erised fiction

A Semblance of Emotion 003

Despite any nerves and excitement he felt, Jaune slept like a log. Waking up bright and early, full of energy and ready to confront his destiny, he showered and got dressed in his combat gear the first chance he got. Thankfully, he didn’t forget his locker number like he feared he would but when he returned from the showers, two girls were blocking the way. Why they picked his locker to have their conversation in front of was anyone’s guess but he needed to stow away his backpack and retr...

The Grass is Always Greener 012 -- Epilogue

Jaune never knew you could feel such bliss one moment, and then such horror the next. After Emerald’s tearful, heartfelt revelation, things had been a little bit of a blur. This wasn’t the type of thing Jaune could ignore, nor was it the type of thing that could wait. After they redressed themselves, they’d made a beeline for the Headmaster’s office. Ozpin was still at the dance at the time, or should have been – but so were Emerald’s ‘teammates’.

The trut...

The Grass is Always Greener 011

 “Hi.”

Jaune saw the way her shoulders immediately tensed at the sound of his voice.

Another fast tempo song had begun, the speakers thumping as something with a deeper bassline pounded throughout the room. Students began cheering, the couple dancing giving way to a small rave as they crowded around the small stage where the DJ hit the decks. At first, Jaune thought she was going to ignore him outright – but then to his surprise, she turned...

Commissions Closed

The Grass is Always Greener 010

Emerald stepped out of the shower, her body glistening as she approached the basin. Reaching for a towel, she swiped a hand across the misted mirror before drying off, her body feeling oddly sensitive. Her stomach flipped and flopped, a sick feeling twisting her insides and with annoyance, it was a feeling she hadn’t been able to shake for the entire day. It was not a feeling she was accustomed to, at least not in recent times.

The nerves were almost crippling her.

The Grass is Always Greener 009

Learning about Emerald’s past was certainly an eye opener.

Jaune always knew that he was luckier than most. In a world where Grimm attacks were frequent, and humanity and faunus-kind were constantly fighting for survival, it wasn’t unusual to meet people with deep emotional scars. To meet people with deeply rooted trauma. Knowing someone that knew someone that has lost family or friends to the creatures of darkness was a sad but accepted outcome of their world, and th...

The Grass is Always Greener 008

Apparently all you needed to do to get Pyrrha Nikos to reveal her heart was to get her a little drunk. Emerald’s little night out had been a resounding success in more ways than one. Not only was she able to deepen her building relationship with Jaune Arc but she’d also been able to gather valuable information on her main target.

Emerald knew that the friendship between Jaune and Pyrrha had been different than the others. That the champion fighter had a closer bond wi...

The Grass is Always Greener 007

“Mr. Arc – the answer to that question was Mantle. Please pay attention,” Doctor Oobleck chided amidst the laughter of the other students. Jaune felt his neck flush hotly, doing his best to ignore the worried looks of his teammates. “We’ve covered this subject extensively. If you cannot supply the answers to such a simple question, I feel I must set you some supplementary work.”

“Yes, Professor – er, Doctor,” Jaune cringed as Oobleck’s face twitched, t...

The Grass is Always Greener 006

“You’ve done well,” Cinder praised, scrolling through the document Emerald had put together. Amber eyes regarded her appreciatively. “I did not expect you to gather so much information so quickly.”

Emerald tried not to preen but it was difficult not to when her mentor was praising her efforts. Such words did not come from Cinder Fall often.

Mercury made a sound low in his throat, something mocking but not even that was enough to dampen Emera...

The Grass is Always Greener 005

Emerald was getting a pretty good feel for the relationship dynamics on display by just watching them interact with each other. Ruby and Weiss, for example, had a little bit of an antagonistic friendship going on. It was clear that Ruby adored her partner and it was equally clear that no matter how Weiss tried to hide it, she was beginning to feel the same way about the younger girl. But the Schnee heiress was a prickly one and prone to snippy remarks that often resulted in the pair needling ...

The Grass is Always Greener 004

Emerald had watched Cinder seduce and beguile countless men but she had never tried her hand at it herself. Why would she when her job was to go unseen, unnoticed, and her interest in men was exactly zero? Her life was dedicated in service of Cinder. Emerald didn’t have time for such dalliances.

But she’d seen and watched the way her mentor effortlessly guided men with no more than a look or a suggestive touch, or a brief showing of skin. He didn’t know it but Cinde...

The Grass is Always Greener 003

Jaune held up a pair of shirts, one blue, one white. “What one do you think I should go with, Ren?”

Freshly showered and hair still damp, Jaune was standing in the middle of their room wearing nothing but a towel wrapped securely around his waist. Ordinarily, he wouldn’t have dared to just walk into their shared living space practically butt naked but Pyrrha and Nora had already left, leaving their partners to finish getting ready alone. They were all heading down t...

The Grass is Always Greener 002

Emerald got her first proper look at Jaune Arc the next day.

Combat Class was being attended by students of all four academies, the stands heaving with excitable students. While they weren’t strictly required to attend classes throughout the duration of their stay at Beacon, they were all welcome to join whenever they wished. The fact that every single student available had decided to pack themselves into the auditorium was for one reason, and one reason alone.

2024-06-09 21:44:07 +0000 UTC View Post

The Grass is Always Greener 001

Beacon Academy, one of the four great Huntsmen academies. As the name implied, it was a beacon of hope, a bastion of safety, a symbol that had helped usher in a new age after the Great War that had so nearly doomed them all. Formed by the King of Vale, it represented unity and progress, a brighter future.

And they were going to bring it all crashing down.

“Now that you’ve had a chance to settle in, I’d like to hear your thoughts,” Cinder began...

Heat Culture 004

Jaune grunted as he completed his final rep, arms and chest burning from the effort. Directing the bar back into the saddles, it clanged loudly as a few hundred pounds settled with a bang. Sitting up, he reached for his towel and began wiping off, pleased with his effort.

Another day, another work out session. A large part of being a Huntsman was staying in shape and Beacon provided all the necessary facilities to do so. Stocked with the latest equipment, the gym on campus wa...

A Semblance of Emotion 002

Jaune spent the entire next day walking around the city and he still barely scratched the surface. There was so much to see from the countless outlet stores, fast food chains and tourist locations that he could never take it all in – and that wasn’t even getting started on things like night clubs and other nightlife event areas. Vale was just so much bigger than he ever thought a place could be and by the time evening swung around again, he returned to that diner to finish off his day wit...

A Semblance of Emotion 001

Sleeping in the back of a wagon wasn’t as easy as it sounded, though it had very little to do with the wagon itself and more the roads they traveled upon. Jaune could tell they were getting close to civilization because he hadn’t been unceremoniously woken by a pothole or random stone under the wheel in over a day now, and when he opened his eyes on the twenty-fifth day of his travels, he was greeted by a magnificent sight.

The Kingdom of Vale was the jewel of Remnant, ...

Payment 001

“What do you think?” Jaune asked, holding up a pair of jackets. One was a very nice dark blue that matched his eyes while the other was a slimming black of similar make. Both looked rather fetching with the simple white shirt he had chosen to wear underneath, meaning that any choice was simply down to personal preference.

It wasn’t a hard decision for Pyrrha to make.

“The blue,” she said.

He had such nice expressive eyes.

Heat Culture 003

The reason he didn’t want to go in was because he was the only man in the store, seeing as this particular place dealt exclusively with women’s swimwear. It made him feel a little awkward when as soon as he was pulled across the threshold, several pairs of eyes turned his way, almost like they could sense his presence.

“Oooooo,” Nora chirped, ignorant of the curious gazes of several faunus women already in the store. “This one is so cute!”

Heat Culture 002

Vale was certainly lively this morning.

Jaune peered around central station as they stepped off their airship, seeing heads as far as the eye could see. A sea of animal features greeted him, everything from horns to tails to scales, fangs, feathers and tusks. Some faunus could certainly pass as human if their traits were less conspicuous; a man by the information kiosk looked human until they got closer, and Jaune spied how his hair appeared more woolen like a sheep. Anot...

ANNOUNCEMENT -- JUNE

Just a heads up about what will be happening next month. Real life is about to get really busy and unfortunately it is going to cut massively into my writing time. It is really awkward timing as well because I'm about to start posting a new story in a few weeks, but I'm just going to have to roll with it.

Starting around the 7th of June until the 7th of July, the normal rotation of stories will go on hold much like what happened over Christmas last year. This means Heat Culture and the ...

Heat Culture 001

Long ago, the world was engulfed in war.

Human kingdoms did battle with faunus tribes in a conflict that spanned decades, resulting in countless deaths and lost land conceded to the creatures of Grimm. It spanned all continents, all people, faunus rising up in unison, fighting for their rights, their freedom. It was a war that they ultimately won.

It was later called the Faunus Rights Revolution.

In reality, it was less of a victo...

The Temptation 065 -- Epilogue

Ten Years Later

The room was dark but for the dappled sunlight slowly stretching across the bed, piercing the curtain as it swayed in the gentle sea breeze. As it crossed his pillow and then his face, Jaune felt it penetrate the veil of sleep, lifting him from his rest. Blue eyes blinked open blearily, staring at the ceiling for a moment as he tried to recall his dream.

Whatever it was, it had been nice.

2024-05-10 01:22:34 +0000 UTC View Post

The Temptation 064

Jaune couldn’t avoid him forever.

“How about we go for a drink,” Qrow suggested, though it didn’t sound much like a suggestion at all. “Just the two of us.”

The man had cornered him after they’d left Doctor Polendina’s lab. Everyone else was so excited for the coming ‘training bout’ between Winter and Nora that they didn’t notice, and Jaune was left to fend for himself against a no doubt irate uncle of two pregnant ...

The Temptation 063

It took awhile for things to settle around the events of his sudden kidnapping but settle they did. The defeat of the Temptation lifted a weight from all of their shoulders but Jaune’s most of all. Her death was a salve he didn’t know he needed, and the continued support of his girlfriends was all the healing he needed.

Though things weren’t without their dark linings.

Grimm Cerise was still missing.

They’d looked everywhe...

Stranded 026 -- Epilogue

 “You know I can do that myself,” Jaune complained half-heartedly.

“Hush,” Weiss reprimanded him softly, tossing his towel across his head and giving it a vigorous rub. “You’re covered in sweat.”

“I’ve just been training for over an hour straight with my team,” he pointed out. “Of course I’m sweaty!”

“The fact that you are sweaty isn’t the problem,” Weiss countered, dragging the towel down over...

The Temptation 062

The Grimm girls were taken into custody and they went obediently, though Jaune made sure to escort them the entire way to ensure things went smoothly. After he received some new clothes, of course. As expected, General Ironwood’s first reaction was to destroy them but when he saw the control Jaune had over these strange Grimm, that had quickly changed.

“The study of Grimm is almost impossible due to their unique anatomy,” he said grimly, standing with Jaune as they ...

Stranded 025

Jaune had been wondering what he should wear to the festival since he didn’t exactly have many clothes with him. Wearing his combat attire seemed a little out of place since this was meant to be a celebration and he wasn’t attending as a Huntsman, this wasn’t a mission, but anything else he could wear wasn’t really appropriate for the occasion either.

Of course, Blake’s mother had prepared for this. He needn’t have worried.

Jaune stared at...

The Temptation 061

It was absolute chaos.

Floating Array unfurled from Penny’s back, the blades dancing through the air before trying to impale the Temptation. Thick black tendrils leapt from the ground, intercepting the weapons, their keen edge sinking into the vile Grimm flesh. A clawed hand grasped Penny by the face, wrenching her head back before that wicked tongue lashed out, snapping like a whip. It lashed Penny across the chest and it sent her reeling back across the room, hitting ...

Stranded 024

The next couple of days were spent enjoying the hospitality of Blake’s parents and the island of Menagerie at large. They’d been given leave by Beacon to remain on the island until they were ready to return home, and so they were going to make the most of it.

They’d been planning on staying for the annual festival and this allowed them to do that. They’d arrived at the perfect time, as the date was fast approaching. In the meantime, Jaune kept himself busy by taki...