The Parfait Predicament

Garden's Arce...

Somewhere in the glowing mushroom fields of the Garden's Arce, Ruby Rose is seen running while carrying the still-shrunken Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, and I in her hands. Ruby pants, stops running, and looks back. Ruby sighs in relief as Little pats her cheek.

"I'm so glad the five of you are still the five of you. Not always the case in the Ever After." The Curious Cat said, hopping on top of mushrooms.

"You're the one who ditched us in the first place! Which, by the way, was how we ended up in that mushroom house to begin with! You know, where that delirious caterpillar-guy tried to drug us and then was swallowed up by a freaking hole in the ground?!" Weiss exclaimed, fed up.

"Ah, yes, yes." The Curious Cat said, licking their paw. "Alyx had a similar reaction the first time she saw someone return to the Ever After. But it's not how it seems... well, I suppose it is... but not the way you think, if you think like Alyx, which it seems like you do."

Weiss, Blake, Yang, and I exchange glances with each other.

"I wish this was Wonderland right now..." I said, sadly. "It isn't in my comfort zone at all. At least there I knew everything."

The Cat hops from mushroom to mushroom while Ruby looks on, before looking down to Little. Ruby's attention is then grabbed again by the cat.

"Ah ha! We're here." The Curious Cat said, proceeding down the path, and Ruby followed.

Ruby looks with astonishment at a large lake with lily pads carrying various denizens of the Ever After on them.

"So you really don't know anything then." Weiss said, looking at me.

The various denizens of the Ever After on lily pads seem to be heading towards a grand structure toward the center of the lake with a large, pink lotus flower at the top.

"No. After we're out of this place, I'll know everything again. Hopefully. If we can ever get out of here." I said, frowning.

"Better run." The Curious Cat said.

Ruby hurries and jumps over to the giant lily pad with the Cat.

"So, Cat. Going to explain to us how a giant caterpillar disappearing into a hole 'isn't how it seems'?" Yang asked, looking at the Curious Cat.

"Mmmm, when we break or wear out or simply finish what we were made to do, we're called back. But Herb... his heart was too weak to listen, so I gave him a little bit of mine." The Curious Cat said.

"Is he... dead?" Blake asked.

"No, no! Well, maybe a little bit, but not at all." The Curious Cat said, chuckling.

"Ugh! Which is it?" Yang asked.

"Now that Herb's properly returned, he'll be fixed up nice, and made into the Herb he wanted to be when he was still 'Herb'." The Curious Cat said, clearing its throat. "Then he'll come back and find his purpose. Could be the same as before, or maybe not."

"When Herb comes back, will he remember anything?" Ruby asked.

"What would be the point of that?" The Curious Cat asked, laughing before stretching. "Just like Alyx, you lot. I know, I know, where you're from, things..." It shudders. "...die... but we're just not like you at all. We... ascend. Herb will have a purpose again."

"That's impossible. Things have to die someday. Right?" Weiss asked.

"Wha-- goodness no! Though I suppose there is a creature... No, no, that's not the sort of thing you talk about in polite company..."

Team RWBY, the Curious Cat, and I make landings to the center structure, and they step off the lily pad. A bird-like denizen is seen walking around carrying a tray.

"Get your hot, fresh, right-out-of-the-oven..." The Hawker said, with its voice becoming inaudible soon.

"Wait, so what happened to Herb... that's what happened to the King?" Blake asked.

Team RWBY and I walked past the vendor.

"C'mon! Try our mud cookies! They're delicious! You don't wanna miss them!" The Hawker said, its voice becoming inaudible again.

"Oh, it was all very sad. The Red King couldn't cope when he lost to Alyx, a crying mess. Thankfully, he was called back and fixed up, and now he's the Prince you met." The Curious Cat said, looking at Blake.

"Fixed up? The Prince was worse." Ruby said.

"Way worse. It looks like he didn't get the help he needed to be sane or nice." I said, crossing my arms.

"The Prince isn't supposed to be nice. He's meant to play the game and win, no matter what." The Curious Cat said.

"So, that's why he cheats, when the Red King didn't. But that still doesn't explain why the Red Prince was so much meaner." Blake said.

"While the Prince may not remember Alyx's deception after ascending, the heart very rarely forgets."

"But there was nothing about ascension in the story."

"Of course not! Exposition is terribly boring. Even this conversation was, on the whole, rather tedious!"

"I wonder what else Alyx left out."

"Maybe the Rusted Knight knows." I said, rolling my eyes. "There is only one person I knew that had a sword, shield, and armor."

Weiss, Yang, and I ponder with Blake about this.

"And who's that?" Weiss asked, tilting her head.

Later on...

"Well, to make a Grow-gurt Parfait, one needs a bushel of grumpy ivy, one good-sized spicy potato, the lint off a griffon's sweater – Ethel's Dragons and More should have that – which is next to..." The Curious Cat said.

"I'll never remember all of that." Ruby said.

"No, I can procure that. But there's another ingredient we must have that's only available on the third level. Some nose hair from a leprechaun." The Curious Cat said, chuckling.

Team RWBY and I become disgusted.

"What if you retrieve that while I go get the rest?" The Curious Cat asked.

"Sure, I guess so." Ruby said.

"Wonderful! Look for the Teapot Lady. She'll have it now. Now off you go."

As the Cat goes off, they get distracted when a leaf-headed creature waves from a vendor holding a flower in their hand.

"Ugh...Guess I'd better go with the Cat so they don't get distracted by a shiny doorknob and never come back." Yang said.

"I'll go with you." Blake said.

"Get me as far away as possible from the nose hairs, please." Weiss said.

"Little, can you take care of Little Red for me? I mean, Ruby. I'm going with Weiss, Blake, and Yang. I don't want to deal with leprechauns. Ruby needs you more than us right now." I said, looking at Little.

"I'll do my best. I'll go with you, Ruby." Little said, smiling.

Ruby sighs and brings Weiss, Blake, Yang, and I to the Cat.

"Nice try, Kitty." Yang said.

Weiss and I jump and land onto the Cat's head.

"You think you can have fun without us." I said, smirking.

"But we're coming along." Weiss said.

Yang and Blake follow and land on the Cat. The Cat leaves the vendor who tries to offer Ruby the flower this time. Ruby awkwardly stammers and walks away. Some Hunter Mice steal the cheese radish on the vendor's table, much to their dismay.

"Onward!" Little said, giggling and scurries up to Ruby's head.

As Little makes a pose, they yawn. Ruby chuckles.

With Weiss, Blake, Yang, and the Curious Cat...

Weiss, Blake, Yang, and I are sitting on the Curious Cat who is bringing us where we need to go to.

"How do you think Ruby's doing?" I asked.

"I think she's doing fine." Blake said. "She is our leader."

"She's my sister too." Yang said. "She can handle herself. But we're here for her."

"Yeah." Weiss said. "If she needs anything, all she can do is ask."

(Third Person POV)

As Ruby continues walking around, Little takes a nap in the back of her hood.

"Teapot Lady... Teapot Lady... Uh..." Ruby said.

Suddenly, a loud clanging can be heard. Ruby finds herself alone with all the other denizens walking around suddenly gone. Darkness encroaches and surrounds the area on all sides except for the small area Ruby is standing in. Ruby gasps as she notices what is happening. She raises her hand as a bright light is emitted from her right. She notices a rack of weapons, among them being Penny's Maiden sword. Ruby grabs it off the rack and holds it in her hands.

"Does that one interest you?" Someone asked, nearby.

Ruby looks up to who spoke, and sees a feminine-looking, metallic Blacksmith standing before their forge. Their features are obscured by the forge's bright flames. Ruby approaches them, entering the shop.

"I... I thought this was lost forever. How'd you have it?" Ruby asked.

"Nothing. No one is ever truly lost." The Blacksmith said.

Ruby stares at the Floating Array sword and a reflection of Penny appears in it. She gasps.

"And what of you?" The Blacksmith asked, turning to Ruby. "Are you lost?"

The Blacksmith holds a pair of tongs holding a heated, metallic butterfly wing.

"No, no. I'm just... My friends went somewhere else." Ruby said.

"You're doing this all alone?" The Blacksmith asked.

Little wakes up and notices their surroundings in the Blacksmith's tent.

"Ruby...I don't think we're supposed to be here." Little said, worried.

"Are you her guide, little one?" The Blacksmith asked.

"Yes. Ruby is my friend and I want to help her get home. Even though I don't know where that is or how to get there."

"Hmm..." The Blacksmith said, hitting the hammer on the glowing half part of a butterfly wing. "You seem to be carrying a rather large burden with you."

The Blacksmith hits the hammer again.

"I'm fine. I can handle it." Ruby said.

"If you change your mind, you may choose any one of these you like and set your burden down." The Blacksmith said.

Ruby looks down to find a dagger in the Floating Array sword's place. She stares at the blade and a reflection of Alyx appears.

"I already have a weapon. I did..." Ruby said.

"And yet, here you are, searching for something else that you do not even know." The Blacksmith said.

Ruby sets the dagger down on the table next to her, before looking up to see a rather intricate axe-like hybrid weapon with a trigger function. The Blacksmith continues hammering, the clanging sound ringing. Ruby gasps as she sees on the blade with a reflection of Summer Rose, her Silver Eyes starting to glow and obscuring the screen in a bright white light.

"Ruby? Ruby?" The Curious Cat asked, when Ruby gets startled and turns around.

(First Person POV)

Ruby  is seemingly back, having snapped out of her vision with the Blacksmith. The Cat is seen holding the Grow-gurt Parfait ingredients in a basket with their mouth. Weiss is riding on the Cat's head with Blake, Yang, and I in the basket.

"Ruby? Who are you talking to? Did you retrieve the nose hairs?" The Curious Cat asked.

"C'mon, try our mud cookies! They're delicious! You don't wanna miss it!" Hawker said, looking at the other customers.

Ruby looks around, noticing the Blacksmith's shop and forge is gone, "Uh... no, not-- not just yet, but--"

"Ruby, come on. We got everything else." Weiss said.

"I... Uh... I'm sorry." Ruby said, sadly.

"It's okay, Ruby." I said, looking over at Ruby. "If you want to talk, you can."

"Thank you. I..."

"Is that the Teapot Lady?" Blake asked, pointing to the left.

"Best mud cookies you'll ever have!" Hawker said, excitedly.

Team RWBY, the Curious Cat, and I approach the Teapot Lady's booth.

"Welcome to Things n' Things! How can I help you?" The Teapot Lady asked.

"Looking for nose hairs. No, not the ogre ones." The Curious Cat said, nonchalantly tosses aside and tips over the various items on the booth, much to the Teapot Lady's annoyance.

"Fireworks..." I said, when some fireworks go off, the crowd goes to see it. "Wow..."

"Woohoo, a festival!" Yang said, happily.

The crowd begins to scream and everyone runs for their lives, the fireworks saying the word 'DANGER' in green.

"Jabberwalker! It's the Jabberwalker!" Hawker said, terrified.

"Or not?" Yang asked.

The Teapot Lady screams and quickly takes away the items by sucking in with her spout. The Cat hangs on to the jar they found.

"Wait, please! We need those leprechaun's nose hairs!" Ruby said.

"No time!" The Teapot Lady said.

"Here! I'll give you this!" Ruby said, showing off her brooch. "I-It carries a mother's promise!"

"Ruby, wasn't that your mother's?" I asked, when the Teapot Lady gasps and sucks in Ruby's brooch. "Why are you giving up another part of yourself?"

"Take it!" The Teapot Lady said, as she began running away. "Run!"

"This... is exceedingly bad..." The Curious Cat said.

"Wait. What's a Jabberwalker?" Blake asked.

"It's a truly terrible creature. If the Jabberwalker eats one of us, we do not ascend."

Weiss, Blake, Yang, and I gasp.

"How do we make the parfait thing?" Yang asked.

The Curious Cat uncorks the jar of nose hairs with their mouth and places it on the table, "Toss everything in here. But be careful, eat too much and we'll have to shrink you back again. And that's a completely different potion."

Ruby tosses everything together in a span of a few seconds, and the Parfait is prepared. Weiss, Blake, Yang, and I run forward and take a scoop of it in our hands, consuming it. The four of us start to grow a little bigger, bigger than the parfait cup.

"Crap!" I said, looking down at my size. "Now I know how Ant-Man felt with the in progress regulator."

"It wasn't enough!" Blake said, worried.

The Jabberwalker then appears, breaking a vendor booth. It notices Team RWBY and I and charges toward us.

"FOUND. GRAB. MAIM. KILL." The Jabberwalker said.

Little screams. Ruby grabs her friends and I in her arms and uses her Semblance to dodge out of the way, but the Jabberwalker hits her with its tail. The parfait falls away from Ruby's arms. Some of it spills on the Jabberwalker, who wipes it off.

"No!" Weiss said

The Jabberwalker starts to grow bigger from the spilled parfait. Ruby holds her friends and I in her arms and runs away.

"PREY. EAT. DEVOUR." The Jabberwalker said.

The Jabberwalker chases after Ruby. Suddenly, Hawker shows up swooping in on his wings and tackling the Jabberwalker to the ground.

"Run!" The Curious Cat said, angrily.

"What is he doing here?!" Ruby exclaimed.

"I gave him something new to do for the moment. Now go! Your friends need to get big again, or we're all Jabberwalker dinner!"

The Jabberwalker grabs Hawker as Ruby runs towards the parfait. Hawker gets thrown into a booth, groaning in pain. The Jabberwalker stops Ruby again. Suddenly, another creature comes galloping in, with an armored warrior riding on top of it. The creature charges forward and bashes the Jabberwalker with its antlers.

"It's the Rusted Knight!" Blake said, surprised.

"Get the parfait!" Yang said, looking at Ruby.

With the newly arrived ally keeping the Jabberwalker occupied, Ruby runs towards the parfait. She sets Weiss, Blake, Yang, and I down, and we take more scoops of the parfait in our hands, eating them.

"Yes!" I said, happily.

Ruby looks behind, before looking back to her teammates and I, with the four of us now finally back to our regular sizes.

"Ah, finally!" Yang said.

Weiss, Blake, and Yang run forward to join the battle. Ruby looks on and I am standing next to her to look after her since she is one of my best friends.

"Ruby! Jared! Follow me!" The Curious Cat said.

Ruby and I follow the Cat. The Rusted Knight leaps over the Jabberwalker with his Jackalope mount.

"Why do I know the Rusted Knight?" I asked, looking at the armor.

The Jabberwalker tries to charge forward, but is held down by Weiss' black glyph. The Jabberwalker tries to use its tail, but it gets wrapped by Gambol Shroud's ribbon. Yang then jumps on top of it, punching away.

"I said...I wasn't done with you yet!" Yang said, annoyed.

Weiss then launches the Jabberwalker into the air, followed by Blake swinging above and kicking it back down, before a Semblance-enhanced Yang punches it in the gut. It disappears into a bright, pink light, but the team looks on in shock.

"Neo?!" Blake exclaimed, shocked.

Weiss gasps.

"Huh?" Yang asked, confused.

A growl is heard. Another Jabberwalker emerges out from the water.

"What?! There's only supposed to be one!" The Rusted Knight said.

"Ruby, you sure you're okay?" I asked, grabbing Ruby's hand.

Multiple Jabberwalkers appear and surround Weiss, Blake, Yang and the Rusted Knight.

"I'm fine..." Ruby said, frowning.

"Detecting... Searching... FOUND!" The Jabberwalkers said, at the same time.

"What? Run! This way!" The Rusted Knight said, galloping away on his jackalope mount, with Blake and Yang following him.

"I know that voice. I do." I said, squeezing Ruby's hand. "Why do I know it?"

Weiss looks for Ruby and I and finds us hiding near the booth, "Ruby, Jared, come on!"

"Go! We'll hold them off!" The Curious Cat said.

The Cat and Hawker proceed to battle off the Jabberwalker doppelgangers. Ruby and I look back as we run, noticing Hawker get thrown to the ground and the Jabberwalkers surrounding him.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I said, while Ruby and I wince as we hear Hawker's dying screams. "I wish we could have stopped all this."

Team RWBY and I followed the Rusted Knight to the top of the marketplace, pointing us in the direction of the giant lotus flower. Weiss stops to look as many various Ever After denizens flee screaming on the lily pads. Smoke plumes rise from the destructive aftermath. Weiss looks on wide-eyed helplessly. She turns around, noticing the Teapot Lady sobbing and crying over her broken things. There are some cracks on her. Weiss holds her hand to her mouth at the heartbreaking sight. Ruby and I arrive and give her a sympathetic look as we walk her away.

"I am so tired of leaving places in ashes..." Weiss said, disheartened.

"Same. If only I could press a big red button to stop the places we leave turn into ashes." I said, sadly.

Ruby, Weiss, and I head inside the lotus flower, and the Rusted Knight follows. The Rusted Knight sheathes his half-broken rusted sword as he walks past Team RWBY and I and towards his Jackalope mount.

"I can't believe it. The Rusted Knight, in person!" Blake said, excited.

"You did good, Juniper." The Rusted Knight said.

Juniper coos as the Rusted Knight pets them on the head. The Knight takes off his helmet and turns around to Team RWBY and I, showing us his familiar face. The Rusted Knight is revealed to be Jaune Arc, now older than Team RWBY and I.

"Juniper as in Team JNPR." I said, happily. "Jaune. You did what the Ponds did."

"Yeah." Jaune said, while his blonde hair has grown longer tied in a lower ponytail, with white streaks in it, and has a full beard. There are also age lines under his eyes. "Thank you for telling me the full story of the Girl Who Waited and the Lone Centurion. It really helped with this."

"I did what I had to do. And it felt right at the time."

"I know." Jaune said, smiling. "Team RWBY and Jared Shay..."

Team RWBY and I gasped, stunned over Jaune's appearance and his identity as the Rusted Knight.

"You finally made it." Jaune said.