[Xiao Long Cabin - Patch Island]
It was early morning in the Xiao-Long household when Ruby shifted beneath the sheets, slowly waking as a faint smell of food reached her. She sat up calmly, assuming her mother was already in the kitchen making breakfast.
She didn't bother changing. Still in her pajamas, she headed downstairs, her steps soft and slightly dragging.
When she reached the kitchen, just as expected, she found Summer moving with ease as she cooked. Ruby, still half-asleep and adjusting to the light, let her gaze drift to her mother's belly, slightly rounded. Nothing too obvious, but enough to tell she was around four months pregnant.
Summer noticed her and smiled brightly.
"Good morning, Ruby!" she said, turning as she stretched out an arm to offer her a plate. "Do you want a brioche pancake with mushrooms, truffle, and egg?"
Ruby stared at the high-end dish for a second longer than necessary, then looked at her mother.
She didn't really understand how pregnancy worked. From what she knew, it was supposed to involve exhaustion, constant sleepiness, nausea... generally unpleasant things. But none of that seemed to apply to Summer Rose, who looked more active and healthy as time went on.
It didn't make much sense. Still, she took the plate; it smelled amazing.
"Thanks," she said, taking a seat.
The only thing that did match what she knew were her mother's new cravings, which had become fairly extravagant. She picked up a small piece of truffle, studying it briefly before putting it in her mouth. The flavor was really good, even better than she expected.
Even so, she frowned slightly.
"Aren't truffles really expensive?" she asked, looking up.
It wasn't like they had money problems. Summer had made a lot as a huntress and later as a teacher, but eating that for breakfast sounded... unnecessarily pricey.
As if she had been expecting the question, Summer waved a hand dismissively.
"I thought so too," she replied with a light laugh. "But it turns out the truffle market crashed a few months ago. They're not a high-end ingredient anymore."
Ruby blinked, confused. "How did that happen?"
Summer shrugged.
"I'm not sure. But from what I heard, someone flooded the market with a massive supply of truffles." She paused briefly before adding, "Where did they all come from? No one knows. Though, well, it's under investigation."
Ruby lowered her gaze to the plate again, thoughtful.
She wasn't sure if that was good or bad. Maybe it affected someone... farmers, maybe. Though she wasn't even sure if truffles were farmed.
She took another bite, setting the topic aside. For now, the only thing she was certain about was that they tasted good.
She kept eating slowly, enjoying breakfast in silence, taking advantage of the calm moment.
A few minutes later, Yang walked into the kitchen. She sat down without saying much, her hair slightly messy and dark circles under her eyes.
"Morning," she muttered, clearly half-asleep.
Ruby raised a hand in greeting, while Summer stepped over and kissed her on the forehead.
"Good morning, sweetheart," she said gently, serving her a plate as well.
Ruby glanced at her sister from the corner of her eye, but didn't say anything. Things between them were… stable. Not good, but not bad either. They were at a standstill.
Both of them were trying to rebuild their relationship, even if it was slow, but only after Yang admitted she had crossed a line with her boyfriend and accepted responsibility for her actions. Not willingly, but she did it.
Ruby hadn't liked that, but she let it slide, mostly because of her mother, whom she didn't want to put under more stress, since it could be bad for the baby.
Yang ate in a hurry, barely tasting the food, moving her fork quickly, focused on finishing as fast as possible.
That didn't go unnoticed by Summer, who let out a tired sigh before sitting down with her plate between her two daughters.
"Yang…" she called.
She stopped eating, still with food in her mouth, barely lifting her gaze to look at her.
"Tell me you're not eating like that just to go look for that 'rabbit.'"
Yang swallowed what she had in her mouth almost by force. "It's real!" she complained, narrowing her eyes with obvious annoyance.
Both Ruby and Summer shared a skeptical look. It wasn't that they didn't want to believe her, the problem was that there was no proof that a supposed rabbit with fencing skills like the one Yang had described more than once actually existed.
Even so, despite her family's doubts, Yang didn't give up. She kept going into the forest, looking for it, finding it from time to time and facing it in fights that were pretty tough. And, it's worth mentioning, she hadn't won a single time, but that didn't discourage her. On the contrary, it motivated her more, pushing her to train and become stronger.
She was determined to catch it and serve it for dinner, with a side of potatoes.
Yang could almost taste it, drooling a little as she imagined how good her victory would be.
That was the point where both Ruby and Summer stopped paying attention to her, convinced that she was probably sneaking off into the forest to smoke and that the whole rabbit story was nothing more than a really bad excuse.
Ruby, who had already finished eating, relaxed in her chair, stretching her legs slightly under the table as she pulled out her scroll. She held a cup of milk in her other hand, taking small sips, since coffee was too bitter for her.
She checked Daniel's photos, some that he had sent her from Atlas. Only a few weeks had passed, but to Ruby it had felt like an eternity.
Even so, she calmed down, cheering up as she remembered that there were only a few days left until his return.
She wanted to hear everything. His trip, what he had seen… Even the idea of a date crossed her mind. A soft smile formed on her face at the thought of going out on another date.
"Bzzz!"
The sound of her scroll pulled her out of her thoughts. A quick glance showed her that Daniel had sent her a file.
Her smile grew without her noticing as she opened the message almost immediately, expecting to see another picture of him. Her eyes went wide the moment she realized he had sent her a picture of his dick.
"PFFFFF—!"
She spat the milk out in a straight stream… hitting Yang square in the face.
"What the hell, Ruby?!" Yang complained, jumping to her feet the second she realized she was completely soaked.
But Ruby didn't even bother to respond.
She shot up from her seat, nearly knocking the chair over, and ran straight to her room, clutching the scroll tightly against her chest, completely ignoring the shouts from both her sister and her mother behind her.
She rushed inside, shutting the door quickly, and leaned against it for a moment as she felt the heat rising to her face. She was completely flushed.
It wasn't the first time she had seen a dick, obviously, but it was the first time someone had sent her one through a message.
She looked back at the screen and, just in case, saved the image to her private gallery. It was obvious she'd end up masturbating to it later. That wasn't the main issue though, the real problem was what she was supposed to do now.
"Do I have to send one too?" she wondered, lightly biting her lip, unsure.
It seemed like the most obvious thing.
After a few minutes of thinking, she decided to go for it. She grabbed her scroll, looking at herself in the mirror for a moment without really knowing what to send. She hesitated, frowning slightly.
"A picture of my boobs?" she thought, but quickly shook her head, dismissing it. "What guy would even want to see that?" The idea sounded dumb even to her.
She thought about it a bit more, until she gave up and went for a 'classic.' Without overthinking it, she pulled at the waistband of her pants and lowered them just enough, aiming the scroll at her exposed pussy.
She adjusted her stance, trying to hold it with one hand, but when she tested it, she realized the angle made it hard to take the picture like that.
"Great…" she muttered under her breath.
That didn't stop her. She quickly turned on the timer and got back into position, adjusting the angle more carefully. Now she just had to wait thirty seconds.
What could possibly go wrong?
…
"BAM!"
Right at that moment, and completely ruining her luck, the door to her room burst open.
Ruby tensed as she realized, too late, that the door no longer had a lock. It had been removed after they caught her masturbating to BDSM porn… something she preferred not to remember.
"Ruby, why did you spit on Yang…?" Summer asked as she walked in, followed by a clearly annoyed Yang.
Both of them froze in place when they saw Ruby standing there, scroll in hand, pointing directly at her crotch.
An awkward, heavy silence filled the room, only broken when the scroll's flash went off, taking the picture.
Ruby forced a smile, making a face. "I can explain…"
But she really couldn't. Not without admitting that her boyfriend had sent her something first.
In the end, the door problem solved itself. Summer decided to remove it entirely, convinced she couldn't trust her daughter, now officially labeled a chronic masturbator.
[Schnee Manor - Atlas]
Inside the Schnee Manor, Weiss was having a very good day.
Seated in front of a holographic display, she reviewed information with focused attention, scrolling through data with smooth movements. For the first time in a long while, she felt like her life was finally starting to fall into place.
It wasn't perfect. Her family was still a complicated matter, but at least things were moving forward, little by little.
Winter, for example, had apologized for spanking her boyfriend, claiming that "her hand moved on its own." It wasn't the best excuse, but at least she had admitted fault, and now she was being forced by General Ironwood to attend a seminar for sexual predators.
It was progress.
On the other hand, her mother had quit drinking cold turkey and was attending a large number of medical appointments quite frequently. To Weiss's surprise, she seemed calmer… even happier and more upbeat.
It wasn't just her personal life that had improved. Her work life was going even better, and a large part of that was thanks to Daniel.
Weiss rested her elbow on the desk, looking over the summarized reports that one of the cores had prepared for her. The information was clear, direct, and well organized; something that would have taken her hours before was now resolved in minutes.
She wouldn't lie: at first, the idea of leaving a large part of the SDC's control in the hands of a machine had made her hesitate.
But after several days of operation, she couldn't be more satisfied.
Her workload had been noticeably reduced, and on top of that, the system offered fast and realistic solutions. Proposals like relocating the Faunus from the mines into the city or creating new factory jobs with fair wages weren't just viable, they were effective.
That, inevitably, had improved the SDC's image, which before had been bad at best.
On top of that, with the merger with AS (Aperture Science), SDC stocks were through the roof. It wasn't an exaggeration—several cities had already reached out, requesting the construction of reactors for their own kingdoms.
Weiss looked at the messages on the screen, letting a smile slowly form on her face. It wasn't superiority she felt, nor arrogance.
It was pride.
Pride in knowing that the person everyone was looking for… was her partner.
Even so, she had no intention of pressuring him to build them. Daniel had already made it clear that, for now, he didn't want to expand prematurely or expose himself more than necessary.
His identity was still a delicate matter.
It wasn't completely secret. Many people had seen him during his speech, but so far—perhaps out of respect or gratitude—no one had said anything. No one had spread his face or his name.
There wasn't much reason to, either, not when he himself had already promised that he would eventually reveal his identity along with a formal presentation of AS.
"I can't wait…", Weiss thought, feeling a slight shiver run through her body, unable to hide her excitement.
Remembering that he had also mentioned that, when the time came, he would release the healing berry juice onto the market. Just imagining it was enough to thrill her.
Weiss had no doubt whatsoever about the impact it would have, fully convinced it would change the world.
And she would be, even if only in part, responsible for that change. It was exactly what she had always wanted:
To help as many people as possible.
Just thinking about it made her feel restless. She got up from her seat and began pacing back and forth across the room, trying to burn off some of that energy. Even so, she didn't fully calm down… until her scroll vibrated.
She stopped in her tracks, looking at the device.
Not many people had her personal number, so it didn't take long to guess who it was. Even so, she checked, hopeful—and sure enough, it was Daniel.
Her expression changed instantly, softening as she opened the message.
[Just wanted to tell you how much I miss you.
I saw some roses and couldn't help but think of you—your shy smile, that energetic attitude you get when something excites you, your clumsy but adorable gestures, and that particular interest you have in weapons that I've always found so special.
Hoping to see you again x0x0x0]
[GIF]
Weiss stayed still for a few seconds after finishing reading.
Then, slowly, her face began to flush, the color rising without stopping until it fully covered her cheeks.
She brought her hands to her face, embarrassed. "No one's ever written something like this to me…"
It was an affectionate message, full of feeling, even if some details didn't quite match how she saw herself.
She didn't consider herself an expert in weapons, though she was fairly knowledgeable, and she wouldn't say she was especially shy either… more rational, if anything. But she wasn't going to correct him. Doing so would be in poor taste.
A small smile slipped out as she let herself fall onto a nearby couch, settling in without taking her eyes off the message.
Without wasting any more time, she started drafting a reply, thinking very carefully about what she was going to write.
[Aperture Science Facilities]
Through the mine corridors, a well-kept, fluffy, and surprisingly calm goat walked along at an unhurried pace, stopping every now and then to observe the robots that continued building the facilities, completely ignoring her.
Of course, this was none other than Sadako's goat—or, as she had named her: Lilith.
"Life is good…", Lilith thought as she moved forward, her hooves softly echoing against the stone floor.
"I have good food, a warm bed to sleep in…" She paused for a moment and turned her neck to look at her own body, appreciating her white, clean, well-fluffed coat. "…And the pale girl brushes me very well."
She resumed walking calmly, unable to help comparing her current life with her past one. The difference was pretty clear.
Before, she had to climb cliffs just to get a few herbs to feed on. On top of that, she constantly had to fight off orcs to avoid becoming their meal.
Even so, it wasn't all that bad. She'd admit she missed them a little… especially pushing them off cliffs. Remembering their screams of terror and regret as they vanished into the abyss had its charm.
But now she had easy food, a warm bed, and no one trying to kill her every five minutes. It was a solid upgrade.
Even so, she set all that aside because she was on a mission.
Lilith, realizing this was taking longer than expected, quickened her pace, certain that the pale girl was probably already looking for her.
"F̵̰͝i̸̠͠n̸͉̉d̵͇̕ ̸̠͝m̸͉̐e̶̟͠…̶̟͝", the insistent little voice in her head whispered again.
Lilith flicked one ear, slightly uncomfortable, but kept moving forward. She had been hearing it for several days now. At first, it had been nothing more than a faint whisper, hard to notice, but over time it had become quite clear and difficult to ignore.
"Can I ask who you are?", she thought while continuing to walk.
The voice wavered slightly before answering.
"S̵̖̔̈́h̶̟͊͝ṵ̷̐̒b̶̠̏̾-̸̺͑͑N̵̪̔͝ḯ̷̫̈́g̸̭͂̚g̵̰͐̏ù̵̇͜r̷̻͊̈a̶̰̍͠t̸̢̎̀h̶̼́̕…̵̈́͜͝"
Lilith made a slight face. She didn't like the name. It was long and stupid.
"I'll call you Shuby," she decided just like that.
There was no response. Shuby seemed annoyed by the name, but Lilith didn't care. So far, all it did was talk inside her head, and that wasn't exactly intimidating.
She took a few more steps before stopping as she realized something important.
"Why am I even looking for you?", she asked, not seeing much point in all this effort when she could be back in her pen, sleeping peacefully.
"P̸̙͋o̵̰͝w̵͌ͅe̷͜͠r̵̰̓…̷̟̃", Shuby offered.
Lilith lost interest instantly, turning around to head back.
"F̵̖̈́o̸̟͌o̵̤͝d̵͇̾ ̵̰͛a̷̤̾n̸̤͠d̵͉͌ ̸̗́f̵̙͌e̸̤̿r̸̩͠t̵͇̎i̷̤͌l̶̤̐i̵̤͝t̵̪̿y̶̤͒?̵̙͠", Shuby offered again.
That made Lilith stop dead in her tracks. Now that caught her attention. Food… and a strong lineage. That sounded much better.
Without saying anything, she resumed the search, this time with a bit more enthusiasm, trusting that Shuby would keep its word.
To her surprise, it didn't take long. The voice in her head grew stronger the closer she got, guiding her straight to a closed door.
She tried to go in, but unlike all the other doors, this one didn't open for her.
She stepped back a few paces.
"Guess we're doing this the hard way…", she thought before charging and slamming her horns against the door. Once, then again. But even using the full strength of an extra-large goat, the door didn't budge.
She stood still for a second.
"Well, whatever…", she thought, assuming it was indestructible. If it hadn't given in after two hits from her impressive horns, nothing was going to bring it down.
She turned to leave, but just then a robot passed by her side and stopped in front of the door. Lilith watched, curious, as it pressed a few buttons on a small panel.
[5270]
Right after that, the door opened, and Lilith was able to take in what was inside.
There were several things: a chest, a large fish, a floating broom, a pair of shoes, a huge egg… and many other objects that Lilith didn't pay much attention to.
Her focus locked entirely onto a book resting on a shelf. It looked like it was made of skin and had a human face on th e cover that seemed to be screaming—something that, for some strange reason, drew her in.
"Mission complete," she thought, stepping forward to grab it.
But before she could enter, the door shut right in front of her.
Lilith stayed still for a second, clearly offended by that blatant lack of respect toward her authority. As retaliation, she rammed the robot with her head to make it open the door again, but despite taking some damage, it ignored her and kept going.
Lilith watched it walk away. "Yeah, run away, coward!" Then her gaze shifted to the panel it had used.
She rose onto her hind legs and tried to imitate it, pressing the same buttons, but it didn't work. Not only could she barely reach, but even when she did, her hooves weren't able to properly press them.
"Stupid hooves," she thought, frustrated, wishing in that moment she had opposable thumbs.
Seeing that it was a pointless effort, she dropped back onto all fours, letting out a mental sigh as she lowered her head.
"Ah… I guess this is going to take a while," she thought, not particularly motivated.
But before she could come up with a new plan to open the door, Sadako appeared turning the corner of the corridor, carrying Lilith's favorite grass.
Lilith lifted her head instantly as she caught the scent.
"Well, the book's not going anywhere," she reasoned, shifting priorities.
Without wasting any time, she bolted toward the pale girl, determined to have one… or maybe two snacks before trying again. And if there was time, a long nap didn't sound bad either, just to recharge.
[Unknown Location]
"Fwoosh!"
The ship tore through the sky at high speed, leaving the ocean of Solitas behind and entering the borders of the continent of Anima, with no intention of slowing down—in fact, it was accelerating more with every passing second.
Inside, two poor idiots were completely crushed against their seats by the force of acceleration.
Aegis got the worst of it. Because of his size, he looked like a bug splattered against a windshield, completely motionless. Daniel, on the other hand, was also pinned down, but if he tried hard enough, he could move his head or an arm a little.
"BAM!"
A seagull unlucky enough to cross their path was reduced to a burst of feathers against the front of the ship.
"Not so bad," Daniel thought, despite his situation, his face practically squished against the seat.
Sure, they'd probably die if they hit something big, but on the other hand, the ship was breaking record times. A trip that would've taken at least a day had been reduced to barely an hour.
Beep, beep, beep.
An alarm sounded on the panel, catching his attention.
With considerable effort, Daniel turned his head just enough to see the alert, which displayed a clear message:
[Approaching Argus City: reduce speed]
Daniel's eyes went wide as he realized the ship wasn't going to slow down on its own.
"Ah… great," he groaned.
Forcing his body, he started to stretch out from the seat, raising a hand that trembled under the pressure. He moved slowly, his back seeming to want to stay glued to the seat.
"AAAH!", he yelled, pushing with everything he had until he finally managed to hit the button.
The moment he did, the ship stopped accelerating abruptly, and the sudden change violently threw them forward.
Both of them were sent flying straight into the glass.
"That was an… interesting experience," Aegis complained, pushing himself up as best he could. "Let's not repeat it."
Daniel, still recovering, couldn't agree more. He sat back down, taking a deep breath and giving himself a moment to steady. Once he did, his gaze fixed on Aegis with clear curiosity.
"How are you still alive?" he asked, frowning slightly, convinced that at the speed they had been going, Aegis should be little more than a flattened crustacean by now.
Aegis looked at him with obvious superiority.
"You're not the only one getting stronger," he replied, his tone bordering on mockery.
Daniel narrowed his eyes and leaned in a bit, tapping the shell with a finger to test its resistance, giving it a few light knocks.
He was surprised to find it was true.
It was harder than he remembered. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
He wanted to ask how that had happened, but held back as he noticed the horizon shifting in front of them: land was starting to come into view, and they were getting way too close, way too fast. On top of that, the ship was losing altitude… but not slowing down.
Not particularly interested in testing whether the ship could land, Daniel made a quick decision.
"Well… guess it's time to abandon ship."
Without waiting for a response, he grabbed Aegis and, activating his intangibility, let himself fall out of the ship.
[Delve: Allows the user to dig through the ground while becoming intangible]
Passing through the ship was a good first step to avoid dying in a possible explosion, but the problem was far from solved—they were still falling at high speed.
If they didn't do something, they were going to slam straight into the ground.
Without hesitation, Daniel twisted midair, positioning himself with his back facing the ground, adjusting his posture while holding Aegis firmly.
Without overthinking it, he activated another semblance.
[Rainbow: Generates a high-speed burst that propels the user forward, leaving a multicolored trail behind]
The ability he had obtained from Neon had proven quite useful for maneuvering during falls; this was the second time he had used it.
The semblance activated at full power, noticeably reducing his speed… but, unfortunately, not enough.
The ship hit first.
It bounced off the ground once, then again, sending pieces flying in every direction as it continued forward for several more kilometers, losing integrity with each impact until it finally came to a stop.
And exploded.
BAMMM!
It wasn't a small explosion. It was massive, wiping out everything within a one-kilometer radius, vaporizing anything in its reach.
Daniel and Aegis, meanwhile, crashed onto the beach.
Bam!
The impact was relatively soft compared to the ship's, leaving only a small crater in the sand.
They both lay there for a few minutes, recovering, with little desire to move too soon.
Daniel was the first to get up, now with Aegis resting on top of his head.
"I don't think Entrapta's going to like what happened to her ship," Aegis commented, watching the explosion in the distance, which was still quite a spectacle.
Daniel brushed it off as he stretched, his back cracking with a slight grimace.
"I'm pretty sure she probably already knows it blew up," he replied, calmly scanning the surroundings until he spotted, in the distance, the city of Argus, surrounded by massive walls.
They weren't that far, but before even starting to walk, he activated another semblance.
[Overactive Imagination: Allows the user to create physical illusions that can be seen by everyone]
His appearance changed instantly, adopting "Aegis Mode," as he liked to call it: green hair, darker skin, and distinct faunus traits.
"Why the change in appearance?" Aegis asked, somewhat curious.
Daniel pointed a finger at the explosion still raging behind them.
"It'd be bad if people saw me and connected me to that," he explained in a simple tone.
It wasn't an unreasonable concern. In theory, he was a scientist recognized by Atlas forces for creating strange devices with a tendency to explode. It would be easy to link him to an explosion of that scale if people knew he was in the area—especially if his photo reached General Ironwood.
Now ready, he started making his way toward the city of Argus… though in reality, he was walking in the complete opposite direction.
Aegis quickly corrected him, guiding him back on the right path.
"I already knew that…," Daniel lied.
—//—
Author's Note:
Oh yeah, more filler!... I'm not surprised people drop this fanfic, but oh well, I like filler and I'm not in a hurry to finish it anytime soon.
I was looking over the events I had planned, and among them were: a possible war, a tournament, capturing the rabbit, capturing Piggy, a Roman vs Cinder confrontation, Daniel's kidnapping, and a few other things… but then I realized a big problem: the MC doesn't really have an overall purpose at the moment.
It feels like the MC is like this [Image].
Any ideas? I have one, but I like hearing yours.
What else…?
Hmm, I've been writing the Konosuba fanfic. I'm not uploading it, but I'm still working on it, and I wanted to know what people think, because in the story he has to travel to other worlds, and I had a list: Minecraft, Elden Ring, Clash-A-Rama!, modern Japan (Watamote). Those are the ones I had in mind, but I'm not sure which one would be the most interesting to start with. Thoughts?
Nothing else to add. I hope the chapter was at least entertaining. See you next time.
Hugs and kisses!
P.S. If I don't reply to a message, it's because Webnovel censored it [Image].