Parsley, walking back to the kids with a few pretzels in her hands, her clone walking next to her with some as well: Okay, will this hold you all off until we get to Atlas?
Basil, taking hold of a pretzel excitedly and starts ripping into it with his teeth: No!
Parsley, sighing: Of course...you can go now by the way.
Parsley, yawning again while scratching her cheek: Huh? Oh...yeah cool, okay...
Magnolia, watching with interest as Parsley's clone scatters away: ...why was she so...tired?
Parsley, taking her seat again, leaning back and taking a long tired breath: All my clones produced by my semblance are just little pieces of me, but without a filter.
Magnolia, tilting her head: So, is that how you're truly feeling? Tired?
Parsley, a frown twitching onto her face before she answers: ...no, no not really. You don't have to worry about it, okay?
Magnolia: But I-
Thyme, nudging her, in a quiet voice: Don't go into it right now, okay?
Tarra, looking up from her own pretzel, gasping: Momma!
Yang, standing a foot or so in front of her, her hands on her hips: Hey sweetheart. Are you all ready?
Parsley, nodding: We're ready to go whenever.
Ruby, poking her head between Clove and Basil's, making the two jump a bit: Goodness! Where'd you all get those yummy snacks?
Clove, holding it up: Parsley got it for us!!
Ruby, leaning forward toward the pretzel, opening her mouth: Oh yeah? Is that-
Clove, snatching the pretzel away right when Ruby snaps her mouth shut: Mother!!!! Go get your own!!!!
Ruby, giving a kiss to the side of Clove's head, then turning to give on to Basil: Oh. I'm only teasing.
Weiss, coming up to the group with Blake: Well, we'll be boarding in a few minutes. Does everyone have their little bags?
Blake, sternly, her eyes darting to Thyme: We won't be forgetting any this time, correct?
Magnolia, oblivious, turning to Thyme and loudly whispers: Did one of the Triplets forget a bag of theirs on a prior trip?
Thyme, awkwardly clearing their throat as they take a bite of their pretzel, their voice hardly audible: Yeah sure the triplets yeah whatever....
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"If it's so simple, why haven't you done it already?" for Cinder/Emerald
This story is brought to you by the Funny Moments subpage on RWBYâS TV Tropes page, because it pointed out a little detail of âBeginning of the Endâ that I wouldnât have noticed otherwise.Â
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As far as Emerald was concerned, the mission had been a complete and total success. Their target was dead, or as good as, anyway. Sure, theyâd been interrupted, but sheâd make sure that no one could recognize who they were. And though Cinder had informed them that this was only half of the power she had been after and that they would have to adjust their plans for Beacon so that she could find and claim the other half, Emerald was amazed enough by what she had now. Flawless victory, as Mercury had put it, as if it were some video game level theyâd cleared.Â
But apparently, their leader thought differently.Â
It was late already when the three of them had finally stopped running from the scene of their crime â better to be safe than sorry, Cinder said, and move farther out than any Huntsman or Huntress might go looking for them â and set up camp for the night. Mercury was outside, tuning up his legs and boiling water over the campfire for their dinner, and Cinder had told them she was stepping out for a few minutes to give her mission report.Â
Emerald had elected to set up their tents and lay out the bedrolls for the night. Under any other circumstances, she might have been jealous of Mercury for getting a tent all to himself, but she had the privilege of sharing one with Cinder, and was not about to risk losing such a privilege by complaining about something petty. She had just finished, and, thoroughly tired out from the dayâs efforts, decided to lie down. Oh, sheâd be out to grab her share of dinner in a few minutes, she wouldnât fall asleep, she was justâŚresting her eyes a bitâŚ
Five minutes later, she was flat on her back on top of both her sleeping bag and bedroll, out cold. The soft ruffle of the tent flap being pushed back wasnât enough to wake her, nor were the footsteps slipping in on the grass, but the sharp clanging of metal being thrown to the ground and the muffled thump of a palm on the cloth beside her ear was. She stirred at the noise, and was quickly jolted awake by the feeling of skin brushing her legs and the realization that someone was on top of her.Â
To anyone who had spent most of their life sleeping on the streets, waking up like this was high on the list of worst fears, and years of instinct ripped a scream from her throat and threw her arms outward to knock the intruder away. But firm hands pinning her down and the familiar flash of sharp amber eyes directly above her face halted all her resistance in its tracks.
âDown.â
Emerald didnât need the order to lie perfectly still, her heart pounding, a rabbit in the jaws of a fox. âCiâŚCinder? Wh-Whatâs wrong?â
Over the past months, she had developed a healthy respect for her new leader. Respect, that was all it was. She was not afraid of the woman who had saved her from starving to death in that miserable city. But sheâd be lying if she said that the look on Cinderâs face right now â severe, unsmiling, not breaking eye contact or even blinking â didnât turn her insides cold.
And when Cinder answered, the carefully restrained anger in her voice only made it worse. âEmerald. Remind me, what instructions did I give you before we left this morning?â
âUhâŚâ It hadnât been much, but now she stumbled over her words trying to repeat it back. âRemember the plan. D-Distract the target, then, um, keep her disoriented when you and Mercury go in for the kill. Immobilize her, I-I mean, so you couldâŚâ
âYes. I said, remember the plan, exactly as discussed. Not a foot out of place. Were those instructions in any way difficult, Emerald?â
âN-No, maâam.â
âThatâs what I thought. But if it was so simpleâŚâ Cinderâs hands tightened on her shoulders, the heat of the Maidenâs newfound power building just beneath her skin. Emerald gasped in spite of herself, and had to fight not to squirm in the older girlâs burning grip. âThen why did you deliberately step out of line and nearly ruin everything?â
âWhat?!â Emerald blurted out, completely floored. âI-I meanâŚIâm sorry, IâŚWhat are you talking about?â
âYou know perfectly well what you did. You think I wasnât watching? Didnât see what tipped the target off to the fact that something was wrong? Think carefully, Emerald.â
Emerald tried, but it was very suddenly hard to pull the memory back clearly through the shock that had frozen her mind. She didnât know how the Maiden had noticed her â had quickly had much bigger things to worry about, actually â and sheâd been standing right next to her. Sheâd been putting all her focus on the illusion, which hadnât been that hard; the image of her childhood self was her go-to distraction of choice. The girl had been completely absorbed in the trick, but sheâd still reached for her gun slowly and carefully, to land one quick and devastating bullet in each of her kneecaps so she couldnât run when all three of them fell on her. Out of pure reflex, she had stepped back to take aim, andâŚ
Her eyes went wide. âThe dustâŚI-I must have kicked up some dust when I â â
âPut your foot out of place, and distracted her from your distraction,â Cinder finished, bitingly sarcastic. âMade this entire job ten times more trouble than it was supposed to be, which in turn stretched it out until the Huntsman could reach us. Now I only have half of what I need, and weâll have to watch our backs even more carefully when we infiltrate Beacon. Fantastic work, Emerald. Tell me, did you think you were being funny?âÂ
âN-No! No, of course not, I â Cinder, I swear, I didnât mean to do that!â
âAnd so it doesnât matter?â
âYes! I mean no! I justâŚIt was just a mistake!â she protested, knowing even as the words left her mouth that it was the wrong thing to say, but having no idea what would be the right thing.Â
âA mistake?â Cinderâs expression turned stony. But to Emeraldâs immense surprise, her touch loosened, became softer, as she released one shoulder to run her hand down Emeraldâs arm, leaving the faint red outlines of her fingers. The tips of her fingers ran gently over her skin, lingering on the long, thin cuts where the Maidenâs ice shards had torn through it. Emerald felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end, at both Cinderâs touch and the memory of her own pained screams. âYou donât seem to understand what I want. I meant for this to be a quick and simple task, not an all-out brawl with a Maiden. You two handled it well when she attacked, but I did not intend for you to risk your lives against her in the first place.â
âCinderâŚâ Emerald hesitated for a second before figuring out what to say â clearly, she really hadnât understood her leaderâs feelings. âThose are nothing, I donât mind getting a little scraped up. We did it, and weâre all okay.â
Cinder didnât look convinced. Without warning, her hand moved over to rest directly on Emeraldâs heart, and Emerald let out a tiny squeak of surprise, very suddenly forgetting how to breathe. She almost didnât catch Cinderâs next, quiet words: âShe was about to stab you. You could have been killedâŚAll because of one little mistake.âÂ
ââŚOh.âÂ
She hadnât considered that, either. Now that it was all over, that moment of pure, soul-freezing terror as sheâd stared up at the furious Maiden seemed like just a distant nightmare, compared to the relief she had felt an instant later, as Cinderâs arrow hit home and the girl fell, instead of her. But even so, if Cinder had shot just a second too lateâŚ
âI see. IâŚIâm sorry, maâam. I didnât think of any of that.â
The smile, almost teasing, that the words brought to Cinderâs face sent a thrill surging through Emeraldâs veins. Then, quite unexpectedly, Cinder leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek, startling the thief so badly she jumped underneath her; she could have sworn her heart stopped cold for that second. Seeing Emeraldâs wide-eyed, open-mouth shock as she pulled back, Cinder gave a light laugh.
âDonât think. Obey,â she said, standing up again. Emerald still couldnât quite remember how to move, or do anything other than stare. âI expect nothing less than excellence from you once we move into Vale, Emerald. Remember that, and weâll have no further problems.â
âY-Yes, maâam,â Emerald heard herself say dazedly.Â
Cinder smirked. âVery good. Come out to eat, when youâre ready.â
âYes, maâam. Thank you.â
With a nod of acknowledgement, Cinder ducked back out of the tent, leaving Emerald lying there on the ground. After a moment, she slowly sat up, still staring at the closed tent flaps. Outside, she could hear the muffled sounds of Cinder and Mercury talking, the fire snapping (probably still aided by Cinder), and of the nightâs birds chirping in the trees above them all. She reached up to touch her cheek with disbelieving fingers, and still felt the heat from Cinderâs lips. She had never done anything like that beforeâŚEmerald was surprised to find herself trembling a little.
As far as she understood, kisses on the cheek or forehead were fairly chaste gestures, and considering how Cinder had saved her life twice as of today, it was comparatively small. But still, it felt like everything, loosened the grip of fear on her heart, erased the sting of the punishing slaps that more often struck her cheek. For a moment, she let herself think that maybe, if she lived up to Cinderâs expectations of her for their next mission â no, exceeded them â she might earn something even better.Â
Her stomach growled, and she picked herself up, walking out of the tent to get her plate of dinner. (The novelty of being able to do such a thing so easily still hadnât worn off on her.) She could smell something spicy coming from the small pot on the campfire, and her mouth was already watering as she sat down in front of it. On seeing her, Mercury ducked his head like a horse and made a noise through all the food in his mouth, that she guessed was a greeting. Cinder, who had been absently raising and lowering the flames with a flex of her fingers, looked up and smiled knowingly at her. And it was that, more than the fire at her feet, that warmed Emerald inside and out.
She screwed up way more than she should, she knew, sometimes when she didnât even know sheâd done anything wrong. But she tried, she threw herself into every task her leader trusted her to carry out, took pride in a job well done. And Cinder understood that, correcting and forgiving her as she deserved. She was valued enough, needed enough, to warrant the attention. Cinder didnât waste time or effort; she would have thrown anyone else away long ago. She made sure that Emerald knew that she would never be abandoned again.
Painful or not, the reminders always felt good, in the end.Â
Marluxia is the only person that Larxene is genuinely capable of caring for due to their past together as Lauriam and Elrena. Neither remembers that time, but it is still deeply rooted in their subconscious minds nonetheless, which is what ultimately brought them together. Larxeneâs sadism and disregard for most people make it next to impossible for her to form healthy relationships with others that in no way benefit her.
To an outsider, it may appear as though Larxene is merely tagging along before opportunity gives her reason to stray. In reality, she would tear her heart out again -- and gladly at that -- before she let anyone dictate to her, her destiny as she proved during her time in both the original Organization XIII and as one of Xehanortâs thirteen darknesses.
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vera nodded her head in response. she knew that, sheâs always known that. she had her secrets, of course, but when it came down to what mattered, she knew exactly who she could turn to. â i'm not worried about that, â she replied with a shrug. â iâm more concerned about the repercussions of it all. you canât do anything in this city without consequence. it helps that weâre both lawyers --- gives us legitimate reason to be seen together, but.. the paranoia. â the blonde shook her head. â it could get us into more trouble than itâs worth. â