Chapter Text
Blake was staring out of the window. She was in Grimm Studies, in fact it was her least favorite class for many reasons. It was nothing but a bore. Professor Port in her opinion was just a simple old huntsman that simply recounted tales. Obviously there was some merit to what he was saying, but she continued to tune him out despite this. The Faunus gazed to her team now. She observed their body language. She saw her leader conversing with Weiss. The heiress herself was listening while writing down notes, and Yang was simply ignoring the teacher. It was the same as everyday, so in turn she continued to look out into the sky. It was dusk about to be dinner time.
She then started to recounted the multitude of events that happened in her life. She thought back about her and Adam partnership. It was a lovely wilted flower in her opinion. They could of been more. Then Blake thought about initiation. She wondered about her other potential partners if it had gone differently. In fact, her mind then drifted off into some of the other teams. JNPR was like a found family in her opinion. If any of them were her partner, it would go swimmingly. CRDL was a no-go in her mind. Then she thought about the time she told her friends about her being a Faunus and meeting Sun. There was many events and surprises, but she expected it. But then her mind was snapped out of her trance for a peculiar event happened, a book fell from the sky with grace.
It caught Blake's attention. It now plagued her now. She only now only thought of the book. 'Where did it come from? Who's is it? What is its contents? Is it important? Why did it fall from such a height?' thought Blake, as the questions echoed in her mind. She wanted to claim the notebook before anyone. She also wanted to treat the book right. Any type of book shouldn't be treated like that. A few minutes passed, and then the bell had rang. The Faunus simply grabbed her bag with haste. Blake immediately got up and started walking at a fast pace. She wanted to grab that book now.
Most of the students began to leave the class, and that was the same with Team RWBY. Ruby yelled out to her team with excitement," Come on guys! Let's get some dinner and hang out with team JNPR!"
"Yeah!" Yang added on to her sisters comment. Then she added," Besides Blake-ster over there is rushing to grab her far of food!"
Blake realized that she should probably explain why she was walking with such a fast pace now. She simply told her friends," No, I just need to be somewhere in a few seconds. I'll join up with you guys in a few minutes or so. That okay?"
"Of course," Weiss answered for her team. She knew about the intricacies of how one needs to attend their own private matters.
Blake nodded and slightly bowed as a thank you. She then started to walk towards the notebook with a high speed pace. She craved the notebook for some reason. It was as though it attracted her with it's power. Eventually the Faunus reached the journal, there it was in front of her. The book was a pure black. Etched into the cover was a title in a classical romance font— "The Ship Book". The black cat picked up the book at observed it. She could not wait to see it there was anything special, but she had to wait for she had to endure dinner first.
The name of the book itself was... interesting. A book that named with that title had many meanings. She wondered what meaning behind it. The first was that the book was about actual ships such as battleships, cruisers, and jet skis; but the chance of that were low in her opinion. The other meaning, the one she was sure of, was that the book was about shipping. Not fleet transport, but rather the act of making hypothetical relationships and supporting them. It is something she was accustomed to. In fact, she did it a lot with favorite book characters such as the Rusted Knight and the Curious Cat's human form (she often used the Curious Cat as a way to portray herself in the book). She had pondered this while she walked towards the cafeteria.
Soon she reached her destination. The cafeteria was somewhat packed. She spotted her friends deep in conversation, but Blake decided to grab her food first. It was a simple dish, salmon and jasmine rice. It was paired with a nice soothing tea. Each one complemented each other. As the black cat sat, she simply greeted her friends. Soon enough she slowly dived into the combined conversation between the teams, she gave small comments and sarcastic remarks. Then a whine of hurt came from the middle of the room; it was not loud enough to cause everyone to stare, but loud enough to garner Blake's attention and people nearby them. Thank you, Faunus ears!
Ironically, the incident involved ears. It was Cardin pulling Velvet's rabbit ears once more while calling her names. The bigot was disgusting in Blake's eyes. A case of racism that was often ignored. Cardin represented what she fought against. She wished people like him would change, but she had to keep the facade she was a human and she hated it. Blake wanted to flaunt her Faunus feature without being gawked at. But alas, that would not be possible in a world dominated by hate. The yellow eyed girl ignored Velvet's cries for now, but soon she would comfort the rabbit.
In the course of time, dinner ended. Team RWBY and JNPR's hunger was satiated, so they decided to call it a night a begin walking towards their dorm rooms. They walked with light amounts of conversations between each other. As they walked Blake's mind wondered back to the book. She couldn't wait to read the contents of it, if there was anything. Soon enough, the group reached their dorms. The two groups separated into their separate rooms.
Once team RWBY entered the room, they all split off into their own sectors. Ruby and Yang were currently playing a round of a fighting game or two before they would take a shower to cool down. Weiss was currently rewriting her notes into a better formate, that she and her team could understand better. As for Blake? Well she contemplated reading the Ship Book. Yes, her mind was still eager to read it, but she felt a foreboding presence with the book. Eventually temptation broke her, and she awaited all of her friends to fall asleep first.
Once her friends, finished all of their activities of the evening only leaving a simple lamp on. They all then took their rest sans the Faunus of the group. She simply lithely exit her bed being quite and smooth as a cat. She reached her bag and pulled out the book. As she pulled out the book, it seemed to have changed it self. It was still sleek and the title had a golden outline. Blake then bit the bullet and opened the book and laid it on their desk.
There was writing. Illustrious writing, it was smooth and flowing. Blake gazed at the writing. It was an introductory page. It had said in smooth cooling words at the top of the page," To use the Ship Note, one must follow these conditions set by the god of love and his court, Eros."
Blake was arguably confused beyond reproach. A god of love? There was no such thing in any of the mythos she read. There were many gods in the classical books she read, but none known as Eros. She then continued to read the book, mumbling the contents towards herself," The first condition of the Ship Note is that if a person's name, either Human or Faunus, will find love if written. The second condition of the Ship Note is that the writer needs to both know the person by face and name for it to take place and has to think of the person as they write their name. The third condition of the Ship Note is that the process of the written name finding love can be described within 2 minutes, if not specified the person will find love with a random person. The forth condition of the the Ship Note is that you can pair names with specific people, but you must use the symbol forward slash, the previous conditions also apply to said extra party. The fifth condition of the Ship Note is that users of the book may never find love naturally, but only through Eros's Ship Note."
This was only the front page though. She flipped to the next page and it was notebook paper. Blake was skeptical about this. The entire thing seemed like some elaborate prank. Something Yang or Nora would do just for the sake of things. Nevertheless the black cat was drawn to the pages, she wanted to see it actually works. Whether she could manipulate love was one thing, but she would also forsake the chances of her finding love as well. The urge controlled her, as she grabbed a pencil. Who would she even write about? Her friends? A teacher? Then her mind drifted to... Velvet.
Why did her mind drift towards Velvet? Out of everyone why her? Was it because of Cardin bulling her? It plagued her mind. Then she remembered her childhood stories of how a damsel would need a hero. But who would be the hero in this situation? It had to be someone expendable, but not someone who if close to her. Her own teammates was a no-go due to the fact Blake didn't want to manipulate their love lives. The she thought about a hero's own qualities... specifically the Rusted Knight. The knight was kind, nurturing, understanding, and most of all loyal. Who would fit that mold? Then it hit her. Jaune! Jaune was someone who had all of those qualities, and even if he was weak he was loving.
Then she thought of Pyrrha... how would she react to Velvet and Jaune falling in love? She just shook it off. She doubted that the book would work. For crying out loud it was a book designed to magically manipulate love! Why was she diving so deep into it! She grabbed a pencil, and began to write. She wrote as the rules followed. The cat wrote," Jaune Arc/Velvet Scarletina, Jaune protects Velvet from Cardin bullying which causes a spark with in Velvet to ask Jaune to the dance, the amount of time for them to become an official couple has to happen naturally about a day, but that doesn't mean their feelings cannot bud prior."
She finished the sentence. Blake herself had dilated eyes. Her breath was tense. Her own hands were trembling. Her entire mind was spiraling, the entire process was exhilarating. But why was it, she could only reason that it was because she longed for something to cure her boredom. The Faunus doubted that it would work though. So she simply closed the book, and put it into her bag once more. Then she hurried back to her bed and began to sleep.
---
Jaune arose to sunbeams peering into his room. He looked over to his teammate, his family. All of them had supported his desire to grow. Now he gazed over to a clock, it was early morning. The blonde simply exited his bed and began to prepare for the day. In fact most of his team was now stirring awake once he finished. It was a simple process he did every morning hence his haste as well. Most of them had the same pace as him.
Jaune then asked his friends," You guys ready for breakfast?"
"Of course! I can't wait to devour pancakes!" Nora eagerly exclaimed to her friends. "Obviously Ren's are better, but I'll take what I can get!"
Ren simply replied to Nora's comment with," Thank you, Nora."
Pyrrha let out a giggle as she saw her friends conversing. Then she simply replied to her leader with a smile," Yes, Jaune. Let's meet up team RWBY."
Jaune nodded as he and his team exited. They all conversed within each other, as they walked towards the cafeteria. Their conversation was about the upcoming dance. Ren and Nora talked about how they were going as friends. Pyrrha gave comment that showed desire for someone to ask her out; she had hinted subtly towards Jaune trying to motivate him to ask her out yet he did not realize it. The blonde knight of the group was obvious to the champion's advances, and he simply suggested that he might ask Weiss once more to which Nora confidently egged him on giving her support. Pyrrha's eyes dulled as she heard Jaune longing for Weiss.
Eventually the group reached the cafeteria and grabbed their breakfast meals. Nora with her obvious high carb meal composed of pancakes and syrup! Ren was more balanced. He had avocado toast with salmon and egg. It was nice, crisp, and smokey. Jaune on the other hand seemed to go for a more homestyle route. He had grits with some slices of grilled chicken. As for the last member of JNPR, Pyrrha had a small parfait with a mix of berries and nuts. Afterwards they found their usual spot and sat down, as they ate and conversed with each other team RWBY entered as well.
Their sister team had grabbed their meal as well, and they sat next to them. All of them was excited and happy. Ruby raved on about her interests to Jaune, and he matched her energy. Weiss was simply talking to Ren about studies and literature. Yang, Nora, and Pyrrha talked about the upcoming Vytal Festival and the dance itself. Blake was silent. She was mulling over what she wrote last night. She was scared. What if Jaune actually did fall in love with Velvet?
Then a yelp of pain echoed behind her. It was Velvet once more. Her ears were getting pulled by Cardin. This had attracted attention from Blake and her friends. She was getting harassed way more than usual. The bully was acting more aggressive. Jaune held a face of anger now. He stood up. He was going to give a piece of his mind towards the bully. What prompted this reaction? He did not know. All he knows is that it was the right thing to do. Sure there was a bit of fear in him, but he did not give a damn. He was going to set things right for Velvet. She was too kind to be suffering like this.
Blake's eyes shrunk in fear. No. No! It couldn't be true! Right before her eyes, she witnessed the thing she wrote fruition. The rest of her friends watched. All of them eying at Jaune's courage to stand up to Cardin. It was a noble; in fact, that is why Pyrrha, herself was so attracted to. While they watched, Blake only mumbled," No... no... this can't be happening..."
Nora simply yelled out," You got this Jaune!"
Jaune's friends shared the same sentiment except one... Blake. Weiss commented to the group," Let's see if he can win this bout."
"Even if he doesn't, Velvet will appreciate him and want to become closer. That also means... Pyrrha will have increased competition for his heart despite his currently belonging to Weiss's much to the red-hair's dismay. Even if then, Velvet may even say she'll take him out on a date," Blake had analyzed. She was now analytical about the possibilities. Obviously she was still skeptical about the Ship Book, but things were aligning up now...
Pyrrha looked at Blake with shocked and fearful eyes, she couldn't lose to Velvet... right? The others around Blake stared at with confusion. Where did this side of her come from? They knew about her love for love stories, but this was Jaune. Could he really charm an upper classmate?
Going back to Jaune, he was walking up to Cardin. He saw the treatment the bully was inducing into the victim. The knight called out," Hey, Cardin! Stop being such an asshole!"
"Oh look what the animal brought in, a weak pitiful knight. Let's see if he can protect, this animal," Cardin insulted both of them. Not just to assert himself, but to pick on their worst qualities. He was going to face karma soon enough though.
"Velvet, get out of here while I deal with this," Jaune pleaded towards her whilst looking into her eyes. She was hurt. She needed comfort. Someone to stand up for her. His mind was racing as well. Why did her teammates never take action? They were supposed to be her friends. And why didn't Team CRDL get suspended for their actions? They could be a liability on the field if they had bias and cause more discord. He gazed then towards Cardin. "Call her animal again, and your getting socked straight towards the ground." He did not expect to retort so viciously, but it was expected.
Velvet, herself, was trembling. Her own mind was racing like Jaune's. Why was someone coming to her aid? She didn't deserve this kindness. He was like a knight in her eyes as well, like the ones she read from her childhood fairytales. She saw many qualities of heroes inside of him. He was protecting, kind, and was an actual knight. Her eyes dilated and her heart was beating faster. Her face became slightly flushed. But she still held fear, she couldn't walk away. Velvet stayed.
"Oh yeah? What are you going to do, weakling? Especially with..." Cardin then pulled Velvet's ears once more. "...this ani-"
Jaune without hesitation punched Cardin in the face. The bully then recoiled backwards and let go of Velvet's ears. Then another punch was launched into the distraught asshole's face. Cardin had stumbled backwards. The bigot was now angry with out reproach, and he lashed back. Winchester then tackled Jaune onto the cafeteria. An group of on lookers now gazed at the two boys. They were surprised, shocked, and down right cheering for this. Especially all of Jaune's friends. An array of emotions was present. Cardin winded up his fist, but before he could launch it towards Jaune. A voice boomed into the cafeteria," What is going here!"
The voice belonged to Glynda. Her voice boomed across the cafeteria. She started walking towards the actual scene of the fight. She looked at each party involved. The wise woman saw Jaune pinned by Cardin whilst Velvet seemed distressed and fidgety. She immediately assessed the situation and saw that a fight had broken out. Not a playful food fight, but an actual fight. Then the professor spoke and ordered," Both of you! Explain yourselves now!"
"He attacked me out of no-where, Professor Goodwitch," Cardin explained faster then Jaune, as he got off of Jaune. He then gave a lie to explain why this fight even started," He was probably angry that I beat him in combat class to often!"
It was a sound argument, but the teacher wished to hear her other students claims. She returned to a calmer state, but nonetheless still aggravated. "Mister Arc, explain your side of the story."
"I did start the fight, but for good reason. Cardin was pulling on Velvet's Faunus traits breaking her boundaries. Not only that, he started to call her derogatory names. I simply intervened," explained the blonde student. He knew the risk of fighting Cardin, but it would hopefully teach him a lesson. Jaune simply awaited for Glynda's voice to dish out the punishment. He was also still laying on the ground still in a bit of pain.
"Miss Scarletina, seeing as you are the third party involved and that Mister Winchester, here forgot to mention you, may you please testify?" the teacher did not want to force Velvet to speak. It would be beneficial to hear what the Faunus might say to resolve the situation.
Velvet put on the spot just like that. She was nervous, but eventually she spoke with a clear voice," Jaune is truthful. Cardin did pull my ears and call me names."
"I see. I will check security footage to fully see what had occurred. Other than that, Mister Arc, you will serve detention for the rest of the week. Same to you, Mister Winchester," Glynda dished out the punishment for starting a fight. "As far as Miss Scarletina's account, I will look into it. If I do find out that you lied and commit those acts, Mister Winchester, you will face separate punishment."
With those words, Glynda went off to do what she had stated. Along with that Cardin groaned in anger, as he now had a few days of detention with Jaune. He also couldn't retaliate, so he only grumpily walked away. The blonde knight on the other hand was struggling to get up, but as he sat up, a hand was extended to him. It was Velvet's. Jaune grasped it, and Velvet helped him up. Jaune then said," Velvet-"
The bunny then hugged Jaune tightly. His heart skipped a beat. Velvet was warm. The girl's heart also skipped a beat. She then looked up to Jaune's eyes. She smiled softly and so did Jaune. It was a spectacle to the audience. Velvet then let go of her grasp on him. Velvet's ears twitch, as she spoke to Jaune," Thank you, Jaune. My team didn't know about his antics. I hid it from them, but you didn't need to fight him! Are you hurt?"
"No! I should be the one asking you that," Jaune said with conviction. "Do you want to sit with me and my friends?"
"Sure! But... let me repay you! It's the least, I can do. Especially because you helped me earlier," the Faunus said with a cutesy smile. She was happy. Velvet in fact was ecstatic and then she told him what she wanted to do for him. The duo had begun to walk back towards Jaune's table. Once they arrived, Velvet offered," Let me take you out to the dance as your date!"
"Oh! Velvet, you don't owe me anything," Jaune simply said with a soft smile. He was thankful for the offer. He was surprised that Velvet would even resort to trying to repay him. The blonde then simply asked once they sat," Are you sure? Is that what you want to do?"
Velvet nodded. The bunny may be shy and timid, but she would always be certain of one thing. Her conviction in her words. It may seem weird, but Jaune was her knight in shining armor despite how bumbling he could be. "Yes, I'm pretty sure I want this."
"Okay, then. It's settled. I'll go to the dance with you, Velvet," the blonde knight simply replied. He was happy that a girl asked him out, but it was more than that. It felt as though, he was free from the temptation to chase another girl. Weiss seemed to be forgotten in his eyes as a love interest. The heiress was... nothing but dull to him now. She rejected him time and time again, so why waste time on her when Velvet would give her own time to be with him instead? With that in mind Jaune simply smiled at Velvet.
The two teams sans Jaune held a unique emotion in their eyes and face because of the sudden relationship blossoming in front of their eyes. Pyrrha was distraught. She never could've of expect this. The champion couldn't believe this... this development. It was unexpected, but so... natural at the same time. Yang and Nora snickered but was shocked as well. They knew of Pyrrha's crush, but alas their friend was to late. Weiss was relieved that Jaune found a date. The white haired maiden did not want to deal with having Jaune ask her out again! Yet she also pitied the champion. Ruby seemed to be happy for Jaune and as well, yet she was partially sad. The prodigy wouldn't have an awkward buddy to attend the dance with... But all of them said congrats to both of them and was more or less ingratiating Velvet into the group's dynamic.
Blake held a grit. She was furious now. The black cat was furious at herself because of her actions, the book wasn't a joke or prank. It was truthful in its words. The black cat showed her anger with a subtly scowl. And she allowed herself to excuse herself with a few words," Excuse me, but I have to go back to the dorm. I forgot something."
"Okay, Blake! Just meet us in class!" Ruby said with a cheerful and upbeat smile. She then began to talk to Velvet," So... Velvet! What type of weapon do ya use?"
The table erupted back into conversation between everyone now, but one. Lie Ren. He had a more unique reaction to the relationship of its nature. He was skeptical and silent. How could Jaune, who had feelings for Weiss, just simply... forget them in favor for Velvet? It would make sense if it was Pyrrha or even Ruby to an extent. He then simply began to think heavier on the subject. It was so much more... odd than natural to him. He then turned back to gaze at Blake's back. Now call him crazy, but he thought of Blake's words prior how she analyzed and predicted the end result and that it was unnatural. Ren knew she knows the dynamics of romance, so it wasn't insane to say she just had good knowledge but this? It was too exact. Too correct. Not only that put her reaction seemed off, he wasn't sure why the black cat was acting angry. With that he only started to suspect Blake of something insane... he suspected of her manipulating Velvet and Jaune somehow. No, he was just reading into this too much. Ren reasoned. He should be happy for Jaune. But despite this, Ren was continued to wonder about it in silence.
---
Blake was now pacing inside her dorm room. The ninja of team RWBY then grabbed the Ship Note, and she then yelled out to herself," DAMNIT! I can't believe it actually worked!"
Blake then threw the book towards the door. It was then caught by an unknown being. The being had angelic wings, blue eyes, and curly golden locks. He bore an outfit that was divine in nature. It was a robe made of silk covering most of his body sans half of his chest. The being then spoke in a soothing and calm voice," Ah. Ah. Ah. You don't want to damage this notebook now would you?"
"W-w-who are you?!?" Blake stammered. She was a bit scared, who was this person? Why did he look divine? She wanted answers as well. This being exuded a light and soothing tone with his words, but it did not calm the girl. She then yelled back out," Answer me!"
"Hmm... I guess that is fair. You see, I am Eros, god of love. And this is my notebook, and I will be writing your name in it once your done with it," the winged angel walked towards Blake. He simply offered the notebook to her. She then cautiously accepted the book back. "I suppose you are still skeptical of my identity. But, I know you want this power, I see it in your eyes. You're drawn to it. You want to use it."
"I'm not skeptical about who you are!" Blake retorted back. Then she continued on," And how do you know I want to write in this journal, huh? This was a one time thing! It just ruined other's love lives, my love life!"
"I know your interested in continuing to use my notebook. I know for good reason too. You took it back. You were drawn from it since it appeared. I know you want to continue, and what's stopping you?" Eros asked. He was now curious to her response, her drive and frankly... her own ideas. He usually dropped his notebook every century and every time he did, a person who knew better never had fun with the book. This time though... it was a girl, a girl that would have fun with this game he made.
Blake looked Eros in the eyes. She internally answered his question. The Faunus did agree with him, who was truly stopping her? Then her ideas, she looked back into her memories of Jaune and Velvet. They complemented each other, they were right for each other, and frankly... that they would succeed in their relationship. She only thought harder about the book. She wondered about the possibilities. There were more... more she could write, more she could see, and more she could theorize. It was bold, but she wanted to accept, and internally... she did. With that mental block undone, she simply opened the book once more, and began to read the rules once more to understand the book.
Eros only gazed at Blake. He smirked, and he only thought to himself,' What a wonderful game this is going to be!'