The Corpse Maiden

Chapter 1

"Jaune? Jaune where are you?" Saphron Arc shouted as she ran down the halls of her home.

"He's in his room," her youngest sister said.

Saphron thanked her and walked into her brother's bedroom.

The first thing she saw was her younger brother struggling to tie a necktie.

"Alright come here," Saphron said as she took the fabric in her hand and tied it.

"Thanks Saph," Jaune said sheepishly.

"Little brother there's nothing to worry about. Marriage isn't as scary as it seems. Look at me and Terra," Saphron assured him.

Jaune rolled his bright blue eyes, "well you and Terra also knew each other for more then a day. I've never even spoken to Pyrrha. "

His big sister kissed his cheek, "Regardless you still have to get a move on. Mom and Dad are already outside waiting for you and I know you don't want to be late."

"No I guess not, thanks Saphron. I mean it."

Saphron nodded and watched as Jaune headed out.

As Jaune walked down the stairs he felt the soft smile that he had been wearing only moments before vanish. It's not that he didn't want to get married, he did, just not to a complete stranger.

You see, Jaune was currently in an arranged marriage to Pyrrha Nikos, the most popular and beautiful girl in the entire town of Argus. To most people that seemed like a dream come true, but to Jaune who had never even met the young woman, the very thought made his head spin.

But alas it didn't seem like he had much of a choice. Pyrrha's family may have been part of the upper class and doing very well socially, but financially that was another story. Pyrrha's father had spent almost all of the family fortune and if they didn't find a new source of income soon the Nikos family would be headed to the poorhouse for sure.

That's where Jaune came in. The Arc family had a successful business making and selling weapons. It was so successful in fact that the family had started accumulating a small fortune. Well, as soon as Mr. Nikos heard about this he quickly approached Jaune's father to ask if they could betrothe Pyrrha and Jaune to each other. Mr. Arc happily agreed. So, with the promise of wealth for the Nikos family and a higher social status for the Arc family, the wedding was planned.

Jaune took one last deep breath and walked outside to his family's carriage where his parents were already sitting and waiting.

"You doing ok kiddo?" the Arc's family carriage driver Hazel asked.

"I guess," Jaune said shrugging.

Hazel patted his shoulder affectionately, "everything will be ok. I'm sure you and Miss Nikos will-," however, before he could continue he was cut off by a coughing fit.

"Are you ok Hazel? You've had that cough for a while now."

The older man brushed the comment off, "I'm fine. It's probably just allergies. Now c'mon I've gotta get you and your parents to the Nikos' house."

The blonde sighed in defeat before climbing into the carriage and Hazel promptly shut the door. He walked over to the driver's seat and climbed up. But, before he could get the horse moving, he saw a man approach. The man had a neatly combed mop of red hair, one red eye and one green eye, and was dressed in a pinstripe suit and well shined black shoes.

"Excuse me sir," the man asked, "but might I ask where you're heading?"

"I'm taking the Arc family to the Nikos' home," Hazel replied, "tonight is the wedding rehearsal for Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos.

The man almost seemed to perk up at that but he kept his expression neutral as he stepped aside to let the carriage through.

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Over at the Nikos house Pyrrha was being helped into a red dress by one her of family's servants, Nora. However, the bride to be looked anything but happy.

"What's wrong Pyrrha?" Nora asked.

Pyrrha messed with a lock of her long hair, "I'm just worried. What if Jaune and I don't get along, what if we don't even like each other? How am I supposed to spend the rest of my life with someone who hates me?"

"What a silly question," Mr. Nikos said as Pyrrha's mother and he entered the room, "look at your mother and me, we have the perfect marriage. Do you think we like each other?"

"Of course you do. Right?" Pyrrha asked.

Mrs. Nikos opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by her husband, "of course we don't. Now hurry and finish getting ready. The Arc's will be here soon."

With that his wife and he left the room.

Pyrrha sighed as she watched her parents walk away, she knew that the whole reason that they had married was to save Pyrrha's mother's family from severe financial debt. And now Pyrrha herself was in the position her mother had once been in, forced to marry a complete stranger. But, unlike her mom, Pyrrha refused to be unhappy, she would find a way to make this arranged marriage work. For now though she had to focus on getting ready, it was almost time to meet her groom.

A/N: Hello everyone and welcome to my new fanfiction, The Corpse Maiden, a RWBY crossover with Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride. I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I have been writing it. Also this will probably be the only thing I update for the next week or so as I wanna get it finished in time for Halloween. Oh and I'm not gonna mark this story mature but I will say that since we are dealing with corpses there will be a bit of body horror and minor gore in some chapters. But I'll put a warning for you more sensitive souls. Anyway enjoy!

🎃-Jenni