Heat Culture 001 (Patreon)

Long ago, the world was engulfed in war.

Human kingdoms did battle with faunus tribes in a conflict that spanned decades, resulting in countless deaths and lost land conceded to the creatures of Grimm. It spanned all continents, all people, faunus rising up in unison, fighting for their rights, their freedom. It was a war that they ultimately won.

It was later called the Faunus Rights Revolution.

In reality, it was less of a victory and more of a truce. The fighting had lasted so long and had been so bloody that neither side wished to continue. The loss of life had crippled both species and the Grimm had capitalized. So soon after that conflict ended, another erupted; one of survival, human and faunus battling for their right to call Remnant their home. The Grimm were relentless, tireless and just when the kingdoms of men were on the verge of collapse, heroes emerged.

Human and faunus alike, they fought against the tide of darkness. United in a common cause, their differences no longer mattered. Fighting side by side, they inspired their people to take up arms once more but this time not against each other. Together, humanity and faunus-kind beat back the Grimm and achieved true equality for the first time in history.

Barriers fell, and human and faunus came together as one. From the ashes of the old world, a new one emerged – one of unity, of compassion. It wasn’t long until cities were rebuilt but now humans and faunus lived side by side, as friends – and more.

It was unintended but in the end, this spelled the end for humanity.

Decades passed, then centuries. The two species intermingled, bonds forged in the fiery crucible of battle carrying forward far into the future. Relationships developed and children were born of two races, two peoples – but there was a problem.

The faunus gene was dominant.

It was a slow process. A human and faunus child could only be a faunus, just as a faunus and faunus child. Due to the war against each other and then against the Grimm, the population was in decline. Where once humanity outnumbered faunus, their numbers were now similar – almost one to one. As the years passed and humans and faunus mingled more and more, the number of faunus babies doubled, tripled, until… that was all there were.

Humanity was bred to extinction.

Almost.

There stood a select few families whose genes bucked the trend. Humans who married and bred with faunus, but produced human children. They were few and far between, a drop in the bucket – but they ensured that in the current era, there still existed humans. Their numbers were low but they existed, the last children of a once great people.

Jaune Arc was one such child, the Arc’s one such family.

His parents did not support his decision to become a Huntsman. A dangerous profession, one that primarily dealt with Grimm. But he would not be denied, not after growing up on stories of his great-grandfather following a similar path. It was rare for humans to become Huntsmen, they were so few in number these days. A single death was devastating to their population, a population that numbered in the low thousands in a world of millions. Entire families had been wiped out in the past, reducing their already small number even further.

But this is what he wanted more than anything, and despite their reservations, they would not hold him back when it was so clearly his greatest desire. They paid for his schooling, for tutelage. They purchased the best armor that money could buy. When it came to his weapon, however – he would only carry his grandfather’s sword.

It would once again taste the flesh of Grimm.

Beacon was everything he ever dreamed it would be and more. Jaune truly felt like he could make a difference here, though it had been a daunting prospect at first. Out of the hundreds of pupils attending, he was one of only three humans. The oldest son of the Winchester family was present, and a girl by the name of Cinder Fall in the third year – a surprise, for her true parentage was unknown. Another lost family.

Jaune didn’t know much about her but he knew all about Cardin. He was a rude, arrogant asshole behind the scenes with radical views about the faunus, views he wouldn’t dare voice publicly. For whatever reason, the large boy thought he had a kindred spirit in Jaune because they were both human and liked to run his mouth, though that couldn’t be further from the truth.

He had no problem with faunus. His mother was faunus! Why would he ever? Not only that, many of his ancestors were faunus as well! It was impossible for any of the human families to not have faunus ancestry in their line but that didn’t seem to matter to Cardin.

He wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool around.

But that didn’t matter right now.

Today was a special day.

The dining hall was humming as Jaune arrived, the chatter within hitting him like a physical blow as he pulled open the doors. Even a couple months in, curious eyes still followed him wherever he went. It wasn’t a surprise. Many faunus had never even seen a human before, let alone met one. His presence among them, just like Cinder and Cardin, was an anomaly. They drew attention everywhere they went.

They were remnants of a past long forgotten by most.

“Jaune~!” an enthusiastic voice called out, a hand waving through the air happily. “Jaune, over here~!”

Jaune returned the gesture, smiling. Making his way through the raucous crowd, he slipped into a free seat. Food had already been set down on the table, his favorite serving of cheesy scrambled eggs and bacon with a side of toast having been prepared just for him.

His team was the best.

“Morning~!” Nora beamed at him, bouncing up and down in her chair. Jaune tried not to stare as a certain part of her anatomy bounced vigorously, her top struggling to contain her. She was what was commonly referred to as a short stack; small in stature but large in other areas. A pair of short, slightly curved horns protruded from her short ginger hair on either side of her head. Her turquoise eyes glittered with excitement. “I fetched you breakfast!”

“I see that,” he said warmly. “Thank you. You’re the best.”

Nora Valkyrie – cow faunus. Member of Team JNPR.

And miraculously, his girlfriend.

Yeah, he was still trying to figure out how this happened. Nora was a force of nature and Jaune had been swept up in her infectious energy and general love of life. He hadn’t been able to say no when she confessed, not that he wanted to. And it wasn’t just because she was – uh, blessed with certain endowments.

That was just a bonus.

He genuinely thought the world of her. Jaune had only been at Beacon for a couple of months now but he couldn’t see his life without Nora in it. She was such a caring soul, filled with compassion. They might have only been teammates for such a short time and in a relationship even shorter, but Jaune knew that Nora would stay by his side no matter the cause.

He really was a lucky guy. The luckiest.

But being with Nora was only one half of why he was so lucky. The other? Well…

“Eat up,” a soft voice said. “If you require more food, let me know.”

Li Ren – goat faunus. Also a member of Team JNPR, and Nora’s partner.

And miraculously, his girlfriend.

Yeah, that’s right. He didn’t just have one girlfriend. He had two.

If Nora was day, then Li was night. Taller than Nora by a couple of inches, she was slender and quiet; stoic. Long black hair fell down her back in a shimmering, glossy curtain of silk, containing a single streak of vibrant, neon pink. Attractive magenta eyes watched him carefully from within a sharp, angular face, guarded, her pale complexion stark against her dark hair. Like Nora, Li had a pair of horns though they were longer, angled back, their surface ribbed.

There was no doubting her beauty.

And he was dating her. Crazy, right?

Nora and Li were a package deal. Where one went, the other followed. So when Nora confessed to him, it was only natural that Li joined her childhood friend and partner in their relationship. At least, according to Nora that was the natural thing to do. Jaune didn’t think that was how things usually worked but who was he to complain? It wasn’t like he was opposed to such a thing, he just hadn’t been expecting it.

Faunus had different views about relationships, after all. It wasn’t unusual for men or women to date multiple partners, though it wasn’t super common either. It all depended on the individuals involved. But Jaune had heard of families that had more than one mother or father.

The Arc’s were much more traditional.

“Yeah, eat up,” Nora beamed. “You’re going to need your strength, mister.”

He was – because today was a special day, after all.

They were going on a date.

As lucky as he felt, dating two girls was hard work. He couldn’t slack off. It meant double the attention, double the effort. Li might appear reserved, stoic, even emotionless at times – but there was a hidden side to that girl that only a few had seen. Nora went without saying; she liked to be pampered, and Jaune was willing to indulge her.

He didn’t want them to ever regret their decision to date him.

Their final teammate arrived shortly after. She was impossible to miss, passing through the crowded dining hall with grace, a tray of food balanced perfectly in hand. Vibrant crimson hair pulled back in a high ponytail swished behind her as she walked, mirrored by a long, fluffy, white tipped blood red tail. Perched atop her head were a pair of upright, triangular ears that Jaune knew from experience were impossibly soft. Emerald green eyes glittered like gems as they peered around before landing on them, a beautiful, white smile blinding them with its radiance.

Pyrrha Nikos – fox faunus, or vixen. Member of Team JNPR, and Jaune’s partner.

Not his girlfriend. Not even he was that lucky.

Though he was lucky to have her as his partner. Four Time Mistral Regional Champion, the top student in their year and dubbed the Invincible Girl due to her undefeated streak of battles spanning back her entire career. This was the person he got to train with everyday, pushing him to his limits and beyond.

It was no surprise that Jaune already felt stronger than ever with Pyrrha constantly pushing him to be the best he could be.

She slipped in across from them, her eyes darting from Nora to Li before settling on him.

“Morning,” she greeted happily.

“Morning,” Jaune returned.

“Morning, P~!” Nora practically shouted.

Li dipped her head. “Good morning.”

This was his team; his friends.

Jaune began eating, savoring the delicious eggs and crispy bacon. Buttering his toast, he combined them all together and took a hearty bite, making a sound of approval in his throat as he swallowed. The food at Beacon really was the best.

“Will you three be out all day?” Pyrrha asked as she carefully sliced her apple into bite sized pieces.

“Yup~!” Nora managed after swallowing her mouthful of oats. “We’re going to go shopping and visit the museum because Li wants to look at some artwork and then probably hit up the arcade because I need to beat Ruby’s high score,” Nora said that last part darkly, scowling. “I don’t know how she keeps doing it! And then there is this cute cafe we read about in Vale Weekly that I want to visit, and Li is excited to try their strawberry shortcake. Oh, oh – and then we can go down to the beach front and walk along the sand for a bit and then maybe catch a movie afterwards?”

Jaune blinked rapidly as Nora continued to fire off suggestions, her hands running out of fingers as she counted them off.

Pyrrha giggled. “That sounds like a lot of fun.”

“I hope we have enough time,” Jaune joked. There were only so many hours in a day.

“Do you have any plans?” Li asked Pyrrha softly.

The crimson haired girl pulled a face. “I have some meetings with sponsors for some potential deals my agent set up. With the Inter-Academy Championship approaching, he wants to make sure we have everything locked down well before the festival begins.”

The Inter-Academy Championship was a fighting tournament between the four great Huntsman academy’s that took place alongside the Remnant Unity Festival, a celebration of the peace between humanity and faunus-kind. They each occurred biannually and moved between Kingdoms. This year it was happening in Vale, and Beacon was hosting the other schools. Since Pyrrha was an international superstar, a fighting prodigy of the highest caliber, she had a little more prep work compared to the average student.

Jaune shot Pyrrha cheeky glance. “Think we’ll see you back on the cover of Pumpkin Pete’s?”

Emerald eyes narrowed playfully. “Is that all you care about? That cereal is incredibly unhealthy.”

“Pumpkin Pete’s is da bomb. I still think being on the cover is your most impressive achievement.”

Pyrrha scoffed in mock outrage.

Only a few months ago, being able to joke about her fame would have been an impossible feat. Despite all her accolades, Pyrrha was quite a lonely individual. When a person is placed upon a pedestal, it becomes difficult to create meaningful connections with other people. Most only wanted to know her because she was famous. Some only gravitated towards her because of her money. None of those people cared about the girl behind the achievements, the fox faunus from Argus who liked watching horrible, low budget horror films and had a weakness for ice cream. A girl who had always been interested in learning to sing but was so tone deaf, any attempt resulted in pure carnage of the eardrums. When she had arrived at Beacon, she’d been looking for a fresh start away from her countrymen, hoping beyond hope that Vale was far enough away to find it.

But habits were hard to break, and Pyrrha had been uneasy when Jaune admitted he knew her from the popular but unhealthy cereal he’d eaten in his youth. As fellow natives of Mistral, Nora and Li had both known Pyrrha also. It was practically impossible not to hear about her if you lived on the continent of Anima.

Even a pair of orphans constantly on the move couldn’t escape Pyrrha’s far reaching fame.

At first, she had been standoffish. Scared to allow them close, worried about ulterior motives, unsure that her new team could see beyond the grandeur of her image. It quickly became apparent that Nora didn’t have a scheming bone in her body and was one of the most upfront people they’d ever met. What you saw is what you got, and Nora didn’t give a damn about fame or fortune.

Even though she thought Pyrrha being a kick ass tournament fighter was super cool.

Li won her over with soft words and a genuine desire to listen. She never pushed, never forced her company when it wasn’t wanted. It didn’t take long for Pyrrha to figure out that the raven haired girl didn’t care about anything other than their current path forward.

With Jaune – well, when she realized that he only knew her from Pumpkin Pete’s and had little to no idea about why she’d been on the cover, other than ‘you must be a pretty good athlete, huh?’ -- things had swiftly changed.

It had become a bit of a joke between them, and their partnership had never been stronger.

“I hope I’m sponsored by a health drink company so I can force you to sample their selection,” Pyrrha needled. “As my partner, you’ll help, won’t you?”

Jaune fake gagged. “I think that is more up Li’s lane.”

Some of those drinks she made were truly horrible. Jaune knew they were meant to be good for things like stomach health or just basic nutrient intake but did they really have to taste so bad? It didn’t help that some of them looked like vomit in a bottle.

Li perked up. “If he doesn’t, I will.”

Nora snickered. “It was a threat, dummy. Let Pyrrha poison Jaune.”

Li scowled. “It isn’t poison. Such drinks can help with a variety of different issues such as weight loss, heart health, cholesterol management, reducing blood pressure, muscle strength, metabolism support and it has even been linked to reducing allergies.”

Nora rolled her eyes. “That’s all well and good, but if you throw it up afterwards, it can’t help you, can it?”

Pyrrha and Jaune shared an amused look as Li proceeded to give Nora the cold shoulder, freezing her out as the ginger haired girl tried and failed to get her childhood friend to loosen up. It was a lost cause. The only person Jaune had ever met that could adopt that aloof, cold visage better than Li was Weiss Schnee when she was well and truly pissed.

Speaking of Weiss…

They heard Team RWBY before they saw them, the voices of Ruby and Yang carrying over the already loud din of the other students. Jaune lifted an arm to wave them over, and Ruby’s eyes lit up as she saw them.

Skipping over and leaving her sister in the dust, she slammed her tray on the table, her carton of milk toppling onto its side. “Morning guys~!”

“Hey Ruby,” Jaune grinned. “What’s up?”

“Yang’s being a giant booby head,” Ruby complained. “She promised she would help me pick out some new boots but now she says she’s busy!”

“That’s just life, sis – deal with it,” Yang said, slipping into a seat. “Couple of my friends from Signal want to hang and I haven’t chilled with them for a while now. I’m sure you can survive without me for a day.”

Ruby scowled. “That isn’t the point! You promised.”

Yang shrugged.

Typical sibling strife. Jaune knew all about that.

These sisters were certainly striking and looked nothing alike, though they were both bird faunus. Ruby was the first person he met at Beacon, and a large reason for why he’d noticed her were the bright, vibrant red feathers threaded through her pitch black hair. Short and slender, she was an extremely excitable if shy girl who never seemed to run out of energy. Ruby was always moving in some form; even when sitting, her hands fidgeted, her sharp, gleaming black nails – talons – tapping against the wood of the dining hall table in her agitation. If she wasn’t careful, she’d rake grooves in the wood. Silver eyes narrowed, glaring at her sister.

Ruby Rose – hummingbird faunus.

Yang was her older half-sister. Tall and full bodied with a long mane of blonde hair, she carried herself with confidence on the verge of arrogance. Like Ruby, her gorgeous hair was threaded with feathers, a pale brown that could appear gold under the light of the sun. Her nails were longer than Ruby’s, sharp, deadly and from her back unfurled great, powerful wings of pale brown plumage. Jaune knew from experience that those wings would easily carry her through the air, giving Yang the ability to fly.

Yang Xiao Long – golden eagle faunus.

“These two haven’t quit since the moment they woke up,” a soft voice said, and Blake appeared with soft steps, her graceful movements carrying her to their table. Long, sleek black hair swished behind her as she moved. Amber eyes settled on Jaune and she smiled slightly, the black, pointed feline ears atop her head twitching. “Morning.”

“Morning,” he greeted, watching as Blake slunk into her chair with a stretching movement, highlighting her athletic body and healthy chest, her long, slender tail curling around the back rest.

Blake Belladonna – black cat faunus.

“Can we trade them in?” a sharp voice asked. “Dealing with this first thing in the morning is ridiculous.”

A vision of white appeared, a beautiful face with distinguished features settled in a scowl approached them. Like Blake, Weiss moved with grace, her short stature and slender, slim physique and white dress giving her the appearance of a doll. Ice blue eyes rolled as Ruby and Yang continued to bicker, a hand flicking at her long sidetail, her hair pulled to the right of her head beside a pair of cute, fluffy white ears. They were triangular in shape though more rounded at the tips than Pyrrha’s own, a long, furry tail swishing behind her.

Weiss Schnee – arctic fox faunus.

Emerald met ice blue, Pyrrha and Weiss staring at one another for a long, tense moment before Weiss slipped into a seat. Pyrrha’s lips pursed, toned arms crossing as she eyed her fellow vixen with a wary glance.

Jaune wasn’t sure why but ever since they’d met, a tension had existed between the pair. They were friends. Some could even call them close. Weiss was perhaps the only one here that could understand the finer details of Pyrrha’s struggle with fame, seeing as she hailed from perhaps the most well known family on Remnant. The Schnee Dust Company was everywhere, the dust they mined used to power cites, cars and carry airships through the sky.

And yet…

Every few seconds, their eyes would meet before they’d look away. He didn’t understand it. Jaune thought maybe it was a fox thing? But he was too scared to ask. He knew their animal traits could manifest in strange ways on occasion and they weren’t always consistent. Blake hated dogs, and this dislike of canines extended to dog faunus. They made her skittish. But even though she was a cat, Ruby didn’t appear phased even though she was a bird. Foxes could be territorial, so he thought that maybe it was something like that between Pyrrha and Weiss.

What they were territorial over, he had no idea.

Anyway – why were all his friends beautiful girls?

He had no answer.

He wasn’t complaining, though sometimes he wished he had a guy friend to talk about guy things with. Cardin didn’t count.

Blake was practically drooling as she cut up her piece of fish while Ruby used her sharp nails to slice open her carton of milk, quickly gulping down the liquid in one go. She once told him she drank so much milk because she needed to grow. Jaune thought she was cute as a button and fine the way she was, but she wouldn’t be convinced otherwise.

“Taste good?” he asked in amusement.

“Yup~!” she replied with a pop, grinning. “Since Yang is being a ninny, you wanna come help me find some new boots?”

“Sorry, Ruby – I’m busy today,” even though it wasn’t his fault, he felt bad about turning her down when her face fell. “I’m – uh, I have a date.”

Ruby pouted furiously. “Ah, no fair!”

He wasn’t sure but he was positive Yang clucked her tongue, but it was difficult to tell because she immediately shoveled a helping of sausage into her mouth, chewing loudly.

“Yang, eat with your mouth closed,” Weiss scolded though her teammate didn’t listen, only smacking her lips even more. “Honestly, I’m surrounded by uncouth swine.” Those gorgeous eyes fell on him and Jaune felt a chill run up his spine. “So – a date, you say?”

Why’d he feel like he said the wrong thing?

Nora answered for him. “Yes siree~! We’re spending the whole day down in Vale. It’s going to be a blast!”

Li simply nodded.

Weiss hummed. “I see.”

“Must be good,” Yang muttered.

Blake reluctantly pulled herself away from her meal for a moment to say, “Why don’t you take Sky out on a date? Didn’t he confess to you last week?”

Jaune perked up. That was the first he had heard of that.

Yang scowled at her partner. “I don’t date prey.”

Sky Lark was also a bird faunus. Funnily enough, the type of bird he took after had the same name that he did; a skylark. They were small birds, gray-ish brown with white bellies. Jaune thought Yang was being a little mean with her comments but Sky wasn’t exactly the nicest guy around. More than once, he’d heard Sky mutter some rather unsavory things about him. Maybe it was because he was a guy and friends with Yang, his crush? Suddenly a lot of his bad attitude made sense.

In any case, he was apparently unimpressive to Yang’s taste.

“He might surprise you,” Blake needled.

Lilac eyes narrowed. “If you think he is so good, then you should date him.”

Blake’s eyes briefly darted his way before focusing back on her partner.

“He confessed to you, not me.”

“And I turned his ass down – end of! Drop it.”

Yang was certainly surly this morning. Ruby pulled a face before jerking her thumb at Yang, twirling her finger next to her head to signify her craziness. Jaune grinned.

“Don’t think I didn’t see that,” Yang turned her ire back to her sister.

Ruby responded with a poked tongue.

Interactions like this made Jaune miss his sisters. As much as they drove him insane, he loved them more than anything else in the world. Being the only boy meant he received an inordinate amount of attention, both good and bad. They pampered him as much as they teased and tormented him.

“Right~!” Nora exclaimed, slamming her hands on the table as she stood. Weiss flinched and nearly spilt her drink. “Time to go~! Ready, Jaune?”

Jaune quickly looked at his plate and saw that a single rasher of bacon remained. Popping it into his mouth, he chewed and swallowed before standing. “Sure.”

Li rose silently and stood beside him as he tucked in his chair. “Cya guys later?”

He didn’t notice the disgruntled gazes of his friends as he left with his girlfriends.