys think about the weapon and semblances, and do the names for the weapons and semblances feel right?




And the second one:


That does bring up a good point, the kids from Ruby's year at Signal is another place it could be useful to come up with a few OCs. I mean while Ruby didn't have a lot of friends (Hence Yang being pushy about making new friends and why her becoming friends with Jaune and Weiss was a big deal), but she did have at least one she was close enough with to write them a letter during her first night at Beacon.

So it would make sense to have one or two OCs to act as Ruby's friends in flashbacks/prequel sequences, visits home, or to join Beacon in a couple of years if you're either avoiding the Fall of Beacon or pushing it back to give our heroes more time at school learning their craft.

So I had a fit of inspiration: since Ruby's supposed to be an allusion to Little Red Riding Hood it might be thematically appropriate for her friends from Signal to be allusions to another group of characters that had to deal with a Big Bad Wolf. And what do you know? Peter and The Wolf has four primary characters that can be made into a complete team of Hunters.


Anyways, this is what I came up with:

Pete Rudenko: A human boy with blond hair and a fondness for red clothing, Pete Rudenko wanted to be a Huntsman for as long as he could remember. The reason for this desire started off simple; Huntsmen didn't have to stay within protective fences and walls when their grandfather couldn't watch over them, they could go anywhere because if a Grimm showed up they could kill it. And so Pete started collecting different things he thought would be useful for hunting Grimm and when he made a pair of likeminded friends Pete made a foolish decision out of youthful exuberance: they'd go out there and kill a Grimm to prove they could be Hunters now instead of when they grew up.

And so Pete took his friends Lesya and Jovan beyond the borders of their little village in Patch and found the trail of a massive Beowulf. They tracked the beast to the vicinity of an old swimming hole that was supposed to be a safe place and attacked it with the weapons they had managed to get their hands on. This almost ended in disaster. The three of them barely managed to escape with their lives by fleeing into a grove of trees too dense for the Beowulf to pursue them. Unfortunately this placed the mighty Grimm between them and their way home, meaning their lives now depended on finding a way to kill Beowulf before it found a way to get into the grove and kill them.

Among the things Pete had gathered for the hunt was several lengths of rope, and with them he proposed a plan. Lesya would keep the Beowulf's attention long enough for Pete and Jovan to lasso the monster with ropes tried to the sturdiest tree trunks around them. With the Beowulf's mobility thus limited they could then take their time dropping rocks on it from the forest canopy until it died. This plan worked out much better, and yielded a surprise.

As the Beowulf's remains disappeared as dead Grimm usually do a duck faunus roughly the same age as them named Sophia was released from what used to be the Beowulf's stomach. This shocking development helped solidify Pete's desire to become a Huntsman when the terror of everything leading up to that moment had been enough to make him reconsider such a path. Being a Huntsman no longer meant unlimited freedom to him, it now meant saving people. He'd just be better prepared next time… and being better prepared meant accepting his grandfather's scolding and gaining a proper schooling at the local combat academy.

Sophia quickly became Pete's best friend, which meant when Sophia became Ruby's friend Pete was now also Ruby's friend via the 'friend of a friend' principle. Pete got along okay with Ruby, they did share a few interests after all, but he couldn't help but feel like he was in competition with the silver eyed girl for the position of Sophia's bestie which caused just enough tension for the two of them to not be as close as they could have been. (The degenerate yuri obsessed subsection of the school rumor mill insisting something was going on between Sophia and Yang's weird sister had absolutely nothing to do with why Pete was uncomfortable with Ruby being closer to Sophia than him. It did not. Quit asking.)

However Pete was able to bond with Ruby over the creation of weapons. The two of them worked together to create extremely powerful bear-traps capable of mechashifting into small and compact forms for ease of transport, allowing Pete to carry dozens of them on his person at all times for impromptu trap setting to deny grounded Grimm mobility options. These traps also have different modes; a latch on mode to keep a Grimm pinned in place as the trap anchors itself to the ground after a Grimm steps in it and a piranha mode where the trap rapidly bites chunks out of any Grimm that pass over the ground the trap has been set in.

Pete's primary weapon is a rifle with a mechashift bayonet attachment that can be a spear tip or axehead depending on the situation. In addition to the bayonet Pete also carries a set of hunting knives and a hatchet he is quite proficient with.



Lesya Vogel: A songbird faunus girl whose animal trait is a pair of wings that combined with her semblance allow her to fly. Her feathers and hair have a color pattern reminiscent of a barn swallow; a cinnamon orangish-red in her bangs with the rest being a steely-blue color. She wears a set of pitot's goggles around her neck when she's on the ground so she's always has them on hand when she goes flying.

Lesya developed her semblance at a young age, a form of limited aerokinesis concentrated in her wings that allowed her to force more air around them than would normally be natural, allowing her to fly with a level of radical speed and graceful agility exceeding what wings of her size should allow. Because of her semblance she wanted to spend all of her free time flying, but her parents set hard limits of where she could go for fear of flying Grimm. And so Lesya decided she wanted to become a huntress because huntresses were allowed to go to all the places her parents forbade. She made a few likeminded friends in Pete Rudenko and Jovan Gatti, and thinking strength in numbers would make up for youth and inexperience she joined them on an a Grimm hunt to prove they were ready to take care of themselves.

The Grimm hunt almost ended in disaster, the Beowulf they found being much larger and stronger than they had thought it would be from the tracks they had found. If it had been able to follow them into the thick grove of trees they found at least one of them would have died. Fortunately Pete was able to devise a successful plan to kill the Grimm so Lesya wasn't forced to abandon her friends to their fate.

She got an earful from her parents later berating her for staying instead flying off to get help but Lesya remained in high spirits because they had saved the life of Sophia Utkin, a duck faunus the Beowulf had swallowed whole and had managed to stay alive long enough to be rescued when Lesya and her friends killed the monster.

The whole ordeal changed Lesya's outlook on becoming a huntress; it was no longer about unlimited freedom, it was now about saving people. And if she was going to save people she was going to do it right, leading Lesya to enroll in the local combat academy system so she could become the best huntress possible.

Sophia became one of Lesya's best friends, and so when Sophia became friends with Ruby Rose Lesya became friends with Ruby via the 'friend of a friend' principle. Lesya got along with Ruby okay, but at the same time there was a little festering jealousy that kept them from being as close as they could be. You see before Ruby joined their friend group Lesya was used to being the fast one thanks to her flight, but Ruby's semblance meant she instantly took Lesya's niche as the fastest and most mobile person in the friend group. Lesya made it her life's mission to best Ruby in races through the school's variable obstacle courses, and her failure to beat Ruby's times for longer than a day or two really got under Lesya's skin and created a subtle friction between the two of them.

Lesya's primary weapon is a pair of sabers designed to be used in flight, her main fighting style involving darting in and out in high speed passes dealing damage and getting out before her targets have a chance to strike back. While she primarily focuses her aerokinesis through her wings she has been learning how to channel it through her swords, and it won't be long before she learns how to launch compressed air wind blades at distant foes. She's also figuring out how to channel the wind around her wings into a cutting edge, which will make her wings additional blades once she's worked out all the kinks. In the meantime she has a pair of scatterguns that can mechasift into shotguns if she needs to hit targets at a distance or dogfight with flying Grimm.



Sophia Utkin The Indigestible: A duck faunus girl whose primary animal trait is a set of webbed feet that make her an excellent swimmer. Sophia also possesses a distinctive hair pattern reminiscent of a female mallard's wing feathers; i.e. mostly brown with symmetrically placed white stripes blocking in blue stripes. This pattern combined with the length and style she likes to keep her hair creates the illusion of wings on her head, especially when the wind catches her hair just right and makes it billow outwards.

Sophia was friends with Ruby Rose back in Patch and at Signal. They became friends as a direct consequence of one of Ruby's first Grimm hunts with her uncle Qrow. Ruby had just finished her first prototype of Crescent Rose and Qrow took her out into the woods for a field test and the two of them found Sophia having gotten lost looking for a safe swimming hole she had heard about. As they first spotted Sophia in the distance they were horrified to see a massive Beowulf jump out of the brush and swallow the young duck faunus whole. The two of them pursued the Beowulf to avenge the death of the young girl, and as the Grimm lay dead and dissolved into nothing they were surprised to discover that Sophia was still alive and relatively unharmed. Grateful for being saved from the belly of the beast Sophia threw her whole being into being Ruby's best friend.

Sophia's other best friends are Pete Rudenko, Lesya Vogel, and Jovan Gatti. The story of how she met them is an interesting one: Sophia got lost on the way home from a day of swimming at a pond that was supposed to be safe in the woods and was ambushed by a massive Beowulf that proceeded to swallow her whole. Fortunately for Sophia a trio of young wannabe hunters had been tracking that particular Beowulf and baited it into a trap that killed it, with the young trio of wannabe hunters shocked to discover Sophia alive and relatively unharmed. As a show of gratitude for the rescue Sophia threw her whole being into being the trio's friend.

These were completely separate incidents, with the trio saving Sophia a couple of years before Ruby saved her.

Not wanting to get eaten again Sophia started learning how to hunt and kill Grimm, which turned out to be more difficult than she expected because almost every Grimm she's encountered has tried to swallow her whole before trying anything else so long as it had a big enough set of jaws to make the attempt, even when such behavior is atypical of that variety of Grimm. There was just something about her natural aroma that made Grimm think she was delicious. Because of this Sophia's discovered that her semblance grants her an odd grab bag of abilities that makes surviving in a monster's digestive tract possible, as such her current name for her semblance is Indigestible.

Realizing that getting swallowed whole again was an inevitability lead Sophia to design her most unique secondary weapon: a heavily modified duck call shaped like a duck's bill that she wears around her neck beneath her shirt that she named Thunder-quack. Thunder-quack can amplify her screams into a devastating sonic attack, something no creature can defend against when the attack originates from inside of them. As such Sophia is able to seriously damage and rupture the internal organ equivalents of any Grimm that eats her, allowing her to kill the monster from the inside.

Sophia's more conventional primary weapon is a shotgun that resembles a modernized blunderbuss named Thunder-box that's thick enough, sturdy enough, and heavy enough to be used as a club when the enemy gets close enough for melee. She also conceals a number of field knives on her person that have all been selected for how good they are at cutting one's way out of something even when you have minimal leverage.

Sophia acted as the connecting point between Ruby and her peers at Signal. She was friends with Ruby, and she was friends with the trio, making Ruby and the trio friends by association. While Ruby didn't cleanly mesh with the trio she still got along with them well enough that it was never awkward when Sophia had them all do things together. Sophia in turn recognized the distance Ruby had with the rest of the group and did everything she could to bridge the gap between them hoping that all of her best friends would grow to be best friends to.



Jovan Gatti: A cat faunus boy with striped grayish-blue hair and deep green eyes, his primary animal traits being a set of retractable claws on his hands and feet. These claws tie into his semblance, which allow the claws to find grip and purchases on surfaces claws would normally slide off of. As a result Jovan can climb basically anything with a feline grace. This ability also makes him a grappling king and therefor a nightmare in hand to hand combat.

Growing up Jovan wanted to climb the biggest trees in the forests around his home in Patch, but his parents wouldn't let him go into the forest because you could never be completely sure that the local hunters didn't miss a Grimm or two during their latest sweep. And so Jovan decided he wanted to be a Huntsman so he could go where he wanted when he wanted without worrying about if the Grimm had been cleared out lately or not, because if they hadn't been he could do it himself.

Jovan met a couple of likeminded kids his age named Pete Rudenko and Lesya Vogel, and the three of them together decided that all of them combined equaled a huntsman. Spurred on by this youthful delusion the three of them went out into the woods and started tracking down a Beowulf. This almost ended in disaster as the Beowulf was much larger and more powerful than they had imagined. If they hadn't found a grove of trees to dense for the monster to follow they probably would have died then and there.

Fortunately Pete was able to come up with a new plan to get them out of the mess they had gotten themselves into. Using several lengths of rope they were able to lasso the Beowulf and limit its mobility by tying the ropes to the strongest tree trunks in the area. With the Grimm thus kept in place they were able to find some rocks big enough to do some real damage to the beast and dropped them on the Beowulf from the forest canopy before it managed to free itself from the ropes.

The death of the Beowulf freed a duck faunus the monster had eaten named Sophia, and this rescue changed the way Jovan thought about being a huntsman. It was no longer about freedom but duty, duty to his fellow citizens to keep them safe from the terrors he now fully grasped. He accepted his parent's chastisement and entered into the local combat academy system so he would gain all of the skills he needed to fulfill the duty he planed to bear.

Sophia became one of Jovan's best friends, and when she became friends with Ruby Jovan became friends with Ruby via the 'friend of a friend' principle. Jovan got along with Ruby for the most part, in spite of their shared interests. You see the two of them frequently found themselves on opposite sides of various nerd culture debates: Was the 1986 or 95 X-ray and Vav cartoon the better adaptation of the comics? Who was the best Space Quest captain? Was the Ebony Vixen or May Jay Watters the better love interest of The Awesome Arachnid? Any conversation involving their favorite franchises inevitably devolved into heated debates that left both of them unreasonably cross with each other. Years later these disagreements would comfortably fall into the agree to disagree category or the third option compromise category thanks to greater maturity on their part (and future franchise mismanagement under a couple of different hacks making the arguments feel stupid in hindsight), but during the time they were both at Signal these differences kept them from being as close of friends as they could have been.

Jovan's primary weapon is a Sniper Rifle that can mechashift into a SMG for when things get close. He figured sniping made sense for him since his climbing ability would let him access the perfect sniping nests wherever he was (no he wasn't jealous that Ruby's semblance let her do the same more efficiently, he was not). Jovan is also one of Taiyang's best students when it comes to hand to hand combat thanks to creative applications of his semblance, meaning he is more than capable of ripping Grimm apart with his claws should the monsters get too close to use a gun.




So what do you guys think? I figured having Ruby be the odd friend out in the friend group was a good way to reconcile how big a deal her making friends with Jaune and then Weiss was supposed to be with her having a friend she'd write a letter to back at Signal.

I also have the mental image of a running gag where a new type of Grimm is usually introduced with an example of that Grimm eating Sophia and a seriously ticked off Sophia cutting her way out of it to everyone else's relief.


Do you guys think these characters work in general? Do they work as a friend group for Ruby?

And what team name do you think they should have if/when they go to Beacon?

We have:
P and R,
L and V,
S and U,
J and G,
To work with. I am open to suggestions.

 

[Sift Green]

And starting with Salem's additional Dark Maiden Candidates:

Hmmm....

A faunus girl who's animal trait is a set of insect wings that when combined with a weight reducing gravity dust belt allows her to fly.

Since the Disney Fairies brand makes Tinker Bell a straight up tinkerer our Tinker Bell inspired villainess could work as Dr. Watts understudy, learning how to program the machines she makes from him. She's also the person currently maintaining the vehicles and other equipment that Salem's underlings use.

During the Atlas arc Dr. Watts tries to make her the new Winter Maiden, fueling the animosity between Watts and Cinder. And if Cinder actually kills Watts? Well our evil Tinker Bell actually liked him, viewing him as a grumpy uncle figure, which could lead to an epic bad guy on bad guy fight. A full on evil witch vs. mad scientist fight.

Work out some backstory details as for why she's with Salem (in love with a guy already in a relationship? murdered his girlfriend? oh crap he found out and hates me now? Salem promises a way to make him love her?) and come up with a new name so it takes the reader a few minutes to figure out that this is an evil Tinker Bell and you'd have a pretty solid addition to Salem's forces.

So what good names could work for that? Tina Bella? Or is that too close?

Click to shrink...

How about her name in French? Fée Clochette? Or a take on her Japanese name?

Tinkā Beru. Beru Tinka.

Click to shrink...

Felt the urge to expand upon this and hammered this out after I got out of bed this morning:

Fee Clochette: A Faunus with a set of insect wings large enough to glide/fall gracefully, but with the use of a levitation belt powered by gravity dust she is fully capable of flight. A prodigy mechanic and gifted tinkerer Fee Clochette keeps her blonde hair in a neat bun so it stays out of her way while working, and is almost always wearing a set of high tech goggles on her forehead that can be used as magnifying lenses, welding goggles, or aviators goggles depending on her current needs. Her primary weapon is a massive adjustable wrench that can shift into a wheel-lock rifle.


Before coming into Salem's service Fee was a promising student at the regional combat school for her village in Vale, which she attended with her equally promising childhood friend Piers Fluter. Fee was in love with him, so when Piers developed a romantic relationship with fellow student Wanda Whitebird she was consumed by an unhealthy level of jealousy. Wanting to get her love rival out of her way she arranged a little accident for Wanda, and the accident ended up being a bit more fatal than she originally intended. Even if things went farther than she planned she still comforted Piers in his grief, and she was able to leverage a romantic relationship out of it.


Then things fell apart shortly after their graduation and as they were preparing to enroll in Beacon, for Piers discovered what Fee did to Wanda and was understandably horrified. Forced to flee for her life after being exposed as a murderer, Fee was discovered in the wilderness by a servant of Salem who saw potential in her and brought her before the Grimm Queen. Salem began grooming her for the role of the Winter Maiden, and she also introduced Fee to Dr. Watts so the faunus girl could continue her education in engineering.


Fee proved to be an eager and pliable student. Dr. Watts found he actually enjoyed teaching her and working to bring out her full potential. Her combat studies under Salem's assassins progressed well, and from Salem herself Fee learned about the capabilities of Magic.


In spite of how things ended Fee is still madly in love with Piers, and learning that their mutual childhood friend Lillian Taiga had put him back together at Beacon filled her with a caustic mix of conflicting emotions. Relief that the consequences of her actions didn't destroy her beloved, jealous rage that Lillian now held his heart. But Fee had learned from her mistakes; murdering the hypotenuse wasn't the best way to solve a love triangle. Salem had taught her what magic could do to the mind, if she could become the Winter Maiden she could make them both love her. She just needed the right in.


Salem had taught her what magic could do to the soul. So using her knowledge in engineering she has built and programed a robot that looks and acts the way Fee thinks Wanda would have if she was still alive. If she successfully becomes the Winter Maiden she could use her magic to give this new Wanda a soul, perhaps she could even rip open the doors of the afterlife and give this new Wanda the soul of the original Wanda.


Piers and Lillian would surely forgive her if she did that! That's the in that would get them to lower their guard and let her into their minds. Then all four of them could be together, just like they should have been in the first place…




So what do you guys think?

 

[Sift Green]

And the second Dark Maiden Candidate I came up with:


Since I already outlined a Tinkerbell inspired OC here, how about a Villainess with a bit of inspiration from another modern fairy tale set in the early 1900s? Like the musical Annie?

This is a concept I hammered out yesterday:

Allie Warbucks: In a small town in the countryside of Mistral there was an orphanage where a young girl named Allie Warbucks lived. The girl had curly red hair and when given the choice would wear grey clothes with red or orange highlights that matched that hair.


Allie was a dutiful and hardworking girl who always did her chores and always did what she was told. Unfortunately this made her a target for the ringleader among the children, who thought of her as the headmaster's pet. Allie was bullied every time the other kids thought they could get away with it, and they frequently left their own chores for Allie to do. Things got worse as her tormentors got better at hiding their tracks, and the kind headmaster was replaced with a cruel headmistress.


It should come as no surprise that Allie came to resent the others at the orphanage. And yet she didn't let her resentment show. This was all a temporary issue anyways; the day would come where she would ether be adopted or grow old enough to take care of herself. Then she would leave the orphanage behind and never look back, so lashing out in spite wasn't worth it in the long run.


Unfortunately her Semblance didn't agree.


One night after she cried herself to sleep her tears turned to black ichor, and as she cried in her dreams this ichor flowed from her tear ducts like the water from a sink faucet. As the ichor hit the ground it formed a sticky pool, and out of that pool crawled creatures formed from all the bitterness she bottled up in side. These black pseudo-Grimm acted out Allie's subconscious desires for revenge, and over the next couple of weeks the people she had grown to hate started to disappear one by one.


At first Allie was just as confused and scared as everyone else in her town by the mysterious disappearances, but that changed when the cruel headmistress disappeared, for the pseudo-Grimm she had been making in her sleep revealed themselves to Allie, and they awaited her orders. She knew she should be horrified by what her servant creatures had done, but this was the first good thing that had happed to her since the kindly headmaster left. And so Allie embraced the little monsters she had made, her Gobble-uns, and decided letting them get rid of those who were nasty and misbehaved was a good thing.


Fear spread through the town as the disappearances continued and the population slowly shrank. The rumor mill soon carried warnings that you better be on your best behavior at all times, lest the Gobble-uns will get you. Eventually the rumors spread beyond the town into the surrounding countryside so Huntsmen and Huntresses came to investigate the stories about a new kind of Grimm. Huntsmen and Huntresses started disappearing. Eventually these disappearance caught the attention of the Academy Headmasters and it was agreed that the best of the best needed to check things out: Team STRQ was sent to investigate.


This marked the end of Allie's little reign of terror, as Team STRQ was more than a match for the Gobble-uns she had at her disposal. Allie only avoided capture thanks to the arrival of one of Salem's servants, who had come to the town to investigate the rumors about her Gobble-uns. This servant of Salem brought Allie before the Grimm Queen. The Ancient Witch was impressed with the girl, and began to groom her for the role of Maiden.


Allie learned much from Salem's tutelage. She learned the possibilities that magic provided, she learned how to fight and she learned about the creation of Grimm. The making of new Grimm fascinated Allie the most since her Gobble-uns could be mistaken for the creatures of destruction. As a result she joined Salem in the witch's experiments meant to create new species of Grimm, and her contribution to those efforts actually impressed the Grimm Queen.


As a result Allie is currently spearheading several Grimm related projects, from creating new hybrids to trying to make a new species based off of her Gobble-uns. She also assists Salem with some of her more delicate projects such as the Hound and its' potential evolution: the Kumiho.


These efforts lead Allie to seek out the lost research of Dr. Merlot, which is where she first ran afoul of Teams RWBY and JNPR. She and her Gobble-uns clashed with the huntresses/huntsmen in training as she recognized Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long as the children of the huntsman team that drover her from her original hometown.


Both parties would survive the Dr. Merlot incident, but it would not be the last time they clashed. Salem wanted to make Allie the Spring Maiden, and would send her on the hunt for that Maiden not long after Cinder's attack on the Vytal Festival. This would make more confrontations inevitable…





Basically a Servant of Salem that's closer to Winter's age than Teams RWBY and JNPR, who instantly has beef with our heroes because she's just old enough to have beef with their parents, but is still young enough to qualify as a Maiden. If she does most of her fighting through her pseudo-Grimm servants it would also make sense for her to be around a skill level our heroes can handle in spite of her being so much older than them. I'm not sure what her weapon would be, but I want to call it Hard Knocks Life.

Now if you think the pseudo-Grimm semblance is out there let me lay out my reasoning: the musical Annie was inspired by a newspaper comic called Little Orphan Annie, and one of the inspirations for that newspaper comics was a poem with a similar name. In the poem the titular orphan tells several stories that all end with the warning; "An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you Ef you Don't Watch Out!" In one of the stories the Gobble-uns are described as 'tall black things' that kind of reminded me of Grimm.


So what do you all think? Is this a good concept for a Servant of Salem? Anybody got any suggestions to make the concept better?

 

[Sift Green]

The third Dark Maiden Candidate concept:


I've already done a Tinkerbell inspired villain named Fee Clochette and an Orphan Annie inspired villain named Allie Warbucks and when I asked for a character that could work as an understudy for Tyrian the suggestion I got was Princess Jasmine, so here we go again:



Princess Badoura: A dusky skinned woman with a fondness for blue midriff exposing outfits, Badoura is a combat prodigy just old enough to enter a Huntsman Academy when the story starts. She is armed with twin Katars (push daggers) that can mechshift into submachine guns, and a dagger at the end of a spiked chain woven into the elaborate floor length braid she keeps her hair in.


Before entering Salem's service Badoura was a princess: the daughter of the Shah of Shirabad, a wealthy independent city-state on the border of the kingdoms of Vale and Vacuo. The Shah was a brilliant economist and tinkerer, and under his rule the city grew to new heights as the wealth of overland trade flowed through its' walls. Unfortunately the Shah was less skilled in the world of cloak and dagger politics, so he put his trust in the wrong Vizier.


Badoura's life in Shirabad's palace was idyllic, but she chafed against what she thought of as a smothering level of protectiveness. So one day Badoura snuck out of the palace and explored the city's streets only to get lost in the bad part of town. She might have lost her life that day if it weren't for the timely rescue from a street rat named Allen, who helped her return to the palace. Grateful that his daughter had returned home safely the Shah made Allen one of Badoura's retainers and her official guide to life outside the palace's walls. The two became fast friends and beneath that friendship the sparks of something deeper festered, but before things could grow tragedy struck.


The Vizier launched a coup, and over the span of twenty-four hours the Shah was dead, Badoura was imprisoned, and Allen was executed along with her other retainers/friends for trying to help her escape. For the next year Badoura was kept confined to her room as the Vizier waited for her to become old enough to marry so he could further legitimize his rule. During that year Badoura grew to resent not just her captors, but everyone living in the city of Shirabad. Her father had done so much for the city, yet the people did nothing as his killer ruled over them? How could she not resent them? How could resentment not grow into malice?


And so Badoura spent her days in fervent prayer to any god or goddess who would listen, begging them to smite the city and all of its' inhabitants for their betrayal of her father and the death of her friends. These prayers did not go unheard…


Tyrian Callows was scouting out the palace of Shirabad on Salem's orders in the hopes of finding subtle ways to disrupt the trade routs that made the city wealthy. As he scaled the palace's walls he paused by Badoura's window and overheard her praying for the city's complete and utter destruction. Intrigued he revealed himself to her, learned her story and told her of the power of his goddess Salem. Tyrian promised that as an instrument of Salem's will the day would not end before Badoura had her revenge. The scorpion faunus then went on a merry rampage through the palace killing everyone except the Vizier, who he brought before Badoura bound and gaged. He then unlocked the princess' aura and taught her how to best use her aura fueled strength to break bones. Badoura reveled in her chance at revenge and Tyrian was so impressed with her savagery he offered to make her his apprentice in the art of killing, an offer the princess gladly accepted.


The two of them departed for Salem's castle, leaving Shirabad's automated defenses offline and blowing a hole in the city walls as they left (almost half of the city was destroyed by the Creatures of Grimm). Tyrian presented his newfound convert to Salem who was pleased with the girl's fanatical zeal, so she allowed Tyrian to take Badoura as his apprentice. The former princess took to the training like a duck to water, and soon the Grimm Queen was impressed enough with her progress to begin grooming Badoura for the role of Maiden.


Badoura learned much from the Ancient Witch, with a focus on how magic could aid in her role as assassin. The former princess soon became one of Salem's favored knives in the dark, with the Immortal Sorceress feeling that Badoura will soon be ready to hunt down the Summer Maiden…



So what do you guys think? Is this a good character to round out Salem's false maidens?

 

[Sift Green]

The Fourth Dark Maiden Candidate concept:



So in the same vein as Fee Clochette, Allie Warbucks, and Princess Badoura I felt inspired to write this up for a potential servant of Salem after you mentioned Sleeping Beauty.

So without further ado let me present for your consideration Talia Rosamond:


Talia Rosamond (Sleeping Beauty): Legends tell of the far northern City-State of Volsung, which had stood for twelve generations as a beacon of hope and prosperity. The Rosamond family had ruled the city from its founding thanks to the wisdom of their patriarchs and matriarchs, their skill in battle, and a mysterious power that kept even the strongest of Grimm at bay.


Heir to this legacy was born Talia, who like the rest of her siblings inherited her mother's powerful Aura and her father's moonlike eyes. Unlike her siblings her birth coincided with the visitation of the Wandering Wizard and his four apprentices. The five magicians each bestowed the newborn Talia with their own blessing aimed to ensure Talia would be the best possible heir to the throne she could be.


If the Wizard and his apprentices had known her future the blessings they bestowed would have been very different.


A blessing of long life, another of health and beauty, one for a sharp mind, and one for a potent soul. These blessings combined to make Talia the most promising crown princess Volsung had ever seen, and many a sonnet were written in celebration of the kingdom's future ruler.


Then the war began.


The neighboring City-State of Siggeir had long been jealous of Volsung's prosperity, and past defeats in war had breed a deep set resentment amongst Siggeir's people. Yet those same defeats made Siggeir's leaders hesitant to try again. This changed when a stranger emerged from the Darklands and offered her services to the King and Queen.


The stranger introduced herself as Carabosse, and claimed to be the daughter of The Lady Of Shadows who ruled the Darklands and the Grimm that lived there. As proof Carabosse performed feats of magic that could only be matched by the Wandering Wizard and his apprentices, while also displaying the ability to make Grimm obey her as if they were well trained pets.


Carabosse promised to strike down their old rivals so long as they pledged themselves to the service of The Lady Of Shadows, and the royals of Siggeir agreed with only minimal deliberation.


And so Siggeir and Volsung found themselves at war again. As Talia was of age and possessed a powerful aura she found herself on the battlefield alongside her parents and siblings. Over the course of the three year conflict Talia personally clashed with Carabosse seven times, each battle being worthy of song. In the final clash Talia slew Carabosse at the cost of being pierced by Carabosse's weapon Spindle's End, bringing the war to a close.


At first the wound did not seem all that serious, but during the victory celebrations it was discovered that Spindle's End was poisoned with a particularly vile concoction of toxins and magic. The toxins caused Talia to fall into a deep sleep, while the magic twisted the blessings the Wizard and his apprentices had bestowed into curses.


The blessing of long life combined with the blessings of health and beauty resulting in Talia not aging or having any kind of biological needs as she slumbered. The blessing of a sharp mind made her a lucid dreamer. The blessing of a potent soul gave her titanic aura reserves that could not be worn out.


Volsung morned the princess who seemed to live in death. Her twin younger siblings Sonne and Moon with heavy hearts prepared a crystal coffin to inter her within, and placed her within the family crypt.


Within the dark halls of the crypt Talia Rosamond's semblance awoke for the first time. Her dreams began manifesting around her, becoming physical things that moved and acted according to her slumbering will.


She dreamed of rose bushes. As such a bush grew around her coffin and soon an impenetrable briar filled the entirety of the crypt. She dreamed of her garden growing larger and larger. The briar spread beyond the crypt, slowly at first but going faster and faster as time went on. The branches of the briar carried sound back to the dreamer, letting her learn of a tournament that would determine if Sonne or Moon would inherit the throne.


Dream logic screamed betrayal and treason.


The briar's growth exploded. Over the next ten years nearly indestructible branches and thorns consumed first the graveyard, then the capital city, and then most of the countryside before the growth could not continue. The people of Volsung did their best to fight the advancing undergrowth, but the branches grew back as soon as they were cut away. Fire didn't fair any better, and frost only slowed the tangled bramble by a little bit.


The King and Queen died trying to reach the epicenter of the briar patch to discover the cause of this misfortune, but Sonne succeeded in reaching the center and managed to escape in spite of grievous wounds slowing him down. He lived long enough to tell Moon what he saw there, how their sister was not truly dead and how the bramble was fueled by Talia's malevolent dream.


Moon lead one last ditch effort to reach her sister and put a stop to this madness, and this effort was repulsed with heavy losses.


The few survivors were forced to abandon their kingdom and wander the world. Moon Rosamond tried to refuse the title of Queen, but those that remained were adamant that she should be their leader. And so at her coronation Moon chose a new name for herself that would serve as a constant reminder of her failure to save her home and her people: Briar Rose.


With that the Kingdom of Volsung was no more, but the Rose clan survived.


One hundred years later a curious Lady Of Shadows, aka the Grimm Queen Salem, left the Darklands to personally examine the ruins of the old kingdom. She was surprised to discover that the briar patch was still alive and willing to strike down any intruder that dared enter its' domain.


Yet the obstacle that was insurmountable to mortals was easily overcome by Salem's mystical might, and it didn't take long for her to discover Talia's crystal coffin. In spite of the Dreamer's best efforts to kill her Salem was able to rip Talia from her grave and force her awake.


Entering the waking world was a shock in more ways than one. Talia remembered her dreams with perfect clarity, and the realization of how those dreams intersected with reality shook her to her core. She had killed her parents. She had killed her brother. She had killed her kingdom.


Seeing the princess' vulnerability Salem went to work. A few pointed words here and there and Talia broke down completely. A soothing set of lies and promises after that and Salem had rebuilt Talia into something she could use.


Salem brought Talia home to Evernight Castle, and there she put the Dreamer to work. Talia's dream constructs made formidable foes for each new species of Grimm the ancient witch concocted, allowing new avenues of testing before sending her new creations into the world. Talia would spend the next several centuries imbibing sleep potions provided to her by the Grimm Queen, sleeping away the years while fighting the nightmares that crawled out of Salem's shaping pits.


The quality of the sleeping potions improved over the centuries as well, allowing Talia to become more and more lucid and aware of the world around her even as she sleeps. In the present Talia is capable of having a fully coherent conversation without waking up, and she controls her dream constructs the way she would if she was awake.


This means that Talia now spends all of her time asleep, carried about and moved like a puppet by one of her dream constructs, normally a walking rosebush shaped like a throne and capable of attacking with whiplike branches.


Recreating the briar patch that consumed a kingdom is something she could theoretically still do, but that feat required her to have a fairly long period of unchecked growth that can't be casually recreated, making her a more reasonable adversary to face in the modern day.


With the development of the Grimm Parasite that allows for the theft of Maiden Powers Salem has considered making Talia one of her Dark Maidens. On the one hand Talia is physically still young enough to qualify, but since the logic of magic doesn't always work like that Salem has decided to keep Talia in reserve in case her other candidates fail first.


In any case Talia is the bar all other candidates measure themselves against, as anyone who can't beat one of her dream constructs would probably lose a fight with a natural Maiden.






As far as appearances go I'm currently picturing Talia as a long-haired blonde Summer Rose, cause as you might have gathered I'm picturing her younger sister Briar Rose as the founding matriarch of the Rose Clan of Sliver Eyed Warriors.

Now this would be far enough back in time that saying Ruby's a relative of hers would be like saying I'm a relative of Noah. It's an accurate statement, but it's a tossup as to whether or not such a relationship would feel relevant in the present day.


I also felt like giving Talia a screwed up form of immortality based off of the fairytale would be thematic.


Now what lies and promises Salem fed Talia to make her a loyal servant I haven't thought of yet and I would like some feedback on.



So what do you guys think?

 

[Sift Green]

And the Fifth Dark Maiden Candidate concept, this ones a two for one:



I've done Fee Clochette, Allie Warbucks, Princess Badoura, and Talia Rosamond all in response to this prompt, but in all honesty Salem would probably have enough Maiden Candidates to fill a medium sized High-School classroom if she was taking the idea of obtaining the powers of the Maidens seriously. As such there's still room for more, and I've a duo for your consideration.

They are Bianca and Samar Straparola, inspired by the main characters of Biancabella And The Snake:



Bianca and Samar Straparola: Fraternal twin sisters with different fathers, Bianca and Samar were a surprise to their parents the Marquess and Marchioness of Zoan, a small town on what used to be the border of the Hellenic League and Mistral before they were part of the same kingdom. The couple had believed themselves to be barren after years of trying and failing to conceive a child. This misplaced assumption of total infertility lead to them being careless at a particularly wild party. The unexpected pregnancy caused the couple no small amount of panic, as there would be a huge scandal if the child wasn't Marquess Straparola's.

The couple were relieved when the twins were born and paternity tests showed that Bianca was indeed the Marquess' daughter, though it would have been easy for him to claim she was if she hadn't been. Her pale skin, sky blue eyes and golden hair all came from him and made declaring her his heir the obvious course of action.

Such tests were unnecessary on Samar, for she was a faunus whose animal trait was impossible to hide. Her green hair and golden eyes were uncommon features but not unheard of, and they contrasted nicely with the pale skin she inherited from her mother... while also matching the scales that covered her shoulders and arms. This was her non-concealable faunus trait, a pair of snake arms. That's not to say she had the arms of a snake, but rather her arms were snakes; her right hand a viper's maw and her left a cobra's hood, connected to her shoulders with a serpent's spine in lieu of regular human bones with both reaching her knees when they stretched out.

What the Marquess and Marchioness ought to do with the faunus girl was something they fretted about until she was weened. It was obvious the child would never be able to live a normal life; her serpentine mouths could never be as dexterous as normal hands robbing her of a wide variety of fine motor skills like writing, turning the page of a book, fastening buttons or tying knots. She needed someone to help take care of her, and they could afford to do so.

And so they raised Bianca and Samar together, and taught them to always support one another. Bianca would do the delicate tasks Samar could not do for herself, while Samar in turn would watch her sister's back and keep her safe. This dynamic made the sisters close in their early years and they remained inseparable as they grew up. Even their diverging educations where Bianca learned how to manage the family estate and Samar began conditioning herself to learn the art of combat did little to divide the sisters, as they both accepted that's just the way things needed to be. They would still be sharing important milestones with each other, and in the end they would be each other's greatest support.

One milestone they shared was the unlocking of their aura on their twelfth birthday. A milestone they did not share was the discovery of their semblances, as Bianca found a high quality Dust crystal while brushing her hair a little over a year later. Shocked, Bianca and Samar combed through all of the human sister's hair and discovered that dust flakes were growing from the girl's scalp and mixing together into full blown crystals in her golden locks.

This was cause for celebration, for over the course of a week Bianca would generate enough dust crystals to pay the manor's staff for six months. The family could now be much more flexible with their finances and they could start upgrading some of Zoan's infrastructure with the increased funds. News spread through town like wildfire and the common folk sang the praises of the Marquess' heir and her Crystal Crown. The sister's would later wish they and their parents had kept things under wraps.

A year after the discovery of Bianca's semblance a bandit tribe descended upon Zoan. The bandits tore down the town's walls, set fire to the people's homes and slaughtered all who opposed them. They came unto the Straparola manor and did worse there killing everyone they could find and carting Bianca off as their prize.

Samar would wake up under the wreckage of a table that had protected her from the collapsing roof of her home. She would find the bodies of her parents and weep as she struggled to burry them with arms not made to work a shovel. After that she would stumble out of the ruins of Zoan the town's sole survivor, her heart brimming with anger as she haphazardly searched for the bandit tribe's trail.

Creatures of Grimm were of course drawn to her anger but Samar would choke them to death with her coils or envenomate them with her fangs. The young girl proved herself to be a savant of combat as she took the fundamentals of the martial art she had been taught and built upon it with practical experience, adapting it to take full advantage of her serpentine limbs. Her accursed limbs also aided her in catching and consuming enough small game for her to live off the land, as her snake mouths were still connected to her human stomach allowing her to eat without the aid of the cooking she could not do.

For the next two years Samar lived as a half-wild creature doing what she could to find the people that destroyed her home. The search wasn't exactly fruitless, she found their camps a week or so after they had abandoned them on more than one occasion, but their continual escape frayed the ends of her mind. This vexing hunt came to an end when a stranger introducing himself as Hazel discovered her and offered his help.

Hazel had originally come to the area to learn how the local bandit tribe was sourcing its' Dust, and quickly put two and two together once he had learned Samar's story. Enraged on her behalf the giant of a man vowed the bandit tribe would be utterly destroyed by his hand. At first he tried to convince Samar to let him do this alone, but after her forceful insistence and an unplanned test of her combat powers he relented and included her in his plan to catch the bandits by surprise.

This plan was a success and the two of them tore through the bandits like a hot knife through butter. Soon the bandits were dead, and Samar had found her sister.

The bandits had not been kind to Bianca, having cut off her arms and gouged out her eyes so she could not escape them. Samar wished she could kill them a thousand more times for this cruelty. Hazel consoled the sisters as best he could, raising their hopes by telling them how those he served could restore Bianca's damaged body. Desperate for any good news they agreed to follow him, which is how they arrived at Evernight and met Queen Salem.

The Queen of the Grimm made good on Hazel's promise, using ancient magics to restore the girl's eyes as good as new. Bianca's arms were in turn replaced by the ministrations of Doctor Watts, as Bianca desired new hands. Powerful hands. Hands that could protect her if she were ever separated from her sister again.

And so Doctor Watts crafted her some of his most advanced combat prosthetics and Bianca began training alongside her sister. The two became a solid combat duo in part to how hyper defensive of their sister each of them had become. In fact some would say the two of them had become unhealthy clingy and codependent, each sister refusing to let the other out of her sight for any reason.

Seeing their drive to improve and protect each other Salem concluded they could be powerful assets, and offered to train them in preparation to pursue the powers of a Maiden. The twin half-sisters agreed as the words of Hazel echoed in their ears: the tragedy that befell their family and hometown was a failing of the modern system of Huntsmen and Huntresses, so to prevent further tragedy they needed to burn that system down so something better could take its' place.

Samar is the more melee focused of the two, using only the natural weapons her body provides as she seeks to perfect her own unique martial art. Her cobra arm is of the spitting variety, giving her a mid range option to blind or distract her foes. Her viper arm has the heat sensing pits of a normal viper, giving her an extra combat relevant sense to work with.

Her semblance is called Bites Twice, and allows her to alter the chemistry of her venom to provide different effects like paralysis or hemorrhaging. After significant practice Samar found she could even replicate certain medicines with her venom, and figuring out how to make new medicines out of her venom has become a favored hobby of hers.

With Samar focused on hand-to-coil combat Bianca focus more on the ranged side of combat. The combat prosthetics Doctor Watts provided can mechashift into multiple different weapons such as Dust powered energy rifles. These rifles burn through Dust quickly but that isn't exactly a problem for Bianca thanks to her semblance Crystal Crown giving her a near limitless supply of the stuff. Other configurations of her arms include Dust powered beam swords and parrying daggers for when the enemy gets close and a set of comb extensions for her fingers so she can quickly find dust crystals in her hair.






Alright so part of my thought process with these girls was to fill a gap with my previous Maiden Candidates. You see Fee partners well with Watts, Badoura partners well with Tyrian and Allie would partner well with Merlot if Salem recruited him in whatever fic you're writing. That means Hazel is the only member of Salem's inner circle who didn't have a Maiden Candidate that naturally partnered with him, so I set out to fix that with Bianca and Samar.

Now the twin half-sisters have a more sensical backstory than Hazel, meaning they're more misguided and traumatized radicals than delusional hypocrites, but this backstory means they share something narratively important with Hazel: they're the most likely Maiden Candidates to turn on Salem if they ever realize how bad the Grimm Queen winning would actually be.




Anyhow what do you guys think of this duo? Do they work as Dark Maiden candidates or no?

 

[Frankly Tired]

Pyrrha Event
~~~~~~

Reaction Fics, and some shorts usually write Pyrrha's Jealousy as a Murderous Burning Rage:
"How dare that bitch flirt with Jaune!"

She has no social skills, do you know how embarrassing it is to reveal your true emotions like that? She couldn't do that no matter how Mad.
That, or because she has no actual social skills, outside of her sponsor events and Fan Meets, she's more Jealous that someone is taking her time from him, because she knows he's more dense than bedrock. and has mini tantrums.

both are good.
~~~~~~

But I like to think its a more of a "Killing Intent with a Smile", as her semblance rages for her:

Ruby: "Hey Pyrrha, did you see that girl talking to Jaune early today? They look like they know each other."
Pyrrha: "Oh, Is he? That's good, I'm... Glad he has so many friends."

Nora cleared her throat.

Ruby: "Yeah, but it's kinda odd they're all girls though."
Pyrrha: "Is it Ruby? I haven't quite noticed that."

Nora lets out a cough, her corset feels a bit tighter than usual today. Must have been the pancakes earlier.

Ruby: "Oh yeah! Just the other day, these group of girls were crowding him at the comic store. I thought they were looking for books behind them, but they really were there for Jaune!"
Pyrrha:"Really? that must have been an odd sight. did they say anything about him? Perhaps they were from his hometown."
Ruby: "See I thought so too, but they kept calling him Cute and Handsome, which is like two wildly different spectrums of boy."
Pyrrha: "Were they now?"

Nora felt more of a squeeze. That is definitely not the pancakes!

Ruby: "Yeah, and then Jaune called them beautiful in turn!""
Pyrrha: "Did he now?"

Nora is desperately trying to remove her Corset, because of the Integrated Metal that was used to conduct electricity for her semblance is now Backfiring, and slowly crushing her! Mayday mayday!

Ruby: "But get this! When they asked who was most beautiful in the room-

-Creaking was heard, as Nora finally successfully removed her corset, just as it was immediately crushed into a ball. 'Phew'-

Ruby: "He glanced at a Pumpkin Pete poster, and said 'Pyrrha Nikos'!"
Pyrrha: "He did what?!"

The creaking stopped. However, Nora's now removed corset Exploded! 'Why?!'

Ruby: "It was so funny, because technically, you were in the room, you should have seen their faces! I have to go tell Yang, she's gonna tease the heck out of him! Maybe it'll distract her long enough so I can sneak some cookies- oops!- You didn't hear that! Bye, I'm going to go do the thing I didn't say I wasn't going to do!

Pyrrha didn't hear her.

Ruby stopped for a moment, and noticed the crosses on her skirt are now little hearts.

Ruby: "Why does this always happen!?"

Pyrrha finally responded, after Ruby long since left.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

The Now Fragmented Corset, which was collected in Nora's hands, reformed into a metal firework, shot into the air, and exploded into even smaller Metal Confetti fragments all over area. 'Oh, Come on!"

Pyrrha: "EEEE- cough cough, No-Nora!? When did you get here?"

Nora gave her a flat stare.
~~~
Nora would later work with Ruby to make her corset "Push-of-a-button" removable in case of more "Pyrrha Events."

 

[Joss Jamon]

Funnily enough, this character started out as a character for something else entirely. But then Andrew said something to make me bring him up, and...
Name: Doctor Abraham List
Allusion: Abraham Van Helsing (younger version from the original Dracula novel), with strong influences from the Nome King (Roquat) of the Oz books
Naming Process: Abraham honors the legendary vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing, reflecting List's role as a brilliant, obsessive pursuer of monstrous truths. List is a plain, scholarly surname that evokes "list" as in catalog or inventory — fitting a man who methodically dissects and catalogs the fundamental nature of Grimm.
Age: 35
Background: A brilliant physicist and Grimm theorist, Dr. Abraham List studied under the controversial Dr. Viktor Merlot before surpassing his mentor in rigor and insight. He became the first researcher to subject stabilized Grimm samples to high-energy physics analysis, producing groundbreaking (and highly classified) reports on the exotic substance he designated "Umbrite." As the lead researcher at the prestigious De Leon Institute for Grimm Studies in Vale, List has pushed the boundaries of understanding the Grimm threat through a cold, clinical lens. He was once approached by agents of Salem with offers of power and knowledge, but he saw through their deception and refused — though the encounter confirmed to him that an active intelligence guides the Grimm. List walks a solitary path: neither fully aligned with Ozpin's circle nor corrupted like Merlot, he pursues pure scientific truth with ruthless detachment, believing that understanding the enemy is the only path to humanity's survival.
Race: Human
Emblem: A fractured white circle (representing scientific order) being consumed by writhing black fractal tendrils — symbolizing the relentless encroachment of Umbrite and humanity's fragile attempt to contain it
Weapon: "Entropy's Edge": A custom retractable gauntlet-blade reinforced with stabilized Lightning Dust emitters. It allows him to deliver precise cutting strikes while generating localized stasis fields to briefly stabilize Grimm samples in the field for emergency analysis.
Semblance: "Absorption"
Through physical contact, Abraham can partially assimilate properties of the material he touches — gaining the durability of stone, the conductivity of metal, or limited insights into Grimm matter. Mastering this Semblance required extreme discipline to avoid being overwhelmed or permanently altered by the absorbed substance. It grants him unparalleled intuitive understanding of physical and exotic materials, making him an extraordinary experimentalist, though overuse risks psychological or physical contamination.
Appearance: Tall and strikingly fit with a lean, athletic build honed by both laboratory discipline and field expeditions. He has messy, long red hair usually tied back in a practical ponytail, sharp light brown eyes that seem to analyze everything they see, and sharp, aristocratic features that give him an intense, almost predatory scholarly presence.
Outfit: A tailored dark greatcoat over a crisp white shirt and vest, practical trousers, and reinforced boots suitable for both the lab and dangerous field sites. He often wears protective gloves and carries an array of scientific instruments in a custom satchel. His overall appearance is that of a gentleman-scientist ready for both lecture halls and Grimm-infested ruins.
Personality: Cold, ruthless, and profoundly detached. Abraham List views the world through the lens of variables, equations, and puzzles to be solved. His towering intellect and ego make him difficult company — he is blunt, impatient with lesser minds, and often treats people as data points rather than emotional beings. This forced stoicism is a necessary shield; he understands that empathy can cloud judgment when confronting the existential horror of the Grimm. While he rejected Merlot's descent into madness and service to Salem, List remains morally ambiguous — willing to cross ethical lines in pursuit of knowledge that could save humanity. He is not cruel for cruelty's sake, but he will sacrifice much (including personal relationships) for scientific progress.
Notes: Dr. Abraham List is widely regarded as one of Remnant's foremost authorities on Grimm physiology and exotic matter theory. His groundbreaking work on Umbrite has opened new avenues for anti-Grimm weaponry and containment, though his cold pragmatism makes him a controversial figure among Huntsmen and moral philosophers. He maintains a wary distance from both Ozpin's inner circle and Salem's forces, pursuing his own agenda of total understanding. Beneath the icy exterior lies a man who has stared too long into the abyss of Grimm nature — and is determined to make that abyss
blink first.

 

[Sift Green]

Moving on to Team EPIC, let's start off with the original post:


Alright so we have a lot of characters in RWBY that are only hinted at in the original show, but stand a high chance of needing to be in the spotlight of a fan fiction. The most obvious example is Jaune's large family, but plenty more of them exist.

Consider Penny's Team. We know she was part of a full team of four before her fist death but the only teammate of hers we know anything about is one scene wonder Ciel Soleil, and while her scene was a great character establishing scene it was still only one real scene.

That scene also told us that Penny's Team was unaware that she was a Robot... which honestly doesn't make much sense. Penny's behavior is too unusual and her efforts to hide her robotic nature too unsubtle for people spending as much time with her as her school teammates would be to not figure it out. It also doesn't make sense for Atlas Academy to not select teammates for Penny that couldn't be trusted with a secret since Atlas' culture should have produced plenty of youth who would obey orders to keep their mouths shut about something.

I know that Ruby knowing Penny's secret was supposed to be part of their friendship, but we aren't really given a good reason why Penny had difficulty making friends with her team. Her teammates knowing Penny is Atlas' most valuable asset before they meet her is a decent obstacle to friendship for Penny to overcome in a story. It also makes the high value Penny places on Ruby's friendship deeper because she made friends with Ruby before Ruby found out she was a robot, meaning the obstacle between her and her teammates doesn't exist with Ruby.

So anyways I've brainstormed some Teammates for Penny. Here we go:



Team EPIC: The administration of Atlas Academy knew that Project P.E.N.N.Y. would attend their school far in advance of her actual attendance. As a result when the school started brainstorming team compositions her unique needs were at the forefront of their minds, and the desire to keep her status as the world's first Aura-capable Robot a secret influenced their thinking. As a result teammates that could obfuscate Penny's robotic nature and the ability to keep a secret were prioritized a bit over unit cohesion, leading to some unexpected friction between Penny Polendina and her teammates.



Emma Seraph (Alita Battle Angel): The daughter of one of the best cybernetics-surgeons in the Kingdom of Atlas, Dyson Seraph, who raised her in Mantle where he did most of his work. Emma suffered a horrific accident in her early years that would have killed her if her father was less skilled with putting people back together. While her father was able to save her life it was a very close call, and she is now a full-body cyborg who's only organic components are 95% of her brain and a handful of her internal organs.


Wanting to make his daughter as hard to kill as possible Dyson used the most dangerous augmentations he could get his hands on while building Emma's body. This caught the attention of General Ironwood's predecessor, who agreed to subsidize Dyson's efforts seeing Emma as a good testbed for Atlas' cutting edge combat cybernetics. Today Emma has a body made of highly experimental technology that makes her one of the most impressive combatants of any room she's in.


As a way to cope with her accident and her new body Emma enthusiastically threw herself into the world of underground extreme sports like motor-ball. Her love for high speed on her motorized rollerblades combined with a feeling of invincibility from her practically indestructible body eventually lead her to participate in illegal races through abandoned sections of Mantle where Grimm would be released onto the racetrack as obstacles for the racers. During one of these races something went wrong with Grimm containment and the monsters escaped into Mantle proper.


Seeing people in real danger Emma acted without thinking to save who she could. While did save several people that night many more lost their lives, and those deaths stuck with Emma. Her nightly excursions were no longer about feeding her adrenaline junkie tendencies for the sake of the thrill, her nightly excursions were now about feeding her adrenaline junkie tendencies in unlicensed Grimm hunts in the abandoned sections of Mantle for the sake of keeping those monsters away from people who don't have near indestructible cybernetic bodies.


Dyson had known about the underground extreme sports, and while he didn't approve he understood Emma's need to feel alive. However, while he had been willing to tolerate her risking herself in extreme sports he was less willing to tolerate unlicensed Grimm hunts, and so he put his foot down and told her she was ether going to stop hunting or go to Atlas Academy and learn how to hunt Grimm the correct way. By this point Emma felt she was doing something genuinely good with her life instead of just living from one adrenaline high to the next, so the decision to attend Atlas was a simple one.


When creating Team EPIC Emma was selected in part because of full-body cyborg nature. Penny Poledina's spare parts could be packed and shipped with Emma's spare parts thereby preventing suspicion regarding Penny's mechanical nature. She was given the position of team leader in part because Ironwood recognized her vigilante escapades as legitimate experience that proved her ability to think tactically in a tight spot. He also hoped that the responsibility of leadership would help curb the less desirable parts of her maverick tendencies. Trusting her with top secret information connected to Penny was a hard decision to make, but after personally testing her character Ironwood decided Emma could be trusted with such information.


Emma Seraph fights using a customized curved sword designed for slashing passes at extreme speeds achieved with her motorized rollerblades. She is also devising a unique style of martial art meant to take advantage of her body's unique cybernetic nature.



Penny Polendina: You know her, you love her. Need I say more?



Indie Regina (Indominus Rex): Shortly after James Ironwood became a Captain in Atlas' military he lead a raid on a facility that was suspected of conducting illegal Faunus experimentation. These suspicions were proven to be correct, and among the experiments discovered there was a young girl that quickly latched onto Ironwood and refused to leave his side. When the girl's parents could not be found Ironwood took the girl in as his ward, in part because of how attached she was to him and in part because his position would help meet her unique needs.


The experiments caused young Indie to develop multiple primeval faunus traits such as a long saurian tail, wicked claws on her hands and feet with scales going up her forearms and shins, feathers on her head instead of hair and a bestial speed and strength that was impressive even before her aura was unlocked.


Indie's obviously inhuman appearance caused problems for her growing up, not just with prejudiced humans but with faunus as well. There were plenty of humans who hated or belittled her for having animal parts. There were plenty of faunus who hated her for being Ironwood's "pet." Yet there were humans and faunus that treated her with respect thanks to the disciplined upbringing Ironwood gave her.


Having seen that terrible people came from all backgrounds Indie came to the conclusion that one's origins had very little to do with the kind of person you were; you ether chose to be a kind person or a jerk. This has given her an extreme dislike of those who view the world through the lenses of human vs. faunus conflict, firmly believing that the issue would have died (at least in Atlas, Vale and Vacuo) if the post-Belladonna White Fang weren't actively stoking the fires of resentment.


Her upbringing has also made her extremely patriotic, fueling her desire to become a huntress as a means of fulfilling her duty to her country (and maybe make her father figure proud). Her ultimate goals in life are to ether become the chief general of Atlas' military like General Ironwood or to become the Headmistress of Atlas Academy… like General Ironwood. Her plans once she gets the position? She fully expects her career to be mostly spent undoing the damage the White Fang has done to Human-Faunus relations in Atlas, so most of her plans currently revolve around promoting species-blind meritocracy.


When creating Team EPIC Indie was selected in part to aid Penny Poledina socially. Indie had spent most of her early childhood in a lab, so it was expected that she could help Penny adjust to life outside of a lab. If nothing else being the bit scary dinosaur faunus people would be hesitant to approach could be used to create a social barrier if Penny became overwhelmed in large high-class gatherings. Her connection to Ironwood also helped with the decision to inform her of Penny's classified nature, as the General already knew he could trust her.


Indie is a natural brawler who engages in melee using her natural claws and primeval strength to rip apart her foes. If the enemy can fly or otherwise keep their distance she possesses two simple service pistols to deal damage from afar. She calls her semblance "Thermal Vision" and it allows her to see in infrared wavelengths when it's active, making it difficult for an opponent to hide from her.



Ciel Soleil: [Insert Ciel Soleil headcanon here.]

So I'm currently thinking Ciel's one of the top students of Atlas' JROTC equivalent, and that she was chosen for Team EPIC because her exacting nature, incredible memory and literal interpretation of things like "give us a minute" means that anyone suspecting there's a robot on the team will point to her first only to find that she's provably human, thereby throwing people off Penny's sent.

I don't know if their are common Ciel Soleil headcanons I need to be aware of when expanding off of her one scene in the spotlight. I'm thinking the team needs a ranged specialist and that would probably fit with her. Would her knowing everyone's file come from a photographic memory semblance, or should that be normal photographic memory leaving her semblance open for something else?



So that's what I have for Penny's team so far. What do you guys think? Do you like 'em? Thoughts? Suggestions?



And now I'm going to add some latter clarifying posts so they're together with the initial idea:

Clarifying post 1:

As for Penny and Team EPIC...


We have Emma Seraph (our Alita Battle Angel expy), Penny Polendina (you know her you love her), Indie Regina (our Indominus Rex expy/gijinka) and Ciel Soleil (Insert your preferred headcanon here).


Emma was made team leader in part to help curb the worst aspects of her maverick tendencies, as being responsible for other people has been known to do that on occasion. I'm figuring Penny's decision to sneak off and visit Vale will be a huge wake up call for Emma, giving her a taste of what she put her father through back when she was sneaking out and participating in underground races and unlicensed Grimm hunts.

I'm figuring her friendship with Penny will come to resemble that of a sometimes exasperated but otherwise loving older sister once they work through the social barriers between them. They're both live life to the fullest kind of people, Emma from her adrenaline junkie habits and Penny from her joyous desire to experience everything that's new to her, so it'd make sense for them to become close once they properly understand each other.



Indie as an Indominus Rex expy/gijinka probably has some underlying anger issues and a bit of a sadistic streak as a result of her raised in a lab-with-poor-ethics trauma. Ironwood's disciplined hand in raising her would mean she has those problems competently bridled and focused. The fact that Ironwood could keep a steady supply of training robots for her to work out her issues with probably also had something to do with how she grew up to be a well adjusted woman.

She probably also relishes any chance she gets to fight Grimm. Nobody cares how brutal you get with those literally soulless monsters and so she has a socially acceptable outlet for her sadistic side. Another reason why she's well adjusted in spite of being a version of Indomidus Rex.

Indie wouldn't have been the only primeval faunus rescued from that lab. While Ironwood fostered Indie a set of quadruplet raptor faunus with similar mutations as Indie were taken in by one of Ironwood's underlings, then Lieutenant and now Captain (or maybe Commander) Owens. Owens raised those girls right, and now they want to be Huntresses to pay his kindness forward and be heroes like him.

Yes, I am suggesting that expies/gijinkas of Blue, Delta, Echo and Charlie could be used to make another first year team at Atlas Academy. They'd need different names though. Open to suggestions.

Once the social barriers are broken I'd imagine Indie and Penny having a cool cousins kind of relationship, since Ironwood is kind of like a strict uncle what with being a male role model besides her Father that she looks up to.



As for Ciel Soleil... well working off her one and only real scene I'd say she's probably Penny's actual partner, considering she's the teammate acting as Penny's handler.

Penny described her as being like Blake- if Blake was under orders to spend time with you, to which Ruby replied with "So Weiss then." However Penny hadn't spend a lot of time with Blake or anyone else on Team RWBY besides Ruby at that point so that description should be taken with a grain of salt.

Are there any popular headcanons about Ciel I should know about before trying to craft something new whole cloth?


Clarifying Post 2:

I think the cliff notes for most people include time obsessed, socially awkward, very formal and reserved but generally highly competent. Maybe she is a little insecure about how robotic some people see her but does not really know how to connect to people outside the strict military hierarchy. Most CielxJaune stories of course focus on Mr golden retriever being the first person who cares to bridge that gap.

Click to shrink...

Well, I've personally always written her to be on the autistic spectrum and that she has a time dilation semblance, hence her fixation on time.

Click to shrink...

Okay, time obsessed, socially awkward, possibly autistic, yet incredibly competent and thriving in the highly structured and regimented hierarchy of Atlas' military society. Those are workable things.

...I'm now picturing her with an watchmaking/collecting hobby, building watches and other timekeeping devices from hobby kits and fixing broken antique pocket watches and analog wristwatches in her free time. The prize of her collection could be an old and fancy yet practical Trench Watchfrom the Great War that she sometimes uses on field missions.

And with a watchmaking hobby Ciel would probably be Penny and Emma's go to helper for mechanical maintenance they can't do for themselves for one reason or another.


As far as shipping goes I actually like the idea of Ciel x Whitley. With the watchmaking hobby and the potentially autistic tendencies I'm envisioning a scene where Ciel attempts to have a normal conversation with him at some formal function they're both at only to start vomiting all of the technical details about a very specific stopwatch brand that was only in business for two years three decades ago, her mortification growing with each word escaping her lips because she knows this isn't how your supposed to talk to civilians and why can't she shut up! Fortunately for her Whitley engineering side lets him appreciate talking with a woman that can visualize how a bunch of gears mesh together and work in a 3D space.



Anyways @Titanmaster_117 , could you elaborate on that time dilation semblance? Like what do you mean when you say time dilation? How does it work? How is it balanced so it doesn't break the narrative?

Ah wonderful, another cadet with anger and brutality issues! Absolutely lovely! But yeah, Total Grimm Death is a wonderful outlet for such people.

As for Owens, boring-ass military-nerd incoming.

It seems like Indie was rescued around 10 years ago = +-1991. Ironwood already was a Colonel in the Army Special Forces and Sienna Khan has already left the Atlesian National Armed Forces in search of a better purpose.
By my estimations it was around this time when Ironwood became Major General and a Headmaster of the Atlas Hunter Academy (yes, we are not tying the position of C-in-C and Headmaster together - it is retarded). And soon after in 1993, "Globals" faction of the National Armed Forces have performed their major reform - merging Army Special Forces and Navy Special Forces into one united Special Operations Forces.

Might have been that the primeval lab was the last operation Ironwood commanded before becoming a headmaster and going purely to office work. Owens would be... I would suggest he is from Navy Special Forces, a nod to the fact that the original was a former USMC, and at that time was Senior (1st) Lieutenant. So by V1 he would be Major.

And I already feel bad for the man who would be handling these 4 sisters. But the idea of more cadets for Atlas Hunter Academy is lovely! And I thank you for more info about Indie - even more and more ideas for what would be happening in 2003 in Mistral.

Click to shrink...

I mean the thing that made Indominus Rex a character instead of a beast was her sadistic impulses and hatred, so Indie would need just a little bit of that to be a true expy/gijinka of Indominus.

That being said Ironwood's firm hand in raising her has focused all of Indie's anger into doing productive things, so she is actually rather composed most of the time and most people would never guess she has anger issues or a sadistic streak if they've never seen her on the battlefield.

So I'm picturing Indie as a surprisingly refined young woman that becomes somewhat unhinged when she has an acceptable target in front of her that gives her a chance to let loose.


Clarifying Post 3:

Well, by time dilation, I mean that she can speed up or reverse the flow of time of any person that she touches, either aging them or deaging them, meaning that she can turn anyone either into a baby or an old man if she so wished.

However, there's a catch to this all, as it seriously weakens her when she uses it for long periods of time. The one time that she used it to age someone to death in self-defence, she was in the hospital on the verge of death herself. so it's not a very practical power. It's actually quite dangerous to herself, as it drains her life force the more she uses it. She's already lost ten years of her life because of it.

Click to shrink...

Hmmmm.....

On the one hand that's an interesting semblance, and the drawback seems nasty enough to keep it from being abused...

But on the other hand it wouldn't synergize with her fighting style if we make her a sniper or some other long ranged specialist, and semblances do tend to synergize with the Hunter's fighting style.

So personally I'll probably use something more like Colobopsis' suggestion for my own interpretation of Ciel:

Indie is becoming my favorite member of team EPIC morr and more!

And as for time dilation for Ciel, we do need to make it somewhat different from what Andres has - his is a combo of slow-mo/bullet time and foresight - his comes from him being a control freak and over-preparing for the worst type of person - "how this all can go to shit". Slow-mo lasts up to 30 seconds and overuse causes hallucinations and head aches.

May I suggest that Ciel has slow-mo/bullet time + critical points of impact highlight? Something to emphasize her precision. And it also raises the question how does the Semblance manifest visually. Eyes lightning up? Dilating pupils?

It is also popular to go with a sniper rifle for her loadout. Though maybe a rifle akin to PSG-1/M417 is a better option. And M417 is the standard-issue rifle of the Atlas Marines. If Emma and Indie are extreme CQB, Penny is longer ranges, they would better have something for mid range.

Click to shrink...

So she'd be slowing time from her perspective letting her take all the time she needs to calculate the perfect shot, and because she can take all the time she needs she can pick out details and weaknesses others would miss at a glance and account for them in her calculations. She can also speed things up making long waits feel like seconds, though she uses this aspect of her power much more sparingly.

The problem is that while she can alter the flow of time for her mind her body remains mostly in sync with the normal time flow of the universe, so while she can take thirty relative minutes to account for all possible factors in her next shot her body will only move one real world second per real world second as she acts on her thoughts.

In other words she has a pause screen that lets her take her time to think through incredibly complicated situations, and a fast forward she basically only uses to mentally skip multi-hour flights.

And that can tie into her keeping exact time to a comedic level from her character defining scene in the original show and the watchmaking/collecting hobby I want to give her in relation to that: the time pieces keep her grounded and cognizant of how in sync or out of sync she is with the normal flow of time.

How does that sound?


Clarifying Post 4:

(in reference to Indie)

Does she, in the privacy of her own head sometimes indulge in fantasies of rescuing a man, badly beaten, from a White Fang torture dungeon who says "Actually that wasn't so bad," and seems enthusiastic when she shows off her whips, fluffy handcuffs and leather outfit?

Click to shrink...

There are some hungers better left unfed.

By that I mean Indie might have fantasies along those lines, but she has consciously made the decision that such fantasies should stay firmly in the realm of fantasies.

Basically when she became old enough to start having a serious interest in romance she had a nice long meditative session where she concluded that mixing her sadistic streak with intimacy would end poorly for all parties involved; because when she gets mean she gets mean, and she knows she'd accidentally take things way too far and betray the trust true intimacy requires.

So she'd have a bit of an internal conflict with wanting something she knows would be bad for her and her potential romantic partner, and she'd be looking for alternatives ways to channel those feelings so they don't spoil what she truly hopes to gain from intimacy: mutual safety in vulnerability.

WAIT A SECOND! THAT'S LITERALLY FALLOUT 3/NV VATS! Like, how you can completely freeze time. And use that to calculate everything. Oh and the "Wait" button is glorious idea. Oh boy, what if she is the stereotypical FNV Sniper Build? Actually, no, those don't use VATS too much. Hmm... Oh, we also shouldn't forget that she can't spend eternity in such mode as it drains Aura, so we need to specify that too.

Overall, this idea clearly differentiates her from other characters with Semblances that involve time perception. Andres is limited, but has several passive abilities, such as flash negation, monochrome vision, foresight. Yes, he too uses it to process info at high speed, but it is all-around.
One of the many ideas for Ironwood's Semblance - "Gun Kata" make him have just a very fast thought process time.
And it seems like Ciel has complete freeze, but her POV is limited.

Click to shrink...

Fallout's VATS is one of the things I was thinking of when I was forming the idea. Another thing I thought of was the Mind Palaces from the 2010 BBC Sherlock series, with which Sherlock was able to use roughly three seconds of his remaining consciousness after getting shot to process several minutes worth of information to figured out the best way to fall so he wouldn't bleed out or go into shock.


Perhaps with normal aura usage Ciel can stretch a second into a minute or so. It's theoretically possible for her to stretch an entire minute into an entire day, but doing so would completely exhaust her aura supply and require a longer than normal recovery time from stretching things like that.