As It Turns Out 03

It was another wonderful morning for team RWBY and team JNPR. And as usual, they were eating breakfast together.

However, there was an elephant in the room, one that Jaune addressed. "So, what's up with Yang's sick new tattoo?" He had always wanted one, but he never had the courage for it. And he couldn't even imagine how it scary it must have been to get one for the neck!

After asking his question, he went back to eating. As usual, Beacon's food was actually pretty good.

Yang smile shined as bright as the sun. "It ain't a tattoo, it's a Mark! I Soul Bonded with a guy yesterday!" She didn't even try to hide it.

Jaune spat his food out. "Woah! What!?" That sure was something.

Naturally, he didn't believe it. "Hey, please don't make crazy jokes while I'm eating." Well, it wasn't that crazy of a joke, but she said it with such confidence that he almost believed it.

"It's not a joke though." Yang crossed her arms. "Seriously, I'm announcing right now, I'm married. Out of the single game." She glared at man from another table. "So stop winking at me, before I beat you down!" A lot of her time this morning had been wasted rejecting attempts at flirtation.

Something which she was normally very happy to receive, even if she tended to always take it in a joking manner. Jaune had never seen her outright tell someone to stop, and now considering the confidence she had showed...

He actually believed her words. "For real!?" He leaned forward, hitting the table.

And so did the rest of team JNPR, following their leader's footsteps. It couldn't be helped, a Soul Bond was something extremely rare, rare enough that even a Huntsman or a Huntress would be surprised about it.

Yang gave them a confident thumbs up. "For real. Please keep it on the down low though." Funny words after she just threatened a man.

Jaune's jaw hit the floor. "Holy shit..." He was so goddamned jealous... and happy for her of course.

It was his dream to become a hero, and there were so many stories were the hero Soul Bonded with someone. It was just a classic, a knight slays the Grimm, saves the princess, Soul Bonds with her, and then two live happy forever after. He didn't actually expect to actually find someone compatible with his soul of course, but he sure wanted to.

Pyrrha covered her mouth. "Oh my, how wonderful! Congratulations Yang!" This actually brought memories to her, memories of when she was young and wished to become a Marked.

She had long ago discarded these fantasies however, because they were just that, fantasies. And nowadays she even... liked someone. So she was happy for Yang, and not jealous at all. Not one bit.

Nora looked dead inside. "Yeah, wonderful..." She took a glance at her partner. "Isn't it wonderful Ren?"

He hesitantly nodded. "Yes...?"

She glared at him. "Wonderful..." Could she theorically mutilate someone's souls until they became compatible with each other? She was sure people would reflexively say no, but had it ever been attempted before!?

Yang smirked. "Thanks, I'm sure my life is gonna change a lot from now on, but I'll always be the same fun loving gal you all know. It's just that you know, I found eternal love, leaving you suckers behind and all that." Yeah, she was bragging. Could she really be blamed for it?

Nora pouted. "Well, it's not like marriage is any less valuable when it happens normally! In fact, it's even more wonderful that way, since you actually have to work for it!" She clasped her hands together. "Right Jauney? Right Pyrrha? Right other people who would agree with me?"

"R-right..." Those two had no choice, but to accept it. They liked living.

Weiss cleared her throat. "Well, now that Yang has gotten her applause, it is my turn." She puffed her chest. The little of it that she had. "I'm also Marked. More specifically, Marked to the same man as Yang."

Her eyes became as cold as frost. "And yes Arc, that does mean any flirting with me will lead to certain death. Or worse. I have tolerated your pitiful attemps at courting me so far..."

He sputtered. "You definitely haven't! Last time you turned me into a block of ice!" He was pretty sure he would have died if it wasn't for Aura.

She huffed. "And I should have done far worse, considering you seem to be incapable of taking a hint! Next time just be aware that you court me at your own peril!"

He could only silently pout. "C'mon Snow Angel, I'm sure—."

Weiss pointed at him. "Yang, kill this man."

Surprisingly, Yang actually got up from her chair. "Alright, one corpse coming right up! It's gonna be well done!"

Jaune flinched. "Why though!?" Normally she didn't care much about his attempts at wooing Weiss. Nobody really did, except Weiss herself. Which totally meant she was secretly into him, but that was a talk for another time.

Yang shrugged. "Eh, I gotta protect my hubbie's turf. So either back down, or get ready to get blasted into oblivion, Vomit soon to be dead boy." How joyous, a new title has been bestowed upon this knight.

And like a brave knight, he bravely retreated. "I choose to back down!" He would just have to flirt with Weiss when Yang wasn't around. That was sure to work!

Pyrrha giggled. "You sure are defensive Yang, but shouldn't you worry about the women claiming your husband as hers instead?" Of course Yang of all people would be able to joke about her own Marked like that.

Except, to Pyrrha's surprise Yang just gave her a weird look. "I mean, she's legally his wife." And then after a moment her eyes widened. "Oh... oh...! Sorry, had a brainfart." She gave a joking knock on her own head.

"I know this sounds pretty crazy, but we ended up all Soul Bonding with the same guy. He's like that hero... what was his name again...?" She hummed for a bit, trying to recall it. "Oh, yeah, Ozma. He's like Ozma."

Silence filled the table.

Jaune pouted. "Goddamn it, I fell for it. I super fell for it." It really had been just a joke, and Yang had played him like a fiddle.

After all, Yang Soul Bonding with someone...? Very unlikely, but possible. Not something that he would deny if she really insisted on it. However, both Yang and Weiss becoming Marked on the same day? And by Soul Bonding with the same guy at that?

Jaune would sooner believe that Ren was actually a girl in disguise, and Nora was a guy in disguise, with both tricking each other for years. That's how unbelievable it was.

Yang sighed. "This is harder than I expected..." She motioned to the rest of her team. "But it's true you know? Everyone on team RWBY is now married to the same sexy hunk."

Weiss glared at her. "Elegant hunk. Do not call our husband sexy in public... it's uncouth." She knew Yang would probably ignore her, but she had to at least make an attempt to control her.

Jaune squinted his eyes. "So the four of you are all married to the same guy? Is that what I'm hearing?"

Yang nodded. "Ayup. I would call myself unluck, but I don't want to make it seem like I don't like my hubbie... so I'll just say he's a really lucky guy." He was certainly living the damn dream!

Weiss quickly confirmed it too. "Yes, Arc. Sadly I am now stuck with these harpies, and I cannot even get rid of them without going out too." She obviously wouldn't kill anyone no matter what, but if one of them did die, it would be like a domino effect causing the death of the entire team.

Ruby covered her face, it was bright red. "Well, since everyone is coming out with the truth, I guess I might as well!" She began to sputter. "I got married! And it happened so fast that I didn't even know what had happened until the last moment!"

"But like... instead of being scary, it's just kind of wonderful you know? I mean, I wasn't exactly looking for anything like that in the past, I thought my only love was my weapon, but now that it happened, I—." The girl quickly devolved into mumbling.

Blake cut her off. "Yes, we all married him." She liked silence. She would now go back to being silent.

Jaune's face was filled with disbelief. "Oh yeah? Prove it."

Ruby tilted her head. "How...?"

He crossed his arms. "It's real easy. Yang has a Mark... if that even is one, but where is your Mark? And Weiss's Mark? And Blake's? Show it and I'll believe you."

Yang making one cool tattoo and taking advantage of it to pull a prank with her team? That was very likely. Every member of team RWBY getting a tattoo and doing the same thing? Much less likely.

And as he expected, Ruby looked away. "I can't show it! It's filthy!"

Weiss nodded. "Yes! Yang, he's doing it again! Kill him!"

He raised his hands. "Woah! Woah! No murder please..." He sighed. "Seriously though, is this all just all some elaborate act to avoid the upcoming dance or something?" In that case, he couldn't help but applaud their efforts.

It was strange to start the plan now though! They still had plenty of time!

Blake sighed. "It's not. I have the Mark on my back, I can... show it, I guess." It would be embarrassing, but as long as it got her some precious silence she would accept it.

Jaune nodded. "Okay then, sho—."

But Pyrrha silenced him. "No, there's no need for that!" Her face was bright red. "Since our good friends are so insistent on it, we have no choice, but to believe it." She didn't buy it. It would be impolite to keep insisting on it like Jaune was doing it however, so she didn't.

It wasn't a big deal. What was the worse that could happen anyway? Team RWBY getting some quick laughs? Pyrrha didn't really mind. Also, she was strangely relieved that her friend actually hadn't gotten hitched...

"I'm sorry!" That was horrible, and so the apologies came as by instinct.

Weiss raised an eyebrow for what. "No need to apologize Pyrrha, you are defending us after all." Ah... and now Pyrrha felt even more guilty...

Jaune sighed. "That's..." But then he saw Ruby's face. The face of his fellow team leader, and a close friend. She looked incredibly frustrated. "Okay, I got it. My bad for being a jerk." He threw the towel.

Which brought a smile to Ruby's face. "It's okay Jaune! I know this is pretty crazy news." She tilted her head, a look of confusion on her face. "Even I am still having difficulty to process it all..."

"I mean, it's already super rare for one Soul Bonding to happen, so imagine multiple... Did anyone here even know a pair?" Ruby was sure that the number of Marked across the world had to be less than a hundred.

Surprisingly, Pyrrha raised a hand. "Oh, I do! Or... I did, I suppose." Her face was a strange mixture of happiness and sadness. Nostalgia perhaps. "My grandparents were Soul Bonded. They were just the cutest pair!" Perhaps a bit too cute even.

"They were also monstrously powerful." As one would expect of a pair of Marked who had Huntsmen training. "Because of them, my family actually got a bit of fame." Although, even if it was arrogant to say it, she had brought it to a new level.

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Huh. That's neat." She hadn't talked about this before. "So, what's up with them nowadays? They retired?"

Pyrrha looked down. "No... They kept being Huntsmen until they reached a very advanced age, and eventually they could not keep up anymore. They passed away in a mission."

Jaune winced. "Shit...! Sorry, that I asked!" He really was messing up today.

Thankfully, Pyrrha didn't seem hurt by it. "No, I'm the one who's sorry for making this seem like a sad story. It is not, after all, right until the very end they did their duty to Remnant." She really hoped she could do the same.

She fluttered her eyelashes at the boy. "It's a romantic story, really. My grandfather met my grandmother when she was just a village girl, and trained her into a Huntress..."

He smiled, obliviously. "Cool." Pyrrha deflated immediately.

Yang snorted. "Swing and a miss!" As usual.



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Combat class. In it, typically two students were made to fight each other, although sometimes something different would happen. It was the most beloved class in Beacon, or at least it would be if its teacher wasn't such a hard ass.

Glynda Goodwitch cleared her throat. "Let's see, next... Pyrrha Nikos..." As soon as her name was announced, she began excitedly moving to the arena.

It was a bad of her, but she was a bit competitive, and she certainly enjoyed a good fight. Since Goodwitch also happened to always give her interesting challenges to overcome, this was indeed her favorite class.

Now, what would she have to fight? Maybe some very strong, captured Grimm? Maybe a whole team? Or maybe Glynda would have her fight a gauntlet of fighters? At this point Pyrrha had tried it all.

But to her surprise, the Huntress announced only one other name. "And Blake Reyne." That was a bit disappointing.

Not that Blake was a bad fighter, but if Pyrrha was being honest with herself, she didn't really find challenge in single battles with her classmates anymore. At this point she had faced them all, and defeated them all as well.

Ah, she was having some really bad thoughts...

Blake arrived at the arena. "Ready?" She got into a stance using her weapon, Gambol Shroud.

Pyrrha responded by instinct. "Sorry! I mean, ready!" This would be a quick fight!

The two dashed at each other, and clashed... sort of. The truth is that Blake knew any direct confrontation with the strongest Huntress of her generation would have lead to a quick defeat, and so she made it more like a game of keep away.

Since her weapon gave her pretty amazing range, and her Semblance was an amazing distraction, it was actually fairly easy. Though she knew any slip-up would mean defeat, and Pyrrha was very good at spotting those.

However, this style of combat also gave her an opportunity to do something very unusual. It allowed her to talk. "I'm surprised you didn't show more of a reaction, Pyrrha."

The champion raised an eyebrow, but didn't pay her any mind. She was smart enough, and experienced enough to not fall for any provocation that Blake could throw her way. She was not an amateur.

Blake smirked. "I mean, your team didn't really believe us, did they?" They just didn't want to argue. "But doesn't the name that Goodwitch called me confirm it?" That was confusing.

Confusing enough that Pyrrha actually took the bait. "Confirm what?"

"That I'm a Marked." Blake chuckled. "I took my husband's surname, after all."

"Oh." She was right.

So team RWBY hadn't been lying or playing a prank. They really all had Soul Bonded with the same man, who apparently was doing something that only a legendary hero in the past had done. Four of her friends had went ahead, found true love, and gotten married.

Pyrrha had been lead to believe the experience of all your friends getting married, while you still lacked any sort of romantic relationship was supposed to happen to people in their thirties to fourties? If that was the case, then why was she experiencing it right now!? Ruby was married. Weiss was married. Yang was married. Blake was married. Nora and Ren might as well have been married. And Jaune was amazing, and hard working, and smart, and funny, and charming, so he was gonna find love sooner and later.

Pyrrha's eyes widened as she finally realized something. She had done the impossible. She had become the legendary seventeen year old spinster.

Blake took full advantage of Pyrrha's very, very early midlife crisis, jumping in and finally completely shifting into offense for once. And while Blake wasn't a battle maniac like some people she knew, she couldn't help, but be proud about the fact that she would be the first person to beat the invincible girl.

Except she was called invincible girl for a reason.

Even as stunned and out of it as she was, Pyrrha masterfully deflected her blows and sent her flying.

Blake managed to roll herself into position afterwards, but that had certainly taken its toll. "Tsk." Her Aura reserves weren't exactly huge, in fact they were fairly small. And so she had almost lost right there.

And then an idea came to her head. "Professor Goodwitch, would using that bond be allowed?" She looked at the teacher, and thankfully Pyrrha respected her enough to not attack her in the meanwhile.

The Huntress nodded. "It depends. Certain tournaments forbid it, and others allow it. However, as this is a tool that is always available to you, I shall allow it in the purpose of training."

How nice. Blake guessed that's why she had been called to fight a monster like Pyrrha all by herself in the first place, Glynda had wanted her to tap into this source of power.

There was a problem however. As unkind at it was to think, Elroy wasn't exactly helpful here. He was no Huntsman. He did not have Aura, nor a Semblance. She couldn't do anything with the bond.

But... maybe...

Blake closed her eyes, and felt it. That mark of hers... she felt its connection to him, and she asked for Aura. She couldn't steal it after all... and the answer she received was yes.

She opened her eyes, her reserves of Aura had been filled once again. After all, while Elroy may not have his Aura unlocked, he did have Aura! He wasn't a Grimm!

Blake felt confident. "Let's do this Pyrrha." The invincible girl nodded.

And then Blake lost. Miserably.

Invincible girl indeed.



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Work had been hell for Elroy. Which wasn't exactly unusual, but he felt it was worse today. And the strangest part is that he didn't know if it was because today had just been stressful, or if he was anxious about the marriage thing.

He sighed. "What a pain." He couldn't wait to get home and sleep for forever.

His coworker, a older men name Jared, laughed. "You're always such a downer." He started smoking a cigarette. "You should try one of these, they'll help you relax."

Elroy shook his head. "I'll pass, I already have enough problems as it is." Well, not problems. This wasn't bad, just... new and strange.

Jared raised an eyebrow. "Your choice, but I've been meaning to ask... what's up with that bandage under your eye? Somebody hurt you kid?"

Elroy's eyes widened. "N-no! What made you think that!?" He was just hiding the Mark Weiss had imprinted upon him.

He couldn't even just say it was a tattoo or whatever. Since he had the awful luck of the Mark being the Schnee's symbol. People would immediately question that, and they would probably assume that he was some SDC fanatic. Not a good thing, that's for sure.

His coworker shrugged. "Don't you live in a pretty dangerous area? Seemed like the right assumption." Ah. "Honestly, you should move kid. Before something bad happens to you."

He wished he could. "I can't. Rent is cheap there." But then again, he was now married to Weiss fucking Schnee. Not to mention three other women. And he had also been invited to Beacon. Maybe he should do something abou it...

The old man sighed. "I see your point. Still, if nobody hurt ya, what's with the bandage? Did you hit your eye on something?"

"I..." Should he tell him?

Sure. Why hide it? People didn't hide the fact that they were married. "It's a Mark. This may sound crazy, but I Soul Bonded with someone." Well, someones, but that would be a bitch and a half to explain.

The old man almost chocked on his cigarette. "Seriously?" He looked Elroy in the eyes, and found not trace of a lie. "Damn... congrats. And here I was about to say you should go looking for a girlfriend to relax."

"So who' the lucky gal?" And there it was, the million dollar question.

"You wouldn't know them." He would know one at least, but he shouldn't go around talking about Weiss. He would probably get kidnapped for it, or maybe get stalked by paparazzi.

It was like dating a celebrity... because she was literally a celebrity.

The old man clicked his tongue. "Of course I don't, but tell me a bit about your wife." He shook his head. "Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't bring her up the entire day. Shouldn't you be gushing about her?" Should he?

He put a hand on his chin. "Gushing huh? I guess I can do that. First of all, she's a Huntress." They all were.

The old man glared at him. "Elroy. If you are married to a Huntress, why are you wasting time with an old man like me?" B-because that old man had started a conversation!? "Go worship your wife!"

Elroy sputtered. "Worship is a bit too much! But... maybe I should go meet them." Instead of going straight home.

Yeah, he would fight of his tiredness and check if they were available.