Confessions Within Cumulonimbus Clouds

(Third Person POV)

There are sounds of fighting and screaming nearby.

"Penny! J-Just Hold on!" Jaune said.

Eyes open in Jaune's point of view of him falling while being surrounded by floating red balls. Jaune panicks as he sways his arms. He shuts his eyes. He opens them again, only to see a burning up Crescent Rose falling a few meters away. He pulls his arms in and propels himself towards Crescent Rose.

Ever After...

Somehow, Jaune landed in the Ever After, and can be seen pulling himself forward on the ground, with his Crocea Mors behind him. He eventually runs out of stamina and collapses on the sand before pulling himself up and letting out a cough.

"Where...am I?" Jaune asked, looking at what looks like a jungle.

Jungle...

Moments later, Jaune is slashing away at what can only be assumed are leaves and branches. He then takes a little break and leans on Crocea Mors beside a rock. He looks up to see a little pocket watch on a tree, ticking away. Jaune walks towards the ticking watch and inspects it, pulling it off where it was held in place. The pocket watch suddenly stops and turns counter-clockwise as the sun suddenly disappears.

"Hey...No, uh... Wait... Wait, wait! Stop it! Please stop!" Jaune said, worried.

As time in the Ever After continues to reverse backwards, Jaune struggles to stop the fruit-like stopwatch as he shakes it before throwing it to the ground. He destroys it with the sheath of Crocea Mors. Time in the Jungle Arce suddenly stops. Jaune pants and looks around before looking down at the pocket watch, now broken with a pair of crooked hands and glass cracks.

Jaune is then seen sitting on a rock overlooking the ocean, suddenly, the sun goes down with a flash and he saddenly brings his hands to his face.

Garden's Arce...

"I thought I'd never see you again..." Jaune said, looking at Team RWBY and I.

Ever After...

Time seems to have continued as Jaune's armor rusts and his physical appearance looks older.

"But I knew if I waited long enough, then you would fall..." Jaune said.

Ever After...

Jaune stands up and brings his hand up to the sky as he sees what can only be described as two falling stars.

"Just like I did." Jaune said.

(First Person POV)

Back in the Gardens Arce...

"It... It's really you, right? When I saw you in the market..." Jaune said, hesitantly pausing and looks down.

Team RWBY and I look at each other before looking at Jaune.

"Jaune. It's us." Ruby said.

"Sorry about the sidetracking. I had to deal with gods and an impossible girl." I said, looking at Jaune. "It was hard knowing what happened over there and not knowing if you guys were alive or not."

"How long has it been since you last saw us?" Jaune asked. "Since you saw me."

"Two years."

Team RWBY and I warmly hug Jaune. Little, who appears on top of Jaune's head, also hugs him.

"Two years?" Jaune asked, smiling with tears of joy. "So this impossible girl. What is she like?"

"She's my Pyrrha." I said, smiling.

"How did you find us?" Ruby asked.

"How are you the Rusted Knight?" Blake asked.

"And when did you get so..." Yang said.

"Mature?" Weiss asked, while Ruby, Blake, Yang, and I all stare at Weiss. "Uh..."

Weiss blushes and collects herself.

"You said no to Jaune when he was an idiot. Now when he becomes the Rusted Knight, do you like him?" I asked, looking at Weiss.

"Um...it's complicated." Weiss said, blushing even more. "What if I do like him like this because he's the Rusted Knight?"

"What happened in Atlas... after the rest of us fell?" Ruby asked, looking between Jaune and I.

"I, uh... Guess we've all got a lot of catching to do..." Jaune said, sighing.

Later, Team RWBY, Jaune, Juniper, and I have already left the Gardens Arce and arrive in a flower field.

Flower Field...

"She's... got two Relics now?" Ruby asked.

"And with Cinder, the ability to get another." Yang said.

"She doesn't know where the Beacon Relic is!" Blake said.

"Well there's that to be thankful for at least." Weiss said.

"The only upside is that Winter is now the Winter Maiden. But General Ironwood is dead." I said, while Jaune sighs. "I know that because the TARDIS showed me what happened."

Ruby sits on a small rock, "We lost Atlas and the relic..."

"But we got everyone out safely. Jaune and Jared said so." Blake said, assuringly.

Weiss places her hand on Blake's shoulder.

"We've risked their home to save the Relic... And we failed." Weiss said.

"Getting everyone out has to count for something." Blake said.

"What good is saving anybody if Salem just destroys the world anyway..." Ruby said, angrily.

Yang places her arms on her sister's shoulder and leans in, "That's how Ironwood thought... you don't mean that."

"Ruby, General Ironwood is dead. As I've said." I said, while Ruby looks down. "Someone we took for granted is gone."

"We know. Thank you for repeating this time and time again. You done?!" Jaune exclaimed, waving his arm and Juniper prances behind him and stops. "We need to move before the weather turns, or it's gonna take us a lot longer to get to safety." Team RWBY and I are silent and Jaune takes a deep breath, exhaling. "There'll be plenty of time to lick your wounds later. Come on."

Large field of grass...

Jaune, Juniper, and Team RWBY are seen walking in a large field of grass.

"So...where're we going again?" Yang asked.

"My village. Heh. I still can't believe you made it all the way from the Crimson Keep on your own." Jaune said.

"Not on our own. We had help. The... Oh." Blake said, noticing the Curious Cat isn't with us now. "I hope the Cat is okay."

Jaune stops as the sound of thunder is heard.

"What Cat?" Jaune asked, grimacing.

Blake and Yang turn to each other, confused.

"That Cat!" Little said, jumping and pointing in their direction.

The Curious Cat is running towards the group through the grass, their bottom half picking up the rear before reuniting with the top half, causing them to tumble.

"Oh! Woo! I found you." The Curious Cat said, catching their breath for a moment. "Why is it you always find the thing you're looking for in the very last place you look, hah!" The Cat notices Jaune with Team RWBY and I. "Jaune! Oho-my! It has been an indeterminant amount of time hasn't it?" It pauses a moment to think. "So, how've you been?"

"Wait. You two know each other?" Weiss asked.

"Well, they'd have to. From the story." Ruby said, sadly.

"Jared, the Curious Cat cannot be trusted. It's like Kyubey. Also known as the Incubator." Jaune said, angrily unsheathes his broken rusted Crocea Mors sword.

"Like Kyubey?" I asked, as Blake and Yang stop Jaune. "Are you kidding me?!"

"Whoa, Jaune!" Yang said.

"I think there's a misunderstanding. The Cat can get us all out of here." Blake said.

The thunder returns, louder.

"We don't have time for this! We've got to get to my village! Don't worry, we don't need a guide." Jaune said.

"But your friends wanted to go to the tree." The Curious Cat said.

"That's where you're letting them take you?" Jaune asked, looking at Blake.

"Well, yeah. That's... that's how... Alyx got out. Right?" Blake asked.

"You didn't tell them anything." Jaune said, looking at the Curious Cat.

"No, that's simply not true. I told them plenty of things. A few any things and lots of somethings." The Curious Cat said.

"You're right, it is exactly like Kyubey." I said, looking at Jaune. "Why didn't I see that sooner?"

"Because you were so focused on all this." Jaune said, still aiming his sword at the Curious Cat.

"Can somebody please make sense?!" Weiss exclaimed.

"That tree is death." Jaune said, while Ruby, Weiss, and I turned to look at him. "It absorbs you, takes your memories, and turns you into something else. If you go there, it's going to erase you! They call it 'Ascension' here. That's really what it is."

"Wait. The tree is what causes the Ascension?" Ruby asked.

"That's what got the Herbalist. The roots of the tree." Blake said.

"Reincarnation. Of all the things I didn't want to hear. I can't believe that's a thing here." I said, glaring at the Curious Cat. "You're using the citizens of the Ever After as entropy. That's horrible!"

"Pretty curious that you neglected to mention that..." Yang said, glaring at the Curious Cat.

"Excellent pun-manship. But, you are not from here. It won't do that to you guys!" The Curious Cat said, chuckling.

"Oh yeah? Then what happened to Lewis?" Jaune asked.

"Who?" Ruby asked, looking at Jaune.

"Alyx's brother." Jaune said.

Team RWBY and I look at the Cat in disbelief over the shocking revelation.

"That... That can't be right." Blake said.

"She had a brother? Why didn't you mention him?" Yang asked.

"Well, you never asked, silly. It was always 'Alyx this' and 'Alyx that'." The Curious Cat said.

"We've been following the story the whole time, and it's not even true?" Weiss asked.

"Now I know how the Puella Magi Holy Quintet felt when dealing with Kyubey." I said, while the thunder returns the third time, louder than the previous as the wind begins to pick up. "Can't believe I'm dealing with a Madoka Magica-esque story."

"Let's go. I've got a plan." Jaune said.

"Okay. I trust you Jaune, since you're the Homura of the story." I said, smiling.

"Thank you for putting your faith and hope in me. Let's go."

"A lot of good that's done after... what? How many years?" The Curious Cat asked, scoffing.

"Can everyone please stop! This is a lot to take in..." Ruby said.

"Huh. Looks like we're stuck at a crossroads then..." The Curious Cat said.

"No!" Jaune said, when there's a sudden flash of light and everything goes black.

Punderstorm...

"Damn it." Jaune said, sighing.

"A labyrinth?" I asked, looking at what appears like a rollercoaster of connecting stone pathways, all featuring blue arched doors at the end. "What is this?"

"Welcome to a Punderstorm. A uh... weather pattern that creates a physical manifestation of a mental, or emotional problem. So we appear to be at metaphorical and literal crossroads." Jaune said.

"How perfectly stupidly Ever Afteran." Weiss said, sighing. "This place really is the pits."

A hole suddenly appears below Weiss and she falls, screaming. The hole quickly closes.

"The only way out is to solve the problem..." Jaune said, looking upward, holding his hand up. "Or wait until the storm passes. Let's just get moving..."

Jaune lowers both his hand, and his head, hanging it down. Weiss can still be heard screaming and eventually lands on her back, startling Ruby.

"Okay. I asked for that." Weiss said.

"Where's Yang? And Blake?" Ruby asked.

"Must've had something bigger to work out." Jaune said.

(Third Person POV)

Bridge...

Another sudden flash of light appears, transitioning to Yang who seems to be in the middle of another part of the storm. The clap of thunder and wind awakes her as she realizes she's on a swaying bridge.

"Huh?!" Yang exclaimed, struggling to understand what exactly is happening as she can't stay still on the swaying bridge. She looks forward, only to see Blake on the other end. "Blake!"

Blake and Yang are on each of the bridges swaying, equal distance from a circular platform in the middle.

"Yang!" Blake said, worried.

"What do we do!?" Yang exclaimed.

Blake struggles to stay afoot on her end of the bridge, "We need to get to that platform!"

"But how do we take the next step..." Yang said, looking down at the abyss.

(Jared's POV)

Punderstorm...

Back to Jaune, Juniper, Ruby, Weiss, and I, we stop at a crossing sign, displaying a drawing of a Human on the left side, and a drawing of a claw on the right.

"Y'know this would go quicker if you make up your minds..." Jaune said.

Ruby, Weiss, and I chuckle sheepishly; Ruby gives a sweatdrop, Weiss blushes and looks away, while I am looking around with awe.

"I just don't get how the story is both real... and not." Ruby said.

"It's like a fan fiction." I said, while we  continued walking and seemed to pass through one of the doors. "That's how a story is both real and not."

"Exactly." Jaune said, as Ruby's back is turned but a faint reflection of an apparently young Summer Rose can be seen. "It all happened." He stops and stares at the watery reflection of Penny smiling before continuing walking. "Just not the way Alyx said when she wrote it."

Ruby stops and sees Weiss in front of the watery reflection of the destruction of both Atlas and Mantle. Weiss walks away, with a guilty look on her face. Ruby looks in the opposite direction to see me in front of the watery reflection of the Doctor's TARDIS leaking out on Trenzalore. I walked away, with a frown on my face.

"So what? She just lied?" Weiss asked, looking at Jaune.

"You have... no idea..." Jaune said, passing another reflection and I walked towards the reflection to see it beginning a flashback. "I waited for you to fall. For years, but... somebody else showed up first." The reflection is showing Alyx and Lewis, backs facing each other. "It was Alyx and her brother, Lewis, two siblings from Remnant. I told them I was from there too. I was waiting for my friends."

The reflection shows them in the Garden Acre where Team RWBY and I found the Herbalist. Jaune with his hand raised, Alyx behind him, looking around.

"Once I started helping them, it didn't take long for me to figure out I was in her story. I... was the Rusted Knight. But things weren't always the same as the book. It's like how things weren't always the same for you Jared, when it comes to us and the Doctor." Jaune said, while the reflection shows Alyx  staring forward. "Like Alyx... she wasn't just a little petulant or inconsiderate." The reflection is showing Alyx showing a smirk. "She was selfish... cruel. Like this whole world was simply make-believe and the rules didn't apply to her." The reflection switches to a worried Lewis, before facing forward. "Lewis was the kind one, the clever one." The reflection shows Alyx and Herbalist laughing, Lewis upset, with the Curious Cat laying beside him. "We went places she didn't mention in the story. Like the Herbalist. Something changed there." The reflection is showing an image of Alyx staring down. "Whatever he said to her, she wasn't the same after that." The reflection changes  to Alyx looking behind her, almost paranoid, Jaune and Lewis behind her, Jaune raising his hand in hopes of stopping Alyx. "She lost all trust in us, started accusing us of things. The more I tried to get the story back on track, the more she distrusted me..." The reflection changes to Jaune sitting at a campfire with his hands on his head, very confused and paranoid. "Was it my fault? Did I change the story? I couldn't even be the make-believe hero. I didn't have time to make it right." The reflection changed to Alyx dripping a poison into a cup and then handing it to Jaune. He accepts it with a smile on his face. Jaune drinks. "The Rusted Knight drank the poison in her stead." The reflection changes to Jaune collapsing, with an angry Alyx staring down at him. "She said she wouldn't let anyone get in the way of her leaving. That she'd do whatever it takes. And then she was gone."

The flashback ends, the scene returns to us back on the path, Jaune staring out, Ruby, Weiss, and I staring at him.

"So...not exactly my favorite story anymore." Jaune said.

"I'm so sorry." Weiss said.

"Wait. Why don't you trust the Cat then?" Ruby asked.

"It's the same reason I don't trust Kyubey." I said, sadly. "I get the Incubator's role but it doesn't mean I should agree with it."

"It's always the Cat. Whether it's Puella Magi Madoka Magica or here." Jaune said, staring  at his past self in the water reflection before giving a sigh. "The Cat's role in the Ever After. I figured it out later, but the Cat came back for me once Alyx left." He turns to Ruby, Weiss, and I. "When people lose their way here, the Cat... convinces them... somehow. Either to keep performing their role, or... to go to the tree, get a new one. The Cat calls it 'healing', but... it's manipulation. The Cat was never helping Alyx or you. Their purpose here is to feed the tree, to keep the cycle going. It is exactly the plan of how the Incubators were trying to maintain entropy for the Doctor's world."

"How can you be sure?" Ruby asked.

"Because the Cat took Alyx and Lewis there. To the tree. Only one of them made it back to our world." Jaune said.

Jaune turns around and continues on, looking down. Weiss stares at Ruby and I.

(Third Person POV)

Bridge...

Blake and Yang are still on the swaying bridge. The wind is howling, Blake struggling to keep her grip.

"You alright?" Yang asked.

"I'll feel a lot better, when we're together? On that platform." Blake said, struggling.

Blake looks down as another step of her bridge appears as if indicating something. Blake then takes the step forward and stares across at Yang, who looks down at her side.

"Uh..." Yang said, tilting her head. "Is it a password or something? Together!" It doesn't work. "Platform!"

That doesn't work either.

"No luck?" Blake asked.

Yang shakes her head.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out though." Yang said, looking back at Blake as she tilted her head, almost smiling. "You're good at that."

"You think so?" Blake asked, looking up.

"Well... yeah! You've got a really good... brain." Yang said, chuckling as a piece of her platform appeared. "Okay, that did something!" She steps forward. "Uh... I talked about you! So..." The blonde clears throat. "You have cat ears!"

One of Blake's ears flap and she smiles, but it doesn't seem to work as Yang looks downward. She then looks back up across at her teammate.

"I think your cat ears are cute." Yang said, while another piece of her bridge appears and she happily jumps to it. "Nailed it! Even though I don't know what... 'it' is yet..."

"Maybe it's... saying things we never said." Blake said, looking down on the bridge steps before looking back at Yang. "To each other. Now I see why Jared asked the Doctor to bring us along with him to see all of time and space. For us to bond and get to know each other in places other than Remnant. Our fanboy was setting up dates for us."

Yang shrugs and motions towards Blake to have her turn.

"I... think, you're an extraordinary person." Blake said, looking shyly to her left.

Yang smiles, then her face changes as Blake continues.

"You're... always the first to lighten a situation. You act bravely, when you're afraid. You do what you say." Blake said.

Four steps on Blake's side of the bridge appear and she walks forward to the end where they stop and she looks up at Yang.

"Try to keep up!" Blake said, chuckling and smiling.

"I like that you've never been intimidated by me." Yang said, smiling then stares down before looking back up. "Even when you didn't like me all that much."

"I was a little wary of people in general." Blake said, looking back at Yang, then downward.

"But you never gave up on them." Yang said, as Blake turned her head back towards her. "Even when they hurt you. You never give up. You know what matters to you." Three steps appear on her side and she walks towards the edge. "Let's make things quicker. Any big truths we haven't dropped each other yet?"

Blake smiles at Yang and blushes as the clouds begin to move away. The sunshine appears. Yang stares at Blake before she flusters and looks away. Suddenly, the bridge enhances the length, forcing both of their sides further back, completely ruining any ground they made.

"Did you... just think of something, but didn't say it?" Blake asked.

Yang is visibly flustered and motions her hand to brush her hair away, looking left and right, then back at Blake.

"This can't be what this is about..." Yang said, and she is in thought. "It's like a cliff. And if I do it, I'm just going to fall."

"I think we're already falling." Blake said, in thought before turning to Yang. "Just, say it, Yang."

Yang takes a deep breath, "I think I love you."

"I love you, too." Blake said.

Yang and Blake stare at each other, surprised. They are now both on the grassy platform. Three lines of vines appear and wrap around the platform, pink flowers blooming out of them. Blake and Yang both blush and smile at each other. They embrace each other and finally kiss as flowers bloom in the grass below. The camera rising upward to the sunny sky.

(Jared's POV)

Punderstorm...

The scene returns to Jaune, Juniper, Ruby, Weiss, and I continuing our trek along the path. The Curious Cat is seen walking upside down, eventually noticing the group.

"Oh how odd." The Curious Cat said, gasping before dropping down. "This time you were in the first place I looked, rather than the last!"

Ruby, Weiss, and I angrily step towards the cat.

"Jaune told us." Ruby said.

"Now, I thought there was more to the story." The Curious Cat said, scoffing before shrugging. "You're accusing me of something. Same page now."

"You're the one who gives Afterans to the tree. Why haven't you been telling the truth?"

"I agree with Jaune. The Curious Cat is like Kyubey. Keeping secrets for their own benefit. Never telling the truth. So tell us the truth with your role involving the Afterians and the tree." I said, crossing my arms.

"When Afterans get all higgledy-piggledy, I help them return to the Ever After, yes... but you're, not, Afterans! I'm not taking you there to ascend! I'm taking you there because you all have such delightful information for me!" The Curious Cat said, angrily.

"You pretended like you'd never heard of the story when you met us. But Jaune had already told you." Weiss said.

"I think ol' Jaune's... maybe a few sand berries short of a picnic these days... Wouldn't you say?"

"Shut...up." I said, while Jaune growls at Cat with his reflection of his past self on the water mirror. "Jaune's one of my best friends. You can't say that about him."

"What happened when you took Alyx and Lewis to the tree?" Ruby asked, looking at the Curious Cat.

"I... I don't know. She had told me she'd take me with her through the door to Remnant, but... she tricked me. Just... Just like all of you." The Curious Cat said, and Weiss looked down. "You only want to use me, in the same way I've only seen others as sources for knowledge and entertainment." The Cat turns around, Jaune staring down at the cat while Ruby, Weiss, and I become upset. "Well... at least now I know what not, to do."

The Cat walks away from Ruby, Weiss, Jaune,  Juniper, and I.

"We... We just want to get home." Ruby said.

"Thank you for this lesson, Ruby. Rose. Huntress. I'll be on my way now. Stay with your friend." The Curious Cat said.

As the Cat disappears, the watery mirrors turn into ice and shatter in pieces.

Flower fields...

Ruby, Weiss, Jaune, Juniper, and I find ourselves back in the flower fields. Ruby, completely clueless as to what Weiss, Jaune, and I are staring at, realizing what's happening with a little peep.

"Finally..." I said, while Blake and Yang are still kissing, Blake holding her leg up. "Took ages for Bumbleby to become a thing."

Little is the last to notice and breaks the tension with a gasp.

"Did we miss anything?" Yang asked, still with her arms around Blake.

"Feels like I've been waiting forever for that." Jaune said, letting out a small chuckle and turns around and waves at Juniper. "C'mon."

Jaune's hut...

Night came after Team RWBY, Jaune, and I arrive at his village. Juniper is sleeping outside of Jaune's hut. Yang and Blake are seen sitting next to each other in front of the fireplace, Ruby is sitting at a table, arms crossed, I am sitting at the same table as Ruby to keep her company, and Weiss is getting ready to take a sip of tea, blowing on it first. Ruby notices that Yang's hand is on top of Blake's.

"Oh, Bumbleby." I said, smiling. "I still can't believe it took about 10 years for it to happen."

Jaune appears out from his room, holding a chest, "Hey, there's... something I've been holding onto for you."

Jaune sets the chest down on the table in front of Ruby as she sits up straight.

"It was the first thing I saw." Jaune said, opening the chest. "When I was falling."

Ruby's eyes widen, seeing the folded form of Crescent Rose inside the chest.

"Years later, when I finally found it, I knew I'd caught back up to the t..." Jaune said, while I noticed Ruby zoning out, closely staring at her weapon. "Ruby?"

"Little Red?" I asked, as Ruby snapped out of her daze and looked up at Jaune and I before turning to her teammates. "Ruby? Earth to Ruby Rose..."

"Hey!" Yang said, happily.

Yang smiles and holds up her prosthetic arm, Blake claps and Weiss smiles.

"I..." Ruby said, sighing. "Thank you, Jaune."

"Don't mention it." Jaune said, walking back where he came from but stops as Ruby asks him a question.

"Jaune. What did happen to Lewis?"

Jaune looks down with a sigh and he turns to Ruby.

"I think... Alyx traded him to the tree, in order to leave. And then she wrote him out of the story. Good night, everyone." Jaune said, leaving as he heads inside his room.

Ruby stares down at Crescent Rose in the chest. She then gives a sullen look and shuts the chest containing her weapon.