Future Story -- Untitled (JaunexEmerald Oneshot)

Been working on a Jaune/Emerald oneshot for the collection and thought I'd share what I have so far. This takes place after Volume 9 in Vacuo, so after Jaune's stint as the Rusted Knight.

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Vacuo was hot but that wasn’t even the worst of it. Vacuo was full of sand.

Emerald grimaced, pulling the cheap goggles she’d bought up over her eyes as another stiff breeze flowed through the streets, kicking up dust and sand, whipping it against her face. Even in the middle of the city, you weren’t safe. She understood that they were surrounded by desert but this was getting a little ridiculous!

She may have protected her eyes but it got everywhere else.

In her hair, in her cleavage – whenever she undressed before showering, piles of it fell out of the most random places. She’d thought Atlas and Mantle were miserable with their constant below freezing temperaturesbut she was beginning to miss it. At least back then, she wasn’t having to constantly wash her hair to keep it from filling up with grit.

And that wasn’t even getting started on how much it stung!

When the wind stop blowing, it was safe to open her mouth again.

She was approaching the central bazaar, the narrow streets jam packed with people attempting to sell their wares. Out here, it was mostly junk. Knick-knacks and cheap ornaments or clothing, people desperate for money to feed themselves and their families. Some of them eyed her enviously, some with a dangerous glint in their eye, taking in her well maintained clothes and picking her for an easy mark. That all changed when they saw her weapons and they realized she was a Huntress, and not someone to be trifled with.

She proceeded unmolested.

Mud brick buildings towered over her on both sides, the road beneath her feet hard packed sandstone, worn from centuries of use. As the street widened, she heard the sounds of exotic animals and countless people just beyond her sight, carried on the wind alongside the mouth watering scents of foreign food. As she passed beneath a large arch, she was greeted to a sprawl of humanity, people as far as the eye could see, dressed in various colorful cloaks, bandannas and similar assortments of clothes, all to ward of sand and sun.

Red eyes scanned the crowd, watching the heart of the city thrive. This was the life blood of Vacuo, it’s central marketplace where people made their living. If they weren’t guards or courtesans, Huntsmen, teachers or miners, this was where you plied your trade if you lived in Vacuo.

And even then, Emerald spied a group of young women with silken robes and sheer hip scarves, glass beads and golden bracelets with shadowed eyes and glossy lips. Their bronze skin glistened, and more than a handful of men were enthralled.

Endless stalls were jammed together, creating confusing pathways within the plaza. Even so, people moved with purpose, hands laden with baskets as they went about their shopping. Merchants shouted prices above the shrill calls of colorful parrots, chirping parakeets and howling monkeys. Dangerous individuals palmed swords and firearms, eyes peeled for trouble, their brows only tightening when they glimpsed her presence.

It was a mess – and the perfect place for someone infiltrating the city to gather information, amongst the people where lips tended to loosen and coin was the ultimate prize. A shadow passed overhead and without looking, she knew one of the few remaining Atlesian battleships hung above, a watchful eye directed outside the city walls. Emerald heard the grumblings of the locals but thats all they were; grumblings.

They were wary of outsiders – but with the current state of the world? Even the lowest of the low knew they needed all the help they could get.

Beacon destroyed and Vale in shambles, Haven studentless and Mistral defenseless, Atlas and Mantle obliterated. Vacuo was the sole kingdom untouched by the hand of Salem, but it would only be a matter of time. Even the civiliansin this city understood that something was coming, something big – and even with those fancy ships in the air for protection, it might not be enough.

But life went on. People needed to eat. People needed to live. Even when on the cusp of potential annihilation.

If you could buy it, it could be found here.

“Miss! Miss! A moment of your time,” one peddler beseeched her, holding up rolls of fine material. “Just a moment – please, this fabric perfectly matches your beautiful hair!”

It did.

But it was useless to her.

She wasn’t here to shop. She was here to listen.

So that is what she did.

“Sixty lien for these fine sculptures! Crafted by the prodigious Alexandrite himself,” a man with a long, silver beard called out.

“Only the finest steel in all of Sanus, found right here,” a younger man with broad shoulders and a handsome face boomed, holding up a finely crafted blade. It’s keen edge glinted in the sun. “I guarantee you’ll find no greater blades in all the lands!”

“Seven lien a bowl,” a portly woman hollered, ladle in hand as children crowded around with hungry faces. “Two for bread! Oi!” she whacked one of the children on the hand, a small boy who had been attempted to steal something with quick fingers. Not quick enough. “You want to lose that hand?”

A man with a curved blade stepped forth, his face menacing as the children flinched. The boy who was struck cradled his hand while he cowered.

Emerald paused.

It only took her a moment to decide.

“Here,” she said gruffly, slamming a pile of lien cards onto the counter top. The woman blinked, her greedy eyes quickly counting the amount. “This enough for all of them?”

Crooked teeth smiled at her with false sweetness. “More than enough.”

“Bread and a bowl, each,” Emerald said.

She nodded. “Bread and a bowl.”

Emerald moved on to a chorus of thank you’s, doing her best to ignore them. She wasn’t in the habit of giving away money, especially these days where she couldn’t just pickpocket what she needed. She was one of the good guysnow. She scoffed.

But seeing those children – well, that had struck a little too close to home.

Once upon a time, that had been her. That had been her life until…

She ruthlessly crushed the thought before it could form, snuffing it out in an instant. She didn’t need to be thinking about that now. Ever, if she could help it. What was done was done.

“That was nice of you,” a familiar voice said, though in an unfamiliar tone.

Emerald tensed, her head whipping to the side as one of her hands dropped to her weapon. Leaning against a wall, his armor covered by a nondescript brown cloak was Jaune Arc.

Red eyes met blue through the lenses of her goggles. That would have been enough to make him look away, once. It felt like a life time ago now, those scarcely believable days at Beacon. Back when she was attempting to help bring down a kingdom and he was just a nobody trainee trying to pass all of his classes. Now his eyes held her own, steady, focused, without a hint of shame.

These days, it was her that looked away first.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, annoyed that he’d seen her in a moment of weakness.

“Same as you, I suspect,” he finally shifted his gaze, looking out over the sea of heads. “While everyone else is dealing with problems outside the city walls, I thought I’d walk around and see if any threats are brewing closer to home.”

He’d been back a week now, along with the rest of Team RWBY. Emerald had thought them all dead; they all had. Winter Schnee had been the last one through the portal and she’d seen Weiss and then Jaune fall with her own eyes. But death didn’t await them at the bottom of that seemingly endless void.

No, something much stranger did.

Emerald scanned him from the corner of her eye, looking him up and down. She didn’t know Jaune Arc overly much. Just what she’d encountered at Beacon, and then later in Atlas. A weakling – and then not. Someone bent on revenge – and then not. Easily overlooked, but a rock – a strong foundation of the group she now found herself apart of. He didn’t like her. At least, he hadn’t. Emerald understood. She’d been aligned with the people that had taken his partner from him.

It was an expected hatred, even though Emerald always felt he didn’t hate her quite enough.

Now, though?

She didn’t know what to think of him.

All of Team RWBY appeared changed from their adventure in the Ever After but none more so than Jaune. Ignoring the obvious things like Blake and Yang now being together, they’d all matured in ways that spoke of a harrowing ordeal.

But with Jaune, it was much, much deeper. The white streak in his blond hair was more than just for looks. It spoke of something darker but she didn’t know what. While Ruby and her friends had been more than happy to speak of their experiences, when it came to their male friend? Tight lipped didn’t even begin to cover it.

It was clear that he was a changed man – the hows and whys weren’t so important, at least not to her. But where once she viewed him with not much consideration at all, something about this new Jaune set her on edge. It wasn’t that he was dangerous but… he was not someone to mess with. And he saw far too much, those eyes appearing so much older than his face would indicate.

Emerald despised things she couldn’t understand. On the streets, as a thief – there was nothing worse than a surprise. Surprises got you killed.

That’s what he reminded her of; an untimely surprise, waiting to spring itself upon her. She wanted nothing to do with it, curiosity be damned.

“That was nice of you,” he repeated, causing her to scowl. He wasn’t going to let that go. She’d thought she’d deflected enough; apparently not. “Not the type of thing I’d expect from you.”

“Oh, fuck off,” she told him bluntly, hoping that her crass nature would drive him away. “Don’t look too deeply into it. I just did it because I felt like it.”

Jaune hummed, still not looking at her, scanning the crowd, every watchful for threats. Another thing that was different about him.

“I wasn’t trying to rile you up,” he admitted. “I just… thought it was sweet. That’s all.”

“Are you sure you aren’t trying to piss me off?”

His lips twitched. That was another thing; he rarely smiled now. When he’d been reunited with Ren and Nora, he’d smiled – but since then? The odd grin here and there, usually tinged with sarcasm. She never saw those easy, beaming smiles he used to give out freely. Even in Atlas, after she’d joined them – he’d been free with his smiles.

Not so anymore.

“I promise,” he said, briefly glancing at her before looking away. “Have you heard anything?”

Emerald briefly toyed with the idea of just walking away but rolled her eyes, taking up a positon beside him, leaning on the wall.

“No,” she said. “Though I’ve only just arrived. You?”

He shook his head. “Not much. Some talk about an old group called the Crown, some of their old stashes were uncovered and raided recently. Not sure if that means anything. Talk about the Grimm, a lot of fear about Salem, about what you’d expect.”

A fat load of nothing, then.

They watched as a cart was wheeled by, laden with barrels of mead. Drunkards followed behind, already three sheets to the wind. They stumbled over their own feet but managed not to face plant in the dirt, an admirable feat considering she could smellthem from several feet away. Jaune saw her expression of disgust and snorted.

“Have you eaten?” he asked out of the blue.

She arched an eyebrow at him. “What?”

“Have you eaten?” he repeated. When she continued to stare at him, he arched his own eyebrow in question. “What?”

“Are you about to offer to buy me something?”

“You wish. I was hoping you’d join me, though – if you want.”

Emerald clicked her tongue. “What makes you think I’d want that?”

He shrugged. “Company is nice.”

“Even mine?”

When he didn’t say anything, she turned his way. There was a strange look on his face, one she couldn’t decipher. For some reason, it made her throat close up. Those eyes – there was something wrong with those eyes. She’s seen people look like that before. People at the end of their rope, desperate, willing to do anything. People who had nothing.

It was not the sort of thing she’d ever expect to see in Jaune Arc’s eyes.

“Even yours,” he said softly.

When he pushed off the wall, he asked, “Coming?”

She followed without a word.