Shards of Reminisce Ch.64 (Patreon)

I let out a long sigh before summoning a chocolate chip cookie anyway, handing it over to the eager girl. Ruby's eyes light up just like yesterday and she immediately swoops in, not wasting a second to take a big bite, practically melting on the spot.

"Amaziiiiing!" she mumbles through a mouthful of cookie, crumbs falling from her face.

What a little glutton she is.

"Ruby, don't talk with your mouth full," Weiss says primly, her expression showing clear displeasure at the whole situation. "And we don't have time for this."

Weiss... She looks uptight and stuffy. And by the tone, I can easily assume her personality. Probably grew up with a silver spoon shoved so far up her ass she could taste it.

I ignore the stuck-up bitch and turn my attention to the rest. "Alright, so I was exploring Forever Fall—just wanted to fight a few Grimm, you know... Can't let my skills get dull sitting around the city working all day."

Ruby nods enthusiastically while still chewing, more crumbs falling from her mouth.

"Anyway," I continue, "I found this weird hole in the ground. Something of mine fell inside, and well..." I shrug. "Curiosity got the better of me. Jumped down to get it back."

"What fell in?" Nora asks, leaning forward with interest, bouncing slightly on her feet.

"My drone. Expensive stuff, wasn't about to just leave it." Which is technically true. "So I went down, found a bunch of Centinels crawling around down there."

Can't mention the weird cactus things for obvious reasons.

"Centinels?" Ren speaks up. “Here?”

"Yeah, weird right? But I wiped them out pretty quick." I wave my hand dismissively. "Then a hole opened up in the ceiling, and I climbed out. And somehow ended up here in Emerald Forest instead of Forever Fall."

Everyone is quiet for a moment, processing the abbreviated story.

"That's not possible." Weiss is the first to speak up, her tone skeptical and sharp. 

I raise an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"The distance between the two forests is too much," she says, crossing her arms. "Even if you were at the very edge of Forever Fall, we're currently far west in the Emerald Forest. It would take several hours to travel between them on foot, and even longer through any theoretical underground passage. There's no way a simple tunnel could connect them."

What a bitch.

But she's right, annoyingly. There really isn't a logical explanation for it. I was quite deep in Forever Fall when I jumped into that hole. The tunnel wasn't that long, and I didn't even stay down there more than an hour—just a straight shot to one chamber and back out. There's no logical way I should've ended up here.

"Well, I don't know what to tell you," I say with a shrug. "That's what happened."

"But how?" Weiss presses, her blue eyes narrowing. "You must have some explanation. Did you see any markings? Dust formations? Glyphs? Any indication of artificial construction?"

"I saw dirt, rocks, and Grimm," I say flatly. "Not exactly stopping to take notes while fighting for my life."

And the weird cactus thing but I won’t say that.

"Ooh, ooh! How many Centinels were there?!" Nora jumps in excitedly. "Did you fight them all at once? Did any of them try to eat you? I heard they burrow into people!"

"Eight, maybe more underground," I answer. "And yeah, they tried. Didn't work out well for them."

Ruby finally swallows her cookie, her silver eyes wide with interest. "Eight?! That's so cool! How did you—"

"Ruby, we're getting off track," Weiss interrupts sharply. "The point is, his story doesn't make sense. There's no known natural phenomenon that would allow for instantaneous travel between two distant locations."

I can feel my tail starting to lash in irritation. "Look, princess, I don't care if you believe me or not. I know what happened."

"Princess?" Weiss furrow her brow.

"Weiss, maybe we should just—" Ruby starts, but Weiss cuts her off.

"No, Ruby. This is highly suspicious." Weiss takes a step closer, her posture rigid and confrontational. "You claim to have been fighting Grimm alone. You claim to have traveled impossible distances underground in under an hour. And you refuse to provide any concrete details."

"Because there are no details," I growl, my ears flattening. "I jumped in a hole, killed some Grimm, climbed back out. End of story."

"But where exactly was this hole located? What did the Centinels look like? Were they mature specimens or juveniles? How deep was the chamber? What kind of rock formations did you observe?" Weiss fires off questions.

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, and I don't fucking know!" I snap. "I wasn't exactly doing fucking homework while getting attacked!"

"Language!" Ruby squeaks.

Weiss's eyes flash. "Your complete lack of specifics is highly suspicious. For all we know, you could be lying about the entire encounter."

"Why the fuck would I lie?" I ask incredulously.

"Language!"

"To cover up what you were really doing," Weiss says, her tone accusatory. "Perhaps engaging in less... legal activities?"

My eyes narrow dangerously and slowly get back to my feet. "What are you implying?"

"I'm not implying anything. I'm stating that your story has more holes than credibility, and given your... background..." She pauses, her eyes flicking to my ears for just a fraction of a second before returning to my face. "It's not unreasonable to question your activities."

There it is. That subtle disdain. The way her lip curls ever so slightly when she looks at me.

I've seen it before. Different face, same bullshit.

"My background," I repeat slowly, my voice dangerously quiet. "You want to elaborate on that, human?"

Weiss stiffens at the emphasis. "I simply meant that you don't attend Beacon, you have no official credentials, and I remember working in... less reputable establishments."

"Oh, so now bartending is suspicious?" I take a step closer, and she takes a step back. "Or is it something else that's bothering you? Something you're too polite to say out loud?"

"I don't know what you're—"

"My ears, maybe?" I interrupt, tapping one of them. "My tail? My teeth?"

"Okay, okay, timeout!" Nora suddenly jumps between us, making a T-shape with her hands. "Everyone just needs to calm down and maybe eat some sweets! Or cookies! Cookies work too!"

"I am perfectly calm," Weiss says through gritted teeth.

"You're really not," Ren observes quietly.

"And neither are you," Nora adds, pointing at me.

I take a deep breath. She's right. Getting into a screaming match with a Beacon student isn't going to help anything. Especially not when it could reflect badly on Jeanne.

"Look," I say, dragging a hand across my face "I don't care if you believe me or not. Makes no difference to me."

"But more importantly," I continue, deliberately turning away from Weiss to address the others, "how's Jeanne doing? She told me she was fine and all that, but well... you know how that girl is." I let out a small chuckle, though it comes out a little strained.

"Oh, Jeanne's all good now! Ren here helped her calm down. His Semblance is really amazing for that kind of thing!" Nora immediately brightens, her earlier tension forgotten.

"Calm down?" I frown, my ears perking forward. "What do you mean, calm down?"

Ruby's expression turns worried. "Yeah, she woke up pretty freaked out. I think she had a nightmare or something? She was really shaken up. If Ren's Semblance didn't work, the nurse was going to have to use a sedative."

My stomach drops. "What?"

"It was close to a panic attack," Ren explains calmly. "I was able to use my Semblance to help suppress the negative emotions, which allowed her to calm down.."

Jeanne... what the fuck? That's not "just I'm fine, don't worry." That's serious. That's really fucking serious.

"Why didn't she tell me?" I mutter, more to myself than anyone else.

"She probably didn't want to worry you," Ruby offers gently. "Jeanne's like that. She always puts other people's feelings before her own. Plus, with you two being all couple-y and stuff, she probably thought you'd blame yourself or something."

"Yeah, she kept saying it wasn't a big deal!" Nora agrees. "Even though she was totally freaking out! She was all 'I'm fine, really, don't tell Ma'iq, he'll worry!' but like, girl was not fine."

I let out a heavy sigh, running a hand through my hair and feeling my ears droop. "Dammit. I really hate that I couldn't stay longer. Fucking rules."

"Language!" Ruby protests, though it's halfhearted this time.

I just give her a deadpan stare.

 "Jeanne kept asking about you after she woke up. She seemed really upset that you'd left." Ruby adds quietly.

Great. Now I feel even worse.

"The visitation rules exist for a reason," Weiss says coldly, still clearly irritated from our earlier exchange. "Security protocols must be maintained, regardless of personal relationships."

"Yeah, because a guy visiting his girlfriend is such a huge security risk," I mutter sarcastically.

"Well, considering the company you keep, it's not entirely unreasonable," Weiss shoots back, and there's that subtle disdain again.

My eyes narrow. "The company I keep?"

Bitch.

"Though honestly, I don't see what the big deal is! Jeanne talks about you all the time and she's super happy, so who cares where you work?" Nora quickly interjects.

"She does." I point at the uptight bitch.

"You…" Weiss starts, her face flushing with indignation.

"Okay!" Nora claps her hands loudly. "This is getting super intense and not in a fun way! Maybe we should all just—"

"Wait!" Ruby suddenly interrupts, her voice cutting through the tension. "Can I ask something?"

Everyone pauses, and I tilt my head in confusion. "What?"

Ruby fidgets with her hands, looking innocently curious rather than confrontational. "It's just... your tail. And your ears. Both of them. Together."

I blink. "Yeah? What about them?"

"Well, it's just that... Faunus only have one trait, right? Like, you'd have cat ears or a tail, not both. So it's kinda weird to see... um... both on you?"

What?

The entire group goes silent. Everyone turns to stare at Ruby—even Ren, who's been the most calm and composed this whole time, has his eyes widened in surprise. Weiss looks at Ruby with an expression of disbelief.

Ruby glances around at her teammates, finally realizing she's said something she probably shouldn't have. Her face immediately goes bright red. "I—I mean… that's not—I didn't mean it like—" She stammers, trying to backtrack. "It's just an observation! A totally normal observation! Not weird at all! Well, it IS weird but not bad weird, just unusual weird, and—oh no, I'm making it worse, aren't I?"

She pulls her red hood up over her face, trying to make herself smaller. "Can someone please just teleport me away from here?" And her voice comes muffled from inside the hood.

But the red hood suddenly makes me take an involuntary step back, my breath catching for just a moment. Something about it feels... wrong. Familiar in a bad way. But I quickly shake it off, forcing myself to focus.

Thank god I didn’t go through that weird moment like the last time in Patch.

Although…

What I'm more confused about is why Ruby is asking this now. Because she's met me a couple of times already. How has she never noticed before?

Hell, she spent hours with me at Beacon yesterday, geeking out about weapons and showing me Crescent Rose's and asking about my weapon of choice. How did this not come up then?

Although... she was way too focused on weapons to notice anything else, to be honest.

"Uh, yeah?" I finally say, my confusion evident in my voice. "I have ears and a tail. That's... not new? Not even trying to hide them."

I ditched the baggy pants and the beanie a long time ago because I hated how restrictive they made me feel.

But still, I guess I should show them just like I've shown others. So I grab a fistful of hair on the side of my head and pull it back, showing clearly that there are no human ears underneath; just smooth skin where they should be.

That gets everyone's attention immediately.

"WAIT, SO YOU DON'T HAVE HUMAN EARS?!" Nora practically shouts, bouncing forward with new energy. "That's so cool! Can you hear better than humans? Can you move them independently? Do they twitch when you're annoyed? Wait, they totally do, I saw them do that earlier when Weiss was talking! Can you hear conversations from really far away? Do they get cold in winter? Can you—"

"Nora," Ren says calmly, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder to slow her down and pull her back.

"But Ren! This is important stuff!" Nora protests, though she does lower her volume slightly. "How often do you meet someone with two Faunus traits?! This is like, super rare! Maybe even unique!"

"I understand your curiosity, but perhaps we should give him some space," Ren suggests quietly, though he's looking at me with mild interest.

Weiss steps forward, and for once, her expression isn't hostile—it's more perplexed, almost clinical. "That's... highly unusual. Faunus only have one physical trait. Scales, a tail, ears, antlers, horns, fangs, wings, gills—one defining characteristic. Never multiple traits. I've studied a lot and this has never even been mentioned as possibilities."

I shrug, trying to appear nonchalant because I really have no idea why I was born like this. "Guess I'm just that special."

Heh, that phrase applies to everything about me, doesn't it?

Weiss's eye twitches slightly at my flippant response. She takes a breath, clearly trying to maintain her composure. "Have you... consulted a doctor about this? There could be underlying medical implications. Genetic anomalies sometimes indicate—"

"Weiss!" Ruby gasps, finally emerging from her hood cocoon, her face still bright red. "You can't just ask someone that! That's super rude!"

"I'm simply suggesting that this abnormality could indicate something that requires medical attention," Weiss continues, though she looks slightly flustered at being called out. "It would be irresponsible not to—"

Wait. I can use this to leave.

"Abnormality?" I repeat, my ears flattening against my skull. "Really? That's the word you're going with?"

"I didn't mean—" Weiss starts, looking fully flustered now. "It's a medical term, not a—it's not meant to be offensive, it's simply a factual description of something outside the norm—"

"Right. Abnormal. Outside the norm. Not normal." I cross my arms. "Just another way of saying I'm a freak, right?"

Nice way to capitalize it.

"That's not what I said!" Weiss protests, her face going red. "You're deliberately twisting my words!"

"Am I?" I challenge. "Because from where I'm standing, you've been looking for reasons to hate me the moment you saw me. First it was my 'background,' now it's my biology. What's next? Gonna measure my skull? My tail?"

Huh, that’s a good one too.

"That's completely unfair!" Weiss's voice rises. "I was expressing concern!"

"Were you?" I ask coldly. "Or were you just finding another way to point out how I'm different? How I don't fit in? How there's something wrong with me?"

"I never said there was anything wrong with you!"

"You literally just called me abnormal," I point out flatly.

"In a medical context!" Weiss insists. "It's a neutral term used to describe statistical outliers in—"

"Save it," I cut her off with a wave of my hand. "I've had enough from you."

"But I wasn't—" Weiss tries again.

"I. Don't. Care." I enunciate each word clearly. "Your 'concern' is not wanted or needed."

I turn to address the group as a whole, pointedly ignoring Weiss's increasingly flustered attempts to explain herself. "Send Jeanne my regards. Tell her I'll visit again soon."

Though that's kind of pointless since I can just text her myself. I just want to leave. This whole encounter has been exhausting and a complete waste of time.

"Wait, but we still have questions!" Nora calls out as I start walking away, bouncing on her feet. "Like, can you purr? Do you have cat reflexes? Do you land on your feet when you fall? These are important!"

Okay, that girl is stupid.

"Ask someone else!" I call back without turning around.

"But you're the only person we know with two Faunus traits!" Nora protests. "Actually, you might be the only person in Remmant with two Faunus traits! That's like, super cool!"

"Not my problem!" I shout back, picking up my pace.

"We're sorry about being weird!" Ruby adds, her voice apologetic. "I shouldn't have pointed it out! That was super rude of me! I just noticed and my mouth started working before my brain did and—"

"Don't care!" I'm almost to the tree line now.

"Please don't be mad at Jeanne about this!" Ruby tries again, her voice going higher.

That makes me pause for just a moment. I glance back over my shoulder. "I'm not mad at Jeanne. I'm mad at her." I nod toward Weiss, who narrows her blue eyes. "Big difference."

"I was simply trying to help!" Weiss protests.

"I don't care," I interrupt, my voice flat and final. 

With that, I turn back around and continue walking, not stopping this time even when I hear Ruby calling after me.

My ears pick up their hushed conversation behind me, every word crystal clear.

"Well, that went great," Nora says sarcastically. "Really nailed that first impression, team."

"I didn't mean to make it awkward!" Ruby's voice is still mortified. "I just noticed, and it seemed weird and I opened my mouth without thinking! Again! Why do I always do this?!"

Well, it doesn't matter what they will talk about.

I must check the new upgrades of my system now.

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Neo wanted to meet at her place but I rejected her invitation because something more important needed to be done.

That important thing is me in the living room, knitting a scarf.

It's been too many months since I last did this—back in Menagerie, when I was still figuring out what the fuck my system could actually do. 

My Weaver job level has increased a lot since then, so I want to see the progress in the clothes department. I already know the progress I've made with those plushies that sell out whenever I offer them, but actual wearable items? That's a different story.

The needles click rhythmically in my hands as I work, muscle memory taking over. The motions are smoother now, more confident. My fingers don't fumble like they used to, and the stitches come out even and tight.

After a while, I complete the scarf and hold it up in front of me to watch it unfold. It's a single green color this time—simple, clean, and actually looks nice compared to the amalgamation of colors and ugly-looking mess I knitted back in Kuo Kana. 

However, a window suddenly pops up in my vision.

[Yarn Scarf] HP +10

What?

I blink, my ears standing straight up in surprise. And my fingers drop the scarf.

It lands on the couch cushion, innocent and harmless-looking.

Slowly, I reach down and pick it up again. The window immediately pops back up.

[Yarn Scarf] HP +10

Same thing. So I wasn't hallucinating it then.

My mind races as realization hits me like a truck. That's what the system update meant when it said it "fixed crafting." Just like the things I cook give temporary stat increases after eating them, the things I craft should also give stats when wearing them.

That makes sense. And if the pattern holds, then the higher my skill level, the more stats the crafted items should give.

That's... that's a lot. Like, really a lot, now that I'm actually thinking about it. If I crafted all my clothes, my entire outfit, how much of a power boost would I get? Some HP here, maybe some defense there, possibly agility or strength bonuses?

And this would also apply to my weapons, I'm sure of it.

The implications hit me all at once, and my tail starts lashing excitedly behind me.

I drop everything and rush for the basement, already planning out what I need to do.

I quickly get to work on crafting a dagger. I don't care if it's ugly or rough-looking; I just want to make the easiest weapon fast to test my theory.

I work frantically, using the workbench and hammer, firing up the portable smelter that I'd borrowed—okay, stolen. The heat from the forge washes over me as I work the metal, shaping it with strikes that are more enthusiastic than skillful.

Master Tusk would be pissed if he saw me but whatever.

After a while, I finish a very shoddy dagger. The blade is uneven; the handle is wrapped poorly, and the balance is completely off. It looks like shit, honestly. But it's done.

A window pops up immediately.

[Mediocre Dagger] STR +1

I drop the dagger without thinking, not even caring when it shatters against the concrete floor. My head tilts back, and I start laughing.

I laugh and laugh, the sound echoing off the basement walls, probably making me sound like a complete lunatic. But I don't care.

This is it.

This is exactly what I've been looking for.

Not just the EXP boost opportunities from my semblance, but a whole new way to bridge the gap in skill between me and trained hunters. A way to stack the deck in my favor.

If a broken, piece-of-shit dagger I made in less than an hour gives me +1 STR, then what would a properly crafted weapon give? What about armor? What about accessories?

My mind is already racing with possibilities. I could craft an entire loadout—weapons, armor, clothes, everything—all giving me stat boosts that stack on top of each other. And as my crafting levels increase, those boosts would only get stronger.

"Holy shit," I breathe, still grinning like a madman. "Holy shit."

I pace back and forth in the basement. This changes everything. 

Actual, tangible stat increases that I can control. That I can craft myself.

The more I think about it, the more excited I get. My hands are practically shaking in anticipation as one thought stays in my head.

I need to test this more. 

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-Neopolitan-

Neo easily worked the lock with her picks, slipping into her kitten's apartment and easing the door shut without so much as a whisper of sound. It was a nice place - spacious, well-maintained. Still, she really should do something to convince him to move back in with her... permanently.

She was missing the warmth on her bed after all.

A leash, maybe?

She paused mid-step, entertaining the thought with a wicked grin. 

Nah, too extreme. His cute bell collar was more than enough... for now. Although, the mental image of dragging him around on a leash was amusing though. Maybe she'd save that idea for special occasions. And with enough rewards and motivation she was sure she could convince him to play the part.

Though actually, the more she thought about it, the leash wasn't such a bad idea. Her kitten had been getting a little frisky lately, expanding his collection of pretty girls. Not that she minded - he was hers first and foremost, and any girl he picked up? Well, she got to play with them too. 

Fair was fair. What's his was hers, after all.

Like that Jeanne girl. Oh, he'd tried so hard to hide who she was, putting on that tough-guy act of indifference, doing his absolute best to refuse her advances. But those adorable cat ears had twitched, betraying every lie that came out of his mouth. So transparent. So cute. Neo had done her own homework on the girl, obviously - she wasn't about to let some random tramp near her pet without proper vetting.

Jeanne d'Arc - country bumpkin turned Beacon Academy team leader. Surprisingly competent in combat, disgustingly earnest personality, and despite the humble farm origins, actually pretty cute in that wholesome, innocent way. Neo's grin turned predatory as she imagined all the fun ways she could make that pure, honest face twist in pleasure while she was tied up and gagged, as she made sure to ruin her and had her way with her and had her eat…

Wait.

She'd been wandering the apartment for several minutes now and hadn't found her kitten anywhere. The living room was empty, his usual couch. Bedroom untouched, bed still perfectly made from this morning. Kitchen dark and unused, not even a dirty dish in the sink.

The basement.

Of course.

Neo descended the stairs and found exactly what she expected - her dear kitten slumped over his workbench, surrounded by half-finished projects and scattered tools. Little gadgets and mechanical pieces littered everywhere. Blueprints were pinned haphazardly to the walls, and the smell of solder and metal hung in the air. He must have gotten excited over something new and worked himself into exhaustion.

Didn't help that he'd apparently gotten himself lost in Forever Fall earlier today and somehow ended up stumbling around the Emerald Forest. What a naughty kitten, worrying her like that. She'd have to scold him properly later. 

Maybe withhold ear scratches for a whole day. That'd teach him.

Shaking her head with fond exasperation, Neo skipped to him, her footsteps silent even on the concrete floor. She pressed a gentle kiss to his head, breathing in his scent, and ran her fingers through his hair with her usual tenderness. She was extra careful not to disturb those precious cat ears; he got grumpy when someone touched them while he was sleeping.

Then, with far too much strength for her small frame, she carefully hooked her arms under him and lifted. He was heavier than he looked with all that lean muscle, but she'd carried bodies twice his weight before. Though those usually weren't breathing, and definitely weren't this precious to her.

The trek to the bedroom was slow. She had to pause twice to readjust her grip, and once to kick a stray tool out of her path.The last thing she wanted was to wake him by bumping into furniture, it would ruin the surprise.

Finally reaching the bed, she laid him down gently, like placing a fragile treasure. (He was) Then, wasting no time, she immediately crawled in and curled up against him, nestling herself between his arms where she belonged. Usually it was the other way around - her holding him, protecting him from the cruel world that had hurt him so much - but since he wasn't awake, she'd indulge in this small reversal.

His breathing was deep and steady, chest rising and falling in that peaceful rhythm that told her he was completely dead to the world. One arm unconsciously wrapped around her as she settled in, pulling her closer even in sleep. And she let out a silent gasp when that hand grabbed her right breast and squeezed.

Naughty.

Like his body knew.

Neo's eyes fluttered closed, a smile playing on her lips.

Truly, her kitten was the best.

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AN: Sorry for the delay, gonna have to rush the next story.