25

Chapter 25: Arced

"I'm sorry, Jaune, I just don't think it's possible."

Pyrrha frowned at the mad scribblings laid out on the cafeteria table before her. She was honestly impressed with the amount of effort Jaune had put into his little pet project, but she couldn't help feeling that it was rather pointless.

"Are you sure?" Jaune asked from his place beside her, frowning as he leaned over the papers. "I could have sworn I had the math right…"

From Pyrrha's other side, Ren gave the various notes a quick once-over. "You did the calculations correctly, Jaune," he said calmly. "The problem is, you simply aren't strong enough to bounce your shield off that many objects and have it keep up enough momentum, let alone have it come back to you."

Pyrrha nodded in agreement. "Plus, even if you were strong enough to do this, you'd have to make all of these calculations in your head, in less than a second. It's just not practical."

"Plus," Nora piped in from Ren's side, glancing away from the fragile tower of balanced silverware she'd been constructing through breakfast. "I'm pretty sure if you threw your shield that hard against a wall, you'd pulverize it."

Jaune felt just the slightest spark of hope. "The wall or my shield?"

"Both," she answered bluntly as she placed the tip of a butter knife on the points of a fork.

Jaune's spark of hope burnt out. "Man… I really thought I was onto something…" He muttered as he collected his notes into a messy pile.

Pyrrha patted him gently on the back, smiling softly. "It was a good idea, Jaune. You just need to come up with something different… preferably one that would obey the laws of physics."

Jaune managed a smile despite himself. Pyrrha's words always did have a way of making him feel better.

"Morning, guys!"

Nora jumped at the sudden shout, accidentally knocking over her cutlery castle. "Aww…" she moaned forlornly.

Jaune stifled a laugh (you do not laugh at Nora unless she told a joke… or you hate your own legs), then turned to greet the team settling across from his own. "Good morning, Ruby. Running a little late this morning aren't youuuuu…?" Jaune trailed off as he got a good look at the girls sitting across from him, his brain power coming to a complete dead stop.

All-in-all, Team RWBY looked about the same as they always did. Ruby was tearing into her breakfast of donuts and cereal. Weiss was absently scanning her scroll, no doubt planning out her day. Yang was going through her bag, making sure she'd grabbed all her homework before leaving the dorm. And Blake…

Blake was fidgeting slightly in her seat between Weiss and Yang, her head down as she avoided eye contact with anyone at the table. There was a book opened in front of her, but Jaune couldn't really tell if she was actually reading it because… well…

Jaune knew it was rude. It was improper. It was borderline offensive. But he couldn't help but stare.

After all, it's not every day one of your classmates grows cat ears overnight.

Something jabbed him sharply in the side, bringing him back to reality. He turned to his side to find Pyrrha, a disapproving look on her face. Her eyes briefly flicked across the table, causing him to look back. He just barely caught Blake's amber eyes on him before focusing back on her book, a small frown on her face. He also felt a chill run down his spine when he caught a warning look from Yang.

It took Jaune all of a second to realize what he'd been doing. "Aw, crap, sorry, I…" He stopped blathering when Blake glanced up at him, almost shyly. Jaune sighed, fully aware of how bad this could go, but plowed ahead anyway. "Okay, I know I'm not the most attentive guy in school, but please tell me I'm not that blind."

Blake blinked at his statement as Pyrrha let out a small groan beside him. Ruby looked between him and Blake with a little worry, Weiss subtly closing her scroll to focus on the conversation. Once his words played back in his head, Jaune started mentally preparing for the inevitable onslaught of angry females.

To the shock and relief of all, Blake's lips curved up into a nervous smile. "No, Jaune. I've, um… I was hiding my ears under my bow."

"Oh," Jaune said in response. Then the implications really clicked, his eyes widening in realization. "Ohhh…"

"Nora, no."

All eyes (some more subtle than others) turned towards the end of the table. Ren was calmly sipping from his cup of tea, while Nora crossed her arms in annoyance, facing away from him. "I didn't do anything," she muttered.

"You were thinking it."

"No I wasn't."

"Yes, you were."

"Well…" Nora's eyes briefly flicked towards Blake, specifically, her cat ears. "I wasn't going to actually do it."

Ren looked at her from the corner of his eye, then shook his head with a small smirk. He set down his cup, looking to Blake. "Any particular reason for the change, Blake?"

Blake swallowed, closing her book. "I… did some thinking, and after talking it over with my team, I decided that I don't want to hide what I am anymore."

Ren nodded, his lips curving up into a small smile. "Rather brave of you."

Blake tried to smile back, but only managed to bite her lip nervously as she folded her hands on the table. "I wish I felt it. I can't stop feeling like everyone's staring at me."

"Aw, don't sweat it, Blake," Yang said before swiveling her head around the room. "Either no one's noticed or they just don't care… well, mostly," she muttered as she met the eyes of a fox Faunus who'd been staring at their table, his mouth hanging open in shock. Said fox snapped his mouth shut, suddenly finding his scrambled eggs very interesting.

Blake sighed, having seen the whole thing. Her cat ears wilted. "I was afraid of that…"

"You've just surprised them is all," Pyrrha soothed. "Give it a few days. The novelty will wear off eventually."

Blake met Pyrrha's warm green eyes, and managed a small smile. "Thanks. So…" she started hesitantly, her ears perking up a little. "Do you guys have any problems with this… me being a Faunus?"

Pyrrha shook her head, smiling. "Not at all. I have no issue with Faunus. Though…" Her cheeks tinted a little in embarrassment. "I am sorry about the other morning."

Blake was confused for a moment, before she remembered. "It's fine. Thank you for not saying anything to anyone."

Pyrrha seemed surprised by her gratitude, then shrugged with a grin. "Wasn't my business."

Ren raised an eyebrow at the redhead. "You knew Blake was a Faunus?"

Pyrrha nodded. "I saw her ears when I brought their pancakes over last weekend." She ignored Nora's annoyed huff. "Like I said, wasn't my place to say anything."

Ren nodded in acceptance, then gave Blake a small smile. "The fact that you're a Faunus doesn't change who you are, Blake. I'm fine with it."

"Same here!" Nora chirped with a large grin. "Though, um…" her eyes glanced up at Blake's ears again, her expression turning awkward.

Blake frowned in apprehension, her ears folding back slightly. "What?"

Nora's mouth opened and closed a few times, different words forming on her lips, yet none of them were spoken. She gave an odd grimace as she struggled for the right thing to say.

Ren let out a long-suffering sigh, taking a sip of his tea. "She wants to ask if she can pet your ears."

Blake jerked back in surprise, her eyes slamming back against her skull. She just barely registered her teammates reacting similarly, Weiss giving Nora a disapproving glare.

Nora's head snapped towards Ren, a look of utter betrayal on her face (which Ren promptly ignored). Her cheeks tinting in embarrassment, Nora shrugged at Blake, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry…" she weakly apologized. "They just look… fuzzy."

Her shock worn off, Blake narrowed her eyes at Nora, frowning. "Nora, that's not really something you ask in public. It's… private."

Nora slumped, looking cowed. "Sorry…"

Blake held her glare for a moment, before letting out a sigh. She reminded herself that this wasn't some random person, this was one of her friends. Her eyes softened as she smiled at Nora. She leaned forward, lowering her voice. "Maybe after classes."

Nora blinked in surprise, then beamed a smile, practically bouncing in her seat.

That just left… Blake turned to face the leader of Team JNPR, only to find a confusing sight.

Jaune was squinting across the table at Ruby, who hadn't seemed to notice, what with having tried to focus on the conversation and her breakfast at the same time. Blake tried to follow his eyes, only to feel a chill when she realized what caught his attention: Ruby's Mate's Mark.

The academy uniforms they all wore unfortunately didn't give them many options when it came to showing off their Marks. With their high collars, the only part of their Marks that could be seen clearly was Weiss' snowflake. The collar cut the Mark off about halfway down, leaving only half of Blake's flower and just the tips of Ruby's rose and Yang's flame to be seen. It wasn't perfect, but it was the best they could do with what they had.

Apparently, however, their Marks were plenty visible, because Jaune was staring right at Ruby's, his brow scrunched in confusion and… shock, Blake guessed?

"Jaune?" she asked hesitantly, slightly worried.

Jaune blinked, taking his eyes off of Ruby's neck and turning to Blake. "Wha? Oh, sorry, Blake. You say something?"

Blake bit her lip, feeling her anxiety raise for unknown reasons. The way he'd been looking at Ruby's Mark was...odd. Almost like… Blake pushed the thought away. There was no way. Instead, she asked, "Do you have a problem with me being a Faunus?"

To her surprise, Jaune gave her a funny look. Even more surprising, he gave a small baffled laugh. "Uh… would be a little hypocritical of me if I did, wouldn't it?"

Now Blake was confused, and she wasn't the only one. Everyone from either side of the table turned towards Jaune, bewildered. Ruby cocked her head to the side in confusion, an action mirrored by Nora. Ren raised an eyebrow at him, curiosity bleeding through his stoic facade. Weiss' head jerked back, her eyes wide, while Yang stared at him like he'd just spoken in a different language. Pyrrha's eyebrows shot up to her hairline, her mouth falling open a bit.

Jaune flinched under the sudden attention, sinking into his seat like he expected a bomb to go off. "What? What'd I say?"

Blake worked her mouth a few times, struggling for something to say. From the corner of her eye, she saw Nora not-so-subtly lean around Ren and look up and down Jaune's back. It was completely insane, but Blake took a sniff of the air just to be sure.

No… no, his scent is human, she thought to herself. The only Faunus scents on Jaune were so faint that they had to be second hand, likely just from being around the Faunus students in Beacon. But then why would he say…?

"Um… the hell do you mean by that, Vomit Boy?" Yang asked, baffled.

Jaune stared back at her, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Well, because of my… wait... " His features smoothed out in realization, before turning back to confusion. "Didn't I tell you all about my family?"

His sudden change of topic left Blake feeling even more lost. "Your family?" she questioned.

Jaune's eyes widened. "I could've sworn I… Ruby, Pyrrha!" He quickly looked between the two, gaining their startled attention. "I know I told you two about my family!"

Ruby hesitated for a second, before thinking hard. "Uh… you have a lot of sisters, right?"

"Seven, if I remember right," Pyrrha added, nodding to the sniper.

Jaune looked back and forth from them both, his brow scrunched in confusion. "But I could have sworn…" Then he blinked. He let out a groan, slapping a hand to his forehead. "I'm an idiot," he stated.

Pyrrha frowned in disapproval. "Jaune, you're not-"

"No, I am," Jaune affirmed, thoroughly annoyed with himself as she started patting his pockets, looking for something. "Because only I would know you guys this long and never- ah, here it is." From his back pocket, Jaune pulled out his scroll, turning it on. He swiped across the screen a few times, before letting out a sound of satisfaction. He set it down on the table, turning it sideways so everyone could see. A picture of four people was on the screen. "That's me with my three oldest sisters."

Everyone crowded around to see the small screen, Ruby having to move between Weiss and Blake to get a good look. From Blake's seat, she could see the picture perfectly. And it confused the hell out of her.

True to Jaune's words, the picture was of him and three blonde-haired women, all smiling at the camera. Jaune was wearing a grey suit and tie that looked about a size too big. He was standing near the center of the picture, sandwiched between two of the women, each of them having draped an arm across his shoulders, with the third doing the same to the women next to her. Two of the girls wore matching sky-blue dresses, while the one on Jaune's right…

"Is that a wedding dress?" Weiss asked incredulously.

Jaune gave a sheepish grin. "Yeah. Those are my sisters Jane, Jessie, and Joanne. It was Jessie's wedding day and they roped me into taking pictures with everyone."

Weiss nodded at his answer, her attention back on the photo with everyone else. Honestly, if not for the wedding dress, none of them would be able to tell Jessie from the other two. The three looked so similar, they could have passed for triplets.

If not for the fact that poking out in front of Jessie's wedding veil were two large, pointed wolf ears, same as the girl on Jaune's other side.

Blake's mouth fell open as she tried to process what she was seeing. "Your sisters are… Faunus?" she asked faintly.

Jaune nodded, smiling. "Yep! Wolf Faunus, actually."

Blake met his eyes, trying to understand. "But… you're human. How…?"

"Well," Jaune started. "Technically, they're my half-sisters." From the corner of her eye, Blake saw Ruby and Yang share a surprised glance with each other. Jaune didn't notice, continuing. "See, Jane and Jessie are the daughters of my dad and his first wife, who was also a wolf Faunus. A little after Jane and Jess turned two- they're twins, you see- their mom got real sick. There was nothing anyone could do, and she passed away. Two years later, he met the woman who would be my mom."

Silence fell around the table as Jaune finished. No one was quite sure what to say.

"Yeesh…" Yang said after a while. "That's… kinda heavy, Jaune."

Jaune shrugged. "I guess. I've never really thought about it too much. Jane and Jess were really young when their mom died, so they don't remember a whole lot about her. And as far as I can remember, they've always considered my mom their mom."

Yang nodded, and Blake felt something odd across the Link. She moved her eyes to look at Yang as she felt a mix of sadness and longing coming from the blonde. It was gone just as fast as it came, but Blake still caught the small frown on Yang's face before she wiped it away with a grin. She bobbed her head towards the image. "Well, you all look happy. Them being Faunus didn't matter to you?"

Jaune smiled back, slightly perplexed. "Course not. They're my big sisters. Though it did kinda suck playing hide-and-seek when we were kids. Freaking wolf senses…." he grumbled to himself, face screwing up in frustration like he was recalling a bad memory. His face smoothed out as he picked up his scroll, grinning at Blake. "So, yeah, I don't have a problem with you being a Faunus, Blake. Kind of hard to when I grew up with two of them."

Blake couldn't help the wide smile spreading across her lips. She'd been so scared about people knowing she was a Faunus, but even more so about JNPR. Strangers and random students were bad enough, but the members of Team JNPR were slowly becoming people she could add to her short list of people she trusted. She was afraid that she'd lose that possibility once they knew what she was. Instead, they were completely okay with it. If anything, given what she'd learned about Jaune and his family, she was even closer to them now.

Across the Link, she felt happiness and relief from Ruby and Weiss, and from Yang, a sense of satisfaction behind her relief. She turned to the blonde, being met with a familiar grin. She rolled her eyes. "Don't say 'I told you so'."

Yang put her hands up in defense, still grinning. "Alright," she said in a tone that clearly meant 'But I'll still think it.'

Blake sighed with a smile. She felt her ears perk up, lifting along with her mood. She nearly caught herself, before remembering that she didn't need to restrain her ear's movements anymore. That's going to be a hard habit to break, she thought to herself.

The next few minutes passed with comforting ease. Ruby started asking Jaune more questions about his family, Pyrrha listening attentively as they talked, asking her own questions from time to time. Yang and Nora started an argument over which was more effective, a fist covered in flames or a hammer covered in lightning, while Weiss and Ren went back to their own devices, Weiss flipping through her scroll while Ren enjoyed his tea.

Blake just tried to relax, listening to bits and pieces of the two different conversations. A sudden tickling on the back of her neck put her back on edge, the feeling instantly familiar: someone was looking at her.

She swiveled in her seat, quickly scanning the cafeteria. She saw a few Faunus suddenly duck their heads, but the feeling didn't go away. She looked a bit more…

"Oh no…" she muttered, her ears folding down against her skull.

Weiss picked up on her sudden dread, looking at her. "Blake? What… oh." Weiss trailed off as she followed Blake's gaze.

Across the room, Cardin Winchester had just walked in. His left eye was still swollen shut from the last combat practice, but his other one was opened wide. His face went slack with shock, before a sneer spread over his lips. He started making his way across the room, the rest of CRDL following behind.

Blake felt her mouth go dry. This was it. This was exactly why she'd stayed hidden all this time: so she could avoid this exact situation.

Cardin reached the midway point of the room, his eyes locked onto Blake.

"Oh, just try it, buddy."

The quiet mutters pulled Blake from her building anxiety, making her turn to the side. Yang was glaring right past her, her eyes blazing red. A quick look the other way showed Ruby and Weiss doing the same, the closest thing to anger Blake had ever seen on Ruby's face. Weiss frowned at the approaching group, eyes narrowed in disdain.

THUNK!

Blake jumped as the whole table suddenly shook. Her head spun around as she looked across the table. To her surprise, Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ren were also glaring at Cardin, with Ren's eyes narrowed dangerously. Besides them, however, Nora was smiling widely towards Cardin, her hands folded gently over Magnhild's handle, the massive hammer having appeared seemingly from nowhere.

Cardin froze in his tracks, as did the rest of his team. He looked over the table, worry flickering across his features as he realized that he was outnumbered. Then he just sneered again, changing course towards an empty table.

Blake let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She glanced to her sides, seeing her teammates relax as well. "Thank you," she whispered gratefully.

Yang patted her on the back, smiling as her eyes went back to lavender. "We got your back, Blake."

Blake managed a smile, her ears perking up slightly. Ruby and Weiss smiled at her, before going back to what they were doing. Across the table, Ren raised a disapproving eyebrow at Nora, looking between her and Magnhild. Nora just grinned back at him, humming a little tune.

Blake looked around at the seven of them, her grin not leaving her as she felt warmth in her chest. It had been a long time since she felt this safe with a group of people. She felt newfound hope that it would last.

She pulled out her scroll, checking the time. Classes were going to start shortly. Before she put her scroll away, she decided to check the news to see if anything had happened outside Beacon. Her thumb tapped across the screen, bringing up her favored news site.

Her ears dipped down as she read the first headline.

SDC WAREHOUSE ROBBED, WHITE FANG SUSPECTED.

As Blake read further down the report, she felt her ears lowering with her mood.

They're growing bolder… she thought with dread.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Blake jumped slightly at Weiss' soft voice. She turned, finding the heiress' eyes flicking between herself and her own scroll, worry etched on her face. Blake looked at Weiss' scroll, seeing the same news report she'd been reading.

She must have felt my mood and put two and two together, Blake thought to herself. She felt her usual instinct to deny it, to say it was her problem, but she forced it down. She could feel Weiss' worry and desire to help. She caught the glances of Ruby and Yang, each catching on to the feeling of Weiss and herself.

Blake looked back down at her scroll, re-reading the headline. "Later," she finally said.

Weiss' annoyance was palpable. "Blake…" she said warningly.

The corner of Blake's lip twitched a little as she fought a smile. She waved a hand in placation. "After classes, Weiss. Then I'll talk about it, I promise."

Weiss kept up her stern stare for a few more seconds, then sighed heavily. "Fine. But I'm holding you to that."

Just then, the bell rang, signaling the five-minute warning. Everyone moved to leave, Blake following her team. They just left the room and started up the hall when a voice sounded behind them.

"I'll catch up in a second. Hey, Blake!" Blake turned to the voice, finding Jaune standing next to her, his team walking off without him. Pyrrha sent him a curious look before following after Ren and Nora. "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?"

Blake blinked, confused. "Um… sure." She caught sight of her team sending her questioning looks. She gave them a reassuring smile and waved for them to continue on. She saw Yang shrug and Ruby nod back, before they kept walking towards class. She turned back to Jaune. "Something wrong?"

Jaune rubbed the back of his head, smiling awkwardly. "Nothing's wrong really, it's just…" He heaved out a long sigh, as if resigning himself. "Look, I completely understand that it's none of my business, but it's going to bug me if I don't ask." He gingerly pressed a finger to the side of his neck. "That mark on your neck. Is that… a Mate's Mark?"

Blake blinked in surprise. "You know about Mate's Marks?" she asked.

Jaune nodded. "Yeah. When I was ten I asked my brother-in-law why he got a tattoo on his neck, and Jane explained it to me. So, I guess that's a yes?"

Blake hesitated, then nodded slowly. "Yes, it is."

Jaune nodded back, just as slowly. "'Kay. I also saw that Ruby had the same Mark… and so did Yang… and Weiss…"

Blake felt her cheeks a little as she started to tense up. "Do you have a problem with our relationship?" she asked calmly, but defensively.

Jaune threw his hands up in surrender. "No, no, I don't have a problem! It's just… I knew group relationships were a thing with some Faunus, I just didn't think I'd ever know someone who was in one."

Blake relaxed slightly at his honest tone, her eyes softening. "So, you're okay with it?"

Jaune gave a small hum, his head tilting slightly. "Yeah, pretty much. I mean, it's a little weird, but I know you guys. If you think you can make it work, then go for it. Though…"

Blake frowned as he trailed off. "What?"

With an embarrassed chuckle, Jaune rubbed at the back of his neck. "Well… I was kind of making plans to try and ask Weiss out?" he said with a sheepish grin, cringing a little as he did so.

Blake's eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed. A small growl sounded at the back of her throat.

Jaune instantly threw his hands back up. "Hey, she's taken, I get it!" He laughed quietly to himself. "Didn't really think I had a chance anyway."

Blake forced her annoyance down, letting out a sigh. She started walking up the hall, Jaune following behind. "You'll find someone, Jaune. Just be patient."

Jaune huffed. "Jeez, you sound like my sisters." He perked up a little, remembering something. "That reminds me: Jane said humans couldn't give a Faunus a Mark. How did you get one?"

Blake started at the turn in conversation, but then smiled. "You're right. Humans usually can't, but Weiss had this idea…"

The two continued towards their classes as Blake and Jaune talked, Blake not even noticing the curious stares she got from the people in the hall. Neither did they notice the shocked look of one particular rabbit Faunus they passed, watching them turn down a corner.

"A human… can Mark a Faunus?" Velvet whispered to herself.

Betaed by Covert Weapon

Old A/n: Well, everyone seemed to be alright with me messing with canon character history, so here's my first attempt at it: my take on Jaune's sisters. I don't really have an explanation for it except that it popped into my head on day and I really liked the idea. Expect more changes in the future.

Well, here we go. Starting next chapter, I'm officially tackling Volume 2. The chapters might take a little bit longer from here on out, mostly because I'm going to be rewatching Volume 2 for reference, as well as preparing my shattered soul as I rewatch Volume 3 for ideas. Wish me luck!

Also, 100k words, people! We finally hit the big time!

See ya all next chapter!