Chương 35: Mind, Body and Emotion
"Summer!" Arthur's call had begun to awaken Ruby, her mind still foggy from her slow awakening.
"Oh god…" Ruby heard Arthur mutter through her hazy state, her mind clearing enough that she noticed she was covered in her cloak and clutching onto something hard as well as resting her head against something as equally as hard. Her eyes soon regained their clarity, her mind processing her last memory of her head resting against Arthur's shoulder.
Her eyes darted open as she looked towards her impromptu hug pillow, her mind racing and her face turning red as she realized that she hadn't moved off of Arthur when she fell asleep.
"Oh god…" she heard Arthur mutter again. Her mind was on the fritz as all she could do was cling to Arthur's arm, her body refusing all communications from her brain telling her to let go and run for it and hide within her room, atop her rickety bunk under several dozen layers of blankets.
She could hear Arthur's head quickly moving around atop his pillow, not long after she heard Arthur's movements she felt his arm beginning to move upwards in an attempt to free itself from her grasp, of course, Ruby, with her malfunctioning brain to body controls misinterpreted the signal of 'Let go!' into 'Hold on for dear life!' her arms gripping even tighter onto Arthur's arm not letting it escape her grasp 'Listentomebodyyoutraitor!' Her mind screamed to herself.
Arthur's attempts at escaping Ruby soon ceased as he began to take on a new action, Ruby could hear his head furiously moving around before once again stopping as she swear she could hear Arthur mutter 'Oh god…' once again, even though he remained quiet for a minute after his struggles ceased.
"How are they still sleeping…" she froze 'They?' she thought as her eyes sharpened and she turned her head slowly in an effort to see what he meant, but she froze remembering that Yang had thrown her onto Arthur's bed before falling asleep on the other side of him.
'Yang…' Ruby commented in her head as she kept turning her head until she could see her sister with her arms wrapped around Arthur's head, clutching his head into her chest, her eyes closed, slightly panting with a flushed face.
'Is she…' Ruby was about to comment in her head, but stopped when she saw Arthur turn his head towards her, his eyes locking with hers, both their body's frozen as different thought raced through their minds.
'Oh god! Ruby's awake, please don't scream, please don't scream!' he chanted in his frozen body.
'Hesawmehesawmehesawme!Ohgodohgodohgod! what do I do!? Work brain!' her body screamed to her brain, which naively decided to turn her head back to staring at the wall of Arthur's room in an attempt to make it out as if she was still sleeping. 'God dammit brain! This is your idea!? He already saw us!' Body screamed
'At least she's not screaming' Arthur thought 'But what do I do now?' letting out a mental sigh 'Should just ask her…'
"Ruby?" he called out feeling Ruby's grip tighten slightly in response while her head didn't move, not saying anything in an attempt to make it out that she was sleeping.
"I-I know your awake" Ruby began to tremble as her face began turning red in embarrassment, her arms getting tighter unconsciously, now tight enough that Arthur was beginning to feel his arm going static.
"Ruby, please let go. My arm is going numb." He asked, moving his numb arm in an effort to get her to loosen her grip.
Ruby's brain screamed 'Let go!' while forcefully taking over body, her death grip loosened slightly allowing Arthur to pry his arm from hers, albeit with difficulty as he could feel his arm still being constricted but now that Ruby was awake and cognizant she wasn't unconsciously tightening it.
After a minute of silent prying, Arthur had gotten his arm free from Ruby's grasp, albeit his shoulder was still being used as a pillow by her. Arthur could see Ruby's cloak lifting as he moved his arm around under it, clenching his fist multiple times in an effort to get the blood flowing back into it.
By now Ruby had taken her usual self-defence procedure of hiding her head away behind her cloak, in this case she used her now free hands to quickly pull the back of the red cloak over her head
'Yes hide away, brain! Like we usually do! And Body! Now you listen to her!?' Emotions berated the two entities that made up Ruby physicality.
'What do you want me to do!? I'm the body! I can't think! I'm the body! At most I work on instinct!' Body argued
'Then how are you talking!?' Emotion argued
'I'm not, this is Brain having a breakdown, creating strange inner monologues as her different thoughts are screaming at each other trying to figure out how to deal with this situation we now find ourselves in.' Body explained, surprising both Brain and Emotion.
'Wait, What!?' Brain cried out
'That… make's sense… I think?' Emotion replied still trying to wrap her… head? Around what was happening. 'Anyways!' Emotion quickly changed the hallucinatory subject 'Brain! Figure it out! Do you want him or not! If you do, just give me control!' Emotion argued
'What!? No! why would I do that!?' Brain Argued
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'Is she okay?' Arthur began thinking as he could hear Ruby mumbling a conversation to herself from under her hood.
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'So you don't like him?' Emotion questioned freezing Brain to its bony confines as she began stuttering.
'Wha!? No! I-I mean h-he is kind, sweet, caring, handsome…' Brain lost itself as it began reciting things it liked about Arthur
'Has a tendency of getting injured' Body added before getting the mental hallucination version of a slap to the back of the head 'Ow! Hey!' Body whined as she began rubbing her 'head'.
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'Why did she just hit herself?' Arthur thought as he watched Ruby's cloak move and a light 'whack' was heard from under it.
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'Shut it, Body!' Emotion ordered, mumming the rebellious ego.
'Yeah! What she said!' Brain piggybacked.
'I was just stating a fact…' Body whined still rubbing her equivalent of a head.
'Back to you' Emotion 'turned' to brain 'Stop lying to yourself, you like him.' Emotion stated bluntly
'No I d…' Brain was about to say but was stopped as Emotion cried out 'Stop! Just stop! You. Like. Him. You can't hide it! I am literally your hallucination of YOUR emotions! So stop lying to yourself and just admit it!' Emotion ordered.
'B-b-but I-I don't l-like him!' Brain kept trying to argue
Letting out a heavy sigh Emotion spoke up 'Body, give me control of the body, it's time Brain got a reality check.'
'On it boss!' Body said giving Emotion a salute as she ran behind Brain and grabbed her arms, forcing them behind her back
'Body! No don't do this!' Brain helplessly pleaded as she began to struggle in her hallucinatory realm.
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'And now she's trembling… just what is going on?' Arthur commented to himself as he felt Ruby's head rapidly shivering atop his shoulder, the fabric of her cloak also moving along with each of her trembles.
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'Jobs done, Boss!' Body called out still holding onto the struggling Brain.
'Well done, Body! It's time you woke up Brain. This is for the best' Emotion finally said as she took control.
'No! stop! Don't do this! Please!' Brain begged futilely struggling against her captor.
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Ruby's body stopped trembling against Arthur 'Seems she's calmed down at least…' he commented to himself.
Ruby lifted her hand and pulled her hood off of her head and took a deep breath as she lifted her body of the bed slightly and rotated around until she was facing in Arthur's direction. Her eyes locking with Arthur's with a self-determined look in her eye's as well as a twitch on her cheek as she now clearly saw Yang still tightly clutching onto Arthur's head forcing his cheek into her chest in her sleep.
Arthur would be lying if he said Ruby's eyes didn't scare him, he could see a strange determination that he would never expect from her "H-hey Ruby, good afte!?!?!?" before he could finish his sentence Ruby lunged atop him putting her hands on his chest while bringing her lips atop his in a kiss.
"Fhmfh!" was the only sound that came out of Arthur as his eyes widened in surprise as his mind began racing in an attempt to process what was happening.
Ruby's mind had begun to catalogue everything it could about him, the softness of his lips, his colder body temperature which she could feel cooling her boiling lips, his strangely woody scent that filled her nose and the salty taste of his lips all forcing her to think of one thing, Arthur.
Her eyes had grown blurry and moist as her kiss became more and more passionate.
Arthur, on the other hand was dazed, his mind still attempting to process what was happening, his eyes eventually meeting Ruby's which were moist and unfocused as she was to focused on her passion which took over her mind and body in that moment.
Seeing her passion and clear love for him woke Arthur from his daze, his eyes softened as he thought 'I am such an idiot…' he slapped himself within his mind.
Ruby's passion soon came to an end as she broke her kiss with him lifting herself from his body with a light pant due to the lack of breathes she had taken during the almost minute long kiss. Her bleary eyes locked with Arthurs, a pink flush on her face and a small smile as she said "I love yo-mpfh!?" was all she could say before Arthur threw his free arm around her head placing his hand on the back of her head and forcing her back onto his lips.
Her mind froze like Arthur's had just moments earlier, the only difference being that her mind was still high on dopamine's as her body accepted Arthur's returned embrace with even more passion than her own. Their tongues broke free from their mouths and began to intertwine and explore each other's, mapping out the unexplored areas and marking each other as their own.
Their lungs screamed at them, pleading for a breath of air, but neither was willing to stop, not wanting to end this moment. But as all things do, their embrace came to an end as Ruby pushed her body away from Arthurs, her body bending to let their lips stay connected as long as possible until her body was unable to bend any further and she had to reluctantly break their embrace.
Her mouth was open, panting trying to get her breath back, a trail of their spit connecting the two, both sets of blurry and unfocused eyes gazed into the other.
"That was…" Arthur trailed off lifting his free hand to his lips in awe
"Amazing" Ruby finished in her daze as she let her head fall onto Arthur's chest letting her hear his rapidly beating heart which she felt beating in sync with her own. She soon felt Arthur's hand slowly and gently caressing her back. Ruby had begun to draw circles on his chest using her index finger, as a sweet atmosphere filled the room.
"Wow, I never knew my sister could be so assertive in bed~" Yang said, freezing both Ruby and Arthur's gentle caresses as their heads mechanically turned to Yang who now had one of her hands resting against Arthur's belly while the other was still lodged under Arthur's neck.
"Y-Yang…" Arthur stuttered out but was stopped as Yang's eyes locked to his with a wide smile
"And you" her voice turned serious causing Arthur to gulp in fear "Nice work!" her expression brightened as she gave him a thumbs up with her free hand surprising him "Though, you need some work done, I would be more than willing to help you practice~" she said with a licentious grin.
"After all, it's the least you owe me after this" she said as she puffed out her chest showing off her yellow sports bra, and indicated to the two small nubs that were poking through the fabric outlining her nipples. Ruby's eyes widened for a moment before closing into a squint as a light 'growl' came from her.
Arthur's face turned red as he stared at the two mounds that were forced in front of him "Th-that is, Um, I-I…" his mind unable to comprehend the moment until he saw Yang smile disappear as she took a gulp and began to lean forward.
"Oh no you don't!" Ruby shouted as she tackled her sister from the bed and away from Arthur.
"Gah!" Yang let out as her back impacted the ground, her eyes quickly darted to Ruby who had grabbed both her wrists and was attempting to force them onto the ground to prevent her from moving. Yang, being the great sister she was, immediately broke free from Ruby's grapple using her superior strength and reversed it so that Ruby was now lying face down on the ground with Yang sitting atop her back as she struggled to get free.
"Yang! Ruby! Stop this! You're sisters!" Arthur called out to the two as he quickly got up from the bed and tried to pry the two from each other, but failed miserably as Yang just pushed him away with one hand.
"Arthur, don't. I've been meaning to speak with Ruby for awhile now. Just go, we'll see you later" she said
"But…" Arthur tried to argue
"GO!" Yang screamed as she pointed to the door, effectively silencing him as he opened his mouth in an attempt to retort but closed his mouth as he turned to his door, looking back before he opened it and asked "Please, at least don't hurt each other. You're sisters, don't let me come between you two." And he left the room to the two sisters.
The door quickly closed behind him, he turned around wanting to go back in and somehow mediate between the two, but he knew that it would be better for them to talk it out on their own.
Letting out a tired sigh Arthur let his back fall against the wall next to his door, letting his body slowly fall to the ground until he was sitting, he brought his knees up to his chest and put his hands on the back of his head letting out tired groans into his knees.
His mind so occupied with the recent occurrence that he didn't even notice that door to team RWBYs room had opened and Summer had walked through it.
"Nice that you're up. Hope you didn't leave them unsatisfied" Arthur let out a loud and heavy groan at Summer's teasing.
"Let's just go… I… need to punch something…"
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"Get off of me!" Ruby shouted her struggles intensifying once Arthur left the room
"Calm down" Yang stated to her
"No!" she refuted "Get. Off. Of.Me!" she ordered once again
"Calm. Down." Yang responded in kind
"Why!? Why are you doing this!?" She asked, letting her arms and legs fall still as she turned her head to look at her sister with tears in her eyes.
"Because, I care about you Ruby, and what you're doing is just asking for trouble. We need to talk, Rubes." Yang gently explained.
"Is being in love trouble!? And if you cared, why would you try and kiss him!?" Ruby's voice was furious.
"Well, at least you know you're in love." Yang muttered and let out a sigh as she slowly began to stand up, letting Ruby go, much to her surprise as she cautiously watched Yang sit back down on the edge of Arthurs bed, patting the spot next to her.
"Ruby, we need to talk"
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As I've said to Daijena in the comments in the chapter before this one, where he asked what the cover would be.
All the covers (Akashic, Akashic: the Tome and Silver Eclipse) are temporary until I can get covers made for me, by either myself or hire someone else to do it for me.
Now this raises a few problems, the first, I am not a great artist, I can create decent sketches for weapons and armour, but apart from that I can't really draw much more. I will try to design something but hold no hopes.
Then there is outsourcing the design, I simply do not have the money for this. So this option is out on the get go.
But there is a final possibility, I could hold a small competition where you guys can send in your own cover designs and either letting me decide on a winner or leaving it up to a vote. Do know, I won't be able to reward you anything monetary, maybe let the winner design their own character or decide on a future world Arthur could visit in either a quest or as his next world after RWBY (Though that will be far in the future as I currently have no intentions of leaving RWBY any time soon)
So let me know what you guys think competition or no competition (Also give ideas for what I could reward the winner. So long as it ain't monetary or require me selling my body. Keep it to the story or to aspects of the story)
SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO 
Lasarus
Lasarus Off the top of my head these are things I could reward the winner of the competition if that happens.
Cameo in the story as their own personalized character.
Story Arc (Quest to another world/Current world)
Choose an ability for Arthur/Another Character to get/have
Next main world. (Warning, far in the future)
(Please suggest more, I could also just let the winner decide between these and any accepted suggestions)
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