A Living Myth RWBY X Child!Dragon Faunus! Male! Reader

Chapter 46: Confessions Within Cumulonimbus Clouds

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Chapter 46: Ponderstorm

"I knew if I waited long enough that you would fall, just like I did." Jaune explained to the group after recounting his difference in age to them now. "It's...it's really you, right? When I saw you in the market, and when (Y/N) said it was you-,"
"Jaune." Ruby cut him off. "It's us."
The girls ran over and hugged him, knowing that their friend had been through a lot, even more than them, causing him to tear up.
"How did you find us?" Ruby asked. "How did you find (Y/N)?"
"How are you the Rusted Knight?" Blake added.
"And when did you get so-?"
Weiss finished for Yang. "Mature?"
Everyone stared at her, causing the white haired girl to blush and fidget.
Again, their leader asked the hard question. "What happened to Atlas after the rest of us fell?"
Jaune and (Y/N) looked at each other hesitantly, their expressions not exactly being hopeful.
Jaune sighed. "I, ugh...I guess we've all got a lot of catching up to do."
"I suggest we talk and walk." (Y/N) spoke. "Those Jabberwalkers or Feral might catch up to us."
"Feral?" Timid repeated.
"That's what I call the bad us."
Baby (Y/N) tilted his head. "What's feral mean?"
"It means wild, sweetie." Blake explained.
(Y/N) sauntered past them. "And Feral is basically a wild animal on a good day. Unfortunately, he's capable of understanding that any harm that comes to one us is gonna be felt by everyone. He knows by now trying to pin me down is a bad idea at best, but he's definitely gonna hunt down those two."
Timid and Baby (Y/N) clung to each other, shaking at the thought of their scary self coming after them.
"Don't worry, you two, we won't let him get you." Yang assured.
"Really, the most optimal thing is to try and get them back together." Weiss said. "How we do that, we still don't have an answer for."
"Um...Blake?" Timid mumbled. "You...you want us to go back to being one (Y/N), right? D-doesn't that mean we'll disappear?"
Everyone froze at the morbid question. In truth, none of the girls had actually discussed the implications of reuniting (Y/N) separated pieces. Feral was easy enough, he was a near unstoppable ball of rage even the Jabberwalkers feared and he could only be kept under control locked away in (Y/N)'s head, but Timid and Baby (Y/N) were clear sentient, thinking children. They may have been different points in (Y/N)'s life, but they clearly had emotions and thoughts.
"You won't disappear, guys." (Y/N) suddenly said, not seeming to take the time he usually did for questions like this. "We're the same person, remember? Once we reunite, it'll be like we all exist at the same time."
"But...but I think we're the same person." Baby (Y/N) piped up. "Timid's scared all the time, Feral's mean, and you're super brave! We're not the same!"
(Y/N) sighed, though he sounded a bit annoyed. "Why don't we come back to this later? Those Jabberwalkers are probably right on our tails."
The younger versions of himself seemed very uncomfortable with all this, but didn't raise any more protest. The girls look at the current version of their brother worriedly. He was rather blunt, not his usual completely empathetic self. Jaune gave them a knowing nod and led the way through the portal to the next acre, explaining what had happened after they fell.
"She's got...two Relics now?" Ruby repeated as they looked out over a lush green field.
"And with Cinder, the ability to get another." Yang added.
"She hasn't found the Fall Vault yet." (Y/N) pointed out. "And since Cinder probably used Jinn's last question, Ozpin is still the only person who knows how to get to it."
Weiss sighed. "Well, there's that to be thankful for, at least."
Ruby sunk on rock. "We lost Atlas and the Relic."
"But we got everyone out safely, Ruby!" Blake argued. "Jaune said so."
"We risked their home to save the Relic." Weiss pointed out. "And we failed."
"Getting everyone out has to count for something."
Ruby shot up. "What good is saving anybody if Salem just destroys the world anyways!?"
"Ruby." (Y/N) said, a little shocked at her outburst. "Homes can be rebuilt, people can't come back from the dead. We can get the Relics back from Salem, but if those people had died, there would've been nothing we could do. We lost a battle, we haven't lost the war."
Ruby didn't seem to be paying attention to him, and (Y/N) had a very concerned look on his face. He could see a deep shadow over his sister's heart, something he had never seen in Ruby before.
"Salem needs all four of those things, right?" Baby (Y/N) said, seemingly recovered from the question posed by Timid. "You just need to keep one away from her! That sounds easier than trying to get all four!"
Yang placed a hand on Ruby's arm. "Both of them are right, Ruby. What you're saying is what Ironwood thought, and you saw what that did to him."
"Are you done?" Jaune said sharply as a storm clouds began to gather on the horizon. "We need to move before the weather turns or it's going to take us a lot longer to get to safety."
The girls stared at him, baffled by his disregard. (Y/N) rolled his eyes and gave Jaune a stink eye. Seeing that, the blonde backtracked.
"There'll be plenty of time to lick your wounds later. Come on."
The Rust Knight walked away, Juniper beside him.
Baby (Y/N) pouted. "He's way grumpier than the book."
"Yeah." (Y/N) agreed, patting his younger self's head. "He's a bit more on edge now, but he is right. You really don't want to get caught in a storm here. I'm pretty sure that's how we got separated in the first place."
"Really?" Blake asked, blinking in shock.
"I'm pretty sure I heard thunder before passing out, and just like everything else in this place, the weather is anything but straightforward. It's better to avoid it for now."
(Y/N) began to follow after Jaune, Baby (Y/N) trailing after him while Timid was planted by Blake.
Yang tilted her head. "Hey (Y/N)? How come you're not flying as much as you usually do?"
He groaned dramatically. "As it turns out, flying without a tail leads to a lot of crash landings. Not. Fun."
"I can get on your back and you can use my tail!" Baby (Y/N) eagerly volunteered.
"I might just take you up on that. I'd give anything to land without wobbling again."
"Don't hurt yourselves!" Blake said.
Yang chuckled. "Literally."
Ruby lingered behind as the others began to follow after the males. She jumped as she felt a small hand on her hood.
"Ruby?" Timid said quietly. "Are you okay?"
She glanced away. "We should catch up."
(Timeskip)
"So, where are we going again?" Yang asked as Jaune and (Y/N) led them through the field.
"My village." Jaune answered before chuckling. "I still can't believe you made it all the way from the Crimson Keep on your own. (Y/N) was only halfway there when we ran into each other."
"Hey, I didn't realize I was missing my tail by then, even after crashing several times." The boy shot back before hanging his head. "Then I spent that hour screaming after realizing I was missing pieces."
"Believe me, my ears are still ringing slightly."
Everyone else laughed before Blake spoke up.
"We weren't on our own. We had help, but...oh...I hope the cat is okay."
Jaune and (Y/N) froze at this, causing Baby (Y/N) to grunt as he walked into his older self's back.
"Oh no." The dragon boy said as Jaune clenched his fists.
"What cat?"
"That cat!" Little said as a familiar feline bounded towards them.
"Ah, whew! I found you." The cat greeted. "Why is it you always find the thing you're looking for in the very last place you look? Ha! Jaune! Oh my, it has been quite an amount of time hasn't it? So, how have you been?"
"Wait, you two know each other?" Weiss asked.
"Well, they'd have to, from the story." Ruby pointed out.
(Y/N) pivoted towards Jaune, wing out.
"Jaune, give me the sword."
"Why?"
"Because I absolutely do not trust you to not skin that cat in front of my younger selves. Sword. Now."
He growled, but complied. That didn't stop him from trying to rush the cat, only to be held back by Blake and Yang.
"Jaune!" Blake shouted. "I think there's a misunderstanding. The cat can get us all out of here."
"Guys, not exactly the best thing to say." (Y/N) muttered before thunder rumbled above their heads.
"We don't have time for this." Jaune snarled. "We've got to get to my village. Don't worry, we don't need a guide."
"But your friends wanted to go to the tree." The cat said.
Jaune swung his head at Blake. "That's where you're letting them take you!?"
"Well, yeah. That's...that's how Alyx got out...right?"
The blonde male glared down the cat. "You didn't tell them anything."
"Guys, we should really find cover." (Y/N) urged, feeling the air around him churn and Jaune's urge to kill rising.
The cat smirked, shaking its head. "Now that's simply not true. I told them plenty of things, a few anythings, and a lot of somethings."
"Can somebody please make sense!?" Weiss pleaded.
"That tree is death!" Jaune stated, getting everyone's attention. "It absorbs you, takes your memories, and changes you into something else, if you go there, it is going to erase you! They call it ascension."
"Wait." Ruby interjected. "The tree is what causes ascension?"
Blake's ears flattened. "That's what got the Herbalists. The roots of the tree!"
"Guys, seriously. Lightning!" (Y/N) urged as Yang ignored him to glare at the cat.
"Pretty curious you neglected to mention that."
"Oh, excellent punmanship! But, you are not from here, it won't do that to you guys."
"Oh yeah?" Jaune challenged. "Then what happened to Lewis?"
"Who?" Ruby asked.
"Alyx's brother."
They all turned to the cat.
"That...that can't be right!" Blake said.
"She had a brother?" Yang asked. "Why didn't you mention him!?"
"Well, you never asked, silly." The cat said. "It was always Alyx this or Alyx that."
"It's been like this the whole time, hasn't it?" (Y/N) asked his younger self, resigned to the fact they were going to get caught in the storm.
Baby (Y/N) nodded. "He keeps talking funny. It hurts my head."
"We've been following the story the whole time and it's not even true!?" Weiss yelled.
The thunder was now roaring as (Y/N) pulled Baby (Y/N) to his side and covered him with his wing.
"Timid, get under and hold on tight!"
Timid ran to him, now shaking in fear as he was wrapped up in a wing.
"Let's go." Jaune stated, taking his sword back from (Y/N). "I have a plan."
"A lot of good that's done you after, what was it...how many years?" The cat mocked.
"Can everyone please stop?" Ruby pleaded. "This is a lot to take in."
"Well." The cat frowned, balancing on its tail. "Seems we're stuck at a crossroad then."
"Hang on, you two!" (Y/N) said, closing his eyes.
"NO!" Jaune shouted as the lightning flashed.
When the light died, (Y/N) opened his eyes, finding the three of them alone beneath a purple sky with several spiraling walkways before them. He sighed as he uncovered his two younger selves.
"Come on, you two. Seems we have to take the hard way out. Let's at least try to find everyone."
"W-what is this place?" Timid asked as Baby (Y/N) bounded wide eye to stare at the water surrounding their path.
"The crossroads." The current version explained. "Jaune told me about them. What hit us was a ponderstorm, which brings us here: a place that represents a mental problem. We'll either have to solve the problem or wait out the storm."
"What problem?" Baby (Y/N) asked.
"Probably what's going on with the girls. Speaking of, since it's just us (Y/N)s, how are our sisters actually doing?"
Timid flinched back. "Ruby...Ruby's always so sad."
"She never wants to play." Baby (Y/N) said, staring at his reflection. "I keep asking her so she'll smile, but she keeps saying no."
(Y/N) sighed. "Yeah, I'm definitely worried about that. Her soul's really shaken and given how crazy this place is, I really don't want anything like what happened to us to happen to her. Good job trying to cheer her up guys. It helps her more than you think."
Timid gave a small smile. "She...she is our sister."
"Blake and Yang also act weird around each other." Baby (Y/N) added. "Kinda reminds me of papa and mama."
Current (Y/N) tilted his head. "That sounds pretty normal. I still don't get it, and Weiss refuses to explain it, but I think that's a good sign."
He perked as he heard a sniffle beside him. Looking down, he saw tears in Timid's eyes. He seemed to be caught in a waking nightmare.
"Timid!?"
"Mama? Papa?"
"Timid!" (Y/N) said firmly. "It's over. Nothing's going to happen to you. We're fine!"
"B-but they're coming! Th-the white coats-!"
"The white coats are dead!" (Y/N) said more sharply than he intended to. "Everyone who hurt us is dead. We're okay now. We have our sisters. We don't have to be afraid anymore."
"B-but mama and papa are-,"
"Did...someone hurt mama and papa?" Baby (Y/N) asked, looking up from his reflection.
The other two versions froze, forgetting for a moment the innocent, untraumatized version of themselves was well within ear shot.
"The girls didn't want to talk about it, and-and you always get sad when I mention them, Timid." Baby (Y/N)'s voice became more tearful as he spoke. "Did something happen to them?"
The two older versions looked at each other. Timid was still out of it, but he was in control enough to shake his head.
Current (Y/N) looked at the youngest version of them. "It's okay, little guy. You don't have to worry about it. Let's just get out of here before anything else happens."
Baby (Y/N) wasn't exactly convinced, but his older selves didn't seem like they wanted to talk, and in honesty, he didn't want to know the answers anyway. As they went on their way, (Y/N) pulled Timid close, placing his wing back over him.
"It's okay. It...it gets better."
"For you." The smaller dragon muttered. "I'm the version that's stuck."
(Y/N) sighed. "Once we get back together, you won't be. I promise."
A shriek sounded from above them as Weiss suddenly dropped in front of them. The boys broke from their somber state to stare in utter confusion.
"Weiss?"
"Okay, I asked for that." She mumbled.
(Timeskip)
Fortunately, Jaune and Ruby were not far from where they were, though Blake and Yang were nowhere to be found, likely solving a different issue between them. Without much else to go on, they wandered the pathway.
"This would go quicker if you'd make up your minds." Jaune groaned as they stopped at a split in the road.
The girls were bashful as (Y/N) sharply elbowed Jaune in the ribs for his rudeness. Baby (Y/N) insisted they follow the paw print path.
"I just don't get how the story is both real and not." Ruby said as Jaune took the lead.
They passed through an arch which led to a line of mirrors. Getting a bad feeling, current (Y/N) urged his other selves to not look at them.
"It all happened." Jaune said, staring at a backwards flowing waterfall.
(Y/N) frowned as he saw Penny in the reflection, smiling. He felt a pang in the heart.
Jaune looked away. "Just not the way Alyx said when she wrote it."
Weiss was also staring at a reflection in a mirror. It was Atlas, still intact, and she forced herself away from it.
"So, what? She just lied?"
"You have no idea." Jaune said bitterly. "I waited for you to fall. For years, but somebody else showed up first. 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. 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. Things...weren't always the same as in the book, like Alyx. She wasn't just a little petulant or inconsiderate, she was selfish, cruel. This whole world was simply make-believe to her. Lewis was the kind one, the clever one. We went places she didn't mention in the story, like the Herbalist. But something changed there. Whatever he said to her, she wasn't the same after that, 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! Was it my fault? Did I change the story? I-I couldn't even be the make-believe hero! I didn't have time to make it right. The Rusted Knight drinks the poison in her stead. She said she wouldn't let anyone get in the way of her leaving. She'd do whatever it takes, and then she was gone. So, not exactly my favorite story anymore."
Baby (Y/N) flinched, taking Ruby's hand. "I don't like this story anymore, either."
"I'm...so sorry." Weiss said.
Ruby then blinked. "Wait, why don't you trust the cat then?"
Jaune sighed. "The cat's role in the Ever After, I figured it out later. The cat came back after Alyx left. When people lose their way here, the cat convinces them somehow: either keep performing their role or to go to the tree and 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."
"How can you be sure?" Ruby asked.
"Because the cat took Alyx and Lewis there. Only one of them made it back to our world."
Jaune walked off without another word as Baby (Y/N) looked up at Ruby. "D-did the cat really hurt Lewis?"
Weiss patted his head comfortingly before looking at (Y/N). "(Y/N), you've been with Jaune longer. What do you think?"
He sighed. "You don't need my sight to know that Jaune...isn't in the best stage right now. He's convinced about everything he said, but...I don't know...something doesn't feel right."
"What?"
"I can't explain it, but why would Alyx write a story about this place and not include her brother if she thought it was all make-believe."
"Probably to make herself look better." Weiss said, not liking Alyx.
"But Alyx wasn't that nice in the story." Timid pointed out. "Why not pretend to be nicer?"
The girls look at each other, mulling over the words for a moment. That...was a good point. If the whole point was to write Lewis out of the story, why didn't Alyx make herself a more likable hero? What was the point? As they pondered, cat reappeared.
"Oh how odd, this time you were in the first place I looked. Right and lost."
The girls walked up to it angrily.
"Jaune told us." Ruby stated.
"I thought there was more to the story." The cat purred. "You're accusing me of something?"
"You're the one who gives Afterans to the tree. Why haven't you been telling us the truth?"
"When Afterans get all higgly-piggly, 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 something you're looking for!"
"You sounded like you never heard of Remnant when you met us!" Weiss said accusingly. "But Jaune already told you."
The cat gave them a look. "I think ol' Jaune is maybe a few sandberries short of a picnic these days. Wouldn't you think?"
"What happened when you took Alyx and Lewis to the tree?" Ruby asked as (Y/N) held back Jaune.
The cat slumped over. "I don't know. She had told me she would take me with her through the door to Remnant. She tricked me. Just...just like all of you. You only want to use me in the same way as others sources of knowledge. Well, at least now I know what not to do."
Ruby teared up as the cat began to trot away, but (Y/N) had been paying attention.
"You've been using us too. They always made sure to answer your questions. So now I'm wondering, do you still want to leave?"
The cat paused, turning his head to the boy. "You've a lot of questions of your own, shattered one. Goodbye, Ruby Rose, Huntress. Thank you for this lesson. Stay with your friend."
The crossroads vanished and they were all back in the field. Timid was clinging to Juniper for dear life as Baby (Y/N) hid in Ruby's cape.
"Well, that happened." (Y/N) sighed. "But still better than last time, I guess."
He then paused, along with everyone else as they saw Blake and Yang...kissing. The two broke apart as they noticed the rest of the group.
"Did we miss anything?" Yang asked.
"Oooh, now I get it." (Y/N) said.
Jaune smiled. "Feels like I've been waiting forever for that."