A/N: So, seeing as I didn't really get any votes for the ship, I've decided to go with the poll from the last version of this story! So you'll be shipped with...
Blake!
...and maybe Velvet if I can find a good way to work her in since they did technically tie for first...
Anyway, get ready for some more backstories, cuz the teams are about to have a feelings jam!
Also, you can thank my best friend for the idea of Nathan's backstory.
Legend:
""= people talky bits
[]= robot talky bits
{[]}= setting change
_=_=_=_=_=_
{[BEACON DORMS; YOUR POV]}
It's been a week since the confrontation at the docks. You and Blake were eager to use the tracker you had planted to chase down Torchwick and confront him, but as your luck would have it, the crime leader had abandoned the airship in the middle of a forest, and the trail had run cold yet again.
At the moment, your team as well as Teams RWBY and JNPR are gathered in your common room, sitting on the various pieces of furniture, except for Ruby, Luna, and Jaune, who are standing in front of you all. The coffee table, for some reason, is covered with a sheet.
"Now, I'm sure you've all been wondering why we gathered you here tonight," Ruby says, smiling at you all.
"Our three teams have the potential to be the strongest ones in our year if we work together," Luna states with confidence, clearly putting the speech training she received from your mother to good use. "So as a good first step towards that, Ruby and I have gathered the twelve of us together so that we may tell our stories, and strengthen our bonds. Also, in an effort to prevent what happened last weekend from ever occurring again. There shall be no more secrets between us."
"Uh, yeah. What they said." Jaune adds nervously, clearly not used to this.
"There are four rules!" Ruby says, pulling out her leader's voice. "No interrupting anyone! No arguments! And no judgment! This is a safe space! Finally, anything that is said here does not leave this room! Got it?" You all nod in agreement.
Pyrrha tilts her head at her leader. "Are you sure about this Jaune?" She asks worriedly.
He nods. "Yeah, I trust everyone here, and I think they deserve to know," he says, piquing your curiosity.
"Wait!" Nora yells, standing up. She glares at Luna. "Where are the snacks? I was told there'd be snacks!"
She giggles, reaching down and pulling the sheet off the coffee table, revealing chips, cookies, and dipping sauces, as well as various other forms of snacks. "Of course, what's a feelings jam without a few refreshments?"
"Feelings jam?" Anna asks, swiping a bag of Doritos.
"It's what our Mom calls it," You explain, taking a soda. "She'd sometimes get us and our brothers together to hash out our feelings, to vent and get stuff off our chests."
"Wait you have brothers?" Weiss asks.
"Yes, and we'll get to that. But in the meantime, I think Jaune wanted to go first?"
The blonde boy nods, taking the spot next to Pyrrha. He takes a breath. "So, my team already knows this, and I really hope you guys won't tell anyone but... I wasn't really accepted into Beacon. I didn't graduate from or even go to a combat school. I got ahold of some fake transcripts and falsified them."
"Why would you do that?" Weiss asks.
"Because I've always wanted to be a Huntsman," he explains. "My father, my grandfather, my great-grandfather... They all fought to protect people. They were all heroes. And I... I wanted to be one too... I was just never good enough..." Pyrrha puts her hand on his shoulder.
"That may have been the case before, but you're good enough now," she says with an encouraging smile.
You nod at him. "I agree. You've made great strides since Pyrrha and I started training you. It's night and day compared to the entrance exam. Soon enough, you'll be more than ready for the Vytal Tournament."
Weiss huffs a bit. "While I don't condone your actions, I must admit that you have earned your place here as one of our colleagues. But don't you dare start slacking, or else I won't forgive you!" She scolds, earning a nervous laugh from the boy.
"If it makes you feel any better, I falsified my transcripts too," Blake admits, rubbing her neck.
"Wait, really?" He asks, surprised.
"Yeah, which I guess makes it my turn." Blake tells the group everything she told you and her team, about her life in the White Fang, and the story of how she left. "After the train made it to Vale, I found an info broker who set me up with fake schooling and graduation documents. As far as this place is concerned, I graduated from a place called Waypoint Acadamy outside of Vale."
"Hey, that's where I graduated from!" Nathan says with a smirk. "It's right on the edge of the city."
"Huh, small world," she giggles.
"Wait, so what kind of Faunus are you?" Nora questions.
"I'm a cat Faunus," she explains. "I hide my ears under my bow."
The ginger girl leans forward. "Can we see them? Please?"
Blake sighs. "Yeah, you can see them. But no touching," she squints at her, untying her bow. Her black cat ears twitch, finally free.
"Aww! They're so cute! Nate, why don't you have any cute animal parts?" She pouts at him.
"Why would I want them?" He says with a tilt of his head. "How many spiders have you seen that were cute??"
"I can think of one," Yang winks at him, causing her sister to groan.
"Anna, your turn!" She insists, wanting to quickly change the subject.
The blonde girl shrugs. "I'm afraid my backstory is pretty boring. Both my parents were former Hunters, and I wanted to grow up to be just like them. The only reason I applied to Beacon and not Haven was that I wanted to see more of the world outside of just Mistal. Meet new people, go to new places. And that's pretty much it. No scheming family members, no troubled past. Hell, not even a jilted lover. Honestly, the whole reason I put on a mysterious vibe was to seem cooler," she admits with a small blush.
You put a hand on your partner's shoulder, smiling at her. "Hey, as far as we're concerned you're super cool Anna. Don't let anyone tell you any different."
She smiles back at you. "Thanks, partner. You're pretty cool yourself."
"Yeah Anna!" Yang exclaims, putting her arm around the fellow blonde. "When you're friends with us it automatically makes you cooler."
Anna giggles at that, pushing Yang off her. "Now, if you really want to talk about mysterious..." She trails off, looking at Nathan, seeming to want to take the attention off her. The redhead stops mid-sip of his soda, noticing you all looking at him.
"What?"
"Yeah, I've been wondering something since last week," Ruby says, plopping next to him. "Why did Roman act like he knew you? He called you 'Webby'."
There's a brief moment of silence, then Nathan sighs, setting his soda down. "I was really hoping you hadn't noticed that..."
"Nathan, you can trust us," Luna encourages him, squeezing his arm.
The spider Faunus nods, taking a breath. "So, you guys remember when I said I was an info broker? Well, that was a lie," he admits, rubbing his neck. "I was a vigilante. The Council would never admit it, but Vale has become a bit of a dump in the last few years. Rising gangs, human and Faunus trafficking... I was sick of seeing people get hurt and not enough people doing anything about it. So I decided to help. It might seem a little childish, but I was something of a superhero. I was fighting crime, and helping people. I like to think I was making a difference. The media started calling me The Red Web. Since non-animal Faunus are so rare, nobody put it together that I was a Faunus, so no one figured out who I was."
"Wait, you were the Red Web??" Yang shouts. "Why didn't I put that together sooner?! My friends and I used to share videos of you!"
"I hope you kept up with your studies while you were out being a hero," Weiss lightly scolds him.
He chuckles. "Yeah, I made sure to keep going to classes. My grades dropped a bit, but it was necessary. I still wanted to be a Huntsman like my parents, and I knew I could do even more good once I graduated."
She huffs. "Well, I suppose that's good enough. Still, while I don't condone you taking the law into your own hands, it was rather noble of you to use your abilities to help others," the heiress compliments him with a light blush.
"What are your parents like?" Ruby asks innocently.
"That's honestly a bit more embarrassing..." he chuckles. He looks at Yang, pointing at her sister. "Ruby knows where babies come from right? I don't want you throwing me out the window cuz I ruined her innocence."
"O-Of course I know where babies come from!" Ruby yells, blushing hard, causing a few of you to laugh.
"Okay okay!" Nathan chuckles. "Well, to say it plainly, I was kind of an accident baby. My Mom at the time was one of the Huntresses protecting a village called Nordberg. My Dad was in town on, what he liked to call, 'a secret mission'. They hit it off and spent a few months together. They eventually decided they didn't have any romantic feelings for each other, but decided to remain friends. Well, life had other plans it seems, cuz while they were both using protection, Mom found out she was pregnant with me a few weeks after they broke up."
"Pfft, that's actually kinda funny," Nora giggles.
"Yeah, Dad blamed it on his bad luck," the redhead chuckles.
"So, did your parents decide to stay together?" Ruby asks.
He shakes his head. "Nah. Dad had to travel a lot for missions, so he couldn't stick around."
"What, he just left?! Typical." Weiss huffs.
"No, no it wasn't like that. He still came to visit me as often and as long as he could. He was very determined to help raise me, and he helped support me and Mom financially too. He even taught me how to fight."
"Well at least he was responsible about it," Pyrrha chuckles. "So is Redfield your father's name? It doesn't sound too familiar..."
He shakes his head. "No, it's my Mom's. Dad didn't want me taking his. Said it's bad luck."
"Isn't the school having a family day soon? Maybe we'll get to meet them," Blake said hopefully.
"Yeah, I'm hoping so. Haven't seen either of my parents since we started here. Dad said he was going on another mission, and I haven't really heard from him since," Nathan says, a hint of worry in his voice.
"Aw, I'm sure he's okay Nathan! If he taught you how to fight, he must be a pretty awesome Huntsman," Yang reassures him, patting his back.
"You got any pictures of him?" Ruby asks, her curiosity piqued.
"Oh yeah! Lemme just..." Nathan pulls out his scroll. After scrolling through his photos for a few moments he settles on one, handing it to the young leader. "This was the day I graduated from Waypoint." You and Luna peek over Ruby's shoulder to get a look. In the picture, Nathan is standing with his diploma between two adults. A shorter woman with red hair and blue eyes, carrying what looked to be the mix of a battle axe and an assault rifle. The man, who was the same height as the boy, had dark grey hair, pale red eyes, and had a large sword.
"Your mother is very pretty, Nathan," Luna compliments. That's when you notice Ruby's hand is shaking a bit, and she's oddly quiet.
"Ruby? Are you okay?" You ask, reaching out to her.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!" She suddenly starts screaming, standing up off the couch. You all jump, startled by her yelling.
"Why are you screaming you dolt?!" Weiss shouts, glaring at her leader.
"Ruby, what's wrong?" Yang asks, getting in front of her sister. Instead of answering, she shoves Nathan's scroll in her face. Yang awkwardly catches it, looking at the photo on the screen.
"...AAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!" Yang starts screaming now, throwing Natha's scroll at him.
"Nathan what did you do??" Pyrrha asks, trying to calm Ruby down.
"Nothing! I just showed her a picture of my Dad!"
"Your DAD?!" Ruby suddenly tackles him to the floor. "Your DAD is our UNCLE QROW!!"
Silence falls over the room as you all process what Ruby just said. A quiet snicker breaks the silence, and you all look over to see Anna and Nora struggling not to burst into laughter.
"Anna! N-Nora! This isn't funny!" Yang yells, her face as red as Ruby's cloak.
"Are you kidding?! This is hilarious!" Anna bursts into full-blown laughter, the ginger girl joining her. "Y-You and Nate have been flirting since day one and you've been cousins this whole time!" She and Nora continue laughing as Yang slumps onto the couch. Ruby lays on the ground, letting Nathan sit up.
"Are they gonna be okay..?" Ren asks, sipping a bottle of water.
"Uh, can you guys give the three of us a few minutes?" Ruby asks, standing up.
Luna nods. "Yeah of course. I think it's best to wrap up this Feelings Jam anyway." You all clear out, dragging out a still snickering Nora and Anna behind you.
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{[BEACON DORMS; THIRD POV]}
Yang, Ruby, and Nathan are all sat on the couch. None of them have spoken since the others have left.
Ruby sighs, finishing the cookie she was eating. "I'm guessing he never told you you had other family?"
Nathan shrugs. "He told me he has a sister, but she's bad news."
"That's my Mom..." Yang mutters, finally speaking up. "Raven. She left shortly after I was born."
"You two have different Moms right?" he asks, turning to them.
"That's right," Ruby answers, taking another cookie. "My Mom was Summer Rose. For a while, we thought she was the Mom of both of us. But after she...she died, Dad told us about Raven."
"The three of them were all on a team with Uncle Qrow. They even went to Beacon," Yang looks at Nathan. "I don't suppose he told you anything about her?"
He shakes his head. "Not really. Honestly, I never thought to ask. You looking for her?"
"Since we were kids, yeah," Ruby answers.
"I almost got us killed for it..." Yang sighs.
"Wait what?"
"When I was younger, finding my Mom was all I thought about. I asked everyone I could for anything they knew about her. One day I found what I thought was a lead, but it just ended up being a dead end. All we found were Grimm that almost ate us. But, Uncle Qrow saved us. After that, I kinda gave up. I focused on my training, on becoming a Huntress."
"Hey, you'll find her one day Yang," Nathan encourages her, patting her back. "If you want, I could help. We are family now," he chuckles.
Yang giggles. "Gods that's gonna take some getting used to."
Ruby sighs, slumping on the couch. "Can't believe Uncle Qrow kept this from us..."
Nathan crosses his arms. "Yeah, I've always wanted a little sister." He chuckles, pulling Ruby into a hug.
"Ack-! Nate! We're cousins, not siblings!" She pouts.
"Eh, close enough."
Yang giggles at the sight. She pauses, getting an idea. "Hey, you guys wanna get back at him?"
"How do we do that?" Ruby asks with a tilt of her head, still getting hugged by Nathan.
"With a little prank..." Yang says, grinning evilly.
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A/N: yep, so once my bestie suggested this route I couldn't resist. You'll have more to do in the next chapter, promise! Let me know what you all thought and I'll see you again soon!